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Explore our Classroom Website Multiage, Grades 1 and 2 |
2-20-12
What a gorgeous weekend. Please view the news for the week.
Take care.
2-12-12
Have a wonderful day. Please see the newsletter for the week.
Stacy
2-6-12
Dear Families,
Please view the newsletter and have a beautiful week.
Stacy
1-22-12
Hi families,
Please read the newsletter posted on our website.
If anyone can bring in crickets this week (Bigs is now eating medium crickets, not the small ones...he's really growing up), we'd appreciate your help.
Stay warm and bundled,
Stacy
1-17-12
What a wonderful week back to school together.
We finally have a white winter. Enjoy the snow while it's here!
Please read the newsletter for the week.
Continue to use Study Island as a tool for an introduction of new math and reading concepts, review of essential skills, and extension to weekly homework.
Stacy
1-6-12
Welcome back and Happy New Year!
Please open our newsletter and read about our upcoming learning.
Stacy
12-19-11
Let's enjoy one more week together in the year 2011.
Please read the newsletter.
We're excited for our hot chocolate sale this week! Our profits will go to St. Jude's. St. Jude's does cancer research and they help people with financial problems too.
Here is their mission statement from their website:
The mission of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is to advance cures, and means of prevention, for pediatric catastrophic diseases through research and treatment. Consistent with the vision of our founder Danny Thomas, no child is denied treatment based on race, religion or a family's ability to pay.
Stacy
12-11-11
The holidays are almost here! I'm looking forward to time with family, as I'm sure you are too.
Please read the newsletter for the week.
Stacy
12-4-11
Dear families,
Please view our newsletter for the week.
I also posted our latest reading log format for you. SCROLL ALL THE WAY TO THE BOTTOM OF THE BLOG TO FIND THE DOCUMENTS.
Thank you also for reading our google group email for 217 updates, needs, and wishes.
Have a super week. The holidays are coming soon!
Ms. Holzwarth
11-28-11
I hope everyone enjoyed Thanksgiving with family.
Please use the website to view our newsletter for the week.
We will NOT eat in the cafeteria on Tuesday AND Wednesday, so all children need lunches packed from home. Please do not plan on your child receiving a hot lunch on either day.
Stacy
11-21-11
Hi to 217 families,
Thank you for visiting our site today to read the newsletter.
We can't wait for our upcoming field trips the week after Thanksgiving. Good folk music and history through song.
Our December volunteer calendar will be cleared and ready for sign-up after Thanksgiving. Join to help whenever you wish. We need your hands and help.
Welcome back to Isaac, who just had surgery to remove his tonsils! We missed you, Isaac!
You enjoy your weekend,
Stacy
11-6-11
Ah, nothing like gaining an hour! Feels great.
1) There is no newsletter this evening, as we'll continue our learning from last week into three days of learning this week. We launched nonfiction writing, we are ready to make silt and clay with muddy water, and our unit about readers as problem solvers is in full swing. The children will work with the same word study spelling words this week (as last week) and I will assess on Wednesday. Please continue encouraging your child to sort at home during word study assignment nights and use the parent letter/guide (blue sheet sent home a few weeks ago) to help you understand how word study works.
3) The conference schedule is posted outside the classroom (Monday morning). It is a student-led conference this year, so children should join parents. Time slots are 30 minutes (instead of 10) and three families share the classroom space during one time period. I will still meet with each family for about 10 minutes during the conference to share goals and discuss learning. But you'll also have a chance to browse through your child's work and listen to your child give a tour of our day. This is a wonderful change in conference-style that many teachers at Nettelhorst will try this quarter. To guide children to take ownership over their own learning is one way to lead to growth. I held student-led conferences in Raleigh, NC when I taught first grade and the changes are remarkable when children speak about their own learning. The goal is to build confidence and reflective behaviors in kids.
3) Did you notice the doubled-lined paper that we use for Writing Workshop>? Here is a video in regards to using the double lined paper.
http://www.hwtears.com/videos/mf27zuoyj-y
Have a wonderful week.
