Ms. Oaks' teacher page

May 18th

2011-05-18T14:54:00.001-07:00

Dear Parents,
I was set to send home a detailed list of end-of-the-year activities today, however with the downpour, I'll wait until tomorrow.(Who wants to read a soaking wet paper?)

Regarding the park on Friday, the weather forecast is for rain in the afternoon. We will attempt to go to the park in the morning. If need be, we will bring the food back here and eat.

Please note: Free dress day has been changed to next Tuesday May 24th. It is NOT this Friday the 20th.

If anyone is available to help after field day, I'll be moving tables, chairs and shelves out into the hall. I will order pizza for helpers!
Ms. Oaks

May 13, 2011

2011-05-13T15:41:00.000-07:00

Dear Families,
As we get ready to wind up the school year, here are the date of special activities:

Thursday May 19th- clean out cubbies, bring your pet to carpool*

Friday May 20th -      park day (permission slip required)

Monday May 23rd-   movie day

Tuesday May 24th     egg drop, board games ,picnic lunch, read- a- thon
Wednesday May 25th - field day

PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE WILL BE NO HOT LUNCH ON TUESDAY, MAY 24TH. YOUR CHILD MUST BRING A LUNCH BOX OR SACK LUNCH.

* Bring your pet to carpool means from 3:00-3:30p.m. we will meet outside on the South playground. If you are available to come and bring a pet, that's great. If not, please don't worry. It's not mandatory!
If you decide to participate, please follow these guidelines:
a) One pet per family
b)The pet must be on a leash or in a kennel and under control at all times. A parent must be present to make sure the pet and children are safe.
PLEASE NOTE:
PETS MAY NOT COME INSIDE THE SCHOOL BUILDING.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at schoool.
Ms. Oaks
noaks@bromleyeastcs.org
720-865-3297 ex161

May 6th

2011-05-06T14:54:00.000-07:00

Dear Parents,
A permission slip went home in today's Friday folder for our park day on May 20th. All three lower elementary Montessori classes will attend. It will be a time to fly kites, play frisbee, and enjoy other fun park activites. We will have a potluck lunch. Our class will bring drinks and desserts. There is a spot on the bottom of the permission slip for you to let me know what you would like to bring.PARENTS ARE INVITED TO JOIN US FOR SOME OR ALL OF THE DAY! It promises to be great fun.Please let me know if you have any questions.
Ms. Oaks

May 5, 2011

2011-05-05T18:54:00.000-07:00

Dear Parents,
Montessori Play
A note went home yesterday with details for our play on Friday, May 6th. The children are to bring a green shirt and black pants to school on Friday. They will wear them for the 2:30 dress rehearsal.
We will be performing the play for families Friday evening at 6:30. Please make sure your child is at school by 6:15, dressed in costume. We will meet outside the music room.

Ms. Oaks

Friday April 22, 2011

2011-04-22T15:30:00.000-07:00

Dear Parents,
Here are some important dates to mark on your calendar:
Friday May 6th - 6:30p.m.
Our first event of the day will be our classes' final Young Author's Breakfast for the year. The children will poetry they have written.

That evening, we will present our 5th annual Montessori play, Biomes: Animals and Plants in Their Habitats. Please note that children must oe here and dressed by 6:15. Our class is dressing in green tee shirts and black pants.

Friday May 13- 5:00-9:00pm
Montessori 3rd graders are invited to a special evening of acivities to celebrate your accomplishments and spend time together before moving to 4th grade. We will begin on the baseball diamond. We will play games, have a pizza dinner and watch a movie. Parents are welcome to stay for some or all of the evening.

Have a great weekend,
Ms. Oaks

2011-04-09T19:56:00.000-07:00

Dear Parents,
Curriculum
  Bartholemew Bones (a 6 ft skeleton) was the center of attention this past week as we began our study of the skeletal system. Several of the students took on the the challenge to learn the major bones so they can lead "Simon says". (Our version will be Bartholemew says... and we will name the bones).
  In addition to learning the names of the bones, we began an experiment testing the effect on bones when immersed in different liquids. We have 3 chicken bones, each in a different cup. One cup is filled with milk, one with water and one with vinegar. We are observing and charting changes. Next week will learn what makes up bone.

  In writing we are ready to begin our study of poetry. This will include the formats for acrostic, haiku, cinquain and diamante. We will also be memorizing some poetry; oh what fun!

