Ice Cream Social is Tonight!

Don't forget to join us in the evening for the annual A2 STEAM Ice Cream Social from 6-8pm on the back playground. There will be a variety of carnival games, face painters, as well as dessert snacks for sale. All tickets will be $1 each, and activities will range from 1 ticket (for an ice cream or game) to 3 tickets (for an elaborate face paint design). Please note, there will NOT be food trucks this year, so bring a blanket and picnic (limited pizza slices will be available to purchase for 2 tickets/slice). The event will be help rain or shine! We are still looking for a few more volunteers to help ensure a fun event for everyone: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c044baaa923a64-20181

Book Fair is this Friday!

BOGO BOOK FAIR

Scholastic BOGO Sale

We are hosting a 1-day only Scholastic BOGO sale again this year to coincide with the Ice Cream Social on June 1st. Books will be available for sale from 8:00am-7:00pm, or as long as they last! All books are buy-one-get-one free, so it's a great way to stock up on books for Summer Reading!

Cash, checks and credit cards are acceptable forms of payment - checks can be made out to A2 STEAM at Northside PTO.

If you are available to help volunteer for the sale, please sign up on this list: https://volunteer.scholastic.com/#/signup/Va3rjDtIO

Thanks in advance for your support of this sale!

Our mural is coming together!

Hello families! We are hoping that every student can put paint on the wall during mural week, June 4th - June 8th. In order for this to happen, we need volunteers! Volunteers can be any family member over 18 (meaning parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, older siblings, etc.).

Sign up for as many different slots as you want, we could really use the help! Please use the Doodle Poll here to sign up to volunteer:

https://doodle.com/poll/3y2izsc4cv2emyb5

It's going to be lots of fun, we are excited to see the whole community coming together to paint our mural! See you then!

The B Hive 5.18

We had so much fun at Field Day/Fun Run today.  It was a busy morning and great sportsmanship.  I think you are going to have some tired (still colored) kiddos. 

Next week is Spirit Week.  Here is the calendar for the week. 

Spirit Week

Monday 5/21: SPORTS DAY

Tuesday 5/22: Dress as Your favorite Book or Movie Character

Wednesday 5/23: Favorite Color or Wear RED for Education

Thursday 5/24: Wacky Day

Friday 5:25: Career Day/ Dress to Impress

Scholastic BOGO Sale

Scholastic BOGO Sale We are hosting a 1-day only Scholastic BOGO sale again this year to coincide with the Ice Cream Social on June 1st. Books will be available for sale from 8:00am-7:00pm, or as long as they last! All books are buy-one-get-one free, so it's a great way to stock up on books for Summer Reading! Cash, checks and credit cards are acceptable forms of payment - checks can be made out to A2 STEAM at Northside PTO. If you are available to help volunteer for the sale, please sign up on this list: https://volunteer.scholastic.com/#/signup/Va3rjDtIO Thanks in advance for your support of this sale!

Fun Run Information

Color Fun Run is back! And this year its going to be even more awesome, were having our first field day with the Color Run! All K-8 students will participate with their classrooms/advisories in this community-building event (regardless of fundraising completed). 

This years prizes are:

• Everyone gets a pair of Color Run sunglasses 
• The top 3 classrooms will win a Menchies frozen yogurt party
• Students who raise $150 and up will win a limited edition STEAM T-shirt
• Students who raise $250 and up will win a limited edition STEAM T-shirt and Principal for the day!!!
• The top 5 single students who raise the most money overall will win a AirTime Summer Jump pass for unlimited jumps till September 1!!!

Stop by the fundraising thermometer to see how well STEAM is doing toward our $20,000 goal!!!

How to donate:

1. Visit our online fundraising site at: https://grouprev.com/a2steamcolorrun

 - If you are new to A2 STEAM, please "Create your own page" at the top! You will register and have a personalized platform for supporting the event. Then you can share on Facebook, Twitter, email, etc. to collect donations from friends and family members. (Note: If you have more than one child at A2 STEAM, you will need separate emails to create their fundraising pages.)

