Oct. 22, 2013

October 22, 2013

Dear Parents,

We've had a couple of  great days so far this week. The students are excited to be typing up their "Personal Narratives." Stay tuned; we'll have our Kidblogs fully functional by next Monday, and you'll be able to see all of your child's writing there. 

Some upcoming dates and events to be aware of: 

1. Our School-Wide Harvest Festival-in-the-Garden (next Tuesday):  send a bowl, a spoon, and a cup of chopped veggies (no meat).  Want to help?

Next Tuesday, we will celebrate our ABS-wide Harvest Celebration in the ABS Garden. We'll be making stone soup. I hope you received our Stone-Soup Flyer in last week's Friday Folder. Milk, apples and bread will be provided by the cafeteria. We are asking every child to bring in (by this Thursday or Friday) a cupful of  fresh, cut veggies (ex: lentils, beans, celery, potatoes, onions, carrots, brussel sprouts, peas, squash, apples.).  We will be careful to return your tupperware if you would kindly mark it. Note, if you cannot send in veggies, don't worry. There will be plenty for sharing. 

On Tuesday, please send your child in with a cup and a spoon for eating stone soup!  If your child does not wish to eat the soup, please send in an alternate lunch. We won't be serving "hot lunch" in the cafeteria that day.

Also needed: volunteers who can come and help serve soup from 10:30 to 1:30 --  or any time between -- in our garden.   Several friends are joining me to play a bunch of fiddle and guitar tunes during the celebration. Join us if you can!

2.  Next Wednesday will be our Four Winds program. Yeah! 

Please remember to have your child dress warmly and with good shoes for clomping around outside on  Wednesday.

3. Next Thursday, we will celebrate our Horizon Harvest Party 

(in place of what we used to call our Halloween party). It'll be at 1:45 pm.  Karen Allen (our room mom) and I will be contacting you soon via email to ask about folks donating a few baked goods or coming in to help with a craft. 

That's it for now. Have a great week, everyone!

Mr. Bolger

October 7, 2013

Dear Parents,

A couple of quick notes on the day:

We had a very exciting time this morning at Morning Meeting. We  were practicing saying the continents ("Asia, Africa..." ---ask your child to tell you the chant). I asked the kids if they knew that  at one time, the continents were  connected as one land mass...Well, you'd think I'd told them we were going to have an extra half hour of recess.  Xander leaped up. "It was called Pangea!"  Jasper cried out, "And they're still moving!" Someone else said, "Look! Right where Europe and Asia meet, there are plates colliding RIGHT NOW."  "And look! The continent of  Asia and the continent of Africa meet right THERE!"
You could practically see the steam coming off these kids' heads. Over the coming months, I will be inviting the students to pick topics that interest them and do research and write a report. I think this particular class will jump on that.

"It was called Pangea!"

In Reading, we talked about using sticky-notes to mark where the author is really describing the main character. While PJ, Nina's dad, led a book group, I was able to walk around and conference with kids on what character traits they were finding in their books.

Also in Reading, as I said, we began reading groups this week. In addition to doing a class-wide reading lesson each day, and conferencing with students as they try out in their "independent", "just-right" books the reading strategies they are learning, I will now be meeting with your child and his or her reading group two to four times per week.

Book Bags: For the younger kids, this means taking home the book they've read that day to reread it (with greater fluency ---hopefully out-loud to you or to a sibling). It will go home in  their "book bag" (a blue folder) to be sent back the next day in the same "book bag" (blue folder)

In Read-Aloud, we thought it would be a good idea to celebrate October by reading kind-of-spooky mysteries. We started with The Curse of the Squirrel. by Lawrence Yep. We noticed that just like in our own writing, the author first told us about who was in the story, and then, as Charlie noted, "Just when it seemed to be getting kind-of boring, the author wrote, 'SUDDENLY..'." at the most exciting moment, and we knew we were now into the second part, the SUDDENLY part of the story.

