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Welcome to room 8's page!
The 2011 - 2012 school year is looking great so far.
This year we have again tried to schedule field trips that align with our units of study and school traditions. We are always looking for new ideas... please share if you have some!
For this year we have planned trips to Alber's Orchard in Manchester, The Ann Arbor Ice Cube, the Jiffy Mix factory in Chelsea, Ann Arbor's Gallup Park, and Rolling Hills. (I am also hoping to return to the Stearns Music Colection on the University of Michigan's North campus as a part of our light & sound science unit.)
Our Weekly Specials
Monday- Music
Tuesday- Art & Library
Wednesday- Music
Thursday- Reading Buddies & Physical Education
Friday- Art
Gardening
This summer our basil has grown considerably. We will harvest it and make pesto at school to share. Then we will prepare our bed and plant garlic for next year.
Reading Buddies
This year, the students of room 8 will be reading with both Middle School students from Mr. Meadow's homeroom. Reading Buddy time has been an opportunity to build friendship and trust with many students in the school community.
Educational Freeware
Here's a site with many links to free educational software that can be used online or installed on your computer. Tux Paint, for example, is a free open-source version of Kid Pix. The site has links to many types of software including 3D, Art, K-12, Kindergarten, Languages, Mathematics, Music, Programming, Reading, Science, Social Studies, Toddlers, Typing, and Videos. Check it out at:
Educational Freeware
Room 8 Classroom Procedures
Morning drop off
Doors open at 8:15 a.m.; students may be dropped off at the curb or drivers may park their vehicles and escort their children to the Great Room. At 8:30 a.m. students will be dismissed to walk to classrooms. You are welcome to come in help your child to get settled at drop off time.
Unpacking belongings
Please send your child to school with a backpack or tote large enough to accomodate their belongings! This will include a two pocket "Home and Back" folder.
At their coat hook, students hang backpacks and jackets. During wet or snowy weather, students are encouraged to leave boots below their hook and put on indoor footwear. Crocs, slippers, or other shoes are ideal for this purpose and may be stored at school.. Lunches go in the lunch bin. On Tuesday, students should turned back in the Home and Back folder that is sent home each Monday.
Home and Back Folder
Every Monday, the Home and Back Folder is filled with important documents. These may be Scholastic Book Order forms, permission slips, messages from the office, homework, or other information. Anything sent home in this folder should be read; some items will need to be filled out and returned to school. Please make sure that this folder is cleaned out weekly. Ideally, folders will all be returned the day after they are brought home.
Morning Message
Once students have unpacked belongings, they go to the easel to respond to the morning message.
Morning Work
To start each day, students begin with a short assignment that helps them warm up for the day ahead.
Morning Meeting
During this part of our day, we will meet on the rug in a circle. It is important for students to sit facing each other to encourage attentive listening. At Morning Meeting, we have time to share news and build community.
Daily Schedule
Our daily schedule is posted on the whiteboard next to the clock. This is up all day so that students can look at it and know what to expect.
Late arrival to school
The school day begins at 8:30am. If your child arrives at school after 8:30 am, they must go to the front desk with the person who is dropping off at school. At the front desk, the student will be signed in by the driver. The office assistant will give the student a late slip which needs to be brought to the classroom and placed in the green basket by the door.
Early Pick up
If you are picking up your child before 3:40 pm, go to the front desk to get an Early Dismissal slip and sign out your student. Please bring the slip to me so that I know of any students who have left early.
Afternoon Pick up
Dismissal begins at 3:40 p.m. You may pull up to the curb and a teacher will be stationed there with a walkie-talkie, calling names of students whose rides have arrived. The office will be handing out a name sign that you can post on your visor. This will help the teacher figure out which student you are there to pick up. If you choose to come inside to pick up your child, please find a parking space which does not interfere with traffic flow. Feel free to park in the lot or on the street. Please remember that the school day ends at 3:40 and you will need an early dismissal slip if you arrive before then.
Getting in touch with Wendy Nagle
If you have any questions or concerns you may contact me by email at wendy4aalc@yahoo.com . If you have a quick question, this is a great way to reach me. You can also call AALC and leave me a voicemail. I will return your call as soon as I am able. You are also welcome to set up a meeting with me before school or after school. At drop off and pick up time, you will always be able to ask me brief questions, but anything that will require an in-depth conversation can be best addressed during a before or after school meeting time.
