Room 302

Sunday, September 02, 2012

Teach a Kid to Argue - Figures of Speech

Thursday, June 21, 2012

2012-2013 Newsletter 1---Welcome!

Newsletter 1 2012-2013 6/21/2012

Dear Families,

Welcome to third grade in Room 302! I'll be your teacher for 2011-2012.

I had the chance to meet with the students during our school move-up day. We read a couple of stories and did some art. We had fun, and I'm excited about working with them in the coming year.

I've been teaching since 1989, and from the beginning my focus has been on finding ways to try and meet the needs of individuals. That is where my teaching is most effective. I try to find ways to connect learning to students' lives. I think Why do we have to do this? is a great question. It needs a great answer, and my goal is to always have one ready.

As a father with 3 kids of my own (Jordan-13, Jeremy-12, Janelle-9) I'm well aware that families know their children best. I count on families to help me monitor progress and needs, so together we can find ways to meet the needs of each child.

The best way to keep in touch will probably be email, as it seems to offer the most flexibility. I ask that you email me when you get this note, or as soon as possible. That will let me know you got the note, and it will give me an email address where I can contact you as needed with newsletters, questions, updates, etc. You can also call me at school.

August 29^th is our first day back to school in the fall. I'll be here prior to that, in case people want to stop by, say hi, and drop off supplies (The supply list is on the back of this page.). I'm not sure of that date yet, but when I know, I'll email it to you. If you have more than one email you check, feel free to send both. It's easy for me to add more than one to the list.

I also try to post updates to our class twitter account (https://twitter.com/#!/room302), our blog (http://room302.blogspot.com/), and our district website (http://swift.enumclaw.wednet.edu/bde/jkurtz/index.php). Those are also good places to find out what we've done in past years.

If you have questions at any time, now or in the future, please don't hesitate to ask. I look forward to working with you.

Sincerely,

Jeff

Supply List 2011-2012

Hi.

This is what I'd like the students to bring. The only things we'll share will be Sharpies and Kleenex. The rest should have names on it. Please send pencils in already sharpened, if possible.

1 box 24 ct Crayola crayons

3 large glue sticks

3 dozen #2 pencils (Ticonderoga-avail @ Costco in bulk)

Pencil top erasers

2 Dry Erase Markers (black or blue)

5 wide-ruled spiral notebooks

1 water bottle

2 folders w/sturdy bottom pockets

1 pair Fiskar scissors

1 Supply Box

1 pencil sharpener with shavings box

2 packs sticky notes

colored pencils

markers

2 black Sharpies

Kleenex

Saturday, June 09, 2012

FW: Newsletter 12

Newsletter 12                                                                  [6/8/2012]

Dear Families,

Third grade is almost done. It sort of sneaks up on me every year. But we're ending with some great things.

Field Trips and CBA

Thanks to everyone for all the support and help to make the field trips a success. I think all the students (and many of the adults) learned lots about this area and its history. A special thanks to Don Mason for guiding us at the museum and the Franklin mine. We appreciate his expertise, and how he keeps it interesting for all.

Students are using what they learned to write their Classroom Based Assessments on city history.

Spirit Week

Next week we are again lucky to be having Jim Valley come to our school and provide some extra music for us. This is always a treat, and his web site is http://www.rainbowplanet.com/.

To go along with that, each day will have a theme:

Monday, June 11th—School Color Day (Red/Black)

Tuesday, June 12th—Hat Day

Wednesday, June 13th—Wacky Wednesday (wacky hair/clothes)

Thursday, June 14th—Red, White and Blue Day (the 14th is also Flag Day)

Friday, June 15th—Sports Day (this is field day)

Summer birthdays

If any of the students with summer birthdays want to pick a day to bring in treats/celebrate with the class, just let me know and we'll make it happen on one of these upcoming final days.