It seems like the school year has just gotten started, and yet we’ve already accomplished a ton. I’m excited about seeing their play performances of The Monkey’s Paw, The Birthmark, and Odysseus vs. Cyclops. We’d hoped to be presenting them this week, but due to the Harvest Fair utilizing the stage, we’ve had to postpone them until Thursday, November 1st beginning at 9:10 a.m. in the Music Room. Speaking of the Harvest Fair, we need a few volunteers to supervise our class booth, the Hoops Game, on Saturday evening, Nov. 27th. We have half hour shifts beginning at 5:00 and ending at 7:30. The booth will already be set-up and take-down is a snap. The students run the booth, so don’t be surprised if your child comes home this week and announces he or she has volunteered to work, thereby twisting your arm into action! Thanks in advance to those who concede.

The Mini-Marathon is Wednesday, Oct. 31st. Note that it’s on Halloween, meaning kids will be running the marathon rather than dressing in costume. We’ll follow it with an easy-going afternoon in which we watch a movie, eat chips, and kick back a bit, but it’s not to be construed as a Halloween party. If you’re willing to send in some fun snacks, please do so the day before.

It’s still early, but you can sign-up for a Parent-Teacher Conference by clicking the Conferences tab above. Conferences are available on November 19th and 20th, and because the District has opted to cut Spring conferences, the November meeting is especially important.

In class this week students will be studying the Civil War (see map), posting a new Super Sentence, presenting their Lava Beds paragraphs (both in person and online), and taking their unit exam in multi-digit addition and subtraction (on Tuesday). Here’s the math homework for this week: Monday, Oct. 22; Tuesday, Oct. 23; Wednesday, Oct. 24; Thursday, Oct. 25. I’ve also added an “Extra Credit” page to The Daily Platypus…just check out the tabs above. For reading, they’re to be reading from a book of choice (we’ll start new book clubs as soon as we get these plays presented) for at least 20 minutes each night.