Nov. 13
Thanks everyone for coming in to see me and keeping your PTC time!
I really enjoyed our time and felt it was useful time spent. Now it's time to get the
report cards ready for the students for the Nov. 20 release date!
I'm asking that students check in with you and see how the grades look as I am close to transferring
the grades to the report cards. Please email me ASAP if there is a concern or if something does not look right.
Short week this week and another short one next week!
We have a lot to do, so keep all the gears engaged!
Let's Go!!
Mr. Kyle
Nov. 4
Above is the schedule that we made a while back at back to school night. I hope these times still hold well with you and that you are able to make your time slot! I appreciate the time that you will be taking to come and talk with me about your students progress and learning. I will make every effort to honor the meeting times and I will make sure to start and stop on time. Thanks for being here just a few minutes prior to your conference so as to make the transitions between the meetings roll smoothly.
Looking forward to seeing you this week,
Mr. Douglas Kyle
Oct 29
There was a parent teacher survey sent home Friday! Please find the form in your student's backpack, fill it out and then return it to me asap! Here is the survey:
Dear Parents,
Please complete the following questionnaire and return it as soon as possible. This information will be very helpful to me when I am preparing for your child’s parent- teacher conference.
NAME OF STUDENT________________________ PARENT/GUARDIAN NAME(S)______________________
Thank you for your time. I sincerely appreciate your concern and honesty.
Mr. Kyle
Oct.23
Halloween keeps getting closer! So exciting, the students are thrilled with the prospect of eating more sugar than humanly possible for a few days. Please help them ease into the sugar loaded season by limiting what they smuggle to school and eat for lunch. All teachers everywhere thank you!
There will be a retake on the math quiz from last week! We have been practicing and carefully going through the 2.5 and 2.6 lessons to check for understanding. The students have been working very hard and practicing a lot so that they will do their very best. Keep up the good work everyone!
And now a word from our sponsors...
Happy Halloween 6th Grade Families!
It is a Rio 6th Grade tradition for all the classes to get together, party and enjoy tacos and treats. We can't make this amazing without parent volunteers. Below is the link to sign up to help:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C094AACAA2FABFD0-6thgrade
Thank you families who have already sent your class contribution for the year. The amount that should cover class parties and teacher gifts fo the rest of the year is $ 25. Some parents have sent $35, Many Thanks!
How to Pay?
In an envelope with your child’s name please send cash or a check to Rachel Nigh. It will be greatly appreciated if your child brings funds by Friday 10/26/18
The cost for this party is $10 per child. It is a little more than normal parties because we hire a taco company to come cook up some delicious tacos. Also the funds provided help pay for plates, napkins, cutlery, decorations, drinks and desserts. If you'd like to send a special treat or dessert to share with the 6th grade class, please send with your student the day of party.
***My goal is to make this one time ask, the last for the whole year for any of my needs (class parties and teacher gifts). End of year party and celebration to (TBA) destination will have a cost depending on what we decide to do.
The timeline for Halloween is as follows:
Please let me know if you have any questions. E-mail, call or text all work. Thank you for all that you do , it truly takes a Village!
Best Wishes,
Rachel Nigh ( Room Parent) and Corine Csermelyi (Room Parent Helper)
Oct. 16...It's getting kinda spooky!!
It's starting...the dreaded zombie like behavior that takes over most elementary age students as the scary day of Halloween quickly approaches.
Symptoms include: dazed looks, answering teachers questions with, "Huh?!", making funny and strange noises, unconsciously wondering around the classroom, asking to go use the restroom repeatedly as soon as a lesson starts or immediately after a recess or after walking right by the restrooms when coming back from a pull out, not turning in assigned work, and digging through their desk while the teacher is explaining a lesson.
The reason: It took me many year of teaching and researching October student behavior ( aka...OSB) to finally crack this code...but I did it!!! It's candy!
