Writing Celebration

Thanks to all who were able to join us this morning for our writing celebration! The kids were so proud to share their work with you. We will be venturing over to the preschool to read them our books in the next couple of weeks and then they will be coming home.

Thanks as well to everyone who has so generously donated school supplies to Ecole Soleil in Haiti as part of our "Have a Heart for Haiti" project. We will continue to collect supplies through the end of May.

Next week is an exciting one! On Thursday evening the children will be performing with the rest of the Lower School at the Spring Concert. More details to come. On Friday it is Grandfriends' Day at school. We look forward to welcoming grandparents and friends into our classroom! Please let us know who will be joining us. Dismissal is at NOON on that day, and there is no after school program that day.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Earth Day

On Wednesday our Friends Academy school community celebrated Earth Day with a special assembly. In preparation for this, each class was to design and create a flag to place on the edge of our school garden.

To begin, our class discussed the purpose of Earth Day, and ways in which we can care for the earth each and every day. Many children talked about the fact that there is too much trash and litter in our world. Others talked about the importance of recycling and reusing things. When asked what kind of trash WE as a class create, the children were silent. "Hmmmm . . .", they must have been thinking. "We DO recycle paper. We DO reuse paper. What do we throw away?" When we asked "At what points during our day does our trash can get most full?" The kids' hands shot up. "Oh I know! During lunch and snack!"

And so began a new class committment: To reduce the amount of trash that we generate during snack and lunch times. In order to begin our work, each person in the class got our their lunch boxes. We wrote lists of the things that would end up in the trash that day. Then we brainstormed ways to pack our lunches and snacks differently so that we would not fill our trash can. These included:

1. Composting fruit and vegetable peels and cores.

2. Buying larger quantities of snack foods and bringing them to school in smaller reusable containers.

3. Bringing water or beverages in reusable and safe bottles.

4. Using cloth napkins and washable utensils.

5. Recycling yogurt containers and cardboard packaging.

The children are excited about this new commitment and you will probably be hearing from them about it! Encourage your child to help pack their snacks and lunches and plan together about how to reduce their trash. We hope to end each school day with a mostly empty trash can!

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!

What a glorious week! We have all been enjoying the great outdoors this week as the weather has taken a definite turn toward spring. On Thursday we had a lovely lunch out on Mrs. Tukman's courtyard amid the blossoming daffodils.

This week we have been busy writing and revising paragraphs. A paragraph is a group of sentences working together to make one key point about a subject. Students are learning how to plan a paragraph by:

1. Choosing a subject.

2. Deciding on the key point.

3. Brainstorming supporting information.

4. Sequencing supporting information.

5. Writing the paragraph.

6. Editing the paragraph.

Using clear graphic organizers to help us in this process, students are thoughtfully crafting strong informative paragraphs. Currently, we are working on paragraphs that describe the various weather conditions that come together during a thunderstorm.

In reading groups, 3rd Graders continue to read and learn about Helen Keller. We are using our Reader's Notebooks to analyze the text and discuss our independent reading books. Students continue to practice cursive writing and the process is getting more and more automatic. 2nd Graders have been reading The Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry and learning about the rainforest. Students have made a K-W-L tree and added leaves that contain what they know about the rainforest and what they want to know about the rainforest. Next we will picking topics for our research projects.

In math, 3rd Graders continue to learn multiplication and division and memorize facts. Please continue to help your children commit the 2's, 3's, and 4's facts to memory. 2nd Graders are continuing to master addition and subtraction facts and place value.

3rd graders are beginning an exploration of Africa. We are starting by exploring the geography and landforms of the African continent and will move to a more specific study of Egypt. We will need your help with some materials for upcoming projects. Please send in a box of sugar cubes as well as an empty check box with your 3rd Grader. Thank you!

This week both Ean and Mira did a fabulous job presenting at Book Buzz. Bravo!!

Welcome back!

Hello!

Despite the rainy weather we have had a terrific first week back at school!

Here's what we have been up to:

*Second graders are beginning their study of the rainforest. They were treated to a slideshow and introductory information about these special places.

*Second graders enjoyed a presentation on EGGS.

*Third graders have begun reading the story of Helen Keller by Margaret Davidson. They are learning about biographies and reading some independently as well. Third graders have started using Reader's Notebooks to record thoughts and writing about their reading lives. Students and I are using this format to write letters back and forth about their reading.

*Third graders are now writing all work in CURSIVE! Their hands have been tired, but they are doing a great job!

*Both second and third graders are working hard to understand and memorize math facts. Second graders are working on addition and subtraction facts while the third graders are working on multiplication and division facts (2's, 3's, and 4's so far). PLEASE help reinforce this learning at home.

*In writing we are learning about how to structure and write good paragraphs. This week children wrote about their vacations.

Have a wonderful LONG weekend!

Asian Banquet and Job Fair

What a wonderfully active and celebratory week! Both second and third graders wrapped up long-term Social Studies units with fabulous culminating performances of understanding. On Tuesday parents and students enjoyed singing, dancing, and food at the Asian Banquet. On Thursday, second graders presented their research about their chosen professions. It was a wonderful chance for them to share their knowledge, including their commercials and business cards! Thanks to parents for all your help and support in making these events such a success.

In other exciting news, the second and third grade teachers had a wonderful visit with Myriam Jeanniss, President of the Haitian American Student Association at UMass Dartmouth. Tomorrow she is heading to Haiti and was thrilled to take our hearts of hope and peace with her to distribute! Also, she will return to Friends on April 9th to speak with students about Haiti and how we may be able to help in the aftermath of the earthquake.

We'd like to encourage you to continue to support your child's reading and writing during the next two weeks. Our recommendation is that students continue to do 20 minutes of independent reading daily. Keeping a "vacation journal" would be a fun way to keep writing skills sharp. Finally, if students have access to a computer and the internet during break, they should continue to do work on Lexia and Symphony Math.

We hope you all enjoy a relaxing March vacation!

Students have been busy getting ready for their culminating Social Studies events next week. Second graders have done a fabulous job filming their commercials for the Job Fair. These will be shown during the fair on Thursday as well as at All School Meeting on Wednesday. You will LOVE them! We also enjoyed visits from Mira's Aunt Susu and Kelly Pelissier (Maddy's mom). They shared about their respective professions, dentistry and graphic design.

Third Graders are eagerly getting ready for the Asian Banquet which will take place on Tuesday. They have been making podcasts as a culmination of their research about Japanese holidays. In addition, they have been thinking about descriptive words to use in their Haiku poetry. We finished reading Sadako and The Thousand Paper Cranes and children are making their own kokeshi dolls.

What You Need to Know About Next Week:

Second Grade Families

The Job Fair is on Thursday, March 11th from 8:30-9:30 in the Commons. There will be a parent-run food booth as part of the celebration.

Third Grade Families

The Asian Banquet is on Tuesday, March 9th from 11:30-12:45. We will enjoy an Asian-themed lunch together.

Children do not need to purchase special clothes for this event. If they have a karate-style outfit, or a kimono, they may wear it. Otherwise we have many Asian style clothes here at school that they may wear on that day.

Have a wonderful weekend. We look forward to celebrating with you all next week!