Room 5- Emmanuel

Hello Families,

4 weeks and just one more teacher update left! 

Since last time we have chosen our Peacemakers and written about their childhoods. We also began writing about the societies our Peacemakers lived in. Next we will write about the important things they did and their message to the world. 

Specialist Lessons:

• P.E.: students continued working on their tossing skills, aiming bean bags at hoola hoops to earn points for their teams. They also reviewed the rules for 4 Square (a popular recess game). 

• Art: students learned about the kawaii art style of Japan and made their own kawaii drawings. They also began decorating folders which they will use to take home their work at the end of the year.

• SEL: students reviewed the problem solving skills they've been learning about and practiced applying them to different situations. 

Peacemakers:

We are in full swing with our Peacemakers! Choices have ranged from Founding Fathers to fossil hunters, civil rights activists to gymnasts. The class is practicing their writing, reading, and comprehension skills. Soon we will also use our art skills as well, creating folders and bottle dolls.

Students are welcome to bring resources from home or the library, but it is not required. 

Donation Opportunity:

Next month we will be making peacemaker dolls out of 2 liter bottles (or containers of similar size and shape). Please begin saving/donating these if you use them and asking around if you don't. We will need 28 for our class and any extras will be shared with the 58 students in the other Lower El classes. 

Thank you to those of you who have already donated a bottle! We currently have 7 bottles for our class. 

Important Dates:

May 29th: No school

June 1st: End of year picnic

Until next time!

-- 

Emmanuel Gemora

(he or they)

Hello Families,

We only have 6 weeks and two more teacher updates left! Summer is fast approaching!

Since last time we learned about acrostics, character traits (which gets us ready for Peacemakers), and the parts of a seed. Our hard working third graders are mostly through with their state testing and the class as a whole is about halfway through with their final district benchmark of the year.

Coming up soon we will learn about different types of measurement and how to graph our observations. We will also talk more about Peacemakers and how to choose them. 

Specialist Lessons:

• P.E.: students worked on their tossing and catching skills as well as their teamwork in a group bean bag game. 

• Art: students did plein air drawing to take advantage of the beautiful weather and also made carp flags in honor of AAPI Heritage Month and Japan's Children's Day. 

• SEL: students played games which worked on their listening and problem solving skills and used Conversation Cards to discuss feelings and problems solving. 

Peacemakers:

At Ridgeline, our definition of a "peacemaker" is more broad than is commonly used. For us, a peacemaker is someone who protects human dignity, someone who works to end conflict, and/or someone who fights for/makes the way for marginalized people. At the 1st through 3rd grade level, our conversations are simpler than they will be when our students become older. A 1st grader may choose someone this year because of their bravery and leadership, but as a 7th grader may disagree with their lack of perspective and teamwork. 

My main goal with this project is to get our students to notice character strengths in others and learn how they utilized their skills to change their community or the world for the better. The ultimate hope is that it encourages our students to do the same. 

Some student suggested peacemakers may be turned down due to a lack of useful sources (students need at least two) or due to a lack of clear character strengths (this is the list we are working from). 

Donation Opportunity:

Next month we will be making peacemaker dolls out of 2 liter bottles (or containers of similar size and shape. Please begin saving/donating these if you use them and asking around if you don't. We will need 28 for our class and any extras will be shared with the 58 students in the other Lower El classes. 

Important Dates:

May 8th-12th: Staff Appreciation Week

May 29th: No school

June 1st: End of year picnic

Until next time!

-- 

Emmanuel Gemora

(he or they)

Hello Families,

Since last time we reviewed our storyboards, working more on our narrative writing skills. Then we reviewed our paragraph writing skills, including what to do when we have more to say after planning a paragraph (the answer is plan/write more paragraphs!). Our class has been discussing cleaning procedures and have now reintroduced our class jobs. It has been so pleasant seeing the pride our class takes in their physical environment!  

Our third graders have also been working hard to be ready for state testing and will begin next week! Wish them luck!

Coming up soon we will grow and observe seeds and will begin our Peacemakers projects. Consider asking your child what kinds of historical figures they are interested in to help jumpstart the process. 

