Hello Parents,
Can you believe we made it through these first few challenging weeks of school at home? I am enormously grateful for your patience, your cooperation, your resilience, and your kindness as we tackled this transition (and this learning curve) together.! SPRING BREAK - I am so delighted to tell you that next week is spring break! (I know - you already knew this, but I am delighted to tell you again.) RELAX. REST. PLAY. CELEBRATE. HAVE FUN. Enjoy this time with your kids! COMPLETED ASSIGNMENTS - Thank you for getting your child’s schoolwork turned in. I will take time over the weekend to get grades entered, and I will send a quick email to let you know when I have finished. That will be your cue to check aspire and let me know if there were any assignments that I missed. GOOGLE CLASSROOM - Thank you so much for getting signed in to our google classroom. I know that it was a stressful time to ask you to figure out something new, but I think that this will be very helpful as we go forward. I will check my email periodically throughout the break to see if anyone has any more questions. VIDEOS - I have learned so much this week about online resources, and I will be ready next week to send some video lessons your way. I posted a hello video to the kids on our Core Knowledge page. Here is the link if you would like to access it directly. I also wanted them to see the adorable video that was posted by the Living Planet Aquarium. Hello First Graders! Video on Loom Uno Goes for a Waddle Video on YouTube I also recorded a story, just for fun. Here is the video link: This Book Just Ate My Dog! By Richard Byrne Video on Loom BOOK REPORTS / READING CALENDAR - I hate to mention this, because you all have worked so hard and deserve a rest. However, I know that many of you like to plan ahead, so I will include April book report forms and reading calendars here, and in our googleroom. This month’s genre is Science Fiction / Fantasy. CELEBRATIONS - I know that I have neglected our birthday kids and star students (student of the week). I apologize. What I would like to do going forward is to have a google class for celebrations, and have our star students post a video of your presentation. (You could just post a picture of the poster if you prefer.) That way, classmates can ask questions in the comment box for your child to answer. The kids who have been affected so far are: James, Malachi, and Isaac. The kids who will be affected are Kevin (April 13), Jade (April 20), and Bo (April 27). The kids who may be affected are Claire (May 4), Amishi (May 11), and Stetson (May 18). For those whose week has passed, you may send your video to me anytime (now or later), and I will post it for you. Please look on my website for information about Student of the Week presentations. https://novotnenews.weebly.com/student-of-the-week.html CONGRATULATIONS to Sani, our April Ambassador of Dignity. A person who has dignity is not only in possession of self-confidence, but also shows honor and respect to others. I think that Santi is the perfect example of showing kindness and respect to everyone around him, and having the expectation that others will be kind to him in return. Have a lovely week everyone, and a happy Easter!
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Hello Parents,
We are excited about our upcoming field trip to the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium next Wednesday, March 11th. This week we learned about several of the habitats that we will be exploring at the aquarium: the tropical rainforest habitat, freshwater habitats, and of course saltwater habitats. I will send out a separate email by Monday at the latest with more details about how to prepare for our field trip. NO SCHOOL MONDAY - March 9th is our professional development day, and while we are excited to be here learning, you can plan on enjoying an extra day together with your children. TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK - Next week is our Dr. Seuss themed Teacher Appreciation Week, and you will receive information about themes and clothing items your child can wear to school each day. Please note that on Wednesday, our students are encouraged to wear green. However, our first grade team is asking that you send your child to school in everyday uniform attire on Wednesday instead. We want to present ourselves well, and positively represent our school at the aquarium. Also, please do not feel obligated to bring any food for Ms. Dastrup or myself. We will not be at the school for most of the day, and the best way that you can show your appreciation is to just have your children here and ready to go on time. MARCH BOOK REPORTS & READING CALENDARS - I realized that I forgot to send home the reading calendars and book report forms for this month. I have made copies and put them in your child’s box, but if you would like to print the form now, I have attached it here for you. END OF TERM - Next Friday is the final day of term 3. Please be sure to have any completed missing assignments returned by then. KINDNESS COUNTS - I am taking some time with our class to revisit the basics of what it means to be a good friend. Each day after lunch, we are watching a “Word on the Street” (Sesame Street Workshop ) video podcast, and we are talking about ideas that are foundational to kindness and friendship. These are the ideas we have discussed this week: Sharing - Play together and