10-29-11
I posted the news of the week. Enjoy.
10-23-11
Hello to all,
We're all rosey-cheeked after a weekend of pure sun. Beautiful!
Does your child bring his/her plastic reading bag home each night with a reading log folder and leveled book? If not, please create a plan to remind your reader to bring his/her plastic bag and log folder to school every morning and home every night. Chants and songs to sing reminders, photographs of the routine in action, drawings on posters, whatever it takes...we need our reading bags to come back and forth to school EVERY DAY. Next week your child's nightly spelling words will be stored in that bag as well. Let's establish solid routines.
We have 8 adults traveling with us on the CTA bus this Thursday to the Edible Gardens. Chaperones, please look for a guide in your child's folder today. All other parents, if your schedule opens up this week, please know you're always welcome to join. Send me an email.
We are authors of small moments (personal narrative stories). Last Friday we celebrated with lemonade toasts and a big storytelling party. Please enjoy every last word of our newly published work in the hallway.
Check out some math sites for extra practice:
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/math.htm
http://www.funbrain.com/kidscenter.html
http://www.mathplayground.com/games.html
10-22-11
Hi families,
I posted our Newsletter for this week (and last week's too).
We have several chaperones for our CTA bus ride field trip to the Edible Gardens this coming Thursday, but we need more volunteers. Please email me if you can join. We will leave school at 9:15 and participate in active lessons about food until about 1:00, returning to school shortly after. We need as many adult eyes and hands as possible.
Thank you to those who returned permission slips and money on Friday for our special experiences this week. Friendly reminder that all permission slips are due Monday morning.
To support our focus on healthy food this coming week, ask your child to come along for a special grocery shop and study all the unusual veggies and fruits in the produce section. Also, think about local foods and sustainability. Look at the food stickers to study the countries from which they come. It'll be surprising to see how many fruits and vegetables are not grown around us. Pack some new fruits or vegetables for lunch this week.
We need more snack donations. We're running low.
Stacy
10-14-11
Happy weekend to you.
Notes to share:
1) Our scheduled picture day is Tuesday.
2) The science letter (in your child's folder on Monday) asked children to bring a special rock to school. We have a space in our classroom for every geologist to bring a favorite rock and create a rock study area. On Monday morning at meeting time, we'll share specials rocks.
3) Good opportunity for home volunteering: how would you like to help with sharpening pencils? It's hard to keep up! Please email me if you're willing. I'll send a bag of dull pencils in your child's backpack and your family can sharpen away. The smallest jobs are often the most appreciated.
4) Students Express is a CPS writing magazine that publishes student work. We share this publication with five other schools. The main topic for this entry is: "What is Special About Me". Your child is welcome to submit writings or drawings and I'll pass them to Rachel Switall, the parent coordinator of our magazine. Please submit by October 27th. This could be a fun project: this of unusual ways to express...poetry, songs, lists, collages, true stories that stand for who you are.
5) I wanted to say thank you for volunteering in our classroom. Keep coming every month because your help is valuable and gives so much to our children. I'll create our November calendar in the last week of October.
So proud of our Nettelhorst cross country team!
Kwesi crossed the finish line in first place in the pouring rain.
10-13-11
Dear Families,
A few things to share:
1) Thanks to Tess' mom, Kris, for volunteering to buy crickets for Bigs. He has quite the appetite for a baby gecko.
2) Progress reports come home on Friday, not Tuesday. There was a miscommunication in the newsletter.
3) On Halloween, I'd love to ask parents to help us with classroom crafts. There is a spooky read aloud in the auditorium at 1:00, a parade to follow, and a gathering in our classroom for fall fun. Please join us from 1:30 to 3:00 to get creative. Monday, October 31st is the date. Email me if you'd like to help with crafts or lead a fall baking community project in the kitchen...apple or pumpkin pie?
4) Nettelhorst Cross Country team runs a race tomorrow Thursday the 13th, at 4:00 at Winnemac park. If you can come cheer for our team, take the brown line to Damen stop, walk north on Damen.
