Welcome back!  I hope you all had a great fall break!  Now...back to the awesome learning!

This week is Red Ribbon Week.  This is an anti-drug program spearheaded by our PE specialist Miss Vanessa.  Each day students have the opportunity to do something out of the ordinary to remind us about the dangers of drugs.  Please see the dates list to the right of this post for specifics.

This week and next week we will be doing end-of-term assessments (yes, we are at the end of the first term already).  please feel free to come in and assist even if you are not scheduled.  The more helpers we have, the smoother we can get all of the 1-on-1 assessments done.  Thank you!

I hope your children were all able to get shoe-tying and coat zipping down this weekend!  These are two of the things we will be assessing - they are essential skills that are needed daily as our kids go in and out of recess and prepare to go home each day.

PLEASE remember that it is cold outside, and it is RARE that we stay in for recess.  Your children need coats, gloves, hats, and SOCKS!  Please also remember to write your child's name on every piece of clothing that might be removed at school.  Thank you!

Last week, your child took home a paper for the Golden Rule project.  This is a service project to be discussed, planned, and executed with your child, who will then fill out the reflection form and share the results of the project with the class.  This is done in the spirit of our IB principles, which stress community service.  Please let me know if you have any questions.

As always, thank you for your support!

Mr. Matt

Thanks for your support on an awesome turnout at the Harvest Festival!  Thank you also for your support on our Annual Giving drive, both of our classes had 100% participation!

Our field trip on Monday was fantastic!  We had a great time at the farm.  We saw pigs and piglets and goats and sheep and chickens and cows.  We played in a huge pit of corn and slid on a massive slide.  We walked through a corn maze and chose pumpkins from a pumpkin patch.  Some of us took a hayride, pulled by a tractor.  We ate lunch together and even the bus was fun!  Special thanks to the chaperones, you made it a great and safe field trip.

The reason for our field trip is to introduce our new IB unit, which is about farms.  It falls under the transdisciplinary theme of "how we share the planet".  Our lines of inquiry are:

What comes from farms?
How farms work.
How do products go from farm to home?

Please take some time in the next few weeks to discuss this with your child, we'd love to hear some "home" perspectives!

The Learner Profile attributes that we will focus on this time are:

Inquirer
Knowledgeable

Thanks also for your support on picture day.  I know it's tough. especially for the PM class, to adjust your schedule so that we can have all the kids here in the morning.  You are true Channing Hall Champions to do it two days in a row!