If you’re interested in getting stuff for our classroom (or for us), we love cash. OR, you can check out our Book Wish Lists! We're trying to expand our Biography library - and while we try to support local business, in this case for ease of use (and searching) here's our Amazon Wish List of Biographies (and other stuff we're hoping for).
Here’s our wish list if you like shopping at Literati. Here’s the list if you like shopping at Schuler Books (formerly Nicola's).
But you don’t have to get us anything at all! These are just some suggestions if you were thinking “Hey, I want to buy something for Ko and Jason!”
We also love cash.
Hello Parents and Families!
REMINDER - No School on Monday, September 29th.
REMINDER - Book Projects due on Tuesday September 30th! Please check in with your child to make sure they’re on the right track!
REMINDER - Picture Day on Tuesday, September 30th.
REMINDER - PARENT INPUTand CONFERENCE SIGN UP FORM
Tell us about your kid! Tell us if you want a conference! Please fill out this parent input form.
If you’ve already filled it out and requested a conference, we’ll be in touch over the next few weeks to schedule a time to meet.
Help, please!
Room parent? Elaine (Alex’s mom - Thanks, Elaine!!) has volunteered for this job, but we could use one more! This job is very low stress - in fact, we’re not sure what exactly you’ll do besides be a contact for the AAOCC for us. If you’re willing and able, please contact Ko.
We’re planning some Team Building activities for the morning of Thursday, October 9th, 8:30-11. We need 2 enthusiastic parent volunteers to help us lead a group of kids through these activities. If you’re willing and able, please contact Ko.
Embracing Our Differences
On Monday, October 6th, we’ll head to Gallup Park to visit the Embracing Our Differences art exhibit. The Embracing Our Differences Michigan exhibit is an annual, juried outdoor installation featuring billboard-sized images created by local, national and international artists reflecting their interpretations of the theme “Enriching Our Lives Through Diversity”.
We’ll leave school at 11:45am, view the exhibit from 12-1, eat lunch in the park and then return to school by 2pm. Your kid will need a lunch for the day. If you would like us to provide a lunch for your kid, please let us know by Wednesday, October 1.
A permission slip for this trip was sent home today. Please sign and return it ASAP.
We’re still looking for chaperones for this trip - if you’d like to join us, please contact Ko.
CONVERSATION STARTERS
If you’d like to know a little more about what’s been happening at school this week, try asking your child about some of these things:
Our writing prompt this week was Pizza Duckling. Ask your child what masterpiece they created from this prompt.
We’ve continued to closely examine the story Coyote and the Monster. Ask your child what lessons a Nez-Perce child can learn by hearing this story repeatedly in their childhoods.
We’ve been reading the book Ghost, the first book in the Track series by Jason Reynolds. Ask your child to tell you about the characters and story, and what they’ve enjoyed about it. A new book in the series will be released next month, and we’re pretty excited about it!
Upcoming events
Monday, 9/29 - NO SCHOOL
Tuesday, 9/30 - Book Projects Due! Picture Day! www.kaiserstudio.com, school ID code 2526AAOPEN.
Thursday, 10/2, 10:30-1:30 - Field Trip! Gallup Park, Embracing Our Differences
Thursday, 10/9, 8:30-11:30 - Team Building Activities
Friday, 10/10-Monday 10/13 - NO SCHOOL
10/27-10/30, 8:30-9:20am - Focus Studies
Friday, 10/31 - HALF DAY. Dismiss at 11:15. Costume Parade 9:30-10:15.
Hello Parents and Families!
PARENT INPUTand CONFERENCE SIGN UP FORM
Tell us about your kid! Tell us if you want a conference! Please fill out this parent input form. Write as much or as little as you like. We’ll read it all!
If you’ve already filled it out and requested a conference, we’ll be in touch over the next few weeks to schedule a time to meet.
Help, please!
We need at least one room parent. Hopefully two. (No one has volunteered yet…) This job is very low stress - in fact, we’re not sure what exactly you’ll do besides be a contact for the AAOCC for us. If you’re willing and able, please contact Ko.
