Ms. Kaley's Classroom Room 24

Hi Everyone!  Lots of information below, so please read everything and carefully.

Updates & Protocols:

It has been a busy busy busy week!  I want to thank you for those who came to Back to School Night, wrote me about their child, or just stopped in to drop off supplies!  You as parents and guardians are crucial members of my team.  I need you guys as much as you need me.  Please, at any time, if you have questions, email is best way to get a hold of me.  I check it all the time, but if you write me after 5pm, I will more than likely see it the next morning.  If you write about a concern, email can only go so far to solve the issue.  I prefer we talk in person about any concerning issues face to face rather than exchange a multitude of emails.  Mondays and Tuesdays are my longest days at the school where I attend and run certain meetings.  Wednesdays-Fridays will be the best days to meet with me for anything.

Blog Check!

This blog is super important to check.   If you look over to the right side of this page, you will see a section where you can subscribe to the blog.  Click it and follow the instructions.  Be sure to check your email inbox, as it will ask you to click a link to confirm the subscription.  Once you have done that, overtime I make a post, you will be emailed the post I make.

As we start the year, I will add pages and information to this site.

Snack!

Snack is so critical for our students.  I am going to try a new sign up system that will email you a reminder when it is your turn.  I will be setting that up, so when it is ready, you will see it also to the right of this page at all times during the year.  If I can’t get it up and running this weekend, we will need snack for this coming week (1st week of school).  Please email me if you are willing to send healthy foods for our kiddos.  We will be doing a group snack the 1st (maybe 2nd) week back only.  After the 1st/2nd week, snack will individual and will end at 11:00am.

Volunteers & Room Mom:

It seems like this year I have a group of you who want to help read, do laundry, cut lamination, work in the garden, etc.  I can’t tell you how great it feels to have a lot of you wanting to help.

Right now, we could use our rugs that we work on washed.  They were washed last in the middle of last year.  There is quite a few of them, but I know a few of you signed up to help.  Please email me if you can take them ASAP.

We are still in need of a Room Mom!  Jaida Ryan was our Room Mom last year and did fabulous things for our class.  Jaida, if you would still like to be our Room Mom, Sarah Boudreaux is willing to help you out.  If you can’t, anyone who loves to plan things for our class parties, send out reminders for field trips and events, you are the person we are looking for.  Sarah is willing to come into the class and help out, but would like help with the planning aspect.

School Supplies:

A good chunk of you have dropped off school supplies.  Ms. Emilee and I and your child will go through the supplies Monday.  It will take us some time to get things in order, so there might be some need for volunteers to help us out.  I will let you know when we cross that bridge.  Please have your child bring in their school supplies Monday.

Schedule:

There is not going be a lot of things coming home (for those new parents who are used to homework, worksheets, etc.)  We are working as a school to reduce paper usage and finding ways to conserve.  Your child will be doing a huge percentage of their work in their binders, journals, and possible workbooks.  When normalization has had its time to occur, for most of the children, (Oct. 1st) you are more than welcome to set up times with me to come observe our classroom in action, or if you want to meet with me to see your child’s work.  Know that I am meticulous at keeping track of your child’s work and every year I make new changes to better my tracking system.  I’ve made some curriculum decisions and changes to further enhance Dr. Montessori’s philosophy of “Follow the Child.”  Every student is going to be at different levels in their education.  I have made myself a Utah Common Core pacing guide of the standards that is organized by what I need to achieve monthly.  I have passed this onto the other Lower El teachers as well.  I use the Common Core standards as goals and as guidelines for how I will then use the Montessori materials to achieve those goals.  This guide, I hope, will also help answer the famous question, “How far behind/above is my child in _____?”

What I can offer you at this moment is our weekly/daily schedule.  It is subject to change and need adjusting, but I think I have it where it won’t much change.  To my parents who have a child with a special need or have a love for knowing the schedule, I would print this out as a resource for your child and of course, you! 🙂

2015-2016 Schedule

Work Charts & Classroom Work:

Your child will follow a work chart in my class.  A change I have made this year is that I am not setting a set number of works your child needs to get done by recess.  That may scare some of you, but know that I will be using the Utah Common Core Standards AND Montessori curriculum to keep your child on track (at their pace!)  If a child is avoiding certain subjects, that is where Ms. Emilee and I will ask your child why they might be avoiding that area that they need to work on.  It might be that they find it too hard, too boring, or need a different way to learn that subject. As a Montessori teacher, I will be looking for quality of work, not quantity of work.  If you want to know what our work chart looks like, please click on the link below.  You can use it as a tool to ask your child what they did that day.

Work Chart 15-16

Green is 1st grade, Blue is 2nd grade, Red is 3rd grade.
Some students may need a modified work chart.  Should your child need a modified work chart, we will inform you of what that will look like and involve you in the planning process.

