Spencer/Hardin Cluster News Volume No. VI Issue No 1 August 2006
Dates to Remember: Friday, Sept. 1 and Monday, Sept. 4 - School Holidays - No School Tuesday, Sept. 12 - Swimming begins Volunteer Jobs Our cluster has many opportunities for parent volunteer hours. The following are just a few, and as we think of others, we will post those in a future newsletter: · Restock the first aid kit (see Mrs. Spencer for list and for reimbursement) · Put together the Scholastic book order (see Mrs. Spencer for directions on how) · Organize kitchen · Hang 2 blinds in upstairs small office · Make copies of student work sets · Volunteer ½ hr. each Thursday morning from 10:00-10:30 for a small group literature circle (4 students) · Retape boxes/organize board games in room Be sure to have your child wear tennis shoes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday since the students have P.E. those days! New Teacher If you haven’t had a chance to meet our intern from Stillman College, please take a moment to do so. Her name is Julia Sanders and we are so excited to have her with us!		Mathematics Students have begun the year working with such numerical concepts as place value, greater than and less than, extended and standard form of numbers, and odd and even. Each time a child completes an exercise or test, it will be scored and sent home. Please look over them so you can be up-to-date on how your child is doing. Reading As with many other areas, reading is individualized in our class. Each child reads at his/her own level. Students should read some at school and continue the book at home that night if possible. Workplan Each week students in our cluster work from a “work plan”. This work plan changes each week according to what concepts we are learning. Students are taught group lessons with respect to the concepts and then are allowed to choose which activities they would like to work on individually during work time. We have large blocks of uninterrupted work time each day for the students to work on workplans. This idea is very similar to how classrooms operate in elementary Montessori classrooms. Also, concepts are reinforced with hands-on centers and multiple intelligence learning. Please take the time to look over your child’s works plan each weekend and talk with him/her about what he/she learned during the week.