As Mr. Works stated in the weekly newsletter, the Friday after vacation we will begin a new schedule. We will still be explicitly teaching thinking skills and habits of mind, as well as having learning coach. However, our seminar time has been switched to an extra math and ELA instructional period. A picture of the new schedule is shown below. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me or Mr. Works. :)
FRIDAY BEFORE VACATION
I have been getting a few emails asking about Friday and wondering if we are going to be having a party for Valentine's Day. The answer is no. We will be doing some friendship based activities and the activities will be linked to our Habits of Mind curriculum. If your child has already made cards or wants to make cards to bring in for classmates, that is fine, however we are going to just put them in mailboxes to be opened at home. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. :)
NEW ROUND OF STUDENT INTEREST GROUPS
It is that time again for a new round of student interest groups! We have lots of great choices this time including coding, snow-shoeing, reader's theater, crafts, painting, fun fitness, dog training, talent show, and many more!! One thing to keep in mind is that if your child wants to be part of the talent show this year, they MUST sign up for this interest group on Tuesdays. Learners will be signing up on Monday morning. If you have any questions, please feel free to let me know :)
HOW TO RESOLVE A CONFLICT
We spent some time the past couple of Fridays during our Habits of Mind time exclusively teaching about strategies to resolve a conflict. We also had some discussions using a Matre'd model during morning meeting to discuss in different sized groups different ways we would resolve certain conflicts or scenarios. Here is a picture of our strategies list as well as a picture during our small group discussions around how to deal with different scenarios.
MOVIE NIGHT
Everyone should have received a flyer home about an upcoming movie night put on by the PTF. On Friday, January 22nd at 6:00pm here at school, the PTF will be showing Hotel Transylvania 2. There will be free water, popcorn, and a raffle to give away the movie.
INDOOR SHOES
Please be sure that you child(ren) come to school with shoes to change into. It is hard and sometimes uncomfortable to wear winter boots around all day especially if they are wet from playing outside. You are welcome to leave the shoes at school if you would rather not have your child cart them back and forth. Thank you for you help with this. :)
EXCELLENT AUTHOR SIGNING EVENT
I wanted to make you aware of this AMAZING event! At the Falmouth Elementary School, they will be hosting an author and illustrating signing event. They are expecting 35 authors and illustrators to be in attendance. You can find more details by clicking on the link below. I also know that few families have shown interest in attending and might be looking to carpool so there are options out there for transportation as well. :)
https://www.smore.com/ytu96
BOOK-IT CALENDARS
Don't forget that if you are reading every night to return those Book-It calendars that are going home. You can receive a free personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut. The January calendar went home today in folders. :)
THANK YOU
Thank you to everyone who made it to the Harvest Dinner, Culture Fair, and Winter Concert. It was a great night with a great turn out. The learners had fun sharing their learning as well as singing their songs.
UPCOMING EVENTS AND MEETINGS
Just a reminder that tonight is the PTF meeting at 6:00pm, tomorrow Tuesday is the SCAC (School Community Advisory Committee) at 5:30pm, Wednesday is the monthly board meeting at 6:00pm, and Thursday is our Harvest soup, Culture Fair, and Winter Concert starting at 5:00pm. If you have any questions, please feel free to let me know. :)
HARVEST SOUP AND CULTURE FAIR
Combined with the Winter Concert, we will also be holding our Culture Fair and enjoying soup made from all of the vegetables harvested from our garden. On Thursday, December 17th at 5:00pm, you are invited to join us for some soup as well as see what we have learned and been completing during our culture seminar. At 6:00, we will meet in the gym for our Winter Concert. I look forward to seeing everyone there to celebrate our learning!
WINTER CONCERT
On Thursday, December 17th, we will be having a Winter Concert. We will be singing 2 songs including Jingle Bells and I'm A Little Snowman. Papers with the lyrics have gone home on 2 separate occasions. Please be sure to be practicing at home as well don't have a lot of time together as a homeroom to practice at school. If you have any questions regarding the Winter Concert or the songs, please let me know. :)
ADVENTURES WITH CURIOUS GEORGE
Starting today, we have started Adventures with Curious George. Curious George will be visiting all learners that want to take him home. Every learner will take a week with George. In the bag going home is a letter explaining what to do, Curious George, a journal, and several books. It is your job to spend some time with George playing and reading the leveled books that were sent home. Curious George needs to come back on Fridays. On either Friday or Monday, depending on the activities of the day, the learner will have the opportunity to share their week as well as read one of the books they have been practicing to the class. If you have any questions regarding Curious George or would like to opt out of taking George home, please let me know. :)
THAT TIME OF YEAR
It is that time of year again when boots are needed to be outside in the wet, muddy, sometimes snowy grass. If your learner wears boots to school, please send him/her with a change of shoes. This is important because feet get very hot if they are kept in boots all day especially if those boots get wet outside. The shoes also need to have a hard sole on the bottom. The reason for this is because if there is ever an emergency, your learner needs to be able to stand outside for up to 30 minutes or more waiting for a bus or parental pick up. If you would like to leave a pair of shoes at school, you are welcome to do so in the cubby area. Please limit it to 1 pair of shoes at school at a time. The cubby area is not big enough to accommodate multiple pairs of shoes per learner. :) If you have any questions, please feel free to let me know.
