Week of December 1

Homework
Big Word: y t q a i u l
Sound of the week: oi as in foil
Math Number: 22
Reading: Have your students bring a just right book home and practice with you.
Sharing: bring something scientific (Friday)

All homework is optional but is helpful to support the lessons we are doing in class.

Intensives
The week before winter break is Intensive Week. This is an awesome week where many people in our community share their passions, interests and expertise in areas that are important to them. We are always looking for volunteer teachers and would love any assistance. The Intensive classes run from 9-11:30, Monday thru Friday of that week. It is great if you can teach a class the whole week but we understand time can be an issue so there are instances where two people can team up for a class or we are always looking for extra chaperones on certain days. Talk to me or Polly for more information or to get a class form.

Electives
Some students will be switching their Elective classes this week. Ask them how they are going and what their goal or purpose is in the class. We are trying to make this a class where they are pursuing their passions and putting it on their Individual Learning Plan (ILP).

Performance Night
The event is on Friday, December 12 at 5:30. Please plan to arrive around 5:15. Be asking your kids what group they are in and if they need to do anything like remember lines or come in costume. All the Ks are with me but the others are spread around. Be on the lookout for communication on this issue and talk to the adviser of the group for questions.

Snack
Snack is going great since I made my judgement call that no students can eat snack from their lunch. This was met with resistance but the JC upheld my decision after a few students appealed. My reasoning is that we provide a healthy snack with a lot of variety.(Thanks to Nephyr and the others who help out) If you have any issues with this decision or want to talk about it because it may be negatively affecting your child please let me know. The decision was made for health purposes and not intended to be a punishment to anyone in the class.

Class Jobs and Class Meeting
One disappointing part of this year so far has been the inconsistency of class meeting and the lack of Class Jobs. This week I will work to correct that. I want to encourage kids to take ownership of the classroom but have not designed time for them to express their needs or take action. We will have a class meeting on Wednesday and there we will set a consistent meeting day. This is what Trillium is all about and the kids are ready.

Pictures
Pictures are online at shutterfly.com thanks to April (Hunter's Mom). They are so cool and should be updated as we get more. April is doing awesome with that.
Login - billysk12@gmail.com
Password - 4trillium

Scholastic Book Orders
BOOK ORDERS ARE IN!!! They may not be ready until Tuesday but I have a box in my room.
Also, we can order books online. Here is the link, login and password
http://pcool.scholastic.com/parentordering/login.jsp
Login - billysk12
Password - trilliumcs

THEME- Human Origins
Our performance night will be centered around this theme and we will be exploring the many stories regarding the beginning of humans. We will explore paleontology, talk about opposable thumbs and even through in some creation stories. We will try to keep religion out of the classroom but at times it will come up. I try to use these times as a way for us to learn to accept each other and our beliefs no matter what they are. We will be reading a lot of books and making our own time line.

Levels of Independence
We are once again instituting a Levels of Independence system in our classroom to reward and encourage responsible behavior. Nothing will be posted in the room and students all start at level 1. We are creating priviliges associated with each level and how to move up a level to acquire more independence in the classroom. Students have said that others should be 1)participating in class and 2)listening to others and respecting. These are the current criteria. If a student feels they are ready to be a Level 2 then they take that to the class and state their case. Then students can ask questions. Students then vote to see if the student moves up. I am hoping for a lot of quality discussion about behavior and how to be involved in a community.

THANKS TO ALL OF YOU WHO ARE VOLUNTEERING FOR OUR CLASSROOM. IT IS SO AWESOME TO HAVE SUCH A GREAT NETWORK OF COMMITTED INDIVIDUALS AND TO SPEND SOME TIME WITH YOU IN THE CLASSROOM. I HOPE YOU LIKE IT THERE.

Week of November 12

Hey all,

We have a lot on the docket. Keep helping your students with reading and I will see you for conferences.

Dinosaur Projects
We will be having our museum display and oral presentations on Wednesday, November 19 in the morning time. Students should have their entire projects done at that time. It will be helpful if some are done before that. This week students will be working consistently on their projects to create a display piece to explain their projects. Many of the students have already created a fabric dino and a clay specimen. This will be helpful to their displays. Some students are wanting to do a diarama and this will include some work at home. If you can help your students bring in supplies for the diarama that will be helpful.

Students will also be doing an oral presentation of their projects on the 19th. Be working with your students to help them practice their presentation. Students will self assess themselves on the following areas.

I was loud enough so that everyone could hear me.
I talked about my project and gave information about my dinosaur.
I looked at my audience and displayed my project well.
I answered questions about my dinosaur.

Oral presentations will be limited to 3 minutes.

Conferences
I have posted a conference sign up sheet. I am limited in the amount of time I have available which is why I will be holding most of my conferences on Monday, November 24. This is the first day of Thanksgiving break. Please try to accomodate my needs for this. I appreciate your assistance. Our main goal during the conference will be to set goals for a learning plan and create a goal for the Elective Block. We will also be discussing your child's experience in our community and look forward to the rest of the year. Remember these are parent-teacher-student conferences. Sign up by Friday for conferences. Thank you.

Performance Groups
We will be setting up our groups for Performance Night on December 12th. I will be accomodating all the Ks to work on a musical performance. I would love some assistance with costumes for the event. We will be working on many of the songs we have learned in Music with Heidi. First and Second graders will be given a choice of three other groups run by Whitney, Beth and Brian. Please remember to mark your calendars for the event. It is a lot of fun.

Intensives
The week before Winter Break is dedicated to Intensives. These are held from Monday to Thursday from 9-12. If any of you have something that you would like to teach then please let me know. The groups are small because of parent involvement and we encourage you to make time to participate in this unique part of Trillium. This year the whole school will be partipating which means there are a lot more teaching options since the older kids will be involved. I will be once again doing my "The Math of Bowling" class. I love this week!

Thank you to all the parent volunteers. It is awesome to have you in class on a consistent basis.

Nursing Students

Hi everyone. We are fortunate enough to have Linfield College nursing students work with us again this year. The students have to complete a rotation in a school setting so that they develop skills working with children. They teach us about healthy food choices, hand washing, toothbrushing, etc. They also have a component this year that requires that they complete a home visit with a family and do an assessment and training. Below is the information that they sent to Stephanie. Hopefully, one of our families will be willing to work with the student, Dee, to complete this. Let me know ASAP if you want to participate. Thanks, Beth

The family assessment and health promotion project asks that they interview a family for a 1-2 hour session in which questions about nutrition, physical activity, stress management, family support and resources will be asked. They would ideally meet at the family's home, but this is not imperative. The student will talk with the family about their priorities as to improving their health. With this information the student will design a simple health promotion activity to be presented to the family at a second home visit.

Data obtained in this visit will only be shared with their clinical instructor in a written paper. No information will be shared with any of the staff at Trillium Charter School.

