Dear Parents,
I have put together a list of possible projects for you to be aware of so that you may have an idea of what your responsibilities will be if you wish to be a room parent. Please note that I live on a budget and I know most people do. Please don't ever feel the need to spend money purchasing things for the class. Some people, however, wish to send in treats. Since school policy prohibits birthday treats, I am providing opportunities for you to contribute in other ways “if” you choose to do so. When I think treats/projects enhance the curriculum you may send in specified materials to help me provide them to the class. For the hands on projects, we can only do these if we have enough active volunteers. I know how busy your lives are so I will do my very best to give you as much notice as possible. Please do not contact me directly about volunteering or sending in supplies as I will be delegating that responsibility to the room mothers so I can concentrate my efforts on teaching your children.
PLEASE ALSO BE AWARE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, THAT WE HAVE A STUDENT WHO IS ALLERGIC TO ALL TREE NUTS AND POSSIBLY PEANUTS!
In addition, I’ve tried to think of other items your children will need throughout the year so I don’t have to keep bothering you for things as the year progresses. I know you are extremely busy!
EACH CHILD SHOULD BRING THE FOLLOWING TO SCHOOL BY September 16 WITH EACH OF THEIR MATERIALS CLEARLY LABELED:
1) One large, old, clean sock for using to clean your dry erase board
2) One large, empty, clean can with any sharp edges covered with masking tape. THE BOTTOM OF THE CAN SHOULD BE LABELED WITH YOUR NAME. This will serve as the base of your paper mache globe. Probably the larger the can, the better for balancing the globe on top.
3) Two empty, clean Styrofoam or paper 1-dozen egg cartons, LABELED WITH YOUR CHILD’S NAME. This will be for a religion project later in the year.
4) THROUGHOUT THE YEAR WE WILL BE COLLECTING CANNED DRINK TABS FOR CANCER PATIENTS, COMMUNITY COFFEE LABELS, AND BOX TOPS FOR WHICH THE SCHOOL EARNS CASH WITH WHICH THEY PURCHASE SUPPLIES. PLEASE TELL NEIGHBORS, GRANDPARENTS, CO-WORKERS, ETC. TO SAVE LABELS AND TABS FOR YOUR CHILDREN TO SEND IN. The class who earns the most coffee labels wins a donut and hot chocolate party or something like that! J
PAPER MACHE’ GLOBES:
On a Monday (date TBD) the children will be making paper mache globes. To help accomplish this, we need your help!! We are looking for 5-6 volunteers. Help is needed after assembly in the cafeteria (7:45am) and we should be finished around lunch time. We will meet in the gym. Please bring a whisk and a large bowl.. Please do not bring younger siblings, as we need your full attention to be on the children in the class. Responsibilities are as follows:
· helping blow up the 30 balloons (with the use of an air compressor)- someone will be instructing on size these balloons need to be and placing the balloons into a large trash bag for transport to the classroom
· mixing the art paste
· assisting and overseeing the children construct their paper mache globes.
· classroom clean-up- once we finish, the children will go to recess while we help clean up the “mess”. **This is easy--all you will need to do is roll the newspaper that we have laid over the desks, put into trash bags and bring to dumpster**
· we’ll also need to use the outside faucet to rinse our bowls clean- no art paste can be put into the drains!
The children will paint the globes on the following Wednesday or Thursday, depending upon how fast they dry. They will glue continents on the globes on Friday and the globes will be sent home Friday afternoon. No parental help is needed for any portion of this part of the project.
The second volunteer opportunity is for Tuesday (date TBD). The children will be making salt clay maps. We will need 5-6 volunteers for this as well. Help is needed after assembly in the gym (7:45am) and we should be finished around lunch time – we will meet in Ms. Champagne’s classroom. Please bring a measuring cup and large mixing bowl. Please do not bring younger siblings, as we need your full attention to be on the children in the class. Duties are as follows:
· Assisting the children mix, sculpt and label a U.S. map and it’s landscape features
· Make sure your group is keeping pace with other groups, so everyone finishes around the same time
· Classroom Clean-Up
**Just FYI, the kids will need to ID the Canadian border, Mexican border, Great Lakes, Appalachian, Rocky Sierra Nevada Mountain ranges, MS River, FL peninsula, Rainbow Bridge, Mount St. Helen volcano, Grand Canyon, western plains, Old Faithful geyser, Devil’s Tower, Hawaiian Islands, Mt. Rushmore, Niagara Falls, Bryce Canyon, and make a map key and compass rose. YOU DO NOT NEED TO KNOW WHERE ALL OF THESE ARE- there will be a map on display that shows the kids where each of these are located**
As always, we can’t educate without your help, so please volunteer. I can assure you, you will have fun and it will be a great memory to share with your child.Wear old clothes as these are messy projects!
