Christmas Party

Our class Christmas party is going to be this Friday, December 16 at my house. We will meet at school at 8:30, then hop in cars to drive to my house for the party. We will be making cake pops, playing games, eating snacks and having a white elephant gift exchange. 

For the white elephant gift exchange, I would encourage your child to bring something kind of silly and unusual. This is not a gift exchange of nice, new gifts or toys. This is a gift exchange of some used item of theirs that might be slightly funny and strange. 

School is out at noon on Friday, and we will be back at school by noon. We won't be eating lunch, but we will have snacks and treats at my house. Please send a snack/treat with your child on Friday morning. Some ideas would be: chips, pretzels, fruit, juice, or a dessert (keep in mind, we will be eating cake pops, so the sugar element will be taken care of).

Also, I need one or two drivers (depending on how many they can carry) who would be willing to drive kids to my house. Please let me know if you are able to. It would probably work best for those drivers to plan on staying for the party to drive kids back around 11:45.

One more thing! For the cake pops, I need two 9x13 cakes baked and brought to school on Friday morning. I also need two cans of cake frosting for the cake pops. This could be your contribution to our snack/treat feast. Let me know if you're able to bring either of these things, and I'll let you know what flavor the class would prefer.

Auburn Field Trip Details

Dear Parents,                                                                                                

Our Auburn field trip is coming up, and here is the information that you need for the trip! We will be leaving on the 12:10 pm ferry on Sunday, December 4. Please drop your child off at the ferry at 11:45 am with a large sack lunch with many snacks for the afternoon. We will eat lunch on the ferry. Dinner on Sunday and breakfast and lunch on Monday will be provided. We’ll return on the 3:35 pm ferry on Monday, December 5. We will arrive at the school at 5 pm on Monday, so plan on picking your child up at the school then.

On Sunday evening, we will be going to the Journey to Bethlehem that the Auburn Adventist Church puts on each year. This is a real-life, interactive, outdoor journey through ancient Bethlehem. For more information, please go to http://www.aaachurch.org/article.php?id=10. We will be outside for this event, which lasts about 30 minutes, and it is in the evening, so please send a warm coat, a hat, and gloves for your child to wear.

We will stay at Buena Vista Adventist Elementary School on Sunday night.

On Monday morning, we will be attending The Nutcracker ballet in Arlington. We will enjoy this classic Christmas production while having exposure to professional ballet. This will be a formal theater experience, so please send your child with clothes for Monday that are more dressy/church-like. A recommendation would be collared shirts, non-jean pants, skirts for the girls, etc. After the ballet, we will head back to the ferry for our return trip home.

Things to bring:

Sleeping bag

Pillow

Warm clothes for J2B

Change of dressy clothes for Monday

Toothbrush and toothpaste

Brush/comb

The fee for this field trip is $20 if you haven’t paid for the field trip package. Please send the money in by Friday, December 2.

I am still working on our activity for Sunday afternoon before Journey to Bethlehem begins. I will let you know details on that activity ASAP. Let me know if you have any questions! It will be an amazing trip where we will get to enjoy and experience many festivities of the Christmas season!

We are thankful for...

Lucien
pizza
himself

Corey
water
paper

DJ
light
being able to play football
bathrooms
the Bible
shoes

Sydney
Jesus

Cole
beds
glass
his ability to hold his breath for awhile


Skyler
Adventures in Odyssey
soccer

Logan
cake

Alaena
cookies
snow
swimming
peanut butter

Moriah
eyes that can see
a God that loves and saves us

A Reminder

On Monday 21, 2011 at 10:30 we are having state projects. If you want to you can come and watch your child as they present their presentation.

Field Trip

We had a awesome field trip to the Museum of Glass. it was amazing! there was a display that was 3d if you looked at it from the front but if you went to the other side of it, it was all flat sections of glass. after that we went to the Washington History Museum. that was really cool also. there was a mummy, a giant model train track and some rooms with displays about Washington.

Recent pics

Here are some pictures over the last couple weeks.

 Robert jumps into a pile of "leaves".

 Man time in the "leaves.

 Cole is generous for operation christmas child.

 Criss cross applesauce.

Making a canoe.

This Week's Reading Log

If you chose to describe me by calling me forgetful, I could not argue with you. The reading log didn't make it into the Friday Folder on Friday, nor did it go home Monday, nor today! So, I hope you/your child (not sure if it is parent or student reading this blog) have been doing the reading for this week. But, since I have been so delinquent with getting the reading log home, you will receive an abbreviated reading log tomorrow. You'll only have to record the reading you did for Wednesday and Thursday! Lucky you!

Needed for Upcoming Art Project...

40 plastic grocery bags (the standard kind or the kind produce comes in)

Needed by: Wed. Oct. 12

*If you have extra, they would be greatly appreciated.

**If you're wondering what we're making...come on Wednesday to find out!!! Here's a hint: it's not edible.

Field Trip Update!

Our field trip is next Thursday, October 13! It is coming up, and so I wanted to fill you in on some more information about the trip.

We will be leaving on the 6:45 am boat, and so please make sure your child is dropped off at the ferry landing at 6:20 am. Let me know if your child needs a ride to the ferry in the morning.

