Week of March 25, 2013

Dear Parents:   

What a beautiful memorial we had for Dawn
Weinman this morning as we dedicated the new playground in her memory. There were many smiles and a few tears as well. As Dr. Bianco said, the new playground is a result of Mrs. Weinman's vision and hard work. For the next three years, your children will be playing on that wonderful playground. I also want to thank you for the beautiful flowers your children brought. The garden is a gorgeous memorial to her. Mrs. Weinman's family was very moved and so appreciative of everything.

Last week was a wonderful week full of opportunities for reading enjoyment! We began the week with Character Day! What fun it was to see the children dressed as many different characters in the books we love to read! Also on Monday, I invited  a very special mystery reader to come to read to us... second grade teacher, Mrs. O'Mullane! On Tuesday, we enjoyed "DEAR" time which stands for "drop everything and read" where we joined the entire lower school in the courtyard to enjoy quiet reading time outside on beach towels for about 25 minutes. Later that afternoon we invited Ms. Conroy's kindergarten class to come buddy read with us. On Wednesday, Mrs. Densa's kindergarten class came to buddy read. It was nice for the kindergarten students to get to see a first grade classroom. On Friday, we had fun shopping at the Oldie Goldie Book Sale where we found lots of books for bargain prices! Then we had another guest mystery reader... Mrs. McKenzie from second grade! It was so cool to have our possible future teachers come to read to us! Finally, on Friday afternoon, two eighth grade students (one a former student of mine) each came to share books they had authored and published about ocean animals! The stories were fun and informative and the illustrations incredible! We'll be starting our ocean unit before too long, so their books were really exciting for us to see and hear!

Mrs. O'Mullane reads a book about Australia to us!

We enjoyed hearing one of Mrs. McKenzie's favorite books.

Clay reads his book, Frank the Fish and His Reef Home.

Henry reads his book, Manny the Manatee.

 A lot is going on this week as well. In reading workshop, we'll complete our unit on characters this week. We have been learning about the characters in our books by using multiple sources of information from the text - illustrations, actions, narration, and what the character says/doesn't say. We're also getting to know the characters as we compare them to ourselves or someone we know. As we read, we're working on using a voice that we think the character would sound like.

In word work, we learned about the very cool letters "ay" and "ey" that make the long a sound. Put on some sunglasses, hold your arms close to your side, put your thumbs up in the air, tilt your head to the side and, in your coolest voice, say "ayyyyyyyy! (Just like the Fonz!) Ask your child to show you how!

In writing workshop, the children received special green revision pens to use when revising their writing. We're learning that as writers we revise our writing to "help" it or make it better.  We're learning about revision tools such as the carat for inserting a word or two, using special strips of paper when we need to insert a line or two, or adding a page when we need to add more. We're also learning to revise by adding dialogue to our sketches using speech bubbles and to the text using quotation marks. We'll learn that sometimes we need to revise by taking something away that doesn't help our story. We'll be working with our partners, being very careful not to hurt feelings, to help us plan our revisions.

In math, we are in the midst of unit 7 that has a large focus on geometry! We have talked about the attributes of shapes and learned about polygons - shapes that have all straight sides that touch only at their endpoints with no open gaps. Last week, the children had fun making polygons with straws and connectors, but more fun than that were the edible polygons we made using pretzel sticks, gum drops, and marshmallows! Yum! Yum! This week, we're learning about the characteristics of 3-D solid shapes like the sphere, rectangular prism, cylinder, pyramid, and cube. Today we made polygons and 3-D shapes with our bodies! We'll also be exploring symmetry as we complete Unit 7. Our goal is to take the assessment for Unit 7 next Monday.

In social studies, we have finished our unit on America and will spend the next two weeks concentrating on learning about our very own state in America... Florida!

Our Florida unit was introduced in the Computer Lab with a "clicker" pre-assessment to see what the children already know about Florida. 