THINKING SKILLS/HABITS OF MIND
We have been spending our Friday mornings discussing a few habits of mind and thinking skills. The habits of mind that we have been focusing on are perseverance, managing our impulsivity, setting and monitoring goals, and listening with understanding and empathy. We have been having lots of conversations and doing some activities as well as practicing all of these skills on a daily basis throughout our time at school. The thinking skills we have been focusing on are comparing similarities and differences, classifying, analogies, and constructing support for our thinking. These thinking skills have been explicitly taught, but also been incorporated into seminars and writing.
BOOK FAIR
Our book fair is in full swing. We made $600 already just in the first day or two! The book fair will continue to open during lunch and after school all this week. It will also be available for browsing and purchasing on Tuesday and Thursday during parent/teacher conferences. :) To accompany the book fair, we are having some special days this week. On Monday, it is Monsters Inc. wear green day. Tuesday is Where the Wild Things Are - crazy hair day, Wednesday is Socksquosh/Hatzilla - crazy socks and hat day, Thursday is Good Night Little Monsters wear PJ day, and Friday is Monsters University wear your favorite team or school jersey or shirt. It should be a super fun week filled with Monster like activities. :)
PARENT/TEACHER/LEARNER CONFERENCES
This week we will finish up the bulk of parent/teacher conferences. It was great meeting all of those families last Thursday and I am super excited to meet with almost everyone else this week on either Tuesday or Thursday. If you have a question about what day or time your conference is please let me know. Also, if you are unable to make your scheduled time, please let Mrs. Brown know so that she can reschedule you. :)
VETERAN'S DAY
Just a friendly reminder that there is no school tomorrow Wednesday, November 11th in observance of Veteran's Day. Enjoy the day off, and I will see everyone on Thursday. :)
BOOK FAIR
The book fair will be starting next week on Thursday. Please be sure to check out all of the cool books and items that are for sale through the book fair when you visit for your conference. The book fair will also be open at some points during the day so if you want to send your child in with money to buy books independently they are able to do that as well. We are hoping for great success with the book fair this year as it is much larger than previous years. :) If you have any questions about the book fair please ask either myself or Mrs. Clark.
CONFERENCE FORMS
We will be holding parent/teacher/student conferences on Thursday the 12th, Tuesday the 17th, and Thursday the 19th. Please be sure to return your sign up sheet with your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choice for days and times to the office asap. Thank you :)
NEW STUDENT INTEREST GROUPS
Last week, we began our new round of student interest groups. This round offered many different choices including but not limited to painting, hiking, monster crafts (working on crafts for the book fair), Minecraft crafts, lose the attitude learn gratitude, and who wants to be a scientist.
SCHOLASTIC BOOK ORDER
The new round of book orders has gone home. If you are interested in ordering any books, please send the form in with payment on or before November 13th or you are also able order online using our classroom code which is on the front of the order form. If you have any questions, or would like to order any books for the holidays please feel free to let me know. :) I have secretly received and delivered books in the past that were given as gifts.
BOOK-IT PROGRAM REMINDER
Reminder that the Book-It program started this month. If you read for 20 minutes a night, be sure to mark it on your calendar. When your calendar is full at the end of the month, bring it in to receive a free personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut. If you have any questions or need a replacement calendar, please let me know and I can send one home with your kiddo(s). Thank you and HAPPY READING!
CRAFT FAIR BASKET
Every year for the craft fair, the PTF asked classrooms if they would pull together with their homeroom groups a basket to raffle off at the craft fair. I always try to put one together. This year the theme of the basket is going to be a "Gift Wrapping Basket". I will pick up the large tote that it will go in, but any donations of items such as wrapping paper, tags, bows, gift bags, tissue paper, ribbon, etc. would be greatly appreciated. The craft fair is on November 21st so please have all donations into me by Thursday, November 19th. Thank you for your help putting together this basket and helping raise some money for the PTF. :) If you have any questions regarding the basket or craft fair, please let me know.