We ended our day with our Team Time. Ask your child what he or she is working on this week during Team Time  (aka WIN time).

And enjoy this beautiful, warm weather. I'm psyched to think that I could be snowboarding in about six weeks, but these last few warm days are just gorgeous.

Take care, everyone.

Mr. Bolger

October 4, 2013 

Hello, Everyone!

Well, we filled the school Buzzy Jar today (in the front office), due to so many kids being kind, safe, and responsible this week.   I did not tell the kids yet because I got the email after they left. So on Tuesday, it will be crazy hair day as a celebration. Please tell your child so you can help them think about what they want to do to have crazy hair (!)

Reading and helping your child make connections:

When you are reading a story to your child or they are reading to you, always talk about any connections you or your child has. For example, if you are reading a story about a child who lost a tooth and your child has lost a tooth.....that would be a connection because your child would know how that child felt. 

Some kids say, "Well, they had a red shirt and I have a red shirt!" We call that a shallow connection because it doesn't help you understand the story better. 

We will continue to work on text-to-self connections next week. They will be doing an activity with this on Tuesday, and our sharing theme for next week will be kids sharing a book that they really like -- and they can talk about a connection they have with a character in the book or a theme in the book, or the setting. If over the weekend you read a book that prompts a connection for your child, you might suggest that he or she bring that book in for sharing.

The kids are building stamina, and being more productive and accountable as the days progress. We are working on not being afraid to say, "I don't understand..." The smartest thing a person can do, we decided,  is to be ok with not being perfect, take on that thing we're not yet great at, and then work very, very hard (and get lots of help) to get stronger at that thing. 

That's it for now. Have a great weekend!

Mr. Bolger

Sign-Up for Conferences

                                                          Oct. 2, 2013

Dear Parents,

It’s time for Fall Conferences. Please look at the current openings below for  conferences. Then, email me with your first, second, and third choice. I will add names daily to this schedule on a first-come-first-served basis.

 Note: conferences are for 25 minutes each. if you can bring your child,  that’s great. I like to talk with parents first, and then have your child join us for the last five minutes.

Wednesday, Oct 9, 2013

2:45-3:10 Karen and Bruce Allen

3:10-3:35 Deborah Miuccio and Matt Wood

3:35-4:00 Miki Olszewski

Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013

2:45-3:10 Denise Giroux and Corey Nulty

3:10-3:35 Kate and Matthew Moreau

Friday, Oct. 11, 2013

2:45-3:10  Nilgun and PJ Zimakas

3:10-3:35  

3:35-4:00   Jamie Wilson

4:00-4:25  Jennifer and Whit Fellows

Tuesday, October 15, 2013
7:10-7:35 Jessica Christian
7:40-8:00 a.m. Troy Rivard

Weds. Oct. 16, 2013

3:00-3:25 Kristiina Brown

3:35-4:00 Rebecca and GabeTharp

   

Thursday, Oct. 17, 2013

7:30-7:55 Janine Beaudry and Luc Reid

8:00-8:25 Ed Olszewski

8:30-8:55 Brennan Brown & Jennifer Reardon

9:00-9:25 Sam Johnson

9:30-9:55 Amy and Max Skapof

10:00-10:25

10:30-10:55

11:00-11:25

11:30-11:55

12:00-12:25

12:30-12:55

1:00-1:25

1:30-1:55

2:00-2:25

2:30-2:55

3:00-3:25 Adam Beaudry

3:30-3:35 Kathy and Daniel Cotter

4:00-4:25 Fran and Glenn Steinman

Note: If you simply can’t make any of these times, give me a call and we’ll arrange an alternate time (in the morning before school or during one of my planning periods.)

Thank you. I’m looking forward to seeing you!

Mr. Bolger

October 1, 2013

Do you see the original seed?

Dear Parents, 

It has been a very busy couple of weeks as we near the six-week mark. We planted Lima Beans using compost soil made by our class worms; we learned about painting plants with Ms. Beeken in Art; we have also finished our reading assessments (phew!), and we are getting settled into book groups. 