Upcoming Field trip
   This is a friendly reminder that all the Montessori elementary classes will be going to the zoo on Thursday April 14th. Please make sure your child has a sack lunch as well as comfortable walking shoes. Many thanks to those of you who volunteered to chaperone. It promises to be an educational trip!

Specials schedule for the coming week
Monday- art
Tuesday-music
Wednesday-PE
Thursday-library
Friday-art

Have a good week,
Ms. Oaks

2011-03-30T20:29:00.000-07:00

Dear Parents,
  Hopefully you are enjoying some time with your young ones this week. If the wind calms down, maybe there will be kite flying?!?
Curriculum Update
When we return from spring break, we will begin our study of human anatomy, beginning with the muscular and skeletal systems. We will have a special visitor, Bartholemew Bones, to help us learn the skeletal system. Bartholemew is a life-size skeleton that belongs to a friend of mine. He has visited Bromley before, and the children have been intrigued.
  In preparation for our trip to the zoo is April 14th, we will review classification of vertebrates (fish, amphibian, reptiles, birds and mammals) . Beginning the third week in April, we will begin our study of invertebrate animals.
  In Geography we continue to learn about biomes. The week of April 4th we will focus on prairies.

Specials Schedule for the week of April 4th
Monday- library
Tuesday-art
Wednesday-music
Thursday-P.E.
Friday- library

Dates to remember
*Friday April 8th- Young Authors Breakfast 8:30-9:15 in our classroom
*Thursday April 14th-  trip to the zoo
*Friday May 6th 6:30 p.m. -our Montessori play: "Biomes" Animals and Plants in Their Habitats

   Thank your for the many "little" things you do to nurture your child(ren). It is a true delight to work with children who are so well cared for.

Fondly,
Ms. Oaks

March 20th, 2011- Happy Spring!

2011-03-20T18:03:00.000-07:00

Dear Parents,
The children remain excited as we explore earth's biomes. We began discovering how plants and animals adapt to climate.

This coming week the 3rd graders will take the last section of CSAP exams. They have math tests on Tuesday March 22nd and Wednesday March 23rd. Thank you again, for making sure your child gets a good night sleep the night before the test. Also, a nutritious breakfast the day of the test goes a long way!

As a reminder, if you have not returned your child's permission slip for our trip to the zoo, it is due Friday March 25th.

Happy Spring!
Ms. Oaks

report cards

2011-03-16T20:40:00.000-07:00

Dear Parents,
If you did not receive your child's 3rd quarter report card at conferences , you may look for it in this week's Friday folder. As usual, feel free to contact me with any questions.
Ms. Oaks

Spring Play

2011-03-15T18:28:00.000-07:00

Dear Parents,
Please mark your calendar for our 5th annual Montessori play! All the Montessori classes will be performing Biomes:Animals and Plants in Their Habitats. on Friday May 6th at 6:30 p.m in the school cafeteria. The children are excited about it and love learning about animals and where they live.
Ms. Oaks

Thursday March 10th,2011

2011-03-10T10:45:00.000-08:00

Dear Parents,
Permission Slip
In your child's Friday folder this week you will find a permission slip for our spring field trip. Even though many of the children have been to the Denver Zoo, we will be looking at it from the perspective of animals and their biomes. In the next few weeks we will continue our study of biomes, habitats and eco-systems.

Sandwiches for the Brighton Food Pantry
Our class will be making sandwiches for the food pantry on Monday March 14th in the afternoon. We will need donations of bread, meat and cheese. In addition, we will need a volunteer to take the sandwiches to the food pantry on Tuesday moring about 9:00am.

3rd grade CSAP
Next week on Tuesday March 15th and Wednesday March 16th, the 3rd graders will take the writing portion of the CSAP. Once again, it is important to help your child get a good night sleep and a nutritious breakfast.

Conferences
Most of you have returned your conference sheet with your preference of times. If you have questions, or still have it for some reason, feel free to e-mail or phone me and we can set up a time.

Have a good weekend,
Ms Oaks

Have a good weekend,
Ms. Oaks

2011-03-09T15:36:00.000-08:00

On Friday March 4th, our class put on the play Grammarosaurus.

We traveled to Scotland in our imaginations and met grammarosauri(dinosaurs who are experts in grammar.)They taught us about parts of speech, punctuation, and so much more!

The backdrop you see is a newpaper, with Nessie (the Loch Ness Montoser).

Alison and Jaydah sing about commas.

My favorite letter is I. It stands up high, sing Cade, Lucas and Gavin.

