Christy's Elementary 2 Class

February 6, 2012

Dear Parents,

The students elected to do "A Little Something" for Valentines Day. Participation in any of these activities is OPTIONAL. Here it is:

Each child would like to create a special box at home that is decorated in a creative way. The students will create categories that boxes will be judged in...In years past we have had- creative, unusual, beautiful, strangest, etc... They would like to bring in a few snacks and cards. If a child plans to bring cards/ treats for students he/she must bring enough for all 30 children.

I posted a sign up sheet for a few snacks. Thank you to the Aradhyamath Family for the decoration and craft/game sponsorship. The children are looking forward to the celebration.

If you have not read the February Newsletter below, please scroll down and check it out.

Thanks!

Christy

P.S. I still need a few drivers/chaperones for the 9th. Sign up on he website if you can help.

January 30, 2012

Dear Parents,

   Great work is happening in the classroom! On Friday final drafts of expository essays went home scored based on the sixth traits. We will have another lesson this Friday and weekend writing posted. We only had a few children with remaining work this past Friday (to complete over the weekend). The goal is that work is completed at school rather than as homework on the weekend. Students are, however, encouraged to do research and gather materials for projects at home. This week is our cultural catchup week with cultural words to discuss and study at home...

Poetry Words:

alliteration

epic

couplet

assonance

consonance

hyperbole

limerick

stanza

Civil Rights Words:

segregation

sit-in

civil disobedience

Brown Vs. Board of Education

discrimination

Thirteenth Amendment

Fourteenth Amendment

Fifteenth Amendment

The definitions were made available in class and students are expected to study the definitions and discuss them at home.

This month we have a few dates to note:

1/31 Field Trip to Japanese Friendship Garden (by bus). Please be sure you have signed the little permission slip

2/1 Fund Raiser for E2 begins - Valentine Grams! Buy a Valentine Gram for your child to be delivered on Valentines Day in any office

2/9 Field Trip to ASU Gammage for Performance 9:30-12:30 *Please sign up to drive on the website

2/10, 2/13, 2/14 Volunteers Needed to put together Valentine Grams for Cheryl Campus (*Signup on "Volunteer Opportunities") for a morning or afternoon shift

2/17 Hats on Day to honor Scott Adams (Villa Student)

2/20 School Closed for Presidents Day

This month our areas of study are as follows:

Science:

Respiratory System

Composting, Decomposing

History/Geography:

"Team" History Projects: Each child chose an ancient civilization to dive into and research. They work independently and then as a group to present this civilization in the first week in March. Each child chose either Egypt, Rome, or Greece.

History:

Black History Month

We will begin our Great Lives Project in the coming weeks. Please look for the documents to come home to post in a visible place, and I will put them on the website when they are finalized.

We are about to start our Novel Study. Please see the Novel Study Page and support your child in getting the book within the next 7 days.

Thanks!

Christy

January 20, 2012
Dear Parents,
Weekend Writing is back! Several students need to complete their final drafts and/or weekend work. Please look for an orange page of remaining work. The writing is posted.
Thanks,
Christy

January 3, 2012

Dear Parents,

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a lovely holiday break. I know I had a nice time off, but I'm glad to be back in the routine. Thank you all for the class gift. Alex, Zoila, and I appreciated the holiday "bonus". Thank you to everyone who was able to pet sit over the break.

Today we got straight to business with Saxon lessons, Wordly Wise, and worktime. Alex will update the Saxon lessons on the website for numbering, but for now your child should be on the following lesson TONIGHT:

Book 54: #61

Books 65-87: #81

Algebra 1/2: #1

Today we also did "The Best of 2011/ Semester One Jeopardy" as a fun review game. The children seemed to have fun and share their knowledge on a wide variety of topics including math, geometry, literature study, science, etc...This week we will also apply for new jobs and tweak some of the routines.

There is so much to do in January! 
Please note the following dates:

January 6: Sixth grade Shadow Day #1 (permission slips will go home tomorrow)

January 16: MLK Day--School Closed

This month we will continue on our path with the human body learning about the circulatory and digestive systems.