We’re participating in a Poet-in-Residence program this year (more details to come). We need some parent volunteers to help type up kid’s poems (we’ve got 3 folks volunteering so far…we could use at least 3 more). If you’re willing and able to help us type up some kid poetry, please contact Ko.
We’re going on a field trip on Thursday, October 2nd! We’re going to Gallup Park to see the Embracing Our Differences art installation. If you’re interested in chaperoning, please contact Ko.
We’re planning some Team Building activities for the morning of Thursday, October 9th, 8:30-11. We need 2 enthusiastic parent volunteers to help us lead a group of kids through these activities. If you’re willing and able, please contact Ko.
Picture Day! Tuesday, September 30th!
Today we sent home information about picture day. You can fill out the paperwork and send in your check with your kid on Tuesday, September 30th (please don’t send it in early. We are not collecting and holding on to picture day things.) or you can purchase a package online at ww.kaiserstudio.com with school ID code 2526AAOPEN.
Poets-in-Residence Program
On Friday, September 26th, we’ll start a program called “Author-in-Residence,” sponsored by Dzanc Books. Dzanc Books is a nonprofit organization (founded by a parent of an AAO and Ko’s class alum!) committed to increasing literacy in Michigan's youth through this educational outreach program.
Every Friday, three U of M students (Amari, Lilliana, and Shani, supervised by Scott Beal, a poet, freelance writer, father of two Open School alums and the director of Lloyd Scholars for Writing and the Arts at U of M) will come into our classroom and work with our kids to further develop their writing and creative skills.
At the end of the year, Dzanc will publish a hard copy book edition comprising an anthologized collection of the participating students' work. Dzanc will distribute a complimentary copy of this book to each student participating in the program and to the Ann Arbor Open School library, and we’ll have a poetry reading one evening in late May/early June to celebrate the release of our book.
This is the eighth time our class has had the privilege to participate in this program. We’re really looking forward to doing it again!
CONVERSATION STARTERS
If you’d like to know a little more about what’s been happening at school this week, try asking your child about some of these things:
Ask your kid to tell you about Coyote and the Monster, a story that we’ve been studying closely for the last couple of weeks. What are some of the storytelling structures in it that help people to remember it and pass it on?
Our first book project of the year will be due soon. Ask your kid to tell you what their project is, and how it’s going so far.
As part of our study of folk tales, our librarian Anne told us about urban legends, which are a form of folklore. Ask your kid about the stories she told.
Upcoming events
Monday, 9/29 - NO SCHOOL
Tuesday, 9/30 - Book Projects Due! Picture Day!
Thursday, 10/2, 10:30-1:30 - Field Trip! Gallup Park, Embracing Our Differences
Thursday, 10/9, 8:30-11:30 - Team Building Activities
Friday, 10/10-Monday 10/13 - NO SCHOOL
10/27-10/30, 8:30-9:20am - Focus Studies
Friday, 10/31 - HALF DAY. Dismiss at 11:15. Costume Parade 9:30-10:15.
Hello Parents and Families!
It was so great to see so many of you at Curriculum Night! If you weren’t able to make it, you can check out our slideshow here.
Some key takeaways -
Remember, there are many ways to check in with your kid about school - Things to Do sheets, keep an eye out for End of the Week checkout sheets on Mondays, End of the Week Reflections on Fridays, Conversation Starters, and of course, this weekly email!
NWEA testing will be next Wednesday (9/17) and Thursday (9/18) morning at 8:30am.
PARENT INPUTand CONFERENCE SIGN UP FORM
Tell us about your kid! Tell us if you want a conference! Please fill out this parent input form. Write as much or as little as you like. We’ll read it all!
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES coming up!
We need a room parent. This job is very low stress - in fact, we’re not sure what exactly you’ll do besides be a contact for the AAOCC for us. If you’re willing and able, please contact Ko.
We’re participating in a Poet-in-Residence program this year (more details to come). We need some parent volunteers to help type up kid’s poems. If you’re willing and able to help us type up some kid poetry, please contact Ko.
