Monday, November 07, 2011
Saturday, November 05, 2011
Newsletter 5, 2011-2012
Newsletter 5 10/27/2011 Email
Dear Families,
Here are some quick updates:
Harvest Party
We will be doing something low key things from 11:30-12:30 on Friday, October 27. (It's already a busy day, with an assembly, a lesson with our counselor, and a math test!)
I think we will have enough food, but if you want to send in something, that's great. We'll either have it for the party, or save it for snack. If you have any smaller food items we could use as markers on a BINGO board, that's one thing I think we still need.
We could use some supplies, like plates, silverware and napkins, if anyone could send those.
If students want to bring costumes to wear for that hour, they may. No masks, weapons, blood, etc.
If you want to be here, that's great. I would appreciate knowing in advance, but if you're able to just show up, that's fine, too.
Math
We're finishing a geometry unit. There are a lot of math words and terms covered in this unit, as you've seen if you follow us on Twitter.
Reading
We've been learning about cause and effect, and how to recognize those things in a story. It will help them to understand stories, and how to write better stories.
Writing
We have written expository pieces to explain some of the items in our jackdaws. We have written to answer the question: What Is an American? Now we're learning how to write personal narratives, beginning with lists of things in our lives that are typical and unusual.
Volunteers
Please let me know if you'd like to volunteer to help us—we'd love to have you. I can think of 3 ways: in class; special events in class, like parties; field trips. In all cases we need paperwork filled out in advance. Please turn it in a month or more in advance, so there is sufficient time to check references, etc. You can find information and forms here: http://www.enumclaw.wednet.edu/families/volunteers.aspx .
One current need is people to help plan/coordinate parties. Please let me know if you can help with this. The next one will be in December.
Conferences
I'd love to meet with everyone for a conference. A sheet with conference times came home recently. Please send those back ASAP to help me plan times that will work for you to be here and bring your child. I structure the conference with the intent of the students being here, to celebrate progress and talk about next steps.
On last count, I had email addresses for 14 families so far. If you haven't sent yours, please do. If you think you did, but you aren't getting newsletters over email, please email me.
Calendar
Friday, October 28—PTA Spooktacular, 6-8, Gym
Thursday, November 3—PTA Meeting Location: BDE School Library, 3:30pm
Thursday, November 17—Early Release, 12:15, Conferences
Friday, November 18—Early Release, 12:15, Conferences
Monday, November 21—Early Release, 12:15, Conferences
Tuesday, November 22—Early Release, 12:15, Conferences
Wednesday, November 23—Early Release, 12:15
Thursday, November 24—No school
Friday, November 25—No school
Chapter Book
Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Sincerely,
Jeff
FW: Newsletter 4, 2011-2012
Newsletter 4 10/27/2011
Dear Families,
I'm glad some of you were able to join us at curriculum night and I hope you found it useful. Since some people weren't here, I'll try to cover some of the information in newsletters, as I update you on other things. For updates on daily classroom stuff, Twitter is your best bet.
Class Rules
Our class rules were generated by the students and I putting together a list of things we thought important. They reflect student priorities, as well as my own. My hope is to make the classroom and its protocol "ours" instead of just "mine". Here is what we wrote and signed:
o Be kind and respectful.
o Talk when it's your turn. Be quiet when you should.
o Help each other.
o Don't mess it up.
o No yelling.
o If there's a problem that concerns you, try to make it better.
Twitter.com is a web site where people send short updates on what they are doing. I use it in 4 ways: (1) to review what we're learning in class, (2) to help students become better writers, (3) to help students keep up with current technology in authentic ways, and (4) to keep families up to date on what we're doing in class.
I'll also use it sometimes (along with email) for updates or announcements. If you choose to "follow" us, you can even get text message updates on phones every time we write a new entry, or "tweet". You do not have to follow us, or have an account, to read our tweets. Just go to www.twitter.com/room302 .
Homework
As I said at the parent meeting, I will sometimes send work home, and sometimes students will choose to do work at home.
My hope is that families are still finding time to read aloud to the students at home each day. I find that the older they get, the more fun it is (for me) because the stories get better. My daughter is a "reluctant" reader, but when forced to choose a book to read by herself, she will often choose a book that she has heard me read out loud. She understands the big picture (storyline, characters, problems, etc.) and is then more ready to handle the whole thing on her own.
Ideally, school work done at home would be relatively brief, and would enhance family time together, rather than compete with it.
Math
I will often give a pretest when we begin a unit, and a posttest when we're done. The pretest offers students a nice view of where we're going, what we'll learn, and how the pieces fit together. It also shows the skills they already have. It can be helpful to compare the pretest and the posttest to see evidence of learning. I'll send those home when I don't need them, so you can see how your child is doing.
