Monday, October 26, 2009

Greetings,

I hope your children had a chance to tell you about the assembly we attended on Friday: a musical performance by Shoreline Middle School's band. It was so impressive and a great reminder of the value of music in our schools.

This week will begin in a new way at Rio del Mar. We will be having a flag ceremony every Monday morning, outside on the intermediate playground. I will bring our class down today, and when Mrs. Dorney and Mr. Coffin feels the students are ready, we will have the kids independently gather and line up for classes down there. During the flag ceremony we will be discussing character traits. This month's trait is pride. We will talk about taking pride in our school and our own behavior, and taking actions of which we can be proud.

The bookend to this first flag ceremony will be the Halloween parade on Friday. The class will meet at Rm. 24 and then head down to the other playground at the usual time-- I believe it's 8:15. Each class "parades" around the basketball courts so that the rest of the school can see their costumes. Parents and younger siblings are welcome. Our class will be having its party at 9:40, after the first recess.

Have a great week. While the kids usually start escalating in their excitement as we head toward Halloween, let's remind them that we still expect their usual strong efforts. The third graders will still have their spelling test on Friday, and the second graders retaking the "Envelope Test" will do it then as well.

See you soon,
Carroll

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Hi All,
What a wild week! Conference week is always a little different, but the weather and power outages were an interesting twist. Fortunately, I was able to meet with most of you (sometimes in the dark) and we had some great conversations about your kids.
The remainder of the conferences will be made up this week, or on an individual schedule.

It was also fun to celebrate our first Red Hot party this week (in the dark.) Thanks to all of you who contributed such fun and healthy red foods. I think the kids felt proud of their accomplishments.

It will be a relief to get back to the regular schedule. However, both grades will be taking Unit 3 tests in math on Monday, so there will be no math homework on Monday night.

Despite the weather, the Landforms Projects turned out really well! The kids were excited and eager to share their projects and explain what landforms they included and how they made their models. Some students picked out specific places to model their landforms after, which was very cool. The second graders enjoyed seeing the models and are eager to have their chance next year. We also toured Mrs.Terribilini's and Mrs. Maraldo's rooms to see the other third graders' work.

I will be out of class on Wednesday this week, attending a training. Mrs. Nigh will be substituting this week, and also for a half a day next week.

Finally, a big thanks to those of you that attended the school book fair and purchased books for your kids and/or our class. The book fair is another great way to support our school. If you were unable to attend, I understand they are extending it for 2 more days (Monday and Tuesday) because of the power failure.

Keep in touch,
Carroll

Sunday, October 11, 2009

October 11, 2009

Hi Parents,

As this week will be restructured (short!) every day, I've decided to cancel Language Arts centers. Those of you that volunteer in the second academic block, from 9:40-11:00, will have the week off.

In addition, I've scheduled a "Red Hot" party to celebrate our students' achievements in Reading & Spelling, and Timed Math. Students received a sticker to place on our chili pepper every time they passed a Red Hot Spelling list, or a Timed Math Test. (This way 3rd graders could be included.) Please have your child bring a red food on Tuesday to share. If this is an inconvenience, let me assure you that there will be other parties and that you may pass on this one. Please email me if you wish to bring something sweet, but let me encourage you to think beyond sweets to healthier foods like: tomatoes, strawberries, watermelon and red peppers. If you participate, just send a small amount (like a bite or piece for each child). Finally, the children should wear red on Tuesday if it's at all possible.

I'm looking forward to seeing and meeting with all of you this week to discuss your children's progress and our goals for the year. Please arrive on time, so that we may keep our room, and your other children's teachers, on schedule. Feel free to let me know if you need to wrap up a conference to head to another room. (It's somewhat of a hike from our room to the rest of the campus.)

Thanks,
Carroll Mayer

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Hello All,
I hope you are enjoying our lovely autumn weather. I saw many people at the Harvest Festival on Friday, having a great time. The playground was jammed when I left! I'm so glad our school began such a pleasant, community-building tradition.

This week, third graders will not bring home spelling homework. I am giving them the week off, and I expect them to use the extra time wisely, working on their Landforms projects. The projects are due on Wednesday, October 14th, and will not be accepted late. Students should have brought home a handout explaining the details, but if it has been misplaced, please let me know and I will send a replacement. Only third graders will be doing this project, although second graders will get to see them, and tour the other third grade rooms when we visit and admire the students' handiwork.

This week, second graders will bring home a permission slip for their field trip to Seacliff to study fossils. Our second graders will join Mrs. Werner's class on this trip, and I will be staying back at school with the third graders. We will need 2-3 parent chaperons for our 10 second graders. Second graders will also be discussing fire prevention this week. Students from our class will join Mrs. Hegerle's students for a presentation on fire safety from a local fire fighter. They will have homework supporting this presentation during the week of October 12th, after all the classes have met with the the fire fighter. The week of October 12th is also conference week so you will be receiving notice of your conference time as soon as I do. Let me know if there are any problems.

Have a great week. I look forward to seeing you all soon.
Carroll Mayer