 | ||
| Elizabeth and Audrianna are teachers for the day. |
 | ||
| Good morning students! |
 |
| Mr. Moyer could you get out of the way, please? We're trying to do our math problems on the board. |
Thursday, December 11, 2014
Thursday, December 11, 2014
Dear Parents,
Please
join us tomorrow night from 6:30-8:00 for the Denali Winter Night 2014. The
Denali choir will be performing and there will be crafts and refreshments.
Please enjoy this fun community event!
On Tuesday afternoon, December 16 we will be making and
decorating gingerbread houses. The students all need to bring one can of
frosting and an item they volunteered to bring to share in the creation of the
houses. I have included a list of items to bring to help decorate the houses.
This is always a fun activity for the students.
Wednesday, December 17 after lunch the primary students
will be participating in a “Holidays Around the World Celebration” in which
they will learn about various cultural celebrations from around the world. I
want to thank Mrs. Wehrmann, Sarah’s Mom, and Mrs. Thomas, Svea’s Mom, for
sharing their time and talent on Wednesday teaching students about Hanukkah and
Santa Lucia. It should be a wonderful afternoon!
Our next field trip is Thursday, December 18. We will be
driving to West High Pool for some water fun. Chaperones, I need a copy of your
current valid driver’s license, a copy of your current vehicle registration,
and a copy of your proof of insurance with the minimum $100,000/$300,000 bodily
injury and $25,000 property damage included on the copy by tomorrow. I
appreciate your cooperation with this new district policy. If you haven’t
turned in the copies you can bring all your information to the office and they
will make copies for you. Thanks! Chaperones please meet in Room 177 by 12:40.
We will leave the school at 1:00 and return by 3:15. If your child requires or
you prefer your child to use a booster seat and you are not driving, please
send in your child’s booster seat on Thursday morning. Your child also needs to
bring his or her own swimsuit, towel, goggles (optional), and plastic bag (for
the wet swimsuit). Don’t worry if your child is not a swimmer. Students will
all be given a life jacket, unless they choose to take the swimming test. We
have use of the slide and most of the students stay together in the shallow end
any way and have a good time together. I want everyone to have a good time and
not to worry if you can’t swim. It will still be a lot of fun. I will be getting
in the water this year for the first time in many years. I am not a great
swimmer and I will be bringing my life vest as well and maybe my duck floaty
and water wings. Let’s have fun swimming!
The students and I have had a great time the past week with
the tremendous help of Mrs. Sheehy, Gavin’s Mom, creating a radio play. The
students began the process by brainstorming ideas for a story and then created
a rough draft. Next, the students gathered in groups to write each part of the
story. After many revisions and editing we came up with a final draft. Mrs.
Sheehy brought in her recording equipment and recorded each student reading his
or her part. Finally we recorded sound effects to go with the story. Mrs.
Sheehy is putting the final product together over the weekend and we will
listen to it on Monday. Thank you Mrs. Sheehy for sharing your time and
expertise in creating such a wonderful learning experience!
I did not send any homework in today’s folder, due to the
short week. You can always practice reading or work on math facts on your own
at home.
This will be the last newsletter before the winter break,
so I want to wish you all a very happy and healthy holiday season. I appreciate
all your support this first semester. I’ll see you all on Monday, January 5,
2015!
If
you have any questions or concerns please e-mail me at moyer_craig@asdk12.org or call or write me a note.
Sincerely,
Craig Moyer
Thursday, December 4, 2014
Thursday, December 4, 2014
Dear Parents,
Winter
has finally arrived in Anchorage and with it comes all the winter gear. There
are approximately seventy black snow pants, seventy-three gloves, and
forty-seven hats in the coatroom in Room 177. Please remember to label your
child’s boots, hats, gloves, snow pants, and other gear. It will make it a lot
easier to sort out whose is whose. If some of you have gently used gloves,
hats, boots, coats, or snow pants that you don’t want any more, please consider
donating them to nurse Pattie. We have several families in need of snow gear
for their kids.
