This month we are just beginning a new school year! I want to say how happy I am to be back here at Jack D. Gordon ELementary School and to tell you I will be updating this site throughout the year to keep you informed about what various classes are doing here at JDG.
This first week back I have introduced myself and shared classroom rules with my students. I gave all classes letters to take home to their parents/guardians that included my school email (MWerner@dadeschools.net) and told information about the Art Club (a special honor for 5th graders - only 2 per class to be selected), the upcoming Annual Art Show (in the Spring - no date as yet!) and a Wish List of materials students could bring in to supplement the art materials here at JDG. If letters have been lost, please come see me in Portable 9 or email me to put one in your child's homeroom mailbox. I have plenty of extras!
Our first project is going to be a class project based on building good character traits and representing the qualities the students are choosing to focus on now, at the beginning of a new school year. They can select from characteristics and values they wish to focus on, such as responsibility, friendship, fairness, and leadership. Each student will make a square, listing one word and decorating the square. Once colored, they will be assembled into a large piece to be hung in or outside the class homeroom so that parents can see it when the come for Open House on Sept. 16th. It will remain hanging, perhaps for the entire school year, as a reminder to the students of the values and characteristics they have chosen to work on in themselves this year. We will finish this project next week. So far, the students have done some beautiful work, and they should be very proud of themselves!