Goodbye October!!!

Wow! I can't believe it's almost November. That means my least favorite time of the year is almost here...winter!! With the weather the last couple of days it sure seems like it will be here soon. With the changing of the seasons please make sure your child is dressed appropriately. This means having to dig out the winter coats, hats, and mittens. I know I have to get them dug out at my house...hopefully I can find them after our move last weekend :) I did have several students bring winter coats and mittens today so hurray to them!!!

Our Halloween party was a big success this year. Thanks to the 4 parents that volunteered to carve pumpkins and to Lauren's family for donating the pumpkins this year. You all sure made my job a little easier allowing me to help all groups and to take pictures. We ended the party with a veggie tray and Charlie Brown. It's amazing how the Charlie Brown movies are always a hit year after year. Gotta love them!!

Here are a few other reminders:
**Tomorrow are picture retakes. If your child is getting them taken again have them return their old pictures.

**October book-it is due on Friday or Monday. I sure hope everyone was busy reading this past month. I'm excited to see how many reached their own personal goals!! The November calendar will go home on Monday.

**We go to the nursing homes next Wednesday to read and sing to the residents. They have requested that students wear their costumes. So...please don't tuck away the costumes after Sunday. Your child will need it again. Your child doesn't have to bring a costume but it sure would be fun to see everyone dressed up!

**Conferences are this week. I had super conversations with several parents last night and I look forward to meeting with the rest tomorrow night. I am very proud of my 2A students this year: they have been working really hard in the classroom and showing me amazing Cadet Pride! Way to go Cadets! Due to conferences we do not have school this Friday. Enjoy your day off kiddos!!!

I hope everyone has a fun and safe Halloween. Stay warm!!!!!!

Read...read...read

I am very proud to say that my 2nd graders have been working VERY hard during literacy time!! Thank you for reading with your child at home as well...they have been making a ton of progress already!

When your child is reading at home encourage him/her to use reading strategies to sound out the words. There are the strategies they know:

Chunk the sounds
Go back and reread
Look at the pictures
Cross Checking (Does it look right? Does it sound right? Does it make sense?)
Skip the word...read to the end of the sentences and come back

We have also been working really hard at reading the punctuation. This means that readers need to change their voice for the different type of sentence stoppers. I hope your child is practicing this at home :)

Once again, thanks for reading with your child at home and I hope all of my little readers are working hard to reach their October book-it goal!!!!

Wrapping up Science

We took our first field trip today...hurray!! The students did a fabulous job listening at both Plantpeddler locations! First, we went to the Plantpeddler Young Plants location. We learned that they have more than 350,000 plants in that greenhouse. It was A LOT of plants. A lot of them were poinsettias for Christmas time. We got to watch their machine wash the huge trays that the plants sit on. That was really cool. We learned they water the plants using a machine called a boom. It can move over the plants and people can even ride on it! At the second site (along the highway) we got to try cucumbers and tomatoes. They were delicious!!! The cucumbers were seedless. Finally we got to see three different plants that have unusual plant defenses. One of them was a Venus Fly Trap - we were really excited since we'd just been talking about that type of plant defense!! Ask your child what else they learned...

Attention: Pumpkin Carvers

I am searching for volunteers who would like to help at our Halloween party. I need pumpkin carvers:) The party is on Wednesday, October 27th from 12:30-1:30. If you are able to help, please send a note with your child and I will get back to you.

Also, in the past I have bought pumpkins for students to carve during our party. However, if you would like to donate a pumpkin to the classroom that would be wonderful!!! Once again, please contact me.

Thanks in advance for your support and help!!

Fire Station

What an amazing day for a field trip!!! We couldn't have asked for better weather :)

After lunch/recess we took off walking for the fire station. Since it was fall fitness day it was perfect that we were walking. The kids thought it was a little long, especially on the way back, but they had fun walking through all the leaves and crunching them!!

When we got to the fire station we had 3 stations. For one station, a fireman showed us around the fire station and showed us all the trucks they use. The kids were sure full of lots of questions and were amazed by some of the tools they use during fires!

For another station, a fireman discussed fire safety. It's great for the students to review this every year and they were very interested. One of the main points was that every family needs to know 2 ways out of their house and how to get to the family's meeting area. Please discuss this with your child. The second point was that if someone is on fire they have to STOP DROP and ROLL!! Great review!

The final station was a change from the past several years. Usually I have to dress up in the fireman's clothes and the students all get to spray me. Not this year.... :) This year everyone got a turn to spray one of the fire trucks. Yippee for me!!!!

The students had a super time on the field trip and showed great Cadet Pride!!! Please discuss fire safety with your child at home. Thanks!

Deals on Wheels

Deals on Wheels is coming our way again this year!!! Mrs. Butler's 6th graders will come to our class each Friday to sell us things. If your child wishes to purchase something, please send money to school that day. The profits from the sales go toward the student activity fund and for her students to visit local businesses and the Chamber of Commerce at the end of the school year.

They will sell:

Magnets $0.25
Pencils $0.35
Tattoos $0.50
Pens $0.50
Wristbands $2.00
Seat Cushions $4.00

They hope to add folders and water bottles soon.

This is totally optional. Thanks for your support and for showing Cadet Pride!

Class Parties

Our class will be having a class party for Valentine’s Day, Halloween, and Christmas. We are asking that you please donate $4.00 to go towards the class party fund. From this fund, refreshments and any necessary supplies will be purchased. Please send $4.00 in an envelope to school with your child. Thanks!

Homecoming Week

Next week is homecoming...YIPPEE!!!!!

To show our Crestwood Pride we are having dress up days next week:

Monday: hay day
Tuesday: Wear your favorite sports jersey day
Wednesday: Workout day (wear sweats/track pants)
Thursday: Twin day
Friday: Blue and white day

These days are optional so students do not have to participate. We will have a 3 hour early dismissal on Friday, October 8 for the homecoming parade.

Go Crestwood Cadets!!!

Crestwood's Piggy Bank

Yesterday we kicked off our annual fundraiser here at Crestwood Elementary. Once again, we are doing the Chip Shoppe fundraiser which is what we have done for many years now. The reason for the fundraiser is to fill our schools "piggy bank". We use this money to go on all of our yearly field trips - and we go on some pretty cool ones!!! This is totally optional so please do not feel like your child has to sell items or that you have to buy something.

Here are a few details:
**The fundraiser goes for 2 weeks. Your child can return the order form/money to me when it is over

**If you need another order form we have extras here at school

**If your child sells 25 items he/she gets the pizza party and limo ride

**If you have multiple children the family goal for the limo ride is 50 items

**If we beat our amount sold from last year we get the Mega Party again :)

**The top selling class gets a pizza party

**If a child sells 60 items he/she goes in to the money machine


Once again...this is TOTALLY OPTIONAL. If you choose to participate...Thanks!!