3/29/17 As many of you know, April is Autism Awareness month. April 2 is World Autism Awareness Day. Because this day falls on a Sunday this year, Mrs. Phyllis, Ms. Erika and I are going to participate in a day of silence on Monday April 3 to help raise awareness. We are making badges to wear that explain why we will not be talking. I also made this paperslide video (with the students' help) which was shown at the last all staff meeting. Enjoy!
Autism Awareness Paperslide Video WES AU1
2/1/17 Canes Autism Awareness Night: Join us for Autism Awareness Night as the Canes take on the Arizona Coyotes at 7:30 p.m. March 3 at PNC Arena in Raleigh! Tickets start as low as $45, and proceeds will benefit ASNC. To purchase tickets contact Heather Hargrave at 919-865-5057 or [email protected]
1/30/17 February 13-17 is Bus Driver Appreciation Week! We would love your help in showing our drivers how much we appreciate them and how they safely transport our students to and from school. Staff will be giving them treats such as doughnuts, candy, soda, snacks etc. all week during dismissal. We would like your help by donating fruit/treats Monday Feb. 13 and then by having your child give their driver a card/flowers/token of appreciation on Friday Feb.17. We thank you in advanced for helping us show our bus drivers how much we appreciate them!
12/22/16 Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a happy New Year to all my students and their families! I hope you all have a love filled and relaxing break. Don't forget to pull out that folder and do a little work over the break! We hope you can do a little bit of it at least so the kiddos come back refreshed and ready to continue working hard! See you next year! <3
10/14/16 Join Marbles Kids Museum and the NC Autism Society for an after-hours event for children with special needs that offers the opportunity to experience Marbles in a calmer, quieter environment. This event is free and exclusively for kids with special needs and their families. For more information, go to http://www.marbleskidsmuseum.org/familyfunnight. Email or Dojo message me if you are going, I'd love to meet you and your family at the event for an hour or so if you plan to attend October 26!
10/10/16 How is it already October? I hope everyone had minimal damage after hurricane Matthew. I made sure to take some time today to stop by the farmer's market so you will be getting your adorable painted pumpkins in backpacks in the next few weeks! We also plan to have your child help make homemade apple pie, taste test a variety of apple types, and help design a pumpkin for teachers to carve in the classroom during the course of this month for some of our "Fun Friday" activities. There is so much for your child to look forward to in October! Please be sure you have signed up in our class Dojo with your child's unique code so you will be able to access pictures and communicate with me in a faster way. Write to me in your daily log sheet if you are having trouble signing up for class dojo and I can help you get that up and running. Happy Fall y'all!
7/29/16 I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer! I have been working for Division TEACCH Autism Program summer training in chapel hill and was told about their wonderful new site that has photo library of tasks and what goals and levels they address. Go to this site and check it out! http://fitt.fpg.unc.edu/early-learning-activities
6/1/16 Wow May was BUSY! I hope you enjoyed any photos I posted to our classroom twitter! We have done a ton of science experiments and art projects and the kids have been wonderful at it! They also had such an amazing time yesterday at Water Day! Keep checking your communication folders regularly as we have some fun things still to come!
- Friday June 3 will be field day. Remember to help your child dress appropriately for hot weather, sun, and running around. If you think your child will want to participate in the water activities, please have them bring a change of clothes in their backpack. If they need sunscreen, please apply at home before school per Wake County policy.
-Thursday June 9 is the last day of school. We will have our annual year end celebration beginning at 1:30pm. We will have pizza for student, parents, and staff followed by a slideshow of pictures from the year. Check the communication folder for more details. Hope to see you all there!
4/20/16 As many of you know, April is National Autism Awareness Month. During this month, Autism Society of NC highlights the strengths and struggles of families in the community, and how to help through their local chapters. These volunteer-run, parent-to-parent groups provide resources, support, topic-based seminars, social outings, camp scholarships, and more for families throughout the Triangle. On April 26, the Triangle Chapters are coming together for their third annual Dine 4 Autism, a day-long event at participating restaurants throughout the Triangle. All money raised goes directly to the local Chapters. Everyone has to eat, so on April 26, please eat out for breakfast, lunch, or dinner (dine in or carry out) for autism! Go to www.dine4autism.com to find restaurants in your area. When you are dining, please thank them for supporting the more than 3,500 families in the Triangle affected by autism. Hope to see you out and about!
