April 26-29

I hope you all had a terrific three days off, as I did. I can't believe that April is almost over and we will be in May - the last month of school. As I reminded the students again today, these are busy weeks finishing off second grade work and preparing for third grade. We recite our Honor Pledge daily to remind ourselves that it is important to be academically and personally honest and treat others with respect and courtesy.

Last Friday was exciting for the students (including me), because we set free our 22 Painted Lady Butterflies. What a perfect way to celebrate Earth Day. To our surprise one of the butterflies left us with eggs (tiny, round, blue-green in color), which hatched on the weekend. Now I have larvae without their favorite food, the mallow plant or thistle. If anyone has thistle or mallow in their garden, please send it to school, so we can feed the larvae. Otherwise, I plan on letting the larvae go.

Samuel's mom also sent in some Monarch Butterfly caterpillars and now we plan to watch them make their chrysalis and emerge as the beautiful Monarch Butterflies. It will be interesting to compare the Monarch to the Painted Lady Butterfly.

Here is our week at a glance. Remember that Friday is Spirit Day, the second last for the school year. Celebrate Shorecrest and wear your green and gold colors.

Parent Reader - J. Gayoso
Current Events - Tuesday: Hailey, Channing; Wednesday: Shaherzad, Aidan; Thursday: Rylan, Zaynab; Friday: Lauren E. and Gage

Language Arts: Review

Writing: Using a rubric to score writing (voice, organization, support, sentences, word choice, mechanics); scoriNg each others published pieces

Mathematics - Unit 9
* Compare weights by feel, identify purposes of various scales, explore with units of weight and equivalent measures, and weigh objects
* Review area (the measure of the inside of a closed shape)
* Review Unit 9 and assessment

Social Studies
* Africa - Readers' Theater

Science - The Life Cycle of Butterflies
* Use data to answer questions about the life cycle of the butterfly
* Observe a different species of butterfly (thanks to Samuel's mom)

Earth Day Fun Website

http://funschool.kaboose.com/globe-rider/earth-day/index.html

April 18th-22nd

After 7 days or so in the chrysalis, our Paint Lady Butterflies have finally emerged. What a miraculous transformation. We even got to watch a butterfly emerge from its chrysalis this morning, pump up its wings and hang them out to dry and harden, preparing for flight.

This week we will observe the physical characteristics and the behavior of the butterflies, before releasing them into the environment.

It is Earth Day on Friday and I have some fun earth related activities planned.

We will also continue our study about different groups of people living in Africa and start a new unit in math about measurement.

I wish you a happy week. Below is a summary of our week.

Parent Reader: M. Farley
Current Events: Tuesday: Lauren W., Jonathan; Wednesday: McIntosh, Brenna; Thursday: Samuel, Julia and Lucas; Friday: Kendall, Abby

LANGUAGE ARTS
* Phonics: Vowel variant al, ough
* Spelling: football, hallway, always, thoughtful, salt, fought, talked, walrus, chalkboard, baseball, stalk, wallpaper, bought, metamorphosis, cycle
* Reading: Let's Go Rock Collecting by Roma Gans (non-fiction)
* Fluency: Phrasing
* Comprehension: Making inferences
* Robust Vocabulary: absolutely, halfheartedly, rare, last (v.), settled, common, separated, collection, identify, durable
* Vocabulary: Multiple-meaning words
* Grammar: Helping verbs
* Writing: Re-writing expository text

MATHEMATICS - UNIT 9 - MEASUREMENT
* Review for measuring with inches, feet, centimeters, and decimeters; and begin a table of equivalent measures
* Fractional Units of Length (1/8 inch; 1/2 centimeter)
* Perimeter and area

SOCIAL STUDIES
* Research the people of Africa
* Egypt

SCIENCE
* Feeding the butterflies
* The Butterflies Body
* Butterflies have their place in the environment

Thanks so Much!

I wanted to extend a warm thanks for making my birthday one of the best yet. From the morning snack, to the gift cards and book containing photos and messages from the students, really made my day. Thanks to you all for making my day, one I will never forget.

Week of April 11th-15th

Celebrate the Arts kicked off to a great start this morning, with a performance by the cast of Singing in the Rain. The dancing got our feet moving and put us all in a good mood. Each day, a different activity has been planned to celebrate the arts. On Tuesday, the students will be visited by picture lady. On Wednesday, they will watch the Yum Yum Drum group performance. On Thursday, the students will go on an art walk to view art created by out Shorecrest community, and later watch a jazz group perform. On Friday they will participate in visiting artists' workshops (Session 1 - Mrs. Bell - Fabric; Session 2 - Andrew Gyilfoil - Dance) and later Picnic Lunch and Early Childhood and Lower Division Performance (Please join us).

