Week of May 13, 2013

Bravo! Bravo! Bravo!

There was certainly a lot of commotion last week! I can't begin to tell you how very proud I am of our children! They were absolutely amazing in Commotion in the Ocean on both Thursday and Friday! We received so many compliments! Several people have said they thought it was the best Commotion in the Ocean ever! All of the hard work certainly paid off and we had so much fun! The reception in our first grade hallway was a complete celebration under the sea! Thank you so much to Charlene Hosseini for organizing it and to all of you for the wonderful, creative, and delicious treats! You really outdid yourselves! You would think the children would have had enough singing and dancing, but at recess Friday afternoon, we took a CD player out and they sang and danced to all of the songs again on the playground! So cute! I posted pictures of the show and reception on our class shutterfly site. If anyone else has pictures to share, please do! Here are just a few of the pictures from Friday!

The show may be over, but we still have lots going on in our class!

Word Work/Reading Workshop: We continue to add words to our sight word vocabulary and will be reviewing the vast sight word vocabulary that we have learned this year (our word wall). We'll review the short vowels and work on words with the ending -le such as riddle, pickle. We will be using the many reading strategies we've learned as we read. We'll read lots of different genres. We'll read fiction, realistic fiction, and lots of nonfiction. Over the next few weeks, there will also be different activities for the children to choose from to continue practice with the many concepts and skills covered this year. Some include contractions, compound words, homophones, verbs, nouns, alphabetical order, etc. I'll also be conducting final reading assessments with each child.

Science: The day the children have been waiting for is almost here! On Thursday, we'll be dissecting sharks with Lisa Peck! It's also project time! The children are using their research to plan their project creation. They will decide on the important facts they would like to focus on to "teach" their classmates about their creature. We have talked in class about what makes a "good fact" - numbers, names, descriptions, etc.  For instance, "my animal is 25 feet long" rather than "my animal is big" or "my animal lives in the Indian and Pacific Oceans" rather than "my animal lives in the ocean". Over the next two weeks, they will be creating some type of graphical or physical project that also presents their research - a poster, diorama, shadow box, sculpture, etc. We have basic supplies like paints and construction paper, but any additional supplies (poster board, boxes, photos, etc.) may need to be brought from home. Please feel free to print any pictures, maps, etc. that your child can use in his/her final project. They have folders that they are keeping all of their research, pictures, etc. in.  We'll plan to have a project presentation the last week of school.

Writing Workshop: Our main focus is on informational writing... writing that teaches! Our big focus for the next couple of weeks will be on writing "All About" books on the sea creature each child chose to research. In writing their All About books, the children will be incorporating many features that they have learned about nonfiction writing, such as titles, table of contents, headings, and labeled diagrams. They may also reflect and add their own thoughts about what they are writing about! They will share their All About books at a combined project share/writing celebration the last week of school.

Math: We will continue working with fractions this week and two digit adding and subtracting.  We will be taking our Unit 9 assessment next week.

 We celebrated Matthew's 7th birthday last week with his mom and his little  brother!

Volunteers this week:

* Thursday - Math Game - cancelled due to shark dissection
* Friday- Art - 9:15 - Heidi Joswig or David Richardson
* Friday - Parent Reader - 2:15 - Charlene Hosseini

Other Important Reminders/Dates/Information:

Friday, May 17, is Splash Day during PE!  Please send a towel to school with your child and be sure that he/she either brings an appropriate swimsuit to school to change into or wears the swimsuit to school under the uniform. They will need water shoes to wear as well. The children will change into spirit clothes after PE. So, if they wear the swimsuit under the uniform that morning, don't forget to please send in underwear to change into as well! And don''t forget they must have socks and tennis shoes! Please also apply sunscreen to your child before coming to school. That will save us time! You may also send a hat with your child if they don't have one at school already.

Our last field trip will be on Tuesday, May 21. We will be going to the Florida Aquarium in Tampa. The children should wear their "Commotion in the Ocean" t-shirts with jean bottoms. I am so glad that so many of you are able to join us!

Monday, May 27,  is Memorial Day. There will be no school that day.

On Thursday, May 30, we will have our end of the year party beginning at 1:15.  Students again may wear their "Commotion in the Ocean" t-shirts with jean bottoms. Parents are welcome to join us as always! The more the merrier!

Friday, May 31, is the last day of school. Dismissal will be at noon


Have a great week!
Susan