We will also focus on Egypt within Ancient Civilizations

The last week of the month will be our cultural focus week

(with cultural words and work to come home)

It's going to be a successful 2012!

Sincerely,

Christy

December 14, 2011

Dear Parents,

I'm looking for a couple of volunteers to take the bunny and the birds over the break. I checked the website and no one has signed up. Please email me if you can pet sit over the break.

Thanks!

Christy

December 12, 2011

It's hard to believe that there's only one week of school left until the break. It's a busy one!

It's the last week of our cycle, which means "Cultural Focus Week". We have cultural words this week for vocabulary. Students should make flashcards and study definitions for the following words:

evergreen

1. Kwanzaa

2. fruit cake

3. snowboard

4. multicultural

5. gingerbread

6. latke

7. blizzard

8. diversity

9. circulatory system

10. Stonehenge

11. Taj Mahal

12. Channel Tunnel

13. pulmonary

14. cardiac arrest

15. capillaries

Some areas of study this month are....

Science: Circulatory System

History: Ancient Civilizations
and Wonders of the World

Geography: Map making, Asia, Europe

Events happening this week:

12/12- 12/16 This is the last week for our "Forgotten Angel" toy collection! Several students have brought in an unwrapped gift for a 9-12 year old child. A list of ideas generated by the students went home with the children on Friday.

12/13 Icing items due for Cathy and Stacey to make Icing

12/15 9:45a.m.-11:15a.m. Construction of Gingerbread Houses (Jen, Eileen, and Stacey to volunteer?)

12/15 1:00p.m.-2:15p.m. Gingerbread decorating (Holly to volunteer)

12/16 9:00a.m.-11:00a.m.  Read-A-Thon/ PJ day

12/16 All cultural work and core work due

12/19-1/3 (Tuesday) Winter Break

This week we also have Coordinate Geometry Battleship, an Idiom Challenge, and A Holiday Shopping Experience/ Auction with our classroom store. What a week!

I invited the sixth grade students to design their own novel study group/ book club. If your child elected to take the challenge, he/she will need to get the approved book choice, read it over the break, and design discussion questions based on literary elements (and past experiences in novel study). Otherwise, there is no homework over the break other than reading or math fact practice if your child needs it.

Happy Holidays to everyone!

Christy

P.S. We had 100% participation in parent-teacher conferences! Thanks everyone

November 28, 2011

Just got an update - the class should be returning to campus between 4:45-5:00 pm.  Thanks much!

November 27, 2011
Dear Parents,
Tomorrow is our extended day trip...These are the drivers I have so far. If anyone else can drive, it might give us a little more breathing room.  

Monday the 28th is our Extended Day Trip. Right now, we do not have quite enough drivers. If you can chaperone/drive on our all day trip (8:00am-5:00pm). Please let me know via email asap. 

Right now the drivers I have are :

Zaria Ahmad/ Mike Cleveland- 4 children

Matt/ Julia Winter-3 children

Holly Newton- 7 children

Paul/ Laura Zagnoni- ? children

Thank you for all of the potluck items! The children had a great time feasting on all the goodies.
Have a lovely holiday!
Christy

Dear Parents,

This week we are wrapping up a month's worth of work with the end of our cycle. The children will be presenting their work throughout the week. Last week the sixth graders put on "The M Games", which was several "Metric System Events". It was spectacular. This week we will have a mock court about The Ringling Brothers use of Asian elephants in the circus---Never a dull moment. Please look for a few pieces of work to come home on Wednesday. This Wednesday is also our pot luck feast and Barter Day (see below if you need details). Please sign up to bring a dish. We still have a few spots left.

Parent-teacher conferences are posted and we still have spots on the big days. I'd love to fit everyone in;so, please sign up if you can.

For homework this week, the children have Saxon and Cultural Words. The children are allowed to work ahead this week to avoid homework over the break. The cultural word vocabulary test is Wednesday.

