Garber's Gazette: December 2009

Monday, December 21, 2009

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Happy Holidays

Enjoy your winter break. I know my husband and I will have fun.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Sunday, December 13, 2009

I asked the students what Christmas meant to them. We came up with 23 different words. Christmas is...love, caring, secrets, family, sharing, etc. They made a gift card with their word on it and we placed presents under our tree. We played two new Christmas math games.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Russian

We have had fun learning some Russian. We have practiced our Russian names and the alphabet with its 33 letters. We learned Jingle Bells in Russian and a poem about a rabbit. We practiced saying I love you (ya tebya looblue) and my name is...(menya zovoot). We practiced saying mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, sister, and brother. We are keeping our papers in a Russian folder to go home in March. I learned Russian in school from 4th grade to 11th grade. My daughter also lived in Russia for 18 months. We have a student who is fluent in Russian this year. We will try to fit in a 30 minute lesson on Fridays for a couple of months.

Christmas Projects

We are decking the halls and room with festive wreaths, stockings and stained glass windows.

May 24-28

May 25--FIRE SAFETY PROGRAM FOR 1ST GRADE.

May 27--FIELD DAY at Flat Iron Mesa Park.

May 28--LITERACY DAY--Parents invited. Please send gently used books this week for a book trade. (My 40th wedding anniversary)

May 31--NO SCHOOL--Memorial Day

June 1--NEWSPAPER DAY--We will clean our desks in the afternoon and take our tote trays home. Please don't ride a bike or scooter that day. Scrub tote trays at home and return them the next day.

June 2--TALENT SHOW--10:00 in the gym. Parents are welcome. If you want to perform, please have your talent sheet (or make one of your own) in by this Friday.

June 3--LAST DAY--Students get their little autograph book and report card. We are out at 12:15.

Our MATH MARKET was lots of fun. Thank you for sending some neat things to sell. This Friday, Mrs. Day's class will host the Math Market.

ALL LIBRARY BOOKS ARE DUE. We only have about 5 more books left and the librarian will give our class a treat. Also the Bonanza Gold Mine books are to be in on Monday. If your child hasn't made it yet, I'll keep on sending books until they do. Only 5 more to go!

Our 1st gr. Field Day is on Thurs. May 27th at Flat Iron Mesa.

Please DRESS FOR THE WEATHER. WEAR GOOD WALKING SHOES. We will play 4 games from our room mothers. (Michelle Elbel, Misti Hobson, Mary Poelman, Kim Stanley, Rebecca Hamilton, and Mrs. Edwards. We are planning to have lunch at the park. THESE KIDS HAVE HOME LUNCHES THAT DAY. Alexis, Anastasia, April,Ashlin, Elizabeth, Hannah, Kalli, Lizzy, Greg, James, Logan,& Malik. All the rest have a lunch ordered from the cafeteria.

On Friday, May 28th, we will have our LITERACY DAY for the whole school. A magician will come from 11:00-12:00. (Parents are invited) From 12:00-1:00 the parents who come to Literacy Day and their kids can eat lunch together out on the lawn. IF PARENTS WANT A SCHOOL SACK LUNCH, PLEASE SEND THE $3.00 on Monday. We will keep the same lunch orders for students as for all the other field trips. See the above list to see who has home lunches. All the rest will have a sack lunch from school.

This is the last month of my 30 year career of teaching. I can't believe that it is ending. I have LOVED it and I know I will miss seeing the kids, parents and teachers at Silver Mesa. I will still be teaching though. I am going to teach Lily (2) and Casey (4) for the next two years until my husband retires from teaching 4th grade. It will be a good way to transition from the job I love. Thank you for all of your kindnesses.

Math Boxes--Our last math box packets will go home on May 3rd

Thank you for supporting your children with all the math explorations that you have done at home. I hope you have enjoyed watching your child blossom with greater understanding as they practiced what they learned at school and applied them with fun activities that I suggested or you provided for them. I developed this Math Box program in 1991 and have taught teachers all over the state about how to use it or adapt it for their Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, or 3rd grade classes. This is my original creation that I am most proud of through all of my 30 years of teaching. I know it will go on in many schools even though I am retiring. Thank you for helping your kids with it. During the summer, you could pull out the Math Box to review some favorite activities.