Welcome Back!

I hope everyone enjoyed Spring Break! I had a fabulous time with my little Owen! Right after school on Friday, we drove to Boynton Beach and celebrated his first birthday with a big party on Saturday. We came home on Sunday and then Monday my daughter, son-in-law, and Owen came to our house to spend the week. We enjoyed playing at the park, playing at home, and a day at Lowry Park Zoo. I was so sad to see them leave on Saturday. Luckily, I have my twenty "other children" to keep me busy and happy! I was so glad to see them this morning!

Here are some pictures to enjoy from our week before spring break. We played a game about the symbols of America, enjoyed a compliment party, participated in fun lessons about germs and water safety with the Red Cross and upper school students, and participated in a theater workshop with upper school drama students. That was a fun week!

We have another busy week planned as usual! What's going on, you ask? Well, here goes!

Reading/Language Arts: Our phonics focus is on the vowel dipthong /ou/, spelled ow or ou. Our grammar focus will be on using the words am, is, and are. Our word wall (or high frequency) words are answered, baby, done, heard, pools, pushed, and together. Our anthology story this week is a fiction story. Our comprehension focuses will be reviewing story elements (characters, setting, plot) and making inferences. As your children read at home this week, help them to make inferences by asking about clues the author has given for them to think about. Also, review the story elements. Remember, when you talk with your child about the story elements, ask how he/she knows this i.e., "I know it is nighttime because the dark sky and moon tell me it's nighttime or the merry-go-round on the hill tells me that the setting is a fair".

Writing Workshop: During our Craft of Revision unit this week, we will continue to work on revising leads while revisiting some texts that we have read before to help us focus on the leads the authors used. We will also work on one of the most basic and essential goals of all dramatic writing - "showing, not telling". If an author says, "I was happy," that is telling. If an author writes, "I skipped all the way home, humming happy songs as if my heart would burst," that's showing.

Math: Continuing our geometry, we will continue to familiarize ourselves with polygons - shapes that have all straight sides that touch only at their endpoints. We will also learn to identify and investigate the characteristics of spheres, cylinders, rectangular prisms, pyramids, cones, and cubes. If we still have time, we will begin to explore symmetry!

Science/Social Studies: Having completed our study of America, we are now beginning to focus on our great state of Florida! Today we made a map of Florida and learned many characteristics of our state. This week, we will be learning about the discovery of Florida, where the name came from, who Ponce de Leon is, and about the state flag. As the unit continues, we will learn about many important symbols, places, and industries in Florida. We will also learn about weather.

Volunteers this week:

* Tuesday - Art - Ailsa Hudson (12:05)
* Thursday - Library Check-out - Ailsa Hudson and Cynthia Biondi - 2:05
* Friday - Math Game - Margaret Young (9:00)
* Friday - Parent Reader - Kristen Danielson (2:15)

Other Important Reminders/Dates/Information:

Relay for Life is this Friday, March 25. The children are allowed to wear purple shirts not only that day, but everyday the rest of this week in honor of supporting Relay for Life!

Field Day has been rescheduled for Tuesday, April 5. It will only involve grades K-2. More information will come soon.

Class Picture Day is Wednesday, March 30. Order forms will come home soon.

Our next Spirit Day is Thursday, March 31. It is on a Thursday this month because of Relay for Life being the Friday before.

At 8:30, on Friday, April 1, we will celebrate the groundbreaking for the new Athletic Center.


As always, if you have any questions, please email me.
Susan