Monday the 28th is our Extended Day Trip. Right now, we do not have enough drivers. If you can chaperone/drive on our all day trip (8:00am-5:00pm). Please let me know via email.

Right now the drivers I have are :

Zaria Ahmad/ Mike Cleveland- 4 children

Matt/ Julia Winter-3 children

Holly Newton- 6 children

Paul/ Laura Zagnoni- ? children

Thanks,

Christy

November 14, 2011

Dear Parents,

Just a few quick things...

Thank you to everyone that contributed "Bunny Money" for our new classroom pets. Rhino is recovering from the surgery and the babies are already starting to develop personalities. We will bring them back to the classroom in the coming weeks.

It's cultural focus week until 11/23. Students do not have Wordly Wise words for vocabulary--Instead we have cultural words. There will be several cultural lessons and students will wrap up this cycle's work.

The 23rd will be our potluck and "Student Barter Day". It's back by popular demand! The children are invited to bring in unwanted items (and a beach towel) for trading. This includes: games, toys, school supplies, books, etc...(non-violent and appropriate for school). They may only bring items that can fit on their beach towel. If you have questions about this E2 tradition, please email me. 

Please check out the sign up pages on the website for conferences, the potluck, and gingerbread house building.

The children have almost filled their planner notebooks with planned days and follow up work. I hate to ask, but each child needs a new single subject notebook for planning soon. Please pick one up when you can.

Thanks!

Christy

P.S. If anyone is getting rid of an old TV/ DVD player, our classroom TV broke. We don't show very many videos, but we have quite a few good DVDs on ancient civilizations. It doesn't have to be anything fancy.

November 7, 2011
Dear Parents,
Our cultural studies are moving along nicely. Thanks again to Dominika for enhancing our skeletal system studies with the movement class. The kids loved it. This month we are furthering our human body studies with the muscular system and the digestive system. With our ancient civilization study, we will branch out into Egypt and Asia.   

Reminders:
1)VERY IMPORTANT- Re-enrollment forms are due by Tuesday, November 8th.
2)If you haven't made any payments for the end of the year overnight, please call the business office at (602)381-9967 to make arrangements.
3) Day Trip to Lake Pleasant permission slip and payment is due by Monday, November 14th
5) No School on Friday, November 11th- Veterans Day
6) Cookie Dough orders are due by November 14th. Look for the form in your child's folder.
7) If you haven't handed in a Petsmart gift card, please do so. We got two new bunnies, and I'm sure you heard that one turned out to be pregnant. This brought the bunny count to 5 (for the next 12 weeks). We will be adopting out the new additions. Rhino, our boy, got neutered last Thursday. Eclipse, the mother, will be next to be fixed. We are also collecting "Bunny Money", which should come from the students if they would like to donate to help out with all of the new expenses.

Announcements:
1) The campus-wide holiday project we have chosen is giving gifts to 9-12 year olds through The Salvation Army's Forgotten Angel's Program. I know how crazy the month of December can be; so, I thought it might be nice to have the next month to look for a toy. A flyer and list of items that 9-12 year olds might like will go home this Friday in your child's homework binder.

2) Parent/Teacher conferences are just around the corner. I have posted a sign up.

3) If you are interested in giving to Villa's Tax Credit Campaign, please contact Sue Watson at 602-363-5006 for any questions.  This is an integral fundraiser for the school and the money that you give to the school will be refunded to you when you file for taxes (example: you paid $400 in state taxes, you donate $400 to Villa= that $400 will be refunded back to you when you file for your taxes in February). The goal is that each family find two other people outside of the school to give. This fundraiser allows us to have such a small student/teacher ratio.

4) We will kick off the Thanksgiving eat-a-thon on Wednesday, November 23rd with a Potluck. I have posted a sign up on our website.

5) Please sign up to bring in supplies for our annual gingerbread house construction. All supplies are due by December 14th so you have plenty of time!

6) Box tops are going well. Keep sending them in!