The students need to make contact with the families by next Tuesday, October 21, 2008. I am copying this message to them so that they can relay specifics to their respective teacher preceptors as well, in an effort to hasten the search for families. They understand that the families would need to give consent to Trillium staff prior to being contacted by the students.

I hope that four of your families will be willing to volunteer their time in an effort to assist our students with this interesting project.

The students and myself will be grateful.

--
Billy Menz
K-1-2 Teacher
Trillium Charter School

Week of October 27

HALLOWEEN
Halloween is so exciting for kids and we kind of get into it as well. We will be having a special Halloween in the K-1-2 as it will be "Icky Science Day" which means that costumes should come in a bag to be changed into at 11 am. If the students wear their costumes from the start there can be no guarantee that they won't get messy from the science experiments. Also, we will be having our parade around the block and school at 11:15 so get there in time. It is quite a show. Finally, if students have weapons or sticks or anything that could be used as a weapon we ask you to leave it a home until trick or treating time. It saves everyone a lot of grief. If they do bring it I will take it from them and keep it out of reach. Thanks!

Homework
Work on your research project. It will be important for kids to have the questions on the fact sheet answered by next Monday at the latest. Please staple a copy of information you got from the Internet or if you are researching in a book bring the book for your child. If it is out of the encyclopedia then bring the book and we can copy it at school. Thanks
SHARING: bring your Halloween costume to wear in parade

Theme Unit
You all should have a packet that your child brought home on Friday about their dinosaur that they are going to research. This week we will continue to explore dinos and look into their existence on Earth and how they may have left our planet. Please help your child fill out the fact sheet found in the packet with their dino attached. This project will be much like the National Parks Project of last year. After the Halloween craziness is over we will begin to delve further into the project portion of the research and will need parents to help with any special supplies your child may need to complete their research. We should all realize that this is a process and that this project is a way for students to work towards completion of a learning activity. It will look different for every student and should as we encourage creativity and exploration but your role to help your kids over the next three weeks will also be important for their success. I will keep you informed as we get further into the project.

Homework
Since nobody is actually doing the homework I am putting it on hiatus until after the project is done. We will do the big word as a class and I will be trying to work with the students on certain activities that would be helpful at home but first modeled in the classroom. If you want some homework then I can have one of my volunteers copy off some work for your child.

Nutrition and Snack
Keep up the healthy donations on the snack. Thanks to Nephyr for helping with the buying and to Mickie for picking up the slack while she is in Thailand.

Scholastic Book Orders
Jennifer Sample (Emma's Mom) has organized the book orders for us this year and the deadline for the first order is on Monday. If you have your form and want to order books please drop the orders with the money in an envelope labeled "book order" to the forms box. Jennifer is working to get the orders online so that it is easier for people to order. The more books we order the more books we earn for the classroom so please take this opportunity to get more books for your kids and their classrooms.

Reading Workshop
Our reading workshop is coming along great and kids are starting to understand the rhythm of doing the work of reading. We have been talking about what strong readers do and the kids should be able to tell you some. Ask them.

Pictures
I am trying to get more pictures during the class and post them online. April created an account for this but I must admit that I can't even send my family pictures of Clark and Ellie. It is like I am opposed to the whole thing until I know it won't take up hours of my time. I will be working to get this set up on the blog in the next few weeks so that you can see some of the awesome things the kids are doing in the class.

Week of October 13

Homework
Show three different ways to get to the number 20. Make a picture to show you know it is 20
Big Word: h p e r i t s i c r o
Draw a picture of your bedroom and label things in it.
SHARING:

Theme Unit
Space was a lot of fun and I am hoping that students were energized with the final rocket blast off we had last Wednesday. It was a lot of fun and the kids really got into it. Now we are off to the time of dinosaurs. This will be a unit where we find out what students want to know about these incredible prehistoric creatures. OMSI will be coming on Oct. 21st to teach lessons surrounding dinosaurs with other activities going on in the other rooms. Please encourage your students to bring in any information they have about dinosaurs and share it with the class.

Community Circle
I would like to say that my favorite part of the school day has become our closing circle at the end of the day. Students share some things they liked about their day and some others that they didn't like. It is a wonderful time for everyone to be heard and listened to. It happens at the end of the day and although the Ks have not yet been involved, I am exploring ways to include them in this essential part of a healthy community.

Nutrition and Snack
Thank you to all of you who have donated to the snack fund already. Snack is being eaten very consistently by most of the students and Nephyr is doing a wonderful job of providing healthy and tasty snacks for the kids. Students are being very responsible for their food and are trying to keep the classroom clean. We are still exploring ideas for a snack fundraiser to happen later in the year.

Absences
I do not like being off of school but I am beginning to accept that it may be out of my control more often than I like this year. My wife is a medical student which means she has little leeway in her ability to take time off for family emergencies. This means that when my kids are sick, I will need to stay home. We are working to provide an accurate and dependable list of subs at Trillium, but it is still a work in progress. Please be talking to your students about the importance of being leaders in the classroom on days when I have to be absent. It is stressful to wonder what is happening in the class when I can't be there. The first one was a bad situation, but the kids did a much better job the next time. I hope they can continue to show responsibility on days like this.

Field Trips
We have a field trip up coming on Wednesday of this week. Thanks to Misty for signing up to drive. This will be a driving trip and we need more drivers. Please sign up outside the room. The trip will be to the NW Children's Theater and we will see Hansel and Gretel.

Volunteers
Thanks to all the people who have been helping out this year in the class. I will be holding a volunteer training in the near future for the jobs I would like to see happen in the class. I have been looking through the forms you all filled out and will be talking with you about specific positions that may work for you. Thanks for being involved.

Run for the Arts
Please have all of your run for the arts money returned to my forms box or the office by no later than Wednesday, October 15th.

Week of September 22

Homework
Please review address, phone number and safety info with your students.
Students can make a map of the area around their house.
Big Word: l a o r y s e m s s t
Students will have a math game to bring home to play. (Not Ks)

Sleep Over
Please fill out a criminal history form and turn it into the blue forms box on the entryway shelf. We will be starting the sleepover at 6:00 with a stargazing party at 8:30 if the clouds clear for us. Also, for students not staying the night they should be picked up or taken home between 8:30 and 9:00

K-1-2 Newsletter
There is a new newsletter in your folders. These will be published about once a month and provide some input into our curriculum plans for the upcoming weeks. It has a calendar of upcoming events and some quotes from the All About Me posters.

Nutrition and Snack
Nutrition is an important part of learning that is sometimes overlooked. We at Trillium, with our new lunch program and our focus on healthy snacks, pride ourselves on creating an environment where healthy eating habits are encouraged and celebrated. Please make sure that you are sending non sugary snacks for your students during the school day. We provide a healthy snack everyday as part of your activity fee. Unfortunately we budget about $400 for those snacks which is about half of what we need. Nephyr, Django's mom, and I work together to ensure snack is sufficient and healthy for the kids.

