Do any of you remember the spelling tests you had when you were in grade school? If they were anything like mine they were a list of 10 words from the same word family (ted, bed, Ned, ten, pen, men, etc. and a difficult bonus word.) A lot of time was spent memorizing how to spell the word for the test then it was forgotten a day later. That is why I love Spalding. In the last few weeks my students have been learning how to spell little, chance, charge, and time. The cool thing in, most of them can spell it or, at least, come very close to spelling it correctly. One of my little girls goes to Athenaeum three times per week. Today she came up to me and showed me a letter she wrote. Her letter was not a string of random letters. It was thought out and meticulously sounded out. She showed me one of the words. "Ms. Spencer! I wrote Athenaeum!" I looked at her letter and found the word right away. It wasn't spelled correctly but it was close enough for me to identify it in less than two seconds!
PSO (Parent Student Organization): Our PSO is amazing! I taught at several schools prior to coming to Great Hearts. The Great Hearts PSO teams are the most active, support teams of any district I have worked for. I see PSO members every day. They are actively involved with the copy program, lunch program, literacy celebrations, and a variety of other activities. Thanks to everyone who helps with the school PSO! There are opportunities to volunteer all the time. Grandparents can volunteer too! They just need to have Raptor Clearance. The Roosevelt Review has a section of how to contact PSO if you are interested. 3RD QUARTER LITERACY CELEBRATION: The 3rd quarter literacy celebration is scheduled for Friday morning on March 10th. The theme for this quarter's celebration is "Fairy Tales" (with a little bit of Mr. Popper Penguins mixed in." There are a lot of volunteer spots available as well as supply requests. The Sign-up Genius link is: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0949ADAB23A5F9C52-fairy GENERAL ACADEMICS: Spalding phonogram focus - /ea/,/aw/, /or/,/ck/,/wh/,/ed/, /ew/, /ui/,/oa/,/gu/ Spalding spelling word focus - are, little, your, you, out, time, may, into, him Math - Measuring height and weight Science - Farm to table History - Democracy Literature - "Snow White," Mr. Popper's Penguins UPCOMING DATES: Art Festival: Wednesday, March 8 Kindergarten Literacy Celebration: Friday, March 10 Spring Break: March 13-17 ON A PERSONAL NOTE: Me in the morning as I am getting ready for school - "When I get home I am going to make the grocery list, do the dishes, change the kitty litter, organize my closet, hang out with David (my son), play with the cats, go to dance class, stretch, read a book, and write a letter." Me after teaching all day - "When I get home I am going to take a nap, go to dance class, then take another nap." :-) Me after teaching all day on the days I don't have dance class - Face plant! Right into the couch! Have an energized week!!
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OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH my goodness! Grandparents Day! Grandparents Day was so! Much! Fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We were able to cram a whole bunch of grandparents in our tiny little classroom. At lunch time I had to opportunity to visit with many of the grandparents. None of my students whose grandparents were unable to come were sad because many of the grandparents who were present included those students. Everyone had smiles on their faces. It was the BEST! SCHOOL DAY! EVER!!!!!!!
SPEAKING OF FUN, THERE IS A LOT OF FUN STUFF COMING UP: Lost and Found Event - The Lost and Found Event is this Thursday February 23rd. It is in the Young Hearts parking lot. Nurse Appreciation Day - The nurse's special day is this Friday February 24th. She is pretty amazing and so good with the kids. (She's very patient with teachers too.) ;-) Art Festival - Archway Trivium East had an Art Walk / Festival every year. I am so glad that Roosevelt is continuing the tradition! This event is an open house event. It is March 8th from 5 - 7 pm. GENERAL ACADEMICS: Spalding - Words: little, of, be, but, this, all Phonogram focus: /ey/,/ei/,/ou/,/ie/,/ch/,/ar/ Math - Measurement Science - Farm to Table History - Independence Day Literature and Grammar - Mr. Popper's Penguins, "The Crow and the Pitcher" UPCOMING DATES: Lost and Found Event: Thursday, February 23 Nurse Appreciation Day: Friday, February 24 Art Festival: Wednesday, March 8 Have a great week! Hi. I have a lot of reminders and tid-bits of information so let's get started!
