Do you like to knit, paint, sew, crochet, sculpt, draw, make jewelry, do mosaics, fuse glass?
Well, we would love to sell your arts and crafts during our Art Sale that will be happening both days of Trillium in Bloom!
Our Art Sale for Trillium in Bloom last school year earned over $4,000!
This year we are hoping to surpass that but we need your donations of high quality handmade arts and crafts items for the sale
on October 9th and 10th!!
Students, parents and friends of our Trillium community are encouraged to donate items as soon as you can :)
All donations are fully tax-deductible and proceeds will benefit the Trillium community.
Donation forms are available here:
Please bring donations and a copy of the donation form to the front desk by October 5th.
Contact Megan Klepp mklepp@yahoo.com with questions about donations or to make arrangements for larger items.
Thank you and we we'll see you at Trillium in Bloom!
ps Notice the lovely poster hanging on the front door of the school!
Monday, September 28, 2009
Dear Parents,
Our year has started off great at our wonderful school! Trillium In Bloom is less than two weeks away! Campouts and sleep-unders are happening! There is beautiful new artwork hanging all over the school! Enthusiasm and energy are in the air!
Our community is also dealing with the day to day stresses of parenting (see more below) as well as a severe budget deficit this year that has affected us right down to the day to day basics, specifically Copy Paper. Our school uses 12-16 cases of Copy Paper per month and each case costs about $20-25.
Stephanie Hinkle, our Director, has asked the Liaisons to coordinate a monthly "Copy Paper Donation". Specifically, Stephanie has asked that each of our 16 advisings in our school donate ONE CASE of copy paper per month and would prefer that we donate the actual case of copy paper rather than the money.
We are asking each family in our class to donate one case of copy paper this school year or to chip in with another family to donate one case. We have October - June, which is 9 months, so we need to donate 9 cases
If you can donate, please just bring a case in and let Beth know you have donated.
If you want to do a chip-in with another family we can put a sign up sheet out to match folks or just match yourselves up and let us know who's gone in together when you drop off the paper. Thank you for helping with this very important daily need for our school!
Stephanie is also seeking information about what kind of support groups parents want and need to help them in their daily lives. What would help you? A support group about teenage angst? A support group to help girls build self-confidence? A support group to understand your sons? Whatever ideas you have about support groups our school could offer, again, please email me, your Liaison, or talk to me in person, and I will get this information back to Stephanie. If you prefer, you can also contact her directly stephanie@trilliumcharterschool.org and let her know your ideas!
Thank you so much for your support and help. Please let us know if we can answer any questions.
Best regards,
Marion and Juli
Our year has started off great at our wonderful school! Trillium In Bloom is less than two weeks away! Campouts and sleep-unders are happening! There is beautiful new artwork hanging all over the school! Enthusiasm and energy are in the air!
Our community is also dealing with the day to day stresses of parenting (see more below) as well as a severe budget deficit this year that has affected us right down to the day to day basics, specifically Copy Paper. Our school uses 12-16 cases of Copy Paper per month and each case costs about $20-25.
Stephanie Hinkle, our Director, has asked the Liaisons to coordinate a monthly "Copy Paper Donation". Specifically, Stephanie has asked that each of our 16 advisings in our school donate ONE CASE of copy paper per month and would prefer that we donate the actual case of copy paper rather than the money.
We are asking each family in our class to donate one case of copy paper this school year or to chip in with another family to donate one case. We have October - June, which is 9 months, so we need to donate 9 cases
If you can donate, please just bring a case in and let Beth know you have donated.
If you want to do a chip-in with another family we can put a sign up sheet out to match folks or just match yourselves up and let us know who's gone in together when you drop off the paper. Thank you for helping with this very important daily need for our school!
Stephanie is also seeking information about what kind of support groups parents want and need to help them in their daily lives. What would help you? A support group about teenage angst? A support group to help girls build self-confidence? A support group to understand your sons? Whatever ideas you have about support groups our school could offer, again, please email me, your Liaison, or talk to me in person, and I will get this information back to Stephanie. If you prefer, you can also contact her directly stephanie@trilliumcharterschool.org and let her know your ideas!
Thank you so much for your support and help. Please let us know if we can answer any questions.
Best regards,
Marion and Juli
Friday, September 25, 2009
Beth’s Class Meeting Friday, September 25, 2009
Here’s the scoop!
Billy and Clark came to visit, here he is with Liam
Atticus started the meeting as Beth reminded him about the class meeting protocol. This is his second time leading the meeting and after his 3rd time Lilly will take over.
Announcements:
Beth said that next week is the Sleep Under and Breakfast the next day, don't forget!
Proposals:
Atticus and Griffin proposed ice cream day. They really want it on next Friday after the Sleep Under. They would like to buy ice cream and bring it into school for everyone. They stopped to confer about the details of the proposal and submit them for review.
