November 10, 2009
Dear Parents,
I passed out the Saxon books, paper, logs, and keys today. A few students will have to use copies of the lessons for this week due to a small book shortage, but the books are on order and will be here soon.
Saxon
Students should start on the following lessons:
All students in 54 Math: Start with Lesson 20
Students just starting 65: Start with lesson 25
Students continuing 65: Start with lesson 80
All students in 76: Start with Lesson 80
Students should do lessons nightly on the following nights:
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Monday = 5 Lessons per week
Please check your child's Saxon homework with the key and sign the log.
It's okay if your child checks the work, but please note that you looked at his/her corrected homework with a signature.
Study Island: Students should earn 50 minutes each week by Friday which can be done in class or outside of class.
For tomorrow, a manners packet went home for students to complete by Thursday. It seems the students need a bit of "manners practice" after our manners guest speaker today. This along with the two Saxon lessons are due Thursday.
Have a nice day off tomorrow.
Christy
P.S.
For info on the day trip, please scroll down and read the newsflash.
November 9, 2009
Dear Parents,
We have a very exciting, busy week! We will have a daily contract for everyone. I will send home a list of completed work, but we will not have conferences this week.
Wednesday there is no school due to Veteran's Day and Friday is our extended day trip. It turns out the trip cost was covered with student payment. Chaperones will receive a full refund on the day of the trip. 
. The trip costs are as follows:
503.05 Ostrich Farm
414. 40 Caverns
400.00 Shirts
380.00 Dinner at Fuddrucker ($10 per person budget)
The trip is Friday 11/13 from 8:00a.m. to 6:30 - 7:00p.m.
Students should bring:
2 water bottles (an extra one for the Ostrich Farm will be handy)
Money for souvenirs
A packed lunch (cooler is fine)
Afternoon snacks
Car entertainment (electronics are okay, but additional acitivities would be wise)
Dressed for a 60-70 degree weather.
Enrollment forms are due 11/12. So far I have:
Talia
Ethan
Emma
Connor
Bryson
Ellee
Kieran
Treasure
Austin R.
This is very time sensitive paperwork. Please send in your forms ASAP.
Novel Study starts this week. This time (with great thanks to Melinda Kohut) we have most of the books. Students in Loch by Paul Zindel may need to pick up a copy of the book either at Borders or the public library. Tesa is checking on numbers and ordering books on reserve at Borders.
Thank you!
Christy
November 6, 2009
Dear Parents,
What a great week! The children are really doing quality work and meeting personal goals. This is the first week in our cycle, and we had several lessons and new work. Next week, we start Saxon math for homework on Tuesday. Books, checking keys, and paper will come home on Tuesday. Our logging system will change a bit to incorporate Saxon and cut back on Study Island.
Digital lockers are up and running! The students had a lesson at school. Students can turn in weekend writing via the lockers, store assignments, or just write stories from home and school. Please check out the link on the website.
Today, several pieces of checked work came home along with the work plan. I asked students to talk with parents about complete and incomplete work along with accomplishments. The weekend writing is posted.
I hate to ask for items for the classroom, but we are in need of pencils. I appreciate all of the support with the classroom store and all other donations!
Thanks for your support!
Christy
November 2, 2009
Dear Parents,
I hope everyone had a blast over the weekend. I know my children had a wonderful Halloween.
Tomorrow is picture day! This year there is no pre-payment. You will get your proof back to choose a package (or not) to order.
This week is the green week: the first week of the cycle. The "no homeworks" start over and it's a fresh start for the students with cultural work. With our Friday party, I have the official conferences today and tomorrow. The work plan and several pieces of work will come home today or tomorrow (tests, long term project, writing, etc). Please sign the work plan and send it in tomorrow or Wednesday. Below are listed the work plans that went home today. The rest will need to come home tomorrow:
Treasure
Symone
Katie
Talia
Israel
Ruben
Austen L.
Harley
Sade
Emma
Kieran
Malik
Madeleine H.
Elizabeth
As Tesa said, our diaper drive starts today. All of Cheryl is collecting diapers for the Sojourner Center. We are looking for a big truck (enclosed Uhaul type) to deliver the diapers on the 23rd of November. Please let me or Tesa know if you have a "truck connection".
