Mrs. Aldoupolis Welcomes You To Room 31!

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Thursday, May 24, 2012 It's hard to believe another year is about to come to a close. We have decided to cancel our Garden Party on Wednesday, June 13th because there are several other activities for which we will need parent help. Neighborhood students will be performing A Day in the Life of a Student on Friday, June 8th at 8:45 in the auditorium. Families are invited to attend.   On Monday, June 11th, students will be completing an engineering project by designing a waterslide. We will be looking for parent volunteers to help beginning at about 10 AM. We will be working throughout the day. If you have a CORI and are able to donate any increment of time during the day please email.  In addition, we will be looking for specific items needed to complete this project. A list will be posted in the next few days. Tuesday, June 12th, we will be going on a field trip to Breezy Picnic Grounds. Permission slips for this went home today. We will not be limiting the number of chaperones for this trip but ask that you meet us at the park. ALL STUDENTS MUST return to school on the bus.  The Mud Run will take place on Thursday, June 7th after school. Permission slips will be sent home shortly.  Mindess' Annual Spring Concert will take place on Wednesday, Jume 6th at Ashland High School from 7 PM - 8 PM. Chorus students need to arrive at 6:45 and band students should arrive at 6:50. The fifth graders will take part in Step Up Day, Thursday, May 31st. The Tornadoes Game is Tuesday, May 29th. Fifth grade students should arrive at school to take the buses at 5 PM. Student are expected to return between 9:45 PM and 10 PM.  The Fifth Grade Neighborhood Send-Off will take place at 10:15 on Wednesday, June 13th. Family and friends of our fifth graders are invited to attend. Monday, May 7, 2012 Please read the updates below. Many dates have been added to Our Class Calendar.Please check them out. We are starting the last round of MCAS testing forthis year. The dates are posted on the calendar. We still plan to have our Neighborhood yard sale onWednesday. Please send things in by Wednesday morning. Book orders are due tomorrow.Thursday, May 3, 2012 All Mindess library books should be returned no later than tomorrow. We are finished with library for this year. We will have our Neighborhood Yard Sale on Wednesday, May 9th.If you should have items to donate, please send them to school as soon as possible. Book orders went home on Wednesday. Please have orders in no later than Tuesday, May 8th. Ordering is still available online. Check the Communications page for more details. Permission slips for the Tornadoes game for grade 5 students went home today. Hallmark presentations are currently under way. Students are in the process of selecting dates. Please let me know if you have any questions.  Monday, April 30, 2012 We will be having a garden party and picnic lunch after the Fifth Grade Send-off on June 13th. Fifth grade parents and family members are invited to Send-off in the auditorium beginning at 10:15. This is expected to run until about noon. At noon we will head to the classrooms and gardens in the Neighborhood corridor. Everyone will enjoy a picnic lunch (to be provided by families for their own families) and the gardens that we have been tending. Grade 5 students will once again be attending a Worcester Tornadoes game in the early evening. The date for this event is Tuesday, May 29th. More information and permission slips will be sent home when they become available. All students will participate in the Mindess Marathon on Friday, May 11th. This event will take place during the school day. It is intended to be a fundraiser. More information is on its way The Mud Run is scheduled for Wednesday, May 30th. It will take place after school. More details will be sent home when available. We will have one more Scholastic order before the end of the year. It will go home Wednesday. Please send orders in no later than Tuesday, May 8th. Sunday, April 23, 2012 Our field trip is scheduled for tomorrow. We will go rain or shine!! Please be sure that your child has a bagged lunch for this trip, no glass containers please. Students may bring an IPod and/or a camera but no other electronic devices (especially those used for video games). IPods will be restricted to use on the ride to and from our trip. Students are responsible for anything that they bring. Children should dress in layers for the weather as it will be fairly cool (predicted to be about 54 degrees) being outdoors all day. All students should wear appropriate footwear. It will likely be muddy from the rain. Please email if you have any questions. Please check the Class Calendar page for upcoming events including the MCAS testing schedule for May. Wednesday, April 4, 2012 We went into the woods today to investigate plant growth. Please remind students to double check for ticks. Field trip permission slips and money are due on Tuesday, April 10th. Don't forget that we will be having our Neighborhood Yard Sale on Tuesday, April 10th. Students are encouraged to bring in donations as soon as possible. Book orders will be going home tomorrow. Orders are due on Thursday, April 12th. Orders can be made online as well. Monday, March 26, 2012 A notice about a fieldtrip to Sturbridge Village on Tuesday, April 24th (rain or shine) went home yesterday. Please check with your child for more information. We will be having a Neighborhood Yard Sale on Monday, April 10th. Please see the flyer on the Communications page for more information. The latest MCAS dates have been posted on Our Class Calendar page. Please note that testing begins May 7th and ends on May 21st. It is important that children are here to take the test. We are working on a garden party for the Neighborhood families. The tentative date for this is Tuesday, June 5th. More information will follow when it becomes available. Please check the Conferences page to verify that you have a conference and when it is scheduled. If you have not already scheduled a conference but wish to have one, please e-mail me. The next two Wednesdays are early release days ~ March 27th and April 4th. If your child is not doing what he/she normally does after school, he/she must have a note. Dismissal time is 12:35.  