September 20, 2013

Hello Folks,

Happy Friday!

This week was amazingly full. We started working with our several of our specialists, including Ms. Amy for Music and Chorus and Sr. Ricardo for Spanish.  They bring exciting new dimensions to the students’ classroom experiences. In Spanish, Ricardo comes with a fresh sense of fun and a multi-disciplinary approach that emphasizes listening, careful pronunciation and full participation. In just two sessions, he’s included the geography of Spanish, performed music from both Spain and Ecuador, taught us a new song/rhythm game in Spanish and had the students speaking confidently with precision. I am thrilled to welcome him to the Elementary teaching team.

In music, Ms. Amy is introducing the history of American music, beginning in the early 1900‘s with Scott Joplin and ragtime. Not only did everyone have lots of fun experiencing music class (which began with this Ray Charles/dancing warm up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdbrIrFxas0  ), they were on fire to complete their choice of follow-ups, including choreograph an original dance to Maple Leaf Rag, use the RAGTIME to write an original acrostic poem, and more.

This week, we also began working in our Choices curriculum. Today Ms. Jessie joined us for an introductory lesson about Communication, emphasizes both verbal communication and non-verbal communication. Your child is bringing home a worksheet they completed during Choices, and a handout about communication that we will delve into more deeply next week. We’ll be having daily Choices lessons, so you can expect to hear more about them from me and from your child (hopefully!).

Turquesa students are bringing home their first official homework packet. Here is the summary of their homework this week (this information is also on the cover of the homework packet):

·         Spelling Words to practice for Spelling Post-Test on Thursday

·         Spelling Exercise: Alphabetizing

·         Spelling Exercise: Headlines

·         Math Facts Practice

·         Read your Choice Book!

·         Wordly Wise Lesson 1:  Lesson 1 Reading Comprehension & Questions; Practice Vocabulary Words for Vocab Quiz on Thursday (go to http://www.wordlywise3000.com/word_lists/  for online practice games)

In terms of homework, I want to point out that every student in Turquesa now has a Choice Book they chose and should be reading every day. In mid-October, I will be sending home Choice Book Project Guidelines and the students will be creating an independent creative project about their book. It is important that they are reading their book regularly, so that they have it finished in time to focus on the project (which they will present in class). Please let me know if you have any questions about your child’s Choice Book. I encourage you to talk with your child about their book - find out what's happening in the book, ask questions about the characters and setting. This will help your child connect more deeply with the book and its author, enjoy it more and it will enhance their investigation into it during their construction of the project.

As a reminder, we do not have school next Friday. It is an inservice day for the teachers and staff of MCH and we will also spend part of the day preparing for Harvestfest on Sat., Sept. 28. I hope you can make it to Harvestfest! It’s a fun all-school fall party with a carnival atmosphere.

Ms. Jessie and Mr. Ben wrote a lovely update for the Morado families today, and I will forward that to those of you who did not receive it.  Morado and Turquesa have loads of much overlap, and we work hard to maintain a cohesive Elementary community; I hope you enjoy their news as well (especially the parts that mention Upper El).

I hope you have a fantastic fall weekend.

Yours, Nicole