February Events

Field Trip - Thursday, February 11th

Please have your students at school by 9:00, as our bus is leaving promptly at 9:10.  After the play, we will be stopping for lunch at Godfather's Pizza in Tacoma.  Please send $4.00 with your child to pay for their lunch. 

Valentine's Day

On Friday, February 12, from 2:25 to 3:25 the Manatee class will have a Valentine's Day party.  Students will enjoy cherry floats and decorate cupcakes and/or cookies while they open their Valentine's cards.

*This year we are having a Valentine's mailbox decorating contest.  Students will use a shoe box to decorate their box at home.  Everyone will receive a prize.  If you are unable to locate a shoe box, or need support with creating a box, let us know.  We are happy to help. 

A class list will go home in the Wednesday Go-Home Folders next Wednesday.  It helps reduce stress if students address a few cards each night.  Please contact Jocelyn Norris at norrisgh4@yahoo.com 
or Karen Walker at Karen@allovus.com if you would like to volunteer to help with the party. 

Upcoming Events:

100th Day of School                              Thursday, Feb 25

Dr. Seuss Day (Read Across America)       Tuesday, Mar 2

Cinderellabration (Evening Event)            Friday, Mar 4, 6:30

Reader's Theater!

Get ready for The Manatee Reader's Theater! 

Reader's Theater introduces the element of drama into literacy learning and magically transforms the classroom into a stage. …….the reader is at center stage.
The reader is a star!

 Readers read from a “script” and reading parts are divided among the readers.

Scripts are held by readers. Lines are not memorized. 

Costumes are not necessary, but simple props may be used.
The focus is on reading the text with

expressive voices and gestures, making comprehension of the text
 meaningful and fun for the students.

Our Reader's Theater presentation will take place on

Friday, January 29th, at 10:00 a.m. in the classroom.

The scripts students will be reading from include:

Big Foot Cinderella

Skippyjon Jones

The 3 Little Pigs

Green Eggs and Ham

Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type

For the next few weeks your child will be practicing reading their
lines fluently, with both vocal and facial expression.

Hope you can come to our reading presentation!

Reminder:

Clay in Art Class

Students will be working with clay in art class on Mondays and Tuesdays for the next few weeks. They will need smocks to protect their clothes. Please send in over-sized shirts for them to wear, along with a plastic grocery bag to house them in when they are not being used. Thanks!

Field Trip to Cinderella

If you have already sent in your permission slip and payment
for the fun Cinderella field trip on Thursday,
Feb. 11th at 10:00, we thank you! 

If not, please add it to your list of to-do's. 

Thank you kindly.

 

Cinderella Around the World Social Studies Unit

During January and February our class will be doing a Social Studies unit that revolves around the diverse cultures depicted in different Cinderella stories from around the world. We have a nice selection of different characters and countries, including several male "Cinderlad" characters. The countries we will be studying are China, Middle East, Mexico, Ireland, the Caribbean, and other locations including Alaska, Hawaii, Appalachia, and the Algonquin Indians. We will keep our Shelfari up to date to inform you when we read new books.

If you have any cultural connections to the countries listed above and are willing to share your knowledge with the class, please contact us. We would love to expose the class to additional authentic artifacts and speakers.    

Students will be doing many different activities during our unit.  They will compare and contrast different story elements, learn about different countries and how people live in those countries, traditions, foods and dwellings. They will create character mobiles, mold clay into adobe structures, make collaborative maps, and produce second language dictionaries. Some students will have the opportunity to write stories from different points of view.  At the end of the unit, students will write their own Cinderella story to share at our culminating celebration. 

We will also be bringing in cultural food to share with the students during snack time. Last week when we read Sumorella, the students sampled mango from Hawaii.

Our theme question will be “How do Cinderella stories change when transferred to different cultures?”

In addition, we will be having a Cinderellabration at the end of February (more info to follow). 

We will also be going on a field trip on Thursday, Feb. 11th at 10:00 to see Cinderella Around the World at the Pantages Theatre in Tacoma. Look for a parent-permission slip to come home this Wednesday in your child’s Go-Home envelope.

Clay in Art Class

Students will be working with clay in art class on Mondays and Tuesdays for the next few weeks.  They will need smocks to protect their clothes.  Please send in over-sized shirts for them to wear, along with a plastic grocery bag to house them in when they are not being used.  Thanks!