- If you are a returning student, you will use the same email and password as in previous years. Please select "Login" at the top of the page, then Select "Start a Fundraiser" For an Organization. In the search bar type, STEAM (or Northside) and this year's fundraising "A2 STEAM Color Run and Field Day" will appear. 

2. If you would not like to create an online fundraising page, please bring any donations in an enclosed envelope to the PTO drop box. Please include your Child's name and teacher. Make checks payable to: A2 STEAM at Northside PTO

Volunteers - We need you!! We are still looking for additional volunteers for the Color Run and Field Day events. Please sign up here and receive a FREE T-Shirt and some awesome swag! 

Helping Girls Navigate Social Media

#SocialMedia4Girls: Parent Workshop

Most parents of young girls are faced with confusion and questions regarding the use of electronic devices and social media. What Apps are appropriate? How much is too much? How do we monitor use?    

To help answer your questions, we are incredibly excited to announce a free 90 minute parent workshop, followed by 30 minutes of Q & A.  

When: Wednesday, May 9th at 6:30PM

Where: Burns Park Auditorium

RSVP: https://goo.gl/forms/qdqOXHCfne4uLdst2

Helping Girls Use Social Media in Healthy and Positive Ways

Parents and educators often don’t know where to start when talking to girls about social-media expectations and guidelines. We didn't grow up with Snapchat and Instagram, and it can be overwhelming to stay informed on the latest apps, and monitor what girls are exposed to and experience. Social media is not going away, researchers agree that social media use by teen girls is currently "fueling a mental health crisis.”

​In MEDIAGIRL’s (http://www.mediagirls.org) 90 minute workshop, founder and Executive Director Michelle Cove shares a new road map with concrete strategies to help parents and educators understand our kids' use of social media, and guide girls in making social media fun, healthy, and empowering.  There will be time for questions after the presentation.

    

What You'll Learn

• How girls say they’re influenced by social media
• Unspoken “girl rules” of Instagram, Snapchat & more
• How to help girls think critically about posting
• Healthy guidelines to set with girls around use
• How some girls are using social media to inspire

About the Speaker

Michelle Cove, founder and Executive Director of MEDIAGIRLS, is an award-winning filmmaker, author, and journalist whose projects have been featured on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," Katie Couric’s talk show "Katie," "The Today Show," Fox TV, and national publications. She is the author of the book I Love Mondays (Seal Press, 2012), co-author of the national bestseller I'm Not Mad, I Just Hate You!: A New Understanding of Mother-Daughter Conflict, and author of Seeking Happily Ever After (Tarcher Penguin, 2010). Michelle was Sr. Editor of the national magazine Girls' Life, and continues to blog regularly for the

award-winning Huffington Post Parents.

MEDIAGIRLS TESTIMONIALS

"Michelle is one of the most dynamic, engaging, and inspiring speakers I have ever had the pleasure of working with. She gives honest, practical feedback in a way that is both caring and down to earth, and she is one of the funniest people I have ever met. Her refreshing perspective encourages those she works with to grow, from the youngest, shyest girl in a room to the loudest, most outgoing woman."—Mikki Pugh, Boston Program Manager, Strong Women, Strong Girls

Michelle Cove ran her MEDIAGIRLS workshop at the Boston International Kids Film Festival, and provided a great discussion about the myth of the "perfect girl," what to look for in ads and how companies frequently play on the insecurities of women and girls in order to get them to buy products. The audience clearly enjoyed themselves and learned a lot from the interactive presentation, and I highly recommend Michelle to come to your community and schools!      --Olivia Osiecki, Filmmakers Collaborative

"Michelle’s presentation was informative and thoughtful. Her passion regarding the representation of girls in the media was obvious and motivation to all who had the pleasure of hearing her words. She was able to achieve something that is very difficult when presenting to an audience with such a range of ages, which was to make everyone in attendance think." —Keith Civin, The Rashi School, Dedham, MA

