December 18, 2012

When I wrote the last post on Sunday night, I fully intended it to be the last posting for this
semester...Unfortunately, the school suffered a tragic loss on Monday when we realized Mr. Murv Cudney had passed away sometime over the weekend. With the school closed on Monday, and Tuesday morning dedicated to grief counseling with all the students, our last week before break has not gone as planned. We will be trying to move forward with as normal a scheduled as possible for the remainder of the week despite the huge hole we feel inside with Mr. Cudney gone. He was a caring friend and committed teacher who will be greatly missed. The photo below was taken of Mr. Cudney and his class last Thursday when all the students got their new Tetlin Eagles sweatshirts.

December 16, 2012

 We have just five more days before the end of the second quarter. I guess the old saying, "Time flies when you are having fun." has certainly applied to the first half of our school year!

A real highlight from last week, was the lovely gift of Tetlin Eagles sweatshirts that were given to all the students and staff. All the teacher and students had a photo taken together by the school Christmas tree. Unfortunately, two students from our group were out absent that day.

With the end of the quarter rapidly approaching, we have continued to make an academic push and most of the students have really rallied to keep up with class assignments and homework daily. We have made time for some fun Christmas projects in preparation for the holiday.

 On Friday, after reading and acting out the old folktale of "The Gingerbread Man", the students even cut out and decorated gingerbread people that were baked and shared with others at lunch time.

Please remember to ask your child about homework nightly. Every Friday there is a math and spelling test for the first graders, and this week will be no exception.

This will be my last note until we return after the break. I wish you all a wonderfully happy holiday and prosperous New Year!

December 9, 2012

It has been so nice over the last few days to have the temperatures rise a bit and I hope the warmer temperatures will hold through our next two weeks before Christmas break. Over the last few weeks the academic expectations have increased, and the students have been working hard on a variety of concepts. On Thursday and Friday each week, the class has more time to make special projects that tie into current units being taught. As we draw closer to the joy-filled holiday season, the students have been making decorations for our classroom. Part of the class was missing for various reasons last Friday when the group pictured below were making tissue covered trees.

Please watch for nightly homework Monday through Thursday, and Friday the completed weekly work will be sent home for you to review with your child. For both kindergarten and 1st grade groups, there is a list of sight words to practice nightly that are copied on bright yellow paper. Those words will allow your child to be a more fluent reader and they will need your help to practice. Also, the 1st  graders have a list of ten spelling words weekly to study for the spelling test each Friday.

In closing, there will be a spaghetti dinner at the school on Thursday that is sponsored by the student council to help raise funds for a school trip. Hopefully, I will have a chance to visit with many of you then.

Have a wonderfully warm and productive week!

December 2, 2012

Warm greetings during this frigid cold snap!

Despite the cold temperatures we have been experiencing, it was really great to see so many students make it to class. We only have three more weeks until the end of the semester and Christmas break, so I hope each student will continue to show such dedication.

Last week, a few of the special activities planned such as music were canceled due to the cold but hopefully the temperatures will moderate this week so travel from Tok to Tetlin will not be an issue. Also, Mary Timm from the Telin Refuges will start an "Animal's Winter Adaptations" unit with the students that will start on
Wednesday weather permitting. 

Please make sure your child gets to school in time to eat a hot breakfast. The kitchen stops serving at 9am, so students that are tardy only get a small snack bar to carry them over until snack time later in the morning. In addition, ask your child about their nightly homework. I send homework home every night except for weekends. There are important sight words for them to practice nightly, along with either math or language activities.

Stay well and have and wonderful week!

November 25, 2012

The highlight of last week of course was Thanksgiving. All the students in attendance Monday through Wednesday, learned about the pilgrims and traditions of the special holiday. In addition to reading books on the subject, they had an opportunity to make some decorations each day to use at home.

On Tuesday, it was wonderful to gather with so many people in the community to share in a wonderful turkey dinner. Thank you to all who came and helped with the cooking. Here are a couple of photos that Mr. Cudney took at the start of the feast.

Since the start of the year, the class has been learning about real and picture graphs. Not only do we graph the weather daily, but we have looked at other things to graph to organize information. With so many students out due to sickness over the last few weeks, we finally had a full class of 10 on Tuesday and updated our class graph. Now that we have a new student, there are 7 boys and 3 girls. After the picture below as taken, the students created a new picture representation of themselves to update the picture graph of boys and girls in our class.

 

 We have another short week this week, with no school on Friday for teacher in-servicing.  Please help your child remember their homework folder daily, and go over their completed weekly work sent home on the last day of each week. I hope you remain warm and healthy through the week and weeks to come.

