I hope everyone enjoyed Spring Break. I had a great time with my daughter and little Owen in Texas. I flew to Dallas on Saturday and we celebrated his second birthday on Monday. He was such a love and he quickly “re-bonded” with his “Mimi”. I would tell him to say “I love you, Mimi” and he would! Of course, I would say back to him, “I love you, Owen” and he would say that right back to me, too! But, we know that we LOVE each other! He would not let me out of his sight! We wrestled, played, danced, sang, went to the park, went to the Dallas Aquarium, and to a place called Let’s Jump. He was right in there climbing and bouncing with all the kids!
I know that many of you have heard about my sweet little dog, Cody, from the children this year. I’ve written about him many times during Writing Workshop and he has visited the class a couple of times this year. The children knew that Cody was sick. He had congestive heart failure. Unfortunately, he passed away while I was in Texas and my husband was home with him. I have not told the children, but I know that at some point they will ask about him. I believe in honesty and will tell them gently when the time comes. Some of you have already heard about Cody’s passing and I thank you for your kind thoughts and prayers.
So, it was good to get back to a “normal” and a happy distraction… your children! We have another busy week planned as usual! What's going on, you ask? Well, here goes!
Spelling/Language Arts: Our phonics/spelling focus is on the vowel dipthong /ou/, spelled ow or ou as in down or ground. We’ll be learning when it is appropriate to use the words am, is, and are.
Reading Workshop: When we think back about the beloved books we read as children, it’s often the characters in stories that come to mind. The way we think about or react to a character, the ways we connect with them all make those characters stay with us even after we finish a book. During the next few weeks, we’ll learn ways to think about characters, not only their external characteristics, but the feelings and motivations of characters. We’ll infer information about characters by noticing what they do, say, feel, and think. Does the character change across the plot line of the book? How do secondary characters affect the main character?
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, showing not telling, and working with our partners for revision. We hope to complete this unit by the end of March.
Math: The math family letter detailing Unit 7 came home just before Spring Break. This unit has a large focus on geometry! We will talk about attributes of shapes, and familiarize ourselves with polygons - shapes that have all straight sides that touch only at their endpoints.
Science: We had a great time with our spotlight on science week (actually more like 9 days). We made paper from recycling, joined in lessons/activities with upper school students and the Red Cross, and of course went to the Planetarium. We also finished up our study of the solar system and had a blast teaching the fourth graders in Ms. Lemon’s class about the planets! I will be posting pictures on the Shutterfly site and I hope you saw the video clips on E-bytes.
Social Studies: In our study of America, we have been learning about some of the important people in the history of our country as well as our current president. The children have also been working in partnerships to research important landmarks and symbols such as Mount Rushmore, the Statue of Liberty, the American flag, the Liberty Bell, the White House, and the Bald Eagle. They are again the teachers and are teaching us all that they have learned about these important symbols of America. At the end of the unit, each child will have made a book about all they have learned.
Volunteers this week:
* Tuesday - Art – Jill Emerson (12:05)
* Wednesday - Math Game – Natalie Ames (1:15)
* Thursday - Library Check-out – Kimberly Burke - 12:05
* Friday - Parent Reader – Eva D’Agostino (2:15)
Other Important Reminders/Dates/Information:
Ident-a-Kid is this Wednesday, March 21. I accidently put the reminder stickers on the kids today! Oops!
Field Trip to All Children's Hospital will be this Thursday, March 22. We'll enjoy their musical production called "What's So Good About Feeling Bad?" We will eat not be eating lunch until about 12:30 after we return, so PLEASE make sure that your child eats a good breakfast that morning!
Relay for Life is Friday, March 30 at Shorecrest! The children may wear purple all week NEXT week!
Field Trip to the Dali Museum will also be Friday, March 30. Parents are welcome to meet us there, but there will be a charge of $18.75 for admission at the door.
Celebrate the Arts week will be April 16 - 20. The Arts Teach-In will be on Friday, April 20 from 8:10 - 11:00. If you or someone you know would like to be a visiting artist that day, please contact the office.
As always, if you have any questions, please email me.
Susan
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