Michelle Cove's presentation to middle-school and high-school girls and parents was remarkably engaging for their parents. Her candid assessment of the societal pressures that the media passively and overtly gives to pre-teen and teenage girls was informative and thought-provoking. Michelle's ability to hold the audience's attention was extraordinary, with many leaving well informed. — Justin Cameron, Principal Frederick W. Hartnett Middle School

Michelle Cove is a charismatic speaker who adeptly presented this difficult topic in a refreshing new light. Michelle’s presentation engaged all of the 50 attending students and left them inspired to make changes on our campus as well as in their communities back home. Several groups went on to initiate their own discussion sessions over their remaining week at the program. We are delighted to work with Michelle in the future and thoroughly recommend her. --Ariel French, Director of Programming for Explo at Wellesley

"Michelle spoke at the 'Gender in Society Day' at our school and really made an impact on the students. She was an extremely relatable speaker, which made everyone feel comfortable participating and asking questions. Her presentation was engaging and made students think, whether male and female. We were really lucky to have her as a speaker!" —Samantha Leone, co-founder Media Literacy Club, Newton North High School

We learned from Michelle how to stand up to media messages that undermine girls and women.  We can either be mesmerized by the media's false images or empowered to re-shape them. By modeling the latter, MEDIAGIRLS gives girls the tools to transform their lives and the world around them.  Michelle opened our eyes and led the way." —Paula Sharaga, Brookline Public Library

The B Hive 4.27

Hello families!  I hope I am finding you well.  We are pretty tired here in room 402 today after our successful and fun field trip yesterday.  I want to take a minute to thank all of you who were able to join us.

A few important things:

1.  Next week we will be having a state mandated lesson on HIV.  This is taught like a blood born pathogens lesson and there is NO conversation about sex.  There is a note that came home with your child tonight.  It lays out all of the things that we cover.  If you have questions or concerns, please let me know. 

2.  There will be no homework or word study this week or next.  Because of field trips and M-Step, we will take a small break for the next few weeks.  Your student may be bringing home work that they did not finish during the day.  You will be alerted by email if this is the case. 

3.  As stated above, M step begins for 4th grade this coming week.  We will be doing the two sections of ELA this week and the two sections of math next week.  Please make sure that your student gets to school on time and is well rested.  I appreciate your help with this. 

4.  We have  short field trip this week on Friday with Ms. Huckabone to the School of Music.  It will take place on Friday from 9:30 to 11:30.  We will be back in time for lunch. 

5.  Our recorder concert is next Tuesday, May 1st.  We have a day performance at 9 and then our evening performance is at 7.  The students are asked to arrive and be on stage by 6:50. 

Detroit Field Trip is Planned and Scheduled!

We will be heading to Detroit on Thursday, April 26th.  Our itinerary is as follows:

8:30     Leave STEAM
9:30     Litter Pick up with Greening of Detroit
10:30   Landmark Tour and Lunch at Peck Park
12:00   Tour Detroit African American History Museum
2:30     Belle Isle Adventures
3:30     Head back to Ann Arbor


We would love for you to join us!  Please fill out the field trip form if you are able!

The B Hive 4.16

Happy Monday!  As we approach nine more weeks of school, I continue to be amazed by the intelligence and tenacity of your students.  I am so happy to be this group's teacher this year.  As the temperatures begin to warm up, the students come in less layers.  Can you help by making sure they have enough layers to make it through a Michigan day?  It seems like lately we never quite know what to expect weatherwise.  I tell them that they must dress in what you send them in, but the challenge is sometimes they are not fully dressed for that particular weather.  Thanks for your help in this.

Math
We are finishing up our unit on multistep story problems.  This is hard and will continue for the next unit as well.  Look for extra practice sheets that will be coming home to help students with extra practice on this.  We will be taking our unit 7 post test on Tuesday.  Today your student is bringing home a practice test that they should complete and bring back on Monday.  We will go over it as a class on Monday.  Please take some time to do this with them so you can see the challenge of some of the problems that we are currently working on.  This unit is getting them ready for 5th grade for sure!

