Update from PT

This is from PTA

"We will be starting our Fundraiser tomorrow, Wednesday August 31st.  We will have tried to pull all of the books for students that sent an opt out form back.  If you have an opt out form for a student that didn't get pulled, please pull the packet out of your pile before distributing and staple the opt out form to the envelope and return it to the PTA box.

Our fundraiser will run through the 14th of September.  All books and money will due back that day.  We will be coming around to classrooms on the 14th after school to collect your piles of books so we can go through the books, reconcile money and start putting together the piles of books to send home with each student.

I will be putting up a PTA meeting sign up by the mail box (either late this afternoon or tomorrow morning).  We would like to have a teacher present whenever possible at our meetings.  Meetings are typically the 3rd Thursday of the month at 6:30-7:30 except for October which will be the 2nd Thursday of the month.

I will also be putting a flyer in each teacher's box regarding Box Top collection.  Our first collection will be occurring the last week of September.  We will be doing contests a little differently this year, we will have one contest for K-2 and one contest for 3-5.  We will be running 3 contests during the year, each 3 months long and then we will have overall winners as well at the end of the school year.

We will be looking for volunteers for Saturday Live.  At this point, I'm not sure we will get the help from the Billings Bulls this year so we will need more help then ever.  Please make sure to encourage parents to sign up to help.  We will have a sign up opportunity at the open house and they can always use our signup program: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040a4dabab23a64-saturday1

Candy collection for Saturday Live will start September 7th and run through September 21st.  We will have a collection box in the work area to store your candy.  We will also being doing ticket sales for Saturday Live before school the week before the event (Saturday September 24th).  I'm not sure if we will have someone available to sell after school or not. We will see if we can line someone out to sell for the early release after school.  We do not typically sell tickets during the late release.

Also new this year is our remind system.  There are three different lists, one for General PTA announcements, one for Volunteers, and one for Bakers.  Sign-ups for these can be found on our website, www.bitterrootpta.weebly.com

As always, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me or any other member of the PTA board.

Thanks,

Jenny Jasper
PTA Vice President - Communication"

Reflections and Gearing Up for Our First Full Week!

Wow! As I'm typing this my eyes are heavy, my body is tired, and I am ready to take a break! We had such an eventful, fun, wonderful first two days. I am so blessed with this class, as I have many siblings and familiar faces. Thank you to the parents who sent back the parent surveys and the update sheets. We had some papers go home Friday. Remember, I don't do paper newsletters, but I keep you up to date via the blog.

Next week, we are starting Daily 5 with our first lesson of reading stamina and Read-to-Self. Our goal for 1st grade is to read for 17 minutes without breaking stamina. With this class, I think we should be there in no time! While we work on stamina, we will also have our first poem and mini-lessons starting with reading strategies and why and what readers read. I know they are excited about reading!

In math, we'll start with number recognition and counting to 20. Also, we'll play some games for extra practice before we jump into adding strategies!

We'll start whiteboard spelling along with handwriting practice for extra skill building. Our new curriculum, Wonders, will stay right along with us as we begin discussing concepts of print and our two new sight words, I and like.

Also, we'll continue with classroom procedures and routines as well as building our school family.
If you have any questions about this coming week, please call or email! Thanks!

P.S. Boys and Girls Club starts tomorrow! We'll have our walking crew over to Medicine Crow at dismissal. Reminder: If your child is a B&GC regular, please call the office to notify if they will NOT be going on a particular day. Thanks!

Mrs. Dimock

Welcome to Mrs. Dimock's 1st Grade Class!

Wow! Summer really flew by, but I am excited to get back to my new group of firsties. In the next few weeks, expect letters home, dates and times for supply night, and an exciting transition to first grade. If my kiddos don't leave on the first day dying to come back to school the next day, I didn't do my job. 

Just an update on my summer.

My husband I and I enjoyed spending our 4th anniversary by selling our first home together and signing the papers for new construction! We are out of the house now and will be moving in the beginning of December. Merry Christmas to us! In the meantime, we've enjoyed a quiet summer of nightly walks with our dog, Sheldon, day trips to everywhere and anywhere, and long mornings of tea and relaxation. 

In July, my teaching partners Mrs. Vegara, Mrs. Martin, and myself went to the Safe and Civil Schools conference in Portland. We learned some great tips and tricks for dealing with "tough" kids in our school and classrooms. I can't wait to get started on some of the strategies and tools to use with all of my students.

If you happen to be browsing through the blogs to get a head start (yes, you, type-A parent ; ) then look no further! All I ask is that you've completed the supply list, signed up for Bloomz, and have your child ready for the first day! I can't wait to see all of those smiling faces at Meet and Greet!

Love, 

Mrs. Dimock

P.S. Here is the code to sign up for Bloomz!