Group 2: May 31 - June 4, 2010

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

What an exciting way to end our year!

• Group 2 went on a field trip to New England Coffee, the largest independent roaster and distributor of coffee in New England, located in Malden, MA. We were briefed on our tour in the company's conference room by Account Manager, Tim Hodgkins. Then we donned "New England Coffee tour hats" to keep our hair from contaminating the factory. Our factory tour guide showed us the five huge roasters that roast the beans at a temperature of 400 degrees! We viewed the coffee bean in many stages: roasting, grinding, flavoring, packaging and shipping. We met so many interesting people and learned the importance of each position. Each student received gift bags which contained a travel mug, a writing journal, note cards, a pen and some mints. Thank you to the clever ladies in Marketing for this generous package! Also, each student received a complimentary bag of ground coffee to take home to their parents. The smells were very interesting and the noises were extremely loud! Our tour concluded with a pizza lunch in the conference room and a debriefing session of our tour! Thank you to New England Coffee for a great experience. (Also a big "thank you" to Lauren Poussard for escorting us on the trip!)
• As we watched our caterpillars grow and develop into chrysalides, we waited anxiously for their development into butterflies. Sure enough, perfect timing fell upon us! Slowly each one burst from its cocoon and our 10 Painted Lady butterflies were born and prospered in the butterfly habitat. We named each one and set them free into their natural environment. It was a bittersweet good-bye!
• We finished reading our group book, Stuart Little, and look forward to viewing the movie!

Monday 5/31/10

• A great big thanks to our veterans! Enjoy your day off and remember the importance of the day.

Tuesday 6/1/10

• Today is our last full-day of school!
• We will complete any unfinished work and watch Stuart Little.

Wednesday 6/2/10

• Dismissal at 12Noon
• Group 4, Laurie's class, invited Group 2 to attend their performance of an African folktale at 9:30. We will thoroughly enjoy the show!
• Please bring in a couple of bags so that we can clean our bins and cubbies!

Thursday 6/3/10

• Field Day/ Books & Awards/Art Show: 9:00am - 2:00pm. Please see the WAG e-mail for details!

Friday 6/4/10

• No school! Today is Graduation Day for our 8th graders- CONGRATULATIONS!

Have a wonderful summer break. Please be safe and healthy! I will miss all of you!

I look forward to seeing parents on Parent/Teacher Conference day on Thursday, June 10!

Group 2: May 24 - 28, 2010

The end is near!

This is officially our last academic week.
Grades close on Thursday, May 27, 2010.
There is NO school on Friday, May 28 -Teacher Development Day.

We had a busy week which included the following activities:

• Geography: Group 2 took an assessment on the USA, North America and the World.
• Historic Figures: We did very well on a quiz on Harriet Tubman and Helen Keller.
• Writing: We wrote very interesting and detailed stories on "the topic of your choice" in our Writing Journals.
• Science: We witnessed the birth of our butterflies! We had a very exciting week in science as our study of the Life Cycle of a Butterfly reached new levels. Our chrysalises (which formed from our larvae/caterpillars) emerged into butterflies. By the end of the week we had 8 Painted Lady Butterflies with beautiful flapping wings! We also studied ants, spiders, snails and the earthworm.

Monday, 5/24/10

• Reading: Keep reading and please pass in any book reports that you have completed!
• WW: List 29- brook, caress, gleam, hare, harsh, idle, numerous, rascal, secret, shed, timid, wiggle. We will have our WW test early this week due to the shortened week. Please make flash cards and study over the weekend! This will be our final WW test for this school year!
• Spelling Worksheet Review is due.

Tuesday 5/25/10

• Reading Comprehension- next section.
• WW: Pre-test.

Wednesday 5/26/10

• WW: List 29- Exercises A, C, D.
• WW: TEST.

Thursday 5/27/10

• Grades End!
• FIELD TRIP for Group 2! We are touring the New England Coffee Company's plant in Malden. Group 2 will continue our Social Studies lesson on "Who Provides Services in the Community?" and "How Are Goods are Made and Brought to Us?" We will witness how the coffee bean is roasted, ground, flavored, packaged, shipped and marketed for consumption by the consumer! Upon completion of the tour, New England Coffee will serve a pizza lunch to Group 2 in the company conference room! We will depart Clark around 9:45AM and return around 1:00PM.
• YMCA: Last session.

