Weekly Update

Dear Families,
Although we had a very short week, the students came back eager and ready to learn again.  It was great to see everybody and they had so many stories to tell about their holiday vacations.

I wanted to to remind you all that this upcoming week will be my last week before I go on maternity leave.  My last "official" day is Friday, January 11th.  My baby is due the following Thursday, January 17th.  Katie Herbert will, as you already know, take over for the 12 weeks that I am out.  I am scheduled to return to the classroom on April 15th.  I am very confident that your children will thrive and learn in her care.  We are very lucky to have Ms. Herbert join our classroom community.  During my maternity leave, you will be able to reach me via email or phone, but please note that day-to-day communication regarding pick-ups and dismissal changes must be addressed directly to her and the school.  Ms. Herbert's email is kherbert@cssu.org
Katie will also continue weekly updates on the blog.  She will write about the learning that takes place, units of study and maintain our class calendar in the sidebar.  She will conduct parent-teacher conferences later in the Spring and will send out sign-up information as we approach those dates.

Since we're on the topic of communication, I want to let you know that ALL students' email changed in our school.  This is important for us as we use email together.  Please note that your child's new email is now in a new domain entitled cssu.org (just like the teachers.  We used cssu.us before for the students).  I will send an email to you all with the new password information so you can reach your child again. This also means that I am asking all parents to send a new email to their child so they can start writing you back again.  Thank you for your understanding in this transition.

In Writer's Workshop, the students are finishing up and publishing their new Small Moment stories.  These personal narratives stretch over several pages with information about weather and adjectives to add more interest and suspense.  The students also included dialogue to make their stories more elaborate.  We cannot wait to share them with you.  As previously introduced in our Writer's Workshop, the students also worked with an editing partner, checking on grammar and other aspects of the writing process.  I am so proud of their hard work.  Next week, we will embark on a mini-unit on "How-To" writing.  The students will learn how to write a sequential and detailed piece about how to do, or make, something.  These stories are always so interactive because we sometimes "test" some of them out when we are done, following the directions given.  For example, I have tested my own "How to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich" in the past, realizing that my directions could have been more precise.  I have not decided what my topic will be yet this year.  I will ask the students to help me find a topic.

In Reader's Workshop, the students continued with reading groups although the week was short.  Next week, we will explore characters, setting, problems and solution in more depth together in our reading adventures.

Regards,
Maria