This week’s parent homework comes from the Everyday Math Family Letter for our current unit. These letters include information on what is being studied during the unit, activities and games to play, and even solutions for the StudyLink math homework pages. Family Letters are sent home at the start of each unit of study. Also, they are available online at www.everydaymathonline.com.

Have your child look for everyday uses of probabilities in games, sports, and weather reports. Ask your child to make a list of events that could never happen, might happen, and are sure to happen.

Share your list on www.mrschrader.com by commenting on this article.

Book: Shark vs. Train by Chris Barton

Mystery Reader:  Mrs. Campbell's Clues

1. I can spell supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.
2. I melt ice cream and M & M's before eating them.
3. I love children's movies. My favorite line from Toy Story movie is "Look Piccaso!" as stated by Mr. Potato Head as his body parts are askew. Makes me giggle to think about it.
4. Books, books, books are great! Children's books, adult books, mysteries, novels, poetry collections, scrapbooks, comic books, educational books...delicious.
5. I have two children and four pets. My children are 19 years and 16 years and my pets are a Shetland Sheep dog, two yellow tabby cats, and one Blue Crown Conure (a parrot).

We had Mrs. Campbell join our classroom this week to read to our class. Her story was a book suggestion from a second grader!

Book: The Z Was Zapped by Chris Van Allsburg

Mystery Reader:  Darin Feldkamp's Clues

1. My favorite dog when I was a kid was named Poncho.
2. I am the youngest sibling in my family.
3. I grew up on a farm.
4. I am an accountant.
5. I play the guitar at church.

This was the first time that we had a student guess the Mystery Reader on the first clue. Darin came in and did a great job with reading a couple A-Z books for us, and he had some interesting things to share about growing up on a farm!

It's time to begin scheduling parent/teacher conferences for the Spring. They are coming up on February 15th in the afternoon and all day on the 16th. This year, I am going to be scheduling them a little differently. I would like you to schedule them online through our class' Google Apps accounts. The process should be fairly simple, but it will take a few instructions.

1. Go to our Google Calendar appointment schedule by clicking [here] or going to http://schrad.me/appointment.

2. Log in using your child's Google Apps credentials, located in the MOOSE. In the email field, you will need to add an "@mrschrader.com" to the end. For example, if it says that my username is jdoe, then I would need to type "jdoe@mrschrader.com" in this field. Then, I would enter my password in the next box, and click Sign In. Your next page would look like the image below.



3. In the blue bar at the top, there is an arrow, and you will have to navigate to the right to the week of October 24th. You'll know you're there when you see a bunch of available appointments on the 15th and 16th.

4. Each box that says Parent/Teacher Conference is an available appointment for you to schedule. Find a time that works for you and click on the appointment slot. The box below is what will pop up, allowing you to confirm your appointment.



5. Click Save and your appointment for Parent/Teacher Conferences is set! See you then!

I appreciate your willingness to sort of change up the way you schedule this. My intentions are twofold. First, I want to make it convenient for you to schedule your time when you are available while letting you see what is available. This way, you can find what works for you. Second, I want to make it possible for you to schedule appointments with me. I'll talk more about this at conference time.

We’re out of mystery readers, and we could use your help! Mystery Readers visit on Friday afternoons at 3:15 and read a book to the class. We love having visitors, and have a great time trying to figure out clues as to whom our mystery guest might be! If you’re interested in helping us out by reading to our class, please email Mr. Schrader at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Thanks!