take turns Share Conflict - When two people fight or disagree about something Conflict Together - Working together to resolve conflicts Together Strategy - A plan to help solve a problem Strategy BEST OF UTAH VALLEY VOTING - It is the time of year to get out the vote - the school vote that is. Take a moment to tell others what a great school Odyssey is. Here are the instructions that were sent in a school-wide email: For the past six years, Odyssey has been voted Best Charter School in the Daily Herald’s “Best of Utah Valley” program. Voting is now open and it is again time to show your school spirit and vote Odyssey the BEST for the 7th year in a row. Please go to http://heraldextra.com/app/bestof/ and jump to the Community page (page 13). Once there type “ODYSSEY” in the space for Charter School. Press the next button and you will add your name and email address before hitting submit. CONGRATULATIONS to Sydney, our March Ambassador of Trust. Sydney is not only always truthful, but she is also very dependable and trustworthy. I am grateful for the strength of character that she demonstrates at our school. THANK YOU to Melanie Hutchings, for the cheery spring door decoration. We love it! Have a wonderful weekend! Hello Parents,
It was so nice to talk with you at parent-teacher conferences this week! Thank you for all of your support. I am grateful to be working with such a dedicated group of parents. PARENTS AND PASTRIES - This Monday, March 2nd is Read Across America Day, a celebration of the life and work of Dr. Seuss. Odyssey will be hosting a “Parents and Pastries” event before school, from 7:45-8:15. Please bring a book and join us as we enjoy some reading time together with our kids. KINDNESS COUNTS - I am taking some time with our class to revisit the basics of what it means to be a good friend. Each day after lunch, we are watching a “Word on the Street” (Sesame Street Workshop ) video podcast, and we are talking about ideas that are foundational to kindness and friendship. These are the ideas we have discussed this week: Cheer - Giving words of encouragement or congratulations Cheer Patience - To wait in a calm way Patience Include - To invite someone to be part of the group. Include FIELD TRIP - Our field trip to the Living Planet Aquarium will be Wednesday, March 11th. I will be sending more information next week to let you know what to expect. If you have already returned the permission slip, thank you. If you have not, please complete and return the signed form no later than Friday, March 6th. I have had several parents ask about coming along as chaperones. I am sending a separate email today with information about the requirements for chaperone volunteers, and if you are interested, please let me know. Please be aware that I am only able to choose a limited number of chaperones. The first grade school lunch orders for March 11th have been cancelled, and funds reimbursed. Our class will be expected to bring a home lunch on the day of our field trip. We will be eating together in our classroom when we return. Have a wonderful weekend! I hope to see you Monday morning. Hello Parents,
We are beginning our unit on Animal Habitats. We will be learning about animals who make their homes in the Arctic Tundra, the Sonoran Desert, the East African Savanna, temperate deciduous forests, the Amazon Rainforest, and in freshwater and saltwater habitats. Our first grade classes will have the chance to see some of these animals in their habitat as we visit the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium for our field trip on March 11th. FIELD TRIP PERMISSION SLIPS - This week I am handing out permission slips for our field trip to the Living Planet Aquarium. Please complete and return the signed forms no later than Friday, March 6th. KINDNESS COUNTS - I am taking some time with our class to revisit the basics of what it means to be a good friend. Each day after lunch, we are watching a “Word on the Street” (Sesame Street Workshop ) video podcast, and we are talking about ideas that are foundational to kindness and friendship. These are the ideas we have discussed so far: Respect - Treating people in a way that makes them feel cared for and important Respect Courtesy - To be polite and use good manners Courteous Compliment - To say something nice about someone. Compliment PARENTS AND PASTRIES - Monday, March 2nd is Read Across America Day, a celebration of the life and work of Dr. Seuss. Odyssey will be hosting a “Parents and Pastries” event before school, from 7:45-8:15. Please bring a book and join us as we enjoy some reading time together with our kids. BOOK REPORTS - It is so exciting to see all of the inspiring people that our students are getting to know through the biographies / autobiographies that they are reading! February Book reports and Reading calendars are due this Friday, February 28th. This is a digital write-up of the book that your child is reading. I am happy to print your child’s report if needed - just send a copy of the project to my email. REACH FOR THE STARS READING CHALLENGE - Many thanks to all of our students who participated in the Reach for the Stars reading challenge. Our students earned $106 in book credits for our classroom! Ya-hoo! Congratulations to Ayden and Aria P., who tied for our top pledges. Congratulations to our Star Readers: Jordan and Aria P., who each read over 500 minutes! Congratulations also to Livia, who was not only another star reader, but also earned the blue ribbon for being the student from our class who read the most minutes! For those students who brought in pledges, I sent book vouchers home today. They can be used to purchase books at the book fair this week. PTC / EARLY OUT - Please remember that both Wednesday AND Thursday will be early out days this week. I look forward to seeing you at parent-teacher conferences. Hello Parents,
