yarnot

WEEK 7 NEWSLETTER

Dear Yellow Jacket Parents,

      We had a great week learning about things we CAN do and things that we just "CAN'T" do!  I hope your children had a great time showing you things they can and can't do, and didn't trick you too badly with our little "experiments" of things we can't do!  :)  We had a great time! 

ACADEMICS for Next Week:

Language Arts:  Our story is Little Elephant.

Math: Beginning Chapter 4:  More addition strategies

Writing: Writing stories and publishing.  Continue working on capitals and punctuation. 

Science: Weather Unit Continued

PICTURE RETAKES:

Picture retakes will be on October 4th.  If you are interested in getting your child's pictures retaken, please make sure you send us a note on the morning of October 4th, so we make sure your child gets to the media center for a retake.  Please also include a note if your child missed the picture day, and needs to take a picture that day.  This will help us organize a group to go together that day.  Thank you SO much for your help ahead of time. 

OCTOBERFEST:

Octoberfest is Saturday, October 6th, 2007!  This event is lots of fun, and who knows who you might see there! (*Hint! Hint!*) :)  If you've never been to the Octoberfest, it is an event you don't want to miss!  We have a secret auction where you can bid for your child to have a fabulous afternoon outing with Mrs. Jollands and I at Chuck E. Cheese.  Check it out....We hope to have a great time with your child! 

MAKE A DIFFERENCE DAY IN HONOR OF DR. KAREN LOOFT

On Saturday, October 27, 2007, we are planning on honoring Dr. Karen Looft by participating in a MAKE A DIFFERENCE day.  You and your family can choose a service project ... any service project to participate in that day.  "You don't have to join anything, or register, or donate any money... all you have to do is "do something".  No project is too small, so long as its goal is the betterment of the community.  For ideas about what you might consider doing, log onto http//www.usaweekend.com/diffday/index.html. to find something that fits you and your family."  Enjoy a day with your family and remember Dr. Looft's caring spirit that made a difference in all of our lives.  :) 

THANK YOU!!!!

Thank you to all of our parents for getting the picture money or pictures turned in within the first week of getting them!  You all did a great job!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

DATES TO REMEMBER:

Thurday, October 4th       Picture Day Make Up   

Saturday, October 6th      Octoberfest

Wednesday, October 17   Early Release & Gift Wrap Delivery

Monday, October 22         Report Cards Go Home

Wednesday, October 24    Birthday Book Club         7:20am

Saturday, October 27        National Day of Service in Honor of Dr. Karen Looft

Wednesday, October 31    "I LOVE A BOOK" Day... Look for Upcoming Information

HOMEWORK TONIGHT!!!!

FOR THIS WEEK ONLY: 

Reading homework is going to be switched for this week only... tonight is "Free Read" night and your child's reading books will come home tomorrow night.  We are out for a meeting this afternoon, and don't want to put too much on the substitute, so please use tonight for Free Read night, and tomorrow night, your child will bring home another book to read to you. 

Thanks so much,

Caryn and Kelly

WEEK 6 NEWSLETTER

Dear Yellow Jacket Parents,

       We've had a great week, and are looking forward to next week, too!  Lots is going on next week as we finish up our month of September!  WOW!  How time flies when we're having fun!!!  :) 

ACADEMIC:

Language Arts:  We will begin our new story:  Bet You Can't,  and on Friday, we will have a day to Celebrate what we CAN do!!!!  So, be on the lookout for a letter about our "BET YOU CAN" Day!!!

Math:  We are beginning Unit 2... all about addition and subtraction.  We will continue learning about addition and subtraction in depth.

Writing:  We are working on publishing our first stories in first grade.  Continue working with you little ones are making EXCITING sentences and don't forget the punctuation!  :) 

Science:  Weather continues... we will be learning all about the water cycle and how weather effects us.

HOMEWORK:
Math:  Thursday, September 20th, there is NO MATH HOMEWORK.  We had our post test to this unit today.  We are giving the children the night off from Math Homework!  Enjoy the extra time!!!!

Poetry:  On Thursday Nights, your child should bring his/her Poetry Notebook home.  Please have your child pick 5 poems to read to you.  Each week, have your child pick 5 new poems to read to you.  We are trying to encourage nightly reading to help build stronger readers, and to help your child build reading fluency.  :)  Thank you.

PICTURES:
Your child brought home his/her pictures this afternoon.  We need some type of response back tomorrow.... whether you are buying them (send in your check) or if you are not, (send the pictures back to school).  The office is strongly encouraging us to get these back to them ASAP!!!!!  Please make sure you send them in no later than Monday morning!  Thank you SO much!!!!

Also, if you would like to have your child do retakes, please note the date for retakes is October 4th. 