In Reading, we began our Read-at-Home reading log (the sheet with the balloons on it). The kids seem excited about it, and when they bring their reading logs in on Friday morning, we'll do a fun activity ("Boys and girls, look at this reading log someone brought in.  Let's see. Can you guess who read A-Z Mysteries  for 65 minutes straight on Wednesday?...") I will also keep track of their reading minutes, and when a student reads (or is read to) for  enough total minutes, he or she gets to pick from the treasure chest. 

Painting in Art 

In Writing, we are deep into Writer's Workshop. Students are writing personal narratives with a beginning, middle ("Suddenly...!)  and an end.  

Home-School Journals will go home tomorrow (instead of today).

First and second grade math homework is due Thursday. 

Our Horizon Team launched, this week, a unit called "WIN" or "What I Need."  For a half hour per day, four days per week, from  2:00-2:30, students get to work in a focused way, on a subject or a skill area in which they have an interest or a need for deeper instruction. Ask your child about his or her WIN class. (We also call it Team Time). Ask who their teacher is and what they are learning. 

Look what Wylie made.
He was resourceful!

Parent-Teacher Conferences: Over the next couple of days, I will post by email a sign-up schedule for conferences.  Your children have done so much in just a month, and it's been very, very interesting to get to know a brand new set of students as the old and the new students mesh, and the character of the class evolves, yet again, into something new.  I am looking forward to having a chance to get together with you.

   

That's it for now. Have a great rest of the week, everyone. 

Mr. Bolger

September 13, 2013

Dear Parents,

Welcome to our Bolgerblog 2013-2014! We are off to a rocking-good start this year.  We have 19 smart, lively, curious, energetic young girls and boys. You have not seen much paperwork come home during these first three weeks because we believe it is so essential for us -- and your child -- to put a ton of our energy, up front, into community building and getting very solid with classroom expectations and routines. We are practicing everything from how to hold your pencil when you are in Circle (with the pointed tip down) and how to hand in our reading and writing work to how to solve problems with our classmates and be self-reliant and resourceful when we need something. 

In Reading, we began a new Read-aloud book called Top Secret (a book about a 4th grade boy, Allan Brewster, who discovers the key to human photosynthesis). Allan stops eating waffles and bacon because he finds that he gets all the energy he needs standing in the sunshine. ask your child to tell you about Ms. Green, his mean science teacher; ask who it is who does believe in Allan; and ask what he plans to do with the president of the United States!

 

We discussed what it means to pick a “just-right” book, and we practiced picking books from our classroom library and sitting quietly and respectfully to read.  We have also paid two visits to the ABS library,  and we will have Tuesdays as our regular, weekly day, to drop off and pick up books. 

In Writing, students received their Writer’s Workshop folders where they will keep their growing portfolio of work. We learned that good writing comes from good spelling and good grammar -- yes.  But, it  comes even more from noticing well and remembering well. We talked about how if I say, “Tell of a time you hurt yourself,”  for most kids, that will prompt a memory. Let that memory come up. Pay close attention to it,  and tell the story that it brings. We learned about how good writers  also often tell their stories verbally before settling in to writing them down. We decided that writing is going to be a lots of fun of us this year! 

In Fundations students at the first and the second grade levels have been reviewing the considerable content and learning routines from last spring. Note: as you know, Mrs. Powers and Ms. Schwartz teach 1^st-grade Fundations, while Mrs. Rodliff and I teach the second-grade Fundations. We have all just completed (or we have nearly completed) the first unit of the year. 

In Math, both the first and the second graders are exploring patterns – repeating patterns and growing patterns. We are using our Number Corner calendar every day to explore and expand our understanding of this central math concept. Second graders got their Math notebooks this last week. This will be a place for reflecting on what they are learning. I will use it often at the end of a class to build a record from each child of what they have understood or not understood during the lesson. 

