Hello ELFers,

It sounds like you had a great first training.  I am sorry I missed it.  Next month I will try to keep germs and fevers at bay at least on the first Tuesday of the month!

Here are some housekeeping details, reminders, and box prep instructions: 

If you do not yet have a copy of the ELF contact list or the Hands on Nature textbook, please let me know ASAP.  For veteran volunteers, a new book may be in order as there have been additions and corrections made between edition years.   I will be distributing copies of the Box Preparation Duty List along with posting it near the ELF calendar as soon as everyone signs up. If you have not yet signed up, I will be e-mailing you soon.

The ELF calendar is located on the right hand side bulletin board in the hallway leading to the nurse's office.  A copy of the contact sheet is also posted there.  Please be sure to mark your time slots and cross out time slots in case of rescheduling. 

The completed ELF supply box will be kept in the closet behind Mrs. Cassel's desk in the office.  The ELF puppet theater is located to the side of the extra desk in the office.  Please take care in moving it.  It is beautiful but also big and awkward to carry so please be sure to work in teams on the stairs!  We are still thinking about putting it on casters but have not yet done so.

You are all allowed to make photocopies of needed materials.  Usually each lesson comes with supplemental materials which will need to be copied if you choose to use them.  We always copy according to need so that paper is not wasted.  If students do not wish to take their work home, please recycle the paper.  Sometimes we may have activity cards which are laminated ahead of time.  In this case the box person will include paper scraps for answers.  Remember that we are modeling environmental attitudes and behaviors even with something as seemingly simple as photocopying and paper handling.

The first step to Box Preparation takes place in the teachers' room which is through the first door on the left past the office glass window and then through the supply closet and Mr. Allen's office.  The puppet and materials boxes are located under the printer/paper cutting table.  

I will provide an empty tote for each month's lesson.  As you gather materials for the box, it is helpful to keep the materials for separate activities in separate Ziploc or plastic bags.  Clean up from a lesson is often a frantic time as students are often headed to lunch, recess, specials, or home and you are headed to your next activity of the day.  It helps to have specific, labeled bags so that the box does not just become a jumbled heap of stuff.

The boxes you need to sort through for monthly materials include:

ELF Puppet Box-This is the easy box.  You just rummage through and see which puppets we already have either in fabric, laminated, or paper form.  Place the needed puppets in a bag along with the puppet show script.  The team teaching the first lesson of the month usually ends up taping 1 or 2 copies of the script to the back of the puppet theater.  If we do not have a puppet you need, you will find a cut out which you will need to color/decorate in the "Black Book" located in Adaptations Box.  Extra paint sticks are included in the puppet box for new puppets. 

Adaptations Box--This box holds plastic bags of materials saved from past years for each of this year's lessons.  It is a good starting place as the materials are often already colored and laminated.   This box also holds the "Black Book" which includes lesson materials such as puppet cut outs, diagrams, questionnaires, and supplemental ideas for each monthly lesson.  We are given a new black book each time we teach the concept so use what you need and leave the rest. You do not need to replace the materials with photocopies.

General Supply/Equipment Box--This box includes supplies such as plastic containers, egg cartons, straws as well as specialized equipment such as hand lenses, thermometers, and compasses.  You will need to use the material lists found to the right of each activity in Hands on Nature to know what you will need for each activity.  If you cannot find the materials needed in the box and do not have a way to gather them for free, please let me know as soon as possible and I can okay a purchase. 

Craft Supply Box--This year craft supplies will be the responsibility of each classroom team.  Since the box prep person does not know which activities each classroom team has chosen to teach, it is costly and sometimes wasteful to provide all the craft supplies needed for all the K-5 students in the school.  So please plan ahead if you are planning on a specific craft project to be completed in your room.  The craft supply box will always include basics such as yarn, pom poms, eyes, crayons, markers, colored paper, and felt.  Glue and tape will need to be supplied by classroom teachers.  If you are planning a craft project and need to purchase additional materials, please contact me as soon as possible to okay the purchase.  

When you have completed your lesson box for the month, please be sure to attach the Lesson Completion Checklist I have typed out for each month.  This helps me keep track of which classrooms have completed ELF for the month.  When we get to winter weather and months with vacations we sometimes have two supply boxes going at once.  Please take a second to fill this checklist out after you complete your lesson.  The comments section gives you a chance to provide me and the box prep person with feedback about what worked, what did not, and any supplies which are getting low.

I am sure I am forgetting some logistics so please e-mail questions, concerns, and suggestions to me when you think of them.  I am planning to go over these logistics and answer any questions you may have at October training.  Thank you to Melissa Bushey who signed up for September box prep duty and who gave me some suggestions on how to make the system more efficient.  It is such a great feeling to have all those boxes out of my barn.  I was approaching double digits worth of boxes!  And it is even better to know that we are all working together as a team this year to prepare the boxes we all use each month.

Wishing you all a great first lesson.  Enjoy discovering amazing insects with our wonderful WES students!

Jackie