Dear Parents,
This week our students are finishing their math and language arts classes for the year. Next week we will be together in our homeroom class, and we have many exciting activities planned. DANCE FESTIVAL - Wednesday, May 24th is our Odyssey DANCE FESTIVAL. Our first grade students have been working hard to prepare a special song and dance for you. The performance will begin promptly at 12:45, and will finish at 1:30, just before early out dismissal. There will be a location on the back field that will be marked for parents. You are welcome to bring a blanket or lawn chair to sit on. For the dance festival, please have students wear jeans and a bright, solid-colored t-shirt (with no writing). FIELD DAY - Thursday, May 25th is our FIELD DAY! What a fun time for our kids to celebrate their excellent work this year. If you would like to volunteer to help out with the activities, you can sign up here: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0c4aa4a72ba7f94-odyssey2 We are going to have a health/fitness day in our classroom that afternoon. You are welcome to join us if you would like. FINAL DAY OF SCHOOL - Friday, May 26th is our FINAL DAY OF FIRST GRADE! It is an EARLY OUT day, and we would love to have you join us in our classroom for the last hour if you are able. We will sing some songs, give certificates, and watch a slideshow. ___________________________________________ VOLUNTEER LUNCHEON - I am so grateful for all of the time and energy that you have put into making our school year so dynamic! I hope you will be able to join our VOLUNTEER LUNCHEON at Odyssey tomorrow - Thursday, May 18 - from 1:30 - 2:30. We want to celebrate YOU. This is a time for us to show our appreciation for all that you do. The luncheon will be in the cafeteria, and there will be a small lunch table set up for small children if you would like to bring them with you. _________________________________________ Parents, Please help your child to get all classwork turned in by this Friday, May 19th. Grades need to be finalized the following week, so I will not be able to wait for any missing assignments. Thanks for your help. Sincerely, Ms. Greta Novotne novotnenews.weebly.com
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Dear Parents,
We have begun our final Core Knowledge unit for the year. We are learning about the American frontier and westward expansion. The kids will be hearing stories about Daniel Boone and the wilderness trail, and in the coming weeks, they will meet other adventuresome teams, like Lewis & Clark and Sacagawea. We will learn about the Louisiana purchase, and how the United States expanded westward, all the way to the Pacific Ocean. BOOK REPORTS & READING CALENDARS - May book reports and May reading calendars are due Friday, May 19th. Please be sure that your students complete these assignments. We will be finalizing grades in just a couple weeks. Some parents have asked what the students should do if there are not rhyming words in the books that they are reading. Just have the students write poetic, or expressive words/phrases that they enjoyed (ex: splunked, splashed, tumbled, and skimmed as descriptors of rain/rivers). DANCE FESTIVAL - We hope you will be able to join us for the Dance Festival on Wednesday, May 24th, on the field in the back of the school. The performance will begin promptly at 12:45 (This time is later than what I said in my last newsletter!) Parents may begin arriving at 12:30 (not earlier, please, as kids will still be on the field for lunch recess). You are welcome to bring blankets or chairs to sit on. There will be four parent sections and four student sections marked on the field. I do not yet know which side of the field is reserved for first grade, but I will let you know as soon as I find out. VOLUNTEERS FOR FIELD DAY - Field Day will be such an exciting way for our students to wrap up the year, and celebrate all of their hard work. Parent volunteers will play such a big role in making this a successful event. The school has sent out an email listing ways that you can help, but here is a summary: There are 10 events:
If you are interested in volunteering, you can sign up here: SignUpGenius I am enjoying these final weeks with my students! I am so proud of how these children have grown and become so independent, so responsible, and such good citizens. I am truly grateful to be their teacher. Have a great weekend, and Happy Mother’s Day to all of you wonderful moms! Sincerely, Ms. Novotne novotnenews.weebly.com Hello Parents.
We are finishing our unit on the Birth of Our Nation this week. The kids have been doing great work, and it has been fun learning about our American heritage. MAY HERO AWARDS: Congratulations to the winners of our May hero awards: Celine, Carter, Garrett, Alecia, Maylee, Grace, Liam, and Lexi. These students have had perfect attendance, proper uniform attire, and have done great work during the entire month of April. Nice work! HRP BOOKS DUE: This is the last week that your children will receive the Home Reading Plan books (the bagged books) from the library. All HRP books must be returned to the library by THIS FRIDAY, MAY 5TH. LIBRARY BOOK DUE DATES: Next week will be our final week to visit the library. This Thursday will be the last day that the kids will be allowed to check out library books. All library books are due by Friday, May 12th. READING CALENDARS: Many of our students have not turned in their reading calendars for the month of April. Please remember that your child is required to read 20 minutes, five days a week. The time they spent reading should be recorded on the reading calendar, and turned in at the end of the month. Their total minutes read counts toward their grade, but we also calculate our class total for reading each month. Our class will receive a reward from Ms. Austin each month that we surpass our previous month's total. It is so important that every student participates. Please return all reading calendars by this Friday. You can print a copy of the calendars here: novotne news / reading calendars or you can email the total number of minutes read to me. END OF YEAR ACTIVITIES: Please take a look at the year-end schedule of events: novotne news - calendar / events There are several activities that we would love for you to participate in, and there are plenty of volunteer opportunities if you would like to help. Thanks for being such kind, supportive parents. I love working with you and your children! Sincerely, Ms. Novotne Hello Parents.