Several students have not returned signed report card envelopes. Please do this as soon as possible. Monday, March 12, 2012 We have started our study of plants. In the next week we will be making our own sample flower with it's various parts. We are in need of 26 toilet paper roll inserts in order to complete this project. If you are able to help us that would be great. Book orders will go home today. Orders can be placed online. Information about how to do this can be found on the Communications page. Orders should be sent in or placed online by Friday, March 16. We are currently planning a fieldtrip to Sturbridge Village on Tuesday, April 24. More information will be posted and sent home when it becomes available. Conference sign-ups are taking place. Please check the Conferences page to see what times are still available. Please email a time that is available if you would like an appointment. Report cards will be sent home with students this Friday, March 16. Please remind students that although the weather is getting warmer, they still need a light jacket or sweatshirt for recess. We have been working on an engineering project designing our own town. Please ask your student about this. We will post pictures when our town is complete. A letter giving students permission to be photographed using the projector from DonorsChoose.org went home last Thursday. Only students who have the form signed and return it will be photographed for the website. Sunday, February 12, 2012 Great news! The projector for our classroom has been funded through DonorsChoose.org! It arrived here in our classroom on Thursday. Thank you to friends and family members of students in our classroom who made it possible. We will be setting up another drive for an Elmo document camera through DonorsChoose shortly. We will keep you posted. Thursday will be Pajama Day. The drive for Cradles to Crayons will end Friday. Please send in new or gently used pajamas as soon as possible. The food drive to benefit the Ashland Food Pantry ends Tuesday, February 14. Please send in non-perishable items if you would like to participate. We have surpassed our goal of 100 cans/goods for our classroom. At this point we have approximately 120 items. The students in room 31 are very excited to be helping! A new book order will be sent home tomorrow. Ordering is already set up on the Scholastic website if you are interested. Please have orders in by Friday, February 17. Students are asked to bring in their Jump Rope for Heart donation envelopes as soon as possible. Students will be jumping in the gym this Friday, February 17th for this worthy cause. Valentine's Day is Tuesday. While we are not planning anything special, students that would like to exchange cards may do so. However, I ask that students bring in a card for all other members of the class and not just a few as this often leads to hurt feelings. There are 26 students in our class. Tuesday, January 31, 2012 We are more than half way to our goal to get a projector for our classroom on DonorsChoose.org. Thank you for your support! Here's the link if you are interested: <a href="http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/proposal.html?id=719349&verify=-1010631020">http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/proposal.html?id=719349&verify=-1010631020</a> We are currently having several drives at Mindess. The first is a pajama drive for Cradles to Crayons. Students can pay $0.25 cents for the next three Fridays in order to wear pajamas. The proceeds collected will be used to purchase new pajamas for this worthy charity. Anyone wishing to donate new or gently used pajamas (do not have to be complete sets) is encouraged to do so. The drive will end on February 14. We are also having a food drive to support the Ashland Food Pantry. Our hope is to collect 100 non-perishable items per classroom. This drive ends on Friday, February 16. Friday, February 3rd is Patriots Day! Please wear your red, white and blue to show your support! Wednesday, January 25, 2012 It's hard to believe that half of the school year is already over. We continue to work hard in room 31. Currently we are working on our Hallmark projects at a record clip. We will be finishing up our geology unit this week. Plants is our next unit of study for science. At the urging of our district, I recently set up an account with DonorsChoose.org. We are looking to get a projector for our classroom. Donors are always welcome. Our project is called Techology that Teaches. Once we have secured a projector, we will work towards securing a document camera. Thank you in advance for any assistance you can give us in our endeavor! Please email Mrs. Aldoupolis with any questions. Monday, January 9, 2012 It's official! Each student received a folder today with his/her Hallmark assignment. There is a letter in the folder that needs to be signed by a parent. The bottom section of the letter should be returned no later than Thursday, January 12. Book orders will be sent home on Tuesday, January 10. Orders will be due on Tuesday, January 17. As