5 Ways to ease the OSB symptoms:
1. Never allow your children to know where you have hidden the Halloween candy!
2. Never assume that they do not know that you have hidden candy in the house...they know!
3. Do not hide candy in the house! I'd give you ideas of where to hide the goods, but the students might actually read these weekly updates and that could turn everything upside down. Berrrr, sends spines down my shivers!!
4. Check their lunch bag each day of Oct. and early Nov. to insure that there is no evidence of contraband being smuggled!
5. Relax, carve a pumpkin, and do really nice things for your student's teacher to insure their sanity! Educators will need extra support as they wade through the fog of this harrowing Halloween season.
"..The midnight hour is close at hand..."
Happy Halloween everyone!
Mr. Kyle
PS. We gotta lot going on this week!! "Let's do dis thang!"
Oct. 11
Dear Parents,
The last two weeks of October will be College Weeks at Rio del Mar.
I'm hoping a few parents will be willing to come to class to share about
their college experience/major and how it prepared you for your career, etc.
I will be sharing as well.
Please let me know if you're interested!
Thanks for your support and I look forward to seeing you at
parent teacher conferences soon. If you haven't done so, email the time you wish then check my website to see that you are scheduled.
Please let me know if you have not logged in to the iGrades yet. I have sent out invitations to every parent via email. Check junk email to be sure it is not being rerouted.
Make learning happen everyday!
Mr. Kyle
Students, please check your Google Class for info on wrapping up your Narrative writing.
Oct. 2
Kids are having a great time at science camp so far! The ones that were a bit homesick last night are much better this morning. Lots of smiles and learning going on. This makes it fun to take pictures and capture moments. Check back here tomorrow and I'll put some more pics up of students doing the ropes course and the challenge events.
Sept. 27.
Monday, 6th grade student don't need to come to school till 8:30! Please drop off camp luggage by the flag pole in front of the school. Please come to school no later than 8:45! Students need to come up to the class to check in and take role. There are other key pieces of information they will need at that time.
From Corine:
Dear 6th grade Families,
Each shirt has been cared for already and is ready for your children to wear to Science Camp. Yay! If your child is in Mr. Sweets class they should be bringing them home today, Thursday the 27th. Mr. Kyle’s and Ms. Birchall’s class will receive shirts tomorrow, Friday the 28th.
As stated they are ready to wear. Warning: It will take a couple of more washes before the dye stops bleeding. I recommend washing it alone or with other tye dyed clothes.
Please remind your students to wear their shirts on Monday when they show to school for Outdoor school. We can’t wait to see all their beautiful t-shirt designs!
Thank you Parents for all your donations that went to making this project a success! The remainder of funds have been added to the Lily Jacobs fund. We will let the kids know what that amount is soon. Also many thanks to all the parent volunteers and our art teacher Mrs. Kirkpatrick for making Ms. Birchall’s idea a reality. It truly takes a village and what a warm hearted village we have at Rio.
Sept 24!
Thanks for all the birthday gifts and good wishes! Really having a great day with my students!
I appreciate all your kindness so much!
Last week before we go to Science Camp!!!!
I'm getting students ready this week by giving nightly assignments to start gathering what they need for camp.
In class, we have been doing close research and discussion on the vocabulary for outdoor school. It's going to be an amazing adventure together! Please make sure all paperwork is signed and turned in with any money asap.
Attention Families!!!!: Friendly Reminder. Tomorrow (Tuesday) is the Last day to bring in shirts and donations.
Kids will need 1- washed white shirt and a donation of $2-$5. Funds will help pay for tie dye and other materials purchased just for this project and the remaining funds will be donated to the Lilly Jacobs fund- which gives Science School scholarships to students in need.
We are tie- dying tomorrow during art so please send them everything in with your child.
We will use the shirts on the day we go to camp Oct. 1 and whenever we go on field trips this year!
Loving the outdoor learning options!
