Week 5

Weekly Greetings!

I hope you have all had a successful hunting season, and have the meat you need for the winter months. We will be back to a full five day week, and as always there are lots of good things planned for the class. Most important to remember is that there will be a professional photographer at school on Thursday to take pictures. Also, the students can look forward to seeing Mrs. Lundy, the school councilor, on Friday.

The cross country track meet last Thursday was a great success! I am posting a few pictures of our class from the event. The picture below was taken just before the start. Everyone was excited to participate!

K-5th grades from Northway, Mentasta, and Tok competed together in a 1/2 mile run. Mr. Holmes started the group off in the next two pictures.

Within a few minutes, the leader headed down the home stretch and it was Terrence from our 2nd grade class! He had quite a lead on the rest of the group. He was the first place finisher at a time of 3:50.

After the K-5th race, we watched and cheered for the older students that ran a 2.5 mile race.

After returning from the awards ceremony, the class had some center time to settle down from all the excitement. The new listening center is becoming a favorite with some students.

On Friday, we had the first birthday of the school year! We were treated to cupcakes and some special snacks. For a short three day week, it was packed with special events!

I will be sending homework home all four nights this week, and also book logs for the Seasonal Readers program. Some students have really enjoyed taking books home to read each night and have been very responsible to return them the next day. Thank you for your support with this incentive program!

Have a wonderful week!

Kind Regards,

Julie Brown

Week 4

Weekly Greetings!

With two short weeks, last week and this week, this month will be over before we know it! The students continue to be eager to learn, and over the last few weeks we have been focusing on how each one of them are special. On Thursday, they found items out of magazines to make an "I like..." page to share what they liked and why to continue the classroom bonding we have been doing since starting school. Many of the older students are really getting good at speaking and expressing themselves clearly.

In Science this week, we will be starting a new unit on soils and will be observing changes in composted soils when live worms are in the mix. In addition, we have completed the "Smart Start" review units for each grade and will be moving into new themes in Language Arts and reading. The 1st and 2nd grades will also be bringing home spelling words weekly now. Please read the additional information sent home with your child's homework that explains each theme. There will only be two nights of homework again this week due to the shortened week for hunting days. Students reading at home will be able to take another leaf off the "Seasonal Readers" tree for this month if they have read 4 books over the last two weeks. If you have misplaced last week's log, or sent in in already, I have included another one with this week's homework.

Enjoy the beautiful fall weather this week!

Kind Regards,
Julie Brown

Week 3

Weekly Greetings!

The start of school has gone really well over the first full two weeks! The students have settled into routines quickly and we have done some fun activities. Last week in addition to finishing our "Six Keys" books and making a school promise, we made "Muddy Buddies" and wrote thank you letters to give to the forestry people that fought the Long Lake fire. The treats turned out great and it was fun to have something to share when we had our field trip on Friday. The photos to follow are of the two groups making the snack food.

Over the last two weeks, we have also been discussing many important social skills such as kind acts, recognizing bullying, how each one is special, and working together. Each grade group made a puzzle piece sharing what they felt good about doing and put their puzzle together.

We continued to get to know each other better through sharing items brought to school in the "All About Me!" bag I gave to them all. 

On Wednesday, we were able to experience a live presentation from Australia to learn about Tasmanian Devils living in a zoo there. There were 20 groups and 300 students from all over the state that participated.

The kindergarten students are learning their alphabet letter names and sounds using a fun program called Zoo Phonics. They were able to go on an animal hunt to match the Zoo Phonics animal to the letter and sound it matched on Thursday. The kindergarten students found all 26 animals and matched the letters correctly, with some help from the older students.

Friday morning, the rain slowed enough for us to go to the nearby burn area and hear from Ted Morris of the forestry department about the large fire that was fought to protect the village last summer. He shared that at one point, it was the number one priority of all fires in the United States. Every student had a story to tell about the fire and what they saw, and also asked some really good questions.

This will be a short week with there not being any school on Friday. Please remember that there is also no school the following Monday and Tuesday to allow five days with the weekend for hunting. If you would like to order books from the book club order forms I sent home, you can just fill out the order form and send the money in by Thursday so I can get them ordered over the hunting break. Also, I hope to see you all at the Welcome Back Open House on Wednesday from 3:30 to 5pm. Please come and see some of the projects your child has worked on over the last two weeks.

