Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Our First Walking Field Trip
Today, we had a great outing to the Farmers' Market with Room B. We harvested dozens of tiny, sweet, orange cherry tomatoes from our school garden, but needed to round out this harvest with a few more ingredients to make a lunch treat. We had wonderful parent chaperones that walked the students through all the stands, asking the vendors questions about the produce, tasting all the samples that we were offered. Pluots, peaches, and strawberries seemed to be the favorites.
Haashim's group successfully found green and round yellow onions. Mea's group found cilantro. Joe's group found big, juicy red tomatoes. Chloe's group found some unusual yellow and green tomatoes. Can you guess what we made with this collection of fruits, roots, and herbs? Yes, delicious salsa! We were lucky that Theo's mom had the idea to make some nectarine salsa to taste and compare to the traditional tomato salsa.
After taking turns at the cutting boards - much washing, chopping, mixing and a few shakes of salt - our snack was ready. The children from both classes enjoyed having a few corn chips and a small cup of both kinds of salsa to go with their lunch. Many who reluctantly took their servings ended up deciding it was a pretty tasty combination. It was a great way to celebrate the whole group staying to eat in the multipurpose room together starting this week. Of course, this was also a great example of how the life skill cooperation can make our classroom community more delicious.
Haashim's group successfully found green and round yellow onions. Mea's group found cilantro. Joe's group found big, juicy red tomatoes. Chloe's group found some unusual yellow and green tomatoes. Can you guess what we made with this collection of fruits, roots, and herbs? Yes, delicious salsa! We were lucky that Theo's mom had the idea to make some nectarine salsa to taste and compare to the traditional tomato salsa.
After taking turns at the cutting boards - much washing, chopping, mixing and a few shakes of salt - our snack was ready. The children from both classes enjoyed having a few corn chips and a small cup of both kinds of salsa to go with their lunch. Many who reluctantly took their servings ended up deciding it was a pretty tasty combination. It was a great way to celebrate the whole group staying to eat in the multipurpose room together starting this week. Of course, this was also a great example of how the life skill cooperation can make our classroom community more delicious.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
More Than You Probably Want to Know...
The following is a copy of the letter I am giving out at our Back-To-School Night. I'll warn you that it contains almost nothing about the garden. However, I thought it might be useful to archive it here in case anyone wants to double check my nuts and bolts manifesto.
Dear Families,
I am happy to be introducing or reintroducing myself to all of you families of the students in Room A. My name is Joanna Katz and I feel privileged to be a member of the collaborative K/1 teaching team at Paden School.
My philosophy of teaching continues to evolve as I learn from children, from parents, and from other teachers. I will strive to provide a healthy balance of exploration, guided choices and systematic practice of valuable skills in all subject areas. I have seen children rise to high expectations when empowered by having input in their academic program and responsibility to revise and continue to improve their work products. Whenever possible, I try to design multiple encounters with the same concepts, thematically linking activities in reading, writing, math, science, art, and so on. I believe students need various modes of accessing and expressing understanding about a subject.
I strongly believe in open and honest communication between everyone involved in nurturing each life long learner. Please feel free to email me at jkatz@alameda.k12.ca.us or call 748-4014. This is an email account and a phone number I only check Monday through Friday at school. If you have time-sensitive questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to stop by to talk to me before 8:10 a.m. or after 3:00 p.m. If I have meetings or other business, we will schedule an appointment. I value your input into your child’s educational program very highly. After all, you are the students’ first teachers and experts on their successes, as well as their needs.
My principal goal for the first several weeks is to build a foundation of caring cooperation in the classroom. The grand task of becoming readers , writers, artists, scientists and mathematicians can only be accomplished through teamwork in a harmonious environment. The children and I will openly discuss differences of opinion and learning styles so that it feels safe to go at one’s own pace, to ask questions, to suggest variations on assignments, and especially to make brave guesses even when one is not sure of being right. The children can be incredible supports to each other, tireless peer-teachers and even conflict mediators when they are invited to take initiative to help. When students feel known and appreciated by their classmates, they will be ready to take risks and to take responsibility for mistakes. We practice the language of lifeskills so that they learn the vocabulary of positive self-discipline that is spoken schoolwide.
