Orchestra

The first-ever 4th grade Mary Endres Orchestra was a success!  I personally was very impressed by how much our students have learned during the semester.  We are thrilled to learn that Mrs. Blaho is now working full time in our District!  Now we get her for a full day at Endres, every Tuesday.  Please be sure to send your child to school with their instrument for our new Tuesday lesson day, rather than Friday.

Young Authors

So many of our students committed to producing a book for our 2012 Young Authors contest!  I am so proud of everyone's hard work.  Although the final deadline is February 17th, there were many students who turned in their book by the early bird deadline of January 20th.  Congratulations to AM, MT and JV for earning an Author's Chair spot on Literacy Night....not to mention a pizza lunch with our guest author as well.  Bravo!

Parent Teacher Conferences

Parent Teacher Conference slips were sent home on Friday.  Please check over the date and time that I suggested.  If it doesn't work for you, please send back alternative suggestions.  I am flexible in working out a time that may not fall within the assigned P/T Districts days of February 16 or 17th.  Just let me know!

Reading Counts Challenge

Our class has been challenged to earn 90 points by February 3rd in our Reading Counts Program.  Our class is split up into 4 teams:  Team Toboggan, Team Frosty, Team Blizzard and Team Jack (Frost).  Each team is working towards earning their way into a pizza party on Wednesday, February 7th.  Please continue to support your child with their nightly reading and check to see if it is a Reading Counts book.  Thank you!

Young Authors - Early Entries

If your child is interested in reading in the Author's Chair for next week's Literacy Night, please be sure your child submits his/her book by this Friday, January 20th.  The entry must follow the guidelines which were previously sent home and also listed previously on my blog.  Good luck!  If your child is still working on their piece, do not fret.  The final due date for the Young Author's contest is Friday, February 17th.

Mary Endres Young Authors Information

Attention All Mary Endres Students!       

Now is your chance to be an author and illustrator

You are invited to make a book for:

THE YOUNG AUTHORS PROGRAM

Every year our school district encourages all students to make their own story and book.  While this is not a requirement, we encourage all students to participate in this wonderful program.  Please don’t be concerned about the competition aspect.  All children are authors and we will make every effort to honor each book as they are turned in!

Guidelines:

1. Encourage your child to be creative but keep the story at his/her ability level.  It must be their story.
2. Dictated books may be typed or handwritten by adults but it must be in the student’s own words and the student must do the illustrations. 
3. Stories can be written in English or Spanish.
4. Illustrations may be drawn by hand or computer generated.
5. The story needs to be in book form.  That means it must have a cover and pages securely attached to the cover.  The title of the book and your child’s name must be on the cover of the book.
6. All books must be submitted to your child’s teacher by Friday, February 17, 2012.
7. 4 books per grade level will be selected for district judging.
8. If your child’s book is selected to represent the district, you and your child will be invited to attend a state conference on Saturday, May 19, 2012 in Springfield, IL.

Other Information:

1.      Students who are serious about writing a story will receive a commitment pencil before the Winter Break.

2.      Students who submit their books early may be chosen to read their book on Literacy Night, January 26, 2012, in our Author’s Chair!

3.      Parents can encourage their young author’s by offering the following suggestions:

a.       The book should tell the whole story (beginning, middle, and end).

b.      The book should be of interest to other children.

c.       The story line should demonstrate creativity.

d.      The book should be in their child’s own language, not an adult’s language.

e.       Please refer to the grading rubric on the back of this sheet for additional guidelines.

4.  HAVE FUN!!!!

Spelling Bee

Congratulations to three of our stellar speller's......SM15, MT19 and KZ23 will be representing our class this Thursday, January 12th in the Mary Endres Spelling Bee.  Parents are welcome to view the "Bee"...it begins at 7:45.  Best of luck to them!

Young Author's

Many of our students have verbally committed to write their own story to enter into the Mary Endres' Young Author's contest.  I encourage participation and will allow some classtime to work on their writing pieces.  The due date is Friday, February 17th.  An incentive that I offer for commitment is that I allow homework passes for those engaged in the program.  The majority of the homework from Tuesday, January 17th - Friday, February 17th will be optional for any student dedicated to being a Young Author.  I will send home a permission form for you to sign if your child has committed.   This form will be attached to January 17th's literacy homework assignment.  I am thrilled that we have so much writing interest in our class!