The students did a great job with the literary questions at the carnival. I offered a McFlurry Party for the winners (boys or girls) and IT WAS A TIE. Now I owe everyone McFlurries. We will walk over to McDonalds Thursday for lunch (McFlurries on me). Please print and send the permission slip (class documents). Students can eat lunch here or purchase a lunch at McDonalds.
Thank you!
Christy
October 30, 2009
Dear Parents,
Happy Halloween! Today was a bit of a marathon with hard work and hard play. I elected to do the student conferences on Monday and give the children a work time to complete cultural work. Although many children finished work, some did not and have weekend work to be ready for conference. Please look over your child's work plan for noted weekend work, but cycle work, tests, and the official progress report will come home on Monday. The party was a blast! Thank you for all the food, beverage, and supplies. It made the party that much better.
Next week kicks off our next cycle with the green week. Now that students have practiced completing long and short term work, they should complete class work in the classroom (for the most part) with minimal work coming home (outside of homework).
There is NO WEEKEND WRITING. Have a safe and Happy Halloween! I will send a newsletter on Sunday to get our cycle off on the right foot.
Thank you,
Christy
October 26, 2009
Dear Parents,
I hope everyone had fun at the carnival. It was fun t o see you all dressed up.
This week is cultural catch up week. That means we will not have some of the traditional work we usually have. We will have a little bit of math and a "Whole class spelling list". Students should wrap-up their cultural projects and present
them throughout the week. Please look for cycle work with the progress report on Friday.
Wednesday, October 28th we have our field trip to the botanical gardens.
Friday, October 30th we will have a small fall celebration in the afternoon. Thank you to the Fielder family for sponsoring the craft and decorate
ions. If you can provide a little snack or beverage, please sign up on the website.
Christy
October 24, 2009 4:45 p.m.
Dear Parents and Students,
Zoila and I will arrive at the carnival around 6:30. Faith (my daughter) is sleeping now gearing up for a fun night. See you all then...
Christy
October 23, 2009
Dear Parents and Students,
I have so much to tell you!
Students, I am posting a special page about the carnival with a few clues to help you earn Christy Cash and perhaps a McFlurry Party for boys or girls. I hope to see all of you tomorrow night at the carnival. Come find me or Zoila!
Parents, tomorrow night is the carnival and students are invited to come and find me and Zoila for some trivia questions based on literature and language arts. We are dressing up in a related theme. I usually get there between 5-6pm. It is not a requirement--just fun.
This weekend a few students needed to finish up with the expository essay. Overall, the students seem to be grasping the format of a 3 paragraph essay. If your child did not complete the essay in class, a page was attached to his.her work plan. They have worked hard and developed several drafts and completed related lessons/activities. Also this weekend, unfinished work should be completed.
We will have cultural catchup week next week. That means we will have minimal "core" or regular work (math, grammar, spelling) and focus on completing the big history and science units.
The day trip is approaching: November 13. I have enough chaperones (only 40 people can enter the caverns). Now that I have the attendance numbers and t-shirt design (by the students), I can give a break-down of cost and will post it on line for those parents that would like to view it. The trip is going to ba an action-packed blast.
This week we welcomed Xavien Brock to the class as a new fourth grader. He had a great first week!
The students worked hard this week and they deserve to play hard this weekend. Hope to see you at the carnival! Happy fall!
Christy
October 12, 2009
Dear Parents,
Happy Fall Break! Students do not have a formal assignment over the break, but a few children had remaining work from the contract. We will also start a new novel study upon returning; therefore, students should finish up the free-choice novel they are reading. I updated the study island with a few new "suggested topics", but I did not assign minutes over the break.
I was sad to hear that Jerry Roberts is back in the hospital...Please sign up to help out the Roberts family with dinners on the website.
I hope everyone enjoys this break from school-work. I will be traveling to Sedona for a few days.
See you soon,
Christy
October 2, 2009
Dear Parents,
It was a successful week. Thank you for thinking of me on my Birthday. The children gave me a little party and some sweet cards and little gifts. It was a nice suprise!
Contracts and spelling tests will come home today for viewing/ signing. The test scores are much improved. We will continue to stretch each spelling lesson over two weeks until I feel like the study skills and understanding are improved.