Discussion:
Orin, suggested that any flavor was o.k. with him he likes to try new flavors
Hunter requested clarification on which day ice cream day would be and suggested it might be too much sugar so he is inclined to vote "no"
Eleni, unfortunately won't be here that day she will be in California
Lilly, likes all flavors of ice cream
Restate the Proposal in advance of the vote:
Ice Cream day on the 2nd of October
Vote:
14 yes
4 no
The Ice Cream Day resolution passes now they need to decide on flavors
Nomination of Flavors:
Peppermint Stick and Mint Chocolate Chip are the flavors the class decided on
Other Issues:
Beth suggested they need to come with a way to decide when kids get to use the loft
There can only be five people in the loft at a time
Monday: Hayden, Arden, Liam, Lily, Terra
Tuesday: Elsie, Eleni, Annie, Hannah, Atticus
Wednesday: Griffin, Estelle, Huck, Phoenix
Thursday: Orin, Sam, Hunter, Enora
That's all folks!
Breakfast with Ellie!
This morning was breakfast at school!
Ellie ( with Clark and Billy too!) is coming to visit and the class was sad that she would miss the sleep under and breakfast so it was decided that they would also have breakfast today so she could be there.
Breakfast was wonderful, scrambled eggs and cheese, toast and jam (marionberry and strawberry) and bacon!
It was also Lilly Menz's Birthday! Happy Birthday Lilly!!
Mary Elizabeth Drinkhouse, Christine Mooney and Beth hosted the breakfast for the kids- THANKS!
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Sleep Under and Breakfast October 1st and 2nd!
Don't forget the sleep under on Thursday October 1 from 6:00-8:30
For the class members only, not a family activity. A couple of parent volunteers per class would be great, please contact Juli.
Pizza dinner, talent show, crafts, games and dancing.
Come back for breakfast on Friday morning, 8:15 till done. Parent helper for breakfast is still needed!
Please let us know about food allergies; complete the form outside the classroom to let us know if your child has any allergies or foods to avoid
Don't forget the sleep under on Thursday October 1 from 6:00-8:30
For the class members only, not a family activity. A couple of parent volunteers per class would be great, please contact Juli.
Pizza dinner, talent show, crafts, games and dancing.
Come back for breakfast on Friday morning, 8:15 till done. Parent helper for breakfast is still needed!
Please let us know about food allergies; complete the form outside the classroom to let us know if your child has any allergies or foods to avoid
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Highlights from Back To School Night
It was great to see many of you at Back To School Night.
Beth, Brian and Whitney went over many aspects of the 1-2 shared curriculum.
If you are interested in exploring more about some of the underpinnings of the reading, writing and math curriculum here you go:
Reading: Growing Readers
Math: Investigations by TERC-
overview of 1st grade
overview of 2nd grade
Writing : About the Authors
A really great thing I learned was that Beth uses "The Silent Thumb". Instead of raising hands like we all probably did when we were in school. Beth said that research has shown that some kids give up on problem solving when other kids raise their hand first. So she uses the "silent thumb" technique, which is less intrusive and has been shown to keep kids problem solving longer. Who knew?
VOLUNTEER UPDATES:
We are setting up the volunteer schedule for those folks that signed up to help out on a regular basis THANK YOU!
Juli will confirm your volunteer time with you soon. Your commitment begins the week of October 5th through December 20th. Again thanks so much and contact Juli with any questions about volunteering!
Other volunteer opportunities:
A couple of parents are needed for the SLEEP UNDER on October 1st from 6:00-8:30 to help with games and overall fun. Please contact Juli to volunteer for that!
Beth, Brian and Whitney went over many aspects of the 1-2 shared curriculum.
If you are interested in exploring more about some of the underpinnings of the reading, writing and math curriculum here you go:
Reading: Growing Readers
Math: Investigations by TERC-
overview of 1st grade
overview of 2nd grade
Writing : About the Authors
A really great thing I learned was that Beth uses "The Silent Thumb". Instead of raising hands like we all probably did when we were in school. Beth said that research has shown that some kids give up on problem solving when other kids raise their hand first. So she uses the "silent thumb" technique, which is less intrusive and has been shown to keep kids problem solving longer. Who knew?
VOLUNTEER UPDATES:
We are setting up the volunteer schedule for those folks that signed up to help out on a regular basis THANK YOU!
Juli will confirm your volunteer time with you soon. Your commitment begins the week of October 5th through December 20th. Again thanks so much and contact Juli with any questions about volunteering!
Other volunteer opportunities:
A couple of parents are needed for the SLEEP UNDER on October 1st from 6:00-8:30 to help with games and overall fun. Please contact Juli to volunteer for that!
Friday, September 18, 2009
Class Meeting Minutes, September 18, 2009
Every Friday Trillium holds an all school meeting. Rob Van Nood will post the minutes on the Trillium Parent Listserve.
After the all school meeting, Beth’s class holds their class meeting. We will be attending those meetings and posting the “minutes” here.
Class Meeting: Week One
Discussion of how class meetings work:
- Write your proposal and put it in the envelope for discussion items by Thursday.
- Discuss changing levels of responsibility
- Vote and make decisions
- Students run the meetings. Request from class to be the leader and class votes to decide who will lead meetings in 3 week increments.
Today’s meeting:
- Talk about class jobs to help class stay neat, organized and run smoothly.
- vote on future leaders
Jobs:
- Clean-sweep + partner for dustbin-suggested by Atticus
- Shoe organizer-suggested by
o Put boxes made out of tape on floor so everyone knows where their shoes belong. Possibly add kid’s names to the tape.
o Terra would like to be the first shoe organizer
- Wash tables-suggested by Annie
- Picking up around the room-suggested by Elsie
o We’ll call this position the “office manager” said Beth
o Duties include putting pens etc into white baskets. Make sure the pencils go in tip down.
