Some photos from our busy classroom!
FYI: I have many more pictures from the zoo from my phone and the parents volunteers that came with us. I will be putting them on the end of year CD that I make for the kiddos. Too many to put on the blog:)
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| Field trip to the Denver Zoo!! We braved the chilly temps! |
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| Major highlight was the baby gorilla, Whimsy:) |
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| Butterfly research journals! |
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| Enjoying some reading time in the library. |
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| Ms. Racheal our librarian chatting with the students about what's new in the library. |
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| Students have worked very hard on their time books. I was sooo impressed! Look for them to come home tomorrow! |
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| We have planted zinnias, sunflowers and basil to help with studying the life cycle of plants. |
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| Our butterflies in their chrysalis. |
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| Check out the how the student's have promised to heal the world:) |
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| Tying blue ribbons on the fence for Autism awareness! |
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| Students critiques their partners work and gave them feedback on their time books. |
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| Reading their time books:) |
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| Filling out a peer review sheet can be fun:) |
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| The butterflies have hatched and loving their fruit ! |
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| My daughter, Sophia, came to visit for take your child to work day:) She loves getting to know the big kid 1st graders:) |
Hello Parents!
We are coming into our final month of school. Yikes! How time flies:) While this is an exciting time for kiddos; the thoughts of summer break. It's also a time that negative behaviors tend to go on the rise. Many kiddos are nervous about losing the structure of school, going to a new grade level and classroom, having a new teacher, etc. To calm some of these nerves, we will be visiting all 2nd grade classrooms, meeting the teachers and having a question and answer session to hopefully help students to feel comfortable about the upcoming new school year. While I am very sensitive to the needs of every student, I am also very clear in my expectations. I do firmly believe in "restorative justice" for kiddos whom are having troubles with following classroom and school rules. Examples are...having trouble in the lunchroom? kiddos will clean lunch tables for half of recess...shouting/acting out when the teacher is teaching? cleaning desks during 2nd recess...not treating other students with kindness? writing apology notes...being disrespectful during Specials?...helping that Specials teacher with jobs in their classroom. I would like for these behavior challenges to be a learning experience and not just a punishment (sitting on the wall at 2nd recess). I am patient...but I will hold the students accountable for their behavior until the last day of school. I remind them daily that I care about them...if I didn't, I wouldn't take the time to teach them between right and wrong. I want them to be the best they can be and be proud of THEMSELVES! I will keep parents in the loop if their kiddo is having trouble and so we can work as a team. I'm hoping that the last month goes smoothly but wanted to let y'all know my "plan of action"...shall we need it:) May the force be with us! Thank you!
Here is all you need to know for next week and then some!
Specials Schedule:
Monday: E day (Music)
Tuesday: A day (Art)
Wednesday: B day (Technology)
Thursday: C day (Drama)
Friday: D day (Gym)
1. Our Mother's Day Tea will be held Friday, May 6th at 2:45 in our classroom. Mothers, grandmothers, aunts and other special guests only need to bring a tea cup for them and their kiddo. A special time is being planned:)
2. Spelling Bee: the kiddos representing our classroom in the school spelling bee on Friday, May 6th at 12:40 in the gym are Keaton, Sam, Xavier and Lily!! For 1-3 grades the format is class vs. class format; not an elimination.
3. I am awaiting clarification on the next CREEK kid assembly. It is being rescheduled because of a conflict with another school event. I will email parents tomorrow and let y'all know. Thanks!
4. A Field Day lunch slip came home today. PLEASE send this back Monday to get a proper count for how many lunches to order. Field Day is May 13th. More details to come. Thank you!
5. A bright orange form went home today, as well, to let WCE know if your child/children will be attending WCE next year. Please fill this out and send back next week. It is VERY helpful for us to get an idea of how many spots are open for incoming students. Thanks!
6. End of Year assessments: Ms. Hernandez and I will begin doing end of year assessments on Monday. These consist of a reading assessment done one-on-one with the teacher, a writing sample and a Math assessment that is part written and part one-on-one. I will be giving the Math assessment in "chunks" as oppose to all at once in hopes of not stressing the kiddos out. We will still be doing Math Stations everyday and testing in small group with me. Parents will be seeing these assessments at their child's student led conference on May 26th after school.
7. Library Books: The last day to check out books will be next Thursday and ALL books will be due back by May 13th so that the librarian can get all the books checked back in by the end of the school year.
8. NO SCHOOL on May 30th Memorial Day
9. June 1st we will be going on a field trip to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. This will be a GREAT field trip to end our Science unit of life cycles and our weather unit:) Chaperones are needed!! The more the better and the smaller groups!! PLEASE email me if you are interested. It is a VERY fun field trip:)
Whew! I think that is all for now. I will let y'all know if anything else comes up! thank you for your continued support at home and allowing for me to teach your children:)
Mrs. Bryan-Doherty
