Every Friday is Janney Spirit Day! Children are invited to wear Janney shirts
and/or wear the school colors- BLUE AND WHITE.
The Pawprints for respect are going strong! If we catch a child demonstrating
respect to themself, others, or to their school or community, we write them
a "pawprint". They usually bring them home to share with you, color them,
then take them to the office to exchange for a sticker.
Some children are choosing to take their paw prints directly to the office and
not bring them home, so be forewarned you may not see all recognitions earned.
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NEWS AND NOTES FOR OUR CLASS
1st Grade- McCrackin
September 9, 2008
First I want to let you all know that this newsletter will be available
electronically. If you go to www.janneyschool.org you can access my teacher
web site, and the newsletter will be there under “Announcements”. However, I
will also copy it and put it in the Take Home Tuesday envelope. Oh and- you
should know- I am appreciative of technology but in this area I am a slow
learner. So if I have glitches and problems, please forgive me but also let
me know!
I want to introduce some important people that will be helping your children.
We are fortunate to have paraprofessional (formerly called educational aide)
Ms. Cheryl Morning. Ms. Morning has worked at Janney for seven years and is
already familiar to your children from her many hours on the playground. Ms.
Morning has worked closely with me all her years at Janney and I value her
judgement and experience. She also teaches at St. Alban’s day care and is a
student at UDC, studying to become a teacher.
Also with us is Ms. Stephanie Jarmon, from Catholic University. Ms.
Stephanie, as the children call her, is doing her student teaching with our
class and so is with us full time for the whole first half of the school year.
So you can see we are fortunate to have them both!
A few reminders- things you can do that will help me a lot!
• Please continue to send your child in with a water bottle. They can easily
re-fill it at school. It is still hot, and thirsty childrens’ brains don’t
work well! Especially after the 40 minute lunch recess, when the hall is full
of children lined up at the water fountain, I like my class to just come into
our room, get their own water bottle, and drink as much as they want while I
read aloud to them. I think it may save me 20-30 minutes instructional time
in the day if they have their own water.
• Remember to send in a snack, even if your child is buying lunch. I do keep
graham crackers for any child who doesn’t have a snack, though.
• If your child has a play-date or a change in their pick-up or JED routine,
please leave me a written note. You can give it to your child to give me or
you can write one on the sticky paper in the basket beside our class door and
stick it to the wall by the door. In the mornings I am focused on helping the
children transition to the school day, checking homework and helping with
morning work. I am too likely to forget a verbal message.
• Finally, and I know this is difficult- please try to have your child arrive
at school between 8:40 and 8:50. Of course they cannot come into classrooms
before 8:40. But that first 20 minutes of the school day, before morning
meeting, is important. First, it gives your child a chance to mill around a
little, greet friends, and if they miss out on that they may have trouble
paying attention later. Secondly, they have a short piece of “morning work”
to do, and this becomes more important academically as the year progresses.
Thanks for your efforts.
A word about birthdays- We love to celebrate birthdays at school with a
brief, low-key ritual and a little treat to eat (provided by the family).
Parents are welcome to be with us but it is not necessary. We usually
celebrate at the end of the day, at 2:40. Please let me know when we should
mark your child’s birthday and bring a snack either in the morning or at 2:40.
Most families bring cupcakes, but feel free to do something different.
Remember our children with peanut allergies, and this includes M and M’s.
(Though we will always check food brought in and give them an alternate treat
if we are in doubt.) Some families bring drinks and some don’t.
If you want, you are welcome to read a favorite story of your child’s for
their birthday.
Children whose birthdays are in the summer, never fear! We will celebrate all
our summer birthdays together in the last week of school.
Your children have done a great job getting used to the school day and
learning new routines. We are getting used to the structure of Reader’s and
Writer’s workshops and the Everyday Math program. I will explain more about
these at Back to School Night (9/23) but I am really happy with how the class
is using this time well. We have learned about the school, different adults
they need to know throughout the building, and how to be respectful in all
areas. The class has earned a lot of pawprints already! We talked about our
hopes for first grade and are coming up with class rules to help us realize
those hopes. We learned about our class mice. We voted and named them
Cinnamon, Spy, and the one with a spot around one eye is wwwdotcom (Dot for
short). Very cute names, the class came up with! We will soon start our
science unit about air, wind, and the sun. The children have been to every
“special” class and especially enjoyed making “fairy houses” outside today in
art class!
Many thanks for your supplies, surveys, and for teaching your child to shake
my hand goodbye!
And thanks to our volunteer room parents: Jill Chessen (Lily’s mom), Jessica
Furey (Aidan’s mom), Diane Schiff (Sophie’s mom), Jenny Bonnie (Madelyn’s mom)
and Melissa Model (Julia’s mom).
Remember there is a PTA Meeting tonight at 7:00 and a brief room parent
orientation before it at 6:30.
Enjoy!
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