Book Fair Times for Wallace/Crawford

Book fair purchase (classroom visits):
 Crawford's homeroom is Wednesday at 1:30 PM
 Wallace's homeroom is Thursday at 9:30 AM


You may also meet your child during their lunch-time and spend part of it visiting the book fair with them for purchase. 
Additional shopping time: Thursday evening from 5:30-7, before the 1st Grade Program


You may also shop on-line (shipping to the school is FREE) athttp://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bookfairs/cptoolkit/publish/briargrove  Briargrove Book Fair gets the same credit no matter how you purchase!   

Mask Poem Rubric for Mrs. Crawford's Class

Please use this format for the posting from Mrs. Wallace (see above)

Each part of the poem is worth 20 points.  Each part should be described using writers’ tools given by Mr. Feil in Writers in the Schools workshop in class.

1.      My mask is the mask of –

2.      My mask is made from –

3.      The eyes of my mask are -

4.      The nose of my mask is -

5.      When I put it on I feel –

onomatopoeia – bang, buzz

alliteration – Bobby buys boxers for Billy’s birthday

simile – as fast as a cheetah

metaphor – he is a monkey

personification – the flowers looked up at the sun

New Information Posted

Please check the "Classroom Announcements and Helpful Sites" link on the Crawford/Wallace page.  I update it frequently with different pieces of useful information.  If you 'subscribe' to the site, an email will be sent to you each time a new post is made.

Please let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you,
Traci Ariss
evilsis@hotmail.com

Book Fair Volunteers

BG book fair is this week and we are still in need of volunteers!  Here are the shifts still available:

Tuesday: Preview Day
12:30-1:30 (1)

Wednesday: Sale Day
10:00-12:00 (1)

12:00-2:00 (1)

Thursday: Sale Day
8:00-10:00 (3)
10:00-12:00 (1)

12:00-2:00 (1)
2:00-3:30 (1)


If you can help, please send Amanda Gonzalez an email at:
amandabuksnys@yahoo.com.

Thank you,

Book Fair Chairs

Science Day

Science Day, November 22.  Next Tuesday, November 22, is Science Day at BG.  The cafeteria will not be available for use at lunch.  We need a volunteer or two to have lunch in the classroom with the kids so that both Mrs. Wallace and Mrs. Crawford get a lunch break that day.   Please respond to this post if you can eat in the classroom and which classroom you will volunteer for.  Plan to be in the classroom between around 11:25-12:10.  I WILL NOT be able to cover either classroom.  Thanks- Traci :)

We DIG BG!

It is time to break ground on Phase I of the Briargrove Edible Schoolyard! It will be built to the benefit of the kinder, 1st and 2nd grade classes. Plan to come this Saturday, Nov 12, beginning at 8am to assist in the install the 8" raised beds for vegetables and herbs.

Please contact marianacypher@yahoo.com if you plan to be there so teams can be arranged and tasks assigned prior to Saturday morning. No garden experience is necessary. Bring gloves. Wheel barrows are welcome too! Park at the front of the school.

(this message was sent to the k-2nd grade parents, but all are welcome to participate in the creation of the garden).  

Classroom Needs for Mrs Crawford's Class  (UPDATED!!):


*Clorox wipes


*Any unused paper/stationary items, pens, envelopes to use in the writing station.  They can be mis-matched, different sizes, colors, etc.  Anything to inspire the kids to write in this station would be welcomed!


*READERS on Monday, Wednesday or Thursdays during station time... there is a morning session 10-11 and an afternoon session 130-230.  Help the children with their reading comprehension: you will read to each group for 15-20 minutes while they rotate through the stations.  Mrs. Crawford will provide the reading material.  Email Traci or Mrs. Crawford for more details or to sign up.  

BG Family Fundraising

Special delivery for all BG families! Please watch your mailbox for an opportunity to support the BG Family Fundraising 2011 - 2012 Campaign. Our goal is 100% BG family participation this year - no amount is too small and all donations are tax - deductible. For questions, please contact Amanda Fisher (kepkefisher@yahoo.com) or Bailey Kinney (baileykinney2@earthlink.net). Thank you for your support!

On Nov. 8 the cafeteria will be used for the election. The kids will be
eating lunch in their classrooms. We need a few parents for
 each classroom (both Wallace and Crawford) to eat lunch in the
classrooms with the children so that the teachers can have
their 30 min lunch break.  Please post here if you are available to
come (and for which teacher).  Thank you! 

Readers Wanted!