Volunteers for this week:

• Wednesday - Library Checkout - 2:10 - Sharon Cannella and Mary Hind
• Thursday - Math Game - 10:30 - David Richardson 
• Friday - Art - 9:15 - Kim Gross
• Friday - Parent Reader - 2:15 - Kristen Danielson

Important Reminders for Upcoming Dates: 

Relay for Life is next week! The children may wear purple shirts all week! They will need to wear uniform bottoms. This year's Relay event takes place on Friday, April 5, at Shorecrest! It will commence at an all school assembly kick off at 9:00 a.m. on Friday, April 5. After an all school ceremony/celebration, we'll take a lap around the track with the whole school and the students will also walk the track with their PE class that day. That evening the entire football field and track will be filled with booths, fun activities, and supporters walking the track to fight cancer! If you haven't been before, please join us. It's a wonderful experience! Our classroom purple-linked chain is growing and will be added to the chains from all of the other classes to be displayed around the track at Relay for Life.

On Thursday, April 4, we have field trip to All Children's Hospital to enjoy their musical production called "What's So Good About Feeling Bad?" It's a fantastic, fun, and educational show about the human body with doctors, nurses, and hospital staff as the actors/singers! We will not be eating lunch until about 12:30 when we return to school, so PLEASE make sure that your child eats a good breakfast that morning and brings a snack to school! Thank you!

Celebrate the Arts Week will be April 15 - 19. We'll have several things going on that week including visiting musicians, artists, and an art walk to view the work of our own Shorecrest artists. On Monday, April 15, we have a field trip to the Dali Museum! Parents are welcome to meet us there, but will need to pay for your own admission at the door. The children's admission is covered by Shorecrest.The Arts Teach-in will be on Friday, April 19 from 8:10 - 11:00. Each class will have two visiting artists. The musical program performed by the students will begin at 11:00 that day with a picnic lunch to follow.  Artwork of students in EC - grade 4 will be on display. Bring a blanket and pack yourself a picnic lunch to enjoy with your child. You can order a sack lunch from Sage for your child if you prefer.  Lunch forms will be coming home on Tuesday. Sage needs to know in advance how many sack lunches they will need to prepare. Please complete the form whether your child will need a school sack lunch or not. Please return it by Friday, April 5.   

On Sunday, April 28, Shorecrest is participating in an event called Feeding Children Everywhere. Volunteers are needed from the Shorecrest community to help pack food bags in the new Athletic Center. The event is It starts at 9:00 a.m. and ends at 2:00 p.m. It's another great way for the Shorecrest community to come together to make a difference in the lives of children.

I have posted a lot more pictures on our class shutterfly site!

Have a great week!
Susan

Weeks of March 4 and 18, 2013

Dear Parents: 

Thank you for joining us Thursday for the hot dog lunch in support of Relay for Life! It was great to see so many families and friends  enjoying lunch together.

I 'll be spending spring break in Texas with my precious grandbabies and won't return home until late Sunday, the 17th. Therefore, I'm going to include information in this blog for this week as well as the week after spring break. I'll post pictures of Field Day and Character Day the week after Spring Break. As always, please feel free to add pictures to our class site! Thank you, Mary Hind, for adding pictures of our Town Meeting!

We have earned another compliment party! Yay!!!! Kim Gross and Charlene Hosseini have offered to host! We'll be celebrating Thursday afternoon. Thank you!

Oldie Goldie is coming up quickly! We need gently used books to sell! Please go through your bookshelves and clean them out! Boxes are in the hallway to collect your donated books. 

Thursday is Field Day. Please remember to have your child wear a shirt to school that represents their team color. The letters came home last week.

Mark your calendar and save the date for our upcoming "All Hands On @ Shorecrest" food packing event! It will take place Sunday, April 28, from 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. in the Crisp Gym/Athletic Center. A flyer will be going home later this week to explain and ask for volunteers, age 3 and older, to join us in mobilizing 1,000 volunteers to pack 150,000 food packages for Feeding Children Everywhere (http://www.feedingchildreneverywhere.com/). 
See the brief video to give you an idea of what we'll be doing: http://youtu.be/7r4HczdbBC8

Here's a look at what we'll be doing this week as well as the week after spring break: 

Reading Workshop: Over the next two weeks of school, we'll work on comprehension as we continue to get to know the characters in our books. We'll read, think, and develop ideas about characters, make connections with characters,  and think about whether the character changes across the story, especially their feelings. We'll learn strategies for talking with our partners about our characters/books, deepening partner conversation. Remember, as you read with your child this week and during spring break, talk with your child about the character they want to choose to dress as for Character Day on March 18! Remember, it should be a character from a favorite book so that your child can really get to know the character. The children will not only be dressing as the character on March 18, but will be sharing all they know about the character as they share the book. 

