Generosity!

Thank you so much for your generosity in giving to help our adoptive family have a wonderful holiday this year! The children excitedly added gifts to our bin each day for the past few weeks. It was absolutely overflowing! There were so many that we could not even carry them all to the gym. Some had to be taken by golf cart to the gym for us. The children were smiling from ear to ear as it made us all feel so good to GIVE!



Math Workshop

On Wednesday, we participated in a math workshop to share with parents a math lesson and supporting activities. This lesson focused on developing good math facts. Playing games is an important part of our Everyday Mathematics program. Dice Roll Addition, Egg-carton Addition, and Two-Fisted Penny Addition were games and activities that the children participated in to practice math facts as part of our Math morning on Wednesday.




Everyday Mathematics also has great math games that we play on the computer. Here we were playing Penny Cup to work on math facts for sums of 20.


Surprise!

In the spirit of the month of December, we have been learning to practice giving of ourselves. In addition to the wonderful gifts that the children so happily brought for our "adoptive" family, we went to watch the 8th graders perform skits about generosity on Friday morning. Instead, we found out that WE were going to be the performers! The children worked in small groups with the 8th graders, planning and performing skits to define generosity and modeling giving of ourselves, rather than monetarily. Everyone had a great time!


Volunteers this week:

• Tuesday - Art - Sharon Cannella (12:05)
• Thursday - Library Check-out - Fai MacDougald (2:05)

Week of 12/7 - 12/11/09

Volunteers this week:

• Tuesday - Art - Natalie Ames (12:05)
• Thursday - Library Check-out - Anne Dowling (needs sub) (2:05)
• Friday - Math Game - Sheila Currie (9:00)
• Friday - Parent Reader - Sharon Cannella (2:20)

Math Parent Workshop - this Wednesday, December 9 from 8:30 - 10:00

The workshop begins in the Janet Root Theater for an overview of Everyday Math. Then you can observe and participate in math in our classroom. If you plan to attend, please let the LD office know.

Holiday Gift Drive - Ends this Friday, December 11th.

Help Children in Need to Receive 1 Million Books! Time is running out!!!!!

We only have until December 18 (Friday of next week) to read 100 books! Our class has joined Scholastic in their effort to give 1 million books to kids in need! Please help your child do their part to help. They need to complete a Reading Log after each book read at home. When the log is filled, please sign it and have your child return it to me. If you child fills up their log, please turn it in and I will send home a new log. Or you may just keep a list of the books read, sign the list, and return it to school by December 18. Visit www.scholastic.com/classroomscare to watch a personal video message from Peyton and Eli Manning who are teaming up with Scholastic to lead this effort. You may also go to www.scholastic.com/classroomscare/literacypartners to learn more about the children we're helping.

Spirit Day - Wednesday, December 16th

Save the Date! - Winter Holiday Pajama Breakfast - 8:30 a.m. December 18th! Come in your PJs and join us for breakfast! Dismissal is at noon.

Human Body Voice Thread

Please take a look at the voice thread that all first grade classes made together at the conclusion of our Human Body unit. Each class drew a picture together using the smart board and then each child recorded a fact. Our class is at the end of the voice thread with lots of great information about the brain, so please don't stop watching until the end!

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone had a wonderful day today with your family and friends. We had a great time at our Thanksgiving party in our classroom on Tuesday. A big thank you to Erin Ross for taking these pictures and sharing them! Enjoy!








Items needed!

Please send in one 4 inch styrofoam ball, one toilet paper tube, and any size/shape piece of sandpaper. If you have any extras to share, please do! Thank you!

Volunteers for the week of 11/30 - 12/4/09:

• Tuesday - Art - Fai MacDougald (12:00)
• Thursday - Library Check-out - Jodie Gayoso (2:05)
• Friday - Math game - Gina White (9:00)
• Friday - Parent Reader - Kerry Kriseman (2:20)

Holiday Gift Drive - Ends December 11th.
Information on our "family" came home with your child last week.

Spirit Day - Wednesday, December 16th

Save the Date! - Winter Holiday Pajama Breakfast - 8:30 a.m. December 18th! Come in your PJs and join us for breakfast! Dismissal is at noon.

Thanksgiving Celebration at 1:30 on Tuesday! Come join us! We have so much to be thankful for!

Parent Volunteers this Week:
Tuesday - Art - Jodie Gayoso (12:05)


Help Children in Need to Receive 1 Million Books!