First Couple of Weeks:

1st Week of School– 1pm dismissal everyday!  We will go over grace and courtesy and classroom procedures/expectations/rules and do team building exercises everyday this week

2nd and 3rd Week of School– The 5 Great lessons will be introduced with activities to follow.  We will be talking about scientific theories during this time.  Please note, the Montessori philosophy offers your child different theories from science and history.  At no point in our school’s curriculum will we tell your child that this is the only theory you should believe or practice.  Our job, in this environment, is to give your child different perspectives so that they see other points of views and learn more about our world and societies.  I will always appreciate your family’s beliefs and values.  What I do care about is that your child respects all the differences we will have in our classroom.  I don’t tolerate any bullying, whether that be physical or emotional.  Kids do joke and make statements, so please let me know if your child is unhappy at any time because some kids will not bring it to our attention and then it can fester into more of an issue.

Our class’s cultural curriculum will also be introduced during the 2nd week of school.

4th Week of School– Your child will be slowly introduced to more of their work chart and materials related to the Common Core Standards and Montessori curriculum.

Upper El Partnership:

This year, we will be working with Ms. Stephaney’s Upper El classroom.  Both our classes will get together frequently to do activities, reading, and go on a field trip during the year.  Thursdays will be our time to get together to do reading and other activities.

Phew!  That was a lot of information to soak in.  If you have any questions, please email me 🙂

Cheers!

Ms. Kaley

Hi Everyone!

Welcome back for another fantastic year!  Ms. Emilee and I are very excited to see you all in the next few weeks!

August 4th is our school’s Pool Party at North Shore, which is located right across the street from our school.  It will be 7-9pm.  Come meet me and Ms. Emilee!

I have the classroom school supply list ready to go!  Please click on the link to open up the PDF file.  I have asked for specific supplies in order to last your student as much, if not, the whole school year.  We have found through the years what works and lasts best, so if you have any questions about anything, please do not hesitate to ask!

School Supply List 2015-2016

Our class roster is still going through its last bit of finalization, but for our new parents and students please feel free to read my About Ms. Kaley tab.  It would also be a great wealth of help if our new families (incoming 1st grade and new to either 2nd or 3rd) could write me an email telling me about your student (disabilities, need extra help in an area, excel in a certain area, allergies etc.)  The more you can help me out, the better I can plan these last weeks to prepare your child’s work plans.  If any of my returning families would like to update me as well, please do!  I know some of you were having your child do some tutoring in math or reading and that would be great to hear how it is going!

A couple of you came to me at the end of last year expressing that you could help with reading and or typing (Tammie and Michelle), but if there are any other parents who know they can come help in either reading or writing, please email me and let me know so I can plan you into our schedule!

I update our blog frequently, so please subscribe to our blog and you will get direct emails of the posts I put up.  As we get into the school year, I post weekly, so it is your “homework” to keep updated on all the fun we do!  Thanks!

– Ms. Kaley

Hello Everyone!

Our school is participating in The Scholastic Reading Challenge over the summer.  Please read the below information from Scholastic and use your child’s login to record books they read over the summer.

Dear Parent,

Did you know that when kids don’t read over the summer they are likely to fall behind when they head back to school?

These learning losses are often called the “Summer Slide,” and our school has made it a priority to keep our students’

skills sharp by encouraging them to read all summer long.

Our class has signed up to participate in the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge, a free online reading program that

invites children to log their reading minutes to help set a new world record for summer reading. The goal this year for

schools around the world is to break last year’s reading world record of 304,749,681 minutes! With your help, we can do it.

I’m excited to share that the theme of this year’s program is Power Up & Read; as kids log their reading minutes, they

will unlock stories written by bestselling authors. Plus, throughout the summer, kids will earn digital rewards and learn

about great new books to read. You’ll also find free articles, activity sheets, and book lists for parents on the Scholastic

Summer Reading Challenge website.

The fun begins on May 4, 2015, and ends on September 4, 2015! The school that logs the most minutes will win a visit

from a bestselling children’s book author and will be featured in The 2016 Scholastic Book of World Records.

I invite you to learn more about the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge at scholastic.com/summer. If your child

forgot his or her summer reading username, please contact me directly or contact Scholastic at 1-800-SCHOLASTIC.

Have a wonderful summer!

 Logins:

Hello!

The kids had an excellent field day.  We were lucky the weather held up for our session.

Here is what is going on for the last week of school (can you believe it?)