Thanks for your support,
Christy






October 24, 2011

Dear Parents,

It was great seeing so many of you on Saturday night at the carnival. Thank you to everyone that was able to volunteer. This Friday we have a little celebration for Halloween/Fall. There are a few spots to sign up for refreshments or to help out on the website. Please sign up if you can.

Thanks!

Christy

October 21, 2011

Dear Parents and Students,

Tomorrow night is the Halloween Carnival! In keeping with tradition, I will be there dressed up for the students to come find me. I will have a Skeletal System trivia game for the students to earn some Christy Cash. I handed out an extra study guide and I highly recommend the following website for study/play:
www.anatomyarcade.com/games/gamesSkeletal.html
I usually arrive around 6:00, but the carnival goes from 5:00-9:00. I hope to see all of you there!
Christy

P.S. We would normally have weekend writing this weekend, but with the carnival we decided to finalize our epilogues on Monday.

October 16, 2011
Dear Parents,
I hope everyone had a lovely break. We just returned from Disneyworld in Orlando, FL. It was a fabulous trip which included the parks and some relaxing spa time for Chris and I. It was nice to spend time out of Arizona's heat and a nice family vacation.
Upon my return, I learned of a few cases of head lice in the classroom. We will take the measures needed in the classroom, but please check your child today before returning tomorrow. We will do a thorough check of all of the children tomorrow. If you are looking for support and directions on what to do I recommend "The Lice Lady"   http://www.totallicecontrol.com/
She came to the school last year and gave us advice on what to look for and how to advise parents. 
Thanks for your support,
Christy

October Newsletter

Dear Parents,

Please see the newsflash below in pink-- it explains our field trips. Our first one is this Thursday, and we had to switch to parents drivers. Please let me know if you can drive.

I have some very sad news...Our bunny, Biepe, died today during class. It was very sudden and odd, and no one is at fault. The children are all processing this traumatic event differently. Please let me know if I can offer any further support. At this point, I'm not sure if we will replace her or just have one bunny.

In October we have a few days to note:

October 4: Picture Day! It's tomorrow!

October 6: Field Trip to ASU to watch Musical Performance 9:30-1:30. Parent drivers/ chaperones needed

October 8-15: Fall Break (all contract students only)

October 22: Halloween Carnival 5-9pm

October 28: Halloween/ Fall Celebration (Sign up to help on website)

October Curriculum:

History:

Wrap up Great Lessons- History of Writing and Math

Intro to Ancient Civilizations

Mesopotamia and Sumeria

Geography:

Map Skills with Asia/ Europe

Science:

Ms. Chris will continue on her path with physical science, simple machines, water and air studies, weather etc... She just completed an interesting lesson on how items are made and the environment. She had the children categorizing items by where they come from and how they got there.

In class, we will continue or studies on the human body with the muscular and skeletal system. Towards the end of October, we will work on the digestive system.

Homework is still the same (a little bit of math nightly throughout the week, weekend writing every other Friday, vocabulary practice, and nightly reading). Alex posted a Saxon Schedule. There will not be homework over the break.

Christy

October 1, 2011

Dear Parents,

We have a wonderful opportunity that just presented itself.  Our first field trip of the year is this Thursday.  We are going to Gammage Theater at ASU to see AnDa Union perform.  ASU has asked just our class to stay after the performance to meet the members of AnDa Union and be part of a photo session with the group!  But we need your help with driving the students to and from the performance.  Other classes at Villa will be attending the performance and taking the bus, but we cannot ask them to stay and wait while our class participates in the post-show activities -- ASU can only accommodate a group of just 30-35 children during the photo session and we do not want to hurt the feelings of the other Villa classes.  Under the "Classroom Documents" section to the left there is a Release form for ASU (for children and adults participating), as well as a field trip permission slip, both of which need to be completed and returned to the classroom.

Please email Christy if you can drive this Thursday (approximately 9:30am - 1:30pm, though the ending time may change a bit), and include how many children you can take.

Thank you so much for helping us give the children this amazing experience!