THE ROOSEVELT REVIEW: The Roosevelt Review is the school newsletter that comes out each Friday. Please see the Roosevelt Review for questions about how to contact the PSO, school events. etc. GRANDPARENTS DAY: Grandparents day is on Thursday. Notes and information was sent out two weeks ago and last week. As stated in the information sheets ALL half day scholars will be eating lunch in the cafeteria with the full day students and ALL half day scholars will be dismissed at 12:00 that day. Please make sure you have packed a lunch for them if they are not eating Chick-fil-a. If you have any further questions please contact Ms. Parsons at: [email protected] LOST AND FOUND DAY: The lost and found in the student lobby is overflowing with water bottles, books, lunch boxes, uniform jackets, and uniform sweaters. The PSO is having a lost and found day on February 23rd in the Young Hearts parking lot. This will be the perfect opportunity for parents to come and reclaim lost items that their scholars lost. :-) READING VOLUNTEER SIGN-UP GENIUS LINK: We are still welcoming morning reading group parent volunteers. Here is the sign-up link for volunteers. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0c4baea92aa2ff2-reading1#/ GENERAL ACADEMICS: Spalding - Phonogram focus: /wr/, /f/, /g/, /dge/,/o/,/s/,/qu/,/h/,/e/,/b/ Word focus: chance, charge, bad, red Math - Numbers to 20 Science - Farming History - Pilgrims Literature - "Cinderella" Grammar - Writing about first, next, and last in a story UPCOMING DATES: Great Hearts Day: Tuesday, February 14 (Reminder - No Valentines will be passed out at school. :-) ) Kindergarten Grandparents Day: Thursday, February 16 No School: Monday, February 20 Lost and Found Event: Thursday, February 23 Nurse Appreciation Day: Friday, February 24 ON A PERSONAL NOTE: Ah-ha! Square took over Weebly and the two sometimes have a difficult time syncing. I finally figured this out and got smart. Now I write my part of my blog and copy it. Then when I lose everything when I try to save it, all I have to do is paste and wah-la! There is the stuff I wrote. Hmm... Did that last sentence make sense? No. Not really. But, it works and I don't have to rewrite everything. :-) NAME THE GOOD: -Solutions - Nice calm days (like today) - Seeing how much my students have learned! Have a good week! Ohhhh! I had my whole blog written and something glitched and it didn't save! *sigh* Well, this will be "Week of Feb. 6th - 10th Take 2" I don't think I will go into as much detail this second time around though. :-(
VALENTINE'S DAY: This is just a reminder that we do not pass out Valentine's day cards in the classrooms. Great Heart's schools do not celebrate Valentine's Day. GRANDPARENT'S DAY: Based on questions I have received... - A flyer with information and a schedule was sent out last week in the red homework folders. Half-day kindergarteners will be dismissed at 12:00 in order for them to be able to participate with grandparents day. - Grandparent's Day is for grandparents only. :-) GENERAL ACADEMICS: Spalding - New phonogram - oe, kn, gn - Students will be tested on the following phonograms on Friday - /oe/, /i/, /j/, /k/,/kn/,/l/, /m/, /n/, /gn/, /p/ Math - Numbers to 20 Science - Life Cycle of a Plant History - Thanksgiving, Christopher Columbus Literature - Mr. Popper's Penguins, "The Bremen Town Musicians" UPCOMING DATES: Family Restaurant Night at Papa Murphy's: Wednesday, February 8 Great Hearts Day: Tuesday, February 14 Kindergarten Grandparents Day: Thursday, February 16 Please see the school newsletter that is e-mailed each Friday for more information about upcoming dates. ON A PERSONAL NOTE: Ooof! I had a whole bunch written here until is disappeared. Right now my head hurts so badly I feel like my eyes are crossed so I don't think I will rewrite anything more today. Maybe it will show up in next week's blog. ;-) NAME THE GOOD: - Papa Murphy's pizza is so yummy! (Especially the desert pizza!) - My students' smiles! Have a headache-less week!!! Every morning after reading time we do an OPR (Oral Phonogram Review) and the a WPR (Written Phonogram Review). The students who actively participate in both are discovering that practice really does "make perfect." Students get really excited when they they discover that they now know a phonogram that they didn't know previously.
GENERAL ACADEMICS: Spalding - The new phonograms for this week are /igh/ and /eigh/. - The phonograms on Friday's test will be igh, eigh, z, x, y, and w Math - Counting and writing numbers to 20 Science - Plants History - Pilgrims Literature - Mr. Popper's Penguins, "Little Red Riding Hood" UPCOMING DATES: Early Release Day: Friday, February 3 (Teachers have a network-wide in-service so students will be dismissed at 1:00 which is the same time as the Wednesday dismissal time.) *Note - This does NOT affect the half-day kinders. Half-day kindergarten students are dismissed at the same time every day regardless of the full day schedule.) Family Restaurant Night: Wednesday, February 8 Great Hearts Day: Tuesday, February 14 Kindergarten Grandparents Day: Thursday, February 16 Please see the school e-mail that comes out each Friday for more information about upcoming dates and events. Have a great week! Last week the class filled up their marble jar so they got to have a "Marble Jar Party" on Friday. At the beginning of the week the class listed all the different treats they liked to eat then vote. They voted for a "Candy Party." Students got to munch on Sour Patch Kids, Skittles, or Starbursts before the half-day kinders were dismissed and the full day kinders went to lunch. They class already has several marbles in the jar as they work toward their next "Marble Jar Party."
