Corneisha and Treycen's completed Solar System model. They worked hard to size, paint, and put the planets in the correct order. It turned out wonderfully! \ Canaan and Kian worked so quietly and cooperatively in the hallway on their solar system model. They had very little adult guidance and they did an excellent job. Levani and Lia enjoying cold steeped tea they made in class together. Braeden and Wren worked together to make this small volcano yesterday. Today they experimented with different amounts of baking soda and vinegar to see the different kinds of eruptions they could create. They will be researching the reason behind the reaction as well. We had a really great day today!
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Hello families, (it's another long one... sorry!)
This past week we had our first great lesson which is the introduction of the Big Bang. It was so exciting to hear how much of lesson that the kids remembered and information that they were able to add from their own research. I think of few of the kids could probably teach the whole lesson themselves! It took us two days to get through the lesson this go around as we were interrupted many, many times. Even with a brain break to reset ourselves we had a very hard time being respectful and responsible with our voices and bodies. We will continue to work on expectations during circle and lesson time so that we can maximize our short work session that we have this school year. Yesterday we walked to the Anchorage Museum to watch the Destination Space planetarium show. I was so pleased with how the kids sat respectfully during the show and when asked, they had great responses to the guide's questions. They also had some great questions of their own! Our follow up work in science for the next month or so will revolve around the Big Bang: planets, volcanoes, and the states of matter. I would appreciate it if you would talk to your child about the expectations while on field trips. The beginning of our field trip was a bit rushed due to the timing after lunch and departure, it really was not long enough to prep, especially for the first field trip of the year. While the kids did a great job walking to and from the museum and they were wonderful during the planetarium show, their behavior in the atrium and Imaginarium was not acceptable. Please remind your child that we do not run, jump, or climb on furniture in public spaces unless the space of course is designed for that. And no, we will not be going to Get Air or Shockwave at any point this year. :) I will do the same in class on Monday when we review our visit to the museum. A HUGE thank you to our brave chaperones that attended our first field trip. I always appreciate the help. We can never do these trips without you! If you were not able to attend this one, please try to attend one at some point. It gives great perspective for parents on the dynamic of the classroom. Class photos are Tuesday. Please make sure to send in your order form or pay online ahead of time. I believe you get 4 free wallet photos if you purchase ahead of time online. Have a great weekend, I'm looking forward to a fresh start with the kids on Monday! Christine Homan Hello families,
I am back and we are ready to get back on track with a normal schedule and routine. We have been talking a lot about being responsible and respectful in the classroom. With me being out for two weeks, we have had a bumpy start to the year but it is getting better and I know that we are going to continue to have a great school year. Fall school pictures is Monday, September 27th. Please look for the photo package options to be sent home shortly. You will also have the option to purchase photos after the fact. If you would like to schedule a Celebration of Life for your child's birthday please contact me ahead of time to schedule. Typically parents bring in photos, one for each year of life, or share a special memory as their child circles the sun X amount of times. Afterwards most people share a treat with the class but this is not required. I schedule these for 3pm any day of the week. Advance notice is appreciated. Our first field trip has been scheduled for the school year. I apologize for the short notice on this one, the museum just got back to me and their dates are already booked up so we have to jump on this date. We will need 4 adults to go with us, not including myself. We will be going from 1:15-3:15, eating lunch before we depart. This is a walking field trip and the kids will need to dress for appropriate weather. This is a FREE field trip. Yahoo!! We will be watching a short planetarium film on the solar system and then exploring the Imaginarium afterwards. Please email me to let me know if you can attend as a chaperone. Chaperone expectations: Please try to keep cell phone use to a minimum. If you take any photos, please do not post them to Facebook unless you have consent from the children's parents in the photos. Your role is to help keep the kids safe; please reinforce the class expectations while on field trips and be a good role model yourself. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me. Thank you for your support and understanding while I was away. I am happy to be back and to really dive into our lessons! Have a great weekend, Christine Hello families,