That said our classroom needs to supplement the activity fee funds in order to avoid the crummy bulk snacks available in the big box stores. If you can contribute to the snack fund I would encourage you to do so as we will need to raise nearly $400 to cover all costs. The snack fund folder is located on the window next to the door and any donations are helpful. The folder will remain up the entire year or until we feel we have met our necessary funding level. It may be great to think of a fundraiser that the kids can help with to raise the extra money. Maybe a Christmas time bowl-a-thon. Let me know if you would be willing to help with this.

Volunteers
I would love more volunteer help in the classroom if you have time available. It is best if you can commit to a specific time each week or to a specific job within the community. Let me know what type of time and committment you have and I am sure that I could find a meaningful role for you. Here are some examples.
Reading group leader
Scholastic book club organizer
Lunch help
Paper sorter and copier
Chaperones and drivers
etc.

Wish List
I don't have much on the wish list yet but here are a few.
CD walkmans
hot glue sticks

Thanks!

Parent Night Notes

Greetings to everyone!

Here is an overview of topics discussed at the Wednesday, September 18 K-1-2 Parent Meeting:

Sleep Over/Space Out

Sept. 25th

Begins at 6:00PM with a potluck for all K-1-2 students! Sign up sheets for the potluck will be posted outside of the classrooms. Parents are welcome to join in the fun and chaperone event or if your kid wants some ME time that's cool too. There will be different activities in the rooms for your child to choose from or a movie in the multipurpose room. Bedtime or go home time is 8:30PM. Breakfast will be served in the morning for those students who opt to stay the night. If you plan on chaperoning or spending the night you must first fill out a criminal background check. Check with your child's teacher, if you have not filled one out already.

Jen a Naturopath and Trillium parent offered up her services to advise on nutrition and food intolerances. She passed out a hand out on nutritious lunchbox food.

A brief explanation of curriculum...

1. Everyday the children will have a class meeting.

2. Math and literacy menus

First and second graders have this time with Billy, Brian, or Beth.

Kinders have time with Whitney where they explore reading and math basics as well as art, music and garden.

3. Theme

The current theme is Space(hence the Sleepover and Spaceout). The theme changes throughout the year and is the subject of the 2 performance nights in December and May.

4. Reading Workshop

The first and second graders have this everyday after read aloud time. It is 30 to 45 minutes of time that they read to themselves, with each other, with a teacher or in a group. A time to learn to love books and to learn how to pick out books that are just right for their level current reading level.

5. Electives

These are classes that the kids get to choose themselves. Like dance or West African drumming, etc. The idea is that the younger and older kids will begin to be more integrated in some of these electives so that there is a more First thru 12th grade experience. Ask your child about their choice.

Communication

1. Liassons: these are parents who offer their time to attend TFT meetings, assist in teacher to parent communication, or help to coordinate social function within the individual classrooms. Basically, liassons try to support the teachers.

2. Emails and Blogs

In the upcoming newsletter their will be instructions on how to get set up on the Trillium listserve. This is a handy function as it offers a way to communicate with the school as a whole.

Soon all the K-1-2 teachers will have a blog, this is a great way to check in and see what's going on, if there's any homework for the week, or event details.

3. Go Home Files

Be sure to check these often! Located outside the classrooms, these are another way to further communication. This is how many things get sent home for the students: thematic homework, school newsletters or paperwork, even the occasioanal correspondance from Portland Public Schools.

Volunteer Opportunities

1. Reading Group

2. E Portfolio

All the students of Trillium will eventually have an online portfolio of their work. The younger ones will need help setting these up, ie taking pictures of their work and projects and uploading them to the web and reflection and typing up entries.

3. Copying!!!!

4. Drivers and Chaperones for field trips.

5. Taking dictation for student stories.

If any of these things are something you'd be willing to volunteer time for, talk to your child's respective advisor for details.

First Week Fun

Hello families and friends,

The first week of the school year is in the books and what a great week it was. Never before have I felt as energized heading into a school year and this week our little learners set a high standard for themselves. Students were engaged in the process of learning and getting to know their community. We created self portraits, sketched one of our favorite parks, held our first class meeting and started to discover and re-discover the mediation process. If only all the weeks could go this smoothly.

Homework
Remember, homework is always optional, but it is important. I don't want to force home battles about it but instead aim to make it fun and relevent to our learning.
1) Finish your All About Me Posters so we can get to know you more.
2) Have students write their full name, address, and phone number. Please review this information with your students. It is important information for them to know.
SHARING: On Friday students can bring in a special rock that they have found or received.

CLASS PICNIC
Our first class gathering will be this weekend at Blue Lake Park. We will be having a potluck picnic in the park and everyone should bring a dish to pass. there is more information outside the room. The picnic will be on Saturday, September 20 from 10-1. If anyone has a badmitten set, crochet, volleyball net or a good solid kickball then please let me know so we can plan. It would be great to get a little old fashioned ball playing.

THEME - Space
This week we designed our rockets to blast off to outer space and this week we will be starting our journey through time and space. As we travel through the solar system we will begin to explore the unique qualities of the planets it encompasses including our own home, Earth. We will be taking a look at the sun and what power it provides for our planet and how it affects everything in the solar system. Start talking to your kids about projects they may want to do for the theme. We will have a project option during each theme this year and space presents a lot of opportunities for us to get off to a great start.

Sleep Over Spaceout
Our first big event of the year will be on Thursday, September 25th at 5:30 pm. Parents are encouraged to chaperone this event but it is not a requirement for attendance. The students will be involved in games and activities encompassing our Space thematic unit. We will also have a movie option that will be space related. If any parents have an issue with this just see me so that we can make arrangements. Students will sleep at the school and wake up to have breakfast. The other students in the school will be on campouts and we should have the whole building to ourselves on that Thursday and Friday. It should be a really awesome experience for the kids.

Business
All of you should have received a class schedule. If you didn't then just ask me and I will get you a copy. Many of you have turned in all your forms. Thank you. Many of you signed up to drive but we still are missing insurance information from most. If you have this you can copy it at the school and turn it into the forms box on top of the entryway shelf. I would also like to thank everyone for really making an effort to take kids stuff home. If anything is in their blue or red bins it can go home. Their drawers are for mostly unfinished work and student organization like journals and folders. Please help your kids keep their drawers organized by picking a day of the week to go through and clean out work that won't be completed. This helps the students stay focused on things they should be completing. Thanks.

Class Meeting
Our first class meeting was short but good. I could tell some of the new students were learning what the meeting is all about. Class meeting is a way for students to use the democratic process to make their learning environment work for them. The first proposal was brought to the group by yours truly.
Proposal: I propose that we keep stickers on our book boxes and every session of reading workshop that students who do the "work" of reading will receive a sticker on their box. Every 10 stickers allows for a day off during reading workshop time. Passes 11-6
The work of reading is defined as reading a book at or close to the student's level and trying to work through the text. We have older student helpers and myself to assist students during this time and they can read in partners if need be.