Our weekly schedule includes Music and P.E. sessions on Tuesdays (10:40 to 11:40) and Fridays (8:30 to 9:30). The children will get a half hour session with Mr. Slauson and with Ms. Towsey each of these days. The children need to wear good running shoes and comfortable, active clothing on these days. Wednesday mornings we have Media Center (10:40 to 11:40) with Ms. Russell which includes book check out from the school library and lessons in the computer lab. Books and CDs can be borrowed and returned weekly.
Each morning, we also do a one-hour switch with our neighbor class. First graders from both classes come to Room A for first grade math instruction. Kindergartners go to Mrs. Vasquez in Room B for K reading, math, and social studies. The purpose of the switch is to provide differentiated instruction for the children at their level of academic readiness. Mondays and Thursdays we will have longer blocks of time for thematic projects integrating literature, science and art with our yearlong topic “How Does Your Garden Grow?.” At least twice a week, there will be some Choice Time for free play. This is valuable oral language, logic and social skills practice! The fifteen minutes after lunch is always our class meeting to share compliments, reflections and problem solve together.
With our packed schedule in mind, please make every effort to be on time. I will take attendance at opening ceremony and your child will be marked tardy if s/he arrives in line after Mr. Rust begins speaking. It is really best if the kids are here at 8:10 so they can greet friends and be active on the yard before coming into the room. New traffic rules are in the works for safety reasons, so be prepared to walk, carpool or park on the street for drop off and pick up times in the near near future. If your child is absent, please call the office 748-4014. If you are going on vacation, please try to plan in accordance with our school calendar. We lose money for every absence - even those due to illness! If you will be gone more than 3 days and less than 11 days, please arrange for make-up work, a.k.a. contract study. You must give the office and me at least a week’s notice to prepare materials.
I know many of you are wondering about homework and school supplies. Homework will start the week of September 15th. The children will take home packets on Monday to return on Friday, though on holiday weeks, it will be given the first and due the last day of the school week. The work will be mostly phonics or reading practice, as well as some math, spelling, handwriting and occasional thematic material. I will include family discussion starters for the K’s. My expectation is that kindergartners spend approximately 12 minutes each week night and first graders should spend approximately 20 minutes each week night on homework. These minutes include their reading practice books (but NOT your reading to them which is also very important). The purpose of the homework is primarily to build the child’s work ethic and responsibility. Homework is neither enrichment nor entertainment. Homework will be predictable in format so that the students can complete much of it independently. If you find that homework is taking significantly longer than 20 minutes per evening, please let me know so we can decide on a reasonable modification. If homework takes significantly less than the recommended time, you will probably be seeing corrections from me on the work, requesting that more care be invested in neatness and completeness.
Your child’s success in all his or her studies begins now as he or she sets thoughtful routines and learns to think of him/herself as studious. As much as possible, a consistent time for sitting down to work will also make starting smoother and the effort come more easily. Though you do not need to sit by your child while homework is done, please do check over what he/she considers complete. Coach your child to spend more time on careless work and congratulate your child on a job well done. Your interest in homework will make its importance clear.
Please make time each night to read to your child. These students need to hear stories that stretch imaginations and expand their vocabularies, not only the simpler books they can manage on their own. Stop and discuss word meanings and personal opinions about the plot and characters. Reading nonfiction, such as recipes, grocery lists, newspaper picture captions, game instructions, even magazine articles is a terrific idea for sharing language and modeling the usefulness and appeal of reading, too.
Please save school supplies at home for completing homework. Pencils, erasers, glue, scissors, colored pencils and crayons will be important to have on hand and accessible to the child. Paden will supply all the pencils, paper, erasers, sharpeners, etc. that the children use in class. Conflicts and disappointments often occur over lost or broken supplies brought from home. Special personal belongings always create distractions .
With the same reasons in mind, please make it clear to your child that no toys from home are allowed unless Mrs. Katz sends a special note about a sharing activity. Toys cause aggravations because the children will be tempted to bring them out of cubbies at an inappropriate time. There will be opportunities to bring in special collections, souvenirs, and treasures throughout the year, but no spontaneous show and tell.
Backpacks are necessary for school. They should be sturdy and large enough for homework folders and the 9 x 12 inch envelope that comes home with notices each Wednesday. This means they need to bring the backpack Mondays to take homework home, Wednesdays to take notices home, Thursdays to bring the notice envelope back, and Fridays to return homework - yes, just send it everyday! These backpacks, along with jackets and lunch containers should be labeled with your child’s name.