September 27, 2011

Dear Parents,

This is the last week of the month, which means the students have cultural words instead of Wordly Wise. We practice the words in the classroom, but the students should also share them with you and study nightly. I'll post them this month in order to help get the routine off to the right start...

bewitch

acrid

spare

sprawl

exertion

ponderous

prostrate

pry

poised

furrow

seized

absently

persist

protest

contentedly

hearth

petulance

fire-points

marionette

envious

All of the words came from Tuck Everlasting, our novel study. The test will be Friday 9/30.

Christy

September  23, 2011
Dear Parents,
There is a small weekend writing piece posted...A few students have weekend work, but the majority of children were ready for conferences today and felt proud of time management. We're on the right track!
Christy


September 16, 2011

Dear Parents,

The weekend writing is posted. Some children have to finish their final drafts but many are turned in already.

Each week, we conference with the children about their work. If follow-ups are incomplete, students must complete left-over work over the weekend. The goal is to have "No Weekend Work". Please check in with your child about weekend work, and discuss what he/she could do to improve his work style/ time management. Accountability overall is getting better each week.

Thanks for your support!

Christy

September 12, 2011

Dear Parents,

Innisbrook Wrapping Paper orders due today. HELP! I don't have a parent to volunteer to calculate and distribute these. If you can volunteer, please contact Cathy Shalen.

If you have not signed up on this page to receive emailed newsflashes, please add your email to the list.

I'd like to take a moment to explain the classroom daily schedule to give you an idea how your child spends his/her time.

A day in a nutshell...

8:30-9:00 Daily Review (math and language practice)

9:00 - 9:20 Plan day in planner, circle, and snack

9:20-10:00 S.Q.W.T. Time (Super Quiet Work Time) : an uninterrupted work time

10:00-11:15 Math Lessons by small group and work time

11:15 Clean up and Circle

11:30-12:30 Lunch/ Recess

12:30- 1:00 Silent Reading

1:00-1:20 Read Aloud (we are reading Tuck Everlasting)

1:20 - 2:00 Grammar/ Language Groups

2:00-2:30 Worktime

2:30- 3:00 Chores and Homework Headstart

Each week the students have several follow up assignments/ choices for each lesson. These are noted in their planner in the follow-up section and are due at each lesson or on an assigned due date. The cultural subjects are generally introduced in the first few weeks of the month and due at the end of the month. The last week of the month also includes cultural words to test definitions. Each week we (the teachers) conference with each child to check in on the progress of work.

September Curriculum:

This month we are studying a few topics you may want to discuss with your child.

In history...We are wrapping up the third Great Lesson review (Early Man). We just watched the fifth graders present Great Lesson 2 (Timeline of Life). The final history lesson will be the Building Blocks of a Civilization.

In science...Students will complete experiments with weather, the water cycle, and physical science. We just had a great lesson with Ms. Chris on the monsoons. We also began our study of the Human Body with a story called The Great River.

In geography...The students are using all of our new maps with a focus on Asia.

Homework:

Math:

All students are now in Saxon Math. Please remember it starts out fairly easy, but gets tricky after the first few weeks. I prefer not to "skip" books or create great challenge in homework, because it should be review and practice. Please give it until December and I may make some changes as needed. Please sign your child's checked work nightly. Thanks for your support!

Study Island is on hold for now. It is not required for homework for anyone.

If your child does not know his/her math facts. It is essential that he/she practice, practice, practice.

Reading:

Each child should read nightly. This can be from a variety of sources, but each child should have a chapter book to read in the classroom daily.

Writing:

We have weekend writing about every other Friday. The children wrote such amazing (and long) stories on this last assignment; therefore, it took an extra week. I post the weekend writing task on Fridays.

Vocabulary:

Wordly Wise Words Week 1, 2, 3 and Cultural Words week 4. Students should be studying definitions nightly or they will do poorly on the Friday test. All students put the words into their homework binder on Monday before exiting the classroom.