Mr. Kyle
Sept. 18
Dear Families,
Please send in a plain white t-shirt this week for your student to participate in tie-dying shirts for Science Camp and a $5-10 donation that will go towards purchasing the supplies needed for this project by the end of this week! You could also donate by sending in dye, which can be found at stores like Ace Hardware. The art teacher has agreed to do this as an art project. Write their name with a black Sharpie in the tag. Any left over funds will be used towards the 6th Grade Science Camp Scholarships.
Can't find a shirt at home? Students can buddy up and packages of 4 t-shirts or so can be found at stores like Khols, K-Mart, etc. in the boy's/men's section, then split the cost.
Are you a master tie-dyer or interested in helping out with the students in their art classes next week?
Please email: brittany_birchall@pvusd.net
Thank you!
Sept. 17
Above is the updated Parent teacher schedule. If you did not make it to the back to school night, please email me a time that you see is open. Also,when you email, your address will be linked to iGrades so you can keep up with your students grades.
Many Science camp packets have been turned in, but there are many more needed. Thanks everyone for taking care of this and returning the slips and money!
See Homework page for updates today. Busy week of learning together! Just the way we like it.
Mr. Kyle
Sept. 10
Thanks again to all the families represented at Back to School Night! It was really nice to make new friends and see familiar faces. I will count on your student to fill you in on Room 18 info if you missed my presentation.
Look for Outdoor School Packets to come home as soon as tomorrow. Please attend to each page and fill out and sign all information. Make checks out to the RDMPA and if anything is ordered from camp, make checks payable to the
Santa Cruz County Office of Education. I will update this post tomorrow as I am waiting for an update on the total cost for camp minus the funds raised last year.
Let's make it a great week of learning together!
Mr. Kyle
PS. Please sign up for a conference time if you have not already! See pic above for open times. Simply email me or text me the time you'd like and I will update the schedule.
We are off to a great start in room 18! Everyone is getting reacquainted and we are gaining traction by working together.
Next week we will be starting to collect grades and set up our online grade book (iGradePlus). Be ready to get instructions on how to set that up for yourself and your parents.
Our class is piloting the new Social Studies program for all 6th grade classes in the school district. We will be crossing over this next week and starting with Discovery publishers. The program looks really good and I believe that it will easily meet the needs of all our learners. But, just so ya know... we are piloting another publisher (TCI) five weeks later! The students will be a great thermometer to gauge learning, interest and excitement about both of the programs.
Science camp is coming up fast (Oct. 1-5) and there will be more info coming at you starting as soon as next week. We have Back to School night on the evening of Sept. 6th and plan to have a parent information meeting in the MPR right after our classroom presentations. Here is a link that will give you an idea of what's coming. https://youtu.be/m9XDEwZyeoE (English)
https://youtu.be/kTUhE35zGDc (Spanish)
Living to learn,
Mr. Kyle
Dear Students and Parents,
I am looking forward to meeting each of you and starting an exciting journey of learning together this year in Room 18!
We have a lot of exciting curriculum to travel through and many ways that we will be challenging ourselves to becoming the best lifelong learners possible!
I (Mr. Kyle) will be your guide as we discover all the incredibly unique and interesting things in our grade level curriculum!
I know you will enjoy being in room 18 as I will be giving you each ownership of the class this year! Students will be helping by having classroom jobs that benefit the classroom and our school as a whole! We will be having class meetings so that you can voice opinions, ideas and concerns on a regular basis.
It's going to be a great journey! Are you ready? Lace up, grab your backpack and lunch and off we go!
Check out the supplies page that I have attached to this site so you can get some of your materials together before our adventure begins!
Fun and Ownership in Learning,
Mr. Kyle
Thanks everyone for coming in to see me and keeping your PTC time!
I really enjoyed our time and felt it was useful time spent. Now it's time to get the
report cards ready for the students for the Nov. 20 release date!
I'm asking that students check in with you and see how the grades look as I am close to transferring
the grades to the report cards. Please email me ASAP if there is a concern or if something does not look right.
Short week this week and another short one next week!