always, orders may be placed online. See the Communivcations page for details. The MCAS schedule for ELA has been posted on the Class Calendar page. The dates range from March 20 through March 30. It is imperative that students be in school on their testing days. The math schedule will be posted as soon as it becomes avaialble. Those testing days will take place in May. Sunday, December 18, 2011 Hot Cocoa Day is this Wednesday, December 21. Anyone wishing to purchase hot cocoa should bring in their money by Wednesday. Students may bring a mug from home if they choose. Cocoa is $1.00 and proceeds will go to the Ashland Emergency Fund. Students in room 31 have earned a Secret Snowman Swap. This will take place on Friday December 23. A letter about this activity was sent home on Friday. All students who were at school on Friday have chosen their "snowman". There will be Homework Help after school tomorrow for anyone who would like to stay. Please be sure to have a note. Beginning this week, ALL STUDENTS must have a "real" coat for recess. It is getting too cold for students to be outside at recess with only sweatshirts. Several students have asked if we can build graham cracker houses. After much deliberation I have decided that we will do this engineering activity on Friday morning at about 11:30. We are in need of several items. If you are able to send any of the following items in please email me so that we don't have 26 parents sending in the same thing. We will need several boxes of graham crackers, ready to spread frosting, small candies for decorating. Students will not be allowed to eat these in school. They will be taking the finished products home. I will leave the consumption of these treats up to you! For the past several years we have had a breakfast for students the Friday before the December vacation. This year will be no different. If you are able to contribute a healthy breakfast item, please let me know. I will be starting a new page for this purpose so everyone knows which items are already spoken for. Sadly, this Friday will be Ms. Flenke's last official day with us! She has promised to visit in the spring provided her new scheduled will allow it. We will miss her but wish her well as she continues on! Last but not least, anyone who would like to help for either the breakfast or the making of our houses, please let me know. I will need about four parents for each of these activities. If you have a CORI on file already, I would love for you to join us. Wednesday, December 14, 2011 Tomorrow is Picnic Day. Students should bring in a towel for lunch. Hot Cocoa day will be held on Wednesday, December 21. Students wishing to purchase hot cocoa should bring in a dollar. Students may bring in their mugs for their cocoa.  A letter will be sent home on Friday about our Secret Snowman plans. Please watch for it. I will post the document on the Communications page on Friday. Book orders should be in early next week. Please let me know if there are any gift items that should be put aside. Sunday, December 11, 2011 There is an Early Release day again this Wednesday. We are working towards earning a "Secret Snowman" activity. If all goes well, information about this event will be sent home by the end of the week. Students will be working on an activity in science that will require a cardboard box. Shoe/boot boxes should work well. If you have something that might work, please send it to school with your student. Students will be working in pairs. Our class will be working on several engineering activities that will require a variety of materials. If you have or can spare any of the following items, they would greatly be appreciated. Items include: mini marshmallows, toothpicks, plastic shopping bags, tape, and decks of playing cards (can be old, incomplete sets). Thank you in advance for all of your help and generosity! We have a full day of school on Friday, December 23rd. After school homework help tomorrow, Monday, December 12. Please be sure to have a note if planning to stay. Thursday, November 17, 2011 For Twin Day on Wednesday, November 23 many students in the class would like to dress up like Ms. Flenke and Mrs. A. Together we have decided to wear: blue jeans or blue pants, dark blue/navy or black shirts, a bandana (any color), cowboy hats (we think we will have enough for anyone who does not have one), and boots if possible. Please do not go out to buy anything special for this activity. We will make it work. It looks like the Walk to School Day scheduled for Wednesday, November 23 will be postponed. An email will be sent when a new date is established. Report cards will be sent home on Monday, November 21. Book orders should be in early next week. The weather is unpredictable right now. Please make sure that students come to school prepared to go outside in cooler weather. Tuesday, November 15, 2011 
Parent Teacher Conferences will take place on November 30, December 7 and December 14. Please check the available times on the Conferences page before emailing for a time. The schedule is currently up to date. 
Spirit Week is next week. Monday, November 21 is Crazy Hair/Crazy Hat day. Tuesday, November 22 is Pajama Day. Wednesday, November 23 is Twin Day. Our class is planning to dress alike. We are in the process of deciding what to wear. Our decision will be posted as soon as it is available. 
Kids Night Out is this Friday, November 18.
Walk to School Day will take place again on Wednesday, November 23. Bus students will be dropped off near the library. Mindess staff members will line the streets to keep students safe. 
Wednesday, November 23 is an Early Release Day. Students will not be served lunch. Dismissal is scheduled for 11:30. 
