April 9-13

Some of the students heard that it was my birthday on Saturday and surprised me with flowers, cards and a morning snack on Friday. Thanks to Mrs. Camp and Mrs. Piper for organizing the gift cards, donuts, fruit and drinks. It was a treat and a birthday to remember.

Today was "Wear Your Hat to School Day" promoting sun safety. I was so proud to see all the students wearing their hats. We have been talking about the importance of being sun smart, especially in this hot Florida sun. I hope to see all the students wearing their hats everyday, like they did today.

Tomorrow, second grade will go to the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg. We will be leaving school after 10:30 and be eating lunch by the Museum. We will tour the museum at 12:00. The cost is 18.25, if you plan on meeting us there. We will return to school after our tour of the gallery.

Celebrate the Arts week takes next week (April 16-20). A big highlight will be on Friday, April 20th, with the Artist in Residence - Teach In and the musical performance by our children at 11:00am that follows with a picnic lunch. Various activities are planned throughout the week to help celebrate the arts, including a visit from a Story Teller on Wednesday (9:45-10:30) and a Blue Grass Group on Tuesday.

Current Events begins again this week. On Tuesday: John and Gabby; Wednesday: Lucy and Connor; Thursday: Quentin and Skyler; Friday: Lucile and Ethan.

Here is what else is going on in class this week.

Language Arts
* Phonics: Long vowel a/ea, ei(gh), ey
* Spelling: disobey, weightless, eighteenth, they've, neighborhood, sleigh, breakfast, greatest, weight, eighty, accept, wear, laughed, sure
* Reading: Owen and Mzee (The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship) by Isabella Hatkoff, Craig Hatkoff, and Dr. Paula Kahumbu
* Reading Workshop: When readers are reading a book, we pay attention to how friendships change and develop over time. We consider how the beginning of the book connects to the middle of the books and then to the end of the book. Readers look back at how friendships have changed. We think about how to put those changes into words by talking to others, such as our reading partners
* Vocabulary: intruder, bond, companion, presence
* Grammar: Contractions
* Writing: Publish prompt
* Handwriting Without Tears: Review letters, sentences and spacing

Mathematics - Unit 7
* Median (middle value)
* Making a frequency table, line plot, and bar graph for a set of data
* Review and quiz

Social Studies - Africa
* Let's go to Morocco. Ask your child about the Khamsa they made (good luck symbol from Morocco)
* Students have chosen an African animal to research and make a visual aid about. This week the students are gathering notes about this animal's habitat, social structure, adaptations, food, human interactions. I have created a link on my blog if students want to continue researching from home. Most of this research will be worked on in class. At the end of April the students will do an oral presentation and share their visual aid. Ask your child about the animal they are researching.

Science - The Water Cycle