Weekly Reminders 11/3

Dear Parents and Portal Students,

We hope you had a fun and spooky Halloween! Here at school, there were a lot of fantastic, inventive costumes for our parade. Luckily, the rain held off, and we got to parade and then have our ice cream social.

Classroom Volunteer Opportunity!

We’ll be starting our first literature circles of the year next week and we need parents to help us out!! The job is really very simple and it’s VERY fun. It consists of coming into the class room for four days (30-45 minutes per day) and listening to a small group of children discuss what they’ve read. Your job is to listen and observe. Are all students participating, taking turns, being respectful? Are they knowledgeable about what they’ve read? Have they completed the written assignment? There is a check off sheet that you fill out as the students are meeting. Talk to parents who’ve done it before - they’ll tell you how fun it is!! We need at least 6 parents for both rooms 20 and 21.

Please email us right away if you’re interested!
Here are the dates and times:

All sessions will go from 8:10 a.m. until approximately 9:00.

Wed. 11/12
Mon. 11/17
Wed. 11/19
Mon. 11/24

If you are interested in volunteering and would like to observe an introduction to literature circles for the students, we will be talking to our classes at 8:15 a.m. tomorrow, Tuesday, November 4.

Mega Skill for November:

November’s Mega Skill for Portal students and staff is Problem-Solving.
This skill encompasses all aspects of our lives; it has academic, social,
and physical components. Be sure to model effective problem-solving at
home, and we’ll do the same here on campus. Together, we can have a world that knows how to work toward solutions!

5th Grade Parent News Update on Human Growth & Development Preview:

The date for our parents to preview the materials used for our 5th grade
Human Growth & Development curriculum has been changed to Wed., November 12 from 6:30-8:30pm in the Portal multi-use room. Please let your family room teacher know if you will be attending.

Fine Arts Performance News:

Thank you to all of the parents who have returned the blue volunteer sheets! We will be contacting you soon. If you’d like to volunteer, but haven’t turned in the form, please do so as soon as possible. Thanks!

Important Dates to Remember:

Tues, 11/4 Election Day- Get Out and VOTE!!!
Wed, 11/05 Vision screening for 5th grader has been cancelled.
Wed, 11/05 Year of the Boar test
Thurs, 11/6 NASA/Ames field trip for Miss Scourkes’ class
Friday, 11/7 4th grade math test- Chapter 3
Friday, 11/7 5th grade algebra test
Mon, 11/10 & Tues, 11/11 NO SCHOOL- VETERANS’ DAY HOLIDAY
Wed, 11/12 Human Growth & Development Preview (5th grade parents ONLY) from 6:30-8:30pm in the Portal Multi-use room
Thurs, 11/13 NASA/Ames field trip for Mr. Roels’ class

California Trivia

Q: What is the largest flying bird in North America?

Good luck!

Mr. Roels & Ms. Scourkes