Conferences and Christmas Reminders

Don’t forget that Parent/Student/Teacher conferences are December 13 and 14. Your child is expected to be in attendance as they will lead the conference. I look forward to sharing information about your child’s progress over this semester. 

December 19 is the last day of school before the Christmas holiday. It is also the day of our annual Christmas Program. The program begins at 6:00 pm in Bakken Auditorium. Please check the Thursday packet for information regarding report times and attire. We will also have a class Christmas party on that day from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm. We will not be exchanging gifts, just enjoying each other in the holiday spirit. 

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Reasons for Sharing

Thanks to everyone for coming to support our learners during their first inquiry presentation of the school year. I was so pleased to see so many of you there, as were the children. I was very proud of the children and their performances. In preparation, the children and I discussed what a good presentation looks like. They knew that they needed to use a loud, clear voice, use expression, make eye contact with the audience , show enthusiasm, and create an attractive, informative visual aid. They practiced several times to hone their skills. For the first graders and new students, this first inquiry is really an exposure to the inquiry process. As should be expected, I’m sure you saw a wide range of ability as the children developed these skills. Besides learning presentation skills, sharing their information is important in several other ways:

 

• The class continues to construct knowledge or concepts as they listen and make connections during sharing.
• Sharing not only gives the children a chance to review their work, it also enables them to become teachers and to see each other as teachers.
• Sharing lets children sort information and decide what is most important or relevant to communicate to others.
• Children learn to communicate more effectively.

The children are now reflecting on the inquiry process and their learning. They are also completing rubrics to evaluate their group work and thinking about how they might do things differently next time.

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Happy Thanksgiving!

The children and I are getting into the holiday spirit. As I write, Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes are stacking up in the classroom and pinecone turkeys are scattered about the tabletops. In anticipation of parent/teacher/student conferences, portfolios are becoming fuller as the children add evidence of and reflections about their learning. They are also busy working on their inquiry presentations, making visual aids to show what they have learned about their various animals. Inquiry presentations will be Tuesday, November 27, from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. in our classroom. Please try to attend if possible. The children love a friendly audience!

As part of our inquiry, the class will be dissecting owl pellets tomorrow. Are you wondering what owl pellets are? Owl pellets are masses of bones, teeth, hair, feathers, scales, and insect skeletons. They are produced and regurgitated, not only by owls, but also by hawks, eagles, and other raptors which swallow their prey whole or in large pieces. They are about 47 mm in length and 33 mm in width and have been sterilized for classroom purposes. Each owl pellet contains virtually complete skeletons of the animal the owl ate the night before the pellet was formed. Each child will get a pellet to dissect, and will clean the bones of debris and sort the bones according to type (e.g., skulls, vertebrae, etc.). The skulls may give the best information for identifying the prey. I’ve never done this before, so I’m excited about seeing the response of the children as they explore and discover. 

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Halloween Fun

Thanks so much to all the parents who helped make Halloween such a fun event at MPI, especially those who helped in our classroom. It was a big undertaking. Special thanks to Monique Todebush for being a co-chair of Spooktivity. Even a few showers couldn't dampen a wonderful program. It just gets better and better. Also a warm mahalo to Sheila Washio, who managed to organize all of our classroom volunteers so graciously. The children had a wonderful time, and I know you are helping them create fond memories of their elementary years.

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Operation Christmas Child

For the past five years, our class has participated in a wonderful way to experience the spirit of Christmas. It’s Operation Christmas Child, a project of Samaritan’s Purse. This organization delivers shoe box gifts to needy children around the world, while also telling them about God’s love for them. While this class project is optional, I hope you’ll consider it. I have included in the Thursday packet a donation form, labels and the directions for how to pack a shoe box; the directions clearly explain each step in how we can take part in this wonderful project. Basically, to participate, each child wraps a shoe box (lid separately) in Christmas wrapping. Then the child fills the box with a variety of gifts, such as small toys, school supplies, candy, hygiene items, or other useful items, plus $7.00 or more to help cover shipping and other costs incurred by the organization. You can find more information about Operation Christmas Child on the internet at www.samaritanspurse.org. You can also print out more labels from this site.

Your shoe boxes may come into the classroom anytime, but our deadline is Friday, November 16.

To make this a gift truly from your child, consider having them earn the money for the gifts by doing jobs around the house other than their daily household chores. They could also help in picking out the gifts.

What a great way for children to share their aloha with other children!

Please make the check payable to Samaritan’s Purse. I will need someone to volunteer to take the boxes to the collection site at Central Union Church by November 19. If you can do this, or if you have any questions, please give me a call.

 

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