Stacy
10-11-11
Hello to everyone,
I sat outside for dinner tonight to be under the gorgeous moon. We couldn't ask for a more beautiful weekend!
Please see the current newsletter posted this evening.
Have a wonderful week.
10-2-11
Happy October to you!
It's time for us to spend energy teaching sportmanship, helping children learn language for mediatating argruments, and get back to the basics during dinner time talk, "what can we do to show kindess to friends?" Structure, guidance, clear limitations, modeling, and strong support create ways for children to play and work together in safe, calm, supportive ways. Our partnerships principles in class read: "Guide and praise." The steps are simple, but take time to learn.
This weekend I spent time with my family in Oregon on a beautiful ranch. It was breathtaking. My friend's wedding overlooked mountains at sunset.
9-25-11
This week we'll explore family life in the past. As we learn about history of families, your child will interview an elderly family member or friend for homework. Today I asked my grandma the interview questions. Here are her words:
Grandma Harvey’s Interview: these questions are dated from 1937 when I was a young 6 year old.
1) describe a typical school day when you were a child: We sat in desks nailed to the floor. They were all in rows and we didn’t dare talk or even laugh. We could not get up out of our seats until recess. But I loved school.
2) describe a typical evening when you were a child: I would sit on my dad’s lap and he would read the “funnies” to me. I would look at books and then practice the piano for an hour with my mother sitting on the piano bench with me.
3) describe a typical saturday when you were a child: Saturdays meant washing the windows, scrubbing the floor, and cleaning my bedroom (even at age 6). I would play marbles with my friend or roller skate on the sidewalks. I also loved to ride my bike and play hide and seek.
4) describe a typical family dinner: My father was a coach, so we would eat late, but my mother made me set the table, help with preparing the dinner on our wood stove, and then sit down to eat when Dad came home. I always had to clear the table and dry the dishes. I put food away in our icebox.
6) describe some of the choices you had as a child compared to the choices kids have today: I had very few choices. I always did what my mother and my father wanted me to do and went with them wherever they went. I was rarely asked what I wanted to do, but oh, did they love me.
Both my parents were teachers and I was the only child in the family.
Grandma Harvey: Born 1931 in Newark, New Jersey
9-24-11
The fall air feels beautiful, despite the rain. Bright red, gold, and yellow mums filled my back deck this weekend.
New Documents:
1) CLICK ON CLASSROOM NEWS TO THE LEFT.
2) I changed the organization of the news page. All the latest newsletters are on the top. Look for the curriculum night materials following all the newsletters.
Birthdays:
This Thursday at 2:15, we'll celebrate August and September birthday kids. Please look for invitation in your child's folder on Monday. Please read the newsletter for party mix snack ideas.
9-19-11
Alright, folks. I have lice. My head's going into the sink for the next two hours and a night of laundry begins.
Please, please check your child's hair right after you read this message. Start from the bottom and search through every strand. Look behind ears and at the spot where pony tails tie. My eggs were in the warmest place...right at the base of my bun. If you see a shaft with a little white egg (nit) that does not move off when the shaft when you touch it, it's a lice egg. Dandruff moves and nits stay on the shaft.
A child in another classroom had a lice bug crawling on her head today, so the bugs are jumping! One made a leap to my head, laid its eggs, and probably leapt to your child's air.
9-19-11
Hi everyone.
Please see NEW DOCUMENTS.
1) CLICK ON CLASSROOM NEWS TO THE LEFT.
2) SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM OF THAT PAGE TO FIND:
Newsletter, Volunteer Document, Optional Homework Activities, and Reading Logs.
Would you like to donate a classroom snack? We enjoy a few minutes of down time each afternoon to munch and chat. Please look carefully at the ingredient list. Check to see if the product is made in a bakery with seed and peanut products. Thanks! :)
9-18-11
If anyone can go to Petco today and get a bag of 50 mini crickets for our geckos, that would be great.