Reading
We are really getting into Bud, Not Buddy as our read aloud.  Christopher Paul Curtis has created  an amazing character in this book that we are really starting to connect to.  We are at this point continuing to practice all of the great reading strategies we have already learned as well as dig into what makes historical fiction special.  We are learning a lot about the time and place of this book (Great Depression in Michigan) and what it meant to be a young, parentless African American boy at this time.  We are also working on test taking skills as we approach testing time.  This is not a big part of our day, but we just use it to review the things that will help make the testing environment more productive. 

Writing 
We finished up our first round of opinion pieces.  Students will be recording themselves this week reading their opinion pieces and these will be sent to their intended audiences.  For many of them, it is you.  So get ready.  :)  We will begin a small poetry unit in the next week or so. 

PBL
We just finished up our unit on erosion called Project Dirt Pile.  The students had a great time learning about erosion, weathering and deposition and how humans can impact these natural events.  We created infographics on how we could potentially stop erosion as well.  We are now moving into our next unit called We, the Students.  During this time, we will learn about what makes up our government and how citizens can have their voices heard. 

Are you free tonight?

Have some free time this Sunday?

This Sunday, April 15 at 5:00 the Association Football Club (AFC)Ann Arbor will kick off the 2018 season with a friendly vs. Carpathia FC. The clubs new venue is at Skyline High School. 

At half-time the Michigan Tigers 08 girl’s soccer team will be playing a 10 minute scrimmage. A2 STEAM fourth graders Amber Weaver and Camryn Murray are part of that team. Please feel free to pass on this information to classmates to come cheer Amber and Camryn on! 

Portions of the proceeds from the evening will benefit the Skyline Men’s Soccer program.

Terry Lynn Johnson Author Visit

Do you have a "mathy" on your hands?

Wow! We raised some money this weekend!

Expo is here!

The B Hive 3.5

Hello families!

Happy Monday!  I hope I am finding you all well.  We finished off February with a bang and have quickly moved into March.  March is a busy and fun month for us.  It is March is Reading Month, Expo, and the last week is Spring Break.  Below are a few important things to note:


Reading
March is Reading Month - during this month, we place an extra emphasis on our great reading work.  We value reading here at STEAM, but take a minute to reflect on reading with a variety of activities.  Check our our MIRM movie below.

Math
Our hard work on division was a success and students are making great strides into a better understanding of partial quotients, short division, or a picture strategy.  We will come back to division later so please continue to help your student practice this very important skill.

Pasta For Pennies

Dates: March 12th-March 23rd

Flash 48- March 10th-11th

Online Giving:

-Individual students who create their own online giving page and raise $50 or more online will receive a limited edition HERO SQUAD t-shirt from the National office in New York!

-Each classroom can win their own pizza party! Flash 48

-Schools raising $1500 or more online in addition to the program will receive a bonus past or pizza lunch for the teaching staff to enjoy.

Celebration Party:

-Schools raising a minimum of $750 receive an Olive Garden pasta party or a Hungry Howie’s pizza party for the top fundraising classroom.

-Schools raising $1500 or more will receive a 2nd place Hungry Howie’s pizza party to celebrate.

Flash 48:

Each classroom will have a online giving page. They will have 48 hours to raise $250 online. Each classroom that reaches the $250 goal by the 48 hour deadline will receive a prize for the students and teacher.

Here is our Team Page

The B Hive 2.23

Dear Families,

I hope I am finding you well on this once again rainy day.  EXPO is only one month away and we are busy working on getting amazing things ready for your viewing pleasure.  Check out what we've been up to this week:

Reading - We are still reading and very much enjoying The City of Ember.  We have reached the climax of the story and are working our way to the resolution at the end.  By next week, we will begin our next read aloud, which is Bud, Not Buddy (historical fiction).  We will talk about the great things that historical fiction brings to us as a genre.  For our reading work and reading groups, we are working on responding in writing to the books that we are reading and using great reading strategies in our groups and in our independent reading. 

Math - Whew!  It is time for division.  This is a challenging concept for many because this is the first year that students really dig into this concept. It also can be challenging because you have to have your multiplication facts in place.  So if you know this is a struggle for your student, please help them do reflex or other things to continue to work on knowing those facts.  There are many ways to practice division using our Study Links or IXL focus links. I can also provide additional worksheets for practice if needed. 