We’re going on a field trip on Thursday, October 2nd! We’re going to Gallup Park to see the Embracing Our Differences art installation. If you’re interested in chaperoning, please contact Ko.
We’re planning some Team Building activities for the morning of Thursday, October 9th, 8:30-11. We need 2 enthusiastic parent volunteers to help us lead a group of kids through these activities. If you’re willing and able, please contact Ko.
If you just want to fill out the volunteer/chaperone form now so you don’t have to worry about it in the future, here it is.
THEATER INFORMATION
Tryouts for AAO Theatre Club's Fall Show will be held on Tuesday, September 16th, from 3:20 pm- 4:30 pm. Rehearsals will be Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:20-4:30 pm until Tech Week (November 17th). Please complete the form below if your student is interested in participating! AAO Theatre Club is open to students in grades 5-8.
Technical Theatre Club will run Mondays from 3:20-4:30 pm, starting Monday, September 22nd. If you're an interested techie, please also complete the form below to show your interest. You are not required to attend tryouts, but are welcome to join to get a feel for what the show will be about and potentially support scenes if you would like. AAO Technical Theatre Club is open to students in grades 5-8.
If your kid is interested, have them fill out this form by Friday, September 12th!
AAO Theatre Club (Actors & Tech) Interest Form
If you have questions about Theatre Club, contact Kayleigh (robbk@aaps.k12.mi.us) or Johnny (thompsonj@aaps.k12.mi.us).
Upcoming events
Wednesday, 9/17 - NWEA testing, 8:30am
Thursday, 9/18 - NWEA testing, 8:30am
Monday, 9/29 - NO SCHOOL
Tuesday, 9/30 - Book Projects Due! Picture Day!
Hello Parents and Families!
Curriculum Night Reminder
Things to Do Sheets! End of the Week Checkout! Book Projects! Come find out about all these things and more at Curriculum Night next Thursday, September 11th! We’ll meet in our classrooms (309 and 311, upstairs) at 6:15pm.
Overall Curriculum Night schedule:
5:15-5:45- Principal Meet & Greet by the whale
5:30-6:15: Grades Y5-4 presentations in their classrooms
6:15-7:00- Grades 5/6 presentations in their classrooms (Hey, that’s us!)
6:45-7:45- Grades 7/8 presentation starting in the auditorium and then rotate through classrooms
Tardiness
It’s really difficult for us to get our day started when kids are trickling in for the first 15 minutes of the day. It’s tough for kids, too. When students miss the first part of the day, they’re usually at a disadvantage for the rest of the day’s activities. Please make an extra effort to get your kid to school on time. Especially on Wednesday and Thursday, 9/17 and 9/18 for NWEA testing. (If your kid rides the bus, this obviously doesn’t pertain to you. We know that you have no power over the buses. But if you DO happen to have power over the buses, can you make them run on time, please? Thanks.)
CONVERSATION STARTERS
If you’d like to know a little more about what’s been happening at school this week, try asking your child about some of these things:
Studying folk tales means learning about the cultures that tell them. Ask your child about some of the stories they’ve read this week, and what can be learned from them. (You could specifically ask them what can be learned from the story “The First Tears,” which we read this week.)
We also started looking at what can be learned by studying different maps closely. Ask your kid to tell you something interesting about a map that they looked at today.
We distributed math and cursive packets this week. Ask your child to tell you what they’re learning or reviewing in their math and cursive books this week.
Upcoming events
Thursday, 9/11 - Curriculum Night (see above for details)
Wednesday, 9/17 - NWEA testing, 8:30am
Thursday, 9/18 - NWEA testing, 8:30am
Monday, 9/29 - NO SCHOOL
Tuesday, 9/30 - Book Projects Due! Picture Day!
Sincerely,
Ko and Jason
shihk@aaps.k12.mi.us
depasqualec@aaps.k12.mi.us
Hello Parents and Families!
Don’t forget - NO SCHOOL TOMORROW or MONDAY!