It has been such a crazy, interesting week with all of the obstacles that were created by the snow, and the excitement of our Kindness Week activities. We made it through it all, but I do apologize that my communication has been lagging. FEBRUARY BOOK REPORTS & READING CALENDARS - Our February book report is a little more intensive than those of previous months. Our genre is biography / autobiography. The students will read a book about any real, historical person. There is no book report form this month - only a model of what the report should look like. After your child reads / listens to the book, he or she will type a summary on the computer, and print the report (with a photo included). If you are not able to print the report, please upload a copy of the report and send it to me. I can print it here at the school. Because this is a short month, you will want to get started right away with selecting a book. Book reports & reading calendars are due Friday, February 28th. VALENTINE’S DAY CELEBRATION - We are NOT going to have a class party for Valentine’s Day. We WILL do some friendship activities in class on Friday, February 14th, and the students WILL have a chance to pass out Valentine cards. If your child would like to share valentines with their friends, please keep it simple. Sweets are fine (we will be sending all of the treats home so that you can decide what you would like your child to have). Non-food or healthy treats are even better. (Please be sure that any food treats are store bought and individually packaged.) Of course, simple cards or notes are fantastic as well. Please have your child sign his/her name on each card, but do not write CLASSMATES’ NAMES on the cards. This will save us oodles of time and will help prevent any peer distress. We have 25 children in our class. We do have one or more students with a peanut allergy, so please avoid any edible treats that contain nuts. We will decorate Valentine bags in class for sharing cards, so you do NOT need to prepare a valentine “mailbox” at home. WELCOME - We have a new student in our class. Stetson has been with us for a couple weeks now, and we are delighted to have him at our school. CONGRATULATIONS - I am not sure if I have given a shout-out to our term 2 academic award winners. If I have already, pardon me while I do it again. Congratulations to Maggie, our Academic Award winner. Maggie takes such pride in everything she does, and her work and grades show it. She is an excellent student and classmate. Congratulations also to Ellie, our Citizenship Award winner. Ellie has such a positive, inviting disposition, and she is always helpful and always kind to all of her peers. It is a joy to have her in our class. Congratulations to Cooper, for perfect attendance this term. It is quite an accomplishment to be at school all day, every day, for an entire quarter. Nice work! Congratulations to Livia, our February Ambassador of Kindness. Livia is always looking for ways to help and care for her classmates. She is always friendly and joyful, and a very positive person to be around. Thank you, parents, for all you do. I am very grateful for this opportunity to work with you and your children each day. Have a wonderful weekend. Hello Parents,
Welcome to term 3 of the first grade school year! Many thanks to all of you who helped out with our Mexico C.E.T. last Friday - to all of you who helped donate and prepare supplies, and to all of you who came to work with our kids. We are so grateful to you all! This week we finished learning about life in Mexico and we read about several Mexican holidays. We also learned about the magnificent musician,, Wolfgang Mozart, and we listened to several songs that he composed. In our Writer’s Workshop (voyager time), we have been practicing reading narrative passages and then summarizing the plot. We will continue this work, along with our sight word practice next week, but we will also resume our reading groups. NO SCHOOL MONDAY - Enjoy spending the extra day with your child on Monday as we celebrate the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. BOOK REPORTS AND READING CALENDARS - The genre for our January book report is Mystery. Book reports will be due on Friday, January 31st. Remember to record your child’s daily reading minutes as well. The reading calendar will be due on January 31st as well. I want to highlight some statistics that Ms. Austin included in a recent email sent to you regarding the significance of reading practice at home: A student who reads 20 minutes a day at home will hear 1,800,000 words per year. They will have read 851 hours by sixth grade and will be more likely to score better than 90% of their peers on standardized tests. Students who read at home just 5 minutes a day will hear 282,000 words per year, they will have read 212 hours by sixth grade and will likely score better than 50% of their peers. Students who read just one minute a day at home will hear 8,000 words per year and will have read 42 hours by sixth grade and will likely score better than 10% of their peers. That is a pretty amazing return for your effort! Check out the article on dyad reading (in the “Building Readers” guide). It is a very effective, simple way to help your child become an excellent reader. THANK YOU to Melanie Hutchings for our ADORABLE door decoration! I appreciate the beautiful touches you add to our classroom, and so do our students. Thank you to each of you as well, for the great work you do in helping your children to be successful in their educational journey, and for the amazing support that you show to me. I am so grateful to be working with such a wonderful group of parents. Have a lovely weekend! Hello Parents,