4/5/16 Welcome back! I hope you were able to have a fun yet restful Spring break with your child! This month our theme is centered around wants and needs and how to obtain those wants and needs by exchanging money for goods and services. April is a busy month! Hispanic Culture night will take place at Washington on Tuesday April 12 from 5:30-8:00. It will be a lot of fun and we encourage all families to attend if possible. There will be music, food, dancing and crafts for all ages. It is sure to be a great night and I hope to see you there. We also have Special Olympics coming up on April 21st. Keep checking your child's daily folder for more information on that! Thank you as always for your continued support. <3
2/26/16 We had an AWESOME field trip to Marbles yesterday! Thank you to all parents for getting forms and money returned on time! You helped make our trip a successful learning experience for all! Our last field trip of the year will be to Spring Special Olympics at the end of April. Have a great weekend!
2/2/16 Thank you to anyone who donated to my Donors Choose grant! We have received the materials and are integrating them in with our instruction! The thank you packages to donors are due by May so look for those in the next few months :).
- Next week is bus driver appreciation week! We will need your help to show appreciation on Tuesday and Friday (Feb 9 & 12). Our administration has scheduled students to bring a token of appreciation from home (fruit, small gift/card, snack, etc) on Tuesday and a valentine on Friday. We would love parent participation in this to thank these wonderful drivers for getting your child to and from school safely every day!
-Friday Feb 12 is an early release day. Students get out of school at 1:20. Monday is no longer a teacher workday. It's a snow make-up day so a regular school day for students.
1/11/16 I want to make sure my students have the materials they need to succeed, so I have written a grant for my classroom at DonorsChoose.org: Literacy for Learners with Autism.
Give to my classroom by January 17 and your donation will be doubled thanks to DonorsChoose.org. Just enter the code LIFTOFF on the payment page and you'll be matched dollar for dollar (up to $100).
If you chip in to help my classroom, you'll get awesome photos and our heartfelt thanks.
Thanks so much,
Katherine
P.S. If you know anyone who may want to help my classroom, please pass this along or post to social media such as facebook!
1/8/16 Happy New Year everyone! We have had a wonderful week back from break and have hit the ground running in this new year! Our theme this month is the 5 senses. We will be doing all centers and projects around this theme and winter related topics. On another note, I have submitted my first donors choose grant and it is under review. It will likely be posted by next Friday. Please share the following link on any social media accounts once posted so everyone you know will have the opportunity to donate if they wish: http://www.donorschoose.org/KatherinesClass
I look forward to the new year with you and your child and thank you in advance for helping me reach our donation goal for this literacy related grant!
12/21/15 I hope everyone is off to a great start for winter break! I know this time of year can be crazy busy but it is important to continue to read to your child and work with them on some of the suggestions we sent in their homework folders. I hope everyone gets at least a little relaxation time over break. Happy New Year and I look forward to seeing everyone back in January!
12/6/15 As you know, we have begun studying a variety of traditions. I still need parent communication about any traditions that are specific to your family so that we can go over them with the class as part of your child's Unique curriculum. This past Fun Friday, we did a direction following fine motor group to make graham cracker houses, a tradition for many in our country. This week we will talk about the tradition of families reading together over the holiday season. We will talk about Hannukah, Kwanzaa, Id-ul-fitr and Christmas. Then, This Friday, we ask that all students wear their pajamas to school for Polar Express day. We will have a few activities in the afternoon to practice social skills, direction following, motor skills, math and reading that are train themed and show traditions that stem from books. We hope that you will send in your specific traditions ASAP and we look forward to the week!