COLD WEATHER: The morning recesses are cold. Please be sure to send a jacket with your child speaking of jackets... CHECK THE NAMES ON THE ARCHWAY ROOSEVELT JACKETS: Be sure to check regularly check for your child's name on their uniform sweaters and fleece jackets. They all look the same and they do get mixed up on occasion. One of school's PSO members does take a regular look through the ever-growing lost and found pile. If you are missing something you can contact her at: [email protected] ACCESSING YOUR REPORT CARDS AND NARRATIVES: Sometimes it can be challenging to access the report cards in Power School. A former parent of mine typed up directions so I could share with parents of future classes. Here is her directions: "Hi Mrs Spencer! Here’s how I look at the grades on my iPhone. I’m not sure if it will look different on android phones. I open the link sent by the school and log in. I then turn my phone sideways to get the biggest view of the website. It really helps!!! At the top left corner, directly under the students names, there are 2 arrows. One Up/down arrow and one side to side arrow. Open the side to side arrow by clicking on it. This opens a menu on the left hand side. The menu has links for report card, grades and grade history and some other items that don’t seem to give any real information. Click on The report card link. That gives access to your comments and number grades for each subject. You have to keep scrolling down to see everything. This gives the most information. It also gives last quarters grades so you can compare. The grades link is where I find the “IP” and “P” grades for classes including specials. The Grade history link shows me kinder and first grade “P” and “IP” grades. I find the report card and grades to be the most beneficial links in the menu. I hope this helps!!" FEBRUARY 14TH: This is just a reminder that Great Hearts does not celebrate Valentine's Day and Valentine's Day cards do not get passed out in class. Sometimes students will forget and bring Valentine gifts and/or cards. Teachers always acknowledge the student's willingness to show friendship in that way however the cards and/or gifts do remain in the backpacks and are returned home. GENERAL ACADEMICS: Spalding - New phonograms: /ph/ and /ough/ - At the end of the week students will be tested on the following phonograms: /ph/,/ar/,/ch/,/oo/,/ough/, /ou/,/ow/, /th/,/ee/,/sh/ - New words: up, last, not, us, am, good Math - Finishing Chapter 6 - Ways to make break numbers to 10 - Chapter 7 - Identifying numbers to 20 Science - Parts of a plant History - The Pilgrims Literature - "The Ugly Duckling", Mr. Popper's Penguins, "The Wolf and the Seven Kids" Grammar - The proper use of go, goes, and went Poetry - "Humpty Dumpty" UPCOMING DATES: Early Release Day: Friday, February 3 Family Restaurant Night: Wednesday, February 8 Great Hearts Day: Tuesday, February 14 Kindergarten Grandparents Day: Thursday, February 16 Please see the Roosevelt Review that comes out every Friday for more information about upcoming dates and events. ON A PERSONAL NOTE: - I got the thank-you notes written! Honestly, I love to write - even Christmas gift thank-you notes but, for some reason it took me awhile to get to them this year. (I finally just texted family members and friends with another thank-you.) Anyway, they were placed in the red homework folders. - Has anyone ever played "Ultimate Frisbee?" I never even knew there was such a game until I attended the Arthur Murray Goodyear picnic this past Saturday. Somehow, everyone who knew what they were doing ended up on one team and I, along with everyone else who had never played it before, ended up on the other team. I knew before the game even began that we were going to loose. I had to suppress my extremely competitive nature and just enjoy running around the field like a blind chicken. We did loose by a lot but, I got a lot of exercise, there was a lot of laughte,r and I got picked up and spun around by a teammate when I somehow managed to score. It was a fun afternoon! (Now I want to play Ultimate Frisbee every weekend so at next year's picnic I can totally own the field!) ;-D NAME THE GOOD: - Marble Jar Parties - Dancing and Dance Lessons Have a winning week! This was the first year the project night was held as an "open house" format. I defintely like it better! The classrooms were not as crowded and the students were able to see other projects in other classrooms with their families. I think one of my favorite parts of the whole night was when former students came into the classroom to see my current students' projects. Another favorite part was listening to my students explain / present their projects to their classmates. They listened to each other so well and got so excited about each others' projects. We were able to get most of everyone's project sent home last week. The remaining projects will get sent home this week.