We are wrapping up a fantastic unit on the ancient civilizations of Babylon and Egypt. We have learned about the Tigris, Euphrates, and Nile rivers, and how they supported the growth and sustenance of these civilizations. We learned about the Mesopotamian ziggurats and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. We learned about the Egyptian pyramids and some significant pharaohs, including Pharaoh Khufu, who built the Great Pyramid in Giza, and his son Khafre, who built the Great Sphinx. We learned about treasures that were discovered in the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun (a.k.a. “King Tut”) by the English archaeologist Howard Carter. C.E.T. - Today our first graders made an Egyptian headdress, a sugar cube pyramid, and a sarcophagus with its own mummy. They sampled some Egyptian foods as well (lentils, honey, dates, hummus, and pita bread). Many thanks to all who participated in our Egypt C.E.T.. Our activities ran so smoothly because of so much help, and the kids had such a fun time! BOOK REPORTS & READING CALENDARS - Thank you for reading with your child each day. Please continue to record those minutes on your November reading calendars. The genre for this month’s book report is The genre for this month’s book report is NON-FICTION. Non-fiction books are informational books that are based on facts. These could be books that are historical, biographical, or scientific. The OCS book list does not have a wide selection of choices in this category, because there is such a broad selection of books to read within this genre. Please do not feel limited to the books on our book list for this genre. We are just asking that you choose a quality book that will help your child to learn true information / facts about a topic that interests him/her. National Geographic Kids, Usborne, Dorling Kindersley, and Scholastic are all publishers of great non-fiction books. Here is a link to some specific book recommendations if you need a few ideas: https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/teaching-tools/book-lists/31-favorite-nonfiction-books-for-grades-1-2.html If you have any questions, please let me know. STUDENT OF THE WEEK SCHEDULE - I am sending a pdf copy of our student of the week schedule with this email. Please mark on your calendar the date that your child is scheduled to present. If you need to change a date, please give me enough advance notice so that I can coordinate the change with another family. READING GROUPS / 6-MINUTE FLUENCY - Our voyager time is packed full this year. Every day (M,T, TH,F) we work on a new sight word, and then the students have focused intervention in leveled reading groups. Our school is implementing The Six-Minute Solution reading fluency program this year, and our students are working together to give feedback and discuss reading progress. Because of this change, I adjusted my reading group time a bit, and we are now doing group work from 10:30 - 11:00. I would love to have parents come in and read with our students. Please contact our room parents, Melanie Hutchings or Camille Mullen if you are interested. You are also welcome to stop by first thing in the morning (between 8:15-8:30) to read with students as well. You don’t need to be “scheduled” for this - feel free to just stop in. Have a wonderful weekend. Hello Parents,
It has been a busy week as we are returning from fall break. We are reading and discussing various versions of “Cinderella,” and we worked on our final line art project. AWARD ASSEMBLY - Today we attended our quarterly school award assembly. Congratulations to Shamayeeta, the Academic Hero Award recipient for this first term! Congratulations also to Santiago, who was awarded the Citizenship Award for our class. We are also very proud of Itzae and James for their perfect attendance during the first quarter. VOYAGER TIME - I want to tell you about some changes in our “voyager” class time that have begun this week. For the remainder of this school year we will be learning and practicing sight words. Each week the students will have four new words to practice. The students are expected to use the new sight word to write their own sentences each day, and there will be a daily poem for them to practice reading. Each day the students will bring home a sight word worksheet. It may not be stamped, but it does not need to be returned for a grade. We are also beginning a new “Six Minute Solution” reading fluency program schoolwide. The students will work with a partner to practice smooth, quick, accurate reading each day. In two weeks we will also begin dividing into guided reading groups for daily skill practice and intervention. I will tell you more about this as we