Good evening to thee all!
We've had a fantabulous October in Room 5 and are now looking forward to an exciting November! Our Thanksgiving Feast is right around the corner and I want to remind you all of a few things...

1. All students MUST be in costume.
2. All adults who are going to be at the feast all day MUST be in costume. There are still costumes left in Rooms 5 and 10.
3. Adults who are just coming for the program at 2:00 do not need to be in costume.
4. Adults who are not volunteering will not be allowed to eat the food that is prepared.
5. All students MUST arrive at Roberts Park no later than 9:00. Plan on getting there earlier as people often get lost. I will ring the bell for the first station at 9:00 SHARP.
6. If you have not yet gone online to check out your station, please do so ASAP. You can access your station's information by going to www.joaquinmiller.org, clicking on classes, and then clicking on the "Fall Feast Information Page"
7. Please read the information sent home by the co-chairs carefully.
8. Please help your children to memorize their speeches if they have not yet done so.
9. Please check backpacks EVERY NIGHT this week for Feast information.
10. Lastly, the forecast calls for sunshine all week, but thoughts and prayers for sunshine can't hurt.

Please feel free to email Molly, Tracy, or me if you have any questions.


Fare thee well,
Sara

Hi All! We've been doing a ton of learning and getting to know each other in the Room 5 Hive these past few weeks! I am implementing our new Caring Schools Community program and having class meetings every morning and check-in meetings in the afternoons. The students and I will be establishing norms (agreements) for student behavior and in the coming weeks they will be splitting up into "tribes". To learn more about tribes, you can read the blog post from August 30th from last year.

I'd like to shout out a big THANK YOU to JT Muchin for getting us a new sharpener! You have no idea how the lack of a working pencil sharpener can stall a classroom! Also, I completely forgot to introduce our fabulous room parents, Ruthie and Lisa, on BTS night. They are already doing a fantastic job. THANK YOU!

We now have enough volunteers for math centers, library, and computers. I would like to have reading and writing groups this year as well, however I do not have enough volunteers yet. Thank you to Tracy for offering to help. In the past, RW groups have met on Thursday mornings, but I'm open to other times if I can get volunteers.

In mathematics, we are currently working on place value through 1,000 and comparing/ordering numbers. The kiddos took their first rocket test today and I'd like to thank Mike and O.Z. for grading them for us this year. If your child gets stuck on a level, let me know and I can send home extras for practice.

In social studies, we are learning about world and U.S. geography, landforms, and map-reading. The students have recently become cartographers and are in the process of creating their own make-believe island maps.

In science, we have started our FOSS unit on sand, pebbles, and silt. Thank you to Allison and Janet for volunteering to help with science.

Our current OpenCourt unit is "Sharing Stories", and I would like the students to bring in their favorite books to share with the class next Friday if possible. Our first big writing piece will be a personal narrative about an exciting experience in the students' lives thus far. Mine will be about the time I got stitches in my chin from jumping backwards into a cement-sided pool.

Our Thanksgiving Feast curriculum will start in early October, so start checking backpacks daily if you're not doing so already. Also, I'd like to applaud Ruthie who has already gone online to check out her station, popcorn! If you signed up for a specific station, please go to www.joaquinmiller.org and click on classes, then Fall Feast Information Page to learn more about the preparation needed. I will be meeting with the co-chairs next week and they may be calling you to check up on you! If you would like a hard copy of the instructions for your station, please let me know.

Lastly, we have our first field trip to Valencia 826 on October 13th. Please drop me a line if you will be able to drive and indicate how many kiddos you can take.

PHEW! We've gotten off to a great start! Please feel free to email me with any questions or concerns you may have.
Take care,
Sara

We are in need of jar lid donations for seed medallions to be made at the Feast (November 6th). Please don't toss those pickle and jam jar lids!! Bring them to Room 5!

Our class will be a "Tribes" classroom this year. The Tribes Learning Communities curriculum was developed by several California teachers about thirty years ago. The main goal of Tribes is to use small learning groups to increase participation and peer support, and to "call forth the unique potential of every student".

The Tribes process centers around several "Community Agreements": attentive listening, appreciation/no put downs, the right to pass/the right to participate, and mutual respect. These agreements will be posted in the classroom and will be in lieu of "class rules". I encourage you to ask your child about the agreements in the weeks and months to come. Once the class has learned and understands the agreements, and we have completed multiple community-building activities, the students will be placed in small groups called "tribes". This won't happen until mid to late September, and your child will surely let you know of the exact date when we have one.

Another element of the Tribes process is the community circle. As a Tribes classroom, we will begin and end each day with a community circle. Students will learn to listen attentively and reflect on what their fellow students have to say.

Finally, you may hear your child use the term "I-Message" at some point during the school year. An I-Message is a statement of the speaker's feelings in response to the behavior of others. An I-Message does not convey judgment and is not a put-down. Notice the difference between the following examples:

You-Message: "Kim, you dummy, you're always cutting me in line!"

I-Message: "Kim, I feel angry when you cut me in line."

In conclusion, I look forward to initiating this program with the current group of students and I welcome your thoughts, questions, and input as the school year progresses. If you'd like more information on the Tribes program, please go to www.tribes.com.

I have most of the school supplies your child will need, however there are a few items I'd like you to provide if at all possible. The supplies I am requesting are: a 3 subject wide ruled spiral notebook, a folder for homework, a roll of paper towels, a container of hand wipes, and a box of #2 pencils. Thanks in advance for your help with these supplies. I already have pencil boxes, crayons, markers, erasers, folders, gluesticks, etc. Oh, please don't buy any personal pencil sharpeners as they just make a big mess. Thanks!