Letter to Parents 8/24/2008
Dear Parents,
We had a nice first full week of school. It's been nice to begin to get to know your children this past week. We topped off the week with meeting our kindergarten reading buddies who we will work with throughout the school year. Thank you for the books some of you sent in and the extra water bottles from Esmeralda’s family. It all helps!
The students have been making good progress with learning our class procedures and expectations. We have developed a credit/gift card system to try to help the students move in a positive way toward these expectations.
Here are a few things for you:
As previously mentioned, our classroom does not have a faucet or sink though we now have a 5-gallon water bottle for drinking. I prefer not to have open cups in the classroom as much as possible to avoid spillage. Many of the students have already brought water bottles to school. If your child does have a water bottle for class yet, please send a refillable water bottle to school you’re your child. Bottles with the "sports top" seem to work best because they spill less if tipped over while open.
Homework is usually assigned Monday through Thursday giving the students the weekend off. The exception to this is if your students has not completed an assignment and can use the weekend to catch up. They should be reading 20 minutes per night which is written in their planners along with a math assignment from their Study Links math book which should be kept at home (pages completed are torn out and returned to school on the assigned day. Sometimes the students will have a small assignment for Language Arts.
Spelling – we have been practicing with simple known words and learning the different methods for the spelling program in class. We will continue working on spelling in class this week and begin in earnest the week following Labor Day. You will see the spelling words come home to be practiced at that point.
We have a couple of field trips coming up: Monterey Bay Aquarium: Wednesday, September 17th. Both 4th grade classes will be participating in a Discovery Lab program called "Kelp Forest Connections" at the aquarium to supplement our upcoming studies of ecosystems. We will need drivers. Please note that the drivers need to be finger printed and proof of insurance. Please see the ISM office for fingerprinting information.
Our class also has another field trip scheduled to the Pacific House with Monterey Historic State Parks on Wednesday, September 24th. Here we will take part in a Native Americans program in which we will learn about the lives of Native Americans including participating in some of the activities they may have experienced such as acorn grinding, game playing, song and dance.
Again, we will need driver/chaperones for this field trip.
On November 6th, both 4th grade classes will be returning to the Monterey Historic State Parks for another program on Ranchos and the Mexican era of Monterey and California.
A note and permission slip will be coming home soon. Please look for these and return them as soon as possible.
Many of you have offered your help in the class. I appreciate this very much and will be taking you up on this offer. I am starting to figure out where the help is needed the most. In general, if you have a little time before school begins, I will sometimes just need some copies made for the day. I am also beginning reading assessments with all of the students. So far, the best time to do this has been first thing in the morning while the students are writing in their interactive journals. If you have 20 minutes at the beginning of the day, you could circulate around the room while I assess the students at the side table. Our math hour, starting at 10:10 is also another time we can use some help right now. Again, this would either be circulating to help the students or to help with correcting papers.
You could also just check in with us at the end of the day if you have extra time to see if there is paper sorting or other organizational work to be done.
Again, we will need your help for the field trips if you can be available. They should be fun and interesting. I hope some of you can join us.
Reminder: This week is a short week! School will be dismissed at 11:30 on Wednesday. Thursday and Friday are days off due to Teacher Professional Development. Monday is Labor Day holiday. September 4th is Back to School night.
Have a nice looooong week-end!
Best wishes,
Mary Welsh
We had a nice first full week of school. It's been nice to begin to get to know your children this past week. We topped off the week with meeting our kindergarten reading buddies who we will work with throughout the school year. Thank you for the books some of you sent in and the extra water bottles from Esmeralda’s family. It all helps!
The students have been making good progress with learning our class procedures and expectations. We have developed a credit/gift card system to try to help the students move in a positive way toward these expectations.
Here are a few things for you:
As previously mentioned, our classroom does not have a faucet or sink though we now have a 5-gallon water bottle for drinking. I prefer not to have open cups in the classroom as much as possible to avoid spillage. Many of the students have already brought water bottles to school. If your child does have a water bottle for class yet, please send a refillable water bottle to school you’re your child. Bottles with the "sports top" seem to work best because they spill less if tipped over while open.
Homework is usually assigned Monday through Thursday giving the students the weekend off. The exception to this is if your students has not completed an assignment and can use the weekend to catch up. They should be reading 20 minutes per night which is written in their planners along with a math assignment from their Study Links math book which should be kept at home (pages completed are torn out and returned to school on the assigned day. Sometimes the students will have a small assignment for Language Arts.
Spelling – we have been practicing with simple known words and learning the different methods for the spelling program in class. We will continue working on spelling in class this week and begin in earnest the week following Labor Day. You will see the spelling words come home to be practiced at that point.
We have a couple of field trips coming up: Monterey Bay Aquarium: Wednesday, September 17th. Both 4th grade classes will be participating in a Discovery Lab program called "Kelp Forest Connections" at the aquarium to supplement our upcoming studies of ecosystems. We will need drivers. Please note that the drivers need to be finger printed and proof of insurance. Please see the ISM office for fingerprinting information.
Our class also has another field trip scheduled to the Pacific House with Monterey Historic State Parks on Wednesday, September 24th. Here we will take part in a Native Americans program in which we will learn about the lives of Native Americans including participating in some of the activities they may have experienced such as acorn grinding, game playing, song and dance.
Again, we will need driver/chaperones for this field trip.
On November 6th, both 4th grade classes will be returning to the Monterey Historic State Parks for another program on Ranchos and the Mexican era of Monterey and California.
A note and permission slip will be coming home soon. Please look for these and return them as soon as possible.
Many of you have offered your help in the class. I appreciate this very much and will be taking you up on this offer. I am starting to figure out where the help is needed the most. In general, if you have a little time before school begins, I will sometimes just need some copies made for the day. I am also beginning reading assessments with all of the students. So far, the best time to do this has been first thing in the morning while the students are writing in their interactive journals. If you have 20 minutes at the beginning of the day, you could circulate around the room while I assess the students at the side table. Our math hour, starting at 10:10 is also another time we can use some help right now. Again, this would either be circulating to help the students or to help with correcting papers.
You could also just check in with us at the end of the day if you have extra time to see if there is paper sorting or other organizational work to be done.
Again, we will need your help for the field trips if you can be available. They should be fun and interesting. I hope some of you can join us.
Reminder: This week is a short week! School will be dismissed at 11:30 on Wednesday. Thursday and Friday are days off due to Teacher Professional Development. Monday is Labor Day holiday. September 4th is Back to School night.
Have a nice looooong week-end!
Best wishes,
Mary Welsh
Labels: parent letter
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