November Updates!

Hi Everyone,

It was so nice to meet with all of you during conference time!  I enjoy putting names with faces and learning about your children from a different perspective.  I am looking forward to getting back into the routine of teaching as the assessment window for trimester one closes.  Report cards will be sent home on 12.15.14.

We are really looking forward to our play on Tuesday morning at 9:00 am!  Please let me know if no one in your family will be able to attend so I may plan accordingly.  All are welcome as we have plenty of space in the cafeteria.  Our play will last about 30 minutes.  We will all need to be out of the cafeteria by 9:35 am to accommodate the incoming gym class.  If possible, please help us get the "gym-ateria" back in order by returning your chair to the metal chair cart on your way out.  Thank you for your assistance!

Thank you to all the parents who signed up to donate their time or ingredients to our special Thanksgiving related centers.  Please check the Sign Up Genius lists elsewhere in this blog if you have forgotten what you signed up for!  We will be having our Thanksgiving activity centers immediately following the play.  I expect centers to be finished by 11:00 am.  Due to the space limitations of our classroom, only parent volunteers are welcome to accompany us back to the room after the play.  Thank you for your cooperation.

****REMINDER: PLEASE HAVE YOUR CHILD BRING IN ONE SMALL CONTAINER WITH A SECURE LID TO CARRY THEIR RELISH HOME IN.  PLEASE LABEL YOUR CHILD'S CONTAINER WITH THEIR NAME.

Thank you to all of you who placed book orders or sent in donations for Timothy's Toybox! To date we have collected $119.00 -  what a fabulous response!  In addition, all the book orders placed us in the highest bonus point earning bracket which means more FREE books for TTB!  This year's list has 60 children ranging in age from newborn - 14 years.  I will be selecting at least 2 books per child utilizing the funds collected from Room 13 in addition to the $107.00 collected at our Family Literacy Night last spring.  The children will assist me in sorting the books by age when the book order arrives.  I will be delivering the books to Sharon Gilbert, director of TTB, during the first week in December.  Thank you Room 13!

There will be NO HW this week due to the Thanksgiving holiday - woot, woot!  Please be on the lookout for information regarding Reading A to Z (RAZ Kids) in your child's booktime envelope on Monday 12.1.14.  RAZ Kids offers many more opportunities for your child to practice reading books at their INDEPENDENT reading level from the comfort of your own home!  Reading levels were assigned based on my recent reading assessments.  Your child will receive a password to utilize this site on Monday the 1st. Please keep it in a handy spot!

Phew!  I think that's it for now.  Please call or email with questions!  Here's hoping the email blast regarding this post reaches you in a timely manner...

Chris Paget

Halloween Memories!

Five Little Pumpkins Puppet Shows

During Halloween week we put on puppet shows for each other with our paper bag pumpkin puppets. Look for your child's puppet in their poem notebook. Maybe they'll reenact the show for you at home!

Halloween Parade

Here are some pictures of us in our costumes. As you can see, we had some repeats!

October News!

Hi Parents - I just wanted to let you know that my October Newsletter is posted on my blog on the home page under the "newsletters" tab. I thought an email blast had gone out last week letting you know this, but I was mistaken.  You can visit my full blog at welcometoroom13.blogspot.com. Please take a moment to read my newsletter, particularly the information regarding the parent volunteer training session THIS WEDNESDAY at 2:00pm.  I am so sorry for the quick turn around. Attendance is not mandatory and all information will be shared via hard copy after the fact. A follow up letter will arrive in your child's home folder tomorrow with more blog updates regarding conference and parent volunteer sign ups.  Thank you for your patience as I have reorganized my blog and gotten it back on track.  Have a great week!

Chris Paget

Fall Projects!

Here are some of our "Dot Day" creations!  We used tissue paper and glue sticks to design original dots and then signed our names.  We then shared them via skype with a class from Texas on  9.18.14.  A big thank you to Mrs. Groden for making the skype session happen!  We cut our dots in half, and sent them off to Texas in the mail.  We are currently waiting for our buddies from Texas to send us their halves so we can pair them up with ours to make buddy dots!

We have been discussing signs of fall. Here are some pictures of things we say 

"Hello" to each fall as well as things we say "Goodbye" to now that summer is over.

We have been learning about Christopher Columbus. Here are some facts we wrote!

Happy Summer!

Hi Parents, I hope you enjoy our "Wonder Project" via You Tube! It was our first attempt at using the ipads on such a large scale. The children worked in pairs to research their symbol on the Pebble Go! data base. They took notes and turned them into scripts for this project. Many thanks go out to our librarian, Randi Groden, for designing this project and working with our class to see it through. Many thanks also go out to Laura Kirk and Diane Horvath for their technological assistance! If you see any of these lovely ladies, please let them know how much you enjoyed the show. End of the year good byes are always difficult. Your child will be bringing home lots of "evidence" from their year of learning in first grade over the next few days. Please take a moment to read through their work with them before filing it away. Your child will be able to fill you in on the details! As summer vacation approaches, start thinking of your plans for summer reading. The children have become accustomed to reading independently (silently!) for 15 minutes, every day after lunch. This "booktime" routine would be a great one to continue over the summer - perhaps extending the reading time to 20 minutes by the mid way point. I have no doubt that the progress each child made this year has a lot to do with our "booktime" routine! Happy Summer! Chris Paget

American Symbol Wonderings

March Conference Survey