If you’re new to our class, welcome! We communicate weekly with families in a couple of different ways. The first is this email! Every Thursday , we send an email home to keep you up to date on important information, and to give you a glimpse into what’s been happening in our class lately. Please try to read it weekly. (You can also always find them posted on our website.) Today’s installment is much longer than usual, but in general, we try to keep it concise, useful, and interesting!
The second weekly communication you should expect from us is an email that contains your child’s responses to our “End of the Week Reflection.” We’ll start them next week, and you’ll receive them on Fridays. You’ll hear more about those next week.
In general, class emails will come from Ko’s email account, even if your child is on Jason’s class list. (And we write them together as well. In fact, this is Jason typing this sentence, not Ko. HI!)
If you need to get in touch about something that is specific to your child, always start with your kid’s assigned teacher.
Conversation Starters:
As most parents and guardians know, getting a kid to tell you about what’s going on in school can sometimes be… unrewarding. (“What did you do in school today?” “Nothing.”) To combat this, we’ve set up a few systems in our class to give you a chance of getting your child to tell you a little about their week at school.
In each weekly email (the one you’re reading right now!), we try to include three “conversation starters” to ask your kid about. The topics vary depending on what has happened that week. Sometimes they’re about a specific assignment or activity, sometimes they’re about an interesting class discussion we had, and sometimes they might be as simple as a silly in-joke that has developed in class. They don’t guarantee an in-depth conversation, but they could be a start! Here are three to get you started:
Ask your child about our first book project! This month, we’re studying folklore from around the world. Ask your child what they’ve learned about folk tales.
Ask your child to tell you about the Yanomami tale of how humans got fire from Iwa the caiman. It has some intense parts. Ask your kid to try to explain why all folktales contain really vivid and weird parts!)
One of our first assignments each year is called Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow, and Beyond. Ask your kid to tell you some of what they wrote for the categories. (If you attend Curriculum Night on September 11, you can see your kid’s work in person!)
Things to Do Lists
One of our classroom routines is a Things to Do list. This is an organizational tool that helps students take control of managing their schoolwork throughout the week. Each day, the kids get a list of assignments and write them on their Things to Do sheets. (Jeez, there’s SO MUCH information in this email so far!! We are so sorry…please keep reading….) They then learn to keep track of what’s been assigned, what they’ve turned in, and what they still have to complete. You’ve probably seen one of these sheets already, and you may have even been asked to sign one. For now, signing one indicates only that you have seen it. We just want you to be aware that they exist. More information about these to come on Curriculum Night. Speaking of…
Curriculum Night
Curriculum Night is Thursday, September 11th. OUR class will meet 6:45-7:30pm in our classroom. We’re in rooms 309 and 311 (either door works. They’re connected.) Don’t worry, there will be signs to guide you.
Schedule
Our specials schedule can be found here. Some things to note:
Swimming for 6th graders is Monday, 5th graders on Fridays. Swimming will start next week. If you have any questions about swimming, please contact Ms. Kinnard at kinnard@aaps.k12.mi.us. (Ms. Kinnard is looking for a few parents to monitor the locker room during swim. If you’re willing and available during our swim times, please contact her.)
6th graders will have Instrumental Music on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. 5th graders will have Instrumental Music on Tuesdays and Thursdays. More information about Instrumental should be coming to you from our Instrumental teachers, Justin Hammis (hammisj@aaps.k12.mi.us ) and Timario Wilkins (wilkinst@aaps.k12.mi.us ).
Our class has lunch at 12:45pm. Our class has recess first, then we eat at 1:05pm. That’s a long time to wait until lunchtime! Our class doesn’t have an organized class snack or snack time, so kids are welcome to bring their own snack to eat during appropriate times throughout the morning. If your kid is unable to bring a snack, please let us know and we can make snack arrangements. Our classroom is a Nut Free Zone.
We’ll talk about all of this and more at Curriculum Night. If you’re particularly eager to know more before then, we suggest exploring our class website, which is full of artifacts and information that will give you a good idea of what to expect in the year ahead. (For many of the projects and photos on the website, you’ll need to be signed in to an AAPS account to view them. This is for kid privacy purposes. Ask your kid to sign in to their email account and look at the stuff with you!)