November 18, 2012

 Weekly greetings!
I hope you all stayed cozy and warm during the short cold snap over the week end. We have a very short and special week as the Thanksgiving holiday approaches. There will only be 3 days of school. Please remember the community dinner on Tuesday at 1pm. The kindergarten students will remain at school until the meal is served and we will use the extra time to have "Show and Tell" at the request of the students. Your child may bring something special to share that they are thankful for. There will not be any open gym that night, as the students will be allowed to use the gym after the community meal. Also, there will be an early release on Wednesday at 1:45pm so that people have extra travel time if needed.

Last week we had a special visit from Theresa Christiansen, Tetlin Environmental Technician, to talk about the importance of proper disposal of electronics. The students also got to decorate reusable bags and were given additions gifts in large cloth bags. See pictures to follow.

 There have been a number of different illnesses moving through the entire school over the last couple of weeks and our class was missing a few kids each day last week. On Friday, the afternoon group only had five students. During centers, the students were able to spread out in a variety pf activities and I could not help snapping a few extra pictures to share.

 I am looking forward to visiting with you all at the community dinner and wish you a safe and joy-filled Thanksgiving holiday.

November 11, 2012

The students had a full week of academic and hands on activities surrounding the themes covered in the Language Arts curriculum. The importance of friendships was the main idea of the week,  with the specific focus on getting along and working together. It was perfect timing with the arrival of our new students, Elijah [pictured below], to the class.

Later in the week, each student made a friend puppet and we discussed ways of being a good friend even when we disagree.

Please continue to read to your child nightly and look for their "Home fun" folder with added practice activities nightly through the week. On Friday, their weekly work is sent home for you to discuss with them as another way to review what has been covered during the week.

Stay well!

November 4, 2012

I hope everyone has enjoyed a few days off after the short week we had last week. Though there was only three days of school, the students still accomplished a fair amount academically. The highlight of the week was Halloween, of course, and fun was had by all at the afternoon special game activities. Many of the students came dressed in costumes and everyone participated in the Halloween themed games which started at 1pm.

 After a couple full group games, the students lined up in order of smallest to tallest so that 3 group teams could be organized.

A number of team relays were completed before each group created an "Incredible Hulk" by stuffing one team member full of balloons.

 The next phase of the game was to then make the "Incredible Hulk" into a mummy.

 

 Community members watching the events, voted on the best mummified "Hulk", though everyone's team was a winner because lots of laughs were had by all. For the final activity of the day, a Frankenstein
piñata full of candy was smashed and all the students walked away with pockets full of candy.  A good time was definitely had by all!

The students will have a full week, and a new student will be joining the class as a second grader.
Please remember to help your child return their homework folder daily. Also, look for their weekly work on Friday and discuss the concepts they learned during the week. Have a warm and wonderful week!

October 28, 2012

Last week, it was wonderful to visit with so many caring family members of my students during parent teacher conferences. Thank you for attending.

Our week flew by with lots of hands on projects supporting the books we read and the study on bats in Science. On Friday, we compared and contrasted what the students had learned about spiders the week before with characteristics of bats. Both are creatures most people are afraid of, but they serve a purpose in our environment and both eat insects. We also had a special presentation on Friday on solid waste, and the students were given good ideas to recycle jars and plastic milk jugs.

This week there will be only 3 days of school. On Thursday and Friday, there will teacher in-servicing in Tok. For Halloween on Wednesday, there will be special game activities starting at 1pm and the students will be released from school early when the games are over. Instead of going home after lunch, the kindergarteners can stay and be a part of the activities. Please join us at that time if you are free.

I hope you have a warm and productive week!

October 21, 2012

Our first quarter was officially completed last Friday! It seems like just yesterday that we started the new school year! Please remember that there is no school on Wednesday due to parent/teacher conferences.

The students had a full week of learning and activities. They enjoyed creating a beaded necklace early in the week, to help improve their fine motor and sorting skills.

On Thursday there was a special event called, "Sources of Strength" sponsored by TCC. The teens started the program on Wednesday and then the whole school participated in games and processing activities first thing in the morning the next day.

 At the close of the morning, the students enjoyed hearing the rap artist, "Chief Swag" share his songs about a positive image and healthy life style choices.

The teens really rallied as leaders to the younger students and played an active role in helping with the activity.

 To conclude, everyone left the gym to under a tower of "high fives" and positive energy.

A correction from last week is that the D.A.R.E. program will start on the 19th of November instead of last Friday. Have an awesome week!