Our caterpillars have undergone an amazing transformation - the third stage in its life cycle - they have formed a chrysalis and will stay hidden for about a week, and emerge as a beautiful Painted Lady Butterfly. The students are working on their observational skills and realizing that even at this apparent inactive stage, important changes are taking place within the chrysalis.

Here are some addition activities planned in the classroom. Please help your child practice his/her spelling words, that are tested every Friday. Your child should also be reading for a minimum of 20 minutes each day.

Parent Reader - J. Emerson
Current Events - Tuesday: Hailey, Channing; Wednesday: Shaherzad, Aidan; Thursday: Rylan, Zaynab; Friday: Lauren E. and Gage

Language Arts
* Phonics: vowel variant /o/aw, au (gh)
* Spelling: hawk, daughter, seesaw, naughty, author, because, lawn, launch, caught, fault, sauce, haul, forty, taught, report
* Reading: My Name is Gabriela" by Monica Brown (Biography)
* Fluency: Good readers pay attention to punctuation as they read
* Comprehension: Cause and Effect and using Graphic Organizers
* Robust Vocabulary: accent, native, beyond, create, noticed, award, literature, grand, aspire, accolade
* Vocabulary: Antonyms
* Grammar: More irregular verbs
* Writing: Prompt writing - a good conclusion; revision

Mathematics - Unit 8
* Fraction number stories
* Review Unit 8 and assessment
* Math Game Reflection

Social Studies - Africa
Partner research on people of Africa

Science - Caterpillar to Chrysalis
Observation of chrysalis and developing parts of it. The pupa is hanging head-down. Two dark bulges are visible where the compound eyes are forming. Between the eyes, the side of the mouth parts, the black antenna might be evident. A generalized wing shape will be seem.

Students will make informal observations each day until the butterflies emerge.

April 4th-8th

What a lovely Teacher Appreciation Day last Tuesday - with flowers, smiles, cards and a beautifully decorated door, modeled after Home Among the Gum Trees, a song I taught the students during our Australian unit. I loved everything and thank you for making me feel truly appreciated. As I say, I am so lucky to be working with your students at Shorecrest and it is a pleasure coming to school every day.

Last Friday the students had a great time touring the Museum of Fine Arts and experiencing some of its 4,400 years of art from both Eastern and Western Civilization. They each received a Family Pass that gives you free admission to the museum. I encourage you to use the pass and have your child be docents as you tour the museum.

On Thursday, our caterpillars arrived and have already doubled in size. Over the next few weeks the students will observe the life cycle of a Painted Lady butterfly. Students will watch their own caterpillar grow, shed its skin several times, transform into a chrysalis, and emerge as a black and orange butterfly - within less than a month.

Field Day is tomorrow (April 5th) and the PE Staff have put together a fun event beginning at 10:00am. A Field Day letter was sent home today, so check your child's homework folder for more information. Each has been assigned a team designated by color and the PE Staff ask they wear their team's colored athletic clothing and proper athletic shoes to school. Please do not feel required to purchase any new clothing for this event; the PE Staff simply ask that your child be identifiable. I also encourage your child to bring along water, a hat and wear sunscreen.

Here is our week at a glance.

Parent Reader - Mr. Counsman (Thursday morning)
Current Events - Tuesday - Lauren W., Jonathan; Wednesday - McIntosh, Brenna; Thursday - Samuel, Julia and Lucas; Friday - Kendall, Abby

Language Arts
Phonics: Vowel variant oo/ou; prefixes dis-, over-, pre-
Spelling: cookout, understand, bookstore, cookies, couldn't, should, shook, wool, wouldn't, shouldn't, butterfly, molting, growth, metamorphosis, caterpillar
PLEASE HAVE YOUR CHILD PRACTICE ANY WORDS FROM LAST WEEK'S REVIEW THAT THEY MISSED ON FRIDAY'S QUIZ.
Reading: Where on Earth Is My Bagel? by Frances Park and Ginger Park
Fluency: Good readers pay attention to punctuation by using their voices to show excitement and pausing at commas and periods.
Comprehension: Cause and Effect; Antonyms
Robust Vocabulary: belongings, fleeing, gently, smothered, replied, pleaded, fragrant, grunted, crave, correspond
Grammar: Irregular Verbs
Writing: Prompt (expository)

Mathematics - Unit 8
* Equivalent Fractions
* Finding pairs of equivalent fractions by using region models
* Comparing Fractions
* Fraction Number Stories

Social Studies - Africa
* Africa is considered the place where the first humans lived and learned to use tools. Today hundreds of thousands of people live there. It is a continent of differences and change.
* The students will choose and learn about the Masai, Arab, Egyptian, Bushman, Nigerian, Yoruba, Dinka, Ibo

Science - The Life Cycle of a Painted Lady Butterfly
* The students will observe the structures and activities of caterpillars more closely
* Students predict what changes may occur next.

Have a great week.