Weekly Update

Dear Families,
We have had a great week back after vacation.  The kids had so many great stories to tell about their adventures over break.  It is nice to be back to some warmer weather too.  We have had great outdoor recess times this week and look forward to many more, warm and sunny times outside.

In today's Thursday folder, the children are bringing home two very important pieces of papers.

The first one is regarding our upcoming Reading Restaurant.  We are scheduled to host it on Wednesday, May 20th.  There are two seatings (or sessions).  Your family has been assigned a time.  If this time does not work for you, please let me know as soon as possible.  Your child will be "working" during your session.  In other words, you and your family will visit our Reading Restaurant and your child will "work" as a waiter, waitress, host, or kitchen staff.  We will serve our writing stories, stories the children have created throughout the year.  We will not serve any food, rather our appertizers, entrees and desserts are composed of small moment stories, animal resports and persuasive writing pieces.  We are so excited to celebrate our learning with you and your family.  Please respond to me as soon as possible to let me know how many people will attend from your family.

The children are currently working very hard on decorating our classroom to reflect this year's theme: Vermont.  We voted on a name for our reading restaurant earlier this week and the winning name was "The Covered Bridge Cafe." Next week, we will create little covered bridges, using popsicle sticks and papers.  We would like parent volunteers for this special project.  If you can assist, I am planning on doing this on Monday, May 4th between 10-11:10am.  If you wish to help out, please let me know.  We also created a mural this week.  This mural shows Mount Mansfield and the children are drawing animals from Vermont that we are adding to it.

The week before vacation, we had the opportunity to visit Horizon's Reading Restaurant.  It is always great to see what other classes do, especially for our new students and our first graders. Here are some pictures.  Ask your child to explain what his/her favorite was.

Your child also brought home a permission slip for our upcoming field-trip to Shelburne Museum.  It is on May 27th.  Please return the permission slip as soon as possible.  More information regarding our field-trip will come soon.

Have a great rest of the week and weekend,
Maria