Important Information

Missing Books and Classroom Materials

This is an important item; I am missing a lot of chapter books from the classroom and also math cards/language assignments!  I know that kids sometimes take books home for reading and they certainly have permission, I mean THEY ARE READING!  However, it’s now time for everything to be returned.  Math and language assignment cards should not be at home but are occasionally taken by accident.

Please look under beds, in backpacks, the car, bookshelves at home, etc.  Most of these items will have to be replaced and are expensive!  While looking, please also keep an eye out for school library books, they were due last week.

5th Grade Luncheon

On Wednesday, June 6, I will be treating the 5th graders to a special luncheon. They do not to bring a lunch or order a lunch that day.

Biome Dioramas and Reports

The classroom will be open on Thursday morning for parents and grandparents to stop in and view our dioramas and reports!  This is a “stop-in-and-visit” time with the classroom open first thing in the morning at 9 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. and again from 11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m.  We hope you’ll be able to stop in for a few minutes to view our work.  

This Week’s Schedule

• Monday—5^th Grade Celebration Dinner, 6 p.m. at The Curragh
• Wednesday—Discovery Days, students should dress for their activities
• Thursday—See above for news on our diorama open house
• Friday—Last day of school, ½ day

o    Please send 2-3 plastic or other type of bag for locker/cubby cleaning

o    Mr. de takes donations of old gym shoes for his shoe cupboard—they are shoes given to families in need in the fall.  Please consider donating your child’s gym shoes if they are no longer needed!

Have a great week!

--Mrs. Perrien

Summer Fun!

Summer--what to do?

During the summer vacation my kids are allowed to be "school work free" for the first week of the break. After that...mom has a plan!

My girls each work on their handwriting (cursive for both) skills over the summer. This is done through thank you letters (or other types of written correspondence) to family and friends. They also will be keeping a summer journal.

They will also be working on their math skills. I have chosen a [current] grade level workbook from Barnes and Noble for Abby.  Given Evelyn's current middle school placement I contacted her math teacher and was given several skills she should practice over the summer.  My goal is for them to practice the skills they learned during the last school year (not to introduce something new and potentially frustrating) so they don't appear "rusty" in the fall. They work on this for about 30 minutes per day. (They will be quick to remind you that they don't work on the weekends!)

Abby will practice her math facts every day on her iPod and we READ EVERY DAY. Reading in our home is usually done before bedtime, but both will also pick up a book at odd times throughout the day.  Abby is again signed up for our local library reading program as well as Barnes and Nobles' Summer Reading Program.  (Evelyn is now too old for most programs but she no longer needs to be incentivized.) We have found that reading is a great way for our girls to wind down and relax before it's lights out!

Other Summer Activities:

• Go to the beach!
• Get outside and play
• Turn OFF the TV
• Visit with family and friends
• Go to the zoo (the John Ball Zoo is Grand Rapids is inexpensive), the Grand Rapids Museum, The Holland Museum...)
• The weekly Farmer's Market in Holland hosts kid's activities every week, they are pretty fun!
• Spend time together as a family!

Mrs. Perrien

The Last Two Weeks

Parents-

The next two weeks will be incredibly busy in our classroom.  Students are completing their biome dioramas and we hope to show these off to you as a sort of "year-end" celebration.  We will announce the date tomorrow!

This week marks our last "work plan" week.  We will still be completing academic work during the last week of school, but we will be using daily work plans for each day.  Students will be bringing home work, papers, crafts, locker items, etc., this week and next.

As our final biome project of the year students will be building a terrarium in the classroom!  We plan to do this either Wednesday or Thursday morning of next week.  In preparation students may bring tiny animal figures, figurines, etc., that will fit. (See the following site for photos:  http://www.stormthecastle.com/terrarium/teaching-terrarium.htm).  Please do not make a special trip to the store.  Instead, consider what items from around the house would make the terrarium more like a mini ecosystem!   Students DO NOT have to bring anything.  I will be supplying plants and rocks for the terrariums.  I am looking for anyone willing to donate a bag of potting soil or sphagnum/Spanish moss.  A special THANK YOU to Mrs. Olson and the Olson family as well as my two girls for eating lots of applesauce these past two months.  We were able to collect enough applesauce jars that everyone will have these slightly larger jars!

DISCOVERY DAYS volunteers:   Are you interesting in helping with my classroom discovery days project on June 6th in the afternoon?  I am teaching two sessions on Father's Days crafting and need volunteers to help students do hand print T-shirts or create a "Dad" Fuse Bead keychain.  I actually need a lot of volunteers!  Please consider helping with these sessions, they are in the afternoon only on the 6th.

I'm sure I have more things to share, but I can't think of anything else in the moment!  Keep checking out the blog these next two weeks.  I will be posting more about summer academic work, summer activities to get kids out of the house, etc.  I still have photos to upload from our Lansing Field Trip as well!

Mrs. Perrien

5th Grade Celebration Dinner

This spring is a busy time of year and I want to make sure everyone remembers our 5th grade celebration dinner next Monday, June 4!

Parents, please plan to drop your children off at The Curragh at 6 p.m.  Plan to pick them back up at 7:30 p.m.

Year-End Letters

These are due by May 31.  Write them however you'd like, one per night, all in one weekend, etc.  You decide how to get them done!

The attachment document links you to the names of the school's staff:  Year-End Letters

Book Club Responses

Boys and Girls!  I have been without Internet for most of the evening because of a line that was cut outside.  Luckily, the cable company has fixed the problem!

Click on each book title to take you to your book's page.  Remember to comment on YOUR book.  When you've finished posting your work, be sure to sign only your FIRST name.  Begin your post with your book club job, then post your thoughts and your work.  Finally, sign your name.  We will read through all the posts on Friday in school.

Have fun with these!

--Mrs. Perrien

Toad Heaven

The Secret School

The BFG

Holes

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

Biome Research Websites:

• http://kids.nceas.ucsb.edu/biomes/index.html
• http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/glossary/gloss5/biome/
• http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibits/biomes/
• http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/world_biomes.htm
• http://www.enchantedlearning.com/biomes/
• http://www.mbgnet.net/