Conflict Resolution
Over the next few weeks we will continue to focus efforts on Trillium's conflict resolution mode. This will mostly entail the use of mediation and other structures within the community. We will be developing a strong community by helping kids work with a wide range of classmates on different activities to build kinship in the community. I encourage you to ask your students about mediation and ask them if they worked or played with anyone new that day.

Pictures
I will be posting pictures as soon as I find an acceptable host. If anyone has experience with good sites please let me know.

Welcome!

Hello families and friends,

I am sure you are all excited like me about the upcoming school year. We have a lot of things planned for the year and we are looking forward to making this Trillium's best year. Here are some things you need to know.

Scheduling stuff
The school day has changed a little bit and we now have school until 3:15. Students will still need to be picked up in the classroom, just a little bit later. Kindergarteners are still in school until 1:00 but this year they will be dismissed from their adviser's class at 12:55 to the Afternoon Kindergarten program. Parents should pick their students up their no later than 1:00 if they are not in the program. This is a way for us to streamline things and allow the afternoon activities to get started a little earlier. Finally, there will be no breakfast in my classroom this year. Students who need to eat breakfast should do so in the Multipurpose room before coming to class. Breakfast will be served from 8:15 to 8:45. The doors to Trillium open at 8:15.

Class Picnic
We will be having a class picnic on September 20th from 10-1 at Blue Lake Park. The event is designed to be an informal gathering for families and kids to get to know each other a little better outside of the classroom. Blue Lake Park is about 10 miles east of Portland down Marine Drive. There is a link below to the park and gives directions. We will be setting up shop near the playgrounds closest to the swimming area. The event will be a potluck so everyone should bring a dish to pass. For those interested in biking to the event you can take the Marine Trail almost the whole way. The last 1.5 miles is on the road but fairly safe.

Blue Lake Park Website

Sleep Over Spaceout
Our first big event of the year will be on Thursday, September 25th at 5:00 pm. Parents are encouraged to chaperone this event but it is not a requirement for attendance. The students will be involved in games and activities encompassing our Space thematic unit. Students will sleep at the school and wake up to have breakfast. The other students in the school will be on campouts and we should have the whole building to ourselves on that Thursday and Friday. It should be a really awesome experience for the kids.

Forms and Business
There are many forms that you all have to make sure you are turning into the office in the first weeks of school including a background check on any adults attending field trips, sleepovers, campouts, or volunteering in the room. Many of you did this last year and don't need to repeat it. I will have a list if you want to know if you are covered. If you are not on the list then we need a new form even if you have done this for another purpose through the state. Thanks.

K-1-2 Training Night
We have not set a date but sometime in the first few weeks of school we will have a training night for parents where we will outline what to expect for the school year. We will be looking to this event to organize and train volunteers on a host of jobs we could use your help with this year. Please attend if you can and we will get you the date ASAP. Please be looking over your Trillium and K-1-2 Handbook and come with questions.

Potluck

Hey all, we will be having a potluck at April (Hunter's mom) house on Friday at 12:30. If you want you can bring your bike and your kids bike and I will take the kids on a bike ride. the house is close to school and should be fun. Please sign up on the white board in front of the room if you can contribute .

the address is

1805 N Cramer St

See you there.

End of the year

Homework

Work on Publishing Party stories for the event on Monday.

Hey all,

We are approaching the end of the year and many of our students will be moving on to the next grade level. I will miss all of them and can't imagine my class without them. That said we will be having a moving up ceremony at In Other Words Bookstore on Monday, June 9th from 10:30 to 11:45. We will have some students reading from their stories for the Publishing Party which will be held in combination of this activity. It should be very exciting!

Here is what is going on right now in class. Basically, we have three priorities for the rest of the year. We are going to be working on publishing stories for the event on Monday and on Tuesday the students will be participating with the rest of the K-1-2 in a market. Students have been working on creating their businesses and will be able to sell their stuff at the "Trillium Market" on Tuesday at 9:15. Students will use the money they already have and the money they earn from their businesses to purchase other things created by fellow students. The experience has been a great learning opportunity for the students to discover the intricacies of starting a business. Many students had to fill out a loan application in order to start their enterprises.

We are also reading my favorite book, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Many have already seen the movie or read the book (stupid movies) so the experience is not quite as great as it was in the past, but the students are still enjoying the story. This will be a nice relaxing way to end the year and provides me with a lot of joy to share something special with my students.

Students are in Intensives this week in the morning. Ask your kids what they are doing. They love this part of the year. It is a great thing about our school and I love this week. The kids are always into what they are doing and enjoy working with kids out of their class.

Next week will be a slow week on the academic front besides the business thing. Here is a schedule of what will happen during the week.

Monday - Moving up ceremony at 10:30
Tuesday - Business at 9:15, leave for park day at Pennisula at 10:30
Wednesday - Field trip to the OMSI. We will need drivers and if anyone has membership then that would be helpful. My membership gets 10 people in for free, but we need to cover the rest of the cost as we don't have any money left.
Thursday - Movie Day. The students will be entertained by a movie in the multipurpose room to help teachers in the lower school finish all student interviews for the report cards. If you have an issue with this event, let me know and I can arrange something else for your child.
Friday - Saying good bye. Students will help clean the classroom and take everything home for the year. Tears will be shed.

SUMMER PLANS
For those of you who don't have summer plans yet there are still spaces available at Trillium Summer Camps or you can sign up with Belinda for the aftercare summer program. Ask me about any questions you might have.

Also, every Thursday during the summer a group of us will meet at Pennisula Park for a playdate at 10:00. We are sending this to the entire K-1-2 and the preschool and it has been a popular meeting place in years past. Talk to Megan, Courtney or myself if you have any questions.

Thank you for everything ya'll have done this year to help our community be as strong as ever. I often go to bed thinking about how lucky I am not only to have the wonderful students I have, but how lucky I am to be surrounded by such a great group of people. I know that you all have heard this story before, but I am truly thankful of all the support you have given me and my family. Thank you for letting me be me and help guide your students through their educational experience. I consider it a privilege.

Week of May 12th

A huge thank you is deserved to Megan Klepp and everyone who donated items to the auction. Our class raised over $600 from our items that will go directly to Trillium. For those of you who did not see the piece that Megan created with the kids, it was amazing! The piece went for $450 and was a steal in my opinion. Thank you so much Megan for all your help!

HOMEWORK

Big Word: o s m i v l e e t n u r
Writing: Work on a 5-10 sentence story on the campout
Math: Play math baseball online at funbrain.com

Service Day is on Thursday from 9-12. We still need volunteers if you are available to drive or chaperone.

