Family Newsletter

Dear Families,

We had an outstanding first week in school.  This is a great group of kids and they are so excited to be together and learn.  As you might have noticed already, I post pictures and write little entries about our week sporadically on this blog.  I also post weekly newsletters here, with updates on our curricular learning and projects.  I hope you will take the time to read these so you and your family can stay connected with us here at school.

Community Building
This week, the students and I started to create our new learning community together.  We discussed our school expectations, Be Safe, Kind and responsible, and participated in different activities enhancing our understanding of these.  We started to create our classroom contract and we also started to work on our self-portraits, which are all part of a mini-unit called "All About Me."  We do a special greeting in our classroom called "The Warm Fuzzy Greeting."  Ask your child to explain this greeting to you and why he/she has a yarn pom-pom on the backpack!
This year, Harmony teachers also decided to offer team-building activities in all the other classrooms on our team as a way to introduce ourselves to all the children.  The personal learning environment of your child is very important to us here at ABS.  This year, for example, we are inviting parents to a Community Night on September 20th between 5:00-6:30.  We hope parents will come and bring a small picnic for their own family to enjoy here at school.  I will send home more information about this upcoming event in next week's newsletter.

Friday Folders:
Your child brought home his/her Friday folder today.  It is due back next Friday.  Please take the time to check the contents with your child.  Your child worked hard on all the projects inside and I know they are excited to share with you at home.  This week, for example, you will find our first day scavenger hunt, a friend bingo and a book project.  The book project is very special to us because the children were encouraged to think about what their own reading goals are for this school year.  The children chose pictures of books to symbolize titles they wish to read this upcoming year.  Please look at the choices your child made.  I made copies for school and we will bring these to the library on Wednesday when we choose books again. We hope to find some there!  Perhaps we will find some in our classroom too.
 Your child's Friday Folder also contains your child's new calendar as well.  For returning families, I decided to revise our sharing schedule.  This year, we rotate through a monthly sharing cycle.  This means that only one child shares per day.  Your child received his/her own calendar for the entire school year today.  Please hang this at home and refer to it often.  perhaps you even want to personalize it even more, by marking dentist appointments, trips to grandma, etc.  Sharing in our classroom is really low-key and low stress.  While we practice public speaking skills, the ultimate goal is to build relationships and get to know each other.  We had some students model for the rest of the class what sharing looks like today and I also shared my own kids' family blog online.  Most students in our class preer to do "tell shares".  "Tell shares" are small stories about themselves and their own experiences.  Sometimes, kids will share a page or two from a favorite book, or a special picture they have.  Please do not send in trading cards, toys or electronics.  If your child wishes to share a special lego structure or toy, take a picture of it and email it to me.  I can project it on our smartboard and your child can still share his/her favorite toy!

WCAX and TV visiting ABS:
Today in PE, the television station WCAX joined our class for a little while.  The TV channel will broadcast the segment filmed today as part of a larger segment next Wednesday also including kids from WCS.  It is my understanding that it will be in one of the early morning slots.  I hope Ms. Porter will have more information soon, so I can give you more information. Stay tuned!

Birthday Celebrations:
 After discussing as a team we have decided to have a NO TREATS policy for birthdays. We have a variety of food allergies on our team, and as a way to keep all students safe we are asking that families don't send in treats. Each teacher does different things in their classroom to celebrate birthdays, so we will still be able to make it feel like a special day for our students. If there is something else you want to do that doesn't involve treats please feel free to discuss that with your child's teacher; we are always open to ideas. Thanks for your understanding.

I hope you will have a fun and relaxing weekend.  We will see the kids back on Tuesday, September 6th, which is an early release day, with dismissal at 1:35pm.

Best,
Maria