12/1/15 Our Special Olympics field trip to compete in basketball skills is on Thursday! Please return any forms by tomorrow! Our next trip will be to Marbles in February. Please click the button called "Online School Payments" on our home page to pay for your child to attend that trip. As always, Special Olympics trips are free for you, paid for by the county. We have our last trip of the year to Special Olympics in April. Thanks in advanced for sending in payment for the extra field trip on time!
11/30/15 Our topic this month is family traditions! If you could please write down your holiday and New Years family traditions and send it to me that would be great! We would love to create crafts, make food, and practice social skills according to what your family does over break in December. There are a variety of ways to get your traditions to me. You can write it on the daily communication sheet, email me, or fill out the form on this website under the contacts tab. Thanks so much for your participation! Hope you had a fantastic and relaxing Thanksgiving break!
11/25/15 Happy Thanksgiving!! Don't forget to read with your child over break! :)
11/16/15 *It's a big week at Washington! Our class will be attending the book fair during school on Thursday. Please go to our school link to order books: http://onlinebookfairs.scholastic.com/default.aspx?f=3466288
*Thursday night is Arts&Letters night! Please consider bringing your child! There will be fun, easy events and lots of opportunity to socialize. If you'd like to participate in an activity I'm helping with, come make a Monster bookmark from 6:45-7:30!
New this year will be a quiet zone in a classroom near the carpool loop where you and your child can take a break if the noise of the night becomes overwhelming --> "Need a break from all of the excitement of Arts & Letters Night? Does your child need a quiet moment? Come visit the "Quiet Zone" where you can read a book, play quiet games, or decompress in the sensory room." Hope to see you there!
11/10/15 No school tomorrow in observance of Veteran's Day.
Picture day is 11/6! Don't forget to return your order form in the daily folders. Thanks!
11/3/15
"Washington Elementary is very pleased to host its first "Composer in Residence." Local composer, Larry Schultz is working with our Washington family to create a publishable piece of music, orchestrated for beginning strings and beginning band, to serve as our new graduation song! Mr. Schultz will be working with our students and staff in the coming weeks, but we would also like to hear from you. What makes Washington Elementary as special place for you and your family? Please send comments and stories to Mr. Reece via email ([email protected]) with the subject heading 'Music Project'. " -Mr. Reece
10/26/15
Don't forget to turn in your field trip forms! Pay for our field trip to the pumpkin patch before Thursday using our online school payment link.
Autism Awareness Paperslide Video WES AU1
2/1/17 Canes Autism Awareness Night: Join us for Autism Awareness Night as the Canes take on the Arizona Coyotes at 7:30 p.m. March 3 at PNC Arena in Raleigh! Tickets start as low as $45, and proceeds will benefit ASNC. To purchase tickets contact Heather Hargrave at 919-865-5057 or [email protected]
1/30/17 February 13-17 is Bus Driver Appreciation Week! We would love your help in showing our drivers how much we appreciate them and how they safely transport our students to and from school. Staff will be giving them treats such as doughnuts, candy, soda, snacks etc. all week during dismissal. We would like your help by donating fruit/treats Monday Feb. 13 and then by having your child give their driver a card/flowers/token of appreciation on Friday Feb.17. We thank you in advanced for helping us show our bus drivers how much we appreciate them!
12/22/16 Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a happy New Year to all my students and their families! I hope you all have a love filled and relaxing break. Don't forget to pull out that folder and do a little work over the break! We hope you can do a little bit of it at least so the kiddos come back refreshed and ready to continue working hard! See you next year! <3
10/14/16 Join Marbles Kids Museum and the NC Autism Society for an after-hours event for children with special needs that offers the opportunity to experience Marbles in a calmer, quieter environment. This event is free and exclusively for kids with special needs and their families. For more information, go to http://www.marbleskidsmuseum.org/familyfunnight. Email or Dojo message me if you are going, I'd love to meet you and your family at the event for an hour or so if you plan to attend October 26!