Our first grade class has been busy at work this past week: We have been learning about early American colonists, painting still life pictures like Vincent Van Gogh, working on sight words, and sharpening our reading skills for the upcoming DIBELS reading assessment. This week we will be learning about the 13 colonies, the Boston Tea Party, and the Declaration of Independence. FUN RUN - The students participated in the Odyssey Fun Run last week, and they did a fantastic job! (Where do they get all of that energy?) Today we will send home the total number of laps that your child ran. Your student can then collect the pledge money and turn it in at the front office by the end of the week. CLASS SUPPLIES - We have an urgent need for more #2 wooden PENCILS in our classroom! If you are able to purchase a box or two for the class, it would be much appreciated! We are also low on our supply of PAPER TOWELS and TISSUES if you have any extra that you would like to donate. Thank you so much for all that you do to support our class! DANCE FESTIVAL - You are invited to the Odyssey Dance Festival on May 24th. Our first graders will be performing a song and dance for you, as an expression of their appreciation for all that you do. The dance festival is scheduled from 12:00 - 1:00. Other grades will be performing at this time as well. END OF YEAR ACTIVITIES - Can you believe we are almost done with this first grade school year? I am so proud of all that our class has accomplished, and excited to see how each student has grown and become so independent. As we are getting closer to the end, I want to let you know about some activities that we have planned for the final week of school: MAY 24th (Wednesday) is the Odyssey DANCE FESTIVAL, from 12:00 - 1:00. MAY 25th (Thursday MORNING) is the Odyssey FIELD DAY. You are welcome to volunteer to help with the field day activities. More information will be sent out as the date draws nearer. MAY 25th (Thursday AFTERNOON) - I am planning a HEALTH AND FITNESS DAY for our afternoon class, and I would love to have some parent volunteers join us for that. I will send more information as the date draws nearer. MAY 26th (Friday) is our LAST DAY OF SCHOOL, and it is an early out day. I would love to have you join us for the last hour of the day. The children will sing some songs and we will watch a slideshow together. BOOK REPORTS & READING CALENDARS - Our genre for April book reports is science fiction / fantasy. Please help your child to find a book to begin reading for this book report. Please also remember to keep track of your child’s daily reading minutes. Book reports and reading calendars are due on April 28th. Please check your ASPIRE account to see if your child is missing these assignments from previous months. You can download forms here Book Report Forms and here Reading Calendars I am looking forward to a great week. Sincerely, Ms. Novotne Hello Parents.
I hope that you all had a refreshing spring break. Our first grade students are hard at work again, studying the early American colonists. We will spend the next few weeks learning about the history leading to the birth of our nation. Our students did a simple dramatic presentation of “the Princess and the Pea” in class. Once our final group finishes, I will post videos of all the reader’s theater performances. ODYSSEY FUN RUN - Next week the students will begin the Odyssey Fun Run fundraiser. This is a school-wide effort to raise money for our Anchored in Math and Character Education programs (including ambassador lunches, weekly prizes for hero card drawings, and more). Students can get donation pledges from friends, neighbors, and relatives. They will run laps each day during the week of April 17th - 21st, and a card will be sent home on the 24th to show how many total laps they ran. Pledge funds will be collected during the week of April 25th, and turned into the office by April 28th. Thank you so much for supporting our school! APRIL AMBASSADOR - Congratulations to Liam, our AMBASSADOR OF DIGNITY. As our school counselor, Ms. Lewis, shared with our class, dignity is “expecting others to treat me with value and respect, and understanding my responsibility to treat others with value and respect.” Liam sets an excellent of example of dignity, demonstrating self-respect by putting his best effort into everything he does. He shows the same value for others in the way that he treats them with honor and respect as well. We are proud to have Liam in our class. DANCE FESTIVAL - I hope that you will make plans to join us on May 24th for our dance festival. Our students are preparing a song and dance for you, their parents, to show their appreciation for all the effort that you have put into helping them to be successful this year. THANKS - Thank you Susan and Megan for our "eggstra special" door decoration. The kids love it. You are the best! Thank you, parents, for all of your great work and continued support. Sincerely, Ms. Novotne Hello Parents.
I am proud of the great work that our class has been doing this week. We finished our fairy tales unit and learned about the parts of a plant, the various plant parts that we can eat, and the things that plants need to grow. AWARD ASSEMBLY - Can you believe we are in the home stretch of this first grade year? We had our Odyssey award assembly today to celebrate the end of the third term. Congratulations to Trey, who received the ACADEMIC AWARD for our class, and to Lily, who received the CITIZENSHIP AWARD. Congratulations also to Garrett, Maylee, Lexi, and Celine for their perfect attendance this term. SPRING BREAK - I hope that you all have a lovely spring break next week! Enjoy your time with family and friends, and safe travels to those of you who will be vacationing. I am so grateful for the opportunity to teach such a fantastic group of children. I will look forward to seeing everyone again after the break! Sincerely, Ms. Novotne Hello Parents.
