November 20, 2008

Ray’s Ramblings
November 20, 2008

Dear Parents,

We are still learning a lot about Native Americans and are looking forward to our FEAST on Tuesday! I am sending out a very special THANK-YOU to Taunya Turner tatdynamite@aol.com 885-7905(AM) and Mary U’Wren 858-3474(PM) for organizing the feasts! If you have questions, please contact them or send a note to me at school. I have the greatest volunteer moms in the world!! All of them!!!

Picture Retakes are tomorrow (Friday 11-21). In last week’s letter, I instructed that if you want the free retakes, to send in the old pictures and I would send you another envelope.

Christmas Gifts are already coming in! That’s great. Jamie Tippey’s mom, Amanda, has offered to get together a group order for oriental trading company. This is a great idea for those of you who haven’t already come up with an idea. There are many items you can purchase for the entire class for as little as $3 – 10. Go to www.orientaltrading.com to see what they have. If you are interested, you can e-mail Amanda at amanda.tippey@gmail.com or call her at 421-3503 to give her your order.

In lieu of teacher gifts for Christmas, I would appreciate more treasure box stuff!!!



Don’t forget Holiday Central. I have ‘adopted’ two families for our two classes to sponsor. This includes four children: two boys and two girls. We need enough money to provide a gift for each child and an outfit for each. Any money over and above that will be put on a Kroger gift certificate for food. I know it is early but I have only had 2 donations so far. I have 46 children. If each child could bring $1, that would go a long way!

In the next few weeks, I am planning a number of craft projects and activities for Christmas. Check e-mail and my blog as I will be posting things I need. Right now, I would like you to be saving toy ads and inserts. We will be cutting pictures and making ‘Christmas lists’. Send me your Sunday inserts from Toys R Us, Wal Mart, Target, etc.
Conferences: I have set a personal goal to conference or home visit with every child before our Christmas break. I am trying to schedule 4 visits each week. When I send you a request, please reply quickly so I can schedule with you as soon as possible.

Next Week:
Monday – we will be creating our costumes to wear to our feast. Children will choose between Native American dress and Pilgrim. We will be viewing videos of Native Americans in the Computer lab.
Tuesday – We will have a special story, a writing activity and our feast. The Feast will be at 9:45 and 1:45. Parents are welcome! We will have Motor Mouth at 10:30 and 2:30, then dismissal at 11:10 and 3:10, as usual.
No School on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday next week!!! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family!