Doesn't it just figure this year?!--MORE SNOW DAYS!!!!! We started our first of 25 "extended days" of school on Monday, adding an hour to our regular day with the idea that after we did 24 more "extended days", we would make up for some of the MANY snow days we have had to take this year. The 25 extended days would have moved our last day of school back to June 16th. Then Tuesday and Wednesday, a "noreaster" moved up the coast and into our area, and we had two more days off from school. That moves the last day of school back to Tuesday, June 21st, and we need to make up the two extra hours some other time. We will do our 25 days, and see how many more times we have to make a day up before we get an official word from the office. Just so you can plan, it looks like the 21st of June is our last day right now.
Obviously, we weren't at school so I could make any progress on my testing, so the plans for next week are pretty much going to stay the same as they were for this week. We will not have our spelling test or sight words test THIS Friday because the kids have not been here enough to have had time to learn these hard, hard words. Please keep the word cards to use again next week, and we will have both the sight word test and spelling test on them NEXT Friday.
The "extended day" is working well so far, especially as it gives me a chance to still meet with reading groups, even though I'm testing in the morning. I have pulled out some new math games and reading activities (for the children who are done their seat work and are not in reading group with me) to do. We are doing something called "Daily 5" which allows the kids to choose the activity they wish to work on next (from a menu of choices). Doing "Daily 5" is a little confusing at first because everyone changes what they are doing every 15 minutes or so, and there are so many different activities to choose from, but once the children get used to the routine, I think they will like it very much. Last year's class LOVED "Daily 5"!!!! Then, once we are no longer having extended days, we will try to move "Daily 5" up to our morning work time, and greatly decrease the number of worksheets to be done each day. Please, ask your child what he or she has been doing during "Daily 5" --he or she usually gets to pick two choices per day plus sees me for Reading Group. They can choose from Read to Self, Read to Somebody, Word Work, Listen to a Story, Use the Ipad, Do a Math Activity, Use the laptop (Math games not found on his/her ipad) or Work on Writing. The "Word Work" activities and Math "activities" will change each week, so there should be plenty of interesting things for them to do. The idea is that once your child chooses an activity, he cannot go back to that activity until he has done most of the other things being offered. So, no, he cannot do Ipad every day, or Listen to a Story every day. But he can pick the order in which he would like to do things, and even sometimes with whom he gets to do them. If a child AVOIDS an activity for too many days, it MAY be assigned to him, but once it is done, his ability to choose is once again returned.
Next Wednesday is the day we are supposed to go to Sunday River for the entire day, as our last day of skiing this year. Initially, I was worried when they moved the date to so late in March, but obviously we are going to have enough snow, so we should be "good to go". On Wednesday morning, we will leave Crescent Park at 8:30 in the morning, and take a school bus to Sunday River. I will NOT be collecting folders that morning, and your child will not have to bring shoes/ sneakers to school that day. Backpacks will stay in our classroom, but lunchboxes (with snacks in them) will go with us. I will deliver my students to "Perfect Turns" ski school, where they will meet with their same instructors one more time. Your child will need to bring two drinks (bottles of water are fine) and two snacks for the day (one for the morning, and one for the afternoon), but Sunday River is providing soup and a sandwich for the kids' lunches. I do not know the flavor of soup or sandwich. If your child is unlikely to want to eat the food there, you can still send him/her with a lunch in a lunchbox of some sort. The instructors have said it is easier to get the kids to listen to THEM if the teachers are not on the premises, but we will be next door at the lodge, if any kid needs us. I leave my cell phone number with Meredith, the lady who runs the program. I will be back at Perfect Turns as the kids finish up skiing for the day, to help pack up and make sure I have everyone for the bus. We will return to school by 2:00, and our school day will continue until 3:25 pm, so your child will be back to CPS in plenty of time to follow his or her normal dismissal plan. If you have a note that you wish for me to see that morning, please put it in your child's coat pocket (preferably one that zips), and tell him/ her about it, since I will be asking at 8:00 if anyone has a note for me. Since I will not be collecting folders, I am unlikely to find anything put in a backpack.
Beginning next Monday, we will have a student from Telstar High School doing her "Career Week" assignment in our classroom. Her name is Morgan McLean, and she is a student at Telstar High School and Region 9. Morgan would like to pursue a career working with young children, either before they enter school, or within the first few years of school. She was one of my first graders MANY years ago, and is the granddaughter of our volunteer, Linda Taylor. Morgan will be with us for the week, and will participate in all of the activities we will do. She will even go to Sunday River with us, but will not be skiing with the kids, either. Grades close next Friday afternoon, so if your child has any work at home that he or she is supposed to have completed for me, I will need it by next Friday. Any material not completed will have to receive a zero.
I did want to remind parents that the extended day means that your child SHOULD be bringing two snacks a day to school--one for our "normal" snack time (9:45 am) and one for our "extended period" snack time (1:20pm). The kids are hungry by 1:20, and need some fuel. Because this was a
"new thing" this week, I provided snacks for anyone who said that they were hungry. But I will not be doing so EVERY week. Please continue to send in snow pants, boots, hats, mittens, and water-proof jackets until the snow has completely melted from our playground. The days will get warmer, and the kids will not want to wear them, but without them they will have to wear wet clothes all afternoon OR bring a change of clothes every day. Hopefully, we will be able to get rid of snow gear during April vacation (but given what this year has been like, who knows?!)
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