Last week, your child brought home a Reading Log and letter regarding the Classrooms Care program by Scholastic Book Clubs. Our class has decided to participate. If we read 100 books by December 18, Scholastic will give 1 million books to kids in need! Please help your child do their part to help. They need to complete the Reading Log after each book read at home. When the log is filled, please sign it and have your child return it to me. I will send home a new log. Visit www.scholastic.com/classroomscare to watch a personal video message from Peyton and Eli Manning who are teaming up with Scholastic to lead this effort. You may also go to www.scholastic.com/classroomscare/literacypartners to learn more about the children we're helping.

Math Parent Workshop - December 9 from 8:30 - 10:00

The workshop begins in the Janet Root Theater for an overview of Everyday Math. Then you can observe and participate in math in our classroom. If you are able to attend, please let the LD office know by December 4.

Measuring Fun in Math!

In math, we have been learning about both standard and non-standard units of measurement. We are also learning about different tools for measuring. On Wednesday, our high school x-block friends helped us use tape measures to measure our height and various parts of our bodies.


Earlier, we compared standard and non-standard units of measure. Each child measured the first grade hallway using both a cut-out of a standard 12 inch foot and a cut-out of his/her own foot. They then compared the two measurements.

The Eagle has landed!

On Friday, our wonderful librarian, Mrs. Smay, read the book Man on the Moon" by Anastasia Suen. The children then had fun performing in a reader's theater recreating the first moon landing!

Perspective!

On Friday afternoon, we went to the middle school and watched three skits on "perspective" performed by 8th grade drama stduents. Shannon was called up front because she was able to tell us what the word "perspective" means and she gave a great example to the audience!


On Monday, we celebrated Samuel's 7th birthday! Happy Birthday, Samuel!

Poetry in the Park!

Even though the children arrived at school looking a little "sick", we had a wonderful day! After a rainy night, the sun broke out as soon as Dr. Bianco began to speak and stayed beautiful throughout the morning. More importantly, your children made us all so very proud! They were incredible! Such expression! Several people have told me that ours was their favorite poem of the morning!

Enjoying the wonderful weather and all of the wonderful poetry of the morning! We were so lucky as it started to rain almost immediately after we returned to our classroom!

Here we are with our live illustrations of the poem "Sick" by Shel Silverstein.
Don't you think Hannah's face looks green?

Dr. Epstein played Pumpkin Patch Math with us this week!

We enjoyed reading to our X-block friends, Gerrett and Joey, on Wednesday.

The end to a busy week with Lauren's mom as parent reader.

Survey

Dear Parents:

Recently you were sent a letter by e-mail regarding an on-line Parent Satisfaction Survey. As part of Strategic Planning and Accreditation, we want to solicit feedback from parents on what they seek for their child(ren) educationally and how well we are delivering. We are doing do so through this online parent satisfaction survey created by the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) and customized for our use. Please complete this survey by Monday, November 23.

If you come across a question in the survey that asks about a child’s specific experience and you have more than one child at our school, please answer the question with the child who has been at our school the longest in mind. Below are a few other things to keep in mind as you progress through the survey:

1. Your responses will be anonymous and will be sent directly to NAIS. Shorecrest then receives the compiled results from NAIS.
2. Once you begin the survey you will need to complete it in one sitting.
3. You must complete all of the required questions in order to advance through the survey. Required questions are marked with a red asterisk.
4. As you move from page to page in the survey, please use the Previous and Next buttons at the bottom of each survey page. If you use the back button on your browser tool bar, it will cause you to exit from the survey and you will have to re-enter the online tool and begin again.
5. If you use a wireless connection to the internet, please be aware that slight disruptions can cause that connection to break and sever your connection to the internet. Generally, you will know that this has happened when you click on the Next button to advance to another page in the instrument and it asks you for a log-in and/or password. Unfortunately, if this happens, you will have to begin the survey again.

Thank you for your time in completing this survey! I really appreciate it!

Susan

It's Book Fair Time!

The annual book fair is to be held Monday through Thursday of next week (November 9 - November 12) from 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in the Student Activity Center and Theater Lobby.

Please visit this important fund raiser that helps the entire school. Thank you!

Poetry in the Park!

Poetry in the Park is this coming Wednesday, November 11th at 8:30 a.m. in the lower school courtyard. Bring your chairs or blankets and enjoy a wonderful morning full of smiles, laughter, and (hopefully) sunshine! Please send me any photos that you can so that I can post them for all to enjoy! My camera is not the best!