I'm going to apologize right now for how long this is. I've told you that I like to talk, right? Wow, what an amazing start to the school year we have had! With me being gone two weeks of the first month of school, I am just completely in awe of how well the kids are handling their responsibilities and expectations. Their Montessorian-ness(that's a word, right?) is showing! I just love it!! With that said, I will be gone Monday through Thursday. This is my last scheduled absence. Thank you again for your understanding with these two major life events I am experiencing. I know that the timing is not the most convenient but I do appreciate your support. While I am gone Mr.Mason will be the sub teacher. This last week we have been working hard on our Daily 5 expectations and our math lessons. They have also been learning how to take care of our environment and I have to say, they are doing an amazing job. I am really excited for this school year and all that we are going to be able to do with such a responsible and respectful group. If you have not sent in a permission slip for your child to use the computer/iPads, please do so. I still have five or six students that do not have permission to use the technology in the classroom yet. If you're not sure you sent your child's in, please shoot me an email: [email protected] I am working on getting a few field trips in the works. I'm hoping to go to the museum in both September and October, I am just waiting to hear back on dates. We are also booked for a play at the PAC in November. Please check the "field trip" section regularly for more information. I update that section as soon as I have the information. We will need at least 4 parent chaperones for every field trip. As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns or if you just want to chat. The easiest way to get ahold of me is through email or Remind (text). Also, I am usually at school by 7am so you can also stop by before 8:30 to chat. Lastly, I promise, I appreciate you waiting outside the classroom door at the end of the school day, it helps control the chaos of closing down our community for the day. So, thank you for that! You guys are awesome! Have a great week! Christine Homan Important Dates: Open House- September 22nd @6:30pm (Please come! This is our chance to talk and for you to see the classroom and your child's work expectations.) Hello families,
Thank you for allowing me the time to grieve with my family in Iowa, it was much needed and I feel more at peace. I know that the timing is unfortunate but I am so thankful to be a part of a community that understands and supports life events. With that said, as a reminder, I will be gone for a wedding from September 12th-15th. Mr.Mason will be our sub, many of the kids will remember him from last year as he was one of our fabulous interns. What does this mean for the beginning of the year? It will be a little bumpy with me coming and going and I apologize for that. However, we are still focusing mainly on procedures in the classroom and expectations. We have been working hard on our Daily 5 and math work each day; if you would like more details on this please come and see me before or after school. Please respect the classroom/student time and speak with me at 8:30 or wait until 3:45 to chat about any concerns, issues, or just general communicating. I love to talk with you all but by creating these boundaries the classroom is less chaotic for everyone. Thank you for understanding! I will be sending our first spelling list home next week. The kids will be having a spelling assessment today that will place them in the appropriate spelling group. These groups are fluid; as they progress or choose to practice their words they may move up or down in the groups. We have 5 different spelling groups and we have many opportunities every day to practice our words and their definitions. Spelling tests will take place on Friday's, some Friday's we will skip our tests because we practice these words to strengthen our vocabulary and writing skills, not for a grade. I am sending home a lot of information today in your child's mailbox, please be sure to flip through the information. Many students have not sent back their electronics paperwork which means they cannot use the iPads or computers until it is returned. It is their responsibility to check their mailboxes each day and to return the appropriate paper as requested. We have had an interesting start to our year so far with my absences but it has been lovely overall. Thank you for your continued support, as always. You are appreciated! Have a great week, I hope you get to make it to the fair! Christine Homan :) Welcome back to school!
