Denali Montessori ~ Room 177

Thursday, October 6, 2016

Dear Parents,

One of my favorite times of the year is fast approaching! Conferences will be held Wednesday, October 26 and Thursday, October 27 from 12:45 p.m.-4:00 p.m. I will also be offering conferences on Monday, October 24and Tuesday, October 25 from 7:00 a.m.-8:30 a.m. Students will be released at 12:30 p.m. on October 26 and 27 and there is no school on Friday, October 28. Parents now have the ability to schedule conference times online. The Conference Scheduler is available starting tomorrow. Scheduling early offers you the opportunity to secure conference times that work best for your family. Please visit the online scheduler at: www.asdk12.org/parents. You will need to find my name and go to mix and you will find my schedule. If you are not able to use the online system please call or email. I look forward to meeting with you all and celebrating your child’s progress.

I am also excited about our upcoming scheduled field trips! On Thursday, November 3 we will be walking to the Performing Arts Center to see Alaska Junior Theater’s musical of “The Lightning Thief” from 9:30-noon. On Tuesday, November 8 we will be walking to the Apple Store to make an i-movie. We will be leave about 10:00 and return at about noon. Finally, on Thursday, December 1 we will return to the Performing Arts Center to see Alaska Junior Theaters “360 All Stars”. We will leave at 9:30 and return about noon. I’m sure there will be more trips, but I wanted to let you know about the ones scheduled as of now. I appreciate your support in making these incredible learning opportunities possible.

This week the students have been working furiously learning about compound words, adjectives, spelling, math facts and operations, writing letters, poetry, problem solving, science experiments, and more! It has been a fabulous week of learning and exploration!

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

Learning about the planets during our interactive experience.

Creating in the Spark Lab!

Spark Lab fun!

Creating vehicles in the Discovery Center.

In the Spark Lab at the museum.

Building with Legos at the museum!

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Dear Parents,

Our first field trip of the year will be tomorrow Friday, September 30! We will be walking the Anchorage Museum for a planetarium show and interactive experience and Spark Lab and Discovery Center explore time. Chaperones please meet in Room 177 by 9:30. If you are able to arrive at 8:50, I could use your help with getting the spelling tests completed before we leave. We will leave the school at 9:45 and return at about 1:45. Students need to bring their own lunch and drink, unless they have ordered one from the cafeteria. Please have your child dressed for the weather. You may have noticed that there is no cost for this trip. The Anchorage Museum is our wonderful business partner that allows us access to all their incredible programs free of charge. Thank you Anchorage Museum!

I hope you take a look at our first bulletin board of the year when you come to visit. Third graders, Finn and Robert, designed the bulletin board with the slogan, “Room 177 Is On Top Of The World” The students colored a superhero body and another student took face pictures to put on top of the body. Finn and Robert then put it altogether. It really is a great bulletin board and I must say I haven’t looked this good in years. Students took over the job of creating the bulletin boards years ago when I realized that the students have much better ideas and creations than I do. Please stop by and check out Finn and Robert’s wonderful work!

Please sign up for the classroom newsletter online. You can go to www.denalimontessori177.blogspot.com and enter your email to receive an automatic email anytime I post a newsletter or other item.

Our snack cupboard is getting bare. As you know, I ask students to bring their own snacks to keep the brain working, but we do provide students that have hot lunch or have forgotten theirs with a snack. I appreciate all those that have kept the cupboard filled this first month of the year. The students and I appreciate it.

Thank you to our wonderful P.E. teacher, Mr. Horning, for another energetic cross-country running season! Many of the students had a great morning of running the last couple of weeks practicing for the big Cross-Country Jamboree at Bartlett this past Tuesday. It was a lot of fun seeing all the smiles as the students anticipated and finished their races. Thank you Mr. Horning for providing this healthy activity for Denali Montessori!

