Free breakfast!!

I found an article with the information below about a free breakfast at McDonalds:

McDonalds will be offering FREE breakfast to students on Monday, April 11 from 6 to 8:30 a.m. in preparation for the FCAT. The offer includes an egg mcmuffin, apple dippers and a milk or small orange juice. No substitutions. In store offer only while supplies last. Students under 15 must be accompanied by a parent. Child must be present for offer.

FCAT

You've received plenty of notes about the quiet time taking place during the weeks of FCAT (Apr 11-20). I'm sure there will be more to come. I wanted to take some time to mention our part in helping the older children take such a intimidating test.

We are paired up with Mrs. Riley's 3rd class. We will be their "FCAT buddy" during this testing period. I think it would be fun to do something supportive and encouraging for them every day of testing.

I will need your help with donating items and maybe even coming up with some cute slogans to send their way. Some ideas I've used in the past include:

"Stay COOL through testing."- send peppermints

"You're a smart COOKIE"- send a small bag of cookies to enjoy afterward

"Be a STAR and BURST through the test!"- Send some starburst candies

"You're SHARP!"- send cute pencils

I would love some input from my creative parents out there! If you think of something cute, e-mail me your thoughts.
I also like to end the week with Popsicles that both our class and Mrs. Riley's class will enjoy together.

If you have a neat idea or would be able to help out in some way, please let me know. I'll be finalizing things after break.

Scholastic Book Club

Order forms for three separate book clubs went home today. All orders are due next Friday, March 25. If you plan on sending a check, I will need your order by Thursday before we leave for break. Orders can be placed securely online using the class code on the sheet attached with the order forms.
Let me know if you have questions!

Homework

Next week (March 21) there will be no homework. Please take this opportunity to encourage some additional reading during the time you would normally set aside for homework. There are several children who have a ways to go before meeting their 25-book goal for the month of March in order to earn their Book-It reading certificate. I'm looking forward to rewarding students in May who have met their goal EVERY month since we began the program.

Symphony Under the Stars

Loretto's annual Symphony Under the Stars will take place on Friday, April 29 from 6:00-8:30. The theme this year is "Night at the Movies". I've heard there will be lots of teachers and administrative dressed up as STARS and the paparazzi (5th grade patrols) will be taking lots of pictures. There will also be plenty of musical acts as in previous years. This will make for a night of family fun. Save the date and keep an eye for more details to come including the option to purchase a hot meal.

Field Trip

SUCCESS! We had so much fun at MOSH today. We started the morning off with a little presentation on habitats. Students sorted various animals into the habitat we all agreed they would most likely live in. We even met a few live creatures from some Florida habitats.

After the presentation, we were given about an hour to explore the rest of the museum. There was a LOT to look at and plenty of hands-on activities on the second floor.

We had a great picnic lunch with gorgeous weather right outside the MOSH.

Ask your child some questions about the day like:

1. What is a habitat?

2. Name a few habitats you've learned about.

3. What live creatures did you get to pet?

4. What was your favorite exhibit?

BEFORE (Alex and I on the bus ride there)

AFTER (A sleepy Kylee and Emma on the way back).

St. Patricks Day

Many of the first grade classes participate in student-made "leprechaun traps". They get pretty creative from year to year.

If your child would like to participate, there are really no rules. Traps need to be brought in on Wednesday, March 16 and left over night in hopes of catching a leprechaun. I will allow for students to explain their traps on St. Patrick's Day if they participated.

This is not a mandatory assignment, just something fun a lot of the first grade classes enlist the children to do.

Have fun and may you have the luck o' the Irish!

Book-it

The goal is set at 25 books for the month of March. This includes books read over break, so be sure to have your child write them down.

This is a great time of year to begin building some independence in your child. They should be able to copy their own book titles on their reading long. You may need to assist with the author's name.

In addition to writing their own books, they should be able to do their homework pretty independently and be responsible to pack and un-pack their backpacks in the evening and morning. This is a great and simple way to prepare them for 2nd grade!

Mark Your Calendars

It is never too soon to start letting you know that during the two weeks of FCAT testing (April 11th through April 20th ) the entire campus will be on Quiet Time from 9:00 am till 11:00 am.

The entire campus will be on Quiet Time. This includes volunteering in the classroom and eating lunch with your child. It seems that we should not be affected by lunch time, just be mindful that students will get extended time to test and these students will more than likely be located in the main hallway of the school.

We are paired up with Mrs. Riley's 3rd grade class during that FCAT testing period. During this time, our class will be doing little things to encourage her students during the exhausting testing period. I will be requesting the help of parents with a few items such as cookies, Popsicles, pencils, etc... which will be gifts from us to them! I will let you know in a future e-mail the exact items.

Seuss-a-bration!

Dr. Seuss' birthday was remembered on Wednesday by the entire school, but we celebrated the wonderful author all week!

The children completed a center where they made their own rhymes like Dr. Seuss, they were able to browse through various Seuss books, and they used the Seussville website. I am posting the site by popular demand of the children :)

The silly hats were GREAT on Wednesday! I took a few pictures and will post them soon.