Newletter 5

2006-2007…Room 302—Newsletter 5…http://room302.blogspot.com

November 8, 2006

Dear Families,

We have busy times ahead, including conferences, holidays, and our holiday program. It should be lots of fun.

Party

Our Halloween party was great. There were six stations, and the children spent about 10 minutes at each. Without fail, the students were interested and engaged at all times. My thanks to everyone who was able to contribute and help make this another meaningful and worthwhile use of our school day.

conferences

Speaking of meaningful experiences, conference time is upon us. I plan to have the children present. I plan about 20 minutes for us to talk. For some, 20 minutes is plenty of time. For others, it might not be enough. Either way, I ask your help in making sure the conferences start at the appropriate time and do not run long. Our staff has worked to coordinate schedules so that sibling times are back to back, and if we get off schedule, the impact could affect many others. A sheet came home today, Wednesday, with your scheduled conference time. Please send it back to let me know the time works for you. As I said, these have been coordinated throughout our school, so if changes need to happen, we need to know fast. If I don’t see the confirmation slip back, I assume the time works.

In the interest of making the experience meaningful for you, I’m asking that you plan on starting with any specific questions that you have. My hope is that you won’t walk away with concerns or questions unanswered.

Why bring kids?

I want the students at the conferences. The topic of the conference will be them. The point of the conference is to celebrate their work, their progress, their accomplishments. They did all the work—how can we celebrate without them?

If you have an overriding need to speak to me about something that is inappropriate for the child to witness or overhear, perhaps we set up a different time to talk. If there are other conflicts that cannot be helped, so be it. It might not work for everyone.

Our day, each day…..

I thought that having a sense of our day might help before you come in, so here’s a basic layout:

Read Aloud / word work: I like to start our day with a story. Word Work includes “spelling”.

Writers’ Workshop: They usually write in journals. Once a week they do special project.

Bathroom/Recess

Readers’ Workshop: Students usually choose their own reading material. They each have a book box or bag containing things they want to read.

Lunch and recess

Math: Each student has a math workbook and a math notebook.

Science: we have just started science journals, which may be of interest

Jobs / clean up / pack up

Shared Writing

Chapter Book

Chapter Book

Bunnicula by Deborah and James Howe.

We’re also reading Junie B., First Grader: BOO…and I Mean It! by Barbara Park

Field Trip

We’re signed up to go to the Seattle Children’s Theater to see The Sorcerer's Apprentice by OyamO. We’re going with the other second grade class,. I think we’re about full on the chaperone list, but if you still want to go, I can put you on a waiting list, in case we end up with extra room. Some people have sent permission slips back; many have not. If you’re confirmed chaperone, please make a note of it and include an extra $10.50.

Blog

The main thing I use the web log (blog) for is to relate what happens in our school day, so we try to do it at the end of the day. Lately, our afternoons have been quite full. As a result, we do not always get time to do our daily news. I do think it’s a valuable use of our time, though, so I’ll continue to play with the schedule. I have recently updated the blog with what we’ve done so far, and I’ll try to be more timely about posting in the future. Thanks to those that have been asking about it.

Calendar

Thursday, November 9—no school	Monday, November 20—conferences, early release, 12:15
Friday, November 10—no school	Tuesday, November 21—conferences, early release, 12:15
Wednesday, November 15—Library	Wednesday, November 22—early release, 12:15
Thursday, November 16—conferences, early release, 12:15	Thursday, November 23—no school
Friday, November 17—Levi’s last day	Friday, November 24—no school
Friday, November 17—conferences, early release, 12:15

Sincerely,

Jeff