Sunday, October 30, 2011

Parent Tip #2

TAKE THE TIME TO READ!




Read everything that is sent home from school. When your child isn't prepared,

it causes him to feel stress.




From Ron Clark

October 31 - November 4

I spent a few hours at school earlier today, planning activities and organizing the upcoming week! As usual it will be a busy one, but hopefully a fun one as well!

The blue reading group will take a much needed break from Open Court! Our focus story is The Little Old Lady Who was Not Afraid of Anything. I think the kids will really enjoy it! We will add visualization to our CAFE Menu.

The red reading group will continue reading The Kid in the Red Jacket. Some of the buddy readers will finish the book this week, complete a few book assignments, and test! We will add sequencing events to our CAFE Menu.

In writing, I hope to finish our Haunte House story by the end of the week! The kids are really amazing me with the details they are including in their brainstorming and prewriting!

Oh...should I mention that Monday is Halloween?!?!? I love when Halloween falls on a school night as I am sure parents do too! I am really not a fuddy dud about it, I just know it will make for a hectic week! However, I am excited about Halloween with Jay and Eva this year. NO we are not trick-or-treating, but they will dress up to help pass candy to the neighborhood kids. We hope to have a few visitors come to see our Lil Devils :)

The kids will be making masks Monday morning to wear during our 2nd annual Halloween through the Halls! Oh yes, they are coming home loaded with candy!!!

During MIND Time, our focus will be money! Mr. Williams has planned some fun stations for the kids to rotate through in the afternoons!

Otherwise, it will be another fun filled, learning loaded week at Cravens Elementary School!

If you would like to receive an email when I post to the blog, please send a note in your child's agenda with your email address! I will also send home a permission slip to include/not include your child (name, picture, work, etc) in the blog. Please make sure to send that back ASAP!

Thanks for all you do to help your child be successful at Cravens!

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Parent Tip #1


LIMIT CHAOS IN THE MORNINGS!


You want it to be drama free so that your child starts school with a calm spirit. Even if you aren't a morning person, force yourself to get up early and start the day off right!


From Ron Clark

October 24-28

We have a full week of learning ahead of us!



  • We will begin a writing piece about a Haunted House, and I think the kids will enjoy this piece and not even realize they are writing!

  • The blue reading group will read City Lots and focus on categorizing information. They will have a test on Friday afternoon.

  • The red reading group will continue reading The Kid in the Red Jacket and focus on categorizing information as well.

  • The Junior Achievement girls, Megan and Sarah, will be here for their final lesson on Wednesday.

  • We head to the RiverPark Center on Thursday for the Chinese Acrobats from 8:45-10:15.

  • On Friday, I have a reading meeting so the students will have a small break from me :)

All the students have settled into the new routine with me as their teacher, and I am so proud of their effort. I didn't realize how hard it would be on all of us for the teacher to miss the critical first six weeks of school. But I think we are in a good place now, and we are headed to a great place!


Their new agendas will go home Monday afternoon. The agenda pages will remain the same, but they are assuming more respobsibility with the agenda book!


We have a small pencil issue in the classroom...the pencils are TERRIBLE and most difficult to sharpen/keep sharpened. It was beginning to be a HUGE frustration for the kids and myself! SO...they have also assumed more responsibility in the classroom with mechanical pencils. I provided their first mechanical pencil on Friday. They know they are to be respectful during teaching and working times. They are also responsible to keep up with their pencil. Their consequence for needing a new pencil will either be "buying" a new one with class money, repaying me during recess if they don't have enough money, or using regular wooden pencils. You are more than welcome to provide your child with mechanical pencils if they need one!


I will finish conferences this week. So please let me know if you would like to speak with me on your child's progress. We can meet after school or on the phone!