The
next field trip will be on Thursday, December 11. We will walk to the
Performing Arts Center to see the musical, “Otherwise Known as Sheila the
Great”. We enjoyed reading Judy Blume’s book in class and are looking forward
to seeing how they adapt it to the theater. We will leave at about 11:20 and
return at about 1:20.
On
Thursday, December 18 we will celebrate a successful first semester with a pool
party at West High Pool. We will drive to West High Pool at 12:45 and return at
3:00. I am sending this permission slip home today as well. Please note the due
date for the permission slip is tomorrow Friday, December 5. The school
district needs my list of driving chaperones over a week ahead of time to have
everyone checked for insurance. If you are driving I need a copy of your
driver’s license, proof of insurance, and vehicle registration sent in as well.
Thank you!
On
Tuesday afternoon, December 16, we will be making and decorating gingerbread
houses. I have included a list of items that the students chose to bring to
help decorate the houses. This is always a fun activity for the students.
The
students have had a great week working on conjunctions, spelling, math
operations, measurement, writing, reading, writing letters, learning about
various artist and creating artwork in their style, and more.
If you have any questions or concerns, please e-mail me at moyer_craig@asdk12.org or call or write me a note.
Sincerely,
Craig Moyer
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Thursday, November 20, 2014
Thursday,
November 20, 2014
Dear Parents,
What
started out as a bet I lost to two students four summers ago, turned into a
wonderful experience that keeps on going. Evan and Leland, now seventh graders,
approached me at the end of the school year and proposed a bet. If the Los
Angeles Lakers won the NBA Championship, they would become teachers for the
day. I agreed, but said if the Cleveland Cavaliers won, they would have to wash
my car. As you know, my car still needs a wash and they became teachers for the
day. Over the summer I wished I had come up with this idea on my own. I’ve
always told the students that I’m not the only teacher in the classroom. Each
student is a teacher. Each student brings unique experiences and expertise to
our class and when he or she shares those gifts, the rest of us receive new
learning. Leland and Evan wanted to take over the class the first day of
school, but I told them they needed to take a teaching course first. They came
in several times during their lunch time and wrote lesson plans, practiced the
lessons they would teach, and promised to be professional. On Friday they came
dressed in ties, greeted the students at the door, conducted circle, gave math
lessons, spelling tests, and a volcano science lesson that Evan said, “had the
crowd going crazy”. After a few giggles from the students seeing their new
teachers, they settled in and were respectful to our guest teachers. The whole
day was a real joy for me to see these third graders demonstrate such
responsibility and see a little of myself in their teaching style. I was so
impressed and excited by the entire experience that it will forever be a right
of passage for every third grader to be teacher for the day. Thank you Leland
and Evan for your wonderful gift. On Friday, November 7th we continued the
tradition with Alan and Arthur taking over the teaching duties for the day.
They did a marvelous job teaching multiplication to the first graders, division
to the second graders, and algebra to the third graders, a fun science
experiment, gave spelling tests, and more. The students and I were impressed on
how peaceful and quietly everyone worked. It was a great day!
Our
class is going to have a Thanksgiving potluck on Tuesday, November 25 from
12:10-1:30 with Mr. Harjehausen’s class. Students will be making placemats,
cooking, and preparing for our guests. In addition to the items we make,
students may bring an item to share. So we don’t have 24 Jell-O molds, we will
have first graders bring fruit or a salad or a Jell-O mold, second graders a
dessert, and third graders a main dish item. Parents are welcome to join us for
the feast. This should be a fun event to get to know our neighbors and
celebrate our blessings.
The
next field trip will be on Thursday, December 11. We will walk to the
Performing Arts Center to see the musical, “Otherwise Known as Sheila the
Great”. We have been enjoying Judy Blume’s book in class. We will leave at
about 11:20 and return at about 1:20. I have included permission slips in
today’s folder.