10/10/16 How is it already October? I hope everyone had minimal damage after hurricane Matthew. I made sure to take some time today to stop by the farmer's market so you will be getting your adorable painted pumpkins in backpacks in the next few weeks! We also plan to have your child help make homemade apple pie, taste test a variety of apple types, and help design a pumpkin for teachers to carve in the classroom during the course of this month for some of our "Fun Friday" activities. There is so much for your child to look forward to in October! Please be sure you have signed up in our class Dojo with your child's unique code so you will be able to access pictures and communicate with me in a faster way. Write to me in your daily log sheet if you are having trouble signing up for class dojo and I can help you get that up and running. Happy Fall y'all!
7/29/16 I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer! I have been working for Division TEACCH Autism Program summer training in chapel hill and was told about their wonderful new site that has photo library of tasks and what goals and levels they address. Go to this site and check it out! http://fitt.fpg.unc.edu/early-learning-activities
6/1/16 Wow May was BUSY! I hope you enjoyed any photos I posted to our classroom twitter! We have done a ton of science experiments and art projects and the kids have been wonderful at it! They also had such an amazing time yesterday at Water Day! Keep checking your communication folders regularly as we have some fun things still to come!
- Friday June 3 will be field day. Remember to help your child dress appropriately for hot weather, sun, and running around. If you think your child will want to participate in the water activities, please have them bring a change of clothes in their backpack. If they need sunscreen, please apply at home before school per Wake County policy.
-Thursday June 9 is the last day of school. We will have our annual year end celebration beginning at 1:30pm. We will have pizza for student, parents, and staff followed by a slideshow of pictures from the year. Check the communication folder for more details. Hope to see you all there!
4/20/16 As many of you know, April is National Autism Awareness Month. During this month, Autism Society of NC highlights the strengths and struggles of families in the community, and how to help through their local chapters. These volunteer-run, parent-to-parent groups provide resources, support, topic-based seminars, social outings, camp scholarships, and more for families throughout the Triangle. On April 26, the Triangle Chapters are coming together for their third annual Dine 4 Autism, a day-long event at participating restaurants throughout the Triangle. All money raised goes directly to the local Chapters. Everyone has to eat, so on April 26, please eat out for breakfast, lunch, or dinner (dine in or carry out) for autism! Go to www.dine4autism.com to find restaurants in your area. When you are dining, please thank them for supporting the more than 3,500 families in the Triangle affected by autism. Hope to see you out and about!
4/5/16 Welcome back! I hope you were able to have a fun yet restful Spring break with your child! This month our theme is centered around wants and needs and how to obtain those wants and needs by exchanging money for goods and services. April is a busy month! Hispanic Culture night will take place at Washington on Tuesday April 12 from 5:30-8:00. It will be a lot of fun and we encourage all families to attend if possible. There will be music, food, dancing and crafts for all ages. It is sure to be a great night and I hope to see you there. We also have Special Olympics coming up on April 21st. Keep checking your child's daily folder for more information on that! Thank you as always for your continued support. <3
2/26/16 We had an AWESOME field trip to Marbles yesterday! Thank you to all parents for getting forms and money returned on time! You helped make our trip a successful learning experience for all! Our last field trip of the year will be to Spring Special Olympics at the end of April. Have a great weekend!
2/2/16 Thank you to anyone who donated to my Donors Choose grant! We have received the materials and are integrating them in with our instruction! The thank you packages to donors are due by May so look for those in the next few months :).
- Next week is bus driver appreciation week! We will need your help to show appreciation on Tuesday and Friday (Feb 9 & 12). Our administration has scheduled students to bring a token of appreciation from home (fruit, small gift/card, snack, etc) on Tuesday and a valentine on Friday. We would love parent participation in this to thank these wonderful drivers for getting your child to and from school safely every day!
-Friday Feb 12 is an early release day. Students get out of school at 1:20. Monday is no longer a teacher workday. It's a snow make-up day so a regular school day for students.
1/11/16 I want to make sure my students have the materials they need to succeed, so I have written a grant for my classroom at DonorsChoose.org: Literacy for Learners with Autism.
Give to my classroom by January 17 and your donation will be doubled thanks to DonorsChoose.org. Just enter the code LIFTOFF on the payment page and you'll be matched dollar for dollar (up to $100).
If you chip in to help my classroom, you'll get awesome photos and our heartfelt thanks.