We will be going to the Rhododendrun Gardens on Tuesday. Please sign up to drive.

This week we will start our performance groups for the Hawaii Luau. Ask your students what group they are in.

We will be creating businesses over the next few weeks in class. Be talking with your kids about money and all the intricacies of running a business. We hope to have them on display for the Luau.

The Talent Show is Friday at 6:30. Please be there if your kids are in the event. It is always a fun time.

Billy

Week of May 5th

Happy Cinco de Mayo!
Who even knows why we celebrate this holiday. We will know after Monday. Ask your kids.

Homework this week is simple. Write a scary story to share at the campout around the fire while we are eating smores. Turn stories into me on Thursday morning. This should be fun and does not need to be very long. The younger students can draw pictures to help them remember their stories when they tell them on Thursday night.

THE CAMPOUT IS THURSDAY! IF YOU HAVEN'T TURNED IN YOUR FORMS OR PAYMENT THEN PLEASE DO SO ON MONDAY. STUDENTS ARE FREE AND ADULTS ARE $12. EXTRA KIDS ARE $5 EACH. THANKS. If you have questions then just ask me.

Service Day is next Thursday and we need drivers and chaperones. Please sign up to volunteer for this event from 9-12 on Thursday. There will be a sit down lunch at 12:15.

Starting on Monday, May 12th we will be in Hawaii and starting to prepare for our Hawaiian Luau on Friday, May 30th. We will be having an ILP Exhibition and a trading post for the event. Not to mention the performances.

The Annual Trillium Talent Show is on Friday, May 16 at 6:30 pm. Many of your students will be involved and it is a fun event. Last year it was held in the courtyard and I anticipate the same this year.

Oh, we voted to suspend Pokemon Club until the group can create some rules for the group. The proposal passed 8-5. Please keep cards at home and encourage members to get together to solve the problems of the group's dynamics.

We have a field trip to the Rhododendrun Gardens on Tuesday, May 13 at 9:30.

Auction tickets are available at the front desk for $25. The event is this Saturday, May 10th.

Thanks,

Billy

Week of April 28

Hey all,

Thank you to all the parents and students who helped out at the work day on Saturday. Besides the 911 call it was a great time and I hope we can have another one before the end of the year or one over the summer.

Service Day is coming up and we need volunteer drivers and chaperones. Please sign up outside the door. It is a lot of fun!

We still need things for the Trillium Auction on May 10. We are looking for things that would go nicely in our beautifully mosaic planters. The kids will also be creating a window with Megan this week.

The campout is coming up next week. Please get all forms in by this Friday so that we can start planning yurt assignments and the like. I can't wait to get to the ocean.

We are starting Native American projects this week and it will be important for you guys to help your students gather research about their chosen tribe. Please get the homework in as soon as you can and help them come up with an independent project idea.

We have rescheduled some things for the end of the year.
1. The Publishing Party is now on Monday, June 9th from 10:30-11:45 at In Other Words bookstore on Killingsworth.
2. The end of the year potluck will still be on Friday, June 6th, but April (Hunter's mom) has agreed to host the event.
3. The OMSI trip is still going to be rescheduled, but I need to know if anyone has one of those memberships that gets in a lot of people free.

Please sign up for summer camps so that I can continue to see your wonderful children over the summer.

Week of April 14

Homework

Big Word: i i l d w e f l
Reading: Read for 15 minutes a night and chart it.
Project: Write 5 sentences about your National Park.

Field Trips
I was wrong. We are not slowing down the field trips they have actually picked up recently and we are planned to be gone for the next few Fridays. I will be changing the OMSI trip to one during the week so keep your eye out for the change.

Parent Info Night
On April 22 we will have a parent information session to discuss the campout, end of the year activities and other questions you may have. The event starts at 6:30 and should last no more than an hour. It will mainly focus on the campout expectations and needs. For those of you who don't know we will be going camping at Nehalem Bay State Park on May 8th. It is a blast!

Theme Unit
Thank you all for helping your children get their National Park packets back in time. We will be making our own journals of our travels through our own and other National Parks.

Volunteer Work Day
Courtney has agreed to watch some of the kids on the work day but another helper may not be bad. The work day is scheduled for 9-12 and Megan and I will get things together on that Friday and/or Saturday morning. We will be painting, sanding, constructing and glueing. If we get enough people we could get some great stuff done for the school and our classroom.

Supplies
Thank you to those of you who brought in markers or offered. The problem has been rectified for now. You all rock!

Wish List
These are some things that will be helpful in the class as we start to work on our projects and prepare for our auction project.

terracata planters
plain wood planter boxes
plastic spray paint
caps, caps, caps (we still need more for the project we want to do)
chalkboard paint
grout (dark, sanded)
extra unused paint
shoe boxes

Week of April 7

Homework

Big Word: a t v a i n o c
Number: Count how many toes are in your house. Show how you solved these problems by making pictures.
Challenge: How many toes are there on your block?
Project: Take home parent packet for National Parks Theme Unit
Theme: Choose a national park to do your project on.

Welcome back from our long break! I know everyone is excited to get back to the learning of school. We have 10 weeks left and a lot to do in that time. I wanted to give everyone a heads up on what is coming up through the end of the year. Here is a list of events that should be put on everyone's calendar.

Friday, April 11 Field Trip with Buddies (Play after Play)
Monday, April 21 Swimming at Mt. Scott
Tuesday, April 22 Parent Information Night
Saturday, April 26 Volunteer work day for the classroom (9 am to noon)
Friday, May 2 OMSI Field Trip
Thur-Fri, May 8-9 Campout at Nehalem Bay with Brian's class
Saturday, May 10 Trillium Annual Auction
Tuesday, May 13 Rhododendrun Garden
Thursday, May 15 Trillium Service Day
Friday, May 30 K12 Learning Plan Exhibition and Hawaiian Luau
Week of June 2-5 INTENSIVES (Sign up to teach a class)
Friday, June 6 End of the Year POTLUCK at Megan's
Wednesday, June 11 Publishing Party
Friday, June 13 LAST DAY OF SCHOOL
Class Bike Ride at Noon

Field Trips
We are slowing down on the field trips but still have a few more planned. Please keep in mind that we do have swimming two weeks from Monday and we will need drivers. This will be the last swimming of the year. Please check the sign up board for updated information on upcoming trips and opportunities to drive.

Conferences
Thank you to all of you who met with me for your conference. I think that we have created some great learning plans and the kids are going to be working hard to show off what they have done at the end of May. I really appreciate people showing up on time, being patient with me and rescheduling when necessary. If you haven't had your conference we can schedule one this week. Also, your student's learning plan is in your folder outside the room.