On
Thursday, December 18 we will celebrate a successful first semester with a pool
party at West High Pool. We will drive to West High Pool at 12:45 and return at
3:00. I am sending this permission slip home today as well. Please note the due
date for the permission slip as Friday, December 5. The school district needs
my list of driving chaperones over a week ahead of time to have everyone
checked for insurance requirements. Thank you to Finn and Jessie’s grandparents
for generously sponsoring this pool party. We really appreciate it!
I
have sent homework home in today’s folder, but it will not be due until Friday,
December 5. There is no homework next week and I will not send home a folder
due to the Thanksgiving holiday.
My
parents will be visiting from Walla Walla, Washington and I am taking
Wednesday, November 26 off to spend some time with them. Please remind your
child to be on their best behavior for our visiting teacher that day. I have
had nothing but excellent reports from the other visiting teachers I’ve had in
the past. I expect the same this time as well. Thanks for your support.
Thanksgiving
is one of my favorite holidays. It is just a time for us to gather with friends
and family and reflect on the many things we are thankful for. I am very
thankful for your support at home with your children, all the volunteers that
help listen to students read, make copies, are able to join us on field trips,
and everything else that makes my job so enjoyable. I am thankful for such a
great group of students who care about each other, work well together, and are
not afraid to make mistakes and learn from them. I hope you all have a very
happy and healthy Thanksgiving holiday.
If you have any questions or
concerns, please email me at moyer_craig@asdk12.org
or call or write me a note.
Sincerely,
Craig Moyer
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Dear Parents,
We have another field trip scheduled on Tuesday, November 18
when we walk to the Performing Arts Center to see “National Geographic Live!
The Lens of Adventure” which is a free trip! We will leave the school at about
9:45 and return at about 12:15. Chaperones please meet in Room 177 by 9:30.
The students have had fun building and rebuilding our
assortment of canned pumpkin and cranberry sauce for our Thanksgiving Food
Drive. Please continue to send in cans until Friday, November 21. I think the
students are planning to build some kind of jail cell for me, so if you don’t
hear from me next week please check in Room 177 and see if I need help getting
out. Thanks.
Our
class is going to have a Thanksgiving potluck on Tuesday, November 25 from
12:10-1:30 with Mr. Harjehausen’s class. Students will be making placemats,
cooking, and preparing for our guests. In addition to the items we make,
students may bring an item to share. So we don’t have 24 Jell-O molds, we will
have first graders bring fruit or a salad or a Jell-O mold, second graders a
dessert, and third graders a main dish item. Parents are welcome to join us for
the feast. This should be a fun event to get to know our neighbors and
celebrate our blessings.
The
students have had a great week working on the fundamental needs of humans,
spelling, math operations and facts, adverbs, writing, contractions, reading, geometry,
penmanship, and more.
If you have any questions or concerns, please e-mail me at moyer_craig@asdk12.org or call or write me a note.
Sincerely,
Craig Moyer
Thursday, November 6, 2014
Thursday, November 6, 2014
Dear Parents,
The students had a great time yesterday at the museum
creating structures that would survive an earthquake and creating their own
structures as well. The students were so engaged I think the chaperones and I could
have left and they wouldn’t have noticed. The problem was I don’t know whom I
had a harder time getting out of the building area when our time was done, the
students or the parents. We also enjoyed exploring all there was to do in the
Imaginarium. The students were excellent representatives of Denali Montessori
on the trip. Well done! Thank you again to all the chaperones that were able to
join us. You make it possible to do all these fun learning experiences.
We have another field trip scheduled on Tuesday, November 18
when we walk to the Performing Arts Center to see “National Geographic Live! The
Lens of Adventure” which is a free trip! We will leave the school at about 9:45
and return at about 12:15. I have sent this permission slip in today’s folder.
Denali Montessori is holding a canned food drive for
Thanksgiving items for the Food Bank. It’s a little different this year. The
Food Bank has specific needs for the holiday and each class has chosen specific
items to fill those needs. Our class has been asked to bring canned cranberry
sauce and canned pumpkin. We will build a giant structure in the classroom (something
along the lines of Stonehenge I’m sure) with the cans until the end of the
drive on Friday, November 21. I appreciate your donations ahead of time.