THINKING SKILLS AND HABITS OF MIND
On Fridays, we have been using the morning to explicit learn about different thinking skills and habits of mind that we can then apply to our everyday academics and social interactions with peers. We have focused on 2 different skills so far. The first being comparing similarities and differences and the second being classifying. We have completed a couple of different comparing activities including comparing two different stories about the Three Little Pigs as well as completing a Venn Diagram comparing a house and a bird's nest. For classifying, we began sorting pattern blocks. The class was split into 4 groups. They were given a mix of pattern blocks and asked to sort them and put them into different groups. No other specifics were given. They worked together and had some great conversations. Some ways that they classified them were by shape, color (individual color and secondary/primary colors), size, sharpness of edges, and shapes that go together to make new shapes for example all of the trapezoids and hexagons together because 2 trapezoids make 1 hexagon. It was a fun and engaging activity to introduce classifying. :) The 2 major habits of mind that we have covered include Managing Impulsivity and Listening with Understanding and Empathy. We have been brainstorming different techniques to help us follow through with these two habits as well as practicing them on a daily basis and using the language consistently across the classroom and school community.
PICTURE DAY
Everyone should have received an order form in the mail regarding picture day on October 13th. Please fill out the form and send it back in the envelope with payment to school or order online. If you have any questions regarding picture day itself or ordering, please let me know :)
REMINDER ABOUT ILLNESSES
This is just a friendly reminder about when your child isn't feeling well. We have already had a handful of students out due to illness. It is very important that if your child has a fever that they stay home. Students should be fever-free (without medicine) for 24 hours before returning to school. I know this can be a struggle, but we really need to try to keep the spread of illnesses to a minimum. Thank you for your help with this.
FINAL CALL FOR BOOK ORDERS!
I will be placing the September book order tomorrow night. If you or your child is interested in ordering books, please send in the order form with payment tomorrow or place your order online before 2:00 tomorrow afternoon. Thank you. :)
FIELD TRIP TO LAKEWOOD THEATER
On Friday the 25th, we will be taking a field trip to Lakewood Theater. We will be seeing the play "Paul Bunyan". The past few years that we have been to Lakewood Theater has been fantastic. I am excited about being able to see another play this year. :) We will be leaving school shortly before 9am and will be returning before lunch and recess. A permission slip went home last week. Please be sure that if you haven't filled this out and returned it to school, to do so asap. A signed permission slip is needed to attend. Also, if you are interested in being a chaperone please either indicate that on the field trip permission form or get ahold of me and we can schedule that.
BOX TOPS
It is time to start collecting box tops for education! For all of those new families, there is a box top trophy that is displayed in the classroom that collects the most box tops each month. All you have to do is cut the box tops off from the containers they come on and bring them into school in a sandwich bag labeled with your child's name. We have papers here at school for the students to glue the box tops on before handing them. If you are interested in having some papers for home, please feel free to let me know and I can send some home in your child's folder. Otherwise, just send them in in a bag, we will make sure they make it onto a paper and turned in. Happy box top collecting, and let's hope we can be the first homeroom this year to hold that trophy. :)
BOOK-IT PROGRAM
In your child's folder today you will find a letter and calendar for the Book-It Program. The reading program is put on by pizza hut. The goal is to read with your child or have your child read independently a minimum of 15-20 minutes per night. Each night you are successful in doing this, mark the day off on your calendar. At the end of the month, return the calendar to me at school and if you have read 90% of the days, you will receive a coupon for a free personal pan pizza. :) It is a great and yummy incentive to read at home every night. Once you get the letter and calendar, if you have any questions, please contact me. :)
DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP
Today we learned about digital citizenship and the proper way to use our iPads. While not everyone has their iPads yet, we still went over these lessons today. Once everyone has their iPads, we go more in depth with how to use the iPad and go over its features together with iPads in hand. For today, we just watched a few videos, had some discussions, and answered lots of questions. Below you will see a picture of the anchor chart that was created that reminds learners of the proper use for the iPad. If you have any questions regarding the iPads and their use, please feel free to contact me.
SPECIALS SCHEDULE
As most of you know from seeing our daily schedule at open house or on the website, our learners are getting 4 special learning opportunities per week. I just wanted to make you aware of when my homeroom students are having those specials so you can be sure to send appropriate footwear or clothing as you see fit.
Mondays we have Ag. Ed. from 2:30-3:10. This time is spent both in the classroom and outside doing hands-on activities.
Wednesdays we have P.E., Library, and Music. P.E. runs from 1:00-1:40, Library is from 1:45-2:25, and Music finishes off our afternoon from 2:30-3:10. This is an important day to send your learner with sneakers for P.E. and return any library books that have been checked out.
Hope this helps, and if you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask. :)
WELCOME TO THE CLASS!!!!
What a great first week it has been so far! We have been focusing on community building activities. One activity that we completed at the beginning of the week was a team building/communication activity. The learners were split into groups of 3 or 4. They were given some snap cubes to manipulate. The goal was in 5 minutes to build the tallest and strongest tower. They need to work together and effectively communicate to make this happen. It was a super fun activity which all students enjoyed, and they did a fantastic job working together and listening to all team members thoughts. :)
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