- Librarian-suggested by Hannah
o Duties include:
§ putting books away
§ sorting reading workshop books –added Terrra
- Journal Shelf Organizer-suggested Beth
o We’ll call this the “organizer”
- Fisher feeder-suggested Hunter
- Chair stacker-suggested Beth
o 1 person for each of the 3 tables
o 2 stacks of 3 chairs each
o If you chose to lift the chairs onto the table ask for help
- Calendar-suggested Beth
o So we have a fair way of making sure everyone gets a turn
- Loft cleaner-suggested Beth
- Put toys away-suggested Atticus
Meeting Leader:
Atticus would like to be a meeting leader: “I did it last year and did it well and I know what’s going on.”
Lily would also like to be the leader: “because it would be good if everyone played.”
Class voted and Atticus will have the first 3 week session of being clad meeting leader. Lily will take the next 3 weeks and Atticus will help her if needed.
Announcements:
Beth: “Remind your parents that next Tuesday is back to school info night.. Learn how 1-2 will run this year and get your questions answered. Adults only please.”
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Hello from Marion Rice
Hi Everyone, I look forward to working with Beth and Juli this year to support the 1-2 community.
It will be great to reconnect and meet new folks at Back to School night next week, Tuesday, September 22nd from 6:30-7:30 p.m. ( adults only).
It will be great to reconnect and meet new folks at Back to School night next week, Tuesday, September 22nd from 6:30-7:30 p.m. ( adults only).
Welcome from your Liaisons
Welcome to Beth's 1-2 class!
I'd like to introduce you to your liaisons for the year-Juli Maus (mama to Eleni in 1st grade and Danica in preschool) and Marion Rice (mama to Griffin in 2nd grade).
We'll be your point people to coordinate class events, get TFT info to you and remind you of important happenings and volunteer opportunities. We are here to support Beth, our students and you. Our goal is to make this a fun filled year for our whole class community. We will do most of our communicating via emails and this blog, so please check back often.
We have put up sign up sheets for the following classroom volunteer positions:
Morning duty helper: We are looking for an 8 week commitment starting the week of September 28 through November 16. It involves getting to school a bit early and engaging with the kids in structured creative activities and building community with parents as kids arrive.
Math/Literacy and Reading Workshop helpers: Again we are hoping for an 8 week commitment starting the week of September 28 through November 16.
Please let us know if you are available and would like to help at least part of the time, but need to make some special arrangements.
Important upcoming events:
Tuesday, September 22 6:30-7:30 Back to School Info night. Bring your questions. Adults only please.
Halloween Potluck, October 30 4-7. Save the date. More info to follow.
We'd also like to put out a class roster with emails and phone numbers so as your children make friends, we can build our community through play dates and helping each other. Please contact us privately if you DO NOT want to be on the roster. If we do not hear from you, we will assume you consent. Rosters will be distributed on October 1.
Please feel free to contact, Juli at mausjuli@gmail.com or 503 735 3040 or Marion at marionrice@me.com or 503 708 0707 if you have any questions, concerns or would like to add to the classroom in anyway.
Thank you. We look forward to meeting you all and sharing the year with you.
I'd like to introduce you to your liaisons for the year-Juli Maus (mama to Eleni in 1st grade and Danica in preschool) and Marion Rice (mama to Griffin in 2nd grade).
We'll be your point people to coordinate class events, get TFT info to you and remind you of important happenings and volunteer opportunities. We are here to support Beth, our students and you. Our goal is to make this a fun filled year for our whole class community. We will do most of our communicating via emails and this blog, so please check back often.
We have put up sign up sheets for the following classroom volunteer positions:
Morning duty helper: We are looking for an 8 week commitment starting the week of September 28 through November 16. It involves getting to school a bit early and engaging with the kids in structured creative activities and building community with parents as kids arrive.
Math/Literacy and Reading Workshop helpers: Again we are hoping for an 8 week commitment starting the week of September 28 through November 16.
Please let us know if you are available and would like to help at least part of the time, but need to make some special arrangements.
Important upcoming events:
Tuesday, September 22 6:30-7:30 Back to School Info night. Bring your questions. Adults only please.
Halloween Potluck, October 30 4-7. Save the date. More info to follow.
We'd also like to put out a class roster with emails and phone numbers so as your children make friends, we can build our community through play dates and helping each other. Please contact us privately if you DO NOT want to be on the roster. If we do not hear from you, we will assume you consent. Rosters will be distributed on October 1.
Please feel free to contact, Juli at mausjuli@gmail.com or 503 735 3040 or Marion at marionrice@me.com or 503 708 0707 if you have any questions, concerns or would like to add to the classroom in anyway.
Thank you. We look forward to meeting you all and sharing the year with you.
Monday, September 14, 2009
2009 - 2010 First and Second Grade Handbook
Trillium Charter School
First & Second Grade
Handbook
2009-2010
First & Second Grade Handbook
2009-10
Dear Families,
Thank you for taking the time to read through some important information that will help you, your child and us have an exciting year. Keep this handbook for future use.
