Tuesday News – October 21st
Upcoming Dates & Reminders
Friday, October 24th – Village Fall Festival & Pumpkin Walk (Rain or Shine!)
Tuesday, November 4th – Field Trip with our Big Buddies to the LBC
Wednesday, November 5th – Tentative buddy bus trip to the library
***Many students are eating all of their food and still hungry after lunch – if your child is consistently coming home with an empty lunch box, please check in with them to see if they might need more food. Thank you!
🎨 Free Art, STEAM, and Choices 🎨
In Free Art, students get creative with drawing, collage, stamps, and more. This artistic practice usually happens on scratch paper saved from the recycling bin (including old homework) to give it one more use—so if you see artwork coming home on random pages with another student’s name on the back, that’s why!
In STEAM, students can choose from a shelf of materials to build and explore—things to balance, link, construct, and create. We typically have Choices on Mondays and Fridays, and a fun way to ask about your child’s day might be: “What did you choose for choices today?”
🌿 Nature Walks 🌿
We had a wonderful walk to the creek last week!
🍂🎃 Village Fall Festival and Pumpkin Walk 🎃🍂
We are getting ready for our fall festival, which will include a couple of all-school songs and poems from each class. We are excited to share our poem “The Moon” with you!
Today our class painted pumpkins with their big buddies, and we will continue to decorate our remaining pumpkins this week… thank you all so much for the pumpkin donations!
Thank you for reading!
*Miss Kristen*
“May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.”
~Nelson Mandela
Tuesday News – October 7th
Did you see that full moon last night?? Wow!
Upcoming Dates
• No homework or spelling this week!
• Sunday, October 19th – Dine & Donate @ The Corner Project (See VCS Bulletin)
• Friday, October 24th – Village Fall Festival & Pumpkin Walk
• Tuesday, November 4th – Field Trip with our Big Buddies to the LBC!
Fall Festival – Call for Pumpkins
We are excited for this year’s Fall Festival, and our class will be in need of some pumpkins!
If you can, please donate a pumpkin or two to our classroom for our upcoming activities, you may do so starting Monday 10/13 and any day next week. Thanks!
Math Games & Nature Math
In addition to practicing with our math task cards and manipulatives, students play math games as well as work in their nature journals to connect math concepts to nature and art.
Last week students built and compared numbers in teams in our game “place-value toss”.
Garden Club with Miss Jess & Fiona
Every other Thursday the kiddos get to hang out in small groups in the garden classroom for writing, art and harvesting. Last week I checked in on them at just the right time and they shared their cinnamon apples with me…. they were delicious!
Thank you for reading!
*Miss Kristen*
P.S. Thank you to Kyden and Grace for helping to plant some veggie starts that needed a home last week!
“What a little moonlight can do. Wait a while ‘till a little moonbeam comes peepin’ through.”
~Billie Holiday
Tuesday News – September 30th
Upcoming Dates
October 3rd / 6th – No School – Fall Break
Tuesday October 7th – Conferences begin,
Sign Up Here
Tuesday, November 4th – Field Trip with our Big Buddies to the LBC!
Big Buddies!
On Tuesdays we get together with our big buddies for the last hour of the day, rotating between classes for art, reading, and games. Buddies worked together to play a dice game today, aiming to get to 22 points by rolling doubles.
“Peer Scholars” with Ashley’s Class
3 weeks after our initial shadow measurement, we measured again last week…
Would our shadows get longer? Shorter? Stay the same? Why or why not?
Our results showed that our shadows were (taking into account some error, of course) an average about 10 inches longer!!
We discussed the sun and the equinox and the changes that happen to the sun’s position in the sky as we move away from summer and toward winter.
Tuesday Twins
For our first edition of Tuesday twins, I’ll feature 6 friends…
It took us this long to get a set of twins!
Our first two pairs are simply shoe-twins, this won’t always work for a pic, but we were ready for some twins magic! (see below)
Then two lil’ kickers came to class!
We’ll feature our Tuesday Twins throughout the year as they happen
Thank you for reading,
*Miss Kristen*
“And all at once, summer collapsed into the fall.”
~Oscar Wilde
Tuesday News – September 16th
Upcoming Dates:
Wednesday September 17th* – PICTURE DAY
Wednesday September 17th* – Parent/Caregiver Meeting in the Classroom 5:00 – 6:00
Friday September 19th – NO SCHOOL (See the attached flyer about a parent-planned beach day!)
Parent/Caregiver Meeting – Tomorrow, 9/17
There will be no supervised childcare.