EDP is currently holding a coat drive. Please consider contributing gently used winter clothing to this worthy cause. 
Parent volunteers are holding a book drive for the library this week. Gently used books are welcome.
Our class is working towards earning a healthy breakfast for November 23. We will let you know by Friday how we are doing towards that goal. Wednesday, November 9, 2011 

Conferences are being scheduled for November 30, December 7 and December 14, the days that the district has side aside for this purpose. Please check the schedule on the Conference page and email Mrs. A for a time. Conferences are scheduled on a first come – first serve basis. I will put first names of students on the lists as spots are filled. 
Students in Mrs. Aldoupolis’ social studies class need to gather 20 small rocks/pebbles for a Wampanoag rock game. Book orders can be placed online until Friday, November 11. See the Communication page for instructions about how to order. Please email if you plan to send an order in with your child and I will wait until Monday, November 14th. Otherwise orders will be placed so that students can receive books by next weekend. Copies of preordered Diary of a Wimpy Kid should be delivered to school on the 15th. 
Anyone who has not returned their Thanksgiving Feast lunch choice should do so by Monday.  
Notices went home today about a book drive for the library and for PICTURE RETAKES. Retakes will take place on Monday, November 14, 2011.  Tuesday, October 25, 2011 Tomorrow, Wednesday, October 26 is an early release day. Students will be dismissed from school at 12:30. Tomorrow is also picnic lunch. Please bring a towel to sit on. Friday is the Spooky Run. Students should bring or wear sneakers and appropriate outdoor clothing as we will be hiking through the woods after lunch. KISS 108 projects are due this Friday. Presentations will begin on Monday October 31. Friday, October 7, 2011 Our field trip to Wachusett Mountain is on Thursday, October 13th. Please make sure permission slips are in by Tuesday, October 11th. An extra copy of the permission slip can be found on the Communications Page. Remember, all chaperones must have a CORI on file and are required to take the bus to and from the mountain. 
 Book orders can still be ordered online until Sunday, October 9th on the Scholastic web page. Here is the link: <a href="http://clubs.scholastic.com/">http://clubs.scholastic.com/</a> Our activation code is: GVKHK. A parent letter can be found on the Communications page. 
As a reminder, the Kiss 108 book report project needs to be turned in with a parent signature. Projects are due on Friday, October 28. Most of the work for these projects will be done in school. 
Finally, we are moving right along in our study of rocks. We will soon be discussing igneous rocks and we will be conducting another experiment. Small jars are needed once again, to help us do this experiment. If you happen to have any small clear plastic or glass jars, please send them in by Friday, October 14th. Several students still need to turn in their permission slips for the field trip. Monies and permission were due Friday, October 7th. Friday, September 30, 2011 We will be going on a fieldtrip to Wachusett Mountain on October 13th. The rain date will be October 14th. Permission slips were sent home on Wednesday. Money and permission slips are due Friday, October 7th. You can find an extra copy of the permission slips on the Communications page. Parents of students with life threatening allergies will be picked first for chaperones. If other spots are available for chaperones, a lottery will take place. Chaperones must have a CORI on file and are required to take the bus to and from the mountain. Wednesday, October 5th will be Walk to School Day. Bus students will be dropped off near the library to walk the rest of the way. Teachers and administrators will line the route to make sure all students get to school safely. Book orders will be sent home on Monday, October 3rd. They will be due Friday, October 7th. As always, orders can be placed online. Information for ordering online is on the Communication Page.   Students in room 31 were assigned a book review project that is due Friday, October 28th. An information sheet was sent home on Wednesday for parent signature. The majority of this project will be done during D.E.A.R. and home base/literacy time. However, if students fall behind, part of the project will be done at home. Please remember to bring in your jars for our science lesson. We will start making our sedimentary rocks on Wednesday, October 5th.    Friday, September 23, 2011 Please check the Communications page for documents that have been added. One is about the format for Monday night, September 26 . Another is about MCAS. MCAS scores will be mailed home to parents on Monday. Parents should recieve them either Tuesday or Wednesday.  The last document is from Ms. Flenke for items needed for our science unit.  Wednesday, September 14, 2011 We will continue to make our models of the Earth's core tomorrow. We are in need of several newspapers. If you happen to have an old newspaper hanging around, please send it in. Friday, September 16 is picture day. Please be sure to send in picture money no later than Friday. Friday is also Ashland Pride Day. Students are encouraged to dress in blue and white. Wednesday, September 7, 2011 Students have homework this evening which will likely require a parents input. We will be making a life map which will be made into a placemat. The form that was sent home has many spaces. Most students will not have enough life events to fill in the entire sheet...perfectly understandable. FYI: Use a scale of 1 - 10 for the rating; use a word for the image column (what symbol or picture would best depict the event?).  