August 10, 2009
Dear Families,
Welcome to Brookside Upper! My name is Anna Schnell and I am looking forward to being your child’s third grade teacher. I hope that everyone had a wonderful, restful summer vacation.
I was very busy this summer, so it just flew by. I spent the first two weeks traveling to France. My husband and I had a wonderful time visiting his family in France. The highlight was eating at a Creole restaurant in Strasbourg and then going bowling. We then took a road trip from northern France, Alsace, to the south of France. We were able to visit cities such as Lyon and Aix-en-Provence. We stayed in a beautiful town called Villefranche-sur-mer. It was an exciting and restful vacation. I spent the rest of the summer visiting with friends, reorganizing my house, reading, walking my dog, and brainstorming ideas for the new school year. I am ready and excited to start this new school year!
I can’t believe this is my seventh year at Brookside School. It has passed by so quickly. It will be my fifth year teaching third grade and before that I taught fourth grade for two years. I also taught for two years in Lompoc, California before I came to Marin. I grew up in San Rafael and graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara. I received my teaching credential and my Masters in Education there as well. My master’s project was “Creating a Caring Community”. I believe strongly in this ideal. We will spend many of the first days of school creating a classroom community through team-building activities. Our first language arts unit on friendship also ties in nicely with this theme. I am looking forward to helping your child make a smooth transition to third grade at Brookside Upper.
Third grade is a wonderful year. We will study and explore Marin’s unique geography and history. Students will also learn cursive, multiplication, division, and improve upon their reading and writing skills. My goal is to foster a love of reading this school year. Together we can work to accomplish this. In class, we will read many timeless novels such as Charlotte’s Web and James and The Giant Peach and I will introduce students to high-interest books during our read aloud and SSR times. Third grade has many hands-on activities such as dissecting a cow’s eye, creating gingerbread houses, and the entire third grade takes part in Miwok Day. Some of our exciting field trips include Guide Dogs for the Blind, Kule Loklo (a Miwok Village), and Chabot Space and Science Center.
Some of you may want to purchase supplies before the first day of school. I encourage you to label all your child’s personal belongings. If you are unable to purchase any of these supplies, they will be provided to your child. Some supplies that you may want to bring on the first day of school are:
· sharpened pencils/ one large eraser
· 2 folders
· colored ballpoint pen
· black thin felt tip pen (ex. Papermate Flair)
· hand-held pencil sharpener
· highlighter
· 1 large box of Kleenex (for the classroom)
· set of colored pencils
· pencil/pen container (small enough to fit in student desks)
· dry erase pen and eraser
I am eager to get to know your children and you as well. I am sure that this will be a great school year. You are welcome to come by next week and acquaint yourself with the classroom and Brookside Upper. You can also call me at 415-454-7409 ext. 23 or email me at annamschnell@gmail.com if you have any questions. The sign-up for intake conferences will be posted outside the classroom by the first day of school. I also look forward to seeing you at Back-to-School Night on September 9th.
Sincerely,
Anna Schnell