go. CLASSICAL CHARACTER PARADE & Book Reports - Next Thursday, October 31st, our students will participate in a “Classical Characters” costume parade at 8:45 a.m. Please be sure that book reports are completed and turned in before this day. There is some flexibility in your historical fiction book selection this month, but please be sure that your child is reading about a real event or historic figure. We will have our class party in the afternoon on the 31st. Special thanks to our room parents, Camille Mullen and Melanie Hutchings for their efforts in organizing our party! I am very grateful for the opportunity to work with your children! I am so proud of the way that our students have been focused and ready to learn each day. I am proud of the ways that I see them showing kindness to one another. I am very appreciative of the support and help that I have received from you all. Thank you. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Hello Parents,
This week we have been reading similar stories from different lands, and comparing the essential story elements. This week we read Little Red Riding Hood by Jerry Pinkney, Lon Po Po by Ed Young, and Pretty Salma by Niki Daly. We imitated the work of Henri Matisse (“The Swan”), and made watercolor pumpkin line art. BOOK REPORTS - October genre is historical fiction. Book reports will be due Wednesday, October 30th. READING CALENDAR - Please keep track of October reading minutes. Your child should be reading 20 minutes a day, 5 days a week (400 minutes per month). You can record reading times on your October calendar. CLASSICAL CHARACTER PARADE - Today I sent home the classical character parade information and permission form. Please let us know what character your child would like to portray, and return the form by October 22. If you have any questions, please send an email, and I will direct them to Debbie Gulledge, our parade coordinator. END OF TERM - October 22nd is the end of the first term of school. Please have any missing assignments turned in by Monday, October 21st. I still have a few grades to enter, but ASPIRE should be fully updated by the end of day tomorrow. . HOME LUNCH NEXT WEEK - Next week will be a short week, with 2 full days and Wednesday early out. Please plan to send a home lunch with your child each day, as there will be no school lunch provided. Have a great weekend! Hello Parents,
This week we completed our studies on the human body, and we learned about germs, and the contributions of Dr. Edward Jenner and scientist Louis Pasteur. Our class had so much fun today with their human body C.E.T. activities! Thank you SO MUCH to all who volunteered their time and/or donated supplies for our day. You all are awesome! OCTOBER BOOK REPORTS - I sent home a copy of the October reading calendars, and the October book report forms this week. Our genre for October is Historical Fiction. A historical fiction book will have fictional characters and a fictional story, but will be set in a historical time period, involve real people who were a part of history, or convey a historical event. Please refer to our OCS book list, but know that there are a plethora of other options. You can look up historical fiction ideas for kids online, or talk with the librarian at your local library for recommendations. Please let me know if you have any questions. CLASSICAL CHARACTER PARADE - I want to give you a heads up if you are new to Odyssey about the way that we celebrate Halloween. Each year, we have a “Classical Characters” parade, and all Odyssey students are invited to dress up as historical figures, or characters from classical literature (no superheroes or comic book figures). I will attach a brochure for you to read so that you can plan accordingly for Halloween costumes. October book reports will need to be turned in if students want to participate in dressing up for the parade. CONGRATULATIONS to Ellie, our October Ambassador of LOYALTY! Ellie is a very kind, friendly person, and she has a way of making others feel welcome. She is also very quick to stand up for her classmates or help out whenever there is a need. It is a pleasure to have Ellie in our class! Congratulations also to the kids in our class who go out of their way to include their classmates, or do small acts of service, or to stand up for and show loyalty to their friends. Here is a list of our “honorable mentions”: Ayden, Santi, Jarom, James, and Sydney. FALL BREAK - Our fall break is coming up Thursday and Friday, October 17 - 19. The school will be closed on Monday, October 21st as well for Professional Development. I hope you can plan a nice time of rest or vacationing during this time. There will be NO SCHOOL LUNCH service during the week of October 14th-16th. Please be prepared to send a lunch to school with your child. BOX TOPS - If you are collecting any Box Tops for Education, Holly Patino will be collecting them next Friday, October 11th. If you have not yet collected any Box Tops, please look for them on these products: https://www.boxtops4education.com/Participating-Products-Page They are a great way for our school to earn money toward free school supplies and equipment. Thank you for all of your support. I am so grateful to be working with all of you, and I love teaching your children each day! Have a great weekend. |
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April 2020
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