Today we had a lesson on expository essay construction. I took the children over to the library and each child copied research information on a free chice topic for his/her essay. Students should have at least two resources for information (websites or books) to write a 3 paragraph essay. Please see the assignment for details on the rough draft due Monday.
Thanks,
Christy
September 29, 2009
Dear Parents,
We're on track for a successful week. I'm feeling better and hopefully Alex will be back tomorrow. Some students still need to turn in their permission slips to attend the trips throughout the year. Please find the field trip permission slip under "Classroom Documents". I will post the extended day trip form when I get back into the classroom.
Thanks,
Christy
September 26, 2009
Dear Parents,
I'm finally feeling a bit better. I think the website delays are "cleaned and fixed"; so, hopefully this reaches all of you in a timely fashion. Although it was not the ideal week, with all of the teacher and student illness and absences. It sounds like quite a bit of cultural work got finished. If students have weekend work, please support them in completing it. I believe that sixth graders have a project due Wednesday, but some work should be done this weekend.
There is NO weekend writing.
As you may or may not know, one of our classroom families needs our support. The Roberts family is going through some challenging times with Jerry, Austin's dad, fighting a staph infection after a mild heart attack. He also has been fighting to build his platelets due to an auto immune disease. He will be on an IV at home while regaining strength but cannot lift over 5 lbs. I've posted a meal schedule to bring the family of 6 nightly meals between 5:30-6:00 (with Tesa's help). Jerry is on a heart healthy menu (the children still enjoy a bit of variety), and no one has any allergies. I will post some takeout options, too, as soon as I can. The address is 1427 E. Oregon in Phoenix (Missouri and 14th Street). I posted a mapquest link under links. One of the great things about our community is the way we rally around a family in need. Please help out if you can by signing up to bring the Roberts dinner in the coming weeks.
Next week is going to be filled with lessons and great work. I can't wait to get back into the classroom. Look for digital locker info at the beginning of the week. Thanks to the Forsythe-Mahoney family for sponsoring this! We're going to be (securely) on line with home/school assignments soon. This should eliminate some printer, rough draft, left assignment, etc. stress. I need to spend some time learning about it, but we're signed up . It's a new cycle and fresh start to "no homeworks", a new seating chart, and brand new cultrual lessons: The Green Week.
Thanks for your support while I've been sick,
Christy
September 24, 2009
Dear Parents,
It has not been the ideal week with Alex, Zoila, and I out most of the week: Zoila: out Monday; Alex out Tuesday and Wednesday; and I'm out today and yesterday. Accountability, lessons, and presentations will be back on track next week. Many children have been out sick also. Please keep your child home if he/she is complaining of symptoms and hopefully we can stop the spread of the flu in the classroom. Thanks for your understanding.
Christy
September 18, 2009
Dear Parents,
This weekend the BIG FOCUS is the final draft of the book report. I met with each child (that turned in a rough draft) individually to make changes, as well as, gave a lesson on creating the final product. Students should bring the final product in on Monday. There is no other weekend writing. Please know I am looking at the spelling and vocabulary process to make changes and help the children find better success. I will let you know the details of my plan in the newsletter on Sunday. Many students are struggling with the vocabulary definitions. Please support your child in completing the extra practice this weekend, but know I'm working to teach them some additional study skills and the assignment will be altered next week. FYI: The website is having a few technical difficulties and I'm trying to work with it, but it is causing some delays...
September 14, 2009
Dear Parents,
We're off to a great start today! Most students came in today with work plans, homework, and writing . Thank you for your support! This week is the pink week meaning the third week in a four week cycle. Next week is cultural catch up week. We have the Science Center coming on Wednesday. We will be working to create "Flat Stanley" to be mailed to your child's out of state friend or relative. We will be talking about everyone's "Flat Stanley Adventures" around the world along with letter writing skills. Also this week, I will give back book report rough drafts with feedback for final draft construction. This Friday is a half day; therefore, pizza will not be served. All day contracts can stay after 11:30. Great work is happening in the classroom and students seem to be catching on to the routine. Yeah!
Thank you, Christy
P.S. Please try to keep travel time to a minimal. Students get behind when they miss multiple days for vacation and lesson-meaning gets lost sometimes.