Native American Heritage Month
TOQUAM: American Indian & Alaska Native Heritage Month 2025
FROM THE PRINCIPAL'S DESK:🍎🍏🍓🍐🍑🍒🥭
As we prepare to enter the holiday season, let’s take a moment to pause and be thankful for one another and the partnership we share in supporting our children. It’s hard to believe they have already been in school for three months and in that time, we have seen wonderful growth in reading, writing, and mathematics.
Many of our classes have enjoyed exciting field trips and engaging class projects that enrich learning beyond the classroom walls. We are especially grateful for our dedicated parents who volunteer their time and energy to support our school community. Our PTO continues to organize wonderful activities and events, if you haven’t joined yet, we encourage you to become a member and get involved!
We also offer monthly parent meetings designed for parents, by parents, led by our Parent Facilitator. These gatherings are a great opportunity to connect, share ideas, and strengthen our school community.
As we continue to glow and grow this school year, we thank you for your continued support in helping ensure every student has what they need to succeed.
With gratitude,
Principal Brooks 🌺🌻🌷
👋 Tókša akhé (Goodbye in Lakota)
TOQUAM'S NEW ARRIVAL CLASSES
PICTURED RE-TAKE...NOVEMBER 13TH
PARENTS IF YOUR CHILD NEEDS TO RETAKE THEIR PICTURE, PLEASE MARK YOUR CALENDAR FOR THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13TH. SMILE 🤣🥰😍🤩
TOQUAM'S SPECIALIST HAVE STYLE... 😄😁😆🏈🏀
November 2025 Newsletter (all specialist combined) Final 10/31
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1J1QLe5azyg-KA-h8LizZb5tqTZKY5MmDlaxMEvVE1YI/edit?usp=sharing
GRADE LEVEL UPDATES:
KINDERGARTEN:😁😆😉
FIRST GRADE:😇😏😋
Dear Families,
Our scholars have been working hard and learning great things! We had an amazing trip to Soundwaters this past week. The students enjoyed learning about habitats and different saltwater animals. As always, we encourage you to get involved and stay connected. Your support truly makes a difference in helping Toquam be the best it can be!
Literacy: This month, students are deepening their understanding of the consonant digraphs SH, CH, WH and TH. Students are particpating in small group instruction that is tailored to fit their specific needs.
Math: We started Unit 2 and are investigating teen numbers.
Knowledge: We just finished Different Lands and Similar Stories, a unit that explores how people from different parts of the world share similar stories even though their location, cultures and traditions may be different. Students identified common themes as well as comparing and contrasting the similarities and differences. Next we will be learning about Ancient Civilizations, and what it takes to build a civilization. We practice AVID strategies, such as philosophical chairs, gallary walks, and using graphic organizers.
Important Dates:
11/4: No school, election day
11/11: No school, Veterens Day
11/26: Thanksgiving Feast! First grade will be having a Thanksgiving Feast, please stay tuned for more updates.
11/27-11/28: No school, Thanksgiving
Warm regards,
The First Grade Team
SECOND GRADE: 🤣😍😘
Hello second grade families! Second grade students are continuing growing in their math, reading, and writing skills. In our math unit, we are wrapping up unit two and moving onto unit three. Students will be continuing to work on their adding and subtracting skills through word problems, fact families knowledge, and number stories. In CKLA skills students are learning all about suffixes such as the -ed and -ing. In CKLA knowledge, students will be learning about Anicent Greek civiliaztions. In science, students are learning all about matter. As always, feel free to reach out with any questions/concerns. Thank you for your ongoing support!
THIRD GRADE: 💯💥💫
Dear 3rd Grade Families,
It’s hard to believe that Thanksgiving is around the corner!! We are Please read about what is happening in our classrooms.
🌟 What We’re Learning
📖 CKLA Knowledge – Unit 2: Animal Classifications
After finishing our unit on Classic Tales, we are learning to be Animal Researchers. We are exploring Text Features in our Readers and learning how to Classify different types of Animals.
➗ MATH – Unit 2: Number Stories & Arrays
We are working on solving Number Stories and identifying the “Clue Words” to help us figure out which Operation to use (Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication or Division).