Beth, Brian, and Whitney are all excited to be back at school this year. We love working as a team to provide your child with the best personal education we can. This year’s theme is “The Seven Continents.” We will be learning about our world. We will frame our studies through thematic questions about community, caring for our world, the animals that are there and more. Once again we have a winter performance night planned and an end of the year feast. You will find those dates and more information in the following pages noted below. Thanks for reading this and remember to ask any questions you might have!
Contact Information
Beth, Brian, and Whitney can be contacted by telephone or email for questions and concerns. Since drop-off and pick-up time are usually busy, please feel free to call or set up an appointment if you need a longer time to chat.
Beth Molenkamp 503.706.6742 email: beth@trilliumcharterschool.org
Blog: http://bethk-1-2.blogspot.com
Brian Porter 541-941-0515 email: brian@trilliumcharterschool.org
Blog: http://briansclasstrillium.blogspot.com
Whitney Sweet 503-975-2246 email: whitney@trilliumcharterschool.org
Blog: http://whitneysclass.blogspot.com
Thank you for your dedication to our students and our school. We look forward to working with you.
*Beth, Brian, and Whitney
Monday through Thrusday Schedule
Our typical schedule for the beginning of the year looks as follows, things change as the year progresses and special topics are developed and classes planned. Note that there is a different schedule for Fridays as Friday dismissal is at noon.
Monday through Thursday
8:30 Class begins – Please be on time – Check in, Morning Brain Teasers, Morning Message, calendar, and announcements.
9:00-10:05 Math and Literacy Menus
10:05-10:20 Snack
10:20-10:45 Recess
10:45-11:45 Reading Workshop
11:45-12:45 Lunch – lunch recess
12:45–1:55 Writing Workshop
1:45-3:15 Monday & Wednesday Art Block
Tuesday & Thursday Thematic Instruction & ILP Time
3:15 Dismissal – Please be on time.
Friday Schedule
8:30 Class begins – Please be on time – Check in, Morning Brain Teasers, Morning Message, calendar, and announcements.
8:45-9:15 Buddies, story, group activity, or presentations
9:15-9:45 Class meeting
9:45-10:00 Sharing
10:00-10:10 Snack
10:10-10:30 Recess
10:30-11:30 Science or Cooking Friday
11:30-11:45 Clean up
11:45-12:00 Class sharing time
12:00 Dismissal - Please be on time
Supplies
We are including a supply fee in the activity fees this year. You do not need to bring in regular supplies. We may ask for special items to be brought during projects, but they should be things you find around the house.
First Week Things to Bring:
• Extra clothes in a Marked Zip-loc bag (Mark with child’s name on clothes)
• Emergency Contact Information, and all other paperwork.
• Activity fee and other forms from website
• Old T-shirt to be used as a paint shirt by the class community
• Slippers for in-class wearing
• Leak proof water bottle
Sharing
We love to be able to give the opportunity for all students to share each week. In order to make sharing an interesting and valuable part of our day, each class will have a sharing schedule that will be posted in the class. Sharing is not a time to share toys one may own. DO NOT SEND TOYS. We will have a schedule with a theme for sharing. Please make sure the item or story they share is related to the topic for the week. Check newsletters or calendars for the current themes.
Volunteers
We are looking forward to a year of partnering with all of the adults in the lives of our students. We hope to be able to learn from your experience with your child so that together we can make his/her experience at Trillium a great one. We have a wide range of opportunities to volunteer in and out of the classroom. Please sign up with your child’s teacher to help or talk to the classroom liaison to help. Each class needs volunteers for a few ongoing projects:
• Photographer – Takes pictures on field trips, during presentations and project nights. Teachers are frequently too busy to do this, but we really like the pictures. Print those out for us or email them to us for use in newsletter or blogs.
• Dictation – Either takes dictation from students in class or types up recorded dictation that students have made in class.
• Portfolio Assistant – Scans and assists in getting work into electronic portfolio system.
• Reading Group Facilitators – Help work with small groups of students in reading groups with guided, leveled oral reading.
• Menu Time/Project Time Helper – Help with math and literacy menus so that children have adult support in their small group learning.
• Before School, Lunch and Recess Duty Helpers – Help assure safety of children during these times and supervise games.
• Project helpers – Help students work on ILP projects.
Please contact your child’s teacher if you would be willing to work on one of these projects. Your help is incredibly appreciated.
Trillium and PPS have a policy to help ensure the safety of our children and community. If you are planning to help in any way that gives you access to other people’s children we are required to complete a criminal background check. Those forms are available through the school and help us all to feel better about who is working with our kids. Thanks for your cooperation in completing these quickly so that we can all be involved.
When we go on field trips and you choose to chaperone, remember you are there to help and it is okay to reinforce positive behaviors of children as well as remind them of appropriate limits. Check with any of us if you have questions. Remember that if you volunteer to chaperone we are expecting that you make that your priority and that you take care of all children in your charge just as carefully as you would your own.
While we generally have an open door policy when it comes to parent involvement in the classroom, we are requesting that for the first two weeks of school parent volunteer time be limited to work outside the classroom. We would like for the first two weeks of school to give the students an opportunity to form a tight-knit community with one another and allow us to form our own relationships with the children. We are excited to welcome parents in the classroom beginning with our third week of school, September 21st.
If you have time before the school year begins we would really appreciate volunteers for all sorts of reasons. Thanks, in advance, for your help.
