Dear Parents:

I hope everyone had a great weekend! I had a fabulous time visiting my daughter and little Owen. He is getting so big and walking everywhere! We packed a lot of fun into the weekend - the park, the pool, and his first trip to the beach! I hated to leave him yesterday when it was time to come home. I just have to share a picture of him with you!

This morning we practiced with all three classes for our program. They are doing a great job with their singing and dancing. I have to say, however, that I was disappointed that only three of my students knew their speaking parts. These parts came home last week. PLEASE practice these with your child every day. With all that we have to do at school, we don't have much time at all to work on these speaking parts. They need to memorize them and say them LOUDLY with their "Discovery Channel voice".

This week in...

Reading/Language Arts: The spelling and wall words are breathe, calf, mammal, humpback, blowhole, baleen, migrate, gentle, giant, and whale. Please be sure to practice these words daily with your child. The children need to be able to read them, spell them, and know their meaning. We continue to read mostly non-fiction books and learn how to use all the features to help us research, find information, and learn from these texts.

We are still missing a few books from the reading folders this week. PLEASE be sure that your child returns the book along with the folder and completed assignment. Also, several did not complete the "making words" activity in the folder. This is a part of their assignment. The children will be bringing home books about the whale in their reading folders this week. It is again IMPERATIVE that everyone return their folder WITH THE BOOK on Monday as Mrs. Densa's class will be using the books on Monday. Please make sure that this assignment is complete and turned in by Monday.

Writing Workshop: We are really enjoying our non-fiction writing unit! This week, we are reading and working on "How-To" books.

Math: We will continue to identify patterns in the number grid, practice place value, add 2 digit numbers, and work with fractions. In addition, we will compare the lengths of the different types of whales we learn about this week.

Science: Did your child tell you about the sea urchin dissection on Friday? Emma's dad took some pictures for us. As soon as I get them, I will post them for you to enjoy! This Friday,we will be dissecting the dogfish shark! As you may have guessed, our main focus in our ocean unit this week will be whales. The children are LOVING this unit! We will be reading and researching about the gentle giant of the sea, writing about them, observing them in video, comparing their sizes, and exploring many attributes about them. We will experiment to see how their blubber helps them in the cold oceans of the world. The children also continue to enjoy using our research lab to learn about many other creatures of the sea by using the skills they are learning in reading non-fiction texts.

Volunteers this week:

* Tuesday - Art - Chris Chen (12:05)
* Thursday - Library Check-out - Aisla Hudson and Cynthia Biondi - 2:05
* Friday - Jennifer Lewis (9:00)
* Friday - Parent Reader - Meghan Schneider (2:15)

Other Important Reminders/Dates/Information:

Our last library check-out day will be this Thursday! All library books must be turned in by Wednesday, May 11th!

First Grade Program: Commotion in the Ocean is Friday, May 13th at 8:30 a.m. Children will wear jean shorts/skirts/or skorts with their "Commotion in the Ocean" t-shirts.

Splash Day May 18th with a rain make-up date of May 25th.

Field Trip to Florida Aquarium May 26th - Students will wear their "Commotion in the Ocean" t-shirts with jean shorts/skirts/skorts. If you would like to join us, please send in your reply with a check for $7.00 by May 13th. Parking will be $3.00 per car. Unfortunately, parents may not use Aquarium memberships for admission.

End-of- the- Year Party - Tuesday, May 31st - Students again may wear their "Commotion in the Ocean" t-shirts with jean shorts, etc.

Last Day of School - Wednesday, June 1st, noon dismissal

Have a great week!
Susan and Beth

Dear Parents:

Wow! Time is marching on. I can't believe there are only 26 days of school left! There is still so much to do! These last few weeks will be filled with many exciting, important, and fun opportunities to learn! Enjoy a few pictures taken in recent days of the important work that we do in our classroom everyday!

This week in...
Reading/Language Arts: We will be reading both fiction and non-fiction books, but our main genre focus for both reading and writing will be on non-fiction during the next few weeks. We are learning how to use all the features of a non-fiction text such as the table of contents, headings, sub-headings, and glossary. We are also learning how to research and find information in these texts. In essence, we are learning to read and reading to learn!

Please remember that the words that your child is bringing home on their Ocean word ring are also the spelling words for the week. Each week the words will be vocabulary for the main sea creature that we will focus on that week. This week our main focus will be sharks! This week's words are listed to the right. Please be sure to practice these words daily with your child. The children need to be able to read them, spell them, and know their meaning. This will help in their understanding when both reading and writing.

