Week 35
May 20, 2013
Thank you…..
…..parents, for continually covering for each other during classtime and for other activities when the
needs arise. I appreciate all that you continue to do to support our classroom!
…..to all of you who were able to help at the carnival or came to have a good time! I enjoyed the energy
and smiles!!
…..all for helping your children participate in our ABC Countdown. We are having quite a fun time. We
had 12 different favorite fruits on Favorite Fruit Day. On Game Day we played animals charades with our
buddies!
…..to Izzy, Amin’s dad for providing Icy Treat on I Day!
….to our Crab Cove driver/chaperones, Tina, Alan, Christine, Jessie, Alison, Mark and Sohug! It was a
loooooooong and wonderful day of learning!
......Mike, Hana’s dad, for sharing his job as a compositor!
Speaking of volunteering……the PFC is seeking new members for next year! There are many open Board
spots and committees that I KNOW so many of you would not only have fun doing, but also bring along
your creative ideas and expert skills. Please consider a Board position. Thornhill thrives in part because
of wonderful parents like you!
With the end of the school just 17 school days away, many of you are beginning to ask about next year.
While the prinicipal at a school has the final say, the Kindergarten teachers meet to discuss each child
and provide recommended placement for the following year. We consider many things, including, but
not limited to learning styles, gender, ethnicity, friendships, academic, and social-emotional skills. Our
1st grade teachers are wonderful and regardless of where placed, your children will be in good hands!
GENERAL INFORMATION and UPCOMING EVENTS
Week of May 20: I will be doing formal DIBELS assessments for language arts during our morning class
time. Don’t forget hearty breakfasts and to arrive on time! Thanks
May 23: School Spirit Day (Wear pajamas if you wish.) our our Mystery Day.
May 24-27: No school. Memorial Day weekend
May 29: Open House and Volunteer Appreciation 6:30 PM
May 31: School Spirit Day (Dress like your teacher. Can’t wait for this one!) and our Question Day
June 12: Year-end celebration. The children choose our Lunch Bunch Menu. Information and how you
can help to follow.
June 13: Closing Circle and last day of school. Please save the morning to attend our last morning
circle when I will honor your children.
Scholastic Book Fair: As you may have heard Ms. Hennessy is presenting a Scholastic Book Fair the week
of May 28th. On that Tuesday, the children will have the opportunity to browse and see what books are
available for purchase and bring an order form home. On Thursday, the 30th children who have
returned an order form and money will have the opportunity to return to the library to purchase books.
As an alternative, the Book Fair will be open on the evening of Open House, but the shopping time will
be limited. If you wish for your child to participate during school, please remember to send in
money/order form on the 30th. Proceeds from the Fair support our library!
CLASSROOM NEWS
Liam was our Star Student. His favorite bird is the dodo bird! His favorite place is Thailand and he hopes
to be a scientist! We enjoyed Thai fried bananas as a special treat after our field trip, thanks to Jessie!
Lunch Bunch was Ayan, Deacon, Diara, Wendy, Ethan and Kai! The questions were flowing! A favorit
discussion was about our favorite bridge. The children all said the Golden Gate because it’s “kind of
gold”! We then recalled how people coming to the Gold Rush by ship entered the “golden gate”. We never
did figure our why the bridge is orange!
Language Arts: We have read 300 books so far this year! Quite an accomplishment! Reading, creative
writing, practicing letter sounds, editing Mrs. Weissman’s morning message mistakes and making new
words were all a part of our program this week. We listened to Fish is Fish, about a fish who has a frog
for a friend, and wrote what we would do if we were a fish or frog! And, we imagined that we are FLAT
like Stanley and wrote about what we would do!
Math: We made clocks and are beginning to tell time to the hour. Ask your child why clocks are
important! We also learned about digital clocks and practiced writing the time! Our graph showed that
night is our favorite time of day. We are continuing to count how many days we’ve been in school AND
count down for how many are left. Only 17 more days until summer fun.
Science: I hope the children brought home their boxes and patterns to show you JUST how a box is
made!!! It was a challenge finding the “seam” to disassemble the box and even MORE challenging to
tape the box back together! Why is chipboard a good paper for boxes?
Our field trip to Crab Cove was a huge success. The children learned SO very much and were happy to
share their thoughts on Friday!
Social Studies: We looked at a globe and world map and learned to recognize what is land and what is
water! Why are the oceans colored blue AND where does all that water come from?
Art: What is a compositor and how many syllables does the word have? What are foreground, mid
ground and background? Mike, Hana’s dad came and shared his job with the children during art time.
Simply put, a compositor layers film in order to create a movie. You might have the ocean in the
background with a sandy bottom, a mid ground layer with some seaweed or an animal or two and the
foreground with a ship or more animals. Put them together and you have ONE picture! Add a movable
character or animal and you have a “movie”. The children did just this on Friday. Wait until you see the
creative work, inspired by Mike’s film clips and photos. Undoubtedly, Star Wars had to be the favorite!
Nugget: Nugget is making his last round of visits with inventions galore. This week we had a houseboat,
a spaceship and a house!