Newsletter April 10 - April 14

We have fun things planned for this week before our Spring break.

Here are this week's happenings:

• Thanks for getting me all of your lunch preferences in for our field trip to the St. George Children's museum on May 1.  I have one parent that has volunteered to help us that day--I still need three more parent volunteers to accompany us on that trip.  You can ride the bus down with us (leaving at 9:00 a.m.) or meet us at the museum at about 10:00 a.m.  Please contact me if you can help us.  The museum requires that many helpers so if we can't get a few more we may be forced to cancel the trip. I have had a couple of you send in your $1.00 for that trip.  You can send that in anytime before May 1.  It's easier if I get the $1.00 before the day we leave so I can get a count to our secretary in advance rather than running around the morning of figuring our money situation.   
• Our Easter Egg Hunt is scheduled for this Thursday at around 2:15 at the Canyon Park.  We will go to the west side of the park (by the hill, pavilion and bigger playground) instead of the east side as originally planned since the Kindergarten classes will be going on Friday and we won't have competition for that space.  I have two parents that have volunteered to help come and get the eggs and "hide" them for us.  I would love to have some more helpers.  Let me know if you could come and help.  You would need to come to our classroom at about 1:30 to get the eggs and then take them to the park and "hide" them.  We will leave the school at 2:00 right after library to go to the park.  We still need more eggs!  Please consider if you can help us by sending in a dozen plastic- candy filled Easter eggs by Wednesday, April 12.  You can either buy them already pre-filled (easiest way obviously) or fill them yourself.  Please secure them with a piece of scotch tape if you fill them as they tend to pop open. 
• For our swimming field trip, I have two parents that have volunteered to help.  I need a couple more for that field trip.  We will go on Tuesday, May 9 in the afternoon (12:30-3:00).  Let me know if you can help with that also.  The PTA is sponsoring that field trip and will sponsor parent volunteers also.  
• Tomorrow we will take our Chapter 11 math test (three-dimensional shapes).  We will then move onto our final chapter (parts of a whole) and then review some tricky parts of our addition/subtraction chapters as well as work on concepts that will help with moving onto second grade.
• We do not have spelling words this week.  We are also concluding a unit in reading also.  We will pause for a few days and work on personal narrative this week and finish our reading book called "Grace".  When we return from spring break we will begin our final unit in reading!  CRAZY!  Don't think we're done as we have our end-of-year reading test (DIBELS) on May 3.  Reading intervention groups will commence on May 1, but we won't stop small group reading instruction.  I will continue to have small reading groups within my classroom for the month of May.
• It's the week of new units.  We just started our Unit on the History of the Earth (think rocks, geology, continents etc.).  I'm amazed at what my students already know, but I will be amazed at what they learn also.  Today we learned about Geologists and the three terms that all "geologists" understand that cause changes in our earth--those are "heat", "pressure", and "time". 
• Take-Home books will come home Monday-Thursday only this week.  The take-home librarian wants to cut down on lost books over the break so books will not come home on Friday.  Please take this time to find your book if it's been missing for a while. Remember that the replacement cost for take-home books is $5.00.  
• I didn't get Scholastic book orders out last week.  I will do my best to get them separated out and sent home this week.  I will send home both April and May brochures and that will most likely be our final order of the year. Thanks for ordering--that is one of the ways that I acquire "free" books for our classroom and adds to the collection of books that I give my students as the progress through the 100-book challenge. We have another 100 book club member--Tenley reached the 100 book mark last week.  Congratulations!  Keep reading towards that goal.  We have a little over a month left. 

I hope that you all have a nice Spring Break--I am hoping it actually feels like spring for it!  Send Easter eggs if you can and haven't already :)  and Happy Reading!