Specialist Lessons:

• P.E.: students continued their relay Tic Tac Toe and when Dan was out this week, Katie played theater games such as Cross the River with the class. 

• Art: students have been learning about primary and secondary as well as warm and cool colors. 

• SEL: students have continued working on the STEPs of problem solving and are now using the STEPs in pretend scenarios - combining their assertive skills with their problem solving skills

Donation Opportunity:

Later this year we will be making dolls out of 2 liter bottles (or containers of similar size and shape. Please begin saving/donating these if you use them.

Important Dates:

April 29th: Student Marketplace 

April 24th-May 5th: Dates of 3rd grade state testing

May 5th: No school (different than 4j elementary)

Until next time!

-- 

Emmanuel Gemora

(he or they)

Hello Families,

We are back from Spring Break and are approaching the end of the school year! Coming up soon we will grow and observe seeds, begin our Peacemakers project, and third graders will do state testing. 

Since coming back to school, we have reviewed our community procedures and learned how to storyboard narratives. 

Specialist Lessons:

• P.E.: students played a giant, relay version of Tic Tac Toe. 

• Art: students continued their painting work and drew chimera creatures

• Social-Emotional Learning: students reviewed what they have learned about the STEPs to problem solving.

Donation Opportunity:

Later this year we will be making dolls out of 2 liter bottles. Please begin saving/donating these if you use 2 liters. 

Important Dates:

April 17th: no school (different than 4j)

April 29th: Student Marketplace 

April 24th-May 5th: Dates of 3rd grade state testing

Until next time!

-- 

Emmanuel Gemora

(he or they)

Hello Families,

Since last time, we learned about diamante poetry and worked on our paragraph writing skills. We also learned about Ancient China. 

Coming up, we will learn about the development of writing in Ancient China and we will learn about ancient cultures in Latin America. 

Specialist Lessons:

• P.E.: students wrapped up their kickball unit and played a fun running  and strategy based game called Predator vs. Prey. 

• Art: students learned about paintbrush care and watercolors while making abstract watercolor paintings. 

• Social-Emotional Learning: students continued learning about the STEPs to problem solving. They also took advantage of the sunny weather to play games which work on their teamwork and communication skills. 

Donation Opportunity:

Later this year we will be making dolls out of 2 liter bottles. Please begin saving/donating these if you use 2 liters. 

Important Dates:

March 27th-April 3rd: Spring Break, no school 

April 27th-May 5th: (tentative) Dates of 3rd grade state testing

Until next time!

-- 

Emmanuel Gemora

(he or they)

Hello Families,

Since last time, we have learned about couplettes and opinion writing. We have also begun hearing about historical women to celebrate Women's History Month. Our 3rd graders have begun practicing for the state test which will happen after spring break. 

Coming up, we will continue learning about historical women and will soon learn about Ancient China. 

Specialist Lessons:

• P.E.: students have been working on their kicking, catching, and passing skills as well as on team spirit through kickball. 

• Art: students have continued working on their highly detailed story quilts and have been listening to jazz in the background during art, to increase our Harlem Renaissance understanding. 

• Social-Emotional Learning: students have started learning about the S.T.E.P.s to problem solving. So far we have covered "Say the problem" and "Think of solutions."

Job opening at Ridgeline: 

Please help us spread the word! Ridgeline Montessori Public Charter School seeks a temporary kindergarten classroom assistant to join our passionate and experienced staff. The assistant is an integral part of the classroom’s instructional team.

This position is full-time (7 hours per day) for our established kindergarten classroom. The position begins as early as March 20 and no later than April 3, through the end of the school year. Please see our website for application details.

Important Dates: 

Sunday, March 12th: Daylight Savings Time. Set your clocks forward an hour.

March 20th-24th: Spirit Week

Until next time!

-- 

Emmanuel Gemora

(he or they)

Hello Families,

Since last time, we have learned about historical African-American figures through portraiture, read biographies on historical black women, and learned about the Indus Valley Civilization. 

Coming up, we will learn about Ancient China and throughout March we will celebrate Women's History Month using stories and art. 

