Happy Manatee Memories of December 2010

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Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to our Wonderful Families!

Now that the Christmas rush is over, and you can take a moment to sit back, take a breath and relax, we want to let you know how much we appreciate each and every one of you.  We would like to thank you for volunteering your time to help out in and out of the classroom.  We thank you for supporting your child at home, for taking the time to let your child know how extraordinary they are.  Thank you for being caring and nurturing parents, and building your child's self-esteem to the highest potential.  It is with this confidence that they will grow and flourish into successful little people.  We appreciate your diligent efforts. 

Don't forget to cherish the remaining moments of the holiday season; the simple joys and miracles of life, especially your children.  Each year is a gift to add to the richness of your lives.  Treasure each gift!



          Our gift to you . . . Ordinary Miracle, by Sarah Sky 

Thank you all for the Wonderful Gifts!

We love the new class set of Scholastic Student Dictionaries!  They are replacing an obsolete set of classroom dictionaries, so we are very appreciative of the upgrade.  We are looking forward to using them for fun vocabulary lessons in the New Year.  We also thank you for the generous personal gift cards, all the delicious treats, and homemade treasures! 

In addition, thank you to all who helped out with our Class Holiday party. We appreciate all of you who contributed snacks and came to help with the crafts and clean-up.  The kids had a great time!

We also want to send out a huge thank you for your generous donations to our 4th Annual Adopt a Family from the Forgotten Children Program.  Because of your kind generosity the children from both  families received all the gifts on their wish lists!  

Clever Classroom Quotes

from 2010~

"I think respect is the best gift you can give!  If you give respect, you'll earn it back!"    ~Sami

"We're all a piece of art!" ~ Aria

"I came.  I saw.  I conquired."  "It's like being afraid to do something, like swim in deep water, but you find the courage, and conquer your fears by trying it!" ~ Hope

"Writing can be messy sometimes . . . because you have to change things to make it better."  ~ Max

"If you read lots of books on your just-right level, you will get better and move up to a higher level."   ~Rebecca


 "I made a text-to-text connection!  The word hullabaloo is in Charlotte's Web, and in McDuff's Wild Romp!"    ~ Savannah         

 Manatees Adopt a Family!

Recently we have been reading books and learning about people who are less fortunate all around the world, and in our own country. Again this year, in the spirit of giving, our class will be adopting two families in need from The Forgotten Children's Organization. Our class Giving Tree is now in the classroom decorated with gift tags listing personal information about each child.  If you would like to donate to the families, we invite you to come in and choose a tag from the tree. You can also send a note in with your child, telling whether you would like to donate to a boy or girl. Please wrap your gifts with the gift tag attached, and send them back to school by Wednesday, December 15th. Thank you for your kind generosity.

Change of Plans~

Class Holiday Party
Due to a change in the early dismissal schedule, our class holiday party has been changed to Friday, December 17th, 10:00 - 11:20. 


Purdy's Make-it, Take-it after school event has also been changed to Tuesday, December 14, and Wednesday, December 15th, from 3:30 - 5:30. 

Spelling Bee
The date for the PTA Fundraiser Spelling Bee has been changed to Thursday, December 9th. 

Pennies for Peace
We are extending our penny collection for Pakistan until Wednesday, December 15th.  Students will be counting them out in groups of 100, and adding them all together to determine the total amount collected.  Keep sending in more pennies!  Thanks!