In Science, we are starting off the year with a study of plants -- their life cycle, their root and leaf structures, and their similarity, in some respects, to us humans. We are also growing our own plants (beets, lettuce, bok choy, and peas) in our raised bed outside of the classroom. 

Continental Math League sign-up:  registration at the Grade Two level is not until October. In the meantime, please contact me or Betty Poirot if you would like your child to participate and/or if you would like to volunteer to run a one-time-per-week 2nd-grade Continental Math group (it's lots of fun. ) See the most recent School Bell for details.

Odyssey of the Mind sign-up (see the recent School Bell for details): this year, we are lucky to have several parent volunteers at the K-2 level for this engaging and stimulating program. Please contact Betty Poirot if  you are interested in having your child participate!

Getting Outdoors: To keep the blood pumping to our brains, we also did an outdoor activity each morning  with Mrs. Powers’ class. We played Scatter, Deer Habitat, Partner Tag, Toilet Tag (!) , and Cross the River When the River Rises. Especially if you are new to the classroom, you could ask your child to explain these games to you . You could certainly play them at home. 

Room Mom: Karen Allen is our "Room Mom." She will be heading up the coordination of volunteer support and food and beverage donations for Horizon events across the year. Thank you Karen!

Birthdays: I'd like to make a special request this year that parents and birthday boys or girls try to bring in something healthy like apples and cinnamon or celery and peanut butter (no peanut allergies this year!), or some cut-up mango or a basket of blueberries instead of the yummy-but-not-so-good-for-you frosted cupcakes we have all been enjoying for years.  Last year, when we began to bring in fruit, they devoured it! And kids at this age are impressionable, and they're setting their habits for a lifetime. Thanks for helping out on this.

Getting a good night's sleep: Since we’re talking about health… I’ve noticed this last week that many kids are dog-tired. My own kids are dog-tired! Thank you for remembering to hold the line and get them to bed at a consistently-good hour so that they can come to school refreshed and open to learning.  We adults know what a difference a good sleep can make, and for little kids, it’s huge.

We are looking forward to seeing you at our Horizon Curriculum Night on Wednesday the 18^th (6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.)  Let us know if you have a particularly-keen interest in a certain aspect of the curriculum so we can be sure to address it. 

That’s about it for now.

Have a great week, everyone. 

Mr. Bolger

June 18, 2013 Thank You -- and a respectfully-suggested "program" for your child's reading and math skill retention over the next 8 weeks. Please Read :)

Hello Dear Parents!

We all got a little sad today watching these kids go out the door.  I was surprised and touched  by the beautiful gifts that I was given this week. Guys, this is my job and it's a blast, and you don't have to get me stuff.  But thank you! One boy handed my a blue white board marker -- brand new.

"Here Mr. B. This is my gift for you because I know you like blue. And I found it under the bookcase." 
Two girls said, "Mr. Bolger, we didn't get you anything, so we practiced a dance. Watch this..."
And I've felt good handshakes and hugs and kind words from you as I have seen you across the week. They mean a lot to me. For the second-grader families who are moving on, I will miss you. It's a terrible hazard of this job: you occasionally meet someone who is older than 8; we come to know each other, and then, unless there are two or three siblings, it's two years and you're gone.

But, on the other hand, when we work together  as I get to do with all of you, and we try to  guide these little 6, 7, and 8 year-olds,  that joint work-project is more important and more valued than anything else in the world, and we usually connect with each other in a pretty life-long way. You can't beat that. I know that I will be running into your kids at some concert on the waterfront in 15 years, and I will be chasing after them asking if they remember that poem they wrote when they were six.

So, in summary, I want to say thank you for a fabulous year. I learned a lot from your kids, and I learned a lot from you all when you came in or we talked on the phone or  sent emails. We are all parents. We are all teachers.  Have a great summer, and I look forward to seeing all of you, or if necessary, half of you, in the fall.

A couple of important notes.  ( Thank you for reading...)