Report Card Info:

Mid-year report cards went home on February 10th. For the mid-year reports scores between 0-2 are the most common. 0's mean that category will be covered in the next semester. 1's mean the student needs support or extra practice in that area. 2's mean the student is meeting expectations for someone halfway through the school year. A 3 indicates the student has already met the end of year expectation. A 4 indicates the student is working above the expectations for their grade level. 

Please let me know if you have further questions or if you did not receive your child's report card. 

Specialist Lessons:

• P.E.: students worked on their open hand striking skills and defense through the games Striker Ball and GaGa Ball

• Art: students learned about Faith Ringgold's story quilts and began creating their own drawings inspired by her work. 

• Social-Emotional Learning: students worked on mindfulness strategies and talked about problem solving with Kelso's Choices.

Important Dates: 

Saturday, February 26th: Incoming sibling enrollment forms for the 2023-2024 school year are due

Wednesday, March 1st: Mod Pizza Fundraiser for Ridgeline

Until next time! 

Emmanuel Gemora

Hello Families,

Since last time, our class summarized our knowledge of Mesopotamians and Ancient Egyptians. Then we worked on varying our sentence length for more interesting writing. We also began celebrating Black History Month by discussing our knowledge of what Black History Month means and why it is important. This week we read about Martin Luther King Jr.'s childhood and about the brave children who marched for integration in Birmingham. 

Coming up we will continue reading and discussing black history, will celebrate Valentine's Day, and will create portraits for historical African-American people. 

Also, thank you to all of you who helped get our fish tank up and running! It's looking great! We are pretty settled right now, but if you have something you'd like to donate, please let me know! 

Specialist Lessons:

• P.E.: students worked on basketball skills and are now learning a group game which involves passing a ball though kicking

• Art: students worked on creating art using their traced hands and fingerprints and are now working on Valentine Cards for Emerald Valley. 

• Social-Emotional Learning: students are learning about big and small problems as well as how to solve our problems within ourselves, with our peers, and when to get the help of an adult. We have also been doing warm up games which work on our listening skills. 

Valentine's Day:

We will be celebrating Valentine's Day on Tuesday the 14th.  Participation is not mandatory.  If you would like to participate, please bring a valentine for every student in the classroom (28) without names written on them so that students can quickly and easily put them in bags. Please do not include food items, but other items (such as pencils or stickers) are welcome!

Continuing Volunteering Opportunities:

1.) Cleared for volunteering at Ridgeline? Want to help students with their reading fluency? We have several times throughout the week when you can come to the classroom and listen to students read! 

2.) Our room parent, Rachael, is coordinating a weekly volunteer opportunity through this link. Those who sign up will be helping Katie and I prep materials and the classroom. Vaccine cards and background checks are required. Since this will be after school hours, background checks do not need to be completed at the time of volunteering (they can take several weeks to clear), but please let me know if this is the case as it changes some of the volunteer allowances.

Please let Rachael McEachern (rpalink@gmail.com) know if you have further questions about the volunteering opportunity and send any volunteering paperwork to Becky Fay (becky.fay@ridgeline.org).

Important Dates: 

• Friday, February 10th: Report Cards sent home and 6pm Talent Show (on Zoom or on campus)

• Tuesday, February 14th: Valentine's Celebration

• Monday, February 20th: No School

Until next time! 

Hello Families,

Our class has continued strengthening our skills in being helpers and it is really paying off! I have noticed increased camaraderie and when I look around the classroom, I see a room full of students giving or receiving help from each other. I have also seen an increased confidence in many students as they realize how knowledgeable they are! 

This week we paused our regular Scholastics groups to learn our new and improved system for research projects. 

In our cultural studies we have learned about Mesopotamians, Ancient Egyptians, and the writing systems both had. Next we will be summarizing our learning before moving on to learn about Ancient India. To celebrate Black History Month, we will also be reading stories which highlight black voices. 

Fish Help:

Our tank is looking more established, but we still need some more items. 

If you would like to help, please follow this link to see what our fish are missing or need more of. If you decide to provide one of the items we need, please check the box so others know it's been provided (if you provided an item and see that it is now unchecked, it is because we could do with more of that item). 

Continuing Volunteering Opportunities:

1.) Cleared for volunteering at Ridgeline? Want to help students with their reading fluency? We have several times throughout the week when you can come to the classroom and listen to students read! 

