Welcome to our class blog…

Ok, so I wasn’t going to send this hime until FRIDAY, but your kids BEGGED and PLEADED to get the information today! Sorry for the confusion! 

This is BY FAR my favorite project of the year! The boxes always make me cry as I am grading them because I am so amazed at how well done everything is! I have students that have come back years later and told me how much they appreciate and still look at their box! So, I hope you guys enjoy this project as well! 

We will read the story “Hattie’s Birthday Surprise” tomorrow in class! After that I will post it on the blog so you can read it as well.

The assignment is partially done at school and partially done at home. So here are the important details! 

At home complete: 
1. Decorate a box to hold all your items. It should be decorated neatly, but still able to open easily. I have to be able to get into you box to grade your project! 
2. Create a letter of encouragement or inspiration for your box buddy. This letter should be typed and include all the information you have learned about why your box buddy so amazing! The letter can be decorated, printed on fancy paper, or anything else you want to do to fancy it up! 
3. Create a handmade illustration for your box buddy. This can be hand drawn, traced, or a color page. It should be neat and tidy! Make sure it is something they would enjoy looking at that matches their likes and personality! A picture of BARBI is probably not appropriate for Tyler! 
4. Create a handmade gift for your box buddy! This is where you get to show off your creativity and craftiness! Please use items found at home to create this gift. Pinterest has a million fun ideas for every interest! If you HAVE to spend money to buy supplies please DO NOT spend more that about $1. Really this shouldn’t cost you anything to make! The idea is to give them something they will be excited to receive, not just run to Walmart and buy something on clearance! 
5. The entire box is DUE ON MONDAY, DECEMBER 15!!!!!!! NO EXCEPTIONS!!!! I need time to grade everything before the big exchange party on the 19th! (more details later) 
At School: 
6. We will create the poem and compliment in class. They will be sent home to be added to the box the second they are done! 

I hope this all makes sense! Here is a copy of the parent letter (just in case it never made it home today). The rubric will be sent home tomorrow so that you know what is expected! Let me know if you have concerns, questions, complaints, or criticisms! 
♥ Mrs. Chidester 

Boxes Of Hope and Inspiration Project 

Because I forgot to remind everyone, I will give you all until FRIDAY to get them turned in! Make sure you have your mom or dad sign the bottom in order to receive your PIZZA CERTIFICATE! 

December calendars were passed out today! Students need to read 20 minutes per day Monday through Friday for a total of 300 minutes to be eligible for the pizza certificate! They need to read 20 minutes per day EVERY DAY for a total of 620 minutes to be eligible for the EXTRA SURPRISE!!!! December calendars will be due on January 7th! 

Thanks, 
Mrs. Chidester

You guys were AMAZING today! I LOVED everything about this day! Thank you for being so respectful during the KSL studio tour. Thank you for being safe around the trains and respectful towards other passengers! I loved your enthusiasm for the library and wish we had hours to spend exploring! I am AMAZED by how wonderful each of you were today! This will forever be one of my favorite field trips! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!

To the parents who went along as chaperones! A MILLION more THANKS! You guys were amazing at keeping everyone together and I so appreciate you spending the day with us! 

♥ Mrs. Chidester 

PS No matter what your kids say we didn’t AMOST MISS the train. WE had a good 3 minutes before we were left! 🙂 

I hope you all had a fabulous week!!! I am so excited to get back to school because we have only 3 short weeks before we are out for Christmas Break! HOLY COW!!!! ……This year is FLYING by!!!  Here are the notes for the week and our new spelling groups! 

1. I was thrilled with the progress students have made so far this year in spelling! The new groups are as follows. Make sure to check the Words Their Way sections under the homework tab for your spelling list for the week! 

Red:      Blue:      Purple:     Yellow:     Green:      Orange: 
PJ            Marlee     Aidan        Adam C                         Amyrlin
Joseph    Taylor       Chase       Brandon     Cyris           Jaime
Trista      Alivia       Timothy                       Kianna        Phillip
Kaily       Jack          Jacoby                          Cameron    Tyler 
               Brianna    Ashton 
              Matthew    Rylei
              Adam M

2. Our field trip to the KSL studios is on Tuesday! The weather is supposed to be cold, but not snowy. Please dress appropriately! Remember to bring a backpack with a cold lunch, a water bottle, and something to entertain yourself on the train ride (a card game or a book). Meet at the Roy FrontRunner station at 8:30. Students must be IN UNIFORM! There is a chance that students will be KSL Studio 5 or one of the radio stations so please make sure you respectful the entire time! Students who are not able to represent the school (and our class) appropriately will be asked to call a parent to come and pick them up from Salt Lake. I know that we will not have any problems, but I wanted to be extra clear about the expectations! I had to beg, plead, and offer to sell my first born for our class to have this opportunity! We need to make sure that they don’t regret allowing us to see the studios! Please be sure to pick your student up promptly at 2:40 at the Roy FrontRunner station! 

3. November projects are due on Thursday! Feel free to turn them in early! 

4.  Grades are fully updated on Aspire (SIS). Several students forgot to turn in their homework form on the Thursday before the break. Please make sure they are turned in as soon as possible to avoid losing points! 

5. Look for information about the December project, Christmas activities, and the Christmas party later this week! 

6. Homework is normal for this week. Please complete a spelling assignment each night, read at least 20 minutes each day, and do a math fluency activity twice this week. No extra homework so that you can finish your November project! 

Please let me know if you have questions, concerns, comments, or complaints! 
♥ Mrs. Chidester

Tiffany Nicholas’s brother was wrangling cows last weekend and was in a horse accident. He was sent by Life Flight to a hospital and is still unresponsive. His wife is pregnant with their first child and was at a baby shower when it happened. Here is a link if you would like to read about him and or donate to help with the medical bills that are accumulating. Please keep Tiffany and her family in your thoughts and prayers at this time.

I drew names out of a basket today to determine which parents are chaperones on the field trip! 

The lucky kids whose parents were chosen are: 

Kianna Tsosie 
Jacoby Anderson
Adam Crimin
Rylei Mindrum 
Cyris Mercer 
Cameron Dick

*If your name is on the list and you are unable to go, please let me know as soon as possible so I can get another chaperone lined up! I need to have all 6 chaperones so that we can be safe traveling to and from the field trip! 

I tried to be as fair as possible! I had 18 parents want to go and unfortunately KSL Studios limits the amount of people allowed on a single tour. Tours are supposed to be limited to 15 people, and they are making an HUGE exception for our class. Please don’t be MAD!!! I will make sure to pick a different group of chaperones for the January field trip to the Capital Theater to see a special kid friendly production by the Ririe Woodbury Dance Company (more details coming soon). 

Thanks for your understanding! 
♥ Mrs. Chidester 

Just seeing if this is working yet……….

so HI! How’s your day……….
Has anyone told you today that you look FABULOUS???? 

Have a nice rest of the day! 

Mrs. Chidester 

I have added the schedule to the classroom calendar, but just a head’s up that it is coming. This testing will be used to show growth throughout the year for each student. It will also give us information about where students are struggling and what areas I need to work on! Our first test is Tuesday at 1:00. Please try and arrange appointments around the testing schedule as there is little time to do makeup testing! We will not be allowing students to chew gum this time, however that will be a possibility when we do the final testing. The test had been slightly updated this year, but I anticipate the students having much the same experience they did last year! If you have questions, let me know! 

Thanks! 
Mrs. Chidester