COGAT TESTING:

Please make sure that your child is ready for our COGAT Testing on September 26, 27 and 28.  We encourage all of our children to make sure to get plenty of sleep the nights before, eat a healthy breakfast with lots of protein, and to come to school a little earlier than 7:50 on those specific mornings.  Please make sure to make this time to help your child in these critical testing days... and every day... It helps your child learn!!!!  :) 

DATES TO REMEMBER: 

September 26-28   COGAT Testing         

September 26        Birthday Book Club        7:20am

September 28        I CAN DO IT DAY

October 4              Picture Retakes

October 6              Octoberfest

We are truly enjoying the time we are spending with your little ones!  We hope you are enjoying the work that you are see coming home.  :)  If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.  We are here to help with whatever we can!!!  Have a great rest of the week and a wonderfully relaxing weekend! 

Smiles,

Caryn and Kelly

Week 5 Newsletter

Dear Yellow Jacket Parents,

      You didn't miss Week 4 Newsletter... We didn't have a Week 4 Newsletter.  So, there's lots of information in our Week 5 Newsletter... Be sure to read it carefully!!!!  :)  We have enjoyed another fun-filled week with your children.  Thank you again for sharing them with us. 

ACADEMICS:

Language Arts:  Next week's story is An Egg is An Egg. 

Math:  We will finish up Chapter 2 and take a Chapter 2 Math Test next week.

Writing:  We are still working on learning about writing sentences and paragraphs.

Science: We are still working on our Weather Unit.

SCHOLASTIC BOOK ORDERS:

    You will be receiving a book order on Friday, September 14, 2007.  It is due back to school on Monday, September 17, 2007.  This is a great way to order books for your home library for great prices.  It also helps us earn points with Scholastic to order books for our classroom.  Please only send check or money orders in for payments.  We will not be accepting cash because Scholastic doesn't accept cash.  Thank you in advance for your help and participation.

CLASSROOM DIRECTORY:

If you haven't sent your information into Mr. Raschke, please make sure to send the following information to Mr. Raschke by Friday, September 14, 2007. 

Student's Name

Parent/Guardian's Name

Phone Number

Address

Email

READING BOOKS:

The Tuesday night reading books that are coming home are meant to be easy reading for your child.  This is to boost your child's confidence in reading, and to help in your child's reading success!  Please don't worry if your child is able to read these books without a problem.  We want them to be successful readers and this strategy is used to help build your child's confidence. 

HIGHLIGHTS ORDER FORMS:

The Highlights Order Forms that came home last week and will be coming home this week just need you to fill out "yes" or "no" and sign the form.  We are not encouraging or discouraging these forms, but for every order form we receive from you, we get "FREE" Classroom gifts... whether they are yes or no doesn't matter... as long as they are signed.  They send us about 4 of these order forms a year, and we know they are a pain, but it helps us receive free gifts for the classroom... SO, if you don't mind taking a few minutes to fill them out, we would greatly appreciate it!  :)  Thank you!

4TH GRADE BUDDIES:

Our fourth grade buddies stopped by on Monday to read stories to us and meet us for the first time.  The children were so excited to work with their new friends, and the 4th graders were thrilled to have new friends too.  We will be meeting with our 4th grade buddies once a month for the rest of the year.  The dates will vary as different occasions arise during the different months. 

DONATIONS:

We are in need of a few things for our classroom.  If you are willing to help us out,  please send in the following items:

Candy  (Halloween Candy is out, and on sale... I bought a couple of bags last night)  :) 

Sand

Gallon Size Gladlock Bags

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!  Ya'll have been so supportive and wonderful!  Thank you for all that you do for your child and for us!  We really appreciate all of your help throughout the year!!!!  Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! 

Note from Caryn:

Thank you to everyone who was concerned with my absence last week!  I really appreciate your kind words and concern.  I'm feeling much better and hope not to be out due to illness again this year.  :)  Thank you, again!

Smiles,

Caryn and Kelly

PERSONAL INFORMATION NEEDED FOR CLASS DIRECTORY

Hello Yellow Jacket Parents!!!!
     We are in need of some IMMEDIATE INFORMATION!!!!  Mr. Raschke has been fabulous enough to come in and take pictures of your children for our Classroom Directory.  However, he does not have all of your information to put into our directory.  Please send the following information to Mr. Raschke as soon as possible, as I know your children and some of our parents are excited to get them.  We hope to have all of you send your information to Mr. Raschke by Friday, September 14, 2007. 

Information Needed:

Your child's name

Parents/Guardians' Names

Address

Phone Number

Email Address

Please send all of the above information to Mr. Raschke at ric_-_rac@earthlink.net   

Thank you for your quick responses!!!! We really appreciate them!!!!
Smiles,

Caryn and Kelly