Thanks so much,
Katherine
P.S. If you know anyone who may want to help my classroom, please pass this along or post to social media such as facebook!
1/8/16 Happy New Year everyone! We have had a wonderful week back from break and have hit the ground running in this new year! Our theme this month is the 5 senses. We will be doing all centers and projects around this theme and winter related topics. On another note, I have submitted my first donors choose grant and it is under review. It will likely be posted by next Friday. Please share the following link on any social media accounts once posted so everyone you know will have the opportunity to donate if they wish: http://www.donorschoose.org/KatherinesClass
I look forward to the new year with you and your child and thank you in advance for helping me reach our donation goal for this literacy related grant!
12/21/15 I hope everyone is off to a great start for winter break! I know this time of year can be crazy busy but it is important to continue to read to your child and work with them on some of the suggestions we sent in their homework folders. I hope everyone gets at least a little relaxation time over break. Happy New Year and I look forward to seeing everyone back in January!
12/6/15 As you know, we have begun studying a variety of traditions. I still need parent communication about any traditions that are specific to your family so that we can go over them with the class as part of your child's Unique curriculum. This past Fun Friday, we did a direction following fine motor group to make graham cracker houses, a tradition for many in our country. This week we will talk about the tradition of families reading together over the holiday season. We will talk about Hannukah, Kwanzaa, Id-ul-fitr and Christmas. Then, This Friday, we ask that all students wear their pajamas to school for Polar Express day. We will have a few activities in the afternoon to practice social skills, direction following, motor skills, math and reading that are train themed and show traditions that stem from books. We hope that you will send in your specific traditions ASAP and we look forward to the week!
12/1/15 Our Special Olympics field trip to compete in basketball skills is on Thursday! Please return any forms by tomorrow! Our next trip will be to Marbles in February. Please click the button called "Online School Payments" on our home page to pay for your child to attend that trip. As always, Special Olympics trips are free for you, paid for by the county. We have our last trip of the year to Special Olympics in April. Thanks in advanced for sending in payment for the extra field trip on time!
11/30/15 Our topic this month is family traditions! If you could please write down your holiday and New Years family traditions and send it to me that would be great! We would love to create crafts, make food, and practice social skills according to what your family does over break in December. There are a variety of ways to get your traditions to me. You can write it on the daily communication sheet, email me, or fill out the form on this website under the contacts tab. Thanks so much for your participation! Hope you had a fantastic and relaxing Thanksgiving break!
11/25/15 Happy Thanksgiving!! Don't forget to read with your child over break! :)
11/16/15 *It's a big week at Washington! Our class will be attending the book fair during school on Thursday. Please go to our school link to order books: http://onlinebookfairs.scholastic.com/default.aspx?f=3466288
*Thursday night is Arts&Letters night! Please consider bringing your child! There will be fun, easy events and lots of opportunity to socialize. If you'd like to participate in an activity I'm helping with, come make a Monster bookmark from 6:45-7:30!
New this year will be a quiet zone in a classroom near the carpool loop where you and your child can take a break if the noise of the night becomes overwhelming --> "Need a break from all of the excitement of Arts & Letters Night? Does your child need a quiet moment? Come visit the "Quiet Zone" where you can read a book, play quiet games, or decompress in the sensory room." Hope to see you there!
11/10/15 No school tomorrow in observance of Veteran's Day.
Picture day is 11/6! Don't forget to return your order form in the daily folders. Thanks!
11/3/15
"Washington Elementary is very pleased to host its first "Composer in Residence." Local composer, Larry Schultz is working with our Washington family to create a publishable piece of music, orchestrated for beginning strings and beginning band, to serve as our new graduation song! Mr. Schultz will be working with our students and staff in the coming weeks, but we would also like to hear from you. What makes Washington Elementary as special place for you and your family? Please send comments and stories to Mr. Reece via email ([email protected]) with the subject heading 'Music Project'. " -Mr. Reece
10/26/15
Don't forget to turn in your field trip forms! Pay for our field trip to the pumpkin patch before Thursday using our online school payment link.