The
students have had a great week working on the measurement of time, spelling,
math operations, prepositions, writing, reading, penmanship, and more. This
class is really impressive in their work habits, how they work with each other,
and their love for learning. I am having a great time working with your kids.
Thank you for all your hard work you do at home with them.
If you have any questions or concerns, please e-mail me at moyer_craig@asdk12.org or call or write me a note.
Sincerely,
Craig Moyer
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Dear Parents,
Please join us tonight for the Denali Fall Carnival from
6:00-8:30. The Denali Choir will begin the festivities with some spooky songs.
Then you will be able to enjoy the games and fun activities. I am looking forward to seeing you for this
fun community event.
Tomorrow,
Friday, October 31 we are going on a field trip to the Apple Computer Store in
the 5th Avenue Mall. The students will learn about i-movie and get
to create their own movies. We will leave at 9:40 and return at about 11:45.
Chaperones please meet in Room 177 by 9:25. This should be a fun trip.
Next
Wednesday, November 5 we will be going to the museum for a guided activity in
the “Lego Brick by Brick” exhibit, eat lunch, and explore the Imaginarium. We
will leave at 9:45 and return at about 1:30. Chaperones please meet in Room 177
by 9:30.
It’s
been a very productive week in Room 177. The students have been busy reading,
writing letters, learning about prepositions, working on math facts and
operations, problem solving, geometry, spelling, penmanship, and more.
If
you have any questions or concerns, please email me at moyer_craig@asdk12.org or call or write me a note. Thanks.
Sincerely,
Craig Moyer
Thursday, October 16, 2014
Thursday, October 16, 2014
Dear Parents,
It’s hard to believe that it’s the end of the quarter
already. I have been amazed at the growth the students have made. I want to
thank you for all your hard work with your children. Thank you to all the
chaperones and parents who have been able to read with students, give spelling
tests, make copies, cut, laminate, and put together Montessori materials, and
everything else you have done to help me. I really appreciate it. I look
forward to meeting with you all and discussing your child’s progress next week.
The Book Fair will be held during conference week October
20-23. There are a lot of great books at reasonable prices. You will also be
helping support our school as well. Thanks to the Denali PTSA for all their
support in running this fun event.
I’ve really enjoyed listening to the students prepare their
poems this week for today’s Read-In. All the students have been practicing
poems they picked out and working on reading them with expression. Many of the
students have spent so much time on their poems they have memorized them. I
look forward to hearing all the presentations.
Our
next scheduled field trip will be on Wednesday, October 29. We will be walking
to the Performing Arts Center to see Junior Theater’s, “Schoolhouse Rock Live!”
We will leave the school at about 11:15 and return at about 1:30. Thank you to
all those that have returned permission slips. We look forward to this fun
event.
The
Denali Fall Carnival is on Thursday, October 30 from 6:00-8:30. Please join us
for music, games, and a lot of fun. If you are able to donate a cake for the
cakewalk, it will be greatly appreciated.
Please
remember that dismissal will be at 12:30 on October 22nd and 23rd and no school
tomorrow and the 24th.
I
have included the conference schedule on the back of this newsletter. I have
not received confirmation from everyone, so please let me know as soon as
possible if you are not able to attend your scheduled conference time.
If you have any questions or concerns, please email me at moyer_craig@asdk12.org or call or write me a note.