We have a lot to do, so keep all the gears engaged!
Let's Go!!
Mr. Kyle
Nov. 4
Above is the schedule that we made a while back at back to school night. I hope these times still hold well with you and that you are able to make your time slot! I appreciate the time that you will be taking to come and talk with me about your students progress and learning. I will make every effort to honor the meeting times and I will make sure to start and stop on time. Thanks for being here just a few minutes prior to your conference so as to make the transitions between the meetings roll smoothly.
Looking forward to seeing you this week,
Mr. Douglas Kyle
Oct 29
There was a parent teacher survey sent home Friday! Please find the form in your student's backpack, fill it out and then return it to me asap! Here is the survey:
Dear Parents,
Please complete the following questionnaire and return it as soon as possible. This information will be very helpful to me when I am preparing for your child’s parent- teacher conference.
NAME OF STUDENT________________________ PARENT/GUARDIAN NAME(S)______________________
- What is your child’s general feeling about school this year?
- What does your child seem to enjoy the most at school?
- How long does your student spend on homework each night on average?
- Do you have any concerns about your child’s experience in class so far?
- Is there anything you would like me to know about your child? (interests, struggles, physical or emotional needs, etc..) We can discuss this in detail at the conference?
- In what ways can I better help you and your child?
- What questions would you like me to answer at our conference?
Thank you for your time. I sincerely appreciate your concern and honesty.
Mr. Kyle
Oct.23
Halloween keeps getting closer! So exciting, the students are thrilled with the prospect of eating more sugar than humanly possible for a few days. Please help them ease into the sugar loaded season by limiting what they smuggle to school and eat for lunch. All teachers everywhere thank you!
There will be a retake on the math quiz from last week! We have been practicing and carefully going through the 2.5 and 2.6 lessons to check for understanding. The students have been working very hard and practicing a lot so that they will do their very best. Keep up the good work everyone!
And now a word from our sponsors...
Happy Halloween 6th Grade Families!
It is a Rio 6th Grade tradition for all the classes to get together, party and enjoy tacos and treats. We can't make this amazing without parent volunteers. Below is the link to sign up to help:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C094AACAA2FABFD0-6thgrade
Thank you families who have already sent your class contribution for the year. The amount that should cover class parties and teacher gifts fo the rest of the year is $ 25. Some parents have sent $35, Many Thanks!
How to Pay?
In an envelope with your child’s name please send cash or a check to Rachel Nigh. It will be greatly appreciated if your child brings funds by Friday 10/26/18
The cost for this party is $10 per child. It is a little more than normal parties because we hire a taco company to come cook up some delicious tacos. Also the funds provided help pay for plates, napkins, cutlery, decorations, drinks and desserts. If you'd like to send a special treat or dessert to share with the 6th grade class, please send with your student the day of party.
- FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE ALREADY PAID ME FOR THE YEAR, THERE IS NO NEED TO CONTRIBUTE. YOU ARE GOOD TO GO. THANK YOU!
- For those of you who have not yet contributed to the classroom party and teacher gift fund for the year, please do so. $25 is appreciated.
***My goal is to make this one time ask, the last for the whole year for any of my needs (class parties and teacher gifts). End of year party and celebration to (TBA) destination will have a cost depending on what we decide to do.
The timeline for Halloween is as follows:
- Parade 8:30-9
- Party 9-11:00
- Taco Truck/Lunch 11-noon
Please let me know if you have any questions. E-mail, call or text all work. Thank you for all that you do , it truly takes a Village!
Best Wishes,
Rachel Nigh ( Room Parent) and Corine Csermelyi (Room Parent Helper)
Oct. 16...It's getting kinda spooky!!
It's starting...the dreaded zombie like behavior that takes over most elementary age students as the scary day of Halloween quickly approaches.
Symptoms include: dazed looks, answering teachers questions with, "Huh?!", making funny and strange noises, unconsciously wondering around the classroom, asking to go use the restroom repeatedly as soon as a lesson starts or immediately after a recess or after walking right by the restrooms when coming back from a pull out, not turning in assigned work, and digging through their desk while the teacher is explaining a lesson.