Word Work: We'll continue working on r-controlled vowels this week, focusing on er, ir, and ur.  The week after spring break we'll be reviewing all r controlled vowels.

Writing Workshop: We'll continue to work hard to make our writing easy to read, learn to work with peer editors, and work on revising our writing to make it better.

Math: The Unit 6 assessment is coming home today. The children really did a great job with it! I am so proud of them!  This week we will spend time reviewing money, telling time to the five minute interval, and with addition fact practice. Over spring break, give your child extra practice counting and exchanging coins including quarters. Counting coins with different values can be tricky for some children. We'll begin unit 7 when we return from spring break. I am sending home the unit 7 family letter this week. Read it over as it will explain the concepts we will cover in that unit as well as give you suggestions for every day activities to help your child with these concepts at home. 

Science: We have completed our study of the solar system! The children will be bringing home their "pocket" books this week. Celebrate with your child as you review the work they have done during this exciting unit! Don't forget to stop in and view the projects in our hallway! They are fantastic!

Mr. Richardson was impressed with the knowledge the children displayed as they played a Solar System game.

Kate and Kaja taught us about the planet, Venus.

Social Studies: Over the next two weeks of school (including after spring break), we'll learn about the Statue of Liberty, Liberty Bell, the Bald Eagle, and some interesting facts about our 50 states!

Cyrus and Daven paint the first American flag.

Important Reminders: 

March 7 is Field Day.  Field Day will take place from 9:00 - 11:00. The PE coaches are assigning children to teams and will soon send home a note indicating the team your child is on. The teams are named for colors... green team, blue team, etc. The children are to wear that color shirt to school for Field Day.

March 8 will be a Professional Development Day for teachers. Spring Break for students begins Friday, March 8. School resumes for students on Monday, March 18.

Heads-up: March 18, the day the students return from Spring Break, will be Character Day during Reading Week in the Lower School! Your child will be asked to choose a character from a favorite book and come to school dressed as that character and prepared to talk about their character/book. Therefore, they should have read the book and know the character and book well.

Reading Week will be the week of March 18 - 22. The entire week will be dedicated to Mrs. Weinman. The schedule is as follows:

• Monday - Character Day! All children in the Lower School will be dressed as their favorite book character and bring their book with them to Town Meeting! We will also have a Mystery Guest Reader in the afternoon.
• Tuesday - "Drop Everything and Read" Day - Your child will need to bring a beach towel to sit on and several books to read as the Lower School will read together outside from 8:15 - 8:50. We will also be buddy reading with a kindergarten class that afternoon,
• Wednesday - We will view the Bookshelf Project with Mrs. Smay.
• Thursday - We'll have another Mystery Guest Reader and more Buddy Reading!
• Friday - Oldie Goldie Book Sale

On Monday, March 25, the lower division will gather to dedicate the new playground to Mrs. Weinman. Please send your child to school with a flowering plant that loves the sun! Some suggestions that should do well in the garden are geraniums, marigolds, petunias, snapdragons, zinnias, and periwinkle.  We will be planting that day in memory of Mrs. Weinman. The memorial will begin at 8:05a.m. Parents are welcome to join us.

Volunteers this week: 

• Wednesday - Library Checkout - 2:10 - Lorraine Thorpe and Heidi Joswig/David Richardson

Volunteers for week of March 18 - 22:

• Wednesday - Library Checkout - 2:10 - Kim Gross and Mary Hind
• Thursday - Math Game - 10:30 - Donna Main
• Friday - Art - 9:15 - Heidi Joswig/David Richardson
• Friday - Parent Reader - 2:15 - Sharon Cannella

Have a wonderful spring break!

Susan