2.) Our room parent, Rachael, is coordinating a weekly volunteer opportunity through this link. Those who sign up will be helping Josie and I prep materials and the classroom. Vaccine cards and background checks are required. Since this will be after school hours, background checks do not need to be completed at the time of volunteering (they can take several weeks to clear), but please let me know if this is the case as it changes some of the volunteer allowances.

Please let Rachael McEachern (rpalink@gmail.com) know if you have further questions about the volunteering opportunity and send any volunteering paperwork to Becky Fay (becky.fay@ridgeline.org).

Community Opportunities: 

Our class is participating in the ECCO singing program again this year. Students should have brought home a flier inviting them to attend the concert and giving them the chance to sing on stage for two of the songs. If your child would like to attend the concert or go on stage, follow this link to register. The registration deadline is January 27th.

Important Dates:

Friday, February 3rd: No school, grading day. 

Monday, February 6th: No school, planning day. 

Tuesday, February 14th: Valentine's Day, instructions to follow

Until next time!

Hello Families,

Welcome to 2023! 

We returned to school with the need for a little academic and community procedure review, but mostly ready to get to work and support each other! Our class has been working on the best ways to be learners and helpers and we have made so much progress! Academically, we kicked off the year by learning about hunter-gatherers, the timeline of written human history, and Mesopotamia. Coming up next, we'll learn more about Mesopotamia and will soon begin learning about Ancient Egypt.

Fish Help:

Our goldfish were getting cramped in their little tank, they've upgraded to a bigger tank, but I need your help in getting it fully established! 

If you would like to help, please follow this link to see what our fish are missing. If you decide to provide one of the items we need, please check the box so others know it's been provided. 

Continuing Volunteering Opportunities:

1.) Cleared for volunteering at Ridgeline? Want to help students with their reading fluency? We have several times throughout the week when you can come to the classroom and listen to students read! 

2.) Our room parent, Rachael, is coordinating a weekly volunteer opportunity through this link. Those who sign up will be helping Josie and I prep materials and the classroom. Vaccine cards and background checks are required. Since this will be after school hours, background checks do not need to be completed at the time of volunteering (they can take several weeks to clear), but please let me know if this is the case as it changes some of the volunteer allowances.

Please let Rachael McEachern (rpalink@gmail.com) know if you have further questions about the volunteering opportunity and send any volunteering paperwork to Becky Fay (becky.fay@ridgeline.org).

Community Opportunities: 

Does your student enjoy writing? Fiction Fantastic is a writing competition for 3rd-12th graders. K-2nd graders can also submit a piece for a chance to be featured in the K-2 spotlight. 

The piece needs to be typed and the deadline is January 14th at 10pm. Find out more here https://fictionfantastic.org/

Our class is participating in the ECCO singing program again this year. Students should have brought home a flier inviting them to attend the concert and giving them the chance to sing on stage for two of the songs. If your child would like to attend the concert or go on stage, follow this link to register. The registration deadline is January 27th. 

Important Dates: 

Monday, January 16th: No school, MLK Day 

Until next time! 

-- 

Emmanuel Gemora

Hello Families,

Winter Break is upon us! I hope you all have a relaxing break filled with comfort and community! 

I apologize for missing our last update. I was out of town completing my Montessori training. I am happy to announce that I now have my Montessori credentials in addition to my teaching license! 

Since our last update, Katie has settled nicely into Room 5 and the class has been enjoying the tongue twisters, theater games, and songs she has been teaching us. We have learned about organizing our writing and adding emotion. We have also been working a lot on creating a culture of challenging ourselves with difficult work and feeling proud of our hard work. I've noticed a big shift in the students' focus and in their willingness to learn. Our class also learned about the different ways humans have recorded time throughout history, which will guide us towards our unit on ancient civilizations when we return in the new year. 

Thank you to everyone who participated in Stone Soup and the Book Fair. I've been enjoying reading our new books to the class and our Stone Soup activity was very special. I got some great photos of the students arranging the classroom for it, but unfortunately my phone is out of commission and I can't access any photos at the moment. 

