Reminders:
<ul>
	<li>The green and white Ray  School folder will come home only on Fridays full of notes for you to read.  Please read and respond appropriately.  Send the folder back on Monday.  This is a good way to send lunch money as well.</li>
	<li>The red folder will come home Monday with homework.  Please work on it a little bit at a time each day with your child and return in on Friday.</li>
	<li>Please send lunch/milk money for the week on Mondays.</li>
	<li><span style="text-decoration: underline">November is snack month for boys</span>.  Please send in a healthy snack, enough for 26 students.  We do have a peanut allergy so please be careful in choosing your snack.</li>
	<li>December will be snack month for girls.</li>
	<li>Ms. Travis Traveling Library books (in clear bag) come home on Wednesdays and should be returned Tuesdays.</li>
	<li>Library books (in the green bag) are chosen by the student and should be returned on Fridays.</li>
</ul>
Classroom Volunteers – Those who have begun the screening process are welcome to begin volunteering on a limited basis until the process is complete.  Please email if you would like to volunteer.  If you sign up to volunteer please let me know if you will be unable to come.  When I know volunteers are coming for choice time I plan things that need adult supervision.  I’m sending home a volunteer schedule.  Blanks mean vacancies so if you would still like to volunteer please choose one of those times.

Morning drop-off and Afternoon Dismissal – Please understand that 9am and 3:30pm are not good times for a conference.  Quick questions often turn into longer conversations and when several parents have quick questions the time spent in adult conversation grows.  I need to spend these times settling my students into their day and seeing them off.  If you have questions you can email me and I will get back to you as soon as possible.  If you would like a longer conversation please set up a conference for Wednesdays or Fridays at 8:30 am.  Students also need to be picked up on time after school at 3:30.

We begin a new quarter this week.

This week:
<ul>
	<li>In Math will make number books to practice writing and representing numbers. We will create macaroni necklaces to practice creating patterns.  We will play a game called Roll and Record to review counting and number recognition.  This activity will also have students creating a graph.  I will also introduce the Pan Balance, a tool we will be using throughout the year for different activities.</li>
	<li>In Reading we will continue exploring letters and sounds.  We will use student names to make connections with other words and continue working on using sounds to write words.   We will use shared reading to explore phonics and comprehension strategies.  We will continue to build stamina for reading to ourselves.</li>
	<li>In Writing we will continue to discuss choosing ideas from our lives on which we can base stories we want to tell.  This week I will focus on helping them choose small moments from their lives to focus their stories.  Students will continue to tell those stories through drawing pictures and writing words, when they can.</li>
	<li>For Handwriting I will introduce letters V, W, X, Y.</li>
	<li>For Science we will begin our fabric unit.  This will tie in with social studies as we study quilts and how they relate to different traditions.</li>
	<li>Students are getting very good at using I messages when prompted and sometimes unprompted.  Please encourage your child to use them at home so that they become part of their normal vocabulary.</li>
</ul>
Important Dates to Remember:
<ul>
	<li>No School – Nov. 6, Nov. 11, Nov. 18,      Nov, 26 &amp; 27, Dec. 4, Dec 21- Jan. 1</li>
	<li>Nov. 5 Literacy Night 6-7:30pm</li>
	<li>November 18 Report Card Pick up –      There will be a sign up sheet in the front entryway.</li>
	<li>November 20 International Night</li>
</ul>
<p align="center">Have a Great Week!</p>