Theme Unit
Over the next few weeks we will be working on a National Parks project where each student will choose a national park to research and present to the class. This will involve some work on the parent end since it is very difficult to manage 20 different projects. You will be receiving a parent packet this week. Please ask your students for this information or talk to me if you do not have it by Wednesday. After studying the national parks we will be talking a lot about Native American cultures and students will be thinking about an independent project they can do on Native Americans.

Volunteer Work Day
On Saturday, April 26 we will have a class work day at Trillium. We will be painting, nailing, hanging and working on things for our class and for the playground in general. There will be many opportunities to volunteer and kids are invited to help out. It would be great if we had two parents volunteer to manage the kids who are not as helpful as the rest. I will see if the preschool room is available that day. There will be a job sign up list as the event nears, but if you can commit to this event then sign up on the appropriate field trip sheet.

Supplies
Please help our shortage of markers in our class. If you could all get your students a set of Crayola or any type of markers for them to use in the class that would be great. The community use markers have been ramshackled and are not very functional. Put your child's name on their markers and ask them to keep track of them. I will still have markers for community use but it is frustrating having so few. I wanted to get more, but to buy them for the whole class is pretty pricy. Any extras you have not being used at home would be helpful as well.

Wish List
These are some things that will be helpful in the class as we start to work on our projects and prepare for our auction project.

terracata planters
plain wood planter boxes
plastic spray paint
caps, caps, caps (we still need more for the project we want to do)
chalkboard paint
grout (dark, sanded)
extra unused paint
shoe boxes

Publishing Party

The Publishing Party was a success with a number of interesting stories that will be on display for Project Night. Here is a list of the stories generated and read at the event with some great photos taken by Nikos. Thanks to everyone who attended and helped out.

Take the link to Flickr.com to see the photos.

Check out a reading from Django's story.

Week of March 10

Homework

Big Word: o n t i c o n u t i s t
Number: Figure out how many months until your birthday. Show your work with a picture. Figure out how old you are in months. For a challenge try days.
Project: Work to complete your projects by doing research, writing or drawing.
Theme: Fill out and return Voter Registration Form to Sebastian or Thalia.

We have some exciting things going on in our class right now as Project Night approaches. Over the next two weeks leading up to Spring Break you can look forward to conferences, a new learning plan and our annual all-school Project Fair. This is an event where all students and parents get to see what their child is doing and what others in the school are working on. It is a great night for all. This year Project Night will be on Thursday, March 20. Check the board outside the room for the time.

Many students already have projects in the works and with the afternoon classes students will be working to have those completed by the 20th. My group is making Portland Bridges and I am very excited for what they will create. Ask your student what class they are in and what project they will be working on for Project Night.

Over the next two weeks everyone in the class has an opportunity to make their Project Fair displays. It will be important for parents to check-in with students about this process because we will be dedicating more time to this over the next few weeks and if they are not working on their projects it will be very difficult to complete their goals.

Field Trips
Well, I have double booked us on field trips for the 21st of March. The day before Spring Break we will be at Go Dog Go and the Audobahn Society at the same time. We are scheduled for a play with the K.1.2 and a Friday trip with Middle School Buddies. In an effort to fix this situation I am going to give the 1st and 2nd graders choice as to which field trip they would like to go on. I am hoping some of them choose the Buddy trip because it would be a special trip. I will ask students on Monday which trip they want to go on and will need an answer by Wednesday. The students who don't go to the play will be replaced with Trillium PreSchool students entering the K.1.2. It will be a nice shadowing experience.

Conferences
Conferences will start on Friday. Please sign up for a conference on the board outside. If you need a different time please let me know but make all efforts to plug into the schedule. If you don't have a copy of your student's report card let me know and I will print you one off.

Theme Unit
We are currently electing mascots in the classroom for our Election Unit. Students are working through an election process to identify the best mascot for our classroom. We will be registering people to vote, holding primaries, writing speeches, advertising polls, holding a debate and voting. This should be a really exciting week for the kids because they are into the whole election because of the Obama/Clinton showdown. Aren't we all. We don't have a lot of Bush supporters in our room. Hmm!?

New Trillium Constitution
Finally, Trillium will hopefully be unveiling a new Constitution this week as we vote on our newly revised document on Thursday at 9:45. We will be discussing the document this week during our Election Unit and will be developing opinions about what we think about it. On Thursday, the whole school will gather in the Multi-purpose room for an All-School Meeting to vote on the Constitution. We need a 2/3 vote to have it enacted and we hope the meeting is more of a ceremonial thing as we think we have the support of the community. The document is the result of months of work from the group that was involved in the Constitutional Convention. The group was organized to change and improve the current Trillium Constitution. If enacted this will be the third version of the document in the school's history. We hope this one will have real longevity as it contains a lot of the old and makes clear the powers that exist for students and staff within the school. It should be a very exciting event as we have not had an All-School Meeting all year.

Have a great week!

Week of Feb 25

Hello everyone,

First of all, I wanted to let everyone know that I will be absent from class a significant amount of time over the next two weeks. I will be absent the following days due to family obligations and a workshop. BILLY OUT:

Thursday, Feb 28 Friday, Feb 29 Monday, Mar 3 Wednesday, Mar 5

I would appreciate if you talk to your children about the importance of being responsible when a sub is there and that school goes on very similar to when I am there. Carrie Mae will be my sub and I will advise her to take up issues with ya'll. I will be working with my students on sub behavior this week since our last sub experience was something we would all like to forget.

Homework
Sound: Cr as in creak
Turn in Wednesday
Number: 100
Turn in Thursday
Big Word: O C D E Y C M R A
Turn in Friday
Theme: Students can continue to work on their publishing party stories at home. It is great to work on final drafts or illustrations at home.
Turn in anytime
Wacky Wednesday: Funny hat day
Turn in Friday
Sharing: Favorite Book
Sharing is on Friday at 9:00

Field Trips and Swimming
WE ARE GOING SWIMMING TODAY, MONDAY FEB 25 AT 1230. Hopefully everyone shows up to drive. Please leave carseats for the drivers.
Here are our field trips for the rest of the year.
Feb 25 Swimming @Mt. Scott
Mar 7
Mar 21 Buddie Trip to Audobahn Society
Apr
Apr
May
May
June

Report Cards go out today. Please read them over with your students and if you have any questions you can ask me or ask to have a meeting. Conferences are a good time to discuss issues involving report cards

Buddies
We have been working with our Middle School Buddies more often and we are planning some Friday trips with them soon. We will be going to the Audobahn Sanctuary on Friday, March 21st. We are also trying to combine on an Auction piece for the May 10 Trillium Auction. So far we only have the idea of chess boards and pieces. If anyone has a great idea for a large group to do for the auction, please let me know.

Theme Unit
We have left the Everglades which was a very successful unit. The kids really got into building the Pinelands part of the ecosystem. We talked about the ecosystem and how delicate it can be and what happens to it when even one producer or consumer is removed. I think most of our students were very aware of how these things can affect the entire balance.

