May in the Know

We are now in the homestretch of the school year which is always an exciting and sad time. It's exciting to review data and look at the growth the kids have made academically, socially and academically. It's sad because it's time to say good bye to many of our friends who will be moving out of primary and into upper elementary next year.

We started our end of year assessments today, which will probably run through the rest of this week.  I will be compiling notebooks for the kids with their data as well as recommendations for summer work. We will review these notebooks during our parent-teacher conferences May 13-17. Please check your email for a Sign-Up Genius invitation and select a time to meet.

I want to send out a huge thank you to Tammy Banas, Donna Cumby and Bridget Johnson for planning our Easter egg hunt and party! I know we were the envy of the school, especially with those amazing Easter Bunny baskets!  I was also super proud of our group's performance in Beauty and the Beast. I received multiple compliments on our class' behavior and enthusiasm!

There are a lot of school-wide events planned this month. Family Fun Day is a chance to bring your family on campus to have a picnic lunch. This is a very casual event, and there is no real structured schedule for the afternoon. The awards ceremony is the last day of school and is held at St. Mary's (where the play was). This is a great closure to the school year.  During this time we will show video snapshots taken throughout the year, and all of the kids will receive a certificate for their achievements.

Important Dates:

• 5/6- Our last field trip to the library (this a Monday not the usual Thursday). We will not check out books. 
• 5/8 (possible rain date of 5/9)- Field trip to Ingrams Strawberry Farm. We plan on arriving at the farm at 9:00 and staying through lunch. All kids will need to bring a bagged lunch this day. Parents are welcome to meet us at the farm. 
• 5/9- 11:00 release
• 5/10- Teacher workday
• 5/13-5/17- Parent-teacher conferences 
• 5/22 Trip to Tumble Bees for kids (8:00-11:00) Family Picnic (11:30-2:30) 
• 5/24 Last day of school / awards ceremony at St. Mary's 

April in the Know

Our themes for April are eggs and oviparous animals. We will also study the works and life of Beatrix Potter. We are finishing our unit on telling time to the hour and half-hour as well as recognizing and creating geometric shapes. We will soon focus on non-standard measurement during guided math.

It's hard to believe there are only seven weeks left in the school year- it's especially hard to believe when there is snow falling outside the window! However, I will start end of year testing the week we return from Easter vacation, and we will have our EOY parent teacher conferences mid-May.

Important Dates

• 4/4- monthly library trip (books are due) 
• 4/18 @ 1:00- Class Easter Egg Hunt! -If you are willing to volunteer to help please email me ASAP. 
• 4/18 @ 6:00- school play at St. Mary's Episcopal Church 
• 4/19- 4/28- Easter vacation 
• 5/8- field trip to Ingrams Strawberry Farm

Author Study!

Thank you to those who were able to come out to the school Friday and support our author study! I think the kids did an outstanding job, but I admit I am a bit biased!

We are excited about our new friend, Will Johnson, who joined our class this week! He will finish the year with us, and we are thrilled to have him as part of our TPS primary family.

Reminder of upcoming events:

• April 4th- library trip/books are due. This will be the last month we will check out books. 
• April 18th- School play/auction. 
• April 19- April 28- School closed for Easter vacation. 

Leprechaun Traps!

This Friday Mrs. Hice (substitute teacher) will be making leprechaun traps with the class.  If you have any small boxes and/or green/gold glitter you would like to donate to the class it would be greatly appreciated!

March in the Know

Our themes for March are communities, community helpers, families, neighborhoods and transportation. We will have our monthly trip to the library on the 14th, which is a week later than our usual first Thursday of the month visit. However, the library books we checked out during our last trip are due today, so please be sure to renew or return to the High Point Public Library if you haven't done so already.

Because St. Patrick's Day falls on a Sunday this year, we will not have any leprechaun visits at school. 😞 However, we will learn about the history of the holiday and make leprechaun traps for the kids to take home.

The school-wide wax museum exhibit is scheduled for March 15th. Although we are not going to follow the individual wax museum model, our class will be participating. Next week we will start our study of 3 children's book authors, Virginia Lee Burton, Eric Carle & Kevin Henkes. The class will work in groups to research their author, and they will set up a table with books and other artifacts about their author. During the wax-museum open-house the kids will man their tables and share facts about their author. During this time families are welcome to visit. The following are the assigned groups:
Eric Carle- Dane, Arianna & AJ
Kevin Henkes- Ellie & Finley
Virginia Lee Burton- Ben & Henry

This is an example of what our "wax museum" looks like. 

I'm encouraging the kids to read as many books by their author as possible. I will also ask them to bring in some specific artifacts to display on their table.

This is a great opportunity for the kids to practice researching, public speaking and learning about quality childrens' literature. The majority of the work and preparations will be done in class, but if you have any questions please let me know.



It was a pleasure seeing the students take the lead in their conferences this week! It's always exciting to see their growth and for them to talk about their goals for the remainder of the school year.

February In the Know

We had another great visit to the library today! One of our themes/topics for February is weather and changing seasons. The kids made this super cute craft today which we brought back to school and put in our classroom window.

This month we will explore the topic of weather and how it effects both small and large decisions (clothes to wear, kind of shelter to build etc.).

I will send out a Sign-up Genius link soon for mid-year optional parent-teacher conferences. This year the conferences will be student led. Think of this more as a student showcase and an opportunity for your child to share with you what they are learning.

Our 100th Day of School was a big success! I want to send a huge thank you out to Tammy Banas for providing the best 100th day of school snack ever! We did several activities that involved strengthening number sense, went to the $1 Tree with our 100 pennies, and even stopped at Baskin Robbins for some ice cream...just because 😋.

Moving forward my expectations for the class will continue increasing, and I have been very proud to see how most of the students have stepped up to the plate with the new homework outline! Keep up the good work!

Valentine's Day is just around the corner; we will learn who St. Valentine was and how holidays change over time. A sheet will be sent home today explaining how Valentine's will be distributed throughout the school. I am encouraging our class to write a little note and make Valentine's for the kids in our class only. I'm discouraging our class from making valentines for the entire student body; however, this is your choice. In the past it has been much less chaotic and easy to manage when our class stayed together; this also solved the problem of going home with mass amounts of sugar😜!

Important Dates: 
2/18- President's Day- no school
2/25- optional MOY conferences start
2/26- Amelia Earhart play (at school)
2/28- library books are due (I noticed many students have a balance on their account)
3/1-Dr. Seuss Day at school for our class only
3/2- Dr. Seuss Day at the HP library (This is not a school trip or function, but something you may want to do with your family. See the flier to the left for details.)

New Homework

The class is super excited about our 100th day of school on Wednesday! We will use this special day as an opportunity to build number sense in the base 10 system. We will also leave campus around 10:00 for a trip to the $1.00 store. Each day since the first day of school we have been adding a penny to a chart and making change for nickels, dimes and quarters all in anticipation of this trip! Stay tuned later this week for pictures from the day.

I have updated the weekly homework. Please encourage your child to respond to what they are reading each night through writing. I have posted suggestions for writing topics on the back of the homework sheet. Also, please feel free to use another sheet of paper and attach it if your child needs more space. Everything else will remain the same. Please let me know if you have any questions.