The reason: It took me many year of teaching and researching October student behavior ( aka...OSB) to finally crack this code...but I did it!!! It's candy!
5 Ways to ease the OSB symptoms:
1. Never allow your children to know where you have hidden the Halloween candy!
2. Never assume that they do not know that you have hidden candy in the house...they know!
3. Do not hide candy in the house! I'd give you ideas of where to hide the goods, but the students might actually read these weekly updates and that could turn everything upside down. Berrrr, sends spines down my shivers!!
4. Check their lunch bag each day of Oct. and early Nov. to insure that there is no evidence of contraband being smuggled!
5. Relax, carve a pumpkin, and do really nice things for your student's teacher to insure their sanity! Educators will need extra support as they wade through the fog of this harrowing Halloween season.
"..The midnight hour is close at hand..."
Happy Halloween everyone!
Mr. Kyle
PS. We gotta lot going on this week!! "Let's do dis thang!"
Oct. 11
Dear Parents,
The last two weeks of October will be College Weeks at Rio del Mar.
I'm hoping a few parents will be willing to come to class to share about
their college experience/major and how it prepared you for your career, etc.
I will be sharing as well.
Please let me know if you're interested!
Thanks for your support and I look forward to seeing you at
parent teacher conferences soon. If you haven't done so, email the time you wish then check my website to see that you are scheduled.
Please let me know if you have not logged in to the iGrades yet. I have sent out invitations to every parent via email. Check junk email to be sure it is not being rerouted.
Make learning happen everyday!
Mr. Kyle
Students, please check your Google Class for info on wrapping up your Narrative writing.
Oct. 2
Kids are having a great time at science camp so far! The ones that were a bit homesick last night are much better this morning. Lots of smiles and learning going on. This makes it fun to take pictures and capture moments. Check back here tomorrow and I'll put some more pics up of students doing the ropes course and the challenge events.
Sept. 27.
Monday, 6th grade student don't need to come to school till 8:30! Please drop off camp luggage by the flag pole in front of the school. Please come to school no later than 8:45! Students need to come up to the class to check in and take role. There are other key pieces of information they will need at that time.
From Corine:
Dear 6th grade Families,
Each shirt has been cared for already and is ready for your children to wear to Science Camp. Yay! If your child is in Mr. Sweets class they should be bringing them home today, Thursday the 27th. Mr. Kyle’s and Ms. Birchall’s class will receive shirts tomorrow, Friday the 28th.
As stated they are ready to wear. Warning: It will take a couple of more washes before the dye stops bleeding. I recommend washing it alone or with other tye dyed clothes.
Please remind your students to wear their shirts on Monday when they show to school for Outdoor school. We can’t wait to see all their beautiful t-shirt designs!
Thank you Parents for all your donations that went to making this project a success! The remainder of funds have been added to the Lily Jacobs fund. We will let the kids know what that amount is soon. Also many thanks to all the parent volunteers and our art teacher Mrs. Kirkpatrick for making Ms. Birchall’s idea a reality. It truly takes a village and what a warm hearted village we have at Rio.
Sept 24!
Thanks for all the birthday gifts and good wishes! Really having a great day with my students!
I appreciate all your kindness so much!
Last week before we go to Science Camp!!!!
I'm getting students ready this week by giving nightly assignments to start gathering what they need for camp.
In class, we have been doing close research and discussion on the vocabulary for outdoor school. It's going to be an amazing adventure together! Please make sure all paperwork is signed and turned in with any money asap.
Attention Families!!!!: Friendly Reminder. Tomorrow (Tuesday) is the Last day to bring in shirts and donations.
Kids will need 1- washed white shirt and a donation of $2-$5. Funds will help pay for tie dye and other materials purchased just for this project and the remaining funds will be donated to the Lilly Jacobs fund- which gives Science School scholarships to students in need.
