Volume 6, Issue 8 April

West Elementary School

Wamego, KS

Upcoming Events
4/3 – Mini Society Interviews
4/3 – West Winner Day
4/10 – No School, preK-8 Prof.
Dev. Day
4/13 – No School, preK-8 Plan
Day
4/15 – Birthday Dinner
4/22 – Field Trip
4/24 – West Winner Day
4/27-5/1 – Local Writing Assess-
ment (in class)
4/30 – Literature Group @
11:45
Science Fair
Congratulations to Noah Bai-
ley for receiving First Place in
the Math category and supe-
rior overall!
McCune Monthly
Contact Info
Please remember that I am always
willing to answer questions or listen
to any other feedback you have.
Please feel free to call (456-8333
ext. 3116) me or email
(mccunea@usd320.com) me any
time.
KS Assessments
We are done with KS assessments!
We still have a few local assess-
ments to complete before the end
of the year (see Upcoming Assess-
ments), as well as a couple of class-
room assessments.
Reading Challenge
The Book-it program ends in March.
We will be participating in a reading
Homework
Please remember to supervise your
child during homework time. Each
student should be completing the
following as part of their homework
routine:
 Reading (20 minutes mini-
mum)
 Math facts (5 minutes mini-
mum)
 Study spelling words
Please remember to record the
number of minutes practiced and
sign your child’s reading and math
calendars.
Conferences—Thank

Upcoming Assessments
Our Local Writing Assessment
will be April 27-May 1. All of
the work will be done in class
during our writing time. The
students will be writing a
personal narrative.
challenge along with the other third
grade classes in regards to our read-
You!
ing goal for April. We have set a We had 100% attendance at parent/
goal of 400 minutes per student to teacher conferences this spring!
be completed during the month. (This includes phone conferences
Our class goal is 8,800 minutes. If and those of you that requested a
our class meets the goal, we will portfolio of work!) Thank you so
earn an extra recess. Each week much for your support!
we will total our class minutes and
post them on our class goal sheet.
Calendars will be checked every
Monday. Please make sure you
are recording the minutes and ini-
tialing each day your child reads.
This needs to be kept in their
agenda binder.
 Volume 6, Issue 7
Cans for Conservation
This program started be-
fore Spring Break and is
sponsored by the Sunset
Zoo in Manhattan. The
students have enjoyed the
zoo presentations that we
have attended so far. If
you are participating, be
sure to drop off your cans
on the cement pad near
the shed, not near the
dumpster.
Language Arts
Our current word study
theme includes contrac-
tions and pronouns. Our
next theme will focus on
adverbs and suffixes.
Science
We have already started our
unit on the earth and soil.
We started with the layers
of the earth. We are cur-
rently studying soil. This
includes layers of soil, types
of soil, and erosion. We will
also be studying fossils dur-
ing this unit. There are
many hands on lessons in
which students will be
touching and doing experi-
ments with soil during this
unit.
Page 2
Field Trip—Reminder
We will be going to Topeka
on Wednesday, April 22nd.
We will be touring the
Capitol building and the
dome. Students need to
remember to dress appro-
priately and wear tennis
shoes. We will be doing a
lot of walking. We will be
leaving West at 8:30 and
returning toward the end
of the school day. If you
are interested in joining
us, please fill out the bot-
tom of the form that was
sent home and return it.
Spelling
We take a spelling test
every Friday unless we
don’t have school, in which
case it will usually be on
Thursday. Please make
sure your child is studying
the list that comes home
with him/her each week.
Reading
We are back to our normal
schedule in reading. We
will continue to work on
comprehension, accuracy,
and fluency in both shared
reading and guided reading
groups for the remainder of
the year. I will be giving
some individual assess-
ments to measure their
progress in these areas next
month.
Math
Our current unit focuses
on decimals. This is a new
skill for many students.
Our next unit focuses on
volume. We will continue
to practice this on our
DPPs and in review activi-
ties.
Please focus on practicing
addition and subtraction
facts if your child has not
passed these timed tests.
Learning these basic facts
will help in later units.
Spending time practicing
counting money and telling
time would also be benefi-
cial! These are lifelong
skills that some students
struggle with.
Social Studies
Mini Society has begun!
Over the next few weeks
we will be voting on a
name, the design and de-
nominations for our cur-
rency, determining what
students will be paid for,
and interviewing for jobs.
Here are some important
dates to remember for
Mini Society:
-April 3 –Interviews
-May 13 – Market Day (1:30
-3:05)
-May 14 - Auction
Please call or email me if
you have any questions
about the content of this
newsletter. Thanks!