We look forward to working with your kids!
Quick note from Kayleigh and Johnny:
THEATER INFORMATION
Tryouts for AAO Theatre Club's Fall Show will be held on Tuesday, September 16th, from 3:20 pm- 4:30 pm. Rehearsals will be Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:20-4:30 pm until Tech Week (November 17th). Please complete the form below if your student is interested in participating! AAO Theatre Club is open to students in grades 5-8.
Technical Theatre Club will run Mondays from 3:20-4:30 pm, starting Monday, September 22nd. If you're an interested techie, please also complete the form below to show your interest. You are not required to attend tryouts, but are welcome to join to get a feel for what the show will be about and potentially support scenes if you would like. AAO Technical Theatre Club is open to students in grades 5-8.
If your kid is interested, have them fill out this form by Friday, September 12th!
AAO Theatre Club (Actors & Tech) Interest Form
If you have questions about Theatre Club, contact Kayleigh (robbk@aaps.k12.mi.us) or Johnny (thompsonj@aaps.k12.mi.us).
Sincerely,
Ko and Jason
shihk@aaps.k12.mi.us
depasqualec@aaps.k12.mi.us
Greetings from Ko and Jason!
We are very excited to start another adventurous school year! We look forward to getting to know all the new families in our classroom, and getting reacquainted to those who are returning.
As most of you already know, we are team teachers who combine our two groups into one big class. Whether you’re in Ko’s group or Jason’s group, we both work with every student in our class every day. You can learn all about how our class works at Curriculum Night on Thursday, September 11th. You’ll also have an opportunity to sign up for conferences and see the classroom in person.
In the meantime, you will hear from us regularly! We send a class email home every Thursday. It will come from Ko’s email address, but it’s always written by both of us. When you have questions or concerns about your specific child, always contact the teacher who is listed as your child’s “official” teacher. (Our emails are at the bottom of this letter.)
Our weekly note home is also always posted on our class website (koandjason.org), where you can also find other useful and/or fun information about our class. For example, here’s our specials schedule for the year. Or check out OPEN Channel, our occasional class show about Open School. You can also browse through the archives to get a sense of what goes on in our class. (You’ll need to be signed in with an AAPS account to see some of the stuff linked on our page.)
Our first day of school is Monday, August 25th! It’s a half day - we’ll dismiss at 11:15am. Here are a few things to help prepare:
We won’t have lunch at school the first day of school. (If your kid needs a take home lunch, let us know.) BUT…for the rest of the year, our lunch is relatively late in the day. It’s a good idea to send in a snack. Kids in our group usually tend to eat a snack (or part of their lunch) at our morning recess.
Our classrooms are upstairs in rooms 309 and 311 (they’re attached). The upstairs at Open is very easy to navigate: It’s a big square. On the first day of school, kids gather at any entrance to the school (the main entrance, the bus loop, the pool lobby) and then head inside when the bell rings. There are three staircases that lead to our floor, and all of them will take you to our rooms. We’ll have signs pointing the way, and there will be plenty of people around to help direct any nervous kids to us.
If you’re doing any back to school shopping, here are some things that you might consider:
Pencils - Small pencil sharpener
Markers` - Colored Pencils
Most students in our class opt to use a DESKMATE during their time with us. It’s basically a clipboard with a built-in storage space for papers, pencils etc. Here are some examples. We’ve found that it’s a great organizational tool for kids who are learning how to take on more responsibility for their school work. We have approximately 25 used ones to loan for the year, but many families prefer to purchase their own.
We generally do not recommend the fancy binders that have several different colored sections with special pockets and the like. In our experience, they’re a little overwhelming for kids who are just getting started with keeping their schoolwork organized.
We’re excited to see everyone on Monday! See you all very soon!
Sincerely,
Ko and Jason
Jason depasqualec@aaps.k12.mi.us
Ko shihk@aaps.k12.mi.us