Novel November

Well – slightly late but better than never, right? October flew by and boy did we have some fun celebrating Halloween. The pumpkin patch was a blast and our fall festival was a success. Thank you to all of our volunteers and those that donated to the cause. I couldn’t have done it without any of you.

                        No School Days

Nov. 10 and 11

Nov. 23, 24, and 25

Nov. 28

Dec. 16 – last day of school before winter break

For November, or as we call it No School November, there are plenty of activities coming up. We have spent the first few days talking about the elections. Our students enjoyed learning about the candidates and many of them decided that someday they too would like to be president.

We have done many different fall themed crafts including Indian corn, fox faces, and painting turkey’s. I have added in cooking, which was my intention from the beginning but reality hit – so we are getting to it now. We have made Oreo turkey’s and apple slice smiley’s. Yum!

We have also been talking about how to catch a turkey. Most of our students decided a net would be best. Then just throw them in the oven for about 8 days at 600 degrees. So for those of you who might have been unsure how to cook that turkey this holiday, just ask your child. They know!

 November 22, Tuesday we will be having our annual Thanksgiving Tasting. This includes setting our dinner table, using our best manners, and tasting (or attempting to taste) some of the traditional Thanksgiving food. Here is a list of items that we will need for the tasting (13 students):

Paper plates, napkins, cups

Turkey

Gravy

Mashed Potatoes

Stuffing

Cranberry Sauce

Green Beans

Pumpkin Pie

Whipped Cream (canned is fine)

If you can donate any of these items, please email me.

New report cards are coming out after the first of December. They will be different than what you are used to. Please contact me if you have any questions.

Picture retakes are December 2^nd. Mark your calendars.

I am always asking your children to say thank you. Many times I thank them for various things. I believe gratitude is important. In this month of giving thanks we really work with the students the concept of gratitude or "thanks". I encourage you this month to talk with your child about being thankful everywhere we go and it's importance, if you don't already. 

Pictures from our field trip to the pumpkin patch.

October is Here

Happy October all. I am not quite sure what happened to September but I know it’s gone for sure!

We are receiving a new student that will start this Wednesday, October 5^th. His name is Wilhem and he is from the Netherlands. We will be talking with the students this week about his arrival.

Friday, October 7^th is our annual Fun Run. Our students will be running at different times. If you’d like to come support your child, please let me know so that I can give you the appropriate time.

No School on October 14^th.

PICTURE DAY is October 19^th.

Conferences are October 26^th in the evening and October 27^th all day. I will send home sign-up sheets later this week if you would like to set up a time to meet with me. These are NOT mandatory conferences, however, I would love to see you all. Also remember, I am available to meet with you before or after school most days. If there is ever something you’d like to talk about, please email to set up a meeting.

We will be planning a field trip this month. When I solidify the details I will let you all know.

We will be having a Fall Festival on October 31^st. Students will be able to wear costumes for the Fall Festival. They can bring their costume in their backpack and we will change before our festival. They will wear their costumes home.

Some of you have expressed that you are willing to donate different things to the classroom for snack or cooking or special celebrations. If you would like to do so, AND have not already spoken to me about it, please let me know. Thank you so much.

Coming up in November:

Thanksgiving Feast

Sharing

Fall Leaves

Here We Go My Friends

WELCOME MY FRIENDS!!

Als

This is going to be a wild ride this year and I am so excited to have you all on board for the journey!

For those of you that I am a new teacher for, here is a little bit of information about me. For those of you returning families, I hope I’ve added a few different facts from last year. J About me personally, I am the youngest of 10 children and am very close with my family. My mother just moved into my home over the summer and now we have mini family reunions every Sunday. I have three children; Katie, 21. Samie, 19, and J, 17. They are my light (most days!). I have a rescue dog, Ziva. I share videos and pictures of her with the kids frequently. I hold a Masters degree in Special Education with a focus in Executive Function Deficits and ADHD. I have been teaching Special Education for 3 years – all here at Mckinley. I tutor, teach piano, provide in-home behavior support, and work as a parent/school liaison in IEP meetings (or another name would be IEP interpreter). Sounds like a lot but I have found my passion in life. It happens to be your kiddos.

My philosophy in the classroom – you can to the best of your ability and beyond. I honestly believe my students can do anything. It may take time but they can do it.

Some habits of mine that you may notice during our time together; I am obsessed with handprint art. I drink coffee all day long – mostly black. I will always spin it to a positive. I love to laugh and am slightly obsessed with the color purple. I sometimes forget – so please, pretty please, remind me.

I have an open door policy. If you have a concern, question, story, or idea please communicate it with me. If I don’t have an answer or need additional assistance in addressing your needs, I will get it. We are a team. I take days Monday thru Friday and you have nights and weekends. Together we can conquer anything!

Nuts and Bolts

Your child will go with the general education students for PE, Music, Technology, Library, and Spanish as much as they can tolerate. Sometimes these classes can be overwhelming so I elect to have them do a similar activity in the classroom.

You will be receiving weekly homework and monthly projects. Copies of those were handed out on Back to School night. If you didn’t receive a copy, please let me know. There are no grades or data collected on these. They are an enrichment activity. If nothing else gets done for these, please read with your child. Read, read, read.

We follow a fairly tight schedule in order to maintain calm and learning modes. I respectfully ask, that if you need to pick up your child or drop something off, that you check in with the office and refrain from coming down to the classroom. While I love having you in my room, surprise visits create quite a distraction.

PLEASE LABEL EVERYTHING THAT BELONGS TO YOUR CHILD – such as coat, lunch box and backpack. If they lose it, that makes it easier for us to help them locate.

If your child is in 1^st or 2^nd grade, please send in an extra set of clothing.

Communication

Please sign up for remind. Text @uppersr to 81010. This is a handy communication tool. I will send reminders frequently using this method for various different things. It is also a quick and easy way to get in touch with me. I check it frequently throughout the day. I try to respond just as quickly.

This is my classroom blog address. rossettiatmckinley@blogspot.com

It is private to our classroom and I try to update frequently and add many pictures or video clips. I will alert you when a new posting has been made either via email or remind.

My email address is:  Christine_rossettisagar@beaverton.k12.or.us (I tried to make it as long as possible!)

McKinley phone/fax:

Office: 503.356.2180
Fax: 503.356.2185
Attendance Line: 503.356.2181

McKinely Address:

1500 N.W. 185th Ave.
Beaverton, OR 97006

Important upcoming events:

September – Fall, Back to School, School Rules

              Focus Units: Leaves, Patterns, Season Change

              Monthly Question: What

              Monthly Joke: (yes you read right – joke) What do you call a cow with no legs?

                             Ground Beef!

October – Halloween Celebration and trip to pumpkin patch

              Focus units: Presidential Race and Voting.

              Monthly Question: Where

              Monthly Joke: Halloween themed jokes - What do ghosts eat for breakfast?

                      Boo-berry pancakes!

November – Thanksgiving Lunch Feast

              Focus Unit: Measurement, Nutrition, Sharing

              Monthly Question: Who

              Monthly Joke: to be announced

December – Holiday Celebration

              Focus Unit: Helping others in the community

              Monthly Question: Who (short months)

              Monthly Joke: To be announced