IMPORTANT OCTOBER DATES October 4th: No CATS for 6th graders (due to CATS testing) October 8th : Half-Day October 12th: No CATS for 5th graders (due to CATS testing) October 13th – 15th: No CATS, half-days for parent-teacher conferences October 18th – 22nd: FALL BREAK
These dates can also be found on the new October calendar in the back of your child’s CATS communication folder.
THANK YOU’s! I want to send out a big thank to all of you parents who have contributed tissues, hand sanitizer, surface wipes, and SNACKS to share and use in our CATS classroom. Your generosity is so appreciated! It is helping to keep our classroom cleaner, reducing the germs, and keeping our kids healthier, and well-fed!
Curriculum C.A.T.S. is off to a great start! In the past few weeks, we have been doing a lot of team-building and character-developing activities. Fifth and sixth graders also learned a little bit about bats, by completing a lesson in class and going on a field trip to Brandi Fenton Park to participate in a bat research simulation program. Third and fourth graders learned about pollination, pollinators, and plants in September by completing a lesson in class and thengoing on a field trip to Brandi Fenton Park toparticipate in a pollination program.
CONTINUING OPPORTUNITY THIS YEAR! I have entered a CATS team into Math Olympiads. This is a national math competition program, where students (4th – 6th grade) engage in developing their math problem-solving skills. Five monthly competitions happen throughout the year, where members of the team take 30 minutes during CATS class to solve 5-6 interesting math problems. You can get more information by going to the Math Olympiad website:www.moems.org. Please encourage your young math mathematicians to participate!
6th graders We will be studying the concept of flight this year. In October, we will be making flying hoopsters and roto-copters. We will test different variables, look for patterns, and draw conclusions based on our data..
5th graders This month, we will begin reading the novel, Walk Two Moons. This is a beautifully written novel incorporating our social-emotional learning goal for the year.
4th grades In October, I am hoping we will begin The Riving River of Words Program through Pima County Parks and Natural Resources. This program links science and art. We will study the newly recharged Santa Cruz River, and have an artist teach in our classroom for 3 different sessions/days. We will also go on a field study to the river hopefully in November (date to be announced. We will learn about where the water from the Santa Cruz comes from and how to test the water quality.
3rd grade We are continuing to learn new logic and strategy games found in the CATS classroom. We will also do an engineering challenge this month and a fall art project.
Academic Reminders Please talk to your child again about taking responsibility for communicating with their teachers about important lessons and work missed when they are away from their class to come to CATS. It is an important part of learning for students to advocate for themselves. Please talk to your child about his/her day in CATS each week, sign his/her communication log, check on grades and behavior in the regular classroom, and please check your email for the CATS newsletter each month.
All CATS students will receive a formal “report card” in January, not in October; however, please feel free to contact me by email or phone any time if you have concerns about your child’s progress in CATS. I am happy to set up a conference with you, and you are always welcome in the CATS classroom if you want to check out what we do here!
REMIND text message reminders Please sign up for REMIND for CATS to receive text messages with information, reminders, and updates about upcoming events for your child’s CATS class. If you signed up last year, the account should still be in service. Here’s how to sign up for REMIND:
On your cell phone, text the following message to 81010.
For 6th Grade text @cats202; for 5th Grade text @msjsling; for 4th Grade text @cats2024; for 3rd grade text @msjslinge.
You will then get a text from REMIND confirming you as a member. OR, you can download the free app and go to “Join a Class.” The app. is not necessary to receive REMIND texts.
Thank you for supporting your child’s gifted education. We have so much to look forward to!
Take care of yourselves and each other.
Always feel free to contact me with any concerns – 696-8437 or by email. Puzzle of the Month Can you write down five odd-numbered digits in such a way that they add up to 14?