We are tie- dying tomorrow during art so please send them everything in with your child.
We will use the shirts on the day we go to camp Oct. 1 and whenever we go on field trips this year!
Loving the outdoor learning options!
Mr. Kyle
Sept. 18
Dear Families,
Please send in a plain white t-shirt this week for your student to participate in tie-dying shirts for Science Camp and a $5-10 donation that will go towards purchasing the supplies needed for this project by the end of this week! You could also donate by sending in dye, which can be found at stores like Ace Hardware. The art teacher has agreed to do this as an art project. Write their name with a black Sharpie in the tag. Any left over funds will be used towards the 6th Grade Science Camp Scholarships.
Can't find a shirt at home? Students can buddy up and packages of 4 t-shirts or so can be found at stores like Khols, K-Mart, etc. in the boy's/men's section, then split the cost.
Are you a master tie-dyer or interested in helping out with the students in their art classes next week?
Please email: brittany_birchall@pvusd.net
Thank you!
Sept. 17
Above is the updated Parent teacher schedule. If you did not make it to the back to school night, please email me a time that you see is open. Also,when you email, your address will be linked to iGrades so you can keep up with your students grades.
Many Science camp packets have been turned in, but there are many more needed. Thanks everyone for taking care of this and returning the slips and money!
See Homework page for updates today. Busy week of learning together! Just the way we like it.
Mr. Kyle
Sept. 10
Thanks again to all the families represented at Back to School Night! It was really nice to make new friends and see familiar faces. I will count on your student to fill you in on Room 18 info if you missed my presentation.
Look for Outdoor School Packets to come home as soon as tomorrow. Please attend to each page and fill out and sign all information. Make checks out to the RDMPA and if anything is ordered from camp, make checks payable to the
Santa Cruz County Office of Education. I will update this post tomorrow as I am waiting for an update on the total cost for camp minus the funds raised last year.
Let's make it a great week of learning together!
Mr. Kyle
PS. Please sign up for a conference time if you have not already! See pic above for open times. Simply email me or text me the time you'd like and I will update the schedule.
We are off to a great start in room 18! Everyone is getting reacquainted and we are gaining traction by working together.
Next week we will be starting to collect grades and set up our online grade book (iGradePlus). Be ready to get instructions on how to set that up for yourself and your parents.
Our class is piloting the new Social Studies program for all 6th grade classes in the school district. We will be crossing over this next week and starting with Discovery publishers. The program looks really good and I believe that it will easily meet the needs of all our learners. But, just so ya know... we are piloting another publisher (TCI) five weeks later! The students will be a great thermometer to gauge learning, interest and excitement about both of the programs.
Science camp is coming up fast (Oct. 1-5) and there will be more info coming at you starting as soon as next week. We have Back to School night on the evening of Sept. 6th and plan to have a parent information meeting in the MPR right after our classroom presentations. Here is a link that will give you an idea of what's coming. https://youtu.be/m9XDEwZyeoE (English)
https://youtu.be/kTUhE35zGDc (Spanish)
Living to learn,
Mr. Kyle
Dear Students and Parents,
I am looking forward to meeting each of you and starting an exciting journey of learning together this year in Room 18!
We have a lot of exciting curriculum to travel through and many ways that we will be challenging ourselves to becoming the best lifelong learners possible!
I (Mr. Kyle) will be your guide as we discover all the incredibly unique and interesting things in our grade level curriculum!
I know you will enjoy being in room 18 as I will be giving you each ownership of the class this year! Students will be helping by having classroom jobs that benefit the classroom and our school as a whole! We will be having class meetings so that you can voice opinions, ideas and concerns on a regular basis.
It's going to be a great journey! Are you ready? Lace up, grab your backpack and lunch and off we go!
Check out the supplies page that I have attached to this site so you can get some of your materials together before our adventure begins!
Fun and Ownership in Learning,
Mr. Kyle
