Dear families,
Greetings! I hope you are all well! We only have a short time until the end of the school year, and yet we have so much going on! Your children have been engaged in STAR testing this week. The fifth graders have been in my room. What a great group of kids! They're all respectful, kind, and motivated.
Today, from 1:00pm-3:30pm you are invited to visit your child's classroom to hear about all of the wonderful work your children have been doing.
Please mark your calendar for Tuesday, May 5th (6pm-7:30pm) for a parent meeting. Come and hear about great engaging activities for your kids during the summer and updates about I.A.The school will hold a raffle for $25 gas card, movie tickets, and an Arbonne Skin Care Basket. Your raffle-ticket is attached to your INNOVATIONS UPDATE. Updates are being sent home today with your child.
If you would like a yearbook, please stop by the office to complete your order. The orders are due on Friday, May 1st. On Friday, from 4pm-7pm there is also a "social". All upper grade classes are invited. Students can hang out with friends in the MPR, munch, dance, play board games, and do crafts.
Please make arrangements for you child's care on Monday, May 4th as this is a teacher professional day.
On Thursday, May 14th your children along with students in Jeremy's class are taking a field trip to the EcoCenter. The cost of this field trip per child is $10. Please send $10 to school by May 5th. A permission slip is in the INNOVATIONS UPDATE. Transportation is provided. We will be picked up an alternative energy bus.
Also in May on a Tuesday or Thursday, my Egypt & Japan Monday Mini-Project will be visiting the San Diego Museum of Man and the Mingei Museum. We'll eat lunch in the Japanese Tea Garden. Driver's are needed. Please contact me or Michelle. So far in the Monday Mini-Project your children have been uncovering a crime, by finding clues in an Egyptian and Japanese guide book. Next week we will be engaging in Egyptian and Japanese art and listening to music from both countries.
As you know in math we continue to use DI as a method of teaching. But in Language Arts for some time now, the students have had the opportunity to do independent reading. Along with the reading, they write daily summaries and work independently on grammar, editing, and comprehension skills. We use DI for spelling. For history
we have been studying the Revolutionary War. I have tried a number of approaches in order to make their study interesting. We are almost finished with "Liberty", an engaging movie series that reenacts the war. Mixed in are historians speaking about various general's personalities, military strategies, etc. Most students are making soldier recruitment posters. Early in the war, George Washington needed more men and recruitment posters were used for that purpose. Soldiers were promised land and money for service in the army!
I believe that is it for now. Please contact me with concerns or questions.
Sincerely,
Kim
Arriving at Smith Ranch
Arriving at Smith Ranch!
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
How time has flown!!!!!!!!!!!
Dear Families,
How time flies! Here we are only about eight weeks from the end of the year. What an adventure we have had and we're not done yet!!!
Some of your children have chosen to make an excursion to Egypt and Japan with me. We'll float along the Nile River and discover that Japan is composed of many islands. Do you know how many? This is the new Monday Mini-Project. To start, students will be playing a Who-Done-It game that will have them uncovering all kinds of facts about their country. We will also be exploring the music, food, traditional clothing, some history, language of the country, etc....as well as creating an environment within my classroom representing each country. My goal is to also visit "The Museum of Man" in Balboa Park for the Egyptian Exibit and the Japanese Tea Gardens to experience a Japanese snack! I will keep you updated on the field trips as we will need drivers and I love including you all in your child's education.
During our social-emotional lesson-time, all teachers are currently introducing our "Keys to Achieve". These are behaviors we want all IA students to learn to be more effective not only in the classroom, but in life. Examples, of the topics include making eye contact, active listening, spreading happiness, ect...a list of our "Keys" is available upon request. I have been integrating these new "Keys" with our "8 to Great" program students have been learning from the beginning of the year. They work well together!
Your children and I are currently engaged in some test preparation for the STAR test. It seems that some of the students are worried about the test. I have told them that their score is not something that follows them their entire life and if they do well - great! They are all unique in their abilities and that even if they were in school 24/7, we may still not cover all of the questions asked on this particular test. Please encourage your children not to worry.
Please join us at an Italian Dinner Fundraiser on Thursday, April 23rd from 3-6pm. For all of us busy working parents, BMH Italian Restaurant is offering a dinner for four that even includes dessert for $20.00.
On Sunday, April 26th, we would like to invite all families to an exciting event in Balboa Park, called "Servapalooza". Servapalooza will feature hands-on service projects hosted by 50 community organizations, a Parade of Wishes for youth groups, youth performers, raffles, silent auction, food, vendors and much, much more!
We plan to march in the parade with a banner from IA, and are committed to getting involved with the many service-based activities.
Tickets are available for three Civic Center Off-Broadway productions for families of IA. This is a fantastic opportunity to expose your children to the acting-out of well-known stories most of your children are familiar with. Contact michelle@innovationsacademy.org.
That's it for now,
Kim
How time flies! Here we are only about eight weeks from the end of the year. What an adventure we have had and we're not done yet!!!
Some of your children have chosen to make an excursion to Egypt and Japan with me. We'll float along the Nile River and discover that Japan is composed of many islands. Do you know how many? This is the new Monday Mini-Project. To start, students will be playing a Who-Done-It game that will have them uncovering all kinds of facts about their country. We will also be exploring the music, food, traditional clothing, some history, language of the country, etc....as well as creating an environment within my classroom representing each country. My goal is to also visit "The Museum of Man" in Balboa Park for the Egyptian Exibit and the Japanese Tea Gardens to experience a Japanese snack! I will keep you updated on the field trips as we will need drivers and I love including you all in your child's education.
During our social-emotional lesson-time, all teachers are currently introducing our "Keys to Achieve". These are behaviors we want all IA students to learn to be more effective not only in the classroom, but in life. Examples, of the topics include making eye contact, active listening, spreading happiness, ect...a list of our "Keys" is available upon request. I have been integrating these new "Keys" with our "8 to Great" program students have been learning from the beginning of the year. They work well together!
Your children and I are currently engaged in some test preparation for the STAR test. It seems that some of the students are worried about the test. I have told them that their score is not something that follows them their entire life and if they do well - great! They are all unique in their abilities and that even if they were in school 24/7, we may still not cover all of the questions asked on this particular test. Please encourage your children not to worry.
Please join us at an Italian Dinner Fundraiser on Thursday, April 23rd from 3-6pm. For all of us busy working parents, BMH Italian Restaurant is offering a dinner for four that even includes dessert for $20.00.
On Sunday, April 26th, we would like to invite all families to an exciting event in Balboa Park, called "Servapalooza". Servapalooza will feature hands-on service projects hosted by 50 community organizations, a Parade of Wishes for youth groups, youth performers, raffles, silent auction, food, vendors and much, much more!
We plan to march in the parade with a banner from IA, and are committed to getting involved with the many service-based activities.
Tickets are available for three Civic Center Off-Broadway productions for families of IA. This is a fantastic opportunity to expose your children to the acting-out of well-known stories most of your children are familiar with. Contact michelle@innovationsacademy.org.
That's it for now,
Kim
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)