Continuing Volunteering Opportunities:

1.) Cleared for volunteering at Ridgeline? Want to help students with their reading fluency? We have several times throughout the week when you can come to the classroom and listen to students read! 

2.) Our room parent, Rachael, is coordinating a weekly volunteer opportunity through this link. Those who sign up will be helping Josie and I prep materials and the classroom. Vaccine cards and background checks are required. Since this will be after school hours, background checks do not need to be completed at the time of volunteering (they can take several weeks to clear), but please let me know if this is the case as it changes some of the volunteer allowances.

Please let Rachael McEachern (rpalink@gmail.com) know if you have further questions about the volunteering opportunity and send any volunteering paperwork to Becky Fay (becky.fay@ridgeline.org).

Important Dates: 

December 19th - January 3rd: No school, Winter Break

See you in the new year! 

-- 

Emmanuel Gemora

Hello Families,

It was great connecting with everyone during conferences! Thank you for taking the time to meet with us. During our short week, the class focused on getting ready for conferences by cleaning and organizing the classroom, filling out their conference sheets, and picking out works to show off. This week we heard the story about how human life evolved on Earth (the Third Great Lesson), worked on our book fair performance, and learned about adding extra sentences to our "finished" writing pieces (which we call spider legs.) 

We also got to know Katie, our new Room 5 assistant! The class worked on cards to welcome Katie and cards to say goodbye to Josie. Katie brings years of Montessori experience as an assistant and lead teacher. After living in both Austin, Texas and Boston, Massachusetts, she moved to Eugene with her husband and three children. Before learning about Montessori, she was an elementary theater arts specialist. When she is not playing guitar and singing with her family, she loves to explore her new town and visit the beautiful towns along the Oregon coast. I am excited for Katie to share her musical and theatrical experience with our classroom! 

Stone Soup

This year Ridgeline will resume our tradition of celebrating Stone Soup as a school. Stone Soup is a wonderful story about coming together as a community in a way that benefits everybody involved. It is about caring for one another and taking the time to enjoy some of the most enjoyable things in life: food and companionship! It is about sharing and caring. Not only does it feel good to receive but it also feels good to give. 

Stone Soup is meant to be an additional shared food experience.  It does not replace your child's normal lunch.  Please bring lunch as well.

Tuesday, 11/22: bring in 1 vegetable (carrot, celery, potato, etc.)

Wednesday, 11/23: bring a bowl and spoon to school

IMPORTANT: Please respond to this email by noon on Friday if your child requires gluten-free bread.

Book Fair

This year's Book Fair will take place on Friday, November 18, from 5:00-7:00. We are partnering with local bookstore Books With Pictures Eugene to create a fresh, fun event where we will purchase books for our classrooms, home libraries, and as gifts for friends.

Enjoy student performances, buy some pizza from Whirled Pies, and connect with other Ridgeline families! Room 5's performance is at 6:00pm. It features student volunteers reading aloud and artwork from the whole class. 

Upcoming Dates: 

November 18th: 

• ECCO visits our class to teach us two songs

• Book Fair at Whirled Pies from 5-7pm

November 22nd:

• Stone Soup veggie prepping

November 23rd: 

• Stone Soup

November 24th-25th:

• No School

Until next time! 

Hello Families,

This is a reminder that there is no school Wednesday, November 9th through Friday, November 11th. 

Conferences are being held on Wednesday and Thursday. Please sign up here if you haven't done so already. Students are welcome but not required to attend the conference. 

If you need to meet via Zoom, please indicate that in the sign up form and use the following link at the time of your conference. 

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82861116634?pwd=SDhEVE5oUVl4cm9zYTZVa1hTM0RpUT09

Meeting ID: 828 6111 6634

Passcode: 883168

Let me know if you have any questions or concerns. 

-- 

Emmanuel Gemora

Hello Families,

We successfully made it through Spirit Week, Fun Run, school on Halloween, and school the day after Halloween! I was worried it would be disruptive to have such eventful weeks, but was impressed by how many ways the students showed they have "normalized" to our classroom expectations and continued to take everything in stride. It was also such a pleasure seeing the students take charge at Curriculum Sharing and show off their favorite works. 

