Thank you to the Womersley and Watterson children for helping load and deliver a truck-load of toys that the 2nd graders donated, along with $16.00 cash, to the Christmas Toy Shop! You are welcome to continue donating new and used toys or cash and we will make another deliver before Christmas.
Our Flat Stanley Project is well under-way! Check our blog frequently to see all the great places we're traveling to!
http://hfcsflatstanleyproject.blogspot.com/
Update for 11/29/09
Hello 2nd grade families!
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
As I look ahead to the upcoming week, I see lots of fun activities as we begin our Advent season with a Holidays Around the World social studies unit.
**If you see this message in time, please send your child in tomorrow with an empty cereal or cracker box to turn into a "suitcase" to hold all the souvenirs we will create on our "travels."
Many students are in need of new school supplies - crayons and glue sticks in particular.
Please also be sure to send in a good snack for your child each and every day. Especially after the week off with easier access to snacks at home through the day, the kids will be more hungry than usual tomorrow, and I don't think we have adequate back-up snacks to feed everyone. It's easy to foget on days that your child buys a lunch, so if you want, send in 5 individual snacks that can be kept in cubbies or backpacks for the week.
Advent Partners: Tomorrow the students will draw names to select Advent partners. They will be asked to pray for their partners each day, to do kind deeds, draw pictures or write letters of daily encouragement. On the last day of school before the Christmas holidays, students will have a "book exchange." My hope is to avoid the commercialism of the holiday through this activity, so please do not send in gifts other than what is listed above. Please do encourage your child to remember to draw or write to their partner regularly. The book gift at the end is intended to be from your bookshelf at home if at all possible. The children should keep in mind the likes and reading preferences of their partners when selecting a favorite book to give. (Boys will have boy partners, girls will have girl partners.)
Speller's Choice: I will have a new speller's choice form for the students to keep in their binders this week. While I do not grade these activities, it is necessary for the children to have a daily spelling practice routine. You still have the option to complete Spelling City activities on the computer, and I do not require those worksheets to be turned in. Additionally, the word cards should be sorted each day as part of our daily spelling homework.
Update for 11/11/09
You may go to
www.classlogon.com and click on the "Conference" tab to schedule your conference as of this Friday.
We can still accept canned food items for the food pantry.
ECC, K, & Gr 1: stuffing, sweet potatoes, turkey gravy
grades 2-4: chicken broth, cranberry sauce, canned vegetables
grades 5-6: canned beans and corn, pickles
grades 7-8: olives, powdered milk, sweet potatoes
Update for 11/2/09
I am scheduling conferences early in order to fit everyone in on November 19th and November 20th. If you responded to my note on the Friday Folder cover sheet, look for a note in your child's binder today to confirm your date and time.
The students did a fantastic job reading/performing in our class Mass last Thursday and in our pumpkin play last Friday! We also had a lot of fun making Cheesy Spider Webs and Apple Smiles as our Halloween "party" activity. The carnival was a lot of fun, too.
In science we are starting a unit on energy and motion. Students are encouraged to bring in a working flashlight this week for our activities.
The Faith Formation office has not yet advised me of the new dates for First Eucharist. Please keep in mind that the date is being adjusted due to the upcoming church renovations. Confirm the dates with the church office prior to arranging any flights from out of town visitors.
Please send in your Flat Stanley addresses by this Friday! We started reading the book last week and will be ready to send off our Flat Students early next week. This is an exciting project, so be sure to let me know if you need my help in finding someone far away to mail your child's Flat Person to.
*************************************************************************
E-mail sent Thursday, October 22nd at 1:50 p.m. copied here & Flat Stanley Parent Info Letter is uploaded on the Print This page.
FLAT STANLEY:
See attached form letter regarding our Flat Stanley project! Feel free to print out the form OR email me your response.
TOTE BAGS:
The children seem to enjoy their literature tote bags so far! Please help the next child in line by having your child return the tote bags by TUESDAY of next week. It's more difficult to rotate the bags when three children are left out for not having returned their bags. Try to write in them when you can. I know it's not always possible to do so weekly, but it's so much fun for the kids to read what their friends (and parents) have written and recommended before them.
CHILI COOKOFF:
Our third annual Chili Cookoff is set for Friday, November 6th. Please come to this fun, adults-only event. The preschool team has received the most votes for best chili two years in a row. This year, Mrs. Crabtree, myself, and Mrs. Pardue have formed a team, and we need your votes! Please think about coming to this fun event, and bring a friend! (See flyer in Friday Folder.)
2ND GRADE ONGOING SERVICE PROJECT:
Each grade level has adopted an organization or service project to participate in for this school year. Our class has chosen the Christmas Toy Shop as our service project. This organization works year-round to provide toys during the holidays to less fortunate children in Pinellas County. Our students will collect money as well as gently used toys and games, AND make a once-per month visit to the 16th Street store. Additionally, on the 2nd Saturday of each month, beginning in Novmber, small groups of children and parents can volunteer at the donation center to work behind the scenes to help the store prepare the toys for the children. Please reply back if you would like to volunteer yourself and your child to participate in the first donation delivery on Saturday, November 14th. Students may begin looking through their toy boxes and closets as soon as you give them permission to do so, and start bringing those items in! I hope you'll find this project to be near and dear to your children's hearts, as they are a very generous and giving group of students, and they exhibit so much compassion for others. Sharing their toys is hard for some, but very rewarding.
- SACRAMENT DATE CHANGES: The dates for First Communion have changed in order to have the sacrament in the church prior to renovations. The new date is the weekend of APRIL 17th. I will upload an entirely revised Faith Formation calendar just as soon as Linda Johnston gives it to me.