Friday Letter - 10.07.11

10/7/11

Dear RiverRun Families,

I am sure all of you have heard that we have a new class pet. She is a Mali Uromastyx, a type of lizard, which we will all learn more about once the children have finished their research on this type of reptile. The children have named her Elizabeth, or Lizzie for short, after three days of deliberation. Check out pictures of her on the blog, coming soon.

In preparation for our field trip to the Farmer's Museum we are reading Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Liam's mother, Juliana, has also come in to teach some signs related to farming. The trip to the Farmer's Museum will tie in nicely with our study of the Fundamental Needs of Humans. We had a class discussion about our needs for survival. The middles and elders will be diving further into this area of study. Look around and see all the conveniences we have gotten used to. Do we need these to survive? What are our basic needs? Your child/ren should be able to talk about this with you.

We have been discussing the need for spacing between words because authors want to be sure their readers can easily read their work. Now that the children are writers, they will want to be sure others are able to read their work. We are also looking at opening/ topic sentences that other writers use, noticing what type of information is given and whether their words compel us to read on. When reading to your children this can be something you can point out to them or they can point out to you.

It looks like we may have a few days of sun. Yah!

Enjoy your extended weekend,
Amy and Debbie

Dates to Remember:
Oct. 10 No School Columbus Day
Oct. 13 Field Trip to the Farmer's Museum in Cooperstown, New York
We will be meeting at the Hannaford on 3333 Consaul Road in Schenectady at 8:50 unless you have indicated you will meet us in Cooperstown.
Oct. 14 No School Parent Conferences
Oct. 20 Field Trip to see the Hyde Collection
Oct. 21 No School Staff Training