Sunday, May 15, 2011

May 15, 2011

May 15, 2011

Dear Parents,

"Oh, look, children. Vermont is a good example of a rainforest..."


Writing
: now that we have become better writers, we went back the stuffed animal stories we had written earlier in the year, and we are adding detail and voice to make them even better. Most of the kids are ready for their final drafts, and you will be seeing them soon.

Reading: we are doing the final round of reading assessments this week. For first graders, reading a level H passage independently (with high accuracy and comprehension) is reading “on-grade-level”. For second graders, a level H means they are on-grade-level.

Science Workshops: we just completed our second week of studying animal habitats – from deserts to rainforest to the ocean to our own backyards.

Half-day coming up: Tuesday, May 17th, will be a half day.

End-of-year picnic: On Wednesday, June 15th, Horizon House will be going on an end-of-year picnic (parents and families invited) to Maple Street Park in Essex Junction. We are looking for a couple of grilles. Please let me know if you have one and can transport it for us.

Compost: We had a great compost day on Saturday. Lots of smiles. The kids shoveled their brains out. And many thanks to the parents who came to be part of the day. Thanks, also, to Ian Batson, Janelle Poulos, and Timmy Carpenter, former students of mine who were indefatigable. The proceeds will go to buying compost and tools for our school garden.

Have a nice beginning of the week!

David