And the COUNTDOWN begins!
13 Jun 2011 Leave a Comment
June starts tomorrow and that leaves 13 days left to the school year! The rainy weather has helped keep students and staff focused but with Memorial Day’s beautiful weather, most of the students (and some of the staff), are making Summer plans!
We have begun transition classes again, without our beloved Mr. Moody, and students are beginning to realize the reality that they will no longer be here (in Brewster Hall at GBSD), but will be going to a much larger school, Lyman Moore Middle School. We drove by the school last week and, for some, it was their first view of their new school.
Homework has been greatly reduced so students may or may not have a homework assignment every night.
Keep smiling!
May 9, 2011
09 May 2011 Leave a Comment
I can’t believe it was November since my last entry! We have started IEP season and the count down to the end of the year. Students are looking forward to Step-up day. We are all (except our 4th grader) going to a new school next year. There is anxiety and excitement about the move.
We have begun our last Social Studies unit, “Passports Around the World” and our last Science unit, “Cells”.
12 Nov 2010 Leave a Comment
Dear Parents,
I just realized my last letter to you was dated October 15th! Where does the time go???
I am sending home parent/teacher conference notices along with this letter. Please let me know if you want to set up a conference with me. I do try to keep in touch with you on a regular basis but it’s a good time to drop in and see some of the things your child has been doing at school.
We have a new student in the classroom from Tennessee and he is able to communicate easily with his new classmates. It really is good to see how well all the students get along with him.
We had a wonderful presentation from Judy Segal about Parkinson’s Disease and she gave a few suggestions on how the class could help the Parkinson’s Association of Maine. On Dec. 10 (not that far away!), another guest speaker from the same organization will come and talk with our students.
Some students will be able to bring home their classroom laptops and iPods. If you want your child to be one of them, give me a call for specific details.
As usual, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at school at 781-6323. I do not answer the phone during teaching time, so please leave a message if I am unavailable. If you prefer, you can reach me by email at: marge.earnhardt@gbsd.org. Please send me your contact information (especially your email address, if you have one). If you have access to the Web, check out some cool sites at http://teachers.mackworth.org/mearnhardt/ or on this Blog.
Next week:
Early Release on Wednesday. Students will be dismissed at 1:30.
Report cards sent out to parents.
17 Oct 2010 Comments Off
With only a few students in the class, it really impacts lesson planning when one is absent. But, we took advantage or this opportunity for review and re-teaching time.
Students are given a weekly schedule and with the short week, they have really had to work hard to get their work completed. It is unfortunate that some students do not complete their homework assignments and have to miss their lunchtime in the cafeteria until it is completed (they eat in the classroom while doing their work). Unless there is a note from parents stating a reason why homework was not completed, that is the student’s responsibility and consequence.
We had a wonderful field trip to the Portland Waterfront last Friday and students were amazed at the cruise ship and other boats working on Casco Bay. Some got their first taste of Maine lobsta!
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at school at 781-6323. I do not answer the phone during teaching time, so please leave a message if I am unavailable. If you prefer, you can reach me by email at: marge.earnhardt@gbsd.org. Please send me your contact information (especially your email address, if you have one). If you have access to the Web, check out some cool sites at http://teachers.mackworth.org/mearnhardt/ or our Blog at http://gbsd07.wordpress.com
Next week:
Early Release on Wednesday. Students will be dismissed at 1:30.
We will have a guest speaker from the Parkinson’s Association of Maine on Friday.
Have a great weekend!
OCTOBER? ALREADY?
01 Oct 2010 1 Comment
Dear Parents,
Here we are starting the month of October! It’s so hard to believe, especially with all this summer like weather we are having.
This week students are really getting the hang of working in their centers independently.
In Language Arts Class, students are reading at their DRA levels and video taping their stories. In writing, students are choosing a picture to write about and through the week, edit and re-write their stories. On Friday, they get to video tape their stories with my video camera.
In Math students are working at various stages. Some are learning the days of weeks and months in a year, while others are learning about congruent shapes, money skills and time. It is a very interesting mix.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at school at 781-6323. I do not answer the phone during teaching time, so please leave a message if I am unavailable. If you prefer, you can reach me by email at: marge.earnhardt@gbsd.org. Please send me your contact information (especially your email address, if you have one). If you have access to the Web, check out some cool sites at http://teachers.mackworth.org/mearnhardt/ or our Blog at http://gbsd07.wordpress.com
Next week:
Early Release starts on Wednesday. Students will be dismissed at 1:30.