Volunteers for the week of 11/9/09- 11/12/09:

• Tuesday - Art - Gina White (12:05)
  
• Thursday - Library Check-out - Fai MacDougald (2:05)
  

Reminder!

There is no school for students on Friday, November 13th as it is a Professional Development Day for teachers.

Happy Halloween! On Friday, the children had a blast parading in their costumes and then at the Fall Festival! This is definitely one of the best days of the year! Many thanks to Rachel's mom for the many hours she spent coordinating and planning the Festival for the lower school! If anyone has any pictures to share, please send them to me and I will post an album on my teacher page.

Happy Birthday, Julia! On Friday, we also celebrated Julia's 7th Birthday!

In Science, the "eyes have it"!

Dr. Derek Hess visited with with us on Monday. He explained the parts and functions of the human eye and then surprised each child with a sheep's eye to touch and examine! How cool!

On Thursday, Lisa Peck, came to the Science Resource Center and brought cow eyes to dissect. The children were able to see the different parts. The lenses are drying out and, this week, we will use them to see how the eye magnifies what it sees!





Volunteers for the week of 11/2/0- 11/6/09:

• Tuesday - Art - Erin Ross (12:05)
• Thursday - Library Check-out - Anne Dowling (2:05)
• Friday - Math Game - Jill Emerson (9:00)
• Friday - Parent Reader - Michael White (2:20)

We Had A Great Week of Special Visitors!

Reading Buddies:

On Monday, our new third grade reading buddies from Mrs. LaDuke's class visited! The children so enjoyed the books of poetry they brought to share with us. In our conversations, the children found out many things that they have in common with the third graders. The children have already begun talking about what they want to read to their new third grade buddies on the next visit!

New friends were made with the third graders!

Siblings, Jonathan and Kathryn enjoyed reading together!

Science:

This week in Science, we have been focusing on learning about the heart. On Thursday, Mrs. Peck brought several cow hearts to the Science Resource Center. She dissected them and the children were able to see the four chambers and the valves. This was a great way to help them understand how the heart works.

Mrs. Peck explains the four chambers of the heart and how they function.

After dissection!

Shannon and Julia get a close-up look at the valves and chambers!

On Friday, Lauren E.'s dad (Dr. Jay) brought Mr. Bones to visit. While he taught us many new things about our skeleton and our bodies, he was amazed as well at the knowledge the children already had!

Parent Reader:

Erin R. read the books Room on the Broom and Mice and Beans to our class as Friday's Parent Reader. She and Shannon then surprised us and gave the books to our class! We will enjoy them many times over! Thank you!



Volunteers for the week of 10/26 - 31/09:

• Tuesday - Art - Jill Emerson (12:05)
• Thursday - Science Resource Center - Kerry Kriseman (12:00)
  
• Thursday - Library Check-out - Jodie Gayoso (2:05)

The Halloween Parade will begin at 8:30 on Friday, October 30! Please send in play clothes for your child to change into after the parade. Uniforms are not required! Right after the Parade, we will change into our play clothes. Then we will celebrate Julia's birthday with a special snack! At 10:00 a.m. the children will be dismissed to the Fall Festival. They will not be required to have a parent with them in order to go to the Festival. Please be at the classroom by 10:00 if you are going to be escorting your child to the festival. There will be a sign-out sheet outside the classroom for you to sign when you are taking your child whether at 10:00 or at the end of the festival. Their costumes will be in a paper bag on their desks for you to take with you when you leave for the day. Please remember to take their green bags as well.

Happy Halloween!

Volunteers/Important Dates

Volunteers this week:

• Tuesday - Art - Radha Moorthy-Clink (12:05)
  
• Thursday - Science Resource Center - Jodie Gayoso (12:00)
  
• Thursday - Library Check-out - Kerry Kriseman (2:05)
  
• Friday - Math Game - Jay Epstein (9:00)
  
• Friday - Parent Reader - Erin Ross (2:20)

Other Important Dates:

• Picture Retake Day - Tuesday, October 20
• Spirit Day - Wednesday, October 28
• Fall Festival and Parade - Friday, October 30

More Fun in the Science Resource Center!

In Science, we continue to learn about the human body. Julia B. and Rachel C. correctly place and label the major organs in our body.

Playing Skeletons in the Closet!

Measuring our femurs - the longest, hardest, and strongest bone in our body!