Parent Meeting and Project Nights
We will have a back to school parent meeting night on Tues, Sept. 22nd. We have two project nights, Dec. 11th and June 4th. The parent meeting nights are for parents only. We will focus on classroom support and we will answer questions you have. Project nights are for sharing work!
Communication
All newsletters and important class and school information will be distributed through three avenues: the home files located in/outside each classroom, through electronic emails, and on our blog through the main Trillium Website. Please check your file daily to keep up with all of the new and exciting activities in the primary classes and at Trillium. Talk to your child’s teacher if your family needs more than one home file. Make sure we have the correct email information for your family.
Recess, Park and Garden Activities
We would love to be able to go outside daily throughout the year to play, work in the Trillium garden and play at the park. Please send your child to school with appropriate outerwear/raingear for the beautiful wet Oregon days.
Birthdays
We would love to celebrate your child’s birthday in class. Students with summer birthdays can celebrate their birthday on their half birthday or at another time that we can arrange during the year. Please let us know in advance if you are planning on bringing a snack at 10:00 for the class. Snacks should be healthy and not sugar laden. Advance notice is necessary so we can address food allergies.
SleepUnder
We have a SleepUnder on October 1st, beginning at 6:00 with pizza dinner and fun activities and games to be enjoyed by all. Parents are invited to come and play and stay if they want or leave their children in our care for the evening. Children should be picked up by 8:30 and go home to sleep and return for a group breakfast with us the next morning. It will be a lot of safe fun for all.
Campout
We will be having a primary campout on May 20th & 21st. We will go to Cape Lookout State Park at the Oregon Coast, 12 miles southwest of Tillamook. We leave in the morning of the first day and return on the second at about 3:00. A parent is strongly encouraged to come, as this is a community activity and a chance to meet the community members and welcome new families. Between the classes there are 13 yurts. Each yurt sleeps a maximum of 8 people. Tent sites are also reserved. If you are planning to bring a whole family you might want to make your own campsite reservations since we will not have room for everyone’s families. The cost of the campout and food is included in your child’s activity fee for your child; any additional family members attending will need to pay an additional fee of $25.00 or $10.00 for those 4 or younger.
Snack
We encourage you to pack a healthful snack for your child each day. We will have basic snacks available, but we have found that the children prefer their own snacks better. Please make it something nutritious and fast to eat with no preparation needed.
Lunch
Lunch is eaten in the classrooms. Lunch should be sent with your child daily or hot lunch may be purchased. Please try not to send food that your child cannot prepare by her/himself. Please remember to send utensils and food that does not require refrigeration or heating. School lunches are available this year from Organic Fresh Fingers. The cost is $3.00. These lunches are also available at free and reduced cost. Please complete the PPS form for eligibility to receive a free or reduced lunch. Even if your child chooses to bring their own lunch, if you qualify for free lunch please complete the form as it qualifies Trillium for additional funding for special programs. Check the Trillium website, http://www.trilliumcharterschool.org/index.php?page=home-visit-packets , for the link.
Field Trips
We will be planning our field trips differently this year. We are using an inquiry based approach to our thematic lessons and we will let the children have input and planning for our field trips. We have some dates set already, as you can see below, but many will be planned during the year as part of the curriculum. We will notify you two weeks in advance to plan for them. We will try to use public transportation as much as possible. Some of the ideas we have so far are: Tears of Joy Puppet Theater, NW Children’s theater, Art museums, OMSI, Zoo, Washington park, art schools, Chinese Garden and ethnic restaurants. We need chaperones for all of these field trips. Date Location
Sept. 22nd Back to school Parent Meeting
Oct 1st SleepUnder- Games & Fun!
6:00 to 8:30
Oct 2nd Group Breakfast
Mid October Forestry Center
Dec. 11 Performance Night
Dec. 14 -17 Intensives
Jan. 29th All-School Project Night
Feb. 4 Little One Inch, TOJ Puppets
April 7 Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus
Later April Chinese Garden
*May 20/21 Campout, Cape Lookout
June 4 World’s Fair Project Night - FEAST! 5:30 – 8:00
June 7-10 Intensives
Activity Fee
There is an activity fee that is all-inclusive this year. It covers all field trips, a campout, supplies and cooking activities and art fees for your child. The cost is $150.00. We should not have to ask for any additional money for our class this year. The only other charge could be an intensive your child chooses. Please make the arrangements for payment or work out a payment schedule with the front office. Please give all payments to your child’s teacher. If you qualify for free and reduced lunch you can receive a scholarship from TFT by filling out the scholarship request form in the home visit packet. You must fill out the scholarship form however. TFT cannot access free and reduced lunch information so you must request the scholarship. These fees make field trips possible. Additional siblings or family members that attend must be paid for separately and in advance.
TFT
TFT or Together For Trillium is a parent organization that supports the school. It sponsors Trillium in Bloom various social activities to enrich the Trillium community. Please consider participating and or attending the Potluck, skating party, swimming party, and Auction. It’s your chance to help the school, be involved and meet new friends.
Conflict Resolution
We use peer mediations as a form of nonviolent conflict resolution at Trillium. We want to give students the tools to solve their own problems. They do so with the support of their teacher and other staff. Please familiarize yourself and your child with our constitution bill of rights and responsibilities. This serves as a foundation for our mediation process and how we frame our responsibilities as members of the community. Mediations are not punitive, but rather a way to fully understand and solve issues.