If you are comfortable, you are welcome to bring your child to be/read/play out in the courtyard.. Perhaps older siblings can help out?
I look forward to sharing more about our classroom with you tomorrow!
Life Skills – Friendship
Today we read Have You Filled a Bucket Today? and discussed what it means to “fill someone’s bucket.” Students shared ideas about showing kindness and recognized that filling someone else’s bucket also fills their own. We will continue practicing these bucket-filling behaviors in our classroom each day. You can support this work at home by talking with your child about ways they can “fill buckets” with family and friends… for example, by helping with chores, saying thank you, or inviting someone to join in a game.
Thank you for reading!
*Miss Kristen*
“You can always give something, even if it is only kindness”
~Anne Frank
Tuesday News – September 9th
Upcoming Dates:
Wednesday, September 17th – PICTURE DAY
Wednesday, September 17th – Parent/Caregiver Meeting in the Classroom 5:00 – 6:00
Friday, September 19th – NO SCHOOL (See the attached flyer about a parent-planned beach day!)
Rain, rain, here to stay?!
Wow, that was a downpour today! A bit unexpected and it arrived exactly when the kiddos were out at recess. A great reminder to get prepared for the upcoming (if not already here, apparently!) rainy season.. Many
students were prepared with extra clothes in their backpacks, and others had to just be a little soggy. Please begin to send students with these items:
● rainboots – there are still some extras out on the porch that may fit your student if anyone needs some
● raincoat
– we will go out in the rain and like to be prepared with raincoats (not umbrellas). Please send students with a raincoat on days with even the slightest chance of rain. They can be kept on their hooks
outside with their backpacks.
●
change of clothes
– students may keep their clothes in their backpacks OR I have a space in the classroom for a labeled bag of clothes. When they are sent home wet or dirty please send back a fresh set as soon as possible.
Gardening on Fridays
Last week we harvested the beautiful beans students planted last year! We may use them for math counters, or perhaps we will add them to a soup? We look forward to more harvesting, as well as planting our new garden bed with some fall veggies.
Parent / Caregiver Meeting
I hope to see you on Wednesday, September 17th for our meeting…. You’ll hear a little about how we structure the day and about the academic work opportunities and other special activities students have throughout the week. Please come with your questions… I look forward to talking with you all!
Thank you for reading,
*Miss Kristen*
“The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain”
~Dolly Parton
P.S. Students led their own game of “doggy, doggy, where’s your bone” last week when we had a little time at the end of the school day. A fun, spontaneous way to end the day!
Tuesday News – September 2nd
Greetings Families!
Students are continuing to learn and practice our classroom routines which include reading the “map” to see where their group is starting during rotations. Students have now been assigned all of their different groups… “elements”, “sun, moon, stars” and “colors”. I invite you to ask your student tonight what their groups are!
For example – students will typically rotate in their color groups on thursdays for guided art… it’s been fun making art with them this year so far!
Homework
Homework has begun this week!
I will talk more about this at an upcoming parent meeting, but here are some logistics to know regarding this routine:
● Homework is given Monday through Wednesday
● Homework folders come back to school the day after they are given out (in
the case of absences, etc, they come back asap!)
● Spelling lists are given at the beginning of the week and are kept AT HOME (students
may have a special spot that works for them; the fridge, the wall, a desk, etc. Sometimes their homework might involve their spelling words and they need to know exactly where to find them, and I also I encourage
students to look at them daily)
● The homework routine is mainly about students practicing their responsibility and organization.
● It is the students’ responsibility to be in charge of their homework folder and bring it back to school. You may give reminders, but the ultimate goal
is for them to learn to keep track of it.
● If there is no time in the evening or morning for them to get it done, that’s ok! I
know families are busy, some days are easier than others to sit down for this task. Just do your best.
● The homework is NOT individualized to each students’ needs. Some
students love it, some dread it. Some students may think it’s easy, some may think it’s challenging and need a lot of help. That’s ok. Help as much as you are able, and remember that the main goal is for
them to turn it in. Please let me know if you have questions about how you might help your child at home.
Classroom Support Jobs
If you are able and would like to sign up for a classroom supportjob….
You can sign up for Classroom Support jobs here!
● Towel Team – I’m calling it a team because I ask that your student helps out,
because I will often forget to send the basket home on Fridays and they may be better at remembering!
● Cubby Cleaner – Our
cubbies outside get dusty and dirty – a once every other week or so cleaning should keep them nice! I can provide rags and cleaner if this happens right after the school day.
