Monday Memo 11/10/14

Greetings Families!

Veteran's Day

The children did a great job writing lovely cards for veterans.  I sent them to the VA hospital in Jamaica Plain.  As your child may have told you, Veterans Day is special for me because my brother Lieutenant Colonel Brett Conaway served twice in Iraq, in 2000 and in 2004, with the military police.  I missed him, but that was nothing compared to the pain of separation from their father for my nephews (who were 4 and 6 the first time he was deployed) and my brave sister in law, and for my parents, who were very worried.  I think my poor mother lost twenty pounds the first month Brett was gone.  We are so lucky that he returned safely to us.  And I'm happy to report that my mother is now very healthy!

Social Studies

Our new focus is maps and globes.  We read Me on the Map and are beginning a project based on that book to understand our place in the world and the difference between our town and our state, our country and our continent, etc.

Math

We are wrapping up our unit on place value and moving onto time and fractions.  The children are in the process of taking an assessment.  I will share the results with you shortly.

Baking Bread

You will receive (or may have already received) a request from our room parents for some help with our annual bread project.  Thanks for all of your help, and thanks to the room parents for coordinating the details for me so I didn't have to!

Have a great week!

Monday Memo 11/3/14

Happy November!

It's kind of nice to wrap up the Halloween hoopla.  Onto Thanksgiving!

Homework

Click here to access the November Homework Calendar.  We also have a new Sharing Schedule.  I am also introducing a Homework Rubric.  You received paper copies of all of these today.

Math Stations

Thank you so much to Marchella Lee, Elizabeth Kugler, Mrs. Yemin and Cathy Davies who have joined us for Math Stations.  It's great to have the help.

Field Trip

A huge thank you to our chaperones:  Henry Chow, Andrus Madsen, Jack Caulfield, Olga Dremov, and Lisa Moscoffian.  It was a full, exciting day at the Blue Hills, and the children loved having you there.

I also really appreciated everyone sending in supplies for the veggie skeletons.  You all made it so quick and easy to set up, and the children had fun working together.  There was hardly anything left; your kids eat their vegetables!!!  I'll send you the photos soon.

Conferences

Just because the official conference season is over, that doesn't mean you can't contact me any time with questions, concerns, thoughts . . . We confer all year long here; that's what elementary school is all about.  Please always feel free to contact me.

That's all, folks.