If the same behavior keeps occurring over and over, then the issue can be taken to Judicial Committee. This is a group of students who ask questions and help to come up with solutions to the ongoing issue. It is much like a multi-mediator mediation. Once again, the goal is to solve issues nonviolently and in a way that works for all members involved. If you have questions about this process, please ask. Please support your child in developing nonviolent conflict resolution skills.
First & Second Grade
Handbook
2009-2010
First & Second Grade Handbook
2009-10
Dear Families,
Thank you for taking the time to read through some important information that will help you, your child and us have an exciting year. Keep this handbook for future use.
Beth, Brian, and Whitney are all excited to be back at school this year. We love working as a team to provide your child with the best personal education we can. This year’s theme is “The Seven Continents.” We will be learning about our world. We will frame our studies through thematic questions about community, caring for our world, the animals that are there and more. Once again we have a winter performance night planned and an end of the year feast. You will find those dates and more information in the following pages noted below. Thanks for reading this and remember to ask any questions you might have!
Contact Information
Beth, Brian, and Whitney can be contacted by telephone or email for questions and concerns. Since drop-off and pick-up time are usually busy, please feel free to call or set up an appointment if you need a longer time to chat.
Beth Molenkamp 503.706.6742 email: beth@trilliumcharterschool.org
Blog: http://bethk-1-2.blogspot.com
Brian Porter 541-941-0515 email: brian@trilliumcharterschool.org
Blog: http://briansclasstrillium.blogspot.com
Whitney Sweet 503-975-2246 email: whitney@trilliumcharterschool.org
Blog: http://whitneysclass.blogspot.com
Thank you for your dedication to our students and our school. We look forward to working with you.
*Beth, Brian, and Whitney
Monday through Thrusday Schedule
Our typical schedule for the beginning of the year looks as follows, things change as the year progresses and special topics are developed and classes planned. Note that there is a different schedule for Fridays as Friday dismissal is at noon.
Monday through Thursday
8:30 Class begins – Please be on time – Check in, Morning Brain Teasers, Morning Message, calendar, and announcements.
9:00-10:05 Math and Literacy Menus
10:05-10:20 Snack
10:20-10:45 Recess
10:45-11:45 Reading Workshop
11:45-12:45 Lunch – lunch recess
12:45–1:55 Writing Workshop
1:45-3:15 Monday & Wednesday Art Block
Tuesday & Thursday Thematic Instruction & ILP Time
3:15 Dismissal – Please be on time.
Friday Schedule
8:30 Class begins – Please be on time – Check in, Morning Brain Teasers, Morning Message, calendar, and announcements.
8:45-9:15 Buddies, story, group activity, or presentations
9:15-9:45 Class meeting
9:45-10:00 Sharing
10:00-10:10 Snack
10:10-10:30 Recess
10:30-11:30 Science or Cooking Friday
11:30-11:45 Clean up
11:45-12:00 Class sharing time
12:00 Dismissal - Please be on time
Supplies
We are including a supply fee in the activity fees this year. You do not need to bring in regular supplies. We may ask for special items to be brought during projects, but they should be things you find around the house.
First Week Things to Bring:
• Extra clothes in a Marked Zip-loc bag (Mark with child’s name on clothes)
• Emergency Contact Information, and all other paperwork.
• Activity fee and other forms from website
• Old T-shirt to be used as a paint shirt by the class community
• Slippers for in-class wearing
• Leak proof water bottle
Sharing
We love to be able to give the opportunity for all students to share each week. In order to make sharing an interesting and valuable part of our day, each class will have a sharing schedule that will be posted in the class. Sharing is not a time to share toys one may own. DO NOT SEND TOYS. We will have a schedule with a theme for sharing. Please make sure the item or story they share is related to the topic for the week. Check newsletters or calendars for the current themes.
Volunteers
We are looking forward to a year of partnering with all of the adults in the lives of our students. We hope to be able to learn from your experience with your child so that together we can make his/her experience at Trillium a great one. We have a wide range of opportunities to volunteer in and out of the classroom. Please sign up with your child’s teacher to help or talk to the classroom liaison to help. Each class needs volunteers for a few ongoing projects:
• Photographer – Takes pictures on field trips, during presentations and project nights. Teachers are frequently too busy to do this, but we really like the pictures. Print those out for us or email them to us for use in newsletter or blogs.
• Dictation – Either takes dictation from students in class or types up recorded dictation that students have made in class.
• Portfolio Assistant – Scans and assists in getting work into electronic portfolio system.
• Reading Group Facilitators – Help work with small groups of students in reading groups with guided, leveled oral reading.
• Menu Time/Project Time Helper – Help with math and literacy menus so that children have adult support in their small group learning.
• Before School, Lunch and Recess Duty Helpers – Help assure safety of children during these times and supervise games.
• Project helpers – Help students work on ILP projects.
Please contact your child’s teacher if you would be willing to work on one of these projects. Your help is incredibly appreciated.
Trillium and PPS have a policy to help ensure the safety of our children and community. If you are planning to help in any way that gives you access to other people’s children we are required to complete a criminal background check. Those forms are available through the school and help us all to feel better about who is working with our kids. Thanks for your cooperation in completing these quickly so that we can all be involved.