Here is our schedule:

6:45            Ferry leaves Orcas

8:10            Ferry arrives Anacortes

10:30            Arrive Seattle Aquarium and begin looking around (eat a snack on the way)

11:15            Program starts

12:00            Program ends & Eat lunch in aquarium

12:20            Look around aquarium some more

                    Leave Aquarium

                   Arrive Carleton’s Farm

4:00             Leave Carleton’s Farm

5:55            Arrive in Anacortes

6:25             Ferry leaves Anacortes

7:30            Ferry arrives Orcas

7:45            Arrive at school

Please pack a big lunch with lots of snacks for your child. They should also bring a water bottle. It would be good if they were dressed in clothes that they didn't mind getting dirty, as corn mazes are unpredictable and tend to be muddy!

We will be providing dinner on the ferry on the way back.

It will be a great trip and I'm looking forward to this opportunity for some hands-on learning and fun!

Highlights

Highlights of the puppet show:

The very creative, handmade puppets - each was unique!

The awesome accents some of the sharks/announcers used in the show

Baffling our audience and making them guess who was who for each puppet!

Highlights of the fall party:

Delicious (if a little messy) apple pies baked by students

Yummy treats supplied by various families

Colorful fall leaves art projects

Playing together

Highlights of next week:

Jones Island Boat Trip (either Mon, Tues, or Thurs - weather depending...we'll keep you posted)

Picture Day Wednesday (picture order forms coming home on Monday)

Back to School Night Thursday from 6:30 pm - 7 pm

Performance for Mrs. Roosma's class

Sporting our fall colors in the lovely fall weather! 

Radio SHARK

Hello! In addition to having our fall class party tomorrow, we're also putting on two performances of Radio SHARK. This will be about a 15 minute presentation with a puppet show and sharing of shark facts. Parents are welcome to join us and watch this production! All puppets have been handmade! There are two showings of this renowned production, one at 11 am and one at 11:15 am. Don't miss it!

First Day of Autumn Party

Friday is the first day of Autumn, and so we're going to celebrate with a party in our classroom! We will play a few fun fall-related games, make apple pies, create a fall art project, and do other fun, festive, fall things! If any parents would like to make a fall-related treat to share with the class, that would be great! Be sure to wear as much fall-colored clothing as you can: ORANGE, BROWN, YELLOW, AND RED!  It will be a grand celebration!

Seattle Aquarium Field Trip Update

Date: Thursday, October 13

We'll be leaving on the 6:45 am ferry (so early!) and taking the 6:25 pm ferry back to Orcas. We will spend the morning and early afternoon at the Seattle Aquarium. We will probably do one more activity either in Seattle or somewhere on the way back in addition to the aquarium. More details to come in the near future. Please let me know if you would like to go along with us and/or drive. Thanks!

Sydney and Alaena enjoying our spontaneous PE class at the lake!

Learning spelling words has never been so much fun!

Swimming for PE tomorrow!

Tomorrow, Thursday, September 8, our class will go swimming for PE! We'll get a full day's worth of school in, then take off for the lake at 1:45 and be back to school by 3:15. Bring your swimming suit and towel! The weather's been so hot lately and we need to take advantage of these warm, sunny days!

Edible Coral Polyps

We had a blast making edible coral polyps today in science! Make sure to ask your child how the zooxanthellae and the polyp are in a symbiotic relationship. They WILL know the answer, I assure you. (You might need to remind them that the zooxanthellae is the blue sprinkles!)

*Please email me (raja784@aol.com) and let me know if you would prefer your child's picture to not be displayed on our blog. Thank you.

We will being having a Find Your Desk event tomorrow evening from 4-6 pm. This is an optional event for any students who would like to have a sneak preview of the classroom and unload their school supplies into their desk. Please feel free to drop in any time during those hours and find your desk!

Date: Monday, August 29, 4-6 pm

End of Summer Party

All 4th-6th graders and their families are invited to an end of summer party at the Gregg's house! We will have a bonfire, water balloon toss, trampoline time, and other games. Please join us for this great opportunity to see our school friends!

When: Thursday, August 25 at 6:30 pm
Where: Steve and Michele Gregg's house: 316 Harper Road

I'll see you there!

School Supply List

1 Bible

Box of #2 pencils

Colored pencils

Colored markers

2 large erasers

2 red pens

Pointed scissors

Crayons

1 box Kleenex

2 glue sticks

One bottle of Elmer’s glue

Ruler (inches and metric)

Loose leaf paper – college rule (no spiral or rip-out pages)

One 1” 3-ring binder

School box to hold items listed

Plastic water bottle with lid

1 package index cards

Accordion/expandable type file folder with at least five pockets

Backpack

One dry erase marker

Rag or eraser for personal whiteboard

Post-it notes

1 composition notebook (not spiral bound)

Set of watercolors

Let me know if you have any questions about this list! :) 

Moving furniture, decorating, and...hanging flip flops?

The classroom has undergone some changes in the past several weeks! I have been rearranging the furniture and putting up decorations to get everything ready for the start of school! Here are some pictures of what the classroom looks like today.

Our new library/reading nook! The books are currently being organized and alphabetized, thanks to some awesome helpers!

This lovely mural was created by my student helpers!

With just two weeks left until the first day of school, there is lots for me to do to get ready! These pictures capture some of the progress I've made. If you're wondering why there are flip flops hanging from the ceiling, then you'll have to be there on the first day of school to find out!