Since our last update, we wrote our own creation stories and learned how to edit writing for common convention errors. Coming soon, we'll prepare for parent-teacher conferences by reflecting on our growth and goals. Then we will learn how human life developed on Earth. 

New Volunteer Opportunity:

Cleared for volunteering at Ridgeline? Want to help students with their reading fluency? 

We have several times throughout the week when you can come to the classroom and listen to students read! 

Please let Rachael McEachern (rpalink@gmail.com) know if you're interested and send any volunteering paperwork to Becky Fay (becky.fay@ridgeline.org).

Continuing Volunteering Opportunity:

Our room parent, Rachael, is coordinating a weekly volunteer opportunity through this link. Those who sign up will be helping Josie and I prep materials and the classroom. Vaccine cards and background checks are required. Since this will be after school hours, background checks do not need to be completed at the time of volunteering (they can take several weeks to clear), but please let me know if this is the case as it changes some of the volunteer allowances.

Please let Rachael McEachern (rpalink@gmail.com) know if you have further questions about the volunteering opportunity and send any volunteering paperwork to Becky Fay (becky.fay@ridgeline.org).

Important Dates:

November 9th and 10th: No school, parent-teacher conferences (sign-up here)

November 11th: No school, Veterans Day

November 14th: Bike/Walk to School Day

November 16th: Retakes for picture day

November 18th: Book Fair

Until next time!

Hello Families,

Last week we learned about how life came to be on Earth and began learning independent works to explore early life more. We heard different cultural creation stories and will be writing our own creation stories soon. Coming soon, we'll learn how human life developed on Earth which will guide us into learning about the needs all people share. 

Halloween Costumes:

To reduce distraction and help us focus on our work, Halloween costumes are not allowed at school. The week leading up to Halloween is Spirit Week though, so we still have opportunities to dress up and have fun! 

Toys and Fidgets:

Toys (including Pokemon cards) are not allowed at school. This helps us avoid time spent looking for lost items or trying to decide who brought what to school. 

Fidgets are allowed, but we talk with students beforehand about what makes something a fidget versus a toy. Please have this conversation with your child if they are bringing fidgets to school.

• A fidget can stay out of sight, a toy gets shown to friends. 

• A fidget lets you look at the thing you need to focus on, a toy gets stared at. 

• A fidget stays silent and isn't talked about, a toy makes noise and is talked about. 

Continuing Volunteering Opportunity:

Our room parent, Rachael, is coordinating a weekly volunteer opportunity through this link. Those who sign up will be helping Josie and I prep materials and the classroom. Vaccine cards and background checks are required. Since this will be after school hours, background checks do not need to be completed at the time of volunteering (they can take several weeks to clear), but please let me know if this is the case as it changes some of the volunteer allowances.

Please let Rachael McEachern (rpalink@gmail.com) know if you have further questions about the volunteering opportunity and send any volunteering paperwork to Becky Fay (becky.fay@ridgeline.org).

Important Dates:

October 20th: Curriculum Sharing from 3:15-4:15 p.m. and 6-7 p.m

October 24th-28th: Spirit Week (see attached flier)

October 28th: Fun Run

Hope to see you today! 

-- 

Emmanuel Gemora

(he or they)

Hello Families,

It has been one month since we started school! The students of Room 5 have continued to impress me with their ability to learn new routines and adapt when adjustments are needed. I have also been so proud to see the students supporting each other and teaching each other, especially so early in the year. 

Last week we started our weekly Scholastic groups and our Writer's Workshop. This week we continued that routine while also learning how the universe and the Earth came to be through two story books and a whole group lesson. We made thank you cards, summarized our learning, and/or made our own artistic representations of the universe. Coming soon, we'll explore how different cultures tell creation stories and we'll learn how life came to be on the Earth. 

New Volunteering Opportunity:

We're looking for a volunteer to fold and glue precut paper into 3D shapes for 29 students. 

Continuing Volunteering Opportunity:

Our room parent, Rachael, is coordinating a weekly volunteer opportunity through this link<https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0C4FAEAC28A4FFC25-friday>. Those who sign up will be helping Josie and I prep materials and the classroom. Vaccine cards and background checks are required. Since this will be after school hours, background checks do not need to be completed at the time of volunteering (they can take several weeks to clear), but please let me know if this is the case as it changes some of the volunteer allowances.

