Room 9 News! Term 1 , 2017

By Paula Fisher | Posted: Monday January 30, 2017

Welcome back to Kaikorai!

A big welcome to new families coming into Room 9 and welcome back to those families continuing on in Room 9 for another year! I look forward to working in partnership with you all in educating your children. Here is what is happening this term:

‘Kaik’ Values

‘This term our ‘KAIK’ value is ‘Kind.’

Inquiry

Our topics of inquiry for this term are:

· Fill Your Bucket With Kindness

· Waitangi Day

· Birds

· Leaping into Literacy through ‘The Arts.’

Fun Friday

Fun Friday will begin in week 3 (Friday 17th February) and run for 6 weeks. Our sessions begin at 1.30pm and finish at 2.45pm. If you are able to give up an hour of your time on a Friday afternoon, this would be very much appreciated.

PMP

PMP will take place on a Monday and Wednesday morning at 9.05 – 9.40am. This will begin in week 3 (Monday 13th February) and run for 6 weeks. I encourage all children to wear suitable clothing on PMP days e.g. a t-shirt and leggings, track pants or shorts for ease of movement. For this programme to be of maximum benefit to children, we do require parent support each session.

Library

Our library time will be Friday at 9.00am. Your child will need to have their library books returned to the library container in the classroom, by Friday morning.

Homework

Homework will begin in the second week of the term.

On a Monday, your child will have a poem to share with you.

Monday to Thursday your child will bring home a reading book to read to you.

On a Monday, your child will bring home their spelling notebook, with 5-8 words to learn for the week. These words will be tested in class each Friday morning.

For Mathematics, ‘Mathletics’ and ‘Xtramaths’ passwords will be sent home in your child’s spelling notebook in week 2. I have found that those children who spend a few minutes reinforcing their skills using these programmes, on a regular basis at home, do very well in retaining their basic facts and maintaining strong numeracy skills.

Help Required

I am looking for one or two parents that would be available to help with spelling testing each Friday morning. This would involve being at school at 8.30am/9.00am to test children on their spelling words after they have unpacked their bags once arriving at school. It would take approximately one hour to test all children on their spelling words, finishing by about 10.00am.

I will provide full training and assure you that this job is very straight forward!

Your Junk is our Treasure!

Outside Rooms 7 and 9 this year, we are hoping to set up a ‘Makerspace’ area for our young children. This is an area in which children have an opportunity to be creative in their own space, using their imagination.

We are looking for donations of goods, such as:

Buttons, beads, ribbon, feathers, shells, coloured paper/cardboard, popsicle sticks, stickers, cellophane and wrapping paper etc!

We are also after small, broken appliances that can be pulled apart and small tools, such as screwdrivers, that children can use to do this.

If you have anything that we could use for this new initiative, please send along to Room 9.

Meet the Teacher

On Wednesday the 15th February there will be a family picnic at school, beginning at 5.30pm. This is an opportunity to meet classroom teachers and for children to show their parents around their classrooms. I look forward to catching up with you all then.

Communication

I am always available before or after school to talk with you regarding your child and their learning. Please do not hesitate to pop in for a chat. Alternatively you can e-mail at:

[email protected]

Thank you for your support,

Paula Fisher

Room 9

Class Teacher