Hi All,

Just a brief note to wish you all a wonderful vacation, and Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it.

There will be math homework on Monday and Tuesday, but no spelling this week. Please encourage your children to read daily throughout the vacation; they have Reading Logs for December/January. Otherwise, there is much to discover about our selves and our world outside of the school environment. Enjoy it!

Finally, thanks to those who are participating and/or supporting our "Snowman" party, especially Amy. The kids are excited to kick off the vacation with a celebration of an iconic winter activity.

Peace and love,

Carroll

Hi All,

This week students are bringing home a spelling packet for The Garden of Abdul Gasazi. The spelling focus is homophones (words that sound the same, but have different meanings and spellings.) It's essential that students study the meaning of the word along with the correct spelling, because I will give the test using examples of the word in its correct context. For example, a sentence for "hear" might be, " I hear birds chirping in the tree." I am not including multiplication practice in this week's packet, but students should practice all facts from 0-5 in preparation for a test on Friday. In January, we will begin practicing the facts from 6-9.

A big thank you from me to all the wonderful parents that drove and chaperoned on our trip to the Natural History Museum, and to Sandi Kolassa, our extraordinary field trip coordinator. The museum trip does a great job of reinforcing our study of the Ohlone people and culture.

Finally, Amy Humphreys has been in contact with many of you regarding our holiday party. The theme is "snow man" and the party is scheduled for Wednesday, December 22. Please contact Amy if you missed the email.

Have a great week,

Carroll

Hi All,

We had great days last week with our new student teacher, Joy Butler. The kids received a letter from her and wrote letters in response. Miss Butler worked with small groups, individual students, and began teaching a few whole class lessons. She has already proven herself to be a wonderful addition to Room 24!

Homework packets go home tomorrow for the spelling words for Raising Dragons, and continued multiplication practice as well. Students are generally responsible about the Friday packets, and the nightly math homework. Two problems that arise every week are missing Literature Circle assignments, which are always due on Wednesday (and hurt the entire group when not completed), and "Nameless" homework assignments. Please insist that your child develop good homework habits; in the upper grades this work has a big impact on the students' grades.

On Thursday, our class is visiting the SC Museum of Natural History. Kids need to bring sack lunches that day. Also, if you are driving and need to update your Driver Information, please do so early in the week.

Finally, I've asked the kids to hold back on wearing Santa hats until the last week before break. I find that the class is excited enough as the break approaches, and that the hats are just an extra distraction.

Take care,

Carroll Mayer

Hello All,

I hope you all had a joyous Thanksgiving. This week, we return to a normal routine, with a homework packet on The Mysterious Giant of Barletta, and multiplication to practice. We will have another multiplication timed test before break focusing on the facts under 5. When we return from Winter Break, the entire class will move on to the 6-9 facts. Please encourage your child to practice the facts enough so that they can do them automatically. This week's Lit. Circle assignments were sent home before Thanksgiving, with children having 2 weeks to complete the assignment. Please make sure your child is giving these assignments the appropriate time and energy to produce good quality work.

Our field trip to the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History is coming up fast. If you have volunteered to drive, please be sure to update your driver information in the office. This is required by the district at the beginning of each trimester. There are also a few students who have not returned permission slips or have not handed in their $2 for the museum. Please be sure to send in these items if you have not already done so. If your child's permission slip has been misplaced, the school website has a link to a slip to print out, or send a note requesting a duplicate.

Finally, I know you will join me in welcoming our student teacher, Joyanne Butler. She will be with the class for 8 weeks. The kids and I will surely benefit from this additional academic support.

Take care, and have a great week!

Carroll Mayer

Hi All,

Just a few reminders for this very short week! First of all, please send your child with a cup of something to contribute to a communal "trail mix" on Tuesday. Secondly, the only homework the kids have this week is math on Monday, and the Reading Log. Finally, for those that haven't brought in permission slips or $2 for the SC Museum of Natural History, please bring these in ASAP.

Have a great week, and a lovely Thanksgiving Holiday.

Carroll Mayer

Hello All,

I hope you enjoyed this long weekend; I know I did! Tomorrow students will bring home their first trimester report card. Please spend some time discussing the report card with your child and setting goals for the new term. Have your child return the signed envelope on Tuesday, as we reuse them for all 3 report cards.

This week we will also be having a normal amount of homework. We will be reading the Dogzilla story, and the spelling and multiplication packet for it is due as usual on Friday. Literature Circle assignments are due, as always, on Wednesday. Some students are saying they don't have time to complete the Lit. Circle, despite being given a week to read and do the "job". Please make sure your child organizes their time, and doesn't look upon the Lit. Circle homework as a task to start on Tuesday night.

Finally, if you haven't returned the permission slip and $2.00 for the Museum of Natural History, please do so.

Have a great week!

Carroll

Hi All,
Thank you to the parents who drove on the field trip to the Aptos Museum on Friday. The kids had a great time and learned some valuable local history. We have another field trip coming up in December to the Museum of Natural History in Santa Cruz (across the street from Seabright Beach). Permission forms will be sent home on Monday. We are asking $2.00 per student for the cost of this field trip. If you are driving, you will need to resubmit driver insurance information because the new trimester begins this week.

Due to the Veteran's holiday, there will be no weekly spelling homework packet sent home. Nightly math homework from the Houghton Mifflin program will continue, as well as Lit Circles. I will not stamp Reading Logs this Wednesday; they can be turned in the following week on Friday.

The report cards for first trimester will go home on Monday, November 15th.

Take care and have a great week,
Carroll Mayer