Please let Rachael McEachern (rpalink@gmail.com<mailto:rpalink@gmail.com>) know if you have further questions about the volunteering opportunity and send any volunteering paperwork to Becky Fay (becky.fay@ridgeline.org<mailto:becky.fay@ridgeline.org>).

Important Dates:

No school on Friday, October 14th and Monday, October 17th (teacher planning day). 

Until next time!

-- 

Emmanuel Gemora

Hello Families,

Wow! Can you believe we’re only in our second full week of school? We’ve already learned so many new routines and increased our ability to focus on tasks!

Last week we got to start PE and Social Emotional Learning. We also began our routine of visiting the school library once a week. This week we started doing classroom jobs and had our first class with the new art specialist. Coming soon, we’ll add even more to our routines by beginning Scholastic language arts groups and Writer’s Workshop. Then we’ll learn how the universe, life, and society began in a Montessori staple: the Great Lessons. 

Volunteering Opportunities:

Our room parent, Rachael, is coordinating a weekly volunteer opportunity through this link. Those who sign up will be helping Josie and I prep materials and the classroom. Vaccine cards and background checks are required. Since this will be after school hours, background checks do not need to be completed at the time of volunteering (they can take several weeks to clear), but please let me know if this is the case as it changes some of the volunteer allowances. 

Please let Rachael McEachern (rpalink@gmail.com) know if you have further questions about the volunteering opportunity and send any volunteering paperwork to Becky Fay (becky.fay@ridgeline.org). 

I am also looking for one to two more families to take home lunch mats once a month and wash them over the weekend. Please let me know if you are interested. 

Here comes the rain:

The rain this week is a reminder that we play outside in (nearly) all weather. Please check the weather report in the mornings and send your child to school with clothes to match! You may want to keep spare clothes in your child's backpack or store an extra raincoat at school. 

Donation Opportunity:

Speaking of rain, we need plastic bags donated to our room. When our clothes or shoes get wet/muddy they will be sent home in plastic bags. 

Thank you to those of you who donated books! Our bookshelves are looking much better! 

Picture Day:

Picture Day is Friday, September 30th. 

Photos may be ordered online at https://newleifphoto.inter-state.com/ . Ridgeline's order code is 71229HB.  

Until next time!

-- 

Emmanuel Gemora

(he or they)

Emmanuel's Update 9/8/22

Hello Families,

It's so exciting to be back!

Yesterday we hit the ground running, starting our day with morning expectations and journaling about our summer. We also completed our first morning and afternoon work cycles of the school year. To help us adjust to our new lunch procedures, we ate lunch outside before joining the other Lower Elementary students on the playground. We ended our afternoon with silent reading before leaving our first day of school behind!

Please see the attachments for our general weekly schedule.

Volunteer Opportunity:

With our indoor lunch, we are using fabric mats to eat on. Are there any families who would be interested in taking home the mats to wash on the weekends?

No nut allergies:

Our class currently does NOT have any nut allergies. Your children are welcome to bring peanut butter or other nuts for snack/lunch.

Silent reading books:

We do silent reading for about 30 minutes a day and visit the school library once a week. Your child is welcome to bring a book from home to read during this time.

Indoor/Outdoor shoes:

Please send your child with a pair of hard soled, slip-on shoes for them to store at the school. We will be using these shoes while working in the classroom. They should also be shoes that are easy to walk in in-case of emergency (or the more likely safety drills).

Normalization and Montessori terminology:

During the first six weeks of school, the classroom is in an important phase called "normalizing." In Montessori terminology, this means we are adjusting to the expectations, becoming comfortable with the rigorous work cycle, and working on being a collaborative community. In this period, we will focus a great deal on learning procedures and increasing our stamina. To help us with our focus, we do not allow volunteers in our classroom during this six week period. You can read more about this concept here.

Montessori philosophy has some very specific terminology and those of us who work in that realm can forget that these phrases are unfamiliar. Feel free to ask questions if you are confused/curious about these terms!

I'm looking forward to this next year and can't wait to see your children grow!

--

Emmanuel Gemora