When reading, we will continue to practice using the many reading strategies and comprehension strategies that we have been working on this year. When reading with your child at home, please model appropriate expression with them. When reading many non-fiction texts, we practice using our "Discovery Channel voice" - ask your child about this!

Yay! For the first time this year, EVERYONE returned their reading folder on time! The children will be bringing home books on the amazing shark in their reading folders this week. It is again IMPERATIVE that everyone return their folder on Monday as Mrs. Whitecage's class will be using those books on Monday. We do not have any extra books! Please make sure that this assignment is complete and turned in by Monday.

Writing Workshop: We have begun our non-fiction writing unit and will be using non-fiction mentor texts to help us with our non-fiction writing. During this unit, we will be writing both "How to..." books and "All About..." books.

Math: We have begun unit 9. In this unit, we will continue to identify patterns in the number grid and use these to help us practice place value and add 2 digit numbers. We will also continue to learn more about fractions and have some fun with symmetry.

Science: This week we will be focusing on the amazing shark. We will be reading and researching about them, writing about them, observing them, comparing their sizes, and exploring their jaws and teeth. We also have a research lab set up in our classroom where we are using our skills that we are learning in reading to research lots of other interesting sea creatures as well.

One of the most exciting parts of this unit will be the dissections that the children will participate in! Upper division science teacher, Lisa Peck, partners with us to bring this exciting learning opportunity to our first graders! This Friday, she will be bringing sea urchins (and hopefully, starfish) to dissect with our students. Next Friday, she will be bringing the dogfish shark to dissect! This is always a highlight in our unit! We can't wait!

Volunteers this week:

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

Other Important Reminders/Dates/Information:

Spirit Day this Friday, April 29! Students and teachers may wear green and gold clothing.

First Grade Program: Commotion in the Ocean is Friday, May 13th at 8:30 a.m. Mark your calendars! You don't want to miss the best show at Shorecrest!

Splash Day May 18th with a rain make-up date of May 25th.

Field Trip to Florida Aquarium May 26th - Mark your calendars! Parents are welcome to join us! The Aquarium is offering that parents may attend by paying the student rate of $7.00. Parking will be $3.00 per car. Unfortunately, parents may not use Aquarium memberships for admission.

Have a great week!
Susan and Beth

Ellie has a baby brother!

Dear Parents:

First of all, I want to congratulate Ellie and her family on the birth of baby brother, Jake! I'm sure Ellie's dad is glad to have another "male" in the house!

What an amazing week we had last week celebrating the arts! Every day brought something new and special. It was good to see so many of you at the performance and picnic on Friday. Please enjoy the slide show of pictures at the end of the blog!

This week is special, too, as we are beginning our study of the ocean! The children are so excited. This will prove to be a lot of fun! Our learning will be evident in our first grade program, "Commotion in the Ocean" on May 13th, and then culminate with our field trip to the Florida Aquarium on May 26th.

Reading/Language Arts: Please read the homework calendar carefully as there are some changes now. The words that your child is bringing home on their word ring will also be the spelling words for the week. Each week the words will be vocabulary for the main sea creature that we will focus on that week. This week our main focus will be sea turtles. This week's words are hatch, turtle, sea, shell, creep, return, beak, eggs, endangered, and Florida. Please be sure to practice these words daily with your child. The children need to be able to read them, spell them, and know their meaning. This will help in their understanding when both reading and writing. When reading, we will continue to practice using the many reading strategies and comprehension strategies that we have been working on this year. We will also continue to work on alphabetical order, compound words, and contractions.

While we will be reading both fiction and non-fiction books during this unit, our main genre focus for both reading and writing will be on non-fiction. We will be learning about the features of non-fiction texts and learning how to find information in them.

The children will also be bringing home a book on the Green Sea Turtle in their reading folders this week. It is IMPERATIVE that everyone return their folder on Tuesday as Mrs. Densa's class will be using those books on Tuesday. We do not have any extra books! Please make sure that this assignment is complete and turned in by Tuesday. We will already be short a day because of the Monday holiday.

Writing Workshop: We are beginning our non-fiction writing unit! We will be using non-fiction mentor texts to help us with our non-fiction writing.

Math: We will continue to practice making change, naming fractional parts, adding and subtracting 10s, and take our unit 8 assessment.

Science: This week we will be focusing on sea turtles. We will be reading about them, writing about them, watching them, making sea turtles, and exploring their shells and bodies. We also have a research lab where we will be able to research lots of other interesting sea creatures.