I hope that you all had an amazing summer. We had the most incredible weather and I hope that you were able to enjoy it. My family and I spent a lot of time outside hiking and exploring our gorgeous Alaskan surroundings. It was truly a relaxing and adventurous summer! This year the work expectations and routines are the same as in the past however we do have a few changes to our classroom. The first being that our class size has increased from 21 students to a minimum of 25. This means that I had to do some creative planning for our space with at least 4 more bodies being added to the room. I decided to get rid of assigned seating and many of the desks, including my own. We now have three large tables, our small round working table, and four student desks. Students will use these tables as needed/preferred for their work rather than have an assigned space. With this change I have also eliminated all but 3 student chairs. We will be using our Hokki Stools, wooden stools, and hopefully some yoga meditation seats instead of the traditional classroom seat. This is for two reasons; students prefer the stools over chairs and the stools are easier to store and take up less space than traditional chairs. Many of the kids choose to work on the mats with a clipboard and they use their desk as a storage unit only. I don’t expect this change being an issue but in the event that it does not work for us we can always reintroduce the student desks. Due to space issues I am asking that students bring only necessary materials to school with them and that will fit into their cubby/container in the closet. Students do not need an individual pencil holder, binders, or their own personal markers, etc. These things tend to take up space and often, unfortunately, go missing for one reason or another. Please keep these extra items at home. Lastly, the classroom website is still up and running. This is where you will find my weekly newsletter and spelling lists. I will also send home a paper spelling list each week with your child. It is their responsibility to check their mail box regularly as we do not do Thursday Folders in our classroom. If you would like to receive text messages for reminders of things due/events in class please add yourself to the free texting service, Remind. Enroll in Remind by texting @66ab0 to 81010. Please let me know if you’re having trouble enrolling. This is a great, free service that allows me to send you a quick reminder of important information. Our classroom website is: homanasd.weebly.com Thank you for all of your support. I am looking forward to working with you this school year and for all of the fun things we are going to do as a class! As always, shoot me an email if you have any questions. Thanks so much, Christine Happy New Year!!
Welcome to a new year and a fresh start for 2016! Spelling lists have gone home today; some students list have changed, please check your child's list. I have marked each students' list at the top of the page. If the paper list did not make it home please shoot me an email and I can tell you what list they are on. With the second half of the school year starting first graders will now be required to record all of their daily work in their journals. This is an expectation that is required of the second and third graders from the first day of school. I like to allow the first half of the year for the first graders to get an understanding of the classroom routine and expectations before adding on this task. Now that they know the routine, this is their next step in responsibility. For all children, please allow them to be responsible for their personal items. They should be taking the time to check their backpacks, desks, and cubby for all needed items at the end of the day. This is an important lesson for the kids to learn to keep themselves organized, become good self-managers, and to instill a sense of responsibility for their personal things. We will begin working in the computer lab on KWT for second and third graders, once a week. This is something that can be accessed from home. If you would like me to send you your child's log-in information, please send me an email requesting so. I am looking forward to all of the things we will be learning about this half of the year! The great lessons that are coming are really wonderful and offer a lot of great opportunities for research. Also, I've changed our field trip plans due to difficulties in getting chaperones. There may be a couple additional field trips added toward the end of the year in April or May but I will not be adding anything additional for January through March. Thank you to those who continually offer your time for our field trips and classroom activities. It is so appreciated! If you have questions, concerns, or would like to chat please come see me before 8:30 or after 3:45, Monday through Friday. Thank you, Christine Homan We are almost to winter break!!
This also means that it is time for our annual gingerbread house decorating activity and classroom holiday celebration! Yahoo!! Please send in one box of graham crackers, one container of frosting, and one large bag of decorations to share with the class. Ideas include: pretzels, m&m's, candy canes, gum drops, etc. Each child also needs to bring in one food item to share for our holiday celebration party on the 17th; please keep the sugary snacks to a minimum. We have enough energy with the excitement of break as is! Due to difficulty in finding chaperones for field trips I had to cancel three of our planned trips. The field trips that are posted on the website are the only ones we will be going on for the remainder of the year, with the exception of a few in late spring. We need at least 4 adults, beyond myself, to go on trips and it's proving to be very challenging and frustrating. So in an effort to ease some of that, I'm just going to cancel them. I hope you understand. We have learned A LOT these first two quarters but we have so much more to learn in the second half of the year. When we start back up in January we will be hitting the ground running with the same expectations, if not higher. If you have any questions, please contact me before 8:30am or after 3:45. I apologize if I seem brisk or distant if you come in during the school day but we have a lot going on and my brain is usually trying to do 10 things at once. You can always contact me through email. *There will be no spelling homework the last week before break, it is a celebration week of all of our hard work! Thank you, have a wonderful holiday with your family! Christine Homan Hello families,
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