Thursday, January 29, 2015

Thursday, January 29, 2015

Dear Parents,

Our next field trip is on Wednesday, February 4 from 9:30-11:45 we will walk to the Performing Arts Center to see the “Jabali African Acrobats”. Chaperones, please meet in Room 177 by 9:15. I also wanted to let you know about our scheduled field trips at this time so you can put them on your calendar. Thursday, February 26 we will take a bus to West High to see “Monsters III”, a puppet show about Anchorage’s history from 9:15-11:30. Friday February 27, we will walk to the Public Lands Information Office for a scavenger hunt and movie and then watch the start of the Fur Rendezvous Sled Dog Race at noon (If we get any snow). This trip will be from 9:30-12:45. Wednesday, March 18 we will walk to the Performing Arts Center once again to see master storyteller present, “Aesop Bops”. This trip will be from 11:15-1:30. I will send home permission slips for these events as they draw closer.  

         On Friday, February 13 we will have a valentine exchange and snack in the afternoon. If your child wishes to participate in the exchange, he/she must bring a valentine for each student. I have provided a list of Room 177 names on the back of the newsletter.

We have been hard at work this week reading, writing, planet research, six kingdom research, math operations and facts, penmanship, compound words, geometry, information and study skills and more.

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

Sincerely,

Craig Moyer

Valentine Class List Room 177

Annie

Finn

Gavin

Kendall

Ketch

Riley

Robert (Bobby)

Adriana

Brianna

Jamie

Marcus

Michael

Samantha

Sarah

Svea

Alan

Alexandra (Sasha)

Arthur

Audrianna

Elizabeth

Jessie

Kamryn (Kami)

Kylie

Paxson

William

Mrs. R

Ms. Irina

Mr. Moyer

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Dear Parents,

         Congratulations to our three Spelling Bee participants Audrianna, Elizabeth, and Kamryn! They represented Room 177 with poise, maturity, and graciousness on Tuesday morning. After their experience, they shared their thoughts and feelings with the class. They overcame their nerves and did a fantastic job. I’m sure they inspired others to participate in the future.

Our next field trip is on Wednesday, February 4 from 9:30-11:45 we will walk to the Performing Arts Center to see the “Jabali African Acrobats”. I have sent home permission slips in today’s folder. I also wanted to let you know about our scheduled field trips at this time so you can put them on your calendar. Thursday, February 26 we will take a bus to West High to see “Monsters III”, a puppet show about Anchorage’s history from 9:15-11:30. Friday February 27, we will walk to the Public Lands Information Office for a scavenger hunt and movie and then watch the start of the Fur Rendezvous Sled Dog Race at noon (If we get any snow). This trip will be from 9:30-12:45. Wednesday, March 18 we will walk to the Performing Arts Center once again to see master storyteller present, “Aesop Bops”. This trip will be from 11:15-1:30. I will send home permission slips for these events as they draw closer.  

Please remember that there is no school on Monday, January 19 in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday.

We have been hard at work this week studying fractions, reading, writing descriptive paragraphs, planet research, math operations and facts, penmanship, antonyms, geometry, and more.

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

Sincerely,

Craig Moyer

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Dear Parents,

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a healthy and happy holiday season. The students seem eager to be back and are resuming their working routines. I’m looking forward to a great second semester.

            I have sent second quarter report cards home in today’s folder. Please take a few moments to talk with your child to celebrate his or her accomplishments and discuss some areas he or she needs to improve. Teaching your children how to set goals is an important tool and gift that you can give them.

            We will be going to the Performing Arts Center on Tuesday, January 13 to see National Geographic Live! Chaperones, please meet in Room 177 by 9:30. We will leave the school at 9:45 and return about noon. This should be a great opportunity to learn about the Mars rover from a NASA engineer! I sent home permission slips on Monday and have received most of them already. Thanks.

            As you probably already noticed, I also sent home the first homework of 2015 on Monday. I know this is not our usual time frame, but I wanted the students to get back into the swing of things. This homework will be tested this Friday. I have sent nest week’s homework in today’s folder. If your child couldn’t finish the homework by Friday, please send it in when it is finished.

 Thursday, January 15^th is the Denali Spelling Bee. It is open to all students in 3^rd-6^th grades. It will be held in the multipurpose room at 9:15. Good luck to all our 3^rd grade participants!

            This week the students have been studying fractions, using quotation marks in their writing, practicing math facts, reading, writing friendly letters, journaling, learning about the law of inertia and practicing parlor tricks, using problem solving techniques in math, and more.

            Before the break, we had a great experience creating a radio play with the expertise of Mrs. Sheehy, Gavin’s Mom. The students went through the entire writing process in order to make the story. Then Mrs. Sheehy brought in her equipment to record each student read his or her part. She also had the students create wonderful sound effects to make the radio play a joy to listen to. Mrs. Sheehy gave each student a CD copy of the radio play, which I hope you have received and have enjoyed. If not, I am posting a copy of the radio play on this site. Thank you Mrs. Sheehy for your time and expertise! The students and I had a great time making the play.

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

Sincerely,

Craig Moyer

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

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

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

Happy Thanksgiving!