1) I've signed up  all of my first and second graders for a month (for free) with a math website called IXL. I know I mentioned that on some of the report cards. If your child goes to his or her school email, there is a user name and a password and an explanation.  Basically, you sign in (username: firstnamelastname481) (password: firstname). Then, look for the correct grade level, and if Donna and I gave your child suggestions on some things to work on, you can find them listed and run through the pretty-fun exercises to "master" the skill and "earn" a  "ribbon." All my second graders from this year had a chance to practice it, and they were quite motivated.

You and your child can skip sections that he or she already has mastered, and instead, focus on the skills that need to be practiced. The program reads how long it takes to answer questions, and the rate of success with the problems, and it adjusts the  questions accordingly. Moreover, if your child wants to try out the grade he or she is going into, by all means, go adventuring.

Mention IXL to your children, Have them try it out today or tomorrow, while they are still under the school spell (at least a little!) and you may luck out and have them get into it and take off -- no nagging required!

This is optional, of course, but I think it's  a good resource and I believe that every kid at every level would benefit from 3-4 sessions per week at 20 minutes or so per session. The technology is there to bring this benefit into our homes at no cost. I'd be crazy not to urge you to help your kids stay in the game over these next 7 or 8 weeks. Ok. Enough said!  By the way, I won't judge you if you decide that your family wants a complete break from school for a few weeks. I get it.

On the other hand, for parents who are looking for some help with skills practice and motivation/accountability for their child's learning across the summer, I do get a master list from IXL, and if you would like me to check in with your child via emails  a few times over the summer to  encourage him or her, I would be glad to do that.

2) Mrs. Powers and Mrs. Rodliff and Ms. Schwarts have also passed along to me  -- and I have passed along to you -- traditional 1st grade and second grade math packets. Those too are optional. You may do those instead of IXL, or along with IXL, or not at all. We just know that different things work for different families, and we wanted to give you as many options as possible.

3). We four teachers have also collaborated on a simple reading structure for the summer. For my core students, I am asking them to continue reading 20 minutes per day either 5 days per week or seven days per week, whichever you prefer. We have sent home a "fishing license" for fishing for good books, a "fishing" bookmark, and a little recording sheet. The idea is to draw a little fish on the calendar days where you read for 20 minutes. If you read for 40 minutes on Monday, you could color in Monday and Tuesday. You may certainly tweak it to fit your needs.

I told the students today that if they do this Horizon summer reading program, and they come and show me their "reading log" when school starts, I will give them a prize. If they read a bunch of books outside of this "program" and keep track of them instead, I think that would also deserve a prize. Finally, there is a great reading program put on by the Dorothy Alling Memorial Library in town. If you and your child decide that that is the reading program  you'd like to do, I would certainly give a prize if your child brought that sheet to me in September.

I don't know what the prizes will be yet, but they'll be something in the area of a can of play dough or a bouncy ball or ??.

4) Mrs. Powers and I sent home kids' scrapbooks from the year. FYI: I added a page, and perhaps Mrs. Powers did too, that shows kids' phone numbers for making playdates.

5) If any published writing  or any pictures didn't make it into the scrapbooks from my class, go to the class blog and the kids' Kid Blogs, and copy and print any writing and pictures you like. I have a ton of pictures from this year that I will be loading onto the class blog this week. I'll let you know when they are on. 

Last, I will be checking this work email about every other day across the summer. Feel free to contact me with any questions about the past year, the year to come, or about the present  -- which is a very beautiful present given that it is your child's first afternoon
of                                                Summer                                                   Vacation.

Take care, everyone, and thanks again, for everything.

David

PS: If you are packing to go somewhere already, or if you are just trying to shout to your kids as they run towards traffic, please try to make a point of sitting down today or tomorrow or the next day with you child in a quiet place with no interruptions and ask them to show you their scrapbook.  There is so much even  they had forgotten until seeing it today, and to a child, they said they couldn't wait to share it with Mom or Dad.  Find a quiet spot, sit down, and give them and yourselves that time. You have worked so hard. You both deserve it.