Enjoy the lovely fall colors and kind regards,
Julie Brown

Week 2

 Weekly Greetings!

We had a great first week back to school! The students all seemed excited to be back and ready to learn. Also, thank you for getting all the paperwork signed and returned to the school so quickly. Not only can all the students use the ipad programs in class, but we are also all set for a field trip to the Long Lake burn area on Friday with Ted Morris from the forestry department.

A big highlight from the week was the new rock-climbing wall in the gym. The class just could not get enough of the physical challenge it presented!

 On one of the nicer days, we were also able to go outside for PE and play a tag game after learning about the negative effects of junk food. Two students were "it" and had soft balls to tag with that were called sugar and fat. The only way a tagged person could get free was to call out for help from someone not tagged yet saying "Eat right!".

 After the game, the students enjoyed some time on the playground equipment.

 Not only did we begin learning about the "Six Keys" to a positive classroom, but each student also made a representation of himself or herself with a positive statement to put up on our class "Inspirational Wall" to encourage each other.

 On Thursday, the class went on a numbers "Moose Hunt" to find paper moose with numbers on them.

 Then the moose had to be put in order and matched to the numbers on our floor.

 That day we also made a real and picture graph to find out if there are more girls or boys in our class this year. It turns out that there are eight boys and six girls. So, the students could easily see that there are two more boys than girls.

 

Center time at the end of the day is always a highlight for younger children. This year I painted an area with chalkboard paint and it seems to be a big hit.

 In addition, we have six ipads for the class this year and everyone is excited to use them. There are many learning programs available and they will also be using Raz-Kids Reading as a rotation during our reading time.

 The kindergarten students are finding all the classroom toys to be new and are sharing together very well!

 At the end of the week, students had time to share things they brought into school with the "All About Me!" bags I sent home on Thursday.  Everyone enjoys seeing what is brought in and asking questions. If your child forgot to bring their bag in on Friday, they can bring it in this week to start off the years sharing something about themselves.

This week we will discuss the last two of our "Six Keys" They are:

Valued Purpose- The book to be used is another Rainbow Fish book called Hidden Treasure and the main point is that each one of us are special and we will be having valuable learning experiences while in school this year. The craft for the Kindergarten is a golden key with a shell filled with precious treasures in it to tie into the story.  Another compare and contrast page will be completed by the 1^st and 2^nd grade students. For a symbol we will pat our hearts because the students are full of gifts and treasure in their hearts that they will discover this year. For the treat they will all get a rich Dove chocolate, just like each one of them is full of rich hidden treasure inside.

Success- The book used will be The Little Engine That Could. We will discuss how to be successful by not giving up and “thinking we can” do things even when it might seem hard. For a symbol we will use two thumbs up, and again the Kindergarten students will make another golden key showing a trophy for success. The 1^st and 2^nd grades will complete the last page for their compare and contrast book. An Almond Joy treat is the special treat for the key because the students will be filled with joy when they succeed.

When we finish all six keys, we will revisit each key and discuss everything the students remember about what every key will look like in our classroom. Each student will have their own key book to help them remember what is needed for a successful year. Then I will read The Hare and the Tortoise, and discuss never giving up despite how impossible something may appear. Each student will make a school promise that is recorded on a worksheet with a picture showing themselves keeping their promise. The promises will be posted on the Commitment Wall in the hallway by the office, and displayed all year.

Monday this week, I will start sending homework home four nights a week. If your child does their homework each night they will get to pick a prize on Friday. With your parent letter this week, I have also included information on the Seasonal Readers activity to encourage nightly reading. There will be a Reading Log attached to record the books read each week and we will tally how many each child has read through the school year. This month each student will take a leaf off a fall tree on the Seasonal Readers wall each Friday. There will also be a Scholastic Book order form with the homework, if you would like me to place an order for books you can read at home. If you see something you like, please return the order form back to me with the money needed to cover the cost by Sept. 10. That way the books should be here by the end of September.

If you have any questions, please feel free to call the school or stop by. Have a great week!