GOODY BOX REWARDS: Periodically we will ask for Goody Box treats. This is a reward for good conduct. Right now I have a good start for the school year. Small toys such as whoopee cushions, etc. or Highlighters, lead pens, etc. make great rewards also. PLEASE BE AWARE THAT NO GUM, HARD CANDY, OR PEANUT PRODUCTS ARE ALLOWED AT SCHOOL. SMALL BALLS ARE ALSO A CHOKING HAZARD FOR YOUNGER SIBLINGS SO JUST KEEP THAT IN MIND WHEN DONATING ANYTHING. J
JOHNNY APPLESEED SNACK:
I would love a simple apple snack and apple juice box for the class if anyone wishes to send one in. We will be watching a movie and it would be fun for them to have an apple treat as we watch Johnny Appleseed or we may go eat it in the garden.
PUMPKIN MATH:
I would like for the class to do pumpkin math. In order to do this, we will need the following:
6 pumpkins. All pumpkins should be sent to school at least 3 days before we carve. The pumpkins should be large enough that we can carve them into jack o lanterns after we do the pumpkin math.
5-6 parents with a sharp carving knife and large spoon for scooping out pumpkin seeds
1 guessing jar of candy corn (pre-counted with the total # of candy corn e-mailed to me). The candy will be used by all the children as markers for Halloween +/- bingo.
I will have newspaper covering the tables to facilitate easy clean up. The children will estimate the circumference, height, weight, # of ridges, and # of seeds. Next they will measure and get the actual numbers. They will compare their estimates and actual measurements to decide who was closest. They will need to work as a group to decide whether to count their seeds by 1s, 2s, 5s, or 10s. Once they have finished measuring, they will design a jack o lantern face and vote on what face they want. The parents will then carve the face onto the pumpkin. The pumpkin math doesn't take that long. Parents will then clean up while I take the children to recess.
FIELD TRIPS:
Plantation home (date TBD) (parents welcome but must pre-pay with the understanding that you will not be able to tour the house due to limited space). We haven’t yet determined the other field trip.
Field Trip Reminders- from the office for teachers:
Regarding chaperones, make sure parents pre-register with you, even if only attending part of the trip. We require parents to have nametags if eating lunch on campus. It makes sense for them to have nametags when on a school-sponsored trip where there will be other members of the public nearby. I have to send in a list of chaperones at least two weeks before the trip. All parents who are attending the trip are to receive a letter and a nametag. Official chaperones get red nametags. Parent guests get white nametags. I will send them home 1-2 days before the trip.
BOOK FAIR SHOPPING and SHOPPING DATES FOR PARENTS WITH 2ND GRADERS:
The administration has determined that K-3rdgrade students will only be able to purchase books at the book fair when accompanied by a parent or grandparent.2nd grade will have a preview time (date TBD) plus a shopping opportunity (date TBD) when parents can meet their child at the book fair to purchase books, if they wish. Parents will of course have other times outside of school hours to shop with their children as well.
POSSIBLY MATH CARNIVAL MUCH LATER IN YEAR:
I'm not certain whether or not we will definitely have a small math carnival in our classroom or not. If we do, we would love to have your gently used "McDonald's toys", etc. for a "toy booth" as you clean out your child's toy chest as it gets closer to Christmas. I don't have tons of storage space in the classroom but if you have anything (not stuffed animals) to donate, you may send it in. Please specify whether it is for Money Carnival or Goody Box Conduct Rewards. If we don't have a class math carnival, I will put the trinkets in our goody box.
