Winter Holiday Program

Our winter holiday program will be held on Tuesday,
December 16, 2008. The program will begin at
6:30 pm with the Kindergarten classes performing first! 2nd grade will take the stage around 7:00. Information will be coming home with you prior to our performance to let you know what time to have your students at school that evening.

Dinner with Santa

Come enjoy a Pima Butte tradion and eat dinner with Santa. This event will be taking place on Friday, December 12, 2008.

Please contact Pima Butte PTO if you would like further information regarding this event. They can be reached at pimabuttepto@yahoo.com

Thank You Does Not Seem Enough!

I would like to thank each and everyone who was able to assist with our classroom Thanksgiving celebration! It was a great day and even more wonderful to share it with you and our class. The food was absolutely amazing and the students enjoyed the time they shared with their families!

Thank you to Ellen Hauck for coordinating this event with all of the parents. Thank you to each and everyone who brought food and donated their time that day. It truly means a great deal to have shared such a wonderful day with all of you. I hope that you were able to enjoy a great holiday with your friends and family.

Family Luncheon

It's hard to believe that it is already time to enjoy the holidays. This has to be one of my favorite times of the year, spending time with family and friends and reflecting on all of the reasons there are to be thankful.

I would like to invite you to participate in our classroom family luncheon. This is a family event that will be held on Tuesday, November 25th. We will be eating a traditional family style Thanksgiving meal in our class for lunch. In order to make this event successful, I am requesting that families sign up to brings dishes in for this event. Information will be coming home this week.

Please let me know as soon as possible if you will be able to join us for this wonderful day. We will need a head count as soon as possible.

Read Across Arizona

Our class will be participating in an amazing event on Friday, November 21st! We have been partnered with another 2nd grade class from Hayden, Arizona. We will be having an interactive video session with this class. Our class will be presenting, I Know an Old Lady that Swallowed a Pie. I am inviting all of you to attend if you are able to join us. I will be sending permission slips home this week in order for your child to participate. Please contact me if you have any further questions.

Here is a link that provides additional information about Read Across Arizona. This link also shows pictures of the event that my class participated in last year. I hope that you take time to visit.
http://achayefsky.wordpress.com/2008/01/03/more-read-across-arizona-photo-ops/

Snack Calendar

We will begin implementing a snack calendar this month. Snacks will brought in by individual students for the class. Thank you to Mrs. Stroschein for creating the calendar. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Pima Butte Annual Fall Festival

The best family event of the year! Pima Butte will once again be having their fall festival. It will be held on Saturday, October 25th from 1:00 - 5:00 pm. There will be many exciting booths to enjoy. Come dressed in your costumes for fun! There will be bouncy houses, face painting, game booths, the cake walk and the first ever haunted house! Volunteers are still needed. If you are able to volunteer time please contact PTO.

2nd grade will be serving popcorn and cotton candy so I hope to see many of you there! The weather is getting cooler and we should have a great day.

Fall Party

We will be having our classroom Fall Part on
Friday, October 31st at 1pm. There will be additional information sent home as the time gets closer. I just wanted to make sure that everyone marks their calendars!

PTO Family Fun Night!!!

Please join PTO for the first Family Fun Night on Friday, October 3rd at 6:30 pm. Feel free to wear your pj's and bring pillows and blankets. PTO will be selling pizza, popcorn, candy, and drinks. Entrance is free but PTO is requesting a donation for the Maricopa food bank. Hopefully this event will become a monthly event.

Correction to Phonics Journal Menu

Hello Parents!
It has been brought to my attention that there was a typo on my original communication sent home regarding the phonics journal and the menu inside actual journals themselves. Here is the correct information for daily activities. I know that you are following them daily and I want assure that we’re all on the same page. I apologize for any confusion.

Thank you,
Ms. Palmer



Phonics Journal Menu

Day 1: 7-up sentences with phonics words 1-8.
Day 2: 7-up sentences with phonics words 9-16.
Day 3: Rainbow Style, Silly Snakes, Sailboat Style, etc.
Day 4: Write words 3 times each
Day 5: Practice Test
Day 6: NOTEBOOKS DUEDay 7: No Phonics Homework

Congratulations!!!

I would like to congratulate my students of the month for August 2008. Jillian B. and David O. both worked hard this month to earn this honor. I am proud of both of them! Keep up the good work.

Phonics Journals Due on Day 6

Phonics journals are important part of daily homework. There is an assignment due each day from the menu inside the phonics journal and students write the daily assignment in their agenda. On Day 6 phonics journals are due. I grade them and them return them to begin the following week with Day 1. If you are signing your child's agenda you are acknowledge that your child's homework is complete each day. Please contact me if you have any questions regarding the use of the phonics journals.

Put on Your Walking Shoes

Come join Pima Butte staff and be part of the "Zack Pack" to raise money for CureSearch. CureSearch unites the world's largest childhood cancer reseach organization. We will be walking in memory of Zachary Schumann. Zachary Schumann was a Pima Butte student who lost his battle with Cancer on July 31, 2008.

