Friday, February 22, 2013
Wax Museum UPDATE! and DARE Graduation INVITE!
Greetings from 5B!
Wax Museum REMINDER
LOGISTICS: The Wax Museum to benefit the Marillac Shelter in honor of Principal Dorothy McDonald will be held Thursday evening, February 28th from 6:30-7:30. Please have your 5th grader at school no later than 6:15. Your child should come dressed in their costumes. Doors to the museum will open promptly at 6:30. Also remember to bring your nickels!!! The children will not come alive unless they hear that "clink" in their can.
CANS: Speaking of "clink in their can"... Don't forget that your child will need something to collect the nickels they earn for their performance. Coffee cans work well, but feel free to be creative!
COSTUMES & PHOTOGRAPHS: Please make sure that your child's costume is brought to school no later than Tuesday, February 26th. I plan to take photographs Tuesday or Wednesday for my slide show and blog. Also, we may have a dress rehearsal on Wednesday or Thursday and have our buddy class come in and watch us perform. Once pictures are taken and the dress rehearsal is concluded, the children will take their costumes home so that they can come dressed and ready to go Thursday evening!
BAKE SALE: If you have volunteered to send in a healthy snack or sweet treat for the bake sale, you may drop off your items either in my classroom during the day, or you may bring it the evening of the Wax Museum, whichever is more convenient! There will be tables set-up by the windows near the living room. I will be manning the bake sale table. Come hungry!
DARE GRADUATION!
You are cordially invited to attend our 2013 DARE Graduation, which has been scheduled for Thursday morning, March 7th at 9:45am. We look forward to seeing you there.
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Whale Research and Wax Museum Preparation
Greetings from Room 10,
This week the "name of the game" was Whale Research. The students had a few opportunities this week to conduct research on their whale. Whale assignments were made by a random draw early in the week. After that, the children had time in class to use a variety of books Mrs. Collen let us borrow from the library. In addition, they used computers both during our lab time and during library. There are four main areas the children must research: 1.) Physical features and characteristics; 2.) Habitat and migration path; 3.) Life cycle and family behaviors; and 4.) Eating habits and food. I gave the children labeled sheets on which they can gather their notes. This week the children will have additional computer lab time and access to research materials. Following are several pictures of the children in our computer lab.
At this point the children have completed their one-minute speech and their wax museum poster. They look amazing! I am very proud of how hard each of them worked to research, write, and create. Last week I sent home information about the Wax Museum (February 28th from 6:30-7:30), a request for sweet treats or healthy snacks and a reminder about costumes. This is a fun-filled evening for the children and the participants, but it also has a philanthropic component. All proceeds from both the children's performances and the bake sale will support the Marillac Shelter in memory of Dorothy McDonald, Clarksville's beloved principal.
Thank you to everyone who was able to come to our ABC book viewing. As a working parent, I know all too well how difficult it is to attend school functions during the day. The children's ABC books will be coming home this week for you to enjoy. I hope you were able to read through their memoirs which were given to your child on Friday. It was a great celebration!
As you are aware, there was no "Weekly Reflection" sent home on Friday, and there will not be one this coming Friday either. Instead, I will update our blog as I am doing right now. With the early dismissal on Friday AND winter break the following week, it didn't make sense for me to send home a hard copy of the weeks' events. I hope the blog is a good way to update you and provide you with a glimpse into the happenings in Room 10.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend! Lester Betor and class
This week the "name of the game" was Whale Research. The students had a few opportunities this week to conduct research on their whale. Whale assignments were made by a random draw early in the week. After that, the children had time in class to use a variety of books Mrs. Collen let us borrow from the library. In addition, they used computers both during our lab time and during library. There are four main areas the children must research: 1.) Physical features and characteristics; 2.) Habitat and migration path; 3.) Life cycle and family behaviors; and 4.) Eating habits and food. I gave the children labeled sheets on which they can gather their notes. This week the children will have additional computer lab time and access to research materials. Following are several pictures of the children in our computer lab.
At this point the children have completed their one-minute speech and their wax museum poster. They look amazing! I am very proud of how hard each of them worked to research, write, and create. Last week I sent home information about the Wax Museum (February 28th from 6:30-7:30), a request for sweet treats or healthy snacks and a reminder about costumes. This is a fun-filled evening for the children and the participants, but it also has a philanthropic component. All proceeds from both the children's performances and the bake sale will support the Marillac Shelter in memory of Dorothy McDonald, Clarksville's beloved principal.
Thank you to everyone who was able to come to our ABC book viewing. As a working parent, I know all too well how difficult it is to attend school functions during the day. The children's ABC books will be coming home this week for you to enjoy. I hope you were able to read through their memoirs which were given to your child on Friday. It was a great celebration!
As you are aware, there was no "Weekly Reflection" sent home on Friday, and there will not be one this coming Friday either. Instead, I will update our blog as I am doing right now. With the early dismissal on Friday AND winter break the following week, it didn't make sense for me to send home a hard copy of the weeks' events. I hope the blog is a good way to update you and provide you with a glimpse into the happenings in Room 10.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend! Lester Betor and class
Friday, February 1, 2013
Whales, Whales, Whales...and Popcorn!
Dear Parents of Room 10,
It’s been a very busy week! Whales have been our focus. We drew whales to
scale (one inch for every foot) and finished painting them. They look gorgeous! The children are very
proud of this project and look forward to you stopping by to see them swimming,
breaching and sounding outside our classroom.
A special thanks to Mrs. Nakamura, Mrs. Martucci and Mrs. Kee who rolled
up their sleeves and took the “Narwhals by the horns.” The whole process ran very smoothly and took
only 1½ hours to complete. Following are a few pictures from this great project.
As you know, in language arts our
focus has been “close reading.” Earlier
this week the children read a non-fiction article on popcorn and a poem on
popcorn. This morning they are
re-reading the pieces, and writing an essay in which they must synthesize the
two pieces and site textual evidence from both to support their opinion. It is a good skill, but one that does not
come easy. We will continue to practice
comparing, contrasting, and synthesizing!
We are well underway with preparing
for the Wax Museum, which will be on the evening of February 28th. The children have just about completed their
one-minute speeches and some have begun memorizing them. We will work on the poster next week. As I mentioned to the kids, I will be able to
print one black and white, 8x10 picture for their poster. If they want more than that, or that want a
color picture, they will need to get them at home. I understand that many of you have already
begun putting together a costume. Please
don’t spend a lot of money on this. We
always have a wide-range of costumes at the Wax Museum. My focus for this project is the ability to
speak clearly, audibly and enthusiastically in front of peers and family. It is not to see who can have the best
costume.
Please join us next Friday, February 8th
to celebrate the completion of our ABC books.
Stop in anytime between 9:45 and 10:45 to
read the children’s books and provide positive comments. This is meant to be a casual event to
celebrate the completion of this project.
If you are unable to come, please don’t worry. I will be sending home their books Friday.
DARE essays are due next Friday, February 8th. They can be written on essay paper that I
have in the classroom or typed.
Have a wonderful and restful weekend! Lester
Betor and class
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