Word Work - Words came home today for next week.  Please help your student remember to study.  They should be sorting and practicing their words every day.  They need to make sure they know the meanings of the words, the spelling, and the pronunciation. 

PBL - Our driving question is "How can we use the history of Detroit landmarks to join in on the revitalization of the city?  We are at the point where we know the important parts of the history,  now we are moving into the second part of the question.  How can we join into the revitalization?  Your student will bring home an extra homework assignment this weekend.  They need to think deeply about a challenge they see and then create a solution for this challenge.  Please have them bring the paper back on Monday.  These ideas need to be people, time, and money manageable. 

There are several posts below this post about things happening here at STEAM.  Please continue to read on and check out our twitter to see what we're up to. 

Best,
Mrs. B

Interested in Running?

Don’t miss out on this once a year opportunity! Girls on the Run at A2 STEAM starts March 5^th!

Hello! My name is Amy Lawson and I am the site leader and head coach for A2 STEAM Girls on the Run (and also a proud STEAM parent). For those of you who are not familiar with GOTR, it is a program for 3^rd-5^th grade girls which inspires them to develop essential skills to help them navigate their ever-changing worlds and develop a lifetime appreciation for health and fitness. Research shows that by adolescence, girls’ confidence drops about twice as much as boys’. Friendships become more complicated and challenging, girls' perception of their academic ability declines, the likelihood of anxiety and depression increases and participation in physical activity plummets. The Girls on the Run curriculum helps girls to recognize their personal strengths and teaches them how to stand up for themselves and others. Through running games and activities, the team prepares to complete an end of the season 5k together. As a coach, I have witnessed how the GOTR curriculum inspires girls to be better friends, to advocate for themselves, and to become leaders in their community. I have seen how their self-confidence grows over the season. Girls who did not think they could finish a 5k in March joyously walk, run, or skip across the finish line in May. We are building our Girls on the Run team at A2 STEAM, and we would love to get your daughter involved. We meet after school on Mondays and Wednesdays from 3:30-5pm from March 5^th-May 16^th. You can learn more, and register online, at http://www.girlsontherunsemi.org !

Pasta for Pennies Starts Soon!

Pasta for Pennies

Dates: March 12th-March 23rd

Flash 48- March 10th-11th

Online Giving:

-Individual students who create their own online giving page and raise $50
or more online will receive a limited edition HERO SQUAD t-shirt from the
National office in New York!

-Each classroom can win their own pizza party! Flash 48

-Schools raising $1500 or more online in addition to the program
will receive a bonus past or pizza lunch for the teaching staff to enjoy.

Celebration Party:

-Schools raising a minimum of $750 receive an Olive Garden
pasta party or a Hungry Howie’s pizza party for the top fundraising
classroom.

-Schools raising $1500 or more will receive a 2nd place
Hungry Howie’s pizza party to celebrate.

Flash 48:

Each classroom will have a online giving page. They will have
48 hours to raise $250 online. Each classroom that reaches the
$250 goal by the 48 hour deadline will receive a prize for the students
and teacher.

Author Visit Coming Soon!

The B Hive 2.19

Dear families,

What a rainy day!  Is this the start of our late winter, early spring weather?  I hope so as I am tired of snow.  I know there are students who feel very differently than me.  :)  We have another short, but busy week so check out what we're up to in Room 402. 

Last Weeks' Fun

Reading - In reading, we spent the week talking about the elements and structures of biographies.  We spent the whole week on a great biography called The Crafty Escape about two slaves who escaped from slavery in a very interesting way.  The students all chose another biography (or two or three) to read and we focused on what makes biographies different than other types of texts.  We are still reading The City of Ember and have about a week left.  The students will soon figure out what the instructions really do say. 

Writing - This week we tied our writing time to our PBL unit and did note taking and highlighting practice.  Students read a short biography on a person who worked at Motown records and created a fact card about them.  There was no word work this week, but there will be word work this week. 