How do you make a plural? Can't I just add an s?

Mason talk things over with Colby, Bradena and Colton.

Singing with classmates.

Tori and John sing about contractions. Tori is holding the 0 that falls out before the apostrophe is inserted.

Nicky shows us that some plurasls are regular, and some are irregular. "Voice becomes voices, choice becomes choices."

Sam Swamwater, roving reporter(played by Mason) has a conversations with a tourist (Nicky) about plurals as Colby looks on.

Nicky, Sean, Tori and John sing about contractions. "Who know apostrophe's could be so fun?"

Katie, Braden, Colby and Mason have a conversation about how to end a sentence. "Question mark, period, exclamation point, these I highly recommend!"

Derick, Faith, Aidan and Zach sing about subject/verb agreement." If the subject's singular, then so's the verb!"

Dr. Pickwick, an animal psychologist, played tried to figure out why to grammarosori insisted on being quotation marks! This part was played by Braden.

Colby and Nicky play Mark 1 and Mark 2, the quotation marks.

Nessie, played by Dylan, is interviewed by Sean and Peyton. They discover he's really rather friendly!

Katie shows us her punctuation grammarosaurus shirt. She's still trying to teach us how to end a sentence!

Many thanks to Natalie Beck who was our photographer for the occasion.

Were back in the swing!

2011-03-06T21:36:00.000-08:00

Dear Parents,

Thank you
For each of you who spent countless hours listening to songs and practicing lines for our play, many thanks! The children worked hard and were so glad to have a receptive audience! I'm sure they will be singing the songs for a while to come, which is a good sign. This means they'll be thinking about spelling and grammar rules!

Spring Conferences
Conferences for our class have been re-scheduled for the week of March 14th. A sign up sheet for conferences will go home on Monday. I look forward to meeting with each of you.

Curriculum
In science we are beginning our study of the earth's biomes: forest, desert, grassland, tundra, marine and freshwater regions. Within the study, we will talk about plant and habitats as well as food chains.
In Math we are continuing our study of probability as well as a graphing.

Happy March,
Ms. Oaks

Specials schedule for the week of March 7th
Monday- Music
Tuesday-P.E.
Wednesday- library
Thursday-art
Friday- no school

class play re-scheduled

2011-03-01T14:48:00.000-08:00

Dear Parents,
Our class play has been re-scheduled for this coming Friday March 4th since it coincides with our monthly Young Author's Breakfast. A note is coming home with your child today regarding simple costumes.
Hopefully you can join us!
Ms. Oaks

Specials for the week of Feb 28th to March 4th
Monday- art
Tuesday - music
Wed- PE
Thursday-Library
Friday- art

conferences re-scheduled

2011-02-21T20:44:00.000-08:00

Dear Parents,
Thank you for your patience over the last two weeks when I was out and the routine was a bit different.
Unfortunately our parent-teacher conferences will have to be re-scheduled. When I return to school, next Monday, Feb. 28th I will compose a new sign-up sheet and get that out to you. Again, thank you for your understanding.
Ms. Oaks

class pictures

2011-01-31T10:23:00.000-08:00

Dear Parents,
You noticed a flyer about class pictures in your Friday folder.Our class picture will be taken on Tuesday February 1st at 10:30 a.m. Please note, the children need to dress in uniform.
Ms. Oaks

January 23, 2011

2011-01-23T17:46:00.000-08:00

Dear Parents,

The personal time lines that were presented this week were quite impressive! As hoped, the children are beginning to understand the idea of time and past events relative to their age. If your child has not made one yet, there will be time this coming week.
Parts were assigned for our class play, Grammarosaurus. Please be sure to mark your calendar for Friday February 4th at 8:30. It promises to be a barrel of laughs!

For those of you who are parents of 3rd graders, we are continuing our CSAP practice in a more formal way this coming week. The idea is to alleviate fears by taking practice tests and talking about the experience. Hopefully students will continue to realize that if they slow down and think, they will be likely to do their best. While the test is important, we don't want the children to be overly stressed.
Thank you for all you do at home to model peaceful ways to settle conflicts. It is clear to me that the children in our class are very loved and have some excellent role models at home.