Oh! Just a head's up! If your child is anything like my son, plan on keeping each year's projects. My son is in 8th grade and we still have, upon his insistence, all of the projects. ;-) BOOK BAGS: - Last week Ms. Gross made new book bags for each student. The books bags with the leveled readers should be going home every night. On our end we remind and often assist students in getting their book bags into their backpack. If you notice that your child is not bringing theirs home on a regular basis send us a quick e-mail and let us know. - Please make sure your child's leveled reader is placed back into the book bag and placed in your child's backpack every day. - Reading starts when school starts at 7:50. It is important that students are at school on time. GENERAL ACADEMICS: Spalding - Several new words will be introduced this week: top, he, you, will, we, an, my - Since there several words this week, students will not be learning any new phonograms. Math - Making and breaking numbers within 10 (Unit 6) Science - Parts of a plant History - Christopher Columbus Literature - Mr. Popper's Penguins, "The Ugly Duckling" Grammar - The appropriate use of am/is/are/was/were Poetry - Little Jack Horner ON A PERSONAL NOTE: - One of my cats, Grease, was very helpful while I typed this blog today (Monday). She sat right in front of me so she could "read" it. Then she sat directly on my hands to make sure I gave my hands a rest. Finally she donated fur to my keyboard. NAME THE GOOD: - It rained this weekend!!!! Have a beautiful week! Last week was fun as the full class was able to participate with the science activities. We spent the week discussing how to keep our body healthy. Another fun lesson that took place last week was when we discussed action words. At first students got action words mixed up with nouns but it didn't take long until they made the connection. They filled up the entire white board with action words! Some of the first words the students mentioned were ones such as run, jump, walk. As students got into the flow of the lesson they came up with amazing words such as dance, wiggle, create, shush, and repair.
PROJECT NIGHT IS THIS WEDNEDAY, JANUARY 11TH! The school sent out information about Project Night in the newsletter that goes out each Friday. In case you missed it: Project Night Wednesday, January 11 All K-5 students will present their science projects during our Open House annual Project Night on Wednesday, January 11th from 5-7 PM. During this Open House time, students will receive a short checklist to complete during Project Night, which should only take 20 to 30 minutes. Once this is complete, students and families are free to leave. Students should try to arrive sometime before 6:30pm so that they can complete their checklists before 7:00pm. We ask that all students be dressed in their school uniforms. Students can bring their projects during morning drop-off to deliver to classrooms. Parents will not be allowed to deliver projects to the classrooms. Please reach out to your classroom teacher with any questions. This is a wonderful event where our students and families come together as a community to share the knowledge they have gained about the wonders of the human body! TEACHER PERSPECTIVE ON PROJECT NIGHT INFORMATION STATED ABOVE: - Project night is fun! This is the first year it has been "open house" style so I am excited to see how it works. - The short check-list mentioned above that each child will receive when you arrive is the same across all grade levels. The kindergarten teachers recognize that the kindergarten students will have to tell you their thoughts and that you will to write what they dictate. ;-) - Be sure to visit the other classrooms. The projects are often amazing! - Please make sure your child's name is clearly written on their tri-fold. - Students must be in uniform. GENERAL ACADEMICS: Spalding - Students learned 2 new words today and will learn 3 new words on Tuesday. We will review all five words on Wednesday and Thursday with the 5-word spelling test on Friday. - This week's phonogram focus: /ea/,/ng/, /aw/, /au/, /or/, /ck/,/wh/,/ed/,/ew/,/ui/ Math - Ways to make a break numbers within 10 *Please note - Students have a new blue math homework book Science - Plants, living and non-living things History - Christopher Columbus Literature - Mr. Popper's Penguins, "Three Billy Goats Gruff" Poetry - "Hickory, Dickory, Dock" *Please note - The only homework for Wednesday night is to attend the Project Night open house UPCOMING DATES: Project Night: Wednesday, January 11 Family Restuarant Night: Wednesday, January 11 Martin Luther King Jr Day (No School): Monday, January 16 *Please see the Roosevelt Review that comes out each Friday for more information about upcoming dates and events. . See you Wednesday night! Hello and here we are beginning the 3rd quarter. We are half way through the school year already. This week I am going to keep the blog entry short and just touch on a couple of things.
