*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|*

The Grove Grizzly A Note from Mrs. Matthews    Thank you to all of our parents who have been working with their children to complete the weekly reading logs! As stated in my newsletter last week, this will be valuable information for our classroom teachers in the upcoming weeks! Over the course of this week and next week, our staff is also conducting additional assessments with students in order to learn more about them as readers and also as mathematicians. With students in kindergarten through 2nd grades, we have specific assessments that we conduct with all students. These assessments are not ones that students can prepare for, and they are used for school staff to make decisions regarding instruction and support for students within the building. In addition, our teachers are currently being trained on using updated reading assessments kits that we typically use with students in kindergarten through 5th grades. Once classroom teachers have been trained, they will be using these reading assessments throughout the year to continue to monitor students reading and determine when students should increase in their reading levels. These assessments help our staff match readers to books and provide teachers information as to what skills students have mastered and where they need additional instruction. This will be beneficial for our teachers to help children choose “good fit” books to read at home each night as they determine specific reading levels. Parents can anticipate that the rate at which students move levels will be different than our previous practice as the result of the new assessment tool. I have included links below to several articles for parents to read in order to learn more about how you can continue to support your child as a reader at home.   The Rewards of Reading – in English The rewards of Reading – in Spanish Tips for Parents to Help Kids Become Successful Readers – Pre-K-3rd Grades Parent Tips for Raising Strong Readers and Writers: Growing Readers! - in English   Parent Tips for Raising Strong Readers and Writers: Growing Readers! – in Spanish            Upcoming Dates: Monday, September 3rd – Labor Day, NO SCHOOL Tuesday, September 4th – 2nd Grade Prairie Walk Field Trip (4 classes) Tuesday, September 4th – 1st Grade Field Trip to Stillman Nature Center (1 class) Wednesday, September 5th – 1st Grade Field Trip to Stillman Nature Center in (2 classes) Friday, September 7th – 2nd Grade Prairie Walk Field Trip (2 classes) Friday, September 7th – 3rd Grade Smart Farm Field Study (4 classes) Thursday, September 13th – 3rd Grade Smart Farm Field Study (2 classes) Friday, September 14th – PTO Back to School Bash, 5:00-8:00 p.m. @ Grove Tuesday, September 18th – PTO Meeting, 9:15 a.m. in the Art Room Tuesday, September 18th – 5th Grade Parent Outdoor Education Mtg., 6:30 p.m., Art Rm. Thursday, September 20th – Grove Parent Curriculum Night, 6:30 p.m. Friday, September 21st – 5th Grade Challenger Learning Center Field Trip, 2 classes Monday, September 24th – Friday, September 28th – Safety Week   Monday, September 24th – Room Parent Meeting, 9:15-10:00 a.m. in the MPR Monday, September 24th – Picture Day for Students and Family Picture Night Tuesday, September 25th – Family Picture Night Tuesday, September 25th – Community Safety Night, 7:00 p.m. in the BHS Auditorium Tuesday, September 25th – Kindergarten Field Trip to Crabtree Nature Center (1 class) Wednesday, September 26th – Kindergarten Field Trip Crabtree Nature Center (2 classes) Wednesday, September 26th – 4th Grade Stillman Field Trip (4 classes) Friday, September 28th – 5th Grade to Challenger Learning Center Field Trip, 2 classes Wednesday, October 3rd – Friday, October 5th – 5th Grade Outdoor Education     Only 2 weeks left until Grove's Back-to-School Bash!  This fun-filled evening is not possible without our amazing volunteers and donors - thank you to those that have already committed! We are still in need of many parent volunteers. Grab a friend and donate an hour of your time. We promise you will have fun too, all while giving back to your school! www.tinyurl.com/GroveBSB2018Volunteers Please consider donating, or sponsoring an item here: www.tinyurl.com/GroveBSB2018  Thank you for your support and generosity! Questions?  Please contact Bash Co-Chairs Alejandra Acosta & Kelly Daugherty   Fall Box Top Competition at Grove!   Please keep an eye out for a baggie coming home to collect your Box Tops for Education!    All you have to do is cut the little pink and white box with the Box Tops for Education logo out of various grocery items and collect them in the baggie coming home. The baggie is one convenient way your student can return their Box Tops to school.  Please remember to write your student’s name on the baggie or on the piece of paper inside of the bag in order for us to know who it’s from!  Box Tops can also be put in the Box Tops collection box that is located in the school front office.  It's just all that simple!    A few examples of common products that have the Box Tops logo include: General Mills cereals, Annie’s fruit snacks, Ziploc bags, Yoplait yogurt, Motts juices and applesauce, LARABAR, Nature Valley, etc. Each box top is worth 10 cents with the exception of Super Box Tops and Bonus Box Tops which are worth more.    So please, start cutting out those little coupons and turn them in by our deadline of Monday October 15th. The three students to submit the most Box Tops will receive a $5 gift certificate to use at the Grove Avenue School Scholastic Fall Book Fair!  Can you imagine how many box tops we can collect if the whole school participates? Every little bit helps!  (Please note ** be careful not to cut off the expiration dates.)   Contact Leena Varghese at Leenavarghese326@gmail.com with any questions.  September 18 - PTO, 9:15 a.m. @ Grove Art Room  October 16 - PTO, 9:15 a.m. @ Grove Art Room  November 20 - PTO, 9:15 a.m., @ Grove Art Room  December *Week of 17th - PTO Luncheon TBA   January 15 - PTO, 9:15 a.m., @ Grove Art Room  February 19 - PTO Evening Meeting, TBA March 19 - PTO, 9:15 a.m., @ Grove Art Room  April 16 - PTO, 9:15 a.m., @ Grove Art Room  May 21 - PTO, 9:15 a.m., @ Grove Art Room