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Monthly Newsletter: September September 2, 2008
Dear Hopewell Avenue parents,
Welcome back to school! I am hoping that my fourth year at Hopewell Avenue will be a pleasant and rewarding experience for the students, for you, and for myself. I feel extremely lucky to be part of such a wonderful staff and a fabulous community here at Hopewell Avenue and I have many plans for the 2008-2009 school year that I hope you will be able to assist me with.
1. Organization
As part of my organizational plan for the classroom this year, students will not be using desks but tables instead. Each child has their own folder with the duo tangs and workbooks that they will require throughout the year. This system is in place so that students spend less time looking for items and can maximize their classroom learning time. Students are welcome to bring their own pencil case to class and keep it on the corner of their desk.
2. Class website
The class website is up and running! For your child’s safety, I will not
be posting any information on the
website about our school, about students in our class (names, etc…) or
our location. The website was created as a tool for you to check out
what is due (weekly and monthly calendars), what you may have
missed if your child is away, how assignments will be evaluated and
many assignments and evaluation rubrics will be available to you to
download and print at home.
The website also provides some good
links to other online French resources, books and movies. I would
recommend that you and your child check the website every Monday if
possible to stay on track with homework, school activities and
assignments.
I will try to keep the website as up to date as possible and
will notify everyone of updates via email, if you provide me with your
email address. I am intending to stop sending written
letters from my class home with the children unless you write below
that you request them and will be posting monthly newsletters and
homework directly onto the website starting this week!
3. E-pals
My professor at the University of Ottawa suggested that her students try a program
called “E-pals” that is a safe, secure way of finding a class in
another country that would like to be pen-pals with your class. I tried the
program out the past several years with the same English class from a small
town called "Fleury sur Andelle" in the North of France and it seemed
worthwhile. If you have any concerns about the privacy and security of E-pals,
please feel free to check it out: www.epals.com
4. Snacks & Allergies
I realize that many of our students are quite active and involved in various
sports and activities so I like to remain flexible so that if a student is hungry
in class they are welcome to ask permission to eat, providing it does not disturb
others. We will not have a set snack time because over the past years I have
been finding that different students have different times when they are hungry
and it is hard to find a time that suits everyone. Please avoid sending nuts
(especially peanuts) as students in this schoo who may be using our desks and
equipment are highly allergic, as am I. Thank you for your understanding and
cooperation.
5. Going home for lunch//going home with someone else
If your child is allowed to go home for lunch can you please sign the letter
going home stating that you give your permission for your child to leave the
school premises at lunchtime to go home. If they only go home once in a while,
I would appreciate it if you could send a small note in your child’s agenda
or a quick email stating that they are to go home for lunch. This also applies
to if your child is not going to go on the bus to go to a friend’s house
or is going to take the bus with a friend, I would appreciate knowing this because
it can be extremely difficult to ensure that 28 students leave school safely.
A signed note in the agenda will suffice. The student is then required to take
the note to the office with them when they sign out at lunch time. Students
are not to leave the school early without signing out because we can't know
where they are and I am not with the students before lunch as it is their English
time.
I ask that all arrangements for socializing afterschool be made before the school day begins. Often students want to call home to arrange play dates during class and this is disruptive not only to the class, but to the secretaries who then get parents calling back during the day looking to speak to their child. Students are permitted to use the class telephone if they have forgotten something important or they need to clarify something that can't wait until after school (whether or not to go to Firehall for example.) Emergencies are dealt with in the office.
6. Portfolios
Students will be bringing all of their evaluated work (spelling tests, quizzes,
projects) home at the end of each month to be looked at and initialed by their
parents and returned to school. Students can receive tests or large projects
back before the end of the month to take home and be signed and they will be
added to the portfolio but don’t have to be signed twice. Weekly spelling
tests and quizzes can be signed when the portfolio comes home on the last day
of the month but students will be given their score each week. The portfolio
is there to ensure that parents and children can share a child’s progress
throughout the month and it is also there to help both myself and the student
keep organized.
7. Physical Education and Library
Students are usually allowed to take out 5 books from the Hopewell library and I ask that at least 2 of those books be in French. I encourage students to bring books home to read at night and add to their reading log. Students are also welcome to take books home out of the class library to read. The Library Day has not been determined yet this year, but will be added to both the Weekly and Monthly Calendar as soon as it is.
Our class will be having P.E class today and every Day 1,3 and 5 with Mrs. Liviadotis. Due to the recent addition of a Daily Physical Activity Program to each of our classes, I strongly recommend that each child arrive prepared to do physical activity every day. This means having their indoor sneakers at school, wearing comfortable clothing and bringing a water bottle because the water fountains have been turned off in all of the classrooms.
8. Lockers
Students will be provided with a locker this year (this may be new to some of
you.) Some students may be asked to share a locker with another student (this
will be sorted out in the first week of school.) All students are asked to bring
a lock to put on their locker and are required to give the code to their teacher
and not change the code. Locks can also be purchased from the office for a small
fee ($5 I think.) Last year students experienced some problems when they shared
their locker codes with friends or changed their codes without notifying their
teacher and then forgot their new codes. If your child has anything of value
in their locker it is very important that they do not share or change their
code. Lockers are for storing lunches, shoes, backpacks and outdoor clothing.
All textbooks and schoolwork (other than the homework duo tangs and agendas)
will be kept in the classroom.
9. Agendas
I will distribute them as soon as they arrive for students to write their homework
in every Monday.
10. Homework
Each student has been provided with a homework duo tang. Beginning next week
students will be bringing the duo tang home on Wednesday of every week and it
will be due the following Tuesday. This will be the same throughout the year
unless I write a note saying otherwise on the class website. That gives students
a full week to complete their work and they can decide if they would rather
do homework during the school week or for those students who have a lot of activities
during the week, they might prefer to do homework on the weekend. A reading
log to track your child’s independent reading in French will also go home
in the homework duo tang, please initial it each Monday night if you can remember.
Students should be reading for at least 15 minutes a night in French,
5 times a week.
11. Games
I would ask students not to bring any electronic games (tamagotchis etc…)
into the classroom. Students may leave them in their locker at their own risk.
I also prefer that unless it is for a special reason, students leave games,
toys, stuffed animals and sports equipment in their locker until recess time.
Learning time can easily be interrupted when students are playing games or searching
for lost games in the classroom.
12. Rainy Day Activities
We are always looking for more games to add to our game box for indoor recesses.
If you have any old games lying around your house that you wouldn’t mind
parting with for the year, we would love to have them. We are participating
in the Junior Chess Tournament again this year so we are particularly looking
for old chess sets. Please do not send in anything of value because I can’t
guarantee that some of the pieces won’t go missing.
10. Class supplies for September
There is a list that went home at the end of last year that outlines the supplies
your child will need for this school year. I will be sending home another copy
if required at the beginning of September. In addition to the list, please consider
sending in the following:
a ) Kleenex
b ) Indoor running shoes for gym class (every child should keep a pair of indoor
shoes in their locker at school for gym class.) Shoes from outside track mud
and dirt through the school and gymnasium.
c) A reusable water bottle (there are no fountains in classrooms any more.)
d) Cut tennis balls for the bottoms of student's chairs to muffle the noise in class.
Thank you very much for your support & co-operation – I am looking forward to meeting all of you at the Meet the Parent Night!
Sincerely,
Anna Krieg
Grade 4/5 EFI