Sincerely,
Craig Moyer
Conference Schedule Room 177
Tuesday, October 21
8:20 Annie
3:35 Alexandra
Wednesday, October 22
7:40 Brianna
8:20 William
1:15 Jamie
1:40 Samantha
2:05 Gavin
2:30 Ketch
2:55 Marcus
3:20 Kendall
3:45 Riley
4:10 Bobby
5:00 Brianna
5:25 Elizabeth
Thursday, October 23
8:00 Finn
8:20 Jessie
12:55 Audrianna
2:30 Kylie
2:55 Arthur
3:20 Alan
3:45 Adriana
4:10 Sarah
4:35 Michael
Thursday, October 9, 2014
Thursday, October 9 Photos
 |
| Playing "Race to 50" an exchanging game. |
 |
| A lesson about animal signs from Mr. Kleckner. |
 |
| Where are all the animals? |
 |
| The search continues! |
 |
| I think I found something. |
 |
| The students love their aprons! Thank you Ms. Wuerer! |
 |
| The first graders complete the "45 layout". |
 |
| Dr. Klein talked to the class about arctic animals. |
Thursday, October 9, 2014
Dear Parents,
Next Thursday, October 16 we will have a class Read-In.
We will start the day with waffles and juice. Students may bring their favorite
books, a pillow, and a stuffed animal. The students will read, be read to, and
participate in other reading activities. This is a fun way to celebrate a great
first quarter.
Our
next scheduled field trip will be on Wednesday, October 29. We will be walking
to the Performing Arts Center to see Junior Theater’s, “Schoolhouse Rock Live!”
We will leave the school at about 11:15 and return at about. I have sent home
permission slips in today’s folder. Please return these as soon as possible as
I have had to pay for this trip in advance. I believe that field trips are an
important part of a student’s education. I take the students on a lot of trips
covering a variety of topics that I hope will inspire, educate, promote an
appreciation for the arts, and share an experience together as a class. I want
all students to attend these events and money should never be a factor. Please
return the permission slip and I will take care of any student admission for
those that cannot afford payment. I want thank all the chaperones that make
these trips possible.
The Denali
Book Fair will be held during conference week October 20-23. There are a lot of
great books at reasonable prices. You will also be helping support our school
as well. Thanks to the Denali PTSA for all their support in running this fun
event.
The
Denali Fall Carnival is on Thursday, October 30 from 6:00-8:30. Please join us
for music, games, and a lot of fun. If you are able to donate a cake for the
cakewalk, it will be greatly appreciated.
It’s
a little embarrassing that it has taken me this long to finally offer the
weekly newsletter online this year, but thanks to parent, colleague, and P.E.
teacher extraordinaire Mr. Horning, who has put in a lot of time switching my
newsletter from a site no longer supported by the school district to this new
site, you can now access all future newsletters and pictures at http://denalimontessori177.blogspot.com/. If you type in your email in the box
on the right hand corner, you will automatically receive an email when I have
added anything. Thank you again to Mr. Horning for putting this together for
me!
Please
remember that there is no school on Friday, October 17. Also, dismissal will be
at 12:30 on October 22nd and 23rd for parent/teacher
conferences and no school on the 24th. Teachers will be meeting tonight to
schedule all the sibling conferences. I will be sending home parent/teacher
conference times tomorrow. Please return these forms as soon as possible. We
have fifteen students that have siblings in other classrooms, so it is
difficult to switch conference times without affecting a lot of schedules. It
would be great if you could keep your scheduled time, but if it is necessary to
change your time please let me know as soon as possible. I will also be
offering morning conferences to anyone who would like that option as well.
Those parents that have siblings will have to ask other teachers if they are
able to accommodate a morning conference though. I look forward to talking with
you about your child’s progress!
I
can hear the cries now, “Mr. Moyer, say it isn’t so”! It is sad but true. There
will be no homework the next two weeks due to the in-service next Friday and
conferences the following week. Homework will be sent home on Thursday, October
23 and will probably be a ton of it to make up for all they have missed. You
can always continue to read to and listen to your child read.
If you have any questions or concerns, please email me at
moyer_craig@asdk12.org or call or write me a note.
Sincerely,
Craig Moyer
Friday, September 26, 2014
X-C Running Jamboree (Photos)
September 24th was the north area cross country running jamboree. It was held on a beautiful sunny day at Bartlett High School. Denali had just over fifty participants from K-6 grades. Below are some Rm 177 student participants along with a few other Denali students. Look close, there is even one ex-room 177 student who is now in 4th grade.
Thursday, September 18, 2014
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)