Volunteers this week:

* Tuesday - Art - Cynthia Biondi(12:05)
* Thursday - Library Check-out -Julie Piper and Molly Camp - 2:05
* Friday - Mai Nguyen (9:00)
* Friday - Parent Reader - Molly Camp (2:15)

Other Important Reminders/Dates/Information:

If you have not sent in the new, clean, white t-shirt with your child, please do so now! We have a lot of work to do to get them ready!

Water Bottle Fundraiser for Make-a-Wish Foundation and in Honor of Jeff Norton: SADD in the high school is selling reusable water bottles in honor of Mr. Jeff Norton, our former Theater Director, for $5. Mr. Norton always thought we should be more environmentally friendly, and throwing away water bottles was one of his pet peeves.

Spirit Day Friday, April 29. Students and teachers may wear green and gold clothing.

First Grade Program: Commotion in the Ocean is Friday, May 13th at 8:30 a.m. Mark your calendars! You don't want to miss the best show at Shorecrest!

Splash Day May 18th with a rain make-up date of May 25th.

Field Trip to Florida Aquarium May 26th - Mark your calendars! Parents are welcome to join us! The Aquarium is offering that parents may attend by paying the student rate of $7.00. Parking will be $3.00 per car. Unfortunately, parents may not use Aquarium memberships for admission.

Have a great week!
Susan and Beth

Dear Parents,

A couple of weeks ago, the children wrote letters to the Tampa Bay Rays during Writer's Workshop. Last week, we received a package from the Rays! The children were so excited to find that the Rays had written a reply letter to us! In addition, they sent wrist bands, bookmarks, and bumper stickers! Way to go Rays! Now, hopefully, our letters and good wishes will give them the boost they need!

Last Wednesday we were finally able to have Field Day. What a great day we had! The weather was perfect. Enjoy the pictures of some of the fun and exciting activities the children experienced!

Last Friday, we also celebrated Hannah's 7th birthday. Happy Birthday Hannah!



















It's Celebrate the Arts Week! We have a lot of great activities planned. We started out our morning today in the theater with a preview of the Upper School production, Singin' in the Rain. What amazing talent our upper school students displayed! If you haven't planned to go, you should! Performances will be Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings at 7:30. Tickets may be purchased at the school box office beginning this morning. Contact the office for box office times. We then left the theater visited Mr. Runge's Upper Division Art Studio. That was an amazing experience to see artists working at various stages on their canvases. One artist was at the computer working on a movie and several more were working on watercolor! Our Field trip is tomorrow to tour the art showcased at Raymond James. Then in the afternoon we will learn about another artist from our Picture Lady. On Wednesday morning, we will be in the Quad for a performance of Yum Yum Drums. On Thursday, we will go to the music room to enjoy some jazz from visiting musicians and then take a self-guided tour of the art displays in the middle and upper divisions. On Friday, we will have two sessions to learn from visiting artists and then end our celebration of the arts with a performance at 11:00 and a picnic following. Please join us at 11:00 and stay for the picnic! It's going to be a great week!

In class this week...

Reading/Language Arts: Our spelling focus is reviewing the long vowels i and o. In grammar, we will be learning when to use the verbs go and went. Our word wall words are any, front, nothing, ready, and sorry. I need to have everyone returning their word cards on time this Thursday and be able to not only read these words but spell them correctly. Please work extra hard with your child this week! Our anthology story this week is a fantasy story. With comprehension, we will focus on summarizing as we read.

Writing Workshop: We will be completing our revision unit this week.

Math: We will be working on counting up as a strategy for making change. This is tricky. Please work on this with your child at home. Play a shopping game where you are shopping and your child is the store clerk. You can use the grocery store adds or just make up shopping number stories to help them practice counting up to make change. We will also begin to learn about fractions! We will divide objects and shapes into equal parts to build understanding of fractional parts of a whole. We'll also introduce unit fraction notation.

Science/Social Studies: We finish up our Florida unit this week and begin our ocean unit next week!

Volunteers this week:

* Tuesday - Art - Mai Nguyen (12:05)
* Thursday - Library Check-out - Ailsa Hudson and Liz Jack - 2:05
* Friday - Math game cancelled! (9:00)
* Friday - Parent Reader - Jonathan Lewis (2:15)

Other Important Reminders/Dates/Information:

Water Bottle Fundraiser for Make-a-Wish Foundation and in Honor of Jeff Norton: SADD in the high school is selling reusable water bottles in honor of Mr. Jeff Norton, our former Theater Director, for $5. Mr. Norton always thought we should be more environmentally friendly, and throwing away water bottles was one of his pet peeves. Order forms with more details (including color preference: blue, clear, pink, or green) will be coming home.