One thing I want ALL students to have is addition facts memorized. Many do not. Stopping to solve simple addition facts like 6+7 or 17-9 wastes time and causes errors. I'm sending home triangles with fact families for the students to practice. You can also use any game that requires adding or subtracting, and we've talked about some of these in class. I suggest starting by memorizing doubles (e.g. 6+6=12, 12-6=6) and combinations of 10 (e.g. 7+3=10, 3+7+10, 10-3=7, 10-7=3). Memorizing "families" helps students understand relationships between numbers, and means if they know one fact, they know four.
How do you know if your child needs practice? One way is to ask them. Most of them know if they struggle here. Another way is to cover one corner of the fact triangle—see if he or she can tell you the missing number and the 4 equations in the family.
Volunteers
Please let me know if you'd like to volunteer to help us—we'd love to have you. I can think of 3 ways: in class; special events in class, like parties; field trips. In all cases we need paperwork filled out in advance. Please turn it in a month or more in advance, so there is sufficient time to check references, etc. You can find information and forms here: http://www.enumclaw.wednet.edu/families/volunteers.aspx .
One current need is people to help plan/coordinate parties. Please let me know if you can help with this.
Book Orders
I have set up an online account for those who would like to order books from Scholastic. I If you order online, you can choose what you want and pay immediately. They'll send the books here and our class still gets points to order classroom books. If you don't have home access to a computer, I believe you can still go online and order from a public computer, like at the public library. The web site is Web address: www.scholastic.com/bookclubs . Please ask me if you have questions. You can also call Scholastic at 1-800-724-6527.
Calendar
Sunday, October 23—Grace's Birthday
Thursday, November 17—Early Release, 12:15, Conferences
Friday, November 18—Early Release, 12:15, Conferences
Monday, November 21—Early Release, 12:15, Conferences
Tuesday, November 22—Early Release, 12:15, Conferences
Wednesday, November 23—Early Release, 12:15
Thursday, November 24—No school
Friday, November 25—No school
Chapter Book
Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Sincerely,
Jeff
Monday, October 24, 2011
Monday, October 03, 2011
Friday, September 30, 2011
Friday, September 23, 2011
Student Education Record Parent Request
Student Education Record Parent Request
Parents and guardians of students who were enrolled full time or part time in Washington public schools during state testing may view their child’s Washington Comprehensive Assessment Program (WCAP) test booklets; which includes the Measurements of Student Progress (MSP), High School Proficiency Exam (HSPE), End-of-Course exams (EOC), Washington Alternate Assessment System Portfolio and the Collection of Evidence (high school only).
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Friday, September 09, 2011
Tuesday, September 06, 2011
Newsletter 2
Newsletter 2 9/6/2011
Dear Families,
We had a great first day! I hope you hear good things. Thank you for trusting me with your children. I’m looking forward to the next 179 days our class has together. Here is some news and some information:
Snack
Since we don’t eat lunch in the upper grades until 1:00, snack can be pretty important for some of them. I know it is for me. There are two ways we can do snack: Students bring their own snack each day and eat that, or students bring in snack to share. I’m happy either way. Talk to your child about which one you want to do. We’ll make a list and try to keep track. Those who are sending in snack will want to know how many are eating and how often to send. The best things to send are healthy, and easy to distribute evenly.
Specials
We have Physical Education on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and Musical Education on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. I’m not sure yet when we will have library.
Jackdaw
What is a jackdaw? A jackdaw is a collection of things about a topic. Part of the fun is finding and building the collection to share with others. In this case, the topic will be each student. I have given each student a gallon size Ziploc bag and I’m asking them to make a jackdaw about themselves. It must all fit inside the bag. Here are the guidelines:
Bring in items that represent:
· some of your "gifts"-- things you are good at (maybe a book or a paint brush or a game piece)
· some of your interests - things you are fascinated with and like to spend your time reading about or doing (maybe a catcher's mitt or word puzzle)
· relationships you have with other people (maybe a photo of friends or a souvenir from a family trip)
· ways you already help others (maybe a leash if you walk the dog or spoon if you set the table)
· other things you can think of that will tell us about you
The jackdaws should be brought to school and each child gets to share their collection with the rest of the class. We’ll do other activities with them too, and display them. I’d like the bags done and back by Monday, September 12, but they can come back sooner and we’ll start sharing when they do. This will be a fun way to get to know each other. I can’t wait.
Email
My goal is to be paperless as much as possible this year. Sending newsletters and things like this is so much easier, effective, and timely with email. If you have not sent me your email, please do so when you read this. If it’s easier to write it, just put it in the margin of this newsletter and send it back. Just so I get it. Even if you are just reading newsletters on the blog (room302.blogspot.com) I’d like to have your email.
Calendar
September 6—First Day
Thursday, September 8—PTA Meeting, 3:45
Thursday, September 15—Curriculum Night, 6:30
Thursday, September 29—Pictures
Chapter Book
Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus by Barbara Park
If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. I’m happy to help, and if one person is wondering, others probably are, too.
Sincerely,
Jeff