PROJECT WEEK: We are excited to begin working on this year's project for Project Week. Project Week is where students will be engaged in a topic of study during the school day and will spend the time at home working on activities designed to deepen their expertise on the subject. Our focus this year is to immerse our students in a study on investigating the human body system. We began discussing the project and activities today. One of the homework aspects of project week will be for students to prepare a visual representation for Project Night which will take place on Wednesday, January 11th. Students will asked to be present. The homework and more information is in your scholar's red folders. Please be on the look-out for information about Project Week and Project Night from the school as well. Project Week and Project Night is a yearly event for Great Hearts schools. PROJECT WEEK HOMEWORK: Students will be bringing home their leveled reader books each day. Otherwise, the only homework for this week are the activities listed in the Project Week Homework Packet which was placed in your child's homework folder today. This packet contains information for the tri-fold presentation board as well as information about the daily homework activities. There will be no Spalding or math homework this week. GENERAL ACADEMICS: Science - Project Week activities centered on the Human Body Spalding - Review of phonograms and words introduced during the first semester. Math - Review of math concepts taught during the first semester Literature - Mr. Popper's Penguins, "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" ON A PERSONAL NOTE: - Christmas and New Year's was perfect. It always amazes me how each year can be so much the same yet so different from the year before. I wanted to tell you thank you thank you thank you for the wonderful gifts everyone gave me! I will be sending a more personal thank you note home after project week and project night but I wanted to tell you thank you ahead of time as well. - Did anyone make any fun New Year's resolutions? I don't really make resolutions. More of a focused reminder of what I want to cultivate within myself so my focused reminder is the cultivate a strong confidence and trust with myself. If you have any resolutions e-mail me and tell me. I would love to hear about them. Oh!!!!!! If there is time I will have to ask my students if they have any resolutions. Students' views are so pure and often remind us to just flow. NAME THE GOOD: - It's a new year!! That always feels good! Have a happy night! Wow! It has already been a full week since the first Archway Roosevelt Christmas concert. I loved seeing my students arrive dressed in their finest. Everyone looked so beautiful, so handsome!
THANK YOU FROM MS. GROSS! As Anahi, our classroom coordinator stated in the e-mail she sent out to everyone, we celebrated Ms. Gross's birthday this past Friday (the 9th). Ms. Gross had a wonderful day and enjoyed celebrating with the class. Ms. Gross wrote thank-you notes to the students / families who sent birthday gifts but we are well aware that thank-you notes don't always make it home. In case those thank-you notes did not make it into your hands, she wanted to make sure to tell you thank you for everything! JACKETS: It's cold in the morning and the morning recess is very chilly. Please make sure that your scholar has a jacket to wear to recess in the morning! PLEASE MAKE SURE THE UNIFORM JACKETS ARE LABLED!: In order to help the scholars keep track of the Great Hearts Roosevelt uniform jackets please make sure that they are clearly labeled with your child's name. The names do rub off sometimes so I also suggest you check periodically and rewrite your child's name if it is smudged or rubbed off. LITERACY CELEBRATION: The kindergarten literacy celebration is this Friday. The classroom coordinators sent out a sign-up genius link for volunteers and supplies. I included it in last week's blog as well. Here is the link again in case you missed any of the previous communication: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e084dafa82aabf85-kindergarten There are still several volunteer spots open (Volunteers will need to arrive at 8:00 to help set up and help with clean-up afterward) and supply spots open. *Please note - All volunteers must have raptor clearance. - This event is for the Roosevelt kindergarten students only. If volunteering, younger siblings will not be able to attend. GENERAL ACADEMICS: Spalding - No new phonograms or words this week. We are reviewing words and phonograms that have already been introduced. Math - Review of writing numbers to 10, number words, number formation, and patterns. Science - Taking care of the earth. Literature - Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, John Henry UPCOMING DATES: Robin Hood Day Clothing Drive: Tuesday, December 13 Winter Break: Monday, December 19-Monday, January 2 Please see the weekly school e-mail that is sent out each Friday for more details about upcoming dates and school events. ON A PERSONAL NOTE: Well. It is currently 6:37am and under normal circumstances my son and I would be heading to the school. Instead we are waiting until my dad can comes by. I am taking a positive stance that my car will start (it had difficulties over the weekend and we got to spend extra time in the At Home parking lot on 89th and Peoria) and that dad will be following me to the auto repair shop so that I can drop off my car and then he can bring us to school. If.... nope. I am just going to assume that my car will start. :-) NAME THE GOOD: - Ms. Gross had a great birthday celebration! - My students got to perform on Monday. I got to perform on Friday. Arthur Murry Goodyear held it's winter dancing spotlight events. My routine was perfect. - Students singing Christmas carols in the morning. Most of the them hear the carols' words much differently then we do as adults. Their renditions crack me up! Have a wonderful Christmas, fun holiday season, and fun New Year!! |
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May 2022
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