All students need an agenda for Monday when blocks start. Agendas can be purchased for $5 here at school. The supply is dwindling quickly. Many students brought in their rocks today. Please make sure that they are in by Friday. Book orders are due by Friday, September 9. Online ordering has been set up. Please check the Communications page for more information.  Emergency forms need to be returned to school as soon as possible.   Tuesday, September 6, 2011    Please send in parent forms if they have not been sent in already. A few reminders:  Good Evening! We have been working hard at establishing our daily routines in Room 31. Just wanted to post a few updates and ask (feels like we do this a lot!) for your assistance. Tuesday and Thursday are P.E. days. Please be sure to have sneakers on those days. Book orders will be sent home tomorrow. Orders may be online. Information for online ordering can be found on the Communications page. Parents may also send orders in if that is their preference. Please send orders in to school or order on line by this Friday, September 9. Picture Day is Friday, September 16. More information will be sent home when it is available. If you have not done so, please be sure to sign and return any documents that have been sent home for your attention as soon as possible.   Help Wanted:   We will be working on several science projects in the next few weeks. We are in need of several items. If you are able please send in: Domino confectioner sugar boxes or cornstarch boxes (or boxes of a similar size), pink or red Play-Doh, blue plastic bags or such that can simulate water. We are also in need of homemade clay that hardens. If you are able to contribute this, we will need it for this Thursday, September 8. Please email Mrs. A if you are able to send a batch.  Here's the recipe: </div>
<div style="color: black; padding-left: 20px;">2 c. baking soda 1 c. cornstarch 1 1/2 c. warm water</div>

<div style="color: rgb(119, 34, 34);" class="instructions">Mix baking soda and cornstarch in a pan. Add water and stir until smooth. Bring to boil over medium heat. Remove from heat and pour onto a board to cool. Knead when it is cool. Store in covered container.   Thanks so much!!! Tuesday, August 30, 2011 Good Evening! Our first day of school appears to have been a success. Students for the most part left with a positive attitude. A pink folder was sent home with several important papers. Please send them back to school as soon as possible. Anyone who participated in the Summer Reading Program should send their finished reading logs into school no later than Thursday, September 1. Please be sure to include an envelope so that children can receive their prizes. Students had homework this evening. They are to fill out the Getting to Know You form. I asked that all children write complete sentences and not just one word answers. These forms are due back to school tomorrow. Please fill out and send in the parent Getting to Know You form as soon as possible. The Neighborhood Summer Reading form is due no later than Thursday. We will be having our book discussion on Thursday morning. Thank you all for your generosity. We have collected many supplies on our wish list and should be all set for some time!!  Third grade students will begin testing for block placement tomorrow. Our plan is to have all students ready to begin blocks on September 12. In the meantime we will begin learning about Ancient China and begin our study of geology in the next few days. Monday, August 29, 2011 Good afternoon! Well...tomorrow is the first day of school! Our room has been cleaned and organized with great anticipation of your return. This fall we have a student teacher joining us from Framingham State University. Her name is Ms. Flenke. She is excited to be part of our class as well. I hope you will all join me in welcoming her. Tomorrow will be a very busy day. Students will have P.E. first thing tomorrow morning. Please be sure to have sneakers. Many notices will be going home with students tomorrow. Please check backpacks. Some forms will need to filled out and returned...especially health and emergency forms. It would be great if we could have them back by the end of the week. Please send in the parent questionnaire as soon as possible. It will help me to better assist children with transitioning.   For your planning purposes, Back to School Night will be held on Monday, September 26. More information will be sent home with times and schedules. Please feel free to email me with questions or concerns. I am looking forward to seeing and meeting everyone once again. Monday, August 22, 2011 Good evening! The first day of school is a week away. I have been organizing and cleaning our room so that it will be in tip top shape when school starts. I will be in the classroom this Friday, August 26 from 12:30 - 2:30 pm. If you would like to come meet me or drop off school supplies (or both!), you may do so then. Please be aware that you may not roam the building at that time because cleaning is still taking place. I'm looking forward to meeting and seeing all of you again. On another note, as I have been cleaning I have realized that there are several things that we can use including: playing cards and outdoor playground equipment such as a kick ball, or Four-square ball. There is a questionnaire that you will receive in the mail in the next day or so. Although some of you filled it out last year, as students grow and change so do their needs and personalitites. Please take the time to fill it out and return it to me with your child during the first week of school. Thanks so much!</div>

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Mrs. Aldoupolis Welcomes You To Room 31!

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