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.