April 20, 2012

Dear Parents,

I hope that everyone enjoyed their spring break!  The weather outside is tricking us all into thinking that we are in the month of June, when we actually still have about 8 more weeks of school left.  Still, I know that these weeks will fly by as we continue to move forward with new lessons, in addition to preparing for our Shakespeare play in May.

Moving Up Day

Today was ‘Moving Up Day’ at WHMS.  Third year students joined our classroom as we studied poetry; specifically, comparison diamantes.  The fourth and fifth year students were very helpful in working together with our younger visitors to complete an assignment.  Sixth year students joined forces with the Middle School students and participated in various community-building exercises. They also participated in a question and answer forum about life in the middle school. 

Shakespeare, Crew Day, and Costumes…

We are full bore into rehearsing our lines for The Tempest, which will be held on Wednesday, May 23 and Thursday, May 24.  There will be four (4) performances in total; two in the afternoon and two in the evening.  We will be having a Shakespeare Crew Day on Tuesday, May 1^st.  On this day, we will be concentrating solely on our play, rehearsing and working in our production crews as we prepare for our show.  For Crew Day, we traditionally have a potluck lunch and ask each family to send in a food or beverage item to share.  We will be sending out a list of suggested food items with next week’s parent letter.  Check out the information below on Shakespeare family fun.

Costumes for Shakespeare

We will be sending out a memo to let you know what your child will need for his/her costume.  Please stay tuned…

Puberty Workshop

Reminder!  This workshop will be next Wednesday, April 25^th.  Please be sure to turn in your permission slip for your child.  We will assume that your child has permission to attend this workshop unless we hear otherwise.  Jake Colwell, our PE teacher, will be covering the workshop for boys beginning with an ice breaker.  Then he will do an activity called:  Getting Past the Language of Sex and Human Anatomy. After that, he will cover basic male and female reproductive anatomy, facts vs. myths on puberty, changes of the male body during the adolescent years, and personal hygiene.  To conclude, he will cover appropriate social behavior in reference to the above listed topics and have a question and answer session.  For the girls, Terry Heritage, our school nurse will be covering human anatomy and general puberty information.   She will discuss personal hygiene, hormonal and body changes, and give basic menstrual cycle information. Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have regarding this.

NYS Testing

And finally, the fourth and sixth year students have completed the Language Arts section of the NYS testing.  Next Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, fifth and sixth year students will be tested on math.  Please be sure your child is well rested and eats a good breakfast each day. In addition, please make sure that your child is at WHMS by 8:20, so that we can begin on time.  Testing will follow the same time schedule as this week, which is from 9- 10:30. 

Homework

Everyone: Learn your lines for The Tempest

4^th years

Math: Total Math pgs: 140,141,142,143,86 due Thursday

Spelling: Unit 23 Due: Mon.

5th Years

Math: math packet due Wed.

Spelling: Unit 23  Due Mon.

Autobiography: Chapter 5 Rough Draft Due: April 30-Assignment in Folder

6th Years

Math: math packet due: Tues.

Spelling: Unit 23 Due Monday

Senior Project: see assignment letter-in folder

Reminder:

Autobiography: Chapter 5 due on April 30

Senior Project:  Chapter 5 due on April 30

Have a great weekend,

Sherrie

____________________________________________________________

For those families who just can’t seem to get enough of Shakespeare…please google the Founders Theatre for more information on this!

Shakespeare Family Fun!

Shakespeare and the Language that Shaped a World will be presented just three more times, this weekend in the Bernstein Theatre.

This whirlwind tour through the life, times and work of William Shakespeare features six actors, about a truckload of historical information and scenes from many of his greatest plays. It’s a fast-paced, fun and hilarious presentation introducing kids and adults to Shakespeare through his stories, characters, and words—with a bit of sword-fighting and clowning thrown in for good measure.

Featuring company actors and education artists Kelly Galvin (The Winter’s Tale), David Joseph (The Venetian Twins), Alexandra Lincoln (The Learned Ladies), Brittany Morgan (All’s Well That Ends Well), Enrico Spada (The Real Inspector Hound) and Ryan Winkles (The Hound of the Baskervilles).

Followed by a hands-on workshop open to everyone!
Become a Shakespearean actor for the afternoon as you explore one of Shakespeare’s plays with the actors in this fun and active workshop open to the entire audience. Come back again this year to experience a new play (The Tempest), a new cast, and new fun!

April 20, 2012

Dear Parents,

Welcome back.