On Friday we are off on a field trip. Please remember to sign your child’s permission slip 
Have a great weekend!
Marge
Week Three
27 Sep 2010 Leave a Comment
Dear Parents:
We celebrated a birthday and made pinwheels for the Pinwheels for Peace Day!
I was at a workshop all day Monday but the substitute teacher gave a great report! It’s wonderful when students know the routines and follow their classroom rules even without the teacher being there!
You may have noticed students have homework every night and a book report due every Monday. Please feel free to use the homework assignment book as a communication log with me. Homework should be a review for your child. If your child is having difficulty completing their homework assignment, please do not do it for them. It will be obvious to me they did not understand the lesson and I will have to re-teach it. Book reports are just a brief summary of the book students chose to read. I will review the book report with your child during the week and they can edit it as needed.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at school at 781-6323. I do not answer the phone during teaching time, so please leave a message if I am unavailable. If you prefer, you can reach me by email at: marge.earnhardt@gbsd.org. Please send me your contact information (especially your email address, if you have one). If you have access to the Web, check out some cool sites at http://teachers.mackworth.org/mearnhardt/
PICTURE DAY IS MONDAY!
Well, that’s it for this week … have a great weekend!
Week Two
27 Sep 2010 Leave a Comment
Dear Parents:
What a busy week we’ve had!
Here is a brief description of what your child is doing in her/his classroom…
Placement assessments are done and we have two math groups in the room. On occasion, during the year, I will be sending home letters describing what we will be covering in Math.
Students are all on English Language Arts schedules.
Writing … a student selects a picture from the writing center picture collection, then creates a story. During the week they have to expand on what they wrote and by Friday produce a final edited draft.
Reading … students read and do a follow-up activity related to the book they are reading, read the story to one of their peers, write their own version of the story and finally video tape themselves telling the story. Every Friday, their book report is presented to their classmates.
Spelling … Each student was given a Fry word assessment. Based on the words they got wrong or level they did not reach, 10 words are given to them each week and every Friday they will have a Spelling test on those words.
In Social Studies we began our research on an Atlantic Ocean topic that each student selected and we reviewed how to get a good grade on their presentation.
I want to thank Christina for volunteering to be our “Classroom Mom”. She has donated school supplies for the kids who could not afford to bring their own and has offered to bring a snack in every Friday for the students. She also will make sure students have a nice birthday celebration here at school.
Students have homework every night and a book report due every Monday. No homework is sent home that has not been covered in class. If your child is having difficulty with their homework please let me know by calling (see below) or writing (in their homework/communication book).
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at school at 781-6323. I do not answer the phone during teaching time, so please leave a message if I am unavailable. If you prefer, you can reach me by email at: marge.earnhardt@gbsd.org. Please send me your contact information (especially your email address, if you have one). If you have access to the Web, check out some cool sites at http://teachers.mackworth.org/mearnhardt/
Well, that’s it for this week … have a great weekend!
Here we go!
27 Sep 2010 Leave a Comment
Dear Parents:
It’s hard to believe summer is over and a new school year is beginning. I hope you and your families enjoyed the wonderful weather we had … I sure did!
I have worked with most of my current students in the past and some of you may know me already. I have been teaching children for approximately 20 years, 14 of them here at GBSD. I have two grown children of my own and this year became a grandmother for the first time
I feel honored to have your child as my student this year. Please feel free to contact me at school at 781-6323. I do not answer the phone during teaching time, so please leave a message if I am unavailable. If you prefer, you can reach me by email at: marge.earnhardt@gbsd.org. Please send me your contact information (especially your email address, if you have one). If you have access to the Web, check out some cool sites at http://teachers.mackworth.org/mearnhardt/
We will continue to use the Saxon Math Program again this year. It is very repetitive and fun to learn. On occasion, during the year, I will be sending home letters describing what we will be covering in Math.
We finished a short literature unit based on the book The Enormous Watermelon. We did activities in writing, math, science and of course reading, related to the story. We began and will continue to read, The Lightning Thief, as a model of good writing based on the Six Traits of writing.
In Social Studies we began our unit on Casco Bay. The 2-3 class will join us occasionally during the study of this unit. When we are done, we will have a Unit celebration in which you will be invited to attend. It was interesting to see how many of the students did not know where the Atlantic Ocean was and where Casco Bay is located.
I hope to send a letter home at least once a month but once my classroom Blog is set up, you’ll be able to read this online.
Well, that’s it for this week … have a great weekend!
9/10/10