We encourage eating a snack each 10 a.m. recess. The children appreciate a nutritious boost mid-morning. Fresh or dried fruit slices, crackers, mini-bagels, pretzels, cheese, and water in a re-closable bottle are the kinds of snacks that are appropriate. We will learn the procedure of NOT sharing these individual snacks for several reasons. If your family would occasionally like to contribute twenty servings of something delicious , that will be fine for sharing. I will not serve any junk food in the classroom. This means no sugary cupcakes/cookies/chips/soda. We want to introduce the children to healthy nutrition habits and keep their minds energized.
Like snacks, lunches should consist of worthwhile calories with vitamins, carbohydrates, protein and fiber. Containers should be easy for the children to open and close independently. School lunches should be paid for in the office. There is a box for dropping off checks to add new money to your child’s account. If children run out of paid lunches, they are given one credit and reminder. Then they go hungry until you pay again. Please do check in occasionally to verify the number of lunches left.
I will post a classroom wish list and volunteer sign up in the classroom. It is helpful to note your available hours and then I can figure out when we need you most. If I don’t contact you soon, please feel free to check back with me. I definitely believe that the more parent help, the more enriched the class will be.
Thank you all very much for taking time to read this long letter. I intend to send home newsletters on a monthly basis, but my next one will be briefer, I promise.
Dear Families,
I am happy to be introducing or reintroducing myself to all of you families of the students in Room A. My name is Joanna Katz and I feel privileged to be a member of the collaborative K/1 teaching team at Paden School.
My philosophy of teaching continues to evolve as I learn from children, from parents, and from other teachers. I will strive to provide a healthy balance of exploration, guided choices and systematic practice of valuable skills in all subject areas. I have seen children rise to high expectations when empowered by having input in their academic program and responsibility to revise and continue to improve their work products. Whenever possible, I try to design multiple encounters with the same concepts, thematically linking activities in reading, writing, math, science, art, and so on. I believe students need various modes of accessing and expressing understanding about a subject.
I strongly believe in open and honest communication between everyone involved in nurturing each life long learner. Please feel free to email me at jkatz@alameda.k12.ca.us or call 748-4014. This is an email account and a phone number I only check Monday through Friday at school. If you have time-sensitive questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to stop by to talk to me before 8:10 a.m. or after 3:00 p.m. If I have meetings or other business, we will schedule an appointment. I value your input into your child’s educational program very highly. After all, you are the students’ first teachers and experts on their successes, as well as their needs.
My principal goal for the first several weeks is to build a foundation of caring cooperation in the classroom. The grand task of becoming readers , writers, artists, scientists and mathematicians can only be accomplished through teamwork in a harmonious environment. The children and I will openly discuss differences of opinion and learning styles so that it feels safe to go at one’s own pace, to ask questions, to suggest variations on assignments, and especially to make brave guesses even when one is not sure of being right. The children can be incredible supports to each other, tireless peer-teachers and even conflict mediators when they are invited to take initiative to help. When students feel known and appreciated by their classmates, they will be ready to take risks and to take responsibility for mistakes. We practice the language of lifeskills so that they learn the vocabulary of positive self-discipline that is spoken schoolwide.
Our weekly schedule includes Music and P.E. sessions on Tuesdays (10:40 to 11:40) and Fridays (8:30 to 9:30). The children will get a half hour session with Mr. Slauson and with Ms. Towsey each of these days. The children need to wear good running shoes and comfortable, active clothing on these days. Wednesday mornings we have Media Center (10:40 to 11:40) with Ms. Russell which includes book check out from the school library and lessons in the computer lab. Books and CDs can be borrowed and returned weekly.
Each morning, we also do a one-hour switch with our neighbor class. First graders from both classes come to Room A for first grade math instruction. Kindergartners go to Mrs. Vasquez in Room B for K reading, math, and social studies. The purpose of the switch is to provide differentiated instruction for the children at their level of academic readiness. Mondays and Thursdays we will have longer blocks of time for thematic projects integrating literature, science and art with our yearlong topic “How Does Your Garden Grow?.” At least twice a week, there will be some Choice Time for free play. This is valuable oral language, logic and social skills practice! The fifteen minutes after lunch is always our class meeting to share compliments, reflections and problem solve together.