Celebrate the Art week is here!

Monday - Preview of Singin in the Rain and tour of UD art studio
Tuesday - Field trip to Raymond James and Picture Lady
Wednesday - Yum Yum Drums
Thursday - Jazz musicians and class tour of art displays
Friday - artist sessions, performance, and picnic

Spirit Day Friday, April 29. Students and teachers may wear green and gold clothing.

First Grade Program: Commotion in the Ocean is Friday, May 13th at 8:30 a.m. Mark your calendars! You don't want to miss the best show at Shorecrest! Your child also needs a new all-white t-shirt by April 18!

Splash Day May 18th with a rain make-up date of May 25th.

Field Trip to Florida Aquarium May 26th - Mark your calendars! Parents are welcome to join us! Information will be coming soon!

Have a great week!
Susan and Beth

Live Eagle Cam!

Dear Parents:

Below is a link to the Decorah, Iowa live eagle cam. We spent about 15 minutes watching it today in class. It is so cool! The children loved it! In case you have not heard, there is a video cam set up watching a bald eagle nest in Decorah, Iowa. The eagle laid 3 eggs. Two eaglets have hatched as I write this. There is one more egg expected to hatch any time now. I was hoping it would happen today for the children to see. We will spend a little time watching again tomorrow. It could also happen tonight! If you have a chance, spend a little time with your child watching tonight or whenever you have a chance. What a great opportunity to watch the wonder of nature that we would not ordinarily get to see!

[ http://www.ustream.tv/channel/decorah-eagles ]http://www.ustream.tv/channel/decorah-eagles

Also, Field Day has been rescheduled for tomorrow! Please have your child wear their colored shirt again tomorrow!

Thank you!
Susan

Dear Parents:

Field Day is tomorrow! A letter is in your child's take-home folder today with important information about it. Your child is assigned to a team and needs to wear that color shirt tomorrow. Comfortable shorts for running around are allowed. Let's cross our fingers that it doesn't rain!

Field trip next Tuesday, April 12th, to Raymond James during Celebrate the Arts week! Raymond James is allowing us to go on this tour free of charge for chaperones and students. However, if you plan to go, please let me know no later than this Thursday, April 7th. We MUST call in all names going on the tour in advance.

In class this week...

Reading/Language Arts: Our spelling focus is on the variant vowel oo, spelled oo or ew. In grammar, we have learned that the words are, is, and am are used when telling about things that happen now. This week we are working on using the words was and were when telling about things that happened in the past. In phonics, we will be reviewing contractions 'd, 've, 're, 's, n't, and 'll Our word wall words are boy, building, tomorrow, toward, and welcoming. There are only five wall words this week, but they are tricky. Please work extra hard with your child this week! Our anthology story this week is a realistic fiction story. With comprehension, we will focus on details and recognizing story structure. As we read, we try to remember the order in which things happen.

Writing Workshop: During our Craft of Revision unit this week, we will work on revising endings, revising while writing, and partnering for revision

Math: We will be reviewing counting and exchanging coins, counting money including dollars, writing in dollar and cent notation, facilitating the use of money to explore place-value, extending place-value concepts to hundreds, and practicing solving both addition and subtraction number stories.

Science/Social Studies: Florida and weather continue to be our focuses. In addition to learning about the various types of weather we have in Florida, we will also learn about the state butterfly - the Zebra Longwing, the state flower - the Orange Blossom, and the state beverage - orange juice. If anyone would like to send in a half gallon of orange juice and some small cups, we can enjoy the beverage as we learn about it!

Volunteers this week:

* Tuesday - Art - Kristen Danielson (12:05)
* Thursday - Library Check-out - Valerie Pillot and Kristen Danielson - 2:05
* Friday - Math Game - Michele Clopet (9:00)
* Friday - Parent Reader - Octavia Perfetto (2:15) * Octavia is looking for a replacement!

Other Important Reminders/Dates/Information:

Field Day tomorrow!

Celebrate the Arts week is next week (April 11 - April 14)

Field trip to Raymond James on Tuesday, April 12! Parents, remember, if you are planning to join us, you must let me know by this Thursday, April 7th.

Spirit Day Friday, April 29. Students and teachers may wear green and gold clothing.

First Grade Program: Commotion in the Ocean is Friday, May 13th at 8:30 a.m. Mark your calendars! You don't want to miss the best show at Shorecrest!

Splash Day May 18th with a rain make-up date of May 25th.

Field Trip to Florida Aquarium May 26th - Mark your calendars! Parents are welcome to join us! Information will be coming soon!


Have a great week!
Susan and Beth