Speaking of bugs...need help searching for nits in your child's hair? Here are some tips: http://www.hairfairies.com/lice-facts.aspx
Stacy
9-16-11
Parents, there is lice in the 1st and 2nd grade classrooms. We must be diligent about checking every child's head this morning before school. It's spreading like wildfire, so help us by looking for small eggs that do not slide off the stalk. Stop by the office if you have questions about how to find lice in your child's hair.
Let's stay lice free. :)
9-14-11
Sign Out: At dismissal time, please sign the clipboard. There are two boards: one for second grade families and one for first grade families.
Snack time: We need energy to help us through the afternoon. Or maybe we need something in our bellies to calm us down? Whatever it may be, we need a break during our 3 hour afternoon stretch. So food it is. I bought some crackers (peanut free) for us to munch on tomorrow.
If you'd like to donate a snack, please send fruit, crackers...anything healthy, nondairy, and peanut free. Nothing in individual wrappers, please.
Last call for forms: Pretty please send in any health, email, attendance policy, emergerncy, and office communication forms by tomorrow. My couch is covered in mountains of piles and I'm ready to submit all forms to Ms. Wulbert tomorrow.
Curriculum Night: Ms. Wulbert shared Curriculum Night schedules with families in her school notes. There are four 20 minute sessions on the 22nd. I'd like to alternate sessions to serve needs of both grade level groups.
1st and 3rd session: first grade parents
2nd and 4th session: second grade parents
Please email me with scheduling conflicts and I can help us work it out.
Volunteers: Thank you for the supply help again this week. I will post a calendar next week so you can work in our classroom. I know you're ready to support. Sign-ups for 10 for 10 and classroom volunteering are also available on Curriculum Night.
Exciting Tidbits:
Dalin came back from China and Australia to join us as a second grader!
We jumpstarted math and learned new games.
We wrote our heads off in writing workshop after storytelling up a storm.
We learned to talk with other readers in book clubs.
We played fun meeting time games.
The children created the rules based upon our student hopes and parent goals:
We look out for each other.
We listen.
We work hard, try our best, lead, and teach each other.
Please talk through these rules with your child each morning. You can set the tone for your child's day by creating daily goals together.
9-12-11
I hope you enjoyed the gorgeous sun this weekend.
Week two begins in first and second grade! Please see NEW documents: Newsletter and the ABC's of Room 217 are posted for the week.
Thank you for all the volunteers. Supplies are ready for use!
9-9-11
We had a great first few days! Watching the geckos hunt today was exciting.
Thank you emailing me a list of your child's favorite things and completing the survey/inventory. It really helps to build community.
The children were very excited to bring another book home to share with you.
Would anyone like to help me unpack all the supply donations and put them in the storage lockers? If so, could you email me please?
9-6-11
Hooray for the first day of school on Tuesday! Welcome, first and second graders! See you at 8:50 at the BLACK HAWKS symbol on the back play lot.
We'll have a wonderful first day together.
9-4-11
Wonderful to see you at open house!
1) start gathering and printing photos so we can decorate our folders and journals during the first week of school (send to school anytime in a baggie or envelope)
2) email me 5 of your child's favorite things to do or say or make or create or sing or eat...the list goes on (this is just for me to get a glimpse into your child's life...I won't share it with the class). second grade families, send your list to me too!
See you Tuesday! 
8-20-11
Welcome, friends. Here is a place to share our learning and communicate together. Keep eyes open for new creations as the year unfolds. I'm excited to unite through technology and open up a way to make life easier at home while we get to know each other, explore the multiage model, and learn about curriculum.
Our classroom is unique because we have two grade levels in one classroom. Another uniqueness is that our second graders looped from first grade. Our returning families are as wonderful as can be.
My goal is to make the website not just a tool for me, as the teacher, to connect with parents, but also a learning tool and resource for the students.
The updated 217 supply list is attached as a document under the Classroom News section.
See everyone soon!
NEED HELP DOWNLOADING:
Reading is Thinking Log 1
(DOCX 11 KB)
Readers Write About Books Reading is Thinking Log 2
(DOCX 11 KB)
Readers Write About Books
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