Classroom Jobs
On Friday, we rotate classroom jobs. These jobs include carrying the lunch bin to and from lunch, taking messages to other teachers or the office, and being the line leader. At school, our class will be an extension of your family at home. My hope is for our class to create a comfortable and safe community together. Part of being a working member of a community is helping to take care of the space and the things in it. This is why every student will hold a class job each week.
Volunteering in the classroom
As the year gets moving, I'm hoping to have some parents volunteer to help out in the classroom. On a day you are volunteering, you will stop by the front desk to sign in. This allows the office to track who is in the building at all times. This is a safety measure.
Types of volunteer opportunities:
taking photos at school, on trips, or school events and sharing them so that I can use them for this website
Acting as our PTSO rep (which entails attending a meeting every other month)
folding and stapling paperwork
practicing reading, writing or math one on one with a child
helping with library check out
helping students plant or weed in the garden
helping students at lunch time
teaching computer skills and games to students
planning parties
If you would like to do some work for our class at home, please let me know. I encourage all parents and guardians to share their talents with my class.
Birthday celebrations
On or near your child's birthday, you are welcome to send in something special to share with the entire class. In the past, students have brought fruit, pencils, erasers, veggies and dip, cheese, or other small treats. If your child is planning a party, please send invitations on your own rather than at school. Even if your child is inviting the whole class, bringing invitations to school inevitably makes someone feel left out. If you need help obtaining an address or an email, I will be happy to help.
Snack & Lunch
We have lunch at 1:00pm and a healthy snack around 10:30 am. It is also important that your child gets a great breakfast to have enough energy until snack time. Fruits, veggies, cheese, yogurt, granola bars, crackers, peanut butter, sandwiches and hard boiled eggs are good examples; cookies and candy are not. Water bottles are encouraged; juice boxes can be consumed only in the lunch room.
At lunch time, we will eat in the Great Room. The Great Room is a Nut Aware Zone. Please make sure that all lunch items do not contain nuts and are not made with nut products. If you are sending a nut substitute, i.e. soy or sun butter, please include a small note in your child’s lunch box to avoid confusion.
Field Trips
Permission slips will provide all necessary information about field trips, including whether siblings are welcome to join in the fun. Each family is requested to give an activity fee donation to cover the cost of field trips. The total cost for this is $50 for the year. There are two ways that this can be paid. You may choose to pay half now and half in January. You may also choose to pay the entire fee now. Please choose the option that is most convenient for your family. You can turn this fee into me or the office, with a check payable to AALC.
Recess and outdoor gear
We will go outside for recess in the morning and afternoon. Please help your student plan ahead so that he/she will be comfortable at recess. It is helpful to listen to a weather report on the radio, television or online before heading out the door to school. Once the snow begins, please plan to leave boots and snow pants at school. Also as you are purchasing snow gear, keep in mind that waterproof gloves or mittens work best!
Love and Logic
Love and Logic is a program that offers many strategies for interacting with children that aims to preserve the integrity of the child and adult. Part of this program is helping children learn tools for solving their own problems and taking ownership over their choices. I have been using Love and Logic strategies in my classroom and at home. I have found that some of the skills that I have used with the children have helped to further their development as responsible people.
SEMIS (Southeastern Michigan Stewardship Coalition)
In February of 2009, AALC was brought into a grant through EMU that promotes social justice education and stewardship. There are five teachers and classrooms who will be participating in this grant. However, there will be many opportunities for other classrooms to get involved with this grant. As part of the grant, the team of five will be meeting with professors at EMU as well as community partners.
We will focus on the essential question, "How can we be responsible to each other and the land?"
The students will brainstorm ideas. From those ideas will come projects that will reflect our investigation of the meaning of responsibility. It is hard to say where this will take our class, as anything project based is student driven and really determined by their efforts. However, so far Primary students have already chosen to add raised beds, bird houses, and rainbarrels using this grant money.
We also have built bat houses that have been installed locally around Washtenaw county, in locations such as private residences, Allen Creek Preschool, and the Leslie Park Golf Course.
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Here is a picture of students presenting the bat house to Scott Spooner, our friend and host at the Leslie Park Golf Course.
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Scott taught us about the efforts that he and his staff have made to responsibly care for the golf course.
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