I would like to take the time to introduce to you the wonderful Mrs. R. Mrs. R. is Anne Rabinowitz, a retired teacher, who is a treasure for all the Room 177 students I have had for now the 10^th year here at Denali. Mrs. R. comes in five days a week, unless she has grandmother duty, to help the students with their work, keep them on task, and provide them with care, compassion, and love while I give small group lessons. When those rare days she is absent from the classroom do occur, I notice. I have told her that I will have to retire when she gets tired of coming because I have never had to teach by myself. Mrs. R. does not have or has ever had any grandchildren go to Denali Montessori. She gives her time, talent, and care because she truly loves working with your children. I have always said that if I ever won the lottery, I would hire a full time aide. Well, I didn’t win the lottery, but I feel like I did the past ten years when Mrs. R. became part of Room 177. Please take the time to thank Mrs. R. for all she does for your children! She is a very special and vital part of Room 177 and I feel very fortunate that she shares herself with us every day.

We have had a super week learning about the noun, penmanship, money, sentence editing, spelling, reading activities, classification, writing friendly letters, math facts and operations, geometry, exemplars, Maria Montessori’s “Second Great Lesson; The Creation of the Earth”, learning how to work with partners, 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 for all you do on behalf of your children!

Sincerely,

Craig Moyer

The one and only Mrs R.!

Thursday, September 22, 2016

Dear Parents,

Tonight is Denali Montessori’s Open House from 6:30-8:00. Please meet in the multipurpose room where we will have a short introduction of the staff and PTSA leadership team. This is your chance to visit the classroom and find out more about the Montessori program and see what your child is doing all day at school. I will also have parent volunteer sign up sheets for a variety of needs. I look forward to seeing you tonight!

Our first field trip of the year will be on Friday, September 30. I sent home permission slips last Friday and there is another one in today’s folder if you have not returned it yet. We will be walking the Anchorage Museum for a planetarium show and interactive experience and Spark Lab and Discovery Center explore time. Chaperones please meet in Room 177 by 9:30. We will leave the school at 9:45 and return at about 1:45. Students need to bring their own lunch and drink, unless they have ordered one from the cafeteria. You may have noticed that there is no cost for this trip. The Anchorage Museum is our wonderful business partner that allows us access to all their incredible programs free of charge. Thank you Anchorage Museum!

I hope you take a look at our first bulletin board of the year when you come to Open House tonight or are just stopping by. Third graders, Finn and Robert, designed the bulletin board with the slogan, “Room 177 Is On Top Of The World” The students colored a superhero body and another student took face pictures to put on top of the body. Finn and Robert then put it altogether. It really is a great bulletin board and I must say I haven’t looked this good in years. Students took over the job of creating the bulletin boards years ago when I realized that the students have much better ideas and creations than I do. Please stop by and check out Finn and Robert’s wonderful work!

Please sign up for the classroom newsletter online. You can go to www.denalimontessori177.blogspot.com and enter your email to receive an automatic email anytime I post a newsletter or other item.

We have had an incredible week learning about the noun, penmanship, symmetry, spelling, reading activities, classification, writing friendly and thank you letters, math facts and operations, geometry, writing about peace, 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 for all you do on behalf of your children!

Sincerely,

Craig Moyer

Robert and Finn with their bulletin board creation.

Margaux and Anne working on the bird's eye view.

Julia and Anne help a first grader with a Montessori work.

Enough you two!

Thursday, September 15, 2016

Dear Parents,

I can’t tell you what an incredible experience Horticultural Day was at Denali Montessori yesterday, but I’ll try. The students rotated through seven learning stations run by a teacher or parent volunteer. Students learned about hydroponics and the largest greenhouse in the world in Mr. H’s room, worked with the Montessori botany cabinet in Ms. Jasmin’s room, listened to plant stories in Ms. Homan’s room, had a fabulous lecture and experience with a parent arborist, Mr. Nickel, in Ms. Goodman’s class, learned about the importance of ph soil levels and did an experiment in Ms. Jenni’s class, planted herbs and flowers with Ms. Tran, and learned about our lettuce towers from parent volunteer Dr. Tichotsky and watched and helped our fabulous volunteers from Nordstom’s and master builder and showman, Mr. Fischbach! We completed one of the grow towers and have a wonderful start on our other six! Each lesson was about 15 minutes and was like a perfect Montessori Key Experience in which the students receive a short memorable lesson that sparks the child to explore a topic further. The students were engaged and excited about our grow towers, hydroponics, and more! It was a delight to hear the enthusiasm as we gathered in circle after lunch to hear the learning that was experienced. What a day! Thank you to all our wonderful parents, staff, and volunteers that made this a day to remember!

