Ecole Soleil

Today we had a wonderful visit from Myriam Jeanniss, who is the President of the Haitian American Student Association at UMASS Dartmouth. She shared photos with us of her recent visit to Haiti. It was a moving experience to see the devastaion that persists in the aftermath of the earthquake. Myriam told us about a health clinic where the Haitian-American student group volunteers through the organization Partners in Development. This is where she delivered our hearts of hope and peace. It was wonderful to see the photos of our hearts decorating the clinic walls!

Myriam also shared with us about the school in the city of Gonaives where her group sponsors 23 children. The school, called Ecole Soleil, is in desperate need of school supplies for their children. Our students were so moved by their story that they want to help. Therefore, the second and third grades will be collecting paper, pencils, pencil sharpeners, notebooks, crayons, and markers to send to Ecole Soleil. Please drop off any items you would like to donate in our classroom. Thank you!

In other curricular news . . .

*Student are working on final drafts of their thunderstorm paragraphs. To share all the wonderful work they are doing, we invite you to a WRITING CELEBRATION on Friday, April 30th at 8:30 in our classroom. Please let us know if you will be able to attend.

*This week second graders enthusiastically chose a topic from the rainforest that we would like to research and learn more about. We began creating a Wonder Wheel, where we listed our “wonders” about our topic within a wheel. We will use these “wonders” to guide our research. We have been enjoying many books about the rainforest in our classroom, as well as finding information on the web. If your family has any books or resources that can help our quest for information, please mark them with your name and send them in for the next month. When we are ready for research assistance in the classroom, we would love to have your help. Let us know if you are interested in coming in. Sharing our ideas with others helps us to organize our thoughts and ideas. Following are our self-chosen topics…

Rainforest Topics 2010

Ean – Jaguar

Ethan – Tribal People

Mira – Macaw

Sascha - Quetzal

SAVE THE DATE! Our Rainforest Celebration is on Wednesday June 2, in the Commons, 1:00.

*Third graders completed maps of Africa and are looking forward to building pyramids next week. PLEASE REMEMBER TO SEND A BOX OF SUGAR CUBES AND AN EMPTY CHECK BOX IN WITH YOUR 3RD GRADER ON MONDAY.

*In Read Naturally readings students are beginning to set fluency goals for each story. They will continue to practice their story until they have reached their goal. Therefore, you may notice that your child brings home the same story two weeks in a row. This is okay.

Have a wonderful long weekend!