Kind Regards,
Julie Brown

Starting School

Greetings as we begin our 2015-2016 school year!

For those of you that have students in my class for the first year, my name is Mrs. Julie Brown and I am very excited about the opportunity to be the Kindergarten through 2nd grade teacher again at the Walter Northway School this year. This will be my fourth year with the Alaska Gateway School District. I have a genuine passion to teach children of any age, and I honestly do "whatever it takes" to see children succeed.

For the next two weeks, I will be teaching about six key things we need in our classroom to have a successful year. This week I will address four topics:

Each day I will introduce a new key by reading an age appropriate story that is connected with the focus key. We will then talk about what that key could look like in our class. The next step will be to create a symbol that represents that key and do a craft that shows a picture of something relating to that key. Finally, the students will have a special little treat that symbolizes the key. The basic examples of the symbols, treats, and books are:

1.) Safety- The book to be used is a humorous book called Never Ride Your Elephant to School. We will then discuss what it means to have a safe class and things we can do to help each other be safe. For a symbol, we will cradle our arms like rocking a baby. The Kindergarten will make a craft that is a golden key with a safety ring attached to it. The 1^st and 2^nd grade students will draw themselves doing some of the safe things we discussed, then they will draw what it would look like if they broke the safety rule. Life Savers will be the treat because we can help each other stay safe.

2.) Love and Belonging- The book we will use is Rainbow Fish. The focus is that fish school and stay together to create a caring community. We will discuss what it looks like to have a feeling of love and belonging in our classroom.  For a symbol we will cross our arms as a hug, and younger students will create another golden key with a rainbow fish on it.  The 1^st and 2^nd grade students will again make a compare and contrast page of respecting the key, as compared to breaking the rule. A Hershey’s Hug will be the treat because we love and care for each other.

3.) Freedom and Independence- The book to be used is All By Myself.  We will talk about how the little boy in the story is learning to do things on his own. The more we can do independently, the more freedoms we can have in our classroom. Then we will reflect on how we can model that in our class. For a symbol we will use waving our arms to fly like a Superhero, because they are all super students with lots of potential. Each group will do a similar craft to remember the key. To celebrate the lesson we will have a Starburst fruit treat because each student is bursting with star power.

4.) Fun and Enjoyment- The book we will read is Amazing Grace. Using Grace’s fun loving experiences, we will talk about what it looks like to have fun and be happy in our classroom. For a symbol we will use big smiles, and each younger student will create another golden key with a smiley face. The 1^st and 2^nd grade students will continue to make a compare and contrast page of respecting the key, as compared to breaking the rule. A Twizzler treat will be twisted into a smile as the treat because when we have fun we smile and are happy.

When we finish all six keys, we will revisit each key and discuss everything the students remember about what every key will look like in our classroom. Each student will have their own key book to help them remember what is needed for a successful year. Then I will read The Hare and the Tortoise, and discuss never giving up despite how impossible something may appear. Each student will make a school promise that is recorded on a worksheet with a picture showing themselves keeping their promise. The promises will be posted on the Commitment Wall in the hallway and displayed all year.

Next week I will teach about the last two keys, Valued Purpose and Success. I will have more on that in my next blog post. Also next week, I will be starting to send home nightly homework on Monday through Thursday. Please remind your child to return their homework bag daily.

Everyday, I will be sending home a ‘GO FOR GOOD BEHAVIOR” card. Please be looking for it daily. 

On the first day of every week, I will be sending home a letter explaining important events taking place in our classroom. In addition, I will be posting the information on a blog on the internet at: www.k12wnsnews.blogspot.com.

Furthermore, I would like to post pictures and attached a permission form with the parent letter sent home on the first day of school. I would like it returned by the end of the week, if possible. On the same page as the Internet release, and the district will be sending home a more involved form for you to sign too. I have added a local outings permission slip for the school year. If we will be going beyond the Northway village area, I will send home a specific permission slip at that time. On Sept. 4 we will be going out to the Long Lake burn with Peter Talus from the Tok forestry department, so please get these to me as soon as you can.

If you have any questions, please contact me at the school or email me at: jbrown@agsd.us. I am looking forward to an amazing year with the students of Northway!

Kind Regards,

Julie Brown