 We have “dipped our toes” into the study of pond life! Our classroom was transformed over break into a wonderful pond habitat and we have discovered that it is filled with various plant and animal life. It exists in three layers, the surface skin, open water and muddy bottom.

The focus this week has been the life cycle of a frog. This amazing metamorphosis from egg to adult has inspired us to create paper plate and origami frogs, parts of the frog booklets and many reading and writing lessons. We are hoping to start some frog hatching this weekend so let the fun begin!

Our book shelf is beautiful and your book donations are appreciated. Hopefully you will be able to see the finished product at the Gala tonight. Let the bidding begin…………

Have a nice weekend,

Liz and Kristen

Dear Parents,

I hope that everyone enjoyed their spring break!  The weather outside is tricking us all into thinking that we are in the month of June, when we actually still have about 8 more weeks of school left.  Still, I know that these weeks will fly by as we continue to move forward with new lessons, in addition to preparing for our Shakespeare play in May.

Moving Up Day

Today was ‘Moving Up Day’ at WHMS.  Third year students joined our classroom as we studied poetry; specifically, comparison diamantes.  The fourth and fifth year students were very helpful in working together with our younger visitors to complete an assignment.  Sixth year students joined forces with the Middle School students and participated in various community-building exercises. They also participated in a question and answer forum about life in the middle school. 

Shakespeare, Crew Day, and Costumes…

We are full bore into rehearsing our lines for The Tempest, which will be held on Wednesday, May 23 and Thursday, May 24.  There will be four (4) performances in total; two in the afternoon and two in the evening.  We will be having a Shakespeare Crew Day on Tuesday, May 1^st.  On this day, we will be concentrating solely on our play, rehearsing and working in our production crews as we prepare for our show.  For Crew Day, we traditionally have a potluck lunch and ask each family to send in a food or beverage item to share.  We will be sending out a list of suggested food items with next week’s parent letter. 

Costumes for Shakespeare

We will be sending out a memo to let you know what your child will need for his/her costume.  Please stay tuned…

Puberty Workshop

Reminder!  This workshop will be next Wednesday, April 25^th.  Please be sure to turn in your permission slip for your child.  We will assume that your child has permission to attend this workshop unless we hear otherwise.  Jake Colwell, our PE teacher, will be covering the workshop for boys beginning with an ice breaker, then getting past the language of sex and the human anatomy, basic male and female reproductive anatomy, facts vs myths on puberty, the changes of the male body during the adolescent years, personal hygiene, appropriate social behavior in reference to the above listed topics and a question and answer to conclude.  For the girls, Terry Heritage, our school nurse will be covering:  general puberty info (hygiene, hormones changes, basic menstrual cycle info) She will not be talking about sex education or STD’s.  Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have regarding this.

NYS Testing

And finally, the fourth and sixth year students have completed the Language Arts section of the NYS testing—woohoo!.  Next Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, fifth and sixth year students will be tested on math.  Please be sure that your child is at WHMS by 8:20, so that we can begin on time.  Testing will follow the same time schedule as this week, which is from 9- 10:30. 

Homework

Math:  Due Wednesday

Total Math:  Grade 4:  Division, pages:  69,70,71,72,73

Math:  Grade 5/6:  Review packet

Language:  Due Wednesday

Grade 4/5:  Comparison Diamante

Grade 6:  Free Pass!

Spelling:  All

Reminder:

Autobiography: Chapter 5 due on April 30

Senior Project:  Chapter 4 due on April 30

Have a great weekend,

Cindy

____________________________________________________________

For those families who just can’t seem to get enough of Shakespeare…please google the Founders Theatre for more information on this!

Shakespeare Family Fun!

Shakespeare and the Language that Shaped a World will be presented just three more times, this weekend in the Bernstein Theatre.

This whirlwind tour through the life, times and work of William Shakespeare features six actors, about a truckload of historical information and scenes from many of his greatest plays. It’s a fast-paced, fun and hilarious presentation introducing kids and adults to Shakespeare through his stories, characters, and words—with a bit of sword-fighting and clowning thrown in for good measure.

Featuring company actors and education artists Kelly Galvin (The Winter’s Tale), David Joseph (The Venetian Twins), Alexandra Lincoln (The Learned Ladies), Brittany Morgan (All’s Well That Ends Well), Enrico Spada (The Real Inspector Hound) and Ryan Winkles (The Hound of the Baskervilles).

Followed by a hands-on workshop open to everyone!
Become a Shakespearean actor for the afternoon as you explore one of Shakespeare’s plays with the actors in this fun and active workshop open to the entire audience. Come back again this year to experience a new play (The Tempest), a new cast, and new fun!