June 11, 2013

Thanks, PJ and Nilgun, for reading with us all year!

June 11, 2013

Hello Parents!

Some  upcoming events:

Thursday: we will be paid a visit by the Dorothy Ailing Library's bookmobile.

Thursday: we will also celebrate summer birthdays (Ally, Charlie, Leo, Nina, Brendan, and Julia). I have a special request: I have been talking to the kids about eating healthfully, and I would love it if you would ask your "birthday" child what his or her favorite fruit is -- then send no more than six (or six portions). I imagine us having something like six oranges, six bunches of grapes, six mangoes, six bunches of cherries, six apples, six pears, six peaches, etc. I'll cut them up, and then we'll have a juicy celebration!

Friday: Please send in 2 good-sized plastic bags. I'll have the kids

go through their lockers and their cubbies to take home belongings.

Monday: Fun Day is scheduled for next Monday from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. at WCS.

Tuesday: half-day. Last day of school. Report cards come home then. Dismissal: 11:45 a.m.

One final note: we are hard at work on our scrapbooks that span the 2012-2013 year. We will be sending them home next Tuesday.

Have a good rest of the week, everyone.

Mr. Bolger

May 28, 2013

Dear 2nd Grade  Parents and Guardians,

On Tuesday, June 4th from 8:30-9:40 a.m., the Allen Brook School current grade 2 students will be visiting their new 3rd grade classrooms.  Those in multi-age classrooms will be meeting with their new 4th grade classmates and teacher, and those in looping classrooms will be meeting with their teacher and their new 3rd grade classmates. 

That night (Tuesday), for second-graders' parents, there will  be  a parent/guardian information session from 6:30-8:00 p.m. at WCS. 

Families will be receiving placement letters with your new teacher by June 1st. 

We recognize that moving on is a bittersweet time for students and families.   Feelings of sadness in leaving the comfort of their class and teacher, mixed with the excitement, joy and uncertainty of a new classroom (teacher, friends and responsibilities) and school are all healthy and normal.   We are confident that this planned visit to their new 3rd grade room will help them with this transition.  Please help us by making sure your student is here on time on Tuesday.

Thank you!

Carolyn Tatlock

Jen Tumilowicz

ABS School Counselors

May 24, 2013

May 24, 2013

Hello Parents!

I think the kids are ready for a long weekend!  We accomplished a lot this week in spite of the restlessness ;)  We learned about lightning and thunder. We invited Mrs. Powers' class to read their Animal Research books to us, and we wrote new poems for our KidBlogs.
Please take a look and leave a comment or two. If your child hasn't yet finished his or her poem, they may finish it up if they have a moment over the weekend.

Happy Birthday this week to Kali and to Chloe.

Take care everyone.  See you on Tuesday.

Mr. Bolger

May 9, 2013

Dear Parents,

First, please consider running in the Williston Runs 5K race on June 1st. It's a great reason to get together, a great way for a community to earn money, and a great incentive to get up and get in shape. I've sent everyone a registration form via email.  It's just three weeks away. Now or never!

Also, we had a GREAT time at the Annie play today. Of course the kids got squirmy, but it was really-well-presented, and had all that good, upbeat singing and the funny antics that the orphans play on the head of the orphanage.

Why not talk with them about integrity. We've been talking about that word. Annie had integrity because she told the truth and she was kind to other down-and-out people. Daddy Warbucks had integrity because he helped Annie out of the real goodness of his heart. He also talked to Annie about how having a billion dollars isn't as good as having someone to love. So he recognized the difference between the strength of money/power and the strength of integrity/happiness/love.

You could talk with them about the crooks who lie that they are Annie's parents and they nearly get away with it.

Finally, you could take with them about The Great Depression and about Hoovervilles and about Roosevelt (and his polio/wheelchair)  and the New Deal. These were all alluded to in the show, and probably went over the kids' heads. But I had a chance to talk about it with a few students and they were very interested.