We are now moving on to Washington D.C. and studying the democracy of our country. We will be holding an election in our class for a new mascot. Students will be nominating mascots and working on campaigns to elect them. It should be a lot of fun.

Publishing Party
We are all working very hard to get our stories done for the Publishing Party on Mar. 7th. The Ks will start tomorrow. Students have chosen to work on stories for the event and will have a choice as to whether they want to be in it. On the 7th, everyone who has published can attend the event with others who have published. In order to be "published" you should go through the process of writing. Generating and organizing ideas, writing a draft, edit and revise, create a final piece of work.

The Ks will be starting their stories this week and will probably need help with the writing part of their stories. If they choose to publish then they will need some assistance with reading at the event. All parents are invited to attend and we will have some special snacks and treats for the kids who publish their work.

Conferences
I will be scheduling conferences for the week before Spring Break. Please try to sign up at a time when I have indicated, but feel free to talk to me if none of those times work. If need be I will overflow into the Monday of Spring Break since we will be working hard on the Project Fair that week.

Project Night
Project Night is Thursday, March 20th. This is a big event for Trillium where students get to see each other's work and where students get to display a lot of the work they have been doing. This will be the focus of our time over the next few weeks and students will start "expert" classes next week. I will be teaching an architecture class about the Bridges of Portland.

This week's HOMEWORK
Sound: Oi as in foil
Turn in Wednesday
Number: 14 or 70
Turn in Thursday
Big Word: E O G T S I N G E A R
Turn in Friday
Theme: Students can continue to work on their publishing party stories at home.
Turn in anytime
Wacky Wednesday: Backwards Day
Turn in Friday
Sharing: Favortite song
Sharing is on Friday at 9:00

Homework for Feb 11

This week's HOMEWORK
Sound: SH as in SHOP
Turn in Wednesday
Number: 8 or 64
Turn in Thursday
Big Word: S Y C E S O M T E
Turn in Friday
Theme: Students can continue to work on their publishing party stories at home.
Turn in anytime
Wacky Wednesday: Pajama Day or
Turn in Friday
Sharing: Share a small piece of electronics
Sharing is on Friday at 9:00

Swimming is on hold until Mt. Scott gets back to us about when we can come. It will probably be next week.

Valentines Day and Independence Board

Hello all,

As many of you have noticed I tried to institute a Levels of Independence chart in the room this week to motivate kids to show more responsibility which would lead to more independence with their own learning. A few parents have suggested their concern in this matter especially with the display of where kids are on the chart. "It feels kind of icky." As an open-minded person, I have considered these critiques and my opinion is that if it feels icky it probably is.

The board will not be on display any longer but the levels of independence will continue to be discussed. It is important for our students to understand that at Trillium we have freedom with our learning but that comes with responsibility. I don't believe it is developmentally appropriate for students to not see consequences for their actions. This works both ways. Many times it is of the positive variety. I don't believe it to be fair or aligned with our philosophy at Trillium for me to insist that all students go out for recess if they are inclined to work in the room during that time. At the same time, if certain students are not proving responsible in other areas it is difficult for me to decide on my own who gets to stay and who doesn't. The Levels of Independence provide me with a gauge as to who has earned that right through their actions. It is meant to be a positive reinforcement.

This is why I have decided to take the board down. It's appearance was negative and displayed a negative effect on certain students. That is the last thing I want. We talk in our class about helping everyone succeed and our goal is for everyone to obtain a significant level of independence with their learning.

I may not be clear as I write this, but I have a vision and I encourage any of you to talk to me about the system. We have been struggling with this in class and I felt that action was needed. I hope that I did not offend anyone or harm any student's learning in the process. If I have then I am truly sorry

On a lighter note, Valentines Day is approaching and the one rule we have is no candy at school. Not all of our students can enjoy the pleasure of sugar and we don't want anyone to feel left out. As far as valentines are concerned I don't encourage students to bring any from home, but I also understand that it is an uncontrollable holiday. If your student is insistent on bringing valentines who am I to say no. The only thing I ask is that bring one for everyone so that no one feels left out. We will be creating valentines bags on the day and writing compliments for our friends. I would encourage you to incorporate compliments into your valentine cards in an effort to stay in line with our theme.

We will be having a special heart bagel snack with cream cheese for the day and I will discuss with Nephyr a vegan and wheat free option.

Thanks for your understanding.

Week of Feb 5

Hey all,

Tomorrow we will be having a Mardi Gras Parade in celebration of Fat Tuesday. The parade will begin at 1245 so that everyone can enjoy.

We have a new member to our community. Her name is Brynan and she will be with us for the next six weeks. She is a masters student at Concordia University and will be doing her practicum in our classroom. Please introduce yourself if you see her. She will be slowly moving towards more teaching and will be teaching quite a bit in about 2-3 weeks. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Levels of Independence
We are starting a new behavior recognition program in our class similar to what they do in the 3-4-5. We will be establishing levels of independence for students from 0-4. Everyone started at level 1. The higher you go on the levels the more independence and freedom you have within the classroom and school. The idea is to reward and give more responsibility to those students who are consistently managing themselves while at the same time teaching other students who need a little more support how to manage themselves in the classroom environment.

Themes
We are in Louisiana this week for Mardi Gras and will be studying an artist by the name of Clementine Hunter. She was born after slavery but lived a slavelike life on the Melrose Plantation near Cane River in Louisiana. She died on New Year's Day 1988 at the age of 101. She is Louisiana's most famous female artistHunter painted the scenes of African American plantation life and has become wildly popular in the "folk art" style. Students will be painting in the style of this wonderful artist. Have your student google Clementine Hunter and a bunch of sites pop up.

Next week we will begin to explore the Everglades and attempt to build a replica of the environment surrounding and inside the Everglades National Park. There is a rich amount of diversity and each advising group will be working on one area of the landscape of diversity. We will be learning about the habitat and the animals that live there. We will also talk about the dangers that exist because of development to this essential resource.

After the South we will walk up towards Washington DC where we will be studying the journey of Civil Rights and explore election politics. We are hoping it ties in nicely to the primary coverage in the news right now. Students will be rehearsing and performing plays in each advising group. Our class will be doing a rendition of the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

That will take us nearly to Spring Break. However, for the last three weeks before the break and Project Night we will be having groups geared towards projects for the event. I will be teaching a class on Portland Bridges. Students will be choosing groups during interviews with me for report cards over the next two weeks.

Report Cards
Oh the report card process. It is truly enjoyable for me to sit down and write about your wonderful children. Daunting, but enjoyable. Over the next two weeks I will be writing report cards, interviewing students for reflection and creating an updated learning plan with each student. We are all aiming to have report cards in everyone's hands by Feb. 19, but if you know Trillium, I would not hold us to that date. I sure hope I am done by then.