There will be a walk benefiting CureSearch on Sunday, September 14th, from 7:30 - 9:00 am. at Pacana Park. All money raised will go directly to CureSearch. The cost of the walk is just $10.00 per person. The $10.00 can be paid onn the day of the walk! If you are able to join us, please wear a royal blue shirt! More information about CureSearch can be found by visiting their website at http://curesearch.org/.

Student council will be collecting money for the month of September to donate to CureSearch. Please bring any small change to school. There will be buckets to collect change for the remainder of the month.

McTeacher Night at McDonalds

Come and support your teachers and Pima Butte at McDonalds, on Tuesday, September 16, 2008. Beginning at 4:00 pm, teachers and Mr. Montoya will be working shifts to raise proceeds for our school. That night is also the DiamondBacks game in Phoenix. Stop by and grab a bite to eat on your way to the game!!!

2nd Grade Field Trip

2nd Grade will be seeing a live theater performance of Miss Nelson is Missing. We will be visiting the Tempe Center for the Arts on Friday, September 26, 2008. All reservations have been made for students and chaperones! I will be sending home reminders to chaperones as we get closer.

Week of August 18th

Homework will begin on Monday, August 18th. You will see your child's math homework and their phonics journal that will be used weekly. I will be sending home a note on Monday explaining in detail the use of the phonics journals. If you have questions please let me know.

Phonics journals will begin with Day 1 on the menu that is located on the inside of the journal. Students will return the notebooks to school on day 6, which is also the day of the test. I will be giving points for the journal each week.

I will also be sending home agendas for the students beginning on Monday. This is a new tool that has been made available to us. Students will continue to color their behavior for the day as well as record any additional information. Please continue to sign their agenda daily as that counts as part of their homework.

Welcome Back

It's hard to believe that summer has ended and we are off and running for a new school year! There are so many new and exciting things that will be happening and I can not wait to share all of the adventures with you and your children. I hope that you take an opportunity to view some of the old posts that are still on my blog from last year. It will give you an idea of how I post messages and share some of the fun things that we do in our classroom.

I hope that you find this tool useful. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me at school. Email is the best source of communication, since it is difficult to always answer the phone. Thank you for your support! I look forward to a fantastic year.

Ms. Palmer
dpalmer@musd20.org

2008 Pima Butte Field Day

Pima Butte's Annual Field Day will take place this year on Friday, April 18th! What a great way to end a week worth of hard work testing. Our team colors for this year's event will be PURPLE! Students can be creative putting together their uniform. We will make class posters for the event. Our 5th grade buddies would like to make team visors for that day. I will be requesting $1.00 from each student to assist with the purchase of the visors. I will be sending a note home this week. If you are able to volunteer that day to assist with any events, please let me know or contact Mrs. Jones, our PE teacher, directly!!

Terra Nova Testing

Monday, April 7th and Tuesday, April 8th, 2nd grade students across the district will be taking the Terra Nova test. This is a state standardized test that is mandatory.

In order to increase attendance, Mr. Montoya is offering some great incentives to students! Each day that students are on time to school, they will have the opportunity to win some great prizes being raffled off for the week. There are 4 brand new bicycles!!! Yes, 4! MP3 players, games and much much more!

Please encourage your student to get a good nights sleep. Eat a healthy breakfast and bring a healthy lunch. We have been discussing great test taking strategies that will hopefully ease any stress. Students have been encouraged to bring water bottles with them also.

There will be no homework, except for the 15 minutes of reading on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Our regular homework routine will begin on Thursday, April 10th.

Report Cards and Parent Teacher Conferences

Report cards will be going home on Monday, March 24, 2008. Please be sure to sign the envelope that you have recieved your child's report card.

Parent-Teacher conferences have been scheduled for this week. Please make sure that if you have been scheduled for an appointment that you are on time. If you are running late, or not able to make it, please call in advance so that I can reschedule your appointment. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Hot Temperatures

Temperatures look like they may be warm the next few days. Please make sure that you send water bottles to school with your children. We will try to bring them home each day so that they can be refilled and reused!

Valentine Party

Our class will be having their Valentine party on Thursday, February 14th at 1:00 p.m. If you will be able to assist or send in donations for our party, please let JoAnne Kilner or myself know prior to next week.

I would like to keep sweets to a minimum for the party. Healthy snacks are best! Anything red or pink will be great, apple slices, strawberries, apple sauce, etc.. We still need plates and napkins, juice packs. Thanks in advance for your help.

Please send a shoe box in with your students for next weeks party. We will be decorating them in class with our 5th grade buddies.

100th Day Celebration

It's hard to believe that the first 100 days of school passed so quickly. On Monday, January 28th, Pima Butte elementary celebrated this exciting day! There was dancing and celebrations shared by the entire school, along with many parents who joined us for the day. I have posted some pictures of the afternoon. I hope that you enjoy them!

Welcome Back

I hope that everyone had a wonderful break! It's hard to believe that it's time to start school once again! I am excited about all of the new and wonderful things we will be doing this quarter.

There will be quite a few notes coming home today. Please make sure to check your child's folder. I have posted the new phonics words for this week. Please make sure that you use the correct list. Students will also be bringing home a list on Monday, the 7th.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any additional questions.