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Celebration of the Constitution – Freedom’s Light – Field Trip

Sep6

Today your child will be bringing home a permission slip for our first field trip, taking place Friday, September 15.  Please review, sign and return this slip no later than Monday, September 11.

Lacey has volunteered to arrange carpool for this first field trip.  If you are interested in driving and chaperoning, please contact Lacey Wolfinger.   Please tell her how many TOTAL children, including your own, you can drive.  The sooner we can arrange the rides, the better.

We need 4 or 5 volunteers, enough to transport 27 students from the school to Bountiful park and back again.  We will be leaving from the North Shore parking lot at 8:30 and leaving Bountiful park at 2:15.

Once Lacey has the drivers squared away, a WeJoinIn will be made and it will be your responsibility to place your child in the car you would like them in.  If you are making your own arrangements, please notify Lacey of these details so she can communicate with me.   I cannot make these arrangements myself.

You can contact Lacey at: laceywolfinger@yahoo.com

I am putting PDF copies of the permission slips under the PDF tab on the home page. In the event your child loses their copy, you can print one at home.

 

 

Week 3 – Important Dates to Remember

Sep3

It’s hard to believe we are already entering our third week of school.

Your kids have their first home project, elements, and have been given time in class to get started.  The majority of the remaining work will be completed at home, with the finished project due in class Monday, September 18.

Our class is bonding well and friendships are being formed.  It is important to speak to your child about using time wisely in class, even though what they might really want to do is chat with their new friends.  We will be discussing time management this week and how to balance work with breaks in order to become amazing learners.

Silent Reading – Please make sure your child brings a book from home to read during our silent reading period.  This is a quiet transition time each day after recess into our afternoon cultural activities.  We have a small class library, but I have noticed there are numerous children not interested in the books available in our room.   If you know your child is particular in their reading habits, please help them select a book from home to bring to school each day.

Dates to Remember

  • September 7: Back to School Night –  6:00 pm
  • September 12: 6th grade Parent/Student Redwoods Meeting –  5:30 pm
  • September 15: Freedom’s Light Constitution Day Field Trip* – permission slips                                             coming home this week
  • September 18: Element home project due

*I’m looking for a parent willing to organize carpool for our class field trips.  We have numerous field trips this year that will require parent drivers/chaperones.   Please email me if you are interested in taking on this role for our class this year.

Week 2

Aug27

Morning Work Cycle – This week in class we will begin math, language and writing assessments.  These assessments provide a baseline from where to begin teaching your child.   We strive to administer these assessments in a stress free way, so that your child can do their best work.

Cultural – We will study matter as an extension of our first Great Lesson, The Birth of the Universe, and in preparation for our first home project.  Students will select an element on which they will do an in depth study.  They will create a poster to present to Ms. Marleen’s lower elementary class in September.  Details of the assignment will be provided Thursday, August 31 and is due Monday, September 18.

UC Berkeley time crystalsSpelling – This year we will be using a new spelling program that is differentiated for each child.  A whole group spelling lesson will be given on Thursdays, from which your child will create their own spelling list.  Children will work with a spelling buddy to practice their words in class, take practice tests, and administer final spelling tests Wednesday mornings.

Pre-labeling page numbers will simplify the implementation of our new spelling program. We are beginning this program Thursday, August 31; therefore, I am looking for several parent volunteers to number the pages at home.  We need the journals ready to go Thursday morning.  If you are interested in working off  volunteer hours at home, please send me an email as soon as possible.

 

Snack Sign Up 2017-2018

Aug20

In the spirit of following Dr. Montessori’s recommendations for child nutrition, and in order to align with school policy for snack, our classroom will be participating in child/family provided snack.   This routine will allow children the opportunity to hone practical life skills of food preparation and clean up.  Students will provide and prepare snack for 28 students.  Please adhere to the approved items as it will streamline snack time and eliminate messy spills and stains in our classroom.

In order to ensure that snack does not become a distraction, our class is limiting the approved items to the following list:

  • Mini bagels with cream cheese
  • Fruit (ex. apples, clementines, bananas, strawberries, blueberries, cucumber, melon – cut at home, grapes, cherry tomatoes)
  • Cheese Sticks
  • Veggies (ex. carrots, broccoli, celery)
  • Crackers with cheese (pre-cut)
  • Granola Bars (no chocolate chips please)
  • Fruit Leather (no fruit snacks or fruit roll-ups please)
  • Mini-muffins
  • Whole Grain bread with jam

Please do not send popcorn, cereal, chips and salsa or ranch dressing.  These items will be sent home with your student.

If your child is bringing their own snack, please ensure it is a healthy one.  Chips, Cheetos, cookies, fruit snacks or other items high in sugar are not appropriate and will be saved until lunch.

Week 23 – The long awaited blog post

Jan17

My sincere apologies for the delayed post.  It seems like after Winter Break, the kids aren’t the only ones struggling to get back into a solid routine.

A lot has happened in our classroom since returning after the new year.  We started out the year talking about Growth vs. Fixed mindset.  The students are working toward having a growth mindset in all they do.  It’s rewarding to hear them come to class each day sharing how they had a growth mindset.  Some students even come in admitting to having a fixed mindset, but then follow it up with ways they could have changed their mindset.  This is an attitude that we are all striving to attain.  Check out this beautiful Ted Talk about growth mindset.

Our sixth grade socials committee has been working hard on planning the upcoming Winter Dance.  This activity is designed to allowed sixth grade students spend time with other sixth grade students outside of the classroom.  Each year the students have an opportunity to participate in two social activities prior to the field trip to the Redwoods.  These activities help to build bonds that will make Alliance Redwoods an even more powerful experience.

The Winter Dance is this Thursday, January 19 from 5:00-6:30.  Students are invited to bring a finger food to share.

Our annual 5th grade field trip to JA Biztown is next week, January 25.  We look forward to this trip every year.  If you have signed up to be a volunteer, I will be contacting you via email with detailed information about your duties.