Foster/Sisk

Water bottles

Hey everyone! I hope you all had as wonderful a Thanksgiving as I did! It was very relaxing and I didn't go near a shopping venue the day after! It was perfect! Of course, it's just a teaser for what's coming up in four weeks.  I'll be sure to keep you guys posted on activities that are coming up once they are solidified.  In the meantime, I just wanted to let you know I had the students take home their water bottles over Thanksgiving so they could be washed or thrown away.  If you could please send those back with the students, or send in another water bottle that they could have at their desk, it would be much appreciated.  I will try to get some more water bottles for the class later this week.  Recent brain research indicates a need for water intake during the school day to remain hydrated and to keep a strong and steady focus on the tasks at hand.  Again, I will more than likely be able to go to the store for more water later this week, but if you could send in a small water bottle with your child, it would be greatly appreciated.  We will try to not violate any health code and continue to wash them weekly to every couple of weeks.  Also, if a child gets sick or sent home due to illness, the water bottle will be immediately disposed of and the child will receive a new bottle the following day.  Thanks again!

Market Day

Our Market Day is scheduled for this Tuesday, November 21 (the day before Thanksgiving holidays)  In order for it to be the best experience for the students, please send in any items you would like your child to "sell" as a good to their classmates.  You can use items that are no longer used at your home, or if you purchase items, I would suggest just going to the dollar store and finding some fun things that the kids would enjoy.  Or, if you would like to bake something (brownies, rice krispy treats, etc.) and have your child sell that, that would be acceptable as well.  They have been excellent at completing their jobs and are absolutely deserving of this rewarding learning activity.  Thank you for your support, please try to get your donated items to the classroom by Monday, Nov. 20.  Here is a list of suggested items that have been a part of my market day in the past:

-coloring books, reading books, dollar store toys, crayons, board games, card games, gum, candy, pizza, desserts, stickers, NFL pencils, soda pop, stuffed animals, beanie babies)

Items suggested from the students that they want to buy and sell:

-candy, candy corn, erasers, toys, pencils, Nintendo games, candy canes, teddy bears, toy cars, bobbleheads, little American flags, rocket balloons, Spiderman web, books, Battleship, and wigs

Could you pick out your child in the suggestions above?  Anyway, on Monday we will spend time creating a name for our store and learning how to make change.  All prices will be in dollar amounts with no extra cents to make purchases easier.  If you can't donate any items, your child will still participate using classroom supplies or items donated by Mr. Foster.  Again, thank you for your support, we could not do this without you! Kendall Foster

Homework confusion

I have had a few questions about the homework packet, so I just wanted to correct any confusion.  In the packet it asks for the students to write sentences using their spelling words.  The only problem, which is just a minor detail I'm sure, is that the students don't have assigned spelling words.  Since Ms. Towne and I create the packets together, that is specified for her class, I didn't proofread the cover as well as I should have.  So, for our class, since their spelling words are sight words, my students can just use their sight word folder to find 10 sight words that they would like to write in sentences.  Now, if the homework packet is already sent back in, don't worry about it, we'll complete that assignment during class Thursday or Friday.  Again, I'm sorry about the confusion.  I will either assign spelling words or proofread a little better next time! KF

Nov. 15, 2006

Dear Parents,

I just want to let you know what an excellent job your children did today on an activity about finding the main idea.  First, we watched a powerpoint presentation about George W. Bush and read it aloud together.  Then we worked in our learning clubs to identify the main idea of the presentation.  Then we found 3 friends to talk about a detail we remember from the presentation.  We used a graphic organizer to order our thoughts and then we wrote a paragraph about George W. Bush.  We are presently taking this piece through the writing process and will be working on revisions tomorrow.  We also began working on our noun collages, where we are cutting out pictures of nouns and labeling them under person, place, or thing.  The kids are really enjoying that activity.  The effort they are putting forth on their work is superb, and I am really proud of all of them!  Thank you for the time you put in with them! Kendall Foster

Welcome to the 21st Century!

Dear Parents,

Welcome to the age of paperless communication! Let's all go hug a tree after we're done reading this shall we?  In case you didn't know, the website you accessed is our classroom blog. From what I've been able to piece together, a blog is a form of communication I can use to inform you about what is going on in our classroom.  So the next time your child says we did nothing or they don't remember what we did during the day, check out the web blog to see what we accomplished during the day.  For me, this will be a learning process, but so far, it seems easy to maintain and use.  The communication with you should be more immediate and convenient to access.  This reminds me of a comic I ran across where the parent is telling the teenage child "Your mother and I heard you have started blogging.  Now we don't know what that is, but you better stop immediately!"  Besides daily updates, I'll also use this communication tool to give you advance notice about field trips, supplies needed, special performances (sorry about that this week, by the way), or other important events involving our class.  I can also use this to post pictures and student work as well.  I would also want this site to be student friendly as well, and I would like to link student activities and questions for them to respond to as well.  You will also be able to post responses or send information to me through this site as well.  I am really excited about what the potential of what we can accomplish together when the path of communication is made easier.  Thank you for all you've done, now let's get blogging!

                                                                                                                                          Kendall Foster

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