When we go on field trips and you choose to chaperone, remember you are there to help and it is okay to reinforce positive behaviors of children as well as remind them of appropriate limits. Check with any of us if you have questions. Remember that if you volunteer to chaperone we are expecting that you make that your priority and that you take care of all children in your charge just as carefully as you would your own.
While we generally have an open door policy when it comes to parent involvement in the classroom, we are requesting that for the first two weeks of school parent volunteer time be limited to work outside the classroom. We would like for the first two weeks of school to give the students an opportunity to form a tight-knit community with one another and allow us to form our own relationships with the children. We are excited to welcome parents in the classroom beginning with our third week of school, September 21st.
If you have time before the school year begins we would really appreciate volunteers for all sorts of reasons. Thanks, in advance, for your help.
Parent Meeting and Project Nights
We will have a back to school parent meeting night on Tues, Sept. 22nd. We have two project nights, Dec. 11th and June 4th. The parent meeting nights are for parents only. We will focus on classroom support and we will answer questions you have. Project nights are for sharing work!
Communication
All newsletters and important class and school information will be distributed through three avenues: the home files located in/outside each classroom, through electronic emails, and on our blog through the main Trillium Website. Please check your file daily to keep up with all of the new and exciting activities in the primary classes and at Trillium. Talk to your child’s teacher if your family needs more than one home file. Make sure we have the correct email information for your family.
Recess, Park and Garden Activities
We would love to be able to go outside daily throughout the year to play, work in the Trillium garden and play at the park. Please send your child to school with appropriate outerwear/raingear for the beautiful wet Oregon days.
Birthdays
We would love to celebrate your child’s birthday in class. Students with summer birthdays can celebrate their birthday on their half birthday or at another time that we can arrange during the year. Please let us know in advance if you are planning on bringing a snack at 10:00 for the class. Snacks should be healthy and not sugar laden. Advance notice is necessary so we can address food allergies.
SleepUnder
We have a SleepUnder on October 1st, beginning at 6:00 with pizza dinner and fun activities and games to be enjoyed by all. Parents are invited to come and play and stay if they want or leave their children in our care for the evening. Children should be picked up by 8:30 and go home to sleep and return for a group breakfast with us the next morning. It will be a lot of safe fun for all.
Campout
We will be having a primary campout on May 20th & 21st. We will go to Cape Lookout State Park at the Oregon Coast, 12 miles southwest of Tillamook. We leave in the morning of the first day and return on the second at about 3:00. A parent is strongly encouraged to come, as this is a community activity and a chance to meet the community members and welcome new families. Between the classes there are 13 yurts. Each yurt sleeps a maximum of 8 people. Tent sites are also reserved. If you are planning to bring a whole family you might want to make your own campsite reservations since we will not have room for everyone’s families. The cost of the campout and food is included in your child’s activity fee for your child; any additional family members attending will need to pay an additional fee of $25.00 or $10.00 for those 4 or younger.
Snack
We encourage you to pack a healthful snack for your child each day. We will have basic snacks available, but we have found that the children prefer their own snacks better. Please make it something nutritious and fast to eat with no preparation needed.
Lunch
Lunch is eaten in the classrooms. Lunch should be sent with your child daily or hot lunch may be purchased. Please try not to send food that your child cannot prepare by her/himself. Please remember to send utensils and food that does not require refrigeration or heating. School lunches are available this year from Organic Fresh Fingers. The cost is $3.00. These lunches are also available at free and reduced cost. Please complete the PPS form for eligibility to receive a free or reduced lunch. Even if your child chooses to bring their own lunch, if you qualify for free lunch please complete the form as it qualifies Trillium for additional funding for special programs. Check the Trillium website, http://www.trilliumcharterschool.org/index.php?page=home-visit-packets , for the link.
Field Trips
We will be planning our field trips differently this year. We are using an inquiry based approach to our thematic lessons and we will let the children have input and planning for our field trips. We have some dates set already, as you can see below, but many will be planned during the year as part of the curriculum. We will notify you two weeks in advance to plan for them. We will try to use public transportation as much as possible. Some of the ideas we have so far are: Tears of Joy Puppet Theater, NW Children’s theater, Art museums, OMSI, Zoo, Washington park, art schools, Chinese Garden and ethnic restaurants. We need chaperones for all of these field trips. Date Location
Sept. 22nd Back to school Parent Meeting
Oct 1st SleepUnder- Games & Fun!
6:00 to 8:30
Oct 2nd Group Breakfast
Mid October Forestry Center
Dec. 11 Performance Night
Dec. 14 -17 Intensives
Jan. 29th All-School Project Night
Feb. 4 Little One Inch, TOJ Puppets
April 7 Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus
Later April Chinese Garden
*May 20/21 Campout, Cape Lookout
June 4 World’s Fair Project Night - FEAST! 5:30 – 8:00
June 7-10 Intensives
Activity Fee
There is an activity fee that is all-inclusive this year. It covers all field trips, a campout, supplies and cooking activities and art fees for your child. The cost is $150.00. We should not have to ask for any additional money for our class this year. The only other charge could be an intensive your child chooses. Please make the arrangements for payment or work out a payment schedule with the front office. Please give all payments to your child’s teacher. If you qualify for free and reduced lunch you can receive a scholarship from TFT by filling out the scholarship request form in the home visit packet. You must fill out the scholarship form however. TFT cannot access free and reduced lunch information so you must request the scholarship. These fees make field trips possible. Additional siblings or family members that attend must be paid for separately and in advance.