Friday 5/28/10

• NO School: Teacher Development Day.

Group 2: May 17 - 21, 2010

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRACIE LEETE!
You are a star!

The students did a great job with the All School Testing.
What an ambitious and focused group of students!

We spent three mornings testing and the rest of the week we learned about the following interesting topics:

• Alexander Bell and his dedication to teaching the deaf and perfecting the telephone...
• The amazing life of Helen Keller and her quest to learn to communicate as a deaf and blind person...
• Simple and compound subjects and predicates...
• The Life Cycle of a Butterfly and its 4 phases: the egg, the caterpillar, the chrysalis and the adult butterfly...
• Letter writing...
• Our group read aloud: "Stuart Little"...

Monday 5/17/10

• Reading: Read your SSR and work in book reports. This is our last book report therefore we need to complete it by the end of the week utilizing our best writing and comprehension skills!
• WW: List 28- combat, fleet, globe, hale, hoard, keg, knave, mount, plunder, ply, stingy
• Spelling Word Families: -ore, -ose
• Spelling Words to remember: carnivore, herbivore, omnivore, propose, suppose
• Write-on-Track: pages 75 - 76

Tuesday 5/18/10

• Spelling Word Family Worksheet

Wednesday 5/19/10

• LIBRARY Day: This will be our last trip to the library for the 2009/2010 school year! Please remember to bring all books as well as any fines that may be owed.
• Reading: Reading Comprehension Book- next section.
• Art Show: 2 - 3PM

Thursday 5/20/10

• WW: List 28- Exercises A, C, D
• WW: Pre-test

Friday 5/21/10

• Grades End. Pass in all book reports and finished work to recieve credit!
• WW: List 28- Test

Group 2: May 10 - 14, 2010

Happy Mother's Day!
I hope that the moms had a wonderful day and enjoyed the creative gifts from your children!

"All School Testing" is this Monday -Wednesday, 8:30AM - 12Noon.
Please get alot of rest and eat a good breakfast!
Remember to bring in pencils and water bottles!

Monday 5/10/10

• Reading: Read your SSR books and work in your Book Reports.
• Write-on-Track: We have been working in your workbook all week as morning work. Please make sure that you have completed pages 69 - 74.
• WW: List 27- approve, colt, dock, except, graze, knoll, meadow, nozzle, orchard, perch, spar, twinkle.
• Spelling Words: -oat, oke families

Tuesday 5/11/10

• Spelling Word Worksheet is due.
• Reading: Read SSR and work in book reports.
• NO late pick-up: Teacher's Meeting.

Wednesday 5/12/10

• Reading Comprehension : Next section.
• Art Show: 2 - 3 PM

Thursday 5/13/10

• WW: List 27- Exercises A, C, D.
• WW: Pre-test, List 27.

Friday 5/14/10

• WW: Test- List 27 and Spelling Words.

LouAnn's Gold/Green Book: May 3 - 7, 2010

Welcome Back!
I hope that you enjoyed your trip!

As we discussed, there will not be any math homework due on Monday.
However, if you feel ambitious please feel free to work in your math book!

As a reminder, all Mathathon books and donations are due now!

Before class begins: please visit the restroom, see Betsy if you need her and come to class prepared.

The following list will be helpful in your successful math production:

• A math notebook with graph paper or a math binder/folder
• 2 pencils- sharpened
• Water bottle
• Assignment Notebook
• A ruler
• A great attitude!

Thanks and see you Monday!

Group 2: May 3 - 7, 2010

What a fun-filled, exciting and successful week!