Anyway, it was a great show. Consider taking your child to see it again in the coming days. Well worth a second look. 

 

Reading Logs: due tomorrow. Sorry I didn't get one out to the kids this week. Most parents have been printing up reading logs I have emailed in the past.  Do the best you can. Estimating is good. :)

 

Last, Home School Journals went home today. The kids are particularly working on their handwriting and on responding to things that you have written to them. 

 

Have a nice weekend, everyone.

Mr. B.

May 9, 2013

Hi Parents,

1) Tomorrow we will be taking the bus over to WCS at 12:00 to see the play, Annie.  The kids will be dismissed from WCS. If you pick up your child, please do so there. The Live Y'er students will take Bus A back to school.

2) Monday  we started our new countries workshops. Ask your child which workshop he or she is attending this week and what they learned. 

3) Charlie Jennings brought in a solar powered car today, and we took it for a test drive. 

4) We have four sheets that were kindly loaned to us for our Reading Restaurant. We have a blue one, a flowered one, a heavy white one with nice stitching in it, and another heavy white one with stitching and "embroidered holes."   Please email me so I can get them safely back to you. 

5) We got a good start on our Home School Journals this week, but we ran out of time --- we decided to stay outside for a little longer with Charlie's car. Sorry. 

6) Thank you to Karen Allen for her surprise popsicles today. That was  a real treat. 

Take care, everyone. 

Mr. Bolger

April 30, 2013

Hi Parents

We have had two great days back at school. The kids seem well rested and ready for the final stretch. How about this warm weather?!

Next week we will be doing workshops for Social Studies. I will be teaching about Canada and Mrs. Powers will be teaching China. Mrs. Rodliff will be teaching about Kenya and Ms. Schwartz will be teaching about Greece. The kids will stay with each teacher for a week and go through all classes.

Note about Gym: For the last trimester, my class will have Gym on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursday.  Please help your child remember to bring sneakers on those days.

Students will be seeing the show, Annie put on by students at WCS next Thursday, May 9th. The show will run from 12:15 to the end of the day.

Thanks. 

Mr. Bolger

April 3, 2013

Dear Parents,

Reading Restaurant is coming up: mark your calendars, reserve your seats, and help your child plan a simple costume.

Mark your calendars!:  we will have our Reading Restaurant on Thursday, April 18th. It's an evening event where parents, brothers, sisters, and grandparents can reserve a seat and then come to "dine" on your child's writing from this year. The students come dressed up as an animal (you can bend a coat hanger, stick some cardboard ears on it, and  draw some facial whiskers if you want to be a fox, for example). They all have a job such as cook, maitre d', waiter, busperson, etc. and it will be their pleasure to serve you!

We chose our restaurant name today: The Northern Lights Cafe.
We also chose our jobs and our shifts. Your child will be in the first shift or the second shift
(tentatively, the shifts  go: 6:00-6:45 and 7:00-7:45). I will notify you in the next couple of days with the exact times.

Reserve your seats by email: how many people from your family -- aside from the child I teach -- will be attending? Please email your number to me so we can plan our table  arrangements.

Help your child  plan a simple costume. Students can pick any animal that inhabits the Arctic Tundra
(ex: Arctic Fox, Reindeer, Polar Bear, Grizzly Bear, Snowy Owl, Lemming, Goose, Wolverine, Penguin, etc.)

More info to come...

Four Winds is this Friday. Please Dress Warmly.

... a note from Kim Jennings, our Four Winds coordinator...

Good Morning,

Just a reminder that we will be presenting the 4Winds program this coming Friday from 8:30 - 10:00.  This month's lesson is called, Galls Galore, and in it, we'll be looking at how some insect species spend most of their life cycle inside a gall - which is a growth on plants that provides the insect with food, shelter and protection.

Kids, please dress appropriately as we will be going outside on a "gall hunt".

- Kim Jennings

That's all for now, Folks. 

Mr. B.