Please mark your calendars for Thursday, September 22 from 6:30-8:00. This is your chance to visit the classroom and find out more about the Montessori program at the Denali Open House. I will also have parent volunteer sign up sheets for a variety of needs, but if anyone is interested in giving spelling tests, you can start next Friday at 9:00am. I am also looking for a new Thursday folder person to come in on Thursday anytime to fill the Thursday folders. I would love for this position to start next week as well. I look forward to seeing you all at the Open House on Thursday, September 22.

I have sent homework for next week in today’s folder. Remember that our second spelling test is tomorrow! We will be tested on the words we received last week. The students have been practicing them here at school as well.

Please sign up for the classroom newsletter online. You can go to www.denalimontessori177.blogspot.com and enter your email to receive an automatic email anytime I post a newsletter or other item.

We have had an incredible week learning about hydroponics, botany, penmanship, even and odd numbers, spelling, reading activities, the Constitution, writing friendly and thank you letters, math facts and operations, geometry, writing our own creation stories, 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 for all you do on behalf of your children!

Sincerely,

Craig Moyer

Mr. Nickel teaches us about plants!

Dr. Tichotsky explains the grow towers and hydroponics.

Learning about ph levels.

Planting herbs with Ms. Tran.

Mr. Fischbach directs the assembly of the grow tower.

Video on hydroponics and the world's largest greenhouse.

Everyone celebrates the completion of a grow tower!

Thursday, September 8, 2016

Dear Parents,

It’s been another great week in Room 177! The 2^nd and 3^rd graders have been great role models this year in their work effort and citizenship. The 1^st graders have been following along and are working very well. It’s been a lot of fun to see. We have been studying spelling words, nouns, antonyms, rhyming words, penmanship, reading, place value, math facts and operations, geometry, writing our own creation stories, and writing friendly letters. I really enjoy working with your children and observing their growth.

On Wednesday, September 14 the Denali Montessori Primary Team has been offered a very generous donation of materials for hydroponic grow towers to grow lettuce year round. We have invited volunteers from the United Way’s Day of Sharing program to help us build the towers. I believe the gentleman that designed these grow towers will be joining us from Fairbanks along with staff and maybe even the Lieutenant Governor himself for this project. We are looking for horticulturists, hydroponic experts, anyone who would like to share their knowledge of plants or anything related to plants to join us and share their knowledge at a booth that the students could rotate through. We are hoping for good weather on this day so it can take place on the playground, but will move into the gym and classrooms if necessary. If you would like to join us, we will be learning and building from 9:15-11:30. Thanks for your support in this incredible opportunity for learning!

I have sent homework for next week in today’s folder. Remember that our first spelling test is tomorrow! We will be tested on the words we received last week. The students have been practicing them here at school as well.

I will be sending home a paper copy of the newsletter the first couple of weeks, but I would like everyone to sign up for our newsletter online. You can go to www.denalimontessori177.blogspot.com and enter your email to receive an automatic email anytime I post a newsletter or other item.

The students have been fabulous the past two weeks working, treating each other with respect and kindness, so we decided to have our first Read-In tomorrow on National Waffle Day. 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. If you would like to bring in your favorite picture book and read it to the class, please let me know. (We will still take our spelling tests. Hopefully we won’t get syrup on them.)

If you have any questions or concerns, please email me at moyer_craig@asdk12.org or call or write me a note. Thanks for all you do on behalf of your children!

Sincerely,

Craig Moyer

Thursday, September 1, 2016

Dear Parents,

The second and third graders have done a great job making the first graders feel welcome and modeling proper work habits. The first graders are working hard to learn the new routines and new work. It’s been a super first couple of days and I’m having a blast working with your children.

This week we have been working on learning the routines, reviewing math operations, writing, practicing our handwriting, and getting to know each other. As part of Maria Montessori’s first Great Lesson, we have also been reading Creation Stories from around the world. Tomorrow we will learn about the scientific story of how the universe began. The students have enjoyed listening and acting out the various stories and will be writing their own.