CHRISTMAS PARTY:
On December 18, we will have our Christmas party at 1:45PM. All parents are invited to attend, but you are asked not to bring other children. We will need 2 large Christmas shaped sugar cookies per child, colored icing, sprinkles, M&Ms, etc. for the children to decorate the cookies, plastic knives for spreading the icing, paper plates, napkins, chips of some sort, and water bottles, juice, or small sodas. If you are one of the parents setting up for the party, please be on time. If you are one of the parents designated to clean up, please do not leave until the room is clean. We would like to have a game or two for the children to play. Some suggestions might be pin the nose on Rudolph; wrapping inexpensive presents in one box/container after another and passing the wrapped gift around. Each child tears one layer of wrap off and the one that tears the last layer gets the gift; etc. Feel free to bring music CDs and we can always let the kids have a dance off. I recommend inexpensive paper products as they end up in the garbage anyway. Room mothers are in charge of planning, conducting the games and party activities, and clean up for the party.
FIRST RECONCILIATION DONUTS:
The children will make their First Reconciliation on Saturday, January 23. I would like for someone to volunteer to send in one glazed donut per child along with napkins, cups, and white milk on the following Monday, January 25. The children will enjoy the donuts right after assembly as they share the positive experience they had with First Reconciliation. I highly recommend that you order the donuts ahead of time as 4 other 2nd grade classes will be trying to purchase donuts the very same morning. If you wish to ask Carol Forbes in cafeteria if you can pre-order milk through the cafeteria, that is also a possibility.
LifeCycle of a Chicken:
I will need for one parent to go to the LSU AG Center to pick up 18 fertilized chicken eggs when we are ready to incubate them. I will reimburse you for the cost of the eggs.
Biography Reports:
Parents will be invited to attend watching their child present biography reports. Please feel free to take pictures and film. Please turn off all cell phones and leave small children home as this may interfere with the presentations. Dates of presentations TBD.
KING CAKE:
We would like a PRE-SLICED, king cake sent to the classroom with napkins. We have 24 children in our classroom. You may drop the king cake off in the classroom before school. Date TBD.
SHAPE "PARTY":
When we study geometry, I will ask for volunteers to send in treats in the shape of various geometric figures such as Bugles for cones, cheese cubes for cubes, cheese balls for spheres, Doritos for triangles, Cheese Nips for squares, rectangular prisms for juice boxes, etc. You can be thinking of fun things to send in for this unit. Date TBD.
ASIAN UNIT:
When we cover the unit on China, we would love to have someone donate chopsticks for the children to use while they eat popcorn while watching a movie. In addition we would love to have some fortune cookies donated if possible. We could make candy sushi if we have the following:
One Rice Krispie Treat per child
One Fruit Roll Up per child (The kind of Fruit Roll Up that is in the shape of a square not the tape type.)
Several Gummy Worms per child
One plastic knife per child
END OF THE YEAR PARTY:
The end of the year party is always an ice cream social. We need for volunteers to set up, serve, and clean up. We will also need the following supplies:
2 gallons of vanilla and/or chocolate ice cream
chocolate, strawberry, and/or caramel syrup
whipped cream
cherries
M&Ms
gummies
crushed Oreos
bowls, spoons, napkins
water or small soft drinks
one bottle of bubbles per child
EACH CHILD SHOULD BRING THE FOLLOWING TO SCHOOL BY 9/31 WITH EACH OF THEIR MATERIALS CLEARLY LABELED:
1) One Old, but cleanT-shirt for wearing over your clothes for messy art projects. One of your dad’s old shirts is perfect!
2) One large, old, clean sock for using to clean your dry erase board
3) One large, empty, clean can with any sharp edges covered with masking tape. THE BOTTOM OF THE CAN SHOULD BE LABELED WITH YOUR NAME. This will serve as the base of your paper mache globe. Probably the larger the can, the better for balancing the globe on top.
4) Two empty, clean Styrofoam or paper 1-dozen egg cartons, LABELED WITH YOUR CHILD’S NAME. This will be for a religion project later in the year.
5) Old, clean newspaper that I can use for covering tables for messy art projects.