Math - Students took the Unit 5 math assessment and showed how much they learned throughout that unit on fractions.  They then began our next unit on division.  Division can be very challenging to students who do not have their times tables memorized so you will see emphasis put back on Reflex during this time.  It really helps students in fractions and division to know their multiplication facts. 

PBL - We are solidly in the middle of a great project where we are learning about Michigan history throughout important landmarks in Detroit.  The students are SO interested and learning a lot.  This will be our EXPO project so look for more information on that soon. 

Dates to Remember...
Safety Assembly - Wednesday, Feb 21st at 9:15 in the MPR
Disability Awareness Workshop - Friday, February 23rd, all morning.  If you are able to help, please sign up here.  We can not run this event without parent support. 
Snowball Dance - Friday, Feb 23rd from 6:30 to 8:30
Early Release Day - Wednesday, Feb 28th (dismissal at 12:52, no childcare)

The B Hive 2.11

Wow!  We have a fun, short week coming up!  I hope you enjoyed your long day and the snow day!  We never left the house and it was quite nice.  There is a lot going on, so read on to find out what we're up to and what we've been up to. 

We hope to see you tomorrow for NAAPID!  All parents are invited and encouraged to come to see what we're up to here at STEAM.  Here is our schedule for the day.  Because of the snow days, things are a little mixed around, but you will get a good look into our typical day.  

8:20 to 8:50       Morning Meeting

8:50 to 9:45       Author Share (sharing our personal narratives)

9:45 to 10:45     Library (in our room)

10:45 to 11:15   Group Share (sharing our posters about early industry in Michigan)

11:15 to 11:40   Spelling Test (students are split into the three rooms)

11:40 to 12:30   Lunch

12:30 to 1:30     Collaboration Time (creating playdoh models of cars)

1:30 to 1:45       Recess

1:45 to 2:00       Read Aloud

2:00 to 3:15       Math Assessment/Reading

Wednesday is our Valentine's Party from 2:00 to 3:15.  It is a quiet celebration with fruit and cheese.  If you are able to bring in grapes, please sign up here.  Students can bring in Valentines and/or treats for the whole class.  We will enjoy a snack, pass our valentines, and watch a short movie.  It is also Count Day so please help your student  be there and on time.  Thanks in advance for your help with this.  

A few things to note...

We will be taking our Unit 5 assessment tomorrow, February 12th and our Unit 6 pre test on Tuesday, February 13th.  Look for those test in the next few days to see how your student did.  

Because of illness and injuries, we are experiencing a higher than typical amount of guest teachers in the building.  Ms. Reader will be out for some time because she had surgery on her foot and Senora Stuer will also be out.  I need your help in talking with your student about respectfulness of all adults in our buildings.  Some students are struggling with this.  

Ms. Pelton is gradually increasing her responsibility in the classroom and is taking over instruction in morning meeting, math, and a few math groups.  Things are going very well, and the students are taking the transition well.  Please talk with your son/daughter about continuing to respect Ms. Pelton in the same way that he/she treats me.  I appreciate your help in this.  

A few important dates...

Midwinter Break is this coming Friday, the 16th and Monday, February 19th.  There will be no school during this time.  

Friday, February 23rd is our Disability Awareness Day.  This event can not run without parent volunteers so we need you!  Sign up here to help.  

Wednesday, Febrary 28th is early release.  Students will be dismissed at 12:52.  

Valentine's Fun!

We will be having a Valentine's party on Wednesday, February 14th.  It will begin about 1:30.  There will be a sign up coming home on Friday for snacks.  Students can bring Valentine cards and treats for all students in the class.  It is not necessary to bring in anything.  Below is a class list to help students get started with their cards if they choose to bring them in. 

Ahmed

Lars

Matthew

Sofia

Jessica

Solomon

Mason

Grey

Maya

Andrew

Eilidh

Breyana

Malcolm

Xavier

Olivia

Quinlan

Noel

Camryn

Bryce

Emme

Ihla

Mackenzie

Colin