🌍 SCIENCE – Animal Studies
We are beginning our unit on Animal Studies. We will learn about Fiddler Crabs, African Dwarf Frogs & Millipedes. We will also conclude our unit with a Research Report about an animal that the students choose.
✍WRITING - Empowering Writers
We are learning how to Annotate both Narrative and Informational Text.
📅 Dates to Remember
Tuesday, November 25th: Pre-Thanksgiving Luncheon 10:00am
Wednesday, November 26th: EARLY RELEASE DAY - STAFF AND STUDENTS
Thursday, November 27th and Friday, November 28th: NO SCHOOL - THANKSGIVING BREAK
😊 Classroom tips:
~Please remember to check your child’s Homework Assignments every day
~Sign your child’s Reading Log every day
~Check Homework Folders daily for important papers/notices
FOURTH GRADE: 🧡💛💚💙
Hello 4th grade families,
Whew! It’s already November!🦃 We had such a great time on our Mill River field trip learning all about energy! Please keep up the great work practicing our multiplication facts nightly. Also please remener to check the student planner book each night and place your intitals at the bottom once the homework is completed. Please have students wear a coat to school!
Upcoming events:
Tuesday, November 4th- Election Day….No School
Tuesday, November 11th- Veteran’s Day…No School
Wednesday, November 26th: EARLY RELEASE DAY - STAFF AND STUDENTS
Thursday, November 27th and Friday, November 28th: NO SCHOOL - THANKSGIVING BREAK
🤔 Math~ We will be starting Unit 3 soon which will focus on equivalent fractions, comparing fractions, ordering fractions, modeling decimals with base-10 blocks, tenths and hundredths, and comparing decimals. **Please remember to have your child study their multiplication facts every night.
✍ CKLA~ We are finishing up our Narrative Ubit. Soon our fourth graders are starting to learn about the American Revolution in CKLA. We are going to be starting off by reading about the changes that were brought about by the French and Indian War and boycotts and protests of the colonists towards the King of England. The students are going to write a cause and effect essay to end this unit, so we will be focusing on reviewing commas, the root ~port, prefixes ~im/in, subject-action verb agreement, and drafting a cause and effect paragraph.
FIFTH GRADE: 🍎🍏🍎🍏
Hello 5th Grade Families!
Here’s what we’ve been up to in our learning journey and a look at what’s coming up!
🧮Math
Our next unit focuses on division number stories, fractions on a number line, renaming fractions and mixed numbers, adding fractions with unlike denominators, and solving fraction number stories. ❎**Please have your child study their multiplication facts EVERY NIGHT!❎ Their mastery of these facts will help them learn the different algorithms with ease.
📕📝CKLA
In CKLA, we’re diving into the fascinating topic of Early American Civilizations: The Mayas, Aztecs, and Incas. Students are gearing up to begin our special Codex project, where they will create their own illustrated manuscripts inspired by early civilizations' forms of record-keeping.
🌎Social Studies
We’ve started our First Settlers unit, exploring the lives, cultures, and innovations of the earliest settlers. This unit ties beautifully into what we’re learning in CKLA, bringing early American history to life.
🏫School News
Tuesday, November 4th- NO SCHOOL (Election Day)
Tuesday, November 11th- NO SCHOOL (Veteran’s Day)
Thursday, November 13th- Picture Retakes
Tuesday, November 25th- Pre-Thanksgiving Luncheon
Wednesday, November 26th- Early Release
Thursday, November 27th-28th- NO SCHOOL (Thanksgiving Break)
Thank you for your continued support in making this a successful year!
Warm regards,
5th Grade Team🥰
NOVEMBER 25 @ 11-1PM: PRE-THANKSGIVING LUNCHEON🦃🦃🦃
CALLING ALL FAMILIES TO COME BREAK BREAD WITH US ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 25 FROM 11:00AM - 1:00PM. YOUR CHILD CAN JOIN US AS WE CELEBRATE AND ENJOY A PRE-THANKSGIVING MEAL PREPARED BY WRIGHT TECHNOLOGY HIGH SCHOOL CULINARY DEPARTMENT. PLEASE RSVP...
All this perhaps
As the woof goes to and fro,
Wafting as
Humble hopes, and joys and care,
Weaving closely
While I watch the pattern grow