Other:

After conferencing with students on Thursday or Friday, some children need to complete work over the weekend. This should be a rare occurrence. Each child with weekend work brings home a list along with materials. If your child forgets an item, I simply tell them to create their own work that meets the objective.

I hope this helps you to understand what is happening this month in the classroom and for homework. If you have questions, please let me know.

Thank you,

Christy

August 26, 2011

Dear Parents,

The first three weeks are behind us. The assessments are mostly complete and lessons have begun. The sixth graders did a wonderful job presenting the Big Bang Theory in a Great Lesson presentation.

Homework is in full swing...

Fourth Graders should read nightly, complete 20 minutes of Study Island Math (Common Core for 3rd Grade) Monday-Friday nights, study Wordly Wise and cultural definitions, and finish up work from class as needed.

Fifth and Sixth Graders should read nightly, complete 1/2 a Saxon Lesson (odds or evens) along with a practice set and correct it (parent signature required), study Wordly Wise and cultural definitions, and finish up any classwork as needed.

I will send home a packet of Wordly Wise lists for the first half of the year, but you can also access them online. Please see the link on the "links page".

The total homework time should not exceed 60 minutes.

A few reminders and notes...Most children have all of their supplies, but a few students are missing notebooks (we are definitely missing a few graph paper books). Please check in with your child to make sure he/she has everything.

Thank you for the helping hands items. I'm not sure who brought in plates, but I really appreciate it. We really need some brooms and a vacuum if anyone has an extra one at home (it does not need to be new).

The new wrapping paper order forms went home Thursday. The funds raised from the sales go directly to our classroom, and I noticed the quality and variety of products is better that Sally Foster. 

Please sign up on the website to volunteer where you can, bring flowers, and/or pizza snack. Your help is greatly appreciated! Send in those box tops, too. Zoila is quite competitive with other classes, and she even has me clipping them.

We're off to a great start. Please email me if you have any questions.

Thanks,

Christy

P.S. I posted some photos in the photo gallery of the sixth grade presentation. Please email me for the password to get into the page this weekend. I'll share it with the children on Monday. I am still working out the bugs of flipping the pictures; so, I apologize that some are the wrong way. 

August 19, 2011
Dear Parents,
Our first weekend writing assignment is posted. Every other Friday we have a new "big" writing lesson (along with the mini-lessons throughout the week). After the lesson, I offer time in class to work on the piece of writing. We either complete the pre-writing (developing the idea) or the pre-writing and first draft. Leftover work must be completed over the weekend. We develop the piece throughout the next week or so with teacher and peer feedback/ lessons. Please check out the weekend writing page to see the first writing lesson and assignment and ask your child about his/her idea. 

Most of the website sign-ups have been updated (I still need to check on ceramics). Please sign up to bring pizza snack, flowers, and volunteer when you can. Thanks for your support!

Christy 


August 15, 2011

Dear Parents,

What a great first week! The students are adjusting to new routines and making friends. We got through quite a few assessments, worked to build our community, and had a few lessons. This week we start homework. For fourth years, they will log onto study island with first their initial+last name@villamontessori (ex. ccantu@villamontessori) as their username and "password" as the password to start. They should complete 20 minutes per night of the third grade review under math (not old math).
Fifth and sixth graders should get back in the old Saxon routine- showing work, odds/evens, evidence of correction, and parent signature.

Thank you all for attending the parent night. If you didn't make it and have questions, please feel free to email me with questions. The website is almost all the way updated and the field trips are almost planned! I'll work on the volunteer page and dates this week.

I spent $250 at Petsmart today on our animals to get new bins for food and bedding, as well as, food, treats, and a bunny guide. The students were so excited. Zoologist is by far the biggest employment request in our classroom. I have collected all Petsmart gift cards sent in so far. Thank you!

We're off to a strong start!

Christy

August 11, 2011

Dear Parents,

Just a reminder...Tonight is the parent orientation at 7:00 p.m. Hope to see you all there!

Christy

Dear Parents and Students,

_____________________________________________________________________________