Good afternoon! I am sitting here Sunday afternoon doing lesson plans and thinking about the upcoming week. This is supposed to be a full week of school, but there's another "weather system" on the horizon for Tuesday into Wednesday, and it doesn't sound very friendly. . . so who knows? We do live in Maine, after all, where the weather changes almost by the minute. . .
This Thursday is our second afternoon for Rugrat Skiing at Sunday
River. The first graders will be picked up by bus at CPS around
12:15pm, and will be dropped off behind the Perfect Turns ski school at
South Ridge. The children skied for over an hour last week, and their ski boots and skis will be waiting for them as they walk into the ski school this week, so they should get about three hours in this week! I'm not sure which other teacher will be going to the mountain this week, but I will travel with the students on the bus to and from the mountain. We don't ski with the kids, but are close by if anything should happen and a child needs us. Thank you for being so prompt picking up your child last week. We made it back to school by 4:15 (as we hope to every week), and all of the kids had been picked up by 4:30! Pat yourselves on the back!!!! That's amazing! Remember, you have the choice of picking your child up at the
Perfect Turns ski school between 3:30 pm and 4:00pm OR picking your child up at Crescent Park around 4:15pm. The bus leaves Sunday River right at 4:00pm,
and any child not picked up by that time will be returned to school.
Anyone not picked up by 4:30 pm will be sent to MKA afterschool program,
and appropriate costs will apply. Thank you for letting me know each
week WHO is picking up your child after skiing, and WHERE he or she will
be picked up. Please check in
with your child's teacher (or one of the other teachers if your child's
teacher is not there on a given Thursday), whether at the mountain or at school, so we can check your child
off as having been safely delivered to the appropriate person. If you did not tell me on this week's bus note the WHO AND WHERE of skiing this Thursday, please, please,
please, take the minute or two to jot me a note letting me know what's happening for your child this Thursday. Thank you. I spoke with Meredith (the head instructor/supervisor at the ski school) on Thursday, and we WILL have skiing that Thursday before vacation. So, our Rugrat dates are
1/19, 1/26, 2/02, 2/09, and 2/16 (always, weather permitting)!
The next piece of news is that our winter NWEA test sessions are now scheduled. We will be doing the Math portion of this assessment on Friday morning, 2/3/17 RIGHT AT 8:10 am!!! And the Reading portion of the assessment is on the NEXT Friday morning, 2/10/17 at the same time! That means your child barely has a chance to get to school before we start the test. It is EXTREMELY important that your child be at school as close to 7:40 on these two mornings as you can make it. There's no need to worry about kids who take the bus, as they arrive in time. But I have several children who are delivered by their parents (or who walk to school) who arrive around 8:10. Please have them at school as close to 7:40 as you can manage. If they could have breakfast at home that morning, too, that would also save time. I'd love for them to have a few minutes to take off and hang snow gear, go to the bathroom, and settle in before I whisk them off to the computer lab for these tests. There is little else you can do to help them prepare for the test--lots of rest the night before, help them wake up with enough time for a good breakfast that morning, and let them know that what you want from them is for them to TRY THEIR BEST to show me what they have learned since September, when we took these tests last. Remember, the tests are designed to oscillate between easy and hard questions. It's OKAY for them to NOT know ALL of the answers--the important thing is for each child to take his or her time, to REALLY THINK about what's being asked, to eliminate any answer that just doesn't make sense, and to select the "best fit" from the remaining choices. They can't do this job well if they hurry. Trying to take the tests quickly tends to be one of the major reasons for lowered scores. They have a full hour for each exam, and can go back at another time to finish if they are unable to finish it within the hour.
Spelling begins this week. Each child will have 5 words to learn for the week. For the most part, spelling activities will happen within the classroom. However, at the beginning of each week, your child will be writing his five words in pencil, again in crayon, and finally in marker. This list will come home that night, so you will know what his or her words are to study for the week, if you choose to practice them at home. Different kids will be on different lists. Your child's list will contain at least one word (and usually more than one word) he or she already can spell, but also at least one word (or more) that he or she cannot spell yet. We will an activity a day in which he or she will have to use their spelling words, spelled correctly.
I am sending the Valentine's list home today. As I have mentioned already, your child does NOT HAVE to give out valentines, but if he or she DOES choose to do so, there should be a valentine for each child in the class. That way, no one's feelings get hurt. Valentines can be "home-made" or can be purchased from a store. The colored paper most of the children brought home on Friday was to make valentines for people in one of the two homeless shelters we are trying to raise donations to help. If your child brought home construction paper, it was to make valentines to give to people in these shelters. Send them in when they are done, and I will put them in one of the "Project Valentines" boxes near the office. Please don't send in OUR valentines before February 13. By then, each child will have decorated a bag to collect valentines in, hanging from his or her desk. Thank you.
I think that's all for today. I will be in touch next weekend. Have a peaceful week.
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