This is how our wonderful week unfolded:

• Writing: We described a " friend" in our Writing Journals utilizing strong descriptive words, good organization, proper sentence structure and neat handwriting!
• Reading: We are progressing in our SSR books. The following books are being read: Grace: Wild Girl, Taylor: Lucy Rose, Elodie: Summer According to Humphrey, Zoe: Wimpy Kid, Dog Days, Sam: 39 Clues, Ben: The Missing Tooth, Joseph: Jake Drake Know-It-All.
• Geography: Zoe gave a presentation on her trip to Venice. She read excerpts from her travel journal which were very informative and entertaining. We learned about Zoe's adventures, places visited and
  yummy dining experiences. Thank you Zoe!
• Historical Figures: We successfully took a quiz on Abraham Lincoln and learned about the amazing life of Helen Keller!
• In celebration of "Earth Day" we viewed the Disney production, "Oceans", at the Liberty Tree Mall cinema with Group1. We learned a great deal about the wonders of the ocean and its innumerable and incredibly diverse creatures. We were introduced to fascinating and unusual sea life, their habitats and the ongoing life cycle. The ocean is a beautiful place but, unfortunately, human indifference is its biggest threat. We all need to be conscious that the ocean is a major source of life and we need to preserve its integrity by eliminating pollution and demonstrating respect for this incredible wonder!
• Science: These brilliant students were challenged with a Science quiz on the Group 2 Science Fair projects!
• Science: We visited Endicott Park in Danvers for playground activity and a picnic. Since we are starting our studies on invertebrates, we brought our bug catchers and caught some very interesting creatures!
• "Snow Day": We visited "Monkey Joe's" and jumped around for about an hour and a half! We made ice cream sundaes and watched a fun and entertaining movie, "Big Fat Liar"! Thank you Jeff for a great "Snow Day"!

Monday 5/3/10

• "21" more days of school!
• WW: List 26- aide, arbor, bouquet, dread, eager, hose, plow, plump, quell, stalk, tunnel, urban
• Spelling Word Families:, -ine and REVIEW of -ice, ide, ime, ite families

Tuesday 5/4/10

• Reading: Book report conferences!

Wednesday 5/5/10

• 1/2 Day!! Dismissal at 12Noon.
• Spring Performance: 5 - 9PM
• "LIBRARY Day": please bring in your books and fines if applicable!
• Reading Comprehension- next section.

Thursday 5/6/10

• WW: List 26- Exercises A,C,D
• WW: Pre-test

Friday 5/7/10

• WW: Test, List 26

Group 2: April 26 - 30, 2010

We wish the Clark School Spring Trip attendees a wonderful week as they visit Chicago and Washington, D.C.!

Monday 4/26/10

• Reading: Continue in your SSR book and book reports!
• WW: List 25- aid, beggar, chord, creak, ornate, peak, pray, rapid, slender, talon, tend, urn.
• Spelling Word Families: -ice, -ide
• Spelling Word worksheet is due.

Tuesday 4/27/10

• Earth Day: To acknowledge and celebrate Earth Day (April 22, 2010) Groups 1 & 2 are attending Disney's special feature, "Oceans" at the Woburn Showcase Cinema at 10:00A.M. We will be transporting the students in the Clark School van. Following the movie, the students will have a picnic lunch at Endicott Park in Danvers, play in the playground and take a nature walk! Please pack a "picnic" appropriate snack and lunch! (We will not have access to a microwave!) We will be providing a small snack for munching during the movie. Jeanne Argento (Sam Kirby's mom) will donate waters for our excursion- THANK YOU Jeanne!


• Historic Figures: Quiz on Abraham Lincoln - please review your study guide on one of the greatest presidents of all time!

Wednesday 4/28/10

• Science: Please use the study guide for a quiz on the Group 2 Science Fair Projects. We will be quizzed on Germs, Mold, Barometers, Robots, Coqui Frogs, The Life Cycle of Frogs and The Human Skeleton!
• Reading Comprehension: Next section is due.

Thursday 4/29/10

• WW: List 25, Exercises A, C, D and Pre-test

Friday 4/30/10

• "SNOW DAY": Today is a" Snow Day" for Group 2! Since Mother Nature did not cooperate with us this year, Jeff has graciously offered to provide Group 2 with our own "virtual snow day"! Our day will include: Monkey Joe's , recess, "Make-Your-Own-Sundaes" and a movie (TBD)!
• WW: Test- List 25