November was a busy but fun month for Lower Elementary!

First and second-grade students work on a decanomial job.

Old Baker Farm

Old Baker Farm.

Third-grade students select pumpkins from the pumpkin patch at Old Baker Farm.

Students enjoy the hay ride at Old Baker Farm.

Students select pumpkins at Old Baker Farm with Ms. Naomi.

Students spend time outdoors to find inspiration for their haiku poems.

Students use the computer to complete a writing project.

Students had a chance to pet the animals at Old Baker Farm.

A first-grade student presents her dog as her share.

Live shares are always popular among the students.

Lower Elementary students present Read to Feed during the Peace Ceremony assembly.

Students play a Two-Square game during recess.

A second-grade student presents her puppy to the classroom as her share. 

Read to Feed!!!

We are participating in Heifer International's Read to Feed program as seen in the literature sent home last week.  Please encourage your family, friends, coworkers, and everyone you know to sponsor your child to help raise money to help those less fortunate.  Your child already reads nightly, so filling out the book list is the easy part.  Use this link to send out to encourage people to donate:  http://readtofeed.heifer.org/jbma  Money and checks are due Dec. 14th though online fundraising will continue through the new year.

Thank you!!!

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A few other tidbits:

• Field Trip forms are being sent home - all 3 forms need to be completely filled out and returned as soon as possible.  $21 is due with them as is your child's shoe size.
• Parents of boys - please reteach and continually reinforce the use of toilets (per previous blog post).
• Early dismissal at 1:00 on Thursday, Dec. 20th - no aftercare provided.
• Please ensure that your child has an extra pair or two of socks in their backpack at all times, just in case.
• Please update all teachers and Joan (at joan@jbma.org) with any and all e-mail and phone changes.
• Please check with your child to find out if their inside PE shoes at school still fit and/or need to be replaced.
• All jackets, sweaters, lunchboxes, etc. should have your child's name in them so they can be returned if lost.

Pictures are due tomorrow, Nov. 27!

Picture orders are due tomorrow, Nov. 27th!

Restrooms and Thanksgiving

Parents of boys...we need your help! Our boy bathrooms on campus can only be described with one word: disgusting.  Ms. Amy has had a meeting with the lower elementary boys discussing the problem and has offered solutions but we need your help at home. Our boys, in general, do not clean up "spills" from the floor, flush the toilet when finished, nor wash their hands every time they use the facilities. Our involvement in restroom uses can only go so far (since we are all women). Please teach and continue to reteach your boys the proper use of the toilet and how to clean up when they "miss." We will continue to reinforce it here at school, but this can not be done without your help!

We break today at 1:00 and will not see your children until next Monday, Nov. 26th. We hope you all have a chance to enjoy this break with your friends and family.

Old Baker Farm, Diwali Celebration, and Shares

Students enjoy a hay ride at Old Baker Farm.



We had a blast at Old Baker Farm! :)

Four students present a power point presentation on the Diwali Celebration.

Students share items that bear special meaning to the Diwali Celebration.

A second-grade student presents his share with the classroom.

A second-grade student presents her share to the classroom.

A second-grade student presents her share to the classroom.

Old Baker Farm and Shares!

Ms. Heather and Ms. Rachel get ready to check out the hay maze at Old Baker Farm.

A third-grade student holds the cotton he picked in the cotton fields at Old Baker Farm.

A first-grade student shows her American Girl Doll to the classroom as her share.

Old Baker Farm field trip.  A first-grade student and a third-grade student hold the cotton they picked in the cotton fields.

Students enjoy a hay ride at Old Baker Farm.

Students have the opportunity to pet the animals at Old Baker Farm.

The students learn about a variety of animals at Old Baker Farm.

A second-grade student picks cotton from the fields at Old Baker Farm.

Old Baker Farm.

Our students filled an entire basket with the cotton they picked.

Old Baker Farm. 

Cough, cold, and flu!

Now's the season for coughs, colds, and the flu.  If you've stopped by school during the day, surely you have heard the symphony of coughing that fills our classrooms and hallways.  Please be aware of the following things to help keep our school a healthy place.

• Please keep your child at home if they are obviously sick and/or have a fever. 
• Encourage your child to cover coughs and sneezes with their elbows or shoulders - remind them to do it every time until it becomes an automatic response for them.  We need your help to continue this at home in the evenings and on weekends.
• According to our student handbook, children may not return to school until they have been completely fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medication.  Our goal is to keep everyone healthy!
• Encourage hand washing with soap throughout the day and especially after sneezing, coughing, and touching their nose or mouth.

According to the Centers for Disease Control regarding coughing and illness,
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See a Healthcare Provider if You or Your Child has:

• Temperature higher than 100.4° F
• Symptoms that last more than 10 days
• Symptoms that are not relieved by over-the-counter medicines

Preventing the Common Cold

• Practice good hand hygiene
• Avoid close contact with people who have colds or other upper respiratory infections

Your healthcare provider can determine if you or your child has a cold and can recommend symptomatic therapy.
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We have bolded "see a healthcare provider if symptoms last more than 10 days" because this is currently the case for many of our children that are only infecting (or reinfecting) the students and teachers that work with them daily by not having their symptoms/illness treated by a healthcare professional.

THANK YOU!!!

Field Trip! (and clarification)

There have been several questions and concerns regarding our upcoming field trip.  The "fee" for this field trip is $17 due Tuesday for classroom II and Wednesday for classroom III (per the field trip forms sent home two weeks ago).  Your child will need to bring their lunch for this particular field trip. 

There will be several field trips throughout the year that will have fees.  The fee paid/collected at the beginning of the year only covers the Children's Theater trips.  Additional trips this year include Shelby Ridge Nursing Home caroling, bowling, Camp McDowell for 3rd graders, and others. We will give at least two weeks notice for each field trip via a field trip form in your child's red folder.

Please let us know of any other questions!
Lower El Teachers

Thank you, parents!

A sincere THANK YOU goes to our amazing parents for giving our students a fun celebration this past Wednesday (Halloween) by donating their time and snacks for an outrageously fun afternoon!  Thank you!!!!!!!
Lower El Teachers

Thank you, parents!!!!

A sincere THANK YOU to all parents that volunteered and/or donated snacks this past Wednesday (Halloween) to give our students a fun-filled afternoon.  They had a blast and we did too.

Thank you!!!!!
Lower El Teachers

Eid Celebration & Halloween

Two ninjas ready to celebrate Halloween!

Superwoman and Merlia, the Mermaid on Halloween.

A third-grade student shows the class his prayer mat.  The Muslim students in our classroom did a presentation on their Eid Celebration.

Three students wearing their Eid Celebration gowns.  They enjoy recess after sharing information about their Eid Celebration with the classroom.

A second-grade student shares his Wooly Mammoth Powerpoint Presentation with the classroom.

Two students show off their Spanish dancing skills on Halloween.

Can't wait to see their Spanish dance performance. 

One witch and one Spanish dancer performing a dance number on Halloween.

Our students were beyond creative with their Halloween costumes!