Room 7
March 14, 2008
Friday’s Message:
Report Cards
Your child brought home their report card today. I have met with all parents at least once and have been scheduling additional conferences as needed. If you would like a conference, or have questions/ concerns, please feel free to contact me and/or sent a note with your child.
Get Out Your Walking Shoes
Tomorrow is the school’s Walkathon. We’re hoping for 100% class participation. Come walk a few kilometers with us if you don’t have time to stay all day. If you don’t want to walk, there are plenty of kids for your child to walk with. I plan to be there for part of the day; I’ll walk with them, too.
Don’t stay away just because you didn’t turn in your Walkathon sponsor sheet. You can turn it in when you sign your child in. If you’ve misplaced it, there will be extra forms.
Hope to see you!
In class, students wrote predictions of how many kilometers they will walk. Next week we will be doing walkathon math and writing about the experience. (If your child couldn’t make it to this event, there will be an alternate assignment.)
Thank you Jon, Nola’s dad, for being our room coordinator for this event.
Purim
Reese’s brother, Alex, came to visit and teach us about Purim, a Jewish celebration. We learned about Haman, an assistant to the king. He was a bad person; he wanted to kill all the Jews. The students would “boo” every time Alex said Haman’s name.
Mordecai, a relative of the king’s wife, queen Esther, wanted to save the Jews. He was a good person. Everyone said “yay!” when they heard his name. With students cheering, Alex told the story of Purim. He told how Mordecai, pleaded with his cousin Esther, who was also Jewish, to tell the king of Mordecai’s plan. (Back then, women didn’t have much say, and to approach the king about “business” was not common.) So Esther and Modecai risked their lives by confronting the king. By doing so, the king sided with them and got rid of Haman. Purim celebrates survival, life. It is a fun and festive holiday. It’s a time for good food and sharing.
Alex shared a special treat made especially during Purim, hamantashen. This is a fruit filled cookie that is shaped with 3 points. Hamantashen is supposed to be representative of the 3-cornered hat Haman wore.
Learning with Bread
Alex K. brought croissants from France. We learned that croissant means crescent in French; and that crescent is a shape. Several students drew the shape. Then Alex’s dad, Richard, showed them croissants that were premade, all we needed to do was bake them. He told us the croissants had risen overnight, and when they are baked, they would rise some more. Besides the flour, water, and salt, we learned yeast makes them rise and the butter makes the bread light and flaky. We learned French people like to eat croissants for breakfast, but they really can be eater any time of day.
Alex brought in a book that had pictures of other kinds of delicious French food. He also taught us a few French words like “bonjour” for hello, and “merci” for thank you. Someday Alex wants to go to France to see the Eiffel Tower.
Students have been turning in the form with the bread they will be sharing. Several students listed the same bread. To be fair, the student that turned in the form first gets to bring the bread; it’s a “first come, first serve” basis. I will be contacting you when to bring in the bread or if a particular date/day works for you, please let me know and I will schedule you in.
Besides naming the bread and pointing out the country it originated from on a world map, the student tells something about the bread / country. Classmates then repeat something they learned that the student has shared. (I write the short blurb on the bread for YOU, so you know what was presented. Ask your child questions about the bread. Hopefully s/he can tell you more.)
Please leave the bread whole so students can see what the bread looks like. Then we will do math as we cut up the bread.
We work hard for our food! We are doing geography, cultural diversity, language arts, science (when you make the bread with the class), math, methods for cooking bread, similarities and differences, and so much more....
Please turn in the bread forms if you haven’t done so. Thanks!
Star Student
**Olivia Petty*** was the star student this week. *** Jordan Klein *** is the star next week.
A Clean Sock
Please have your child bring one clean (old) sock. We will be making sock puppets.
Tissue Please
Spring is in the air and allergies are rampart, or kids are coming to school with colds.
We’ve been going through two boxes of tissue a week. If your child could bring a box it would be appreciated. Thanks.
Book Orders
If you would like to purchase books, please return the forms by next Friday,
March 21. Make check payable to Scholastic.
READING
Read and record in your Reading Log.
WRITING
The students have listened to the story Clever Tom and the Leprechaun. The leprechaun outwitted Tom. For the writing assignment, the leprechaun is going to let your child find the gold because he knows your child will use the gold to help people that are less fortunate than themselves.
Have your child write who s/he would give the gold to and why. Then because your child is so kind and generous, s/he gets a gold piece. Have your child tell what s/he would do with the gold and why.
MATH
After spending all that gold, they get to come back to reality and learn the value of a dollar. Let your child use $3.00 in assorted coins. If possible, take them “shopping” at a grocery store or use the ads in the newspaper. The purpose of this math lesson is to have your child practice counting / adding coins to pay for the items up to one dollar.
The following are suggestions when you take your child shopping to help him/her focus on spending money in dollar increments.
What kind and how many fruits can be bought for one dollar?
What kind of vegetable and how many vegetables can be bought with a dollar?
Are there any novelty toys you can buy for a dollar?
Are there any dairy products that can be bought for a dollar?
Do you have any money left?
After your child counts out the coins needed to pay for the items, put all the coins in a pile and have your child group the coins into dollars. Then have your child write the total amount spent. (If your child would like to spend a couple more dollars, please encourage him/her.)
Students should the coins at home, but when they turn in the homework, their list will suffice. Their list should include the number of the items bought for each dollar. Students will see how much/little one dollar buys. Then write what the total cost is for everything you “bought.” How much change is left?
The objective of this lesson is to review money and the value of 100 cents. (Also when they make sock puppets, they will be given a certain amount of money to buy items and sometimes will need to make change. They will also have to calculate the total cost of their puppet.)
HOW ACTIVE ?
What kind of physical activities do you do during the week? Write the name of the week day, the activity/activities, and how many minutes you do each activity. If you don’t do a physical activity on a particular day, just write “none.”