This is our last week of school for 2009. Students do not take semester exams in our classroom. However, we will continue with our usual classroom instruction all week.
School is out at the usual time on Friday, December 18th and resumes for students on January 5, 2010.
Students are “fading” out about 11:00 a.m. every day. So, we have decided to allow students to have a quick snack at this time. Our hope is that a small snack will tide them over until their lunch time at 12:30 p.m. Students DO need to bring their own snack for this and are not allowed to share with their friends. Snacks should be nutritional (please, no candy, chips, etc.). Snack time will occur concurrently with our Social Studies instruction.
Our first field trip of the year is scheduled for January 15th. We are planning to go to the bowling alley to bowl first, and then eat lunch there. Funds for bowling time have been donated, so all we need to pay for are shoe rental and our lunches. We plan to use our proceeds from bracelet sales to cover those costs. Our classroom peer mentors are invited to join us on this trip.
This past week....
ELA: Students continue listening to the story The Watson's Go to Birmingham-1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis on CD. Library is on Wednesdays, 9th period, at the end of the day.
Math: Students continue to work on their computation, problem solving and money skills through various activities in the classroom.
**We are taking donations of small items that you would like to get rid from home for our store. If you see items the students would like on sale, we'd be happy for you to donate those as well!
Science: Students are working through a unit about the Earth's Resources; what is renewable or non-renewable.
Social Studies: Students finished up U.S. Symbols. They worked on geography skills part of the week. Students recycle paper for several classrooms and practice writing their personal information (name, address, phone number, etc.) every week.
Please send back the purple folders daily along with the orange homework folder if it comes home. Sticker charts and papers in the “to keep” side of the purple folder should be kept at home. Each sticker represents 1 cent that your child earns in the classroom. Students keep track of their money earned (daily) on their own personal ledger. Money is spent twice a month at our “school store”. Lack of a sticker or a sad face for a class lets you know if your child had a difficult time in one or more periods throughout the day.
Our attendance clerk, Ms. Johnson, asks that you contact the attendance office in the morning if your child is ill or not coming to school for another reason. You can call as early as you like and leave a message at 428-2305. If you have a chance, please call the classroom at 428-2340 or send me an e-mail so I am aware of any illnesses that may affect other students in the classroom.
Upon your child's return to school, send a note indicating why your child missed school and the dates he/she was absent. If the absence was due to a Doctor or Dentist visit, ask them for a note to give the school so the absence can be “excused”. This is kept in an attendance folder in the office.