Every day will be an EARLY OUT (1:00pm)

Tuesday May 26th- Store Day and 3rd Grade Graduation

For Store Day, students have been earning Maria money.  Store Day works like a classroom yard sale.  Students may bring toys, games, movies, books etc. that they no longer want, but think others may like.  Some students who do not want to bring items are bringing/doing other goods like popsicles, crafts (Loom), face paint, and doing nails.  Each child will set up their stations and we will divide into 2 groups.  The first group will sell and the other group will buy and then switch.  Using their money that they earned, each student will price their items or services and then the others will use the money they earned to buy.  This will take place Tuesday morning.  Have your child bring some sort of bag to be able to carry their bought goods, but also have something to pack up what they bring or what is left.

At 11:30, the 3rd grade bridging ceremony will start.  3rd grade parents are invited to come watch their child be welcomed into Upper Elementary.  Bring a lawn chair or something to sit on.  We are hoping the weather will cooperate, so be prepared incase of some drizzling or we move indoors.  There will be lunch outside that day as well.  3rd graders may go home with their parent after the event if the parent wishes.  Just sign your child out.

Tuesday’s conferences will begin at 1:30pm

Wednesday May 27th: Movie Day and Crazy hat or hair day

We will have a few activities that our room mother will send in with her daughter for us to do, but the majority of our morning will be for a movie day.  If someone can bring in popcorn and cups, I will make it all up for a snack.  Students may bring in pillows and blankets.

Students may wear a crazy hat, wig, or do something fun to their hair this day

Wednesday’s conferences begin at 1:30

Thursday May 28th: Crazy sock day

We don’t have much planned this day.  I plan on using this day to spray out their desks and their lockers and then I had requests to have a show and teach/talent day.  Students may bring in things to share or share a talent.  Please send a bag with your child for any last minute take home things.

This day is also 6th grade graduation.  If you have an Upper Elementary student in graduation and wish to take your student to it, please let me know and also let me know if you wish to take them home after (please remember to sign out).

Thursday’s conferences begin at 1:30

Friday May 29th: Last Day of School, Dress down/PJ day, Pancake breakfast

One of our moms is doing a pancake breakfast for our class on this day.  If anyone could bring in syrup, we could use some!  We might need some plates and cutlery.

Students who ordered a yearbook will be given their yearbook on this day.  Students will get a chance to visit other rooms and have other students and teachers sign their yearbook.

The Teachers vs. 6th grade Kickball game will be at 10:30.

This day is also dress down day.  If students do not want to wear their pajamas, they may wear jeans.  Collared shirts still.

Dismissal for everyone is at 1:00 and there are no conferences for this day.

Hello all!

Our field is very wet and in some areas has collected water.  We haven’t gotten any word yet as to if field day will still take place.  So far, I am assuming it will be.  The back up plan, form what I have been told, is that students can wear their pajamas, bring board/card games and/or crafts to do with their classmates.

If you haven’t heard from me or your student about field day going to Plan B, then I recommend packing your student an extra pair of shoes, socks, and possibly clothes to change into after we are done.  We are in the morning, so have your student wear a sweater or light jacket.  A water bottle is also a must 🙂

Please sign up for conferences!!

Hello!

We have 4 wonderful fish that are in need of a summer home.  If you are able to care for a fish this summer, please let me know.  They are very easy to care for, however you will have to get them food and Beta drops for their water.  Their water only needs to be changed every 3 weeks.  Please email me asap, so I can plan on getting them ready on the last day of school.  Thanks!

Be sure to sign up for conferences!

Hi everyone!

Next week is very busy.  Monday is our field trip to the Ogden Dinosaur Park.  Please remember that your child is to be dropped off at the park by 8:45am.  Pick up is at 2 from the park.  Pack a lunch that they can carry or throw away, have a water bottle, backpack to put their things in, and comfortable shoes.

Tuesday is our 3rd Grader’s Math SAGE test.  They take it in the afternoon, but breakfast will still be provided for them.  I was thinking of doing waffles and fruit this time around.  Please sign up if you would like to help with breakfast.

BREAKFAST SIGN UP

Thursday is our 3rd Grade Party in the Gym!  We are in need of our room mothers and any other volunteers to help.  Volunteers would need to be at the school to help set up at 12:00pm, help out, and then help clean up which would most likely go to 3pm.  The 3rd graders get their party from 1:00-2:30.  A sign up link will be provided soon.

Hi Everyone!

Dinosaur Park:

Your child came home with a permission slips for our field trip to the Dinosaur Park yesterday.  Our field trip is on May 11th (a Monday).  Parents are welcome to come.  Siblings are welcome to come, but are extra.

The Dinosaur Park is by the mouth of the canyon.  The address is:

Ogden Eccles Dinosaur Park- 1544 E. Park Blvd.

Students will be touring the Stewarts Museum and will do hands on activities.

Please drop your child AT THE PARK at 8:45am.  DO NOT come to school first.  There will not be rides.