With our packed schedule in mind, please make every effort to be on time. I will take attendance at opening ceremony and your child will be marked tardy if s/he arrives in line after Mr. Rust begins speaking. It is really best if the kids are here at 8:10 so they can greet friends and be active on the yard before coming into the room. New traffic rules are in the works for safety reasons, so be prepared to walk, carpool or park on the street for drop off and pick up times in the near near future. If your child is absent, please call the office 748-4014. If you are going on vacation, please try to plan in accordance with our school calendar. We lose money for every absence - even those due to illness! If you will be gone more than 3 days and less than 11 days, please arrange for make-up work, a.k.a. contract study. You must give the office and me at least a week’s notice to prepare materials.
I know many of you are wondering about homework and school supplies. Homework will start the week of September 15th. The children will take home packets on Monday to return on Friday, though on holiday weeks, it will be given the first and due the last day of the school week. The work will be mostly phonics or reading practice, as well as some math, spelling, handwriting and occasional thematic material. I will include family discussion starters for the K’s. My expectation is that kindergartners spend approximately 12 minutes each week night and first graders should spend approximately 20 minutes each week night on homework. These minutes include their reading practice books (but NOT your reading to them which is also very important). The purpose of the homework is primarily to build the child’s work ethic and responsibility. Homework is neither enrichment nor entertainment. Homework will be predictable in format so that the students can complete much of it independently. If you find that homework is taking significantly longer than 20 minutes per evening, please let me know so we can decide on a reasonable modification. If homework takes significantly less than the recommended time, you will probably be seeing corrections from me on the work, requesting that more care be invested in neatness and completeness.
Your child’s success in all his or her studies begins now as he or she sets thoughtful routines and learns to think of him/herself as studious. As much as possible, a consistent time for sitting down to work will also make starting smoother and the effort come more easily. Though you do not need to sit by your child while homework is done, please do check over what he/she considers complete. Coach your child to spend more time on careless work and congratulate your child on a job well done. Your interest in homework will make its importance clear.
Please make time each night to read to your child. These students need to hear stories that stretch imaginations and expand their vocabularies, not only the simpler books they can manage on their own. Stop and discuss word meanings and personal opinions about the plot and characters. Reading nonfiction, such as recipes, grocery lists, newspaper picture captions, game instructions, even magazine articles is a terrific idea for sharing language and modeling the usefulness and appeal of reading, too.
Please save school supplies at home for completing homework. Pencils, erasers, glue, scissors, colored pencils and crayons will be important to have on hand and accessible to the child. Paden will supply all the pencils, paper, erasers, sharpeners, etc. that the children use in class. Conflicts and disappointments often occur over lost or broken supplies brought from home. Special personal belongings always create distractions .
With the same reasons in mind, please make it clear to your child that no toys from home are allowed unless Mrs. Katz sends a special note about a sharing activity. Toys cause aggravations because the children will be tempted to bring them out of cubbies at an inappropriate time. There will be opportunities to bring in special collections, souvenirs, and treasures throughout the year, but no spontaneous show and tell.
Backpacks are necessary for school. They should be sturdy and large enough for homework folders and the 9 x 12 inch envelope that comes home with notices each Wednesday. This means they need to bring the backpack Mondays to take homework home, Wednesdays to take notices home, Thursdays to bring the notice envelope back, and Fridays to return homework - yes, just send it everyday! These backpacks, along with jackets and lunch containers should be labeled with your child’s name.
We encourage eating a snack each 10 a.m. recess. The children appreciate a nutritious boost mid-morning. Fresh or dried fruit slices, crackers, mini-bagels, pretzels, cheese, and water in a re-closable bottle are the kinds of snacks that are appropriate. We will learn the procedure of NOT sharing these individual snacks for several reasons. If your family would occasionally like to contribute twenty servings of something delicious , that will be fine for sharing. I will not serve any junk food in the classroom. This means no sugary cupcakes/cookies/chips/soda. We want to introduce the children to healthy nutrition habits and keep their minds energized.
Like snacks, lunches should consist of worthwhile calories with vitamins, carbohydrates, protein and fiber. Containers should be easy for the children to open and close independently. School lunches should be paid for in the office. There is a box for dropping off checks to add new money to your child’s account. If children run out of paid lunches, they are given one credit and reminder. Then they go hungry until you pay again. Please do check in occasionally to verify the number of lunches left.
I will post a classroom wish list and volunteer sign up in the classroom. It is helpful to note your available hours and then I can figure out when we need you most. If I don’t contact you soon, please feel free to check back with me. I definitely believe that the more parent help, the more enriched the class will be.
Thank you all very much for taking time to read this long letter. I intend to send home newsletters on a monthly basis, but my next one will be briefer, I promise.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
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