New Students
For those of you who don't know, we lost Nate to a school in Gresham at the break. We all miss him, but wish him well in his future endeavors. We are hoping he will come and visit us. That said we now have two new smiling faces in our community. Chet started last week and actually attended Trillium preschool a couple of years ago. He is a first grader. Tomorrow Abigail begins with us and comes from Texas. She has been at Vernon this year, but recently moved here from Dallas. Howdy!

Snack
Thanks to all of you who continue to contribute to the snack fund. It is great to have such healthy and fresh snacks. Everyone should thank Nephyr and Aaron for making this happen each and every week. It is a great contribution to the community.

Book Orders
I have to apologize for the book order fiasco. I think a check got lost and Scholastic has messed up some orders. I know how great these things are and how affordable. I will try to get it back up and running and get the online thing worked out. Thanks for your patience.

Homework
All of you are doing awesome on the homework. I am really appreciative to have a significant number of students doing the homework because it provides background when we talk about those things in class. Just to clarify one last time since I have said different things.
Sound homework is reviewed on Wednesday
Number Homework on Thursday
Big Word Homework on Friday
Sorry for the confusion.

Learning Plans
We are still working on our learning plans but time has been an issue. Over the next few weeks we will be focusing on one goal at a time and helping students engage more in the process of following through.

Week of January 28th

This week's HOMEWORK
Number: 15 or 75
Turn in Wednesday
Sound: Tr as in Train
Turn in Thursday
Big Word: B R O T C A I E E L N
Turn in Friday

Homework Files

Here is the homework that you can print at home.

Number Homework
Big Word Homework
Sound of the Week Homework

Week of January 21

This week's HOMEWORK
Number: 12 or 60
Turn in Wednesday
Sound: CH as in CHANGE or CATCH
Turn in Thursday
Big Word: O P R I E S M M O C
Turn in Friday
Theme: Students should ask their parents questions about what they do for the community and write about it. They can draw a picture of you helping or working instead or in addition.
Turn in anytime

Do as much as you can or as little. I expect they can at least finish one of the assignments.

Hello all,

Class is going wonderfully and I am hoping to start having more pictures of student work and activities on the blog. Any help you can provide with this will be wonderful. I could give you the camera and have you post the pictures to the blog once a week. Students and myself will take the pictures. The students are doing some wonderful work and really getting into class projects and some are hitting their learning plans hard. We will be working a lot on our plans this week and next. Any support that you can give your student towards their plans will be excellent. Near the beginning of February we will be creating new plans.

Assessment
With report cards coming up quickly, I am busily doing assessment to see where the kids are at with their learning. Assessment will consist of many different components and not be reliant on testing. This is a key component to a successful classroom and I am working with the students to understand that they are not being judged but that my job is to teach them things they have not yet mastered. They appear excited to show off what they know. If any of you are available to take over the class for a period of time that would really help me take students and do the assessment elsewhere. If you are available, let me know.

Math Focus
On three Fridays in February and March (2/15, 2/29, 3/14) we will be hosting Oregon State University students who will be doing multiple math stations to supplement our classroom learning. The events will culminate with a Math Night on Thursday, March 13. The time has yet to be determined. It should be an exciting way for us to get the students more excited about math. Many of them are already excited and this event should challenge them to the next level.

Homework
Thank you all for really putting an emphasis on the homework this week. It was great to see the students come in talking about their work at home on their learning. As I have said before it is important for school to enter the home just as much as the student's home experiences are important to their school life. Please keep encouraging your students to work on their homework and bring it in on the specific days. Those are the days we will be reviewing the work in the class. The Big Word homework will be reviewed on Thursday, not Friday, like originally stated.

Field Trips
We will have a field trip on Tuesday, January 29th to Anansi the Spider. We will need drivers for this trip. These shows are always very exciting to the children and it should be a good time.
We will also be swimming in February one day, but I don't know which yet. It has been difficult to schedule.

Theme Unit - Community Helpers
This week we were working to create community helper projects. Students created a person, wrote about their helper, painted a puzzle, and created a diarama. These will be on display for Project Night in March. Students worked to find as many helpers as possible. The most interesting one listed on the board is "robber." After attempting to explain that robbers don't really help the community Bjorn replied, "Well, they do help the police practice arresting people." I informed Bjorn that he was right, but they have other people to help them practice.

Upcoming Unit - Mardi Gras and Southern Artists
Our new unit will begin January 28th and will focus on the southern celebration of Mardi Gras as we travel to the Deep South. We will be making a king cake (from Louisiana), talking about the slave art of Clementine Hunter, and working on educating students about Black History. I have some wonderful plays that I am going to encourage students to read and perform. We will see where it goes.

Reading Groups
With the help of Ken (a prospective teacher who volunteers during menu time) I have been more diligent about organizing reading groups. Students are put into leveled reading groups and have one book a week where they read with their group and do an activity surrounding the book. So far they have been working well. It is really helpful if the students take the books home for the week and practice reading them at least one night with you. However it is important that they bring them back so they can work with it at school. The goal is to meet students where they are with their reading and provide them with books at their level. This is so they don't get frustrated with books that are too hard for them. If you are interested in leading a group let me know.

Science Fridays
All of our Science Friday events have been very successful and I hope we get more volunteers for future Fridays. The tricky thing is that every Friday doesn't have the time available for this event. I will be working to identify the Fridays we have available and post them on the big white cabinet. We do have this Friday available. If anyone is interested just sign up or tell me if it is not posted yet.

Have a great MLK Day!!!

Homework for January 18

Hello all,

I am trying to make homework more meaningful and consistent. For the next few weeks I will be asking students to attempt homework. Some may only choose one assignment a week which is fine (especially for the younger students). However, older students could probably do more. Don't stress about the homework too much but the activities are simply meant to help develop their skills and helps you, as parents, work with them on things they need to know. Here is what the homework will look like.

Sound/Letter of the week (mostly K or beginning reader) Turn in by Wednesday
Big Word (1st/2nd) Turn in by Friday
Number of the week (everyone) Turn in by Thursday

There will also be little extras that link with what we are currently studying in our theme units. Homework sheets can be picked up in the middle box on the top shelf near the entryway and turned into the top box. We will use homework during calendar time in the morning.

Thank you for your efforts in helping your students do this at home. I know life gets busy, but I really feel that homework is important for students if it is meaningful. If you ever feel the homework is not meaningful then please have a discussion with me so we can talk about other options that are more meaningful for your individual child.

Here is this week's HW

Sound of the week: B as in boy
Big Word letters: S R T N I O O L E U
Number of the week: 8 or 36
Theme: Think of five questions you would ask your community helper.

Field Trip

Welcome back! I will have a more detailed posting later. Here is pressing news.

WE NEED DRIVERS ON WEDNESDAY FOR OMSI TRIP. Let me know today if you can drive on Wednesday morning. Can't wait to see ya'll.