TFT
TFT or Together For Trillium is a parent organization that supports the school. It sponsors Trillium in Bloom various social activities to enrich the Trillium community. Please consider participating and or attending the Potluck, skating party, swimming party, and Auction. It’s your chance to help the school, be involved and meet new friends.
Conflict Resolution
We use peer mediations as a form of nonviolent conflict resolution at Trillium. We want to give students the tools to solve their own problems. They do so with the support of their teacher and other staff. Please familiarize yourself and your child with our constitution bill of rights and responsibilities. This serves as a foundation for our mediation process and how we frame our responsibilities as members of the community. Mediations are not punitive, but rather a way to fully understand and solve issues.
If the same behavior keeps occurring over and over, then the issue can be taken to Judicial Committee. This is a group of students who ask questions and help to come up with solutions to the ongoing issue. It is much like a multi-mediator mediation. Once again, the goal is to solve issues nonviolently and in a way that works for all members involved. If you have questions about this process, please ask. Please support your child in developing nonviolent conflict resolution skills.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Back To School
Wow, it's almost here! I had such a nice time visiting with all of you a couple of weeks ago. I have a few visits left to do and I am really excited about having a great year with great kids. I know the children in my class last year will welcome our friends from Billy's class that will be joining us as well as the three students new to Trillium.
We have a theme of the Seven Continents this year. We will use an inquiry-based focus with lots of student generated questions and projects stemming from those questions. We also have electives continuing this year and hope you have had a chance to look at those choices. Look at the list of choices and then use the worksheet to help your child select their first three choices. Please email those choices to me. You can find those choices and all the beginning of the year paperwork on the trillium website:
http://www.trilliumcharterschool.org/index.php?page=home-visit-packets
Also we are doing supplies differently this year. You do not have to purchase supplies. We will provide those from a small portion of your activity fee. We do ask that you still bring the following items:
• Extra clothes in a Marked Zip-loc bag (Mark with child’s name on clothes)
• Emergency Contact Information, and all other paperwork.
• Activity fee and other forms from website
• Old T-shirt to be used as a paint shirt by the class community
• Slippers for in-class wearing
** Leak proof water bottle
Also, because the kids preferred snack from home, we will provide only minimal snacks. Please pack your child a nutritious, quick snack that does not require preparation. We found that too much was thrown away last year and kids often ate out of their lunches anyway. We'll have things like cereal or pretzels if they forget or want that, but not big snacks.
If you can help finish set-up in the class I would love it. I would really like to have a work party of sorts on Thursday afternoon or Friday any time. I get released by my doctor for work on Thursday, I'm sure. I have a list of chores to finish and some of them require lifting that I still have to be careful of. I really appreciate the help of Mary and Melissa already, who helped earlier. I have room for anyone else who would like to join in and a specific list of tasks for you to chose from.
The complete handbook will be out early this week once I have confirmation on a couple of dates.
Thank you to Marion and Juli who have offered to be the classroom liasons for the year! Yay! They have some great ideas for organization and I look forward to working with them as I'm sure you will too. They'll probably be contacting you soon.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions! beth@trilliumcharterschool.org or 503.706.6742! Thanks.
See you soon! Beth
We have a theme of the Seven Continents this year. We will use an inquiry-based focus with lots of student generated questions and projects stemming from those questions. We also have electives continuing this year and hope you have had a chance to look at those choices. Look at the list of choices and then use the worksheet to help your child select their first three choices. Please email those choices to me. You can find those choices and all the beginning of the year paperwork on the trillium website:
http://www.trilliumcharterschool.org/index.php?page=home-visit-packets
Also we are doing supplies differently this year. You do not have to purchase supplies. We will provide those from a small portion of your activity fee. We do ask that you still bring the following items:
• Extra clothes in a Marked Zip-loc bag (Mark with child’s name on clothes)
• Emergency Contact Information, and all other paperwork.
• Activity fee and other forms from website
• Old T-shirt to be used as a paint shirt by the class community
• Slippers for in-class wearing
** Leak proof water bottle
Also, because the kids preferred snack from home, we will provide only minimal snacks. Please pack your child a nutritious, quick snack that does not require preparation. We found that too much was thrown away last year and kids often ate out of their lunches anyway. We'll have things like cereal or pretzels if they forget or want that, but not big snacks.
If you can help finish set-up in the class I would love it. I would really like to have a work party of sorts on Thursday afternoon or Friday any time. I get released by my doctor for work on Thursday, I'm sure. I have a list of chores to finish and some of them require lifting that I still have to be careful of. I really appreciate the help of Mary and Melissa already, who helped earlier. I have room for anyone else who would like to join in and a specific list of tasks for you to chose from.
The complete handbook will be out early this week once I have confirmation on a couple of dates.
Thank you to Marion and Juli who have offered to be the classroom liasons for the year! Yay! They have some great ideas for organization and I look forward to working with them as I'm sure you will too. They'll probably be contacting you soon.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions! beth@trilliumcharterschool.org or 503.706.6742! Thanks.
See you soon! Beth
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