FIELD TRIP SUCCESS - Thank you so much to all of our wonderful volunteers who did such a great job leading our children at the Living Planet Aquarium. The kids had so much fun, and they were so excited to see so many of the animals that they have been studying. ST PATRICK’S DAY FUN - We had a fun today following the clues that the “leprechauns” left for our class. The kids worked well together to find the hidden treasure. I will post some pictures for you to see. Our first graders wrote some wonderful ideas today about “why I feel lucky.” I feel lucky to be teaching such a wonderful group of children, and I feel lucky to be working with such a kind, supportive group of parents. I am truly grateful for the opportunity to partner with all of you. Sincerely, Ms. Novotne Hello Parents,
We have some exciting plans ahead for our first-graders. FIELD TRIP: We have been learning about animal habitats, and at the conclusion of this unit, we will be taking a field trip to get a closer look at some of those animals in action. On Wednesday, March 15, all of the first grade classes will be going on a field trip to the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium, from approximately 8:50 a.m.-12:30 p.m. CHAPERONES: We had more requests than I could accommodate. Thank you so much to everyone for your generous show of support, and willingness to serve. PERMISSION SLIPS: Permission slips were sent home with your child earlier this week. Please return the signed permission slips by tomorrow, Friday, March 10th , if you have not already done so. NEW BOOKS: THANK YOU for your participation in the “Reach for the Stars Reading Challenge.” Our kids raised $99 credit toward books for our classroom! I ordered some easy readers and some word search books - I can’t wait to get them! MARCH AMBASSADOR: Congratulations to Carter, our March AMBASSADOR OF SERVICE. Throughout the month of February, Carter wrote notes at home and brought them to school for his classmates. He did this on his own initiative, with the simple intention of being kind and bringing some cheer to his friends. What a great example of service! WELCOME: We are happy to welcome our new friend, Sookie, to our class. She is a very sweet, bright girl, and it has been fun to getting to know her. Our class has done an excellent job of helping her out and making her feel welcome. Nice job, kids! THANK YOU! : A very sincere THANK YOU for all of the kindnesses you have showered upon Ms. Dastrup and myself during teacher appreciation week!! We feel so spoiled! The gifts, the meals, and the kind notes have been so thoughtful. Thank you Susan and Megan for all of the time and effort that you put into organizing the celebrations, and for creating such a beautiful door decoration! What a fantastic group of people I am privileged to partner with. You have made my first year here at Odyssey so wonderful! Sincerely, Ms. Novotne Happy Valentine's Day!
VALENTINE'S DAY PARTY - We will have our class party this afternoon at 2:00. You are welcome to join us. Thank you for donating supplies, and thank you to all of our volunteers. PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES - I look forward to meeting with you next week to discuss your child's progress. You can make an appointment for a conference through the front office. Please remember that our meeting will be brief (only 10 minutes per family!), but I will be happy to meet with you for a more in-depth conversation about any particular concerns you might have. If there is anything in particular that you would like to discuss at the conference, feel free to send me an email beforehand, so that I will be better prepared when we meet. NO SCHOOL and EARLY OUT DAYS - There will be no school on Monday, February 20th, in honor of President's Day. There will also be TWO early out days next week, on WEDNESDAY and THURSDAY (February 22-23), to make room for parent teacher conferences. REGISTRATION for the 2017-18 SCHOOL YEAR - Parents, please take a few minutes to complete and return your registration packets for next year. This is so important as our administration makes plans for next year. Completing your registration now will ensure that your child's spot is reserved at Odyssey for next year - we don't want anyone to miss out! BOOK REPORTS AND READING CALENDARS - Remember to keep track of your child's reading minutes. Students should be reading at least 20 minutes, five days a week, for a total of 400 minutes per month. Each month our class is working toward surpassing the total reading minutes from the previous month. Also, remember that this is a shorter month, and February book reports will be due soon. You might take advantage of the early out days to have your child work on their book report. You can find details about this month's book report here: Book Report Forms FEBRUARY AMBASSADOR : Congratulations to Lily, our AMBASSADOR OF TRUST. Lily is an honest person and a dependable friend. Her teacher and classmates feel confident that they can rely on Lily's good character and kind nature. SCHOLASTIC BOOK ORDERS - I sent home a flyer for scholastic book orders. If you would like to purchase any books, you can place your orders online, and I will submit the orders on February 28th. For information about online orders, look here: Scholastic Book Orders I sure am grateful to be working with such a wonderful group of kids, and such supportive parents. I think your children are fantastic, and it is a joy and an honor to teach them each day. Sincerely, Ms. Novotne |
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