Ms. Oaks

Specials schedule for the week of Jan 24th
   Monday   library
   Tuesday art
   Wed music
   Thurs PE
   Fri library

simplifying the blog

2011-01-14T15:24:00.000-08:00

Dear Parents,
In an effort to make reading the blog easier for you, I've decided to eliminate a few of the tabs and post the weekly specials schedule on this page along with up-coming events.
   Thank goodness it warned up today so the children could get the wiggles out! We enjoyed some play time in the sun this aftertoon just before dismissal. Over all we had an enjoyable and productive week. We got out the animal track works and learned to identify some paw prints we might see in the neighborhood. Some of the children poured plaster into a mold and made a replica of the animals paw print. This will continue next week, for those who would still like a chance.
   Beginning next week our students will begin a book- buddy project with the other Montessori classes. Our 1st and 2nd graders will take turns going to Mr. Bucenec's and Mrs. Wojcik's kindergarten classes to help the younger students practice reading. Some of their students will also come to our room, so they can see what a Lower Elementary classroom is like. Our 3rd graders will pair up with the students in the Upper Elementary class and read together. Again, this allows our third graders to see what an Upper Elementary class is like. We will begin by switching on Tuesday and Thursday. My hope is it will be a beneficial experience for students all the way around.
Thank you to those of you who helped your child fill out the information for a personal timeline. We touched on that a bit this week and will spend more time with it during the coming week.
   Enjoy the long weekend,
Ms Oaks

Specials schedule for the week of January 17
Monday- no school
Tuesday- library
Wednesday- art
Thursday- music
Friday -P.E.

correct e-mail address

2011-01-13T10:53:00.000-08:00

Dear Parents,
Several of you have tried to e-mail me and it hasn't been received on this end. Please note my correct e-mail address is noaks@bromleyeastcs.org, For the first six weeks or so of school it was incorrect on our class blog. Hopefully this will clear up any questions you have.The best way to contact me is by e-mail; I check it daily and answer immediately. If for some reason you haven't received a response from me in 24 hours let me know by either sending a note to school with your child, or calling the office and leaving a message(720)685-3297.
Many thanks for your understanding. Please know that I continue to be open to your questions and comments and hope that the confusion of e-mail addresses didn't leave you feeling ignored.I'm really not that way!
Happy New Year,
Ms. Oaks

parent newletter

2011-01-06T15:33:00.000-08:00

Dear Parents,
As part of our history curriculum,we are beginning to study timelines. To begin our study,each child will make a timeline of her/his life. I need your help with information from your child's youth that she/he may not remember. You will find a form in your child's Friday folder. Please help her/him fill it out with an event for each year life. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at noaks@bromleyeastcs.org.
   We will be working on them in class next week. Please make sure your child brings the information to school on Monday or Tuesday.

   Please note the day for our January Young Authors Breakfast is out of the ordinary. Instead of the first Friday which is the 7th, we will gather on Thursday January 13th at 8:30. In February we will return to our schedule of the first Friday.

   Next Friday, January 14th, our 3rd graders will participate in an award assembly with the other 3rd and 4th graders. It will take place in the cafeteria at 8:45am. Parents are welcome! Please feel free to contact me with any questions.

   Please mark you calendars for Friday February 4th. Our class is putting on a play, entitled Grammarosaurus. It's a fun way to review grammar and punctuation rules. As the children sing the songs, they learn the content; pretty neat, eh?
Please note, this will take the place of our monthly Young Authors Breakfast.

   Best wishes for a healthy, happy new year,
Ms. Oaks

Upcoming events

2011-01-05T23:40:00.000-08:00

  Dear Parents,
   Usually our Young Authors Breakfast is the first Friday of the month. Since we are just getting back from winter break, it will be Thursday January 13th at 8:30.
  On Friday January 14th, our 3rd graders will attend the honor roll assembly with all the 3rd and 4th grade classes. Parents are welcome! It will take place at 8:45 in the cafeteria. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Scholastic Book Orders

2010-10-05T16:21:00.000-07:00

Dear Parents,
Next Friday, October 8th, you will receive a flyer in your child's Friday folder for Scholastic Books. If you are new to ordering books in this way, here are some important things to remember:
1) You can order on line or by sending the paper order form back to school with a check.
2) If you are paying by check, please make it out to Scholastic Books. If you order from more than one catalog, you may combine your orders and write one check.
3) Orders usually arrive within a week to ten days.
4) Each order placed earns the class earns bonus points which can be used toward books for the classroom.

If you want to order online, you will need the following information to access our class account:

go to www.scholastic.com/bookclubs
User Name: nancyoaks
Password: bromley
You will use our class aciviation code HFFYY to set up your own account.
.