Well...I certainly did miss your kids! My family had a wonderful time in Tennessee and my son had a beautiful wedding, but I was happy to come home to your kids! I missed the field trip, but I am grateful to the two parents who sent pictures of the day...I used them to compile a video for you and your child to view. As you watch the video, use the pause button and allow your child to tell you about each place at Rose Hill Manor that they visited and it's importance. I had the kids write paragraphs and draw pictures on their return...once again I was blown away by their work. They wrote some amazing pieces. Those paragraphs went home in the Take Home Folders today...please take a minute to review that paragraph and watch the video with your son or daughter.
Cinderella Photo Story
Also while I was away, your child had a Photo Story assignment of his/her own. We have been having fun with fairy tales lately. We performed take offs of different fairy tales for our play performances, we've written persuasive paragraphs to the Fairy Godmother Agency, and keeping with the theme, your child completed a Photo Story (video) retelling the story of Cinderella. We are spending a good part of next Monday afternoon viewing each other's stories...they are getting a big kick out of their work...and as usual, I'm impressed!
SCRABBLE
Something else we're going to do next week is have a SCRABBLE tournament. I thought that would be a fun way to bring a game into our week while keeping it educational. Each of these kids has an amazing vocabulary and now we're going to use them to win Scrabble! I had two students bring Scrabble games today...but if I could find 3 or 4 more games, we'd be set. Check at home to see if you have one we could borrow. I would greatly appreciate it.
Next Week
There are a lot of other things going on next week...we will see the 5th grade play, our school will have a band and chorus performance, and the Frederick County Public Library will come in to do a program on Summer Reading. Speaking of reading...on Monday, your child will be bringing home a recommended summer reading list forwarded to me by the magnet office. I would suggest you look at the 4th and 5th grade suggestions when helping your child find new and different books to read this summer. I know, being a Mom, how hard it is to keep up the reading and math facts...but please trust me when I say, as a teacher, it is SO IMPORTANT!!! So, do the best you can and keep those kids reading!!
I know some of you may have been frustrated this week that your child was not bringing home homework. I apologize...but after being away for a week, I was lucky just to have each day planned...I couldn't think a whole lot past 3:30, so the homework never came into play. Think of it as the beginning of summer! :-)
By the way...it is official...I'm teaching fifth grade magnet with Mr. Esko next Fall...thanks to all of you for supporting me in getting a permanent position. I'm thrilled to be working at Urbana!
As always, please call me with a question or comment. I enjoy hearing from you.