Mrs. Crawford would like for parent volunteers to come to her class for an hour to take small groups of 8 (in 20 minute sections) to read.  This will allow her to focus on fewer children during station time her and give each child some specialized attention in reading in a small group (with you!).

If your child has Mrs. Crawford for homeroom, you are needed: 10am-11am
If your child has Mrs. Wallace for homeroom, you are needed: 1:30pm-2:30pm

Mrs. Crawford will provide the reading material and you will repeat the reading with 3 groups (or allow the children to read/discuss) in your alloted hour.  I have listed the days below and a link to the BG calendar.   Feel free to sign up for as many as you would like and are able to consistently attend.  Simply post the days you want blog this posting in the comments section.  (If you have difficulty with this, just email me at evilsis@hotmail.com with your selections)  In a few days, I will fill out a reading calendar and email it to you so you will know which dates you have been assigned.  (I will also post it here).

Thank you for your willingness to help!  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.  For those of you looking forward to volunteering in Mrs. Wallace's classroom, she is coming up with several ideas and plans to get them to me shortly!

Reading Dates:
Monday, Wednesday, and/or Thursday of any week we are in school.

http://bgroadrunners.org/calendar

Free MONEY!

Free money for Briargrove couldn't be any easier than this!  IF it was, well... it probably wouldn't be legal!

Parents, simply follow these steps to help Briargrove reach its goal of 50,000 Box Tops by mid February!  If your son or daughter is the TOP Box Top Earner of BG, you'll win a prize as well as your child!

1. Register at www.btfe.com (Takes at most 2 minutes)
2. IF or when you shop ONLINE, first sign into your btfe account and click on "Earn" (This takes you to "Market Place" where you can earn box tops on your online purchases) *Be sure cookies are enabled on your computer
3. CLIP your box tops at home and send with your child to class each week. *Expired ones don't count so leave those at home =(  and please label the zip loc bag or envelope with your child's name, grade, and teacher.

Get relatives, co-workers, friends, church members, etc. to help give your child's box top collection a boost!  Good luck!

Thank you!
Tarah Carmona & Shannon Vrba
Briargrove Box Top Committee

**Never throw away your box tops!! EACH one is $.10 for BG!

Saving Earth Club

The Briargrove Jogging and the Kids for Saving Earth Clubs are teaming up again tomorrow, September 30 together to hold our first monthly Walk/Bike/Scoot to School Day of the fall school year! 

Here are some tips to make each day a success!

* Grab a bike, tie up your walking shoes, or even hop on a (non-motorized!) scooter and head to school Friday morning...leave the car at home (don't forget your helmet!).

* Watch for signs along Briar Ridge & other neighborhood streets to educate you on how you are helping yourself and the environment by using your own energy to make your way to school.

*  If you do not live within walking distance, consider:

Parking at a friend’s house that’s in the neighborhood and walking together.

Parking at Rice Epicurean (2020 Fountain View at Inwood) and walking from there.

Parking within the Briargrove neighborhood. (Please make sure to respect the parking signs and homeowners' yards and driveways).

*  Make sure you enter the school through the park on the Briar Ridge side of the school and pick up your sticker "FEET NOT FUEL"

Why you should participate (on this day and every day you can):

*  Time well spent with your child–it is amazing what you can wind up talking about on the way to school.  Elementary school does not last forever…it's priceless.

*  Walking is good for you.  It burns calories.  It gets the body and mind moving for the day.

*  You're out of the car/SUV so you meet and greet people you may only see a couple of times a year otherwise.

* Not only will you enjoy the walk with your offspring, did you know that:

* If the average American biked or walked to work or shopping once every two weeks instead of driving, we could prevent the pollution of close to one billion gallons of gasoline from entering the atmosphere every year.

* People in cars regularly suffer three times as much pollution as pedestrians because they are sitting in the path of the exhaust fumes from the car in front of them. Motor vehicle emissions represent 31% of total carbon dioxide, 81% of carbon monoxide, and 49% of nitrogen oxides released in the U.S.

* A short, four-mile round trip by walking keeps about 15 pounds of pollutants out of the air we breathe.

* Air pollution contributes to the deaths of 60,000 people nationwide. In urban areas with poor air quality, asthma is becoming a more significant health concern. 

* Traffic noise is probably the most serious and pervasive type of noise pollution. Road traffic noise is a major contributor to high noise levels, particularly around schools and places of work.  In adults it can affect our sense of well being and lead to sleep disturbance as well as hearing loss if we are exposed to high noise levels for long periods of time. (source: Harvard University)