● Water Wizard – Just
when the students think the water cooler in our classroom is empty and they can’t fill their water bottle, voila! I grab the other 3-gallon bottle that has been magically and mysteriously filled by our water wizard
and fill it up again. I will send home an empty jug with you/your student as needed.
September Life Skill: FRIENDSHIP!
We began talking about our lifeskill of the month today… I look forward to continuing these conversations in the classroom 💛
Thank you for reading!
*Miss Kristen*
“A friend is one who overlooks your broken fence and admires the flowers in your garden.”
— Unknown
Tuesday News – August 26th
Upcoming Dates:
Monday September 2nd – Labor Day, No School
Early September Date TBD – Parent Meeting
“Fridge” Spelling Words / Homework to begin next week
Students brought home their first spelling lists today!
This week is kind of a practice run, I will give more details about spelling and homework next week!
I’m calling them fridge lists because they are meant for the refrigerator at home (or the special place on the wall in their room, etc – students can decide!)
The spelling patterns / rules are on the lists, and I encourage you to support their learning at home by engaging them with the words on the list when you can.
One Week in the Books!
We’ve officially been in school for 5 days, and students have been working hard learning the routines of our classroom! They will be getting assigned their work groups by the end of the week, and they will rotate through
centers and activities during the day with their group.
Daily rotations include a variety of academic activities, art, gardening, and PLAY. I look forward to telling you more at our parent meeting. Pictured below is our first garden rotation, and students working
on their “I AM” statements & illustrations, which will be up on the wall soon!
Extra Clothes
Just a quick reminder that you may send in a gallon-sized ziplock bag of extra clothes (underwear, socks, leggings/shorts). These are for those unexpected emergencies! I have a place to keep them where students can access them in the classroom.
Thank you for reading!
*Miss Kristen*
“Wisdom is not the product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it”
~Albert Einstein
Tuesday News – August 19th
Welcome to the School Year!
Welcome back to those families returning to our classroom, and a warm welcome to those who are joining us this year!
These newsletters will be sent every Tuesday with updates, special dates, requests, information, and photos about what’s going on here in our classroom.
Hi, I’m Miss Kristen!
This is my 12th year at Village, and I’m excited to begin another school year alongside both familiar faces and new ones. I feel so grateful to be part of such a close-knit community where I get the chance to know all of our students. I enjoy teaching in a multi-age classroom and supporting students in both their academic growth and their social-emotional development. Outside of school, I like singing and making music, hiking, paddling, and swimming in the river… and I have a big sweet spot for ice cream!
Our first day of school is tomorrow, Wednesday, August 20th
• If arriving early, students may hang their backpack outside the classroom and put their lunch in their cubby, then head out to play on the blacktop.
• I will blow my whistle to gather our class at the start of school – join us if you are able for our all-school morning circle & spiral dance.
• You may pick up your student outside our classroom, otherwise please communicate with me if you would like your student to walk out with someone else (an older sibling, older friend, etc.)
• Sometime this week, at your prerogative, you can send in
Students should bring:
• Backpack, lunchbox, water bottle
• If you think your child may need a change of clothes, please feel free to send extras (underwear, socks, leggings/shorts) in a labeled gallon-sized ziplock bag sometime this week.
Communication
Thank you in advance for respecting the flow of the school day and my time away from school! Here’s what that looks like:
• Please read my Tuesday Newsletters and the Village Friday Bulletin! These are our main modes of communication and contain important details.
• Morning, before school begins, is my time to prepare for the day and is not always a good time to communicate questions or concerns. If you would like to discuss something please send an email first, and we can find a time to meet in person if needed.
• I will check my email mainly before and after school hours. I will not check or respond to emails on the weekends.
• If there is something that needs to be communicated to me during the school day please call Carolyn or send her a message and she can relay it to me.
Support, Classroom Jobs and Volunteering
We appreciate and need the support from our families during the school year. Support might be on field trips or in the classroom OR behind the scenes:
• Wishlists: I will periodically post a wishlist in my newsletter for items and/or help with tasks.
• Classroom Jobs: Please see next week’s newsletter for a classroom job sign-up. These jobs are regular behind-the-scenes tasks that significantly improve the health and cleanliness of our classroom.
• Volunteering: Volunteering may include driving and/or being a chaperone on a field trip, or leading an activity with students in the classroom. As field trips come up, I will send a request for drivers and chaperones. If you would like to drive/chaperone, please check in with the office to update your driving credentials as soon as possible.
Thank you so much for reading!
Here we go, see you tomorrow! 🤗
*Miss Kristen*