I send homework home in the Thursday folders and it is due by the following Friday. If you can’t finish it by Friday, I’ll take it whenever it is done. Friday will be the day the students are tested on their spelling words. Our first spelling test will be next Friday, September 9. This week I have one extra piece of homework and that is the All About Me Treasure Bag activity. I would like those to come in as soon as possible, so we can share a few of them daily and get to know everyone.

We do not have a snack calendar in Room 177. I ask that students that bring their own lunch pack a snack to eat during the morning, as they get hungry. We do have a snack cupboard for those that have hot lunch or forget their lunch. If you would like to help stock the snack cupboard with items such as goldfish, pretzels, string cheese or other items, it would be very much appreciated.

Our specialist schedule is as follows:

Monday: 9:35-10:35 Art/Health

Tuesday: 9:35-10:05 P.E.; 10:05-10:35 Music

Wednesday: 10:45-11:15 P.E.

Thursday: 10:10-10:40 P.E.; 10:45-11:15 Music

Friday: 9:35-10:05 Library

Our recess is daily from 11:45-12:10 followed by lunch from 12:15-12:40.

On Wednesday, September 14 the Denali Montessori Primary Team has been offered a very generous donation of materials for hydroponic grow towers to grow lettuce year round. We have invited volunteers from the United Way’s Day of Sharing program to help us build the towers. I believe the gentleman that designed these grow towers will be joining us from Fairbanks along with staff and maybe even the Lieutenant Governor himself for this project. We are looking for horticulturists, hydroponic experts, anyone who would like to share their knowledge of plants or anything related to plants to join us and share their knowledge at a booth that the students could rotate through. We are hoping for good weather on this day so it can take place on the playground, but will move into the gym and classrooms if necessary. Thanks for your support in this incredible opportunity for learning!

If you have any questions or concerns, please email me at moyer_craig@asdk12.org or call or write me a note.

Have a wonderful sunny (I hope) weekend!

Sincerely,

Craig Moyer

Thursday, August 25, 2016

Dear Parents,

I’d first like to introduce myself. My name is Craig Moyer. This is my eleventh year at Denali Montessori and my twentieth year in the Anchorage School District. My wife, Sarah, is a lawyer and has put up with me now for twenty-two years of married life. We have three daughters, Siena, Ariana, and Clara. Siena is seventeen and a senior at Steller Secondary. Ariana and Clara are twins that are fifteen and sophomores at Steller. Our son, Aidan, is seven years old and is starting 1^st grade here at Denali this year. There is never a dull moment in our house.

I am very excited to be working with you and your children this year!

In order for your child to have a productive year, I will need your help and support. I believe in a system that acknowledges the freedoms and responsibilities of students and teacher. In order for us to work in a safe, courteous classroom free from interruptions, the students have the responsibility to follow the class and school rules.

1. Be Safe

2. Be Respectful and Kind

3. Be Responsible

4. Be Ready

I have also included the Freedom and Responsibility guidelines in today’s folder as well. This will give you and your child a better understanding of how the Montessori classroom works well.

It is important that we work together to give your child a quality education. Please feel free to call me or send me an email if you have any questions or concerns.

I will send some of your child’s work in his/her Thursday folder. The folder will also include classroom and school news. I will be including homework starting September 1 in this folder as well. The homework is always for the following Friday when we have our spelling tests. The folder is to be returned the next day, but the homework is not due until the following Friday. Please look at your child’s work. Students are proud of their accomplishments and it is a means of tracking your child’s progress. In the Montessori classroom most of the students’ work is kept in the classroom in their individual work folders to show progress throughout the year.

We’ve made some changes this year to our lunch and recess schedule. The students go to recess at 11:45 and lunch at 12:15. If your child needs a snack to make it to lunch, please pack one for your child and he/she may eat it when needed during the morning or afternoon.

Our specialist schedule is as follows:

Monday: 9:30-10:30 Art/Health

Tuesday: 9:35-10:05 P.E., 10:10-10:40 Music

Wednesday: 10:45-11:15 P.E.

Thursday: 10:10-10:40 P.E., 10:45-11:15 Music

Friday: 9:35-10:05 Library

Our recess is daily from 11:45-12:10 followed by lunch from 12:15-12:40.

I look forward to working with you and your child. I am anticipating a productive and fun year.

Sincerely,

Craig Moyer