October 14, 2012

Last week flew by, with lots of different activities aligned to Science, Language Arts, and Social Studies concepts. On Monday, the students were introduced to Christopher Columbus in Social Studies due to the public holiday. Other concepts that have been being covered in Social Studies from the start of the year are the pledge of allegiance, our countries flag, the national anthem, in addition to the folk song "This Land is Your Land" using a map of the United States. In Science, our butterflies reached the length of their life cycle just  as we moved deeper into learning about seasonal changes and different types of weather. The stories that were used during reading time were aligned to the Science  and Social Studies material being covered. I am hoping that all the student hands on projects are making it home after school in addition to their weekly work on Friday. Please ask your child each about their day, and if they have anything to show you. Also, everyone in the class is getting much better at doing and returning homework. Thank you for your support in this area.

Letter recognition and sounds have constantly been address from the start of the quarter.The following photo is of the "Zoo Phonics" animal hunt and letter match activity from last Monday.

The next photo is of the pretzel letters made with a bread dough on Friday. The students filled two pans of  letters, or their name made with the dough, that were baked and shared at lunch.

This week in Science we will be moving into comparing spiders with insects. There will also be no nightly gym on Tuesday due to the Tribal meeting on health and Wellness. All the teachers and staff from school will all be attending. We cover the gym on a voluntarily, but feel the meeting is important and the older students will be encouraged to attend. Additionally, a special event is scheduled this week with a Native American rapper promoting a healthy life style. The D.A.R.E program is also planned to begin in all classes this Friday.

Have a great week and always feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

October 7, 2012

The weeks are passing quickly and the end of our first quarter is rapidly coming to an end. The students continue to work on cooperative learning and listening skills. Ask your child if they got a blue "Kid's Love Note" each day, as that states that they followed all the school rules and states: "Please give me a BIG hug and two kisses. Then tell me how proud you are of me." 

In addition to the regular district math and language arts curriculum we are covering, the students are doing social studies and science activities. The butterfly unit is completed and we will focus more closely on types of weather and how that ties into the seasons. As we move closer to the end of the month, we will study spiders and bats to tie into Halloween activities.

I hope you have a wonderful week.

September 30, 2012

 

 On Friday last week, the students went on a fall outing to observe the seasonal changes we have been experiencing. Each of the children was able to explore in a small area and gather a variety of leaves to put in a bag for a couple of art projects that were planned in our return t school. The weather was cool, but dry. As you can see by the picture of the September weather graph in our class, there has been very little rain this past month.  

 The afternoon students have been using the Smart board to practice patterns and number recognition using downloaded manipulative games. In addition, they have enjoyed drawing different  animals using shapes to create their creatures.

 Others have just enjoyed seeing what designs look like on the big board or writing their name.

Among many other things this week, we will wrap up our butterfly unit and compare the changes our frog and caterpillars went through these last 6 weeks. Enjoy your week...I know we will enjoy our time in class!

September 24, 2012

I hope this finds you healthy and well. Last week we had a few students out with illness, so let's hope the worst has passed. Despite a few stuffed up noses, the students had a productive week and have enjoyed learning more about our soon to be class butterflies. On Thursday, the students created and painted their own caterpillar after comparing and contrasting two different fictional stories about caterpillars. See the picture below.

This up coming Friday, we will go on a fall walk to observe the seasonal changes. Please make sure your child has a warm jacket and hat on that day.

Have a great week.

September 17, 2012

Greetings once again!

The in-service in Tok on Monday was extremely informative and a productive time to collaborate with other teachers in the district. I hope the students enjoyed a little extra time to enjoy all the beauty of our current fall weather.

Though our week will be short, we will continue to work on a caring classroom environment so that each student can  best learn and strengthen necessary math and language concepts. In addition, in Science we will learn more about our butterflies that are now in chrysalis stage. Also, our class tadpole has grown both sets of legs and we should soon see the tail begin to shorten.

This week the district councilor will be visiting on Thursday with the music teacher that comes weekly on that day. At the end of the week, I will be going to Fairbanks on Friday for a doctor appointment and Natalie will be covering the class.

September 10, 2012

Well, I hope you are all successfully harvesting your winter meat and berry supply. Last week flew by with only four days of school. We will have a full five days this week, but on Monday September 17 there will a teacher in-service day.  So next week there will be another short week of school.

Most of the students did really well with their "Home fun" folders and got stickers daily for returning their books and assignments. If they got three stickers by Friday, they picked out of our treasure box full of prizes. Please help your child in this area and read to them nightly. It will make a huge difference in their school achievement. 

We continue to get to know each other and positive classroom procedures in our class. Through our “All About Us” theme we have focused on things we like to do, feelings, and our five senses.   This has been tied into our language activities and Science blocks. Also, our class pet "Friend" the tadpole is changing and now has back legs. In addition, there are caterpillars preparing to make cocoons soon. Ask your child about what they are learning and observing as these creatures change.

If you want to order any books for your child from the Scholastic book order, please return the form with the payment amount by this Friday. Have a great week! 

Mrs. Brown