Hello Families and Friends!
It’s funny…whenever I am going through my son’s clothes that he has grown out of, or sifting through his old toys to give away, I hear the Carpenters singing in the back of my mind…songs of happiness, sadness, loss, memories, and love. This happened to me during the entire last week of school as I prepared to say goodbye to this wonderful little class of very special students. Who knew I was such a big sap?! Despite my melancholy feelings though, we had much joyous fun together during the last couple weeks of school!
This year was successful in part to our wonderful parent volunteers. Thank you to all of the numerous parents who donated their time and/or various items to the class. I SO appreciate the lovely Helen Higa-Campbell, my room parent extraordinaire, who was organized, fun to work with, and so creative all throughout the year! Thank you ALL
What a grand end of year celebration!
Each year on the last day of school, I hand out special little awards to the kids. It was just as much fun writing out the awards as it was giving it to them. AND I actually did it this year without crying (much)…Here is the list of the awards:
Ralph – Good Idea Award
Hayden – Sunshine Award
Edrich – Everybody’s Friend Award
Harper – Cheerful Cheerleader Award
Andrew – Mr. Olympics Award
Elena – Giving and Kind Heart Award
Nora – Ms. Research Award
Hazel – Puzzle Award
J.J. – History Buff Award
Neelan – Busy Bee Award
Caitlyn – Impressive Butterfly Award
Anukriti – Inventive Creator Award
Zayla – Colored Pencil Award
Quinn – Ms. Presentation Award
Kaden – Guiding Light Award
Helen Higa-Campbell – Supportive Sister/Mrs. Organization Award
And our Soar With The Eagles Winner: Kaden Barrasso!
Congratulations to all for your unique and individual efforts and gifts you offered all of us all year long
Reading, Writing, Language, & Spelling
During the last few weeks, we had our own “book club” literature studies using the book Freckle Juice by Judy Blume and Chocolate Touch by Patrick Skene Catling. . We started our book club meetings with some predictions based upon the cover and title. Each day, we would read a chapter or two both together and independently and would write answers to comprehension questions which asked who, what, where, when, why, and how. We created character trait charts and also used Venn diagrams to compare and contrast different characters in the story. Ask your child about what was in the recipe for the real freckle juice! Also, see what your child thinks about which they would rather have: a chocolate touch, a cheese touch, or a golden touch!
We worked really hard on locating subjects and predicates in sentences. Every sentence, no matter how short or long, tells “who did what.” The “who” part is the subject, and the “did what” part is the predicate.
Mathematics
We have been reviewing many of the math concepts that we have worked on throughout the year. Our main focus for this last week of school was addition and subtraction with regrouping (borrowing and carrying) and word problems with these same computations. I cannot stress how important keeping up on basic 0-12 math facts (addition and subtraction) will be moving forward. The kids should really have these facts memorized by the time they enter into 3rd grade. Online math bingo is a favorite in my house, and you can’t beat the effectiveness of good old flashcards (though not as exciting in my house).
Social Studies
In addition to some mapping lessons and discussing briefly the 3 different branches of the US Government, the students have been learning about different careers. They brainstormed hobbies they like and subjects they enjoy in school. Then they picked 3 jobs where those skills could be used. Then, they researched those jobs on the US Bureau of Labor Statistics to investigate the median pay of those jobs, educational/training requirements, and available positions. I was pretty excited to hear all the ideas the students came up with and the research they completed; they had a blast too! I hope this led to some interesting conversations with you about occupations and how to make a good, honest living!
Science with Ms. O
We learned about the water cycle. Did you know that there’s the same amount of water on earth now as there was millions of years ago? The water keeps following the cycle of evaporation, condensation, and precipitation over and over again! Has your child sung you the water cycle song yet? If not, ask him or her to do so; it is sure to be a household hit!
We also learned about how rainbows are formed and the color spectrum that makes them up.
Teaching Time
Check out all the cool things the kids have been teaching about:
Ralph – how to draw a person, eclipses, how to draw Among Us characters
Hayden – Five Nights at Freddy’s, eclipses, how to draw ocean creatures
Edrich – how to make root beer floats, fireworks
Harper – how to draw a mermaid, Maine, how to do a pull over
Andrew – laser tag guns, his dog Bear, Orbeez gun
Elena – making clay potatoes, piano performance x2!
Nora – her stuffies, karate forms
Hazel – pikas, how to draw a mermaid
J.J. – Furbys, Sirenhead, Captain Foxy
Neelan – Boston, Patagonia
Caitlyn – carrots, water striders
Anukriti – world records, black holes
Zayla – frogs, how to draw video game characters
Quinn – Secret of Nimh, fireworks
Kaden – Big Bend National Park, horse riding gear
I would like to close this final blog by saying the following:
Thank you for all of the end of the year gifts, cards, and especially the meaningful sentiments in those cards…enough to make this old gal shed big tears into her oversized American flag coffee cup, but so sweet as to make this old gal feel like she did a lot of things right this year. To know that you, the parents and kids, are happy is truly the best gift of all. I love my job; I can’t imagine doing anything else and even though I’ve tried, I always land right back in the classroom! It’s a job where I learn, I laugh, I feel joy, and I get to see amazing things happen in little minds and hearts each day. It’s pretty awesome and I am very blessed.
Thank you for your patience and support as we navigated through the tricky spots of Covid school life.
Thank you for trusting me with your children. Being a parent, I know, appreciate, and respect what it feels like and what it means to leave your most valued treasure with someone who is not you.
Most importantly, thank you to my students. Every day I spent with you was magic.
Have a wonderful summer and enjoy time spent with family, friends, pets, books, and nature! I will see you soon either to the north or south of Camp Wanna-Learn-A-Lot!
Best,
Annie
Surprise Retirement party for Mrs. Tomiak!