Pick up will be at 2pm at the Dino Park.

TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK MAY 4th-8th:

Teacher appreciation week is next week!  Here is the schedule:

Monday- Best Grace and Courtesy in class

Tuesday- Teacher spirit day: wear your teacher’s favorite colors.  Ms. Kaley likes aqua, green, and pink.  Ms. Emilee likes blue.

Wednesday- Bring a flower(s) for your teacher and assistant

Thursday- A thank you note, card, or picture for both the teacher and the assistant

Friday- Bring fruit or veggie.  This one has been hard in the past because I like strawberries and I have gotten cases of them in the years past and they go bad because my family and I can’t eat them all.  So that no food goes to waste, a few years ago we did a drink for your teacher and Ms. Emilee and I prefer that.  We like flavored waters, and tea 🙂

Upcoming May events!

May 8th- Spelling Bee at 1pm.  Parents welcome to come!

May 11th- Dino Park field trip

May 12th- 3rd grade Math test 12-3pm.  Breakfast that morning.

May 14th- 3rd grade party 1-2:30.  Parents welcome to help.

May 18th-19th- Kindergarten shadows.

May 20th- Kindergarten graduation to Lower Elementary ceremony 11am-12pm

May 22nd- Field Day!

May 25th- No school

May 26th- Store Day, 3rd Grade Graduation 11:30-12:15, Student led PTC, dismissal 1pm

May 27th- Crazy hat or hair day, Student led PTC, dismissal 1pm

May 28th- Crazy sock day.  6th grade Graduation (Lower El does not attend), Student led PTC, dismissal 1pm

May 29th- Kickball game, Yearbooks, Dress down day (jeans), Last Day of school, dismissal 1pm

Hi Everyone!

TESTING!

This Wednesday is our 3rd Grade Language Test!  It will begin in the Library from 8:45am-12:00pm.  Students are not timed and if they go past the noon scheduled time for us, they can continue with me.  Ms. Emilee will watch the 1st and 2nd graders in our class as they do their regular morning work cycle.

If you singed up to come or bring anything Wednesday for our 3rd grade breakfast, please come in at 7:50am.  I would like to have breakfast ready by 8:1ish so the students have time to east before their test.

3rd grade parents: pack your child a snack that they can bring down with them at testing.  No gum, please.

3rd Grade Plays!

Starting this Friday, the 24th, my 3rd grade theater classes will perform their first set of Readers Theaters plays.  I have worked with all the 3rd graders in our school this year on Fridays during studio.  We have learned theater and acting skills throughout the year.  Our last 5 weeks of studio were to put together performances!  There are 6 plays total.  The 1st 3 are going this Friday in the gym at 9:30am.  You are welcome to come and watch!  The last 3 plays will go the 1st of May, the following Friday.

Supply List for Next School Year:

School supply list for next year will be out the 1st week of July.  The students who were here this year have most of the major supplies however, I will be specifying certain kinds of pencils and writing supplies for next year.

This week in level group lessons:

Level 1s: Paul Klee for Geometry, equivalent fractions, review of money

Level 2s: 2D shape review with what kind of angles in them

Level 3s: Parts of a paragraph, research skills review

In cultural this week: Botany

Level 1s: Parts of a plant review, Photosynthesis basic intro

Level 2s: Photosynthesis more in-depth 

Level 3s: Carnivorous plants, The Venus Fly Trap, Planting a seedling

Have a great upcoming week!

Cheers!

Ms. K

We had a busy week!

Thank you for an AMAZING Science Festival.  The projects were outstanding. We had a lot of Upper Elementary classes visit and the teachers were amazed by out class’ hard work and efforts.  Thank you to those parents who came and supported!

Friday’s game day was a great success.  All students followed the electronic policy and we all had a great time without any problems.  We will most likely have another game day the last week of school during Spirit Week.

This past Tuesday we had an assembly about our school’s 1st Spelling Bee.  Practice lists went out too this week.  Some student have theirs at school and some took theirs home.  This Thursday, students who wish to participate, will do the preliminary testing.  Our top 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grader will then go on to compete against other classes.

3rd grade language test is NEXT Wednesday the 22nd. Thank you to Elene, Darci, and Kimberly, who have signed up so far to help with the 3rd grade breakfast.

Breakfast Sign up!

This week in group lessons:

Level 1s: Parallel and Perpendicular lines in the real world

Level 3s: Typing out reading comprehension questions (answering the who, what, when, where, why about a small story).

In cultural this week: Geography

Level 1s: Landforms and landform cookies

Level 2s: Rock cycle and how it works

Level 3s: Weather tools, Weather readers theater, Weather symbols

Have a great week!

Cheers!

Ms. K