Week of September 26: Highlights

Group 2 had an exciting week.

1. We finished reading Flat Stanley!

• We will be sending home the project on Monday and will need to have you address the envelope to your family or friends who will be "hosting" Flat Stanley's vacation! A letter of explanation and the contents of the mailing will be available for you to review.
• We look forward to receiving some interesting letters and photos back from Flat Stanley's trip!
• The students took a quiz on Flat Stanley to measure their comprehension and vocabulary skills. Great Job!

2. A special guest, 2nd Lt. Enrico Piatelli, visited with Group 2!

We had a very interesting and informative visit with 2nd Lt. Piatelli from the U.S. Army. As part of our social studies and historical figures lessons on "How People Make a Difference" in our commnity, we learned a great deal about the United States military.

Lt. Piatelli is a resident of Danvers, MA and attended St. John's Prep in Danvers. He recently graduated from the Military School at Norwich University in Northfield, VT as a 2nd lieutenant with a degree in business. He has been undergoing various training and "boot camp" sessions throughout his 4 years at Norwich and played on their varsity hockey team since his freshman year. He is being sent to Oklahoma and then Georgia for additional training and then he is being deployed to Afghanistan. His goal is to become an Army Ranger, the most elite level of the U.S. Army. He met with Group 2, gave a brief presentation, answered their questions and took photos with the class. The students learned the following facts:

• There are 5 divisions of the U.S. Military: the Army, the Marines, the Coast Guard, the Navy and the Air Force.
• In order to be in the Army, a soldier must possess the following characteristics (which is defined in an acrostic poem for the abbreviation of the word "LEADERSHIP"): Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Self-less Service, Honor, Integrity and Personal Courage.
• Members of the Armed Forces are committed to their country and protect people at any expense.
• The Army chooses their lieutenants according to their G.P.A, mental and physical strength and experience. (Good grades are important in all aspects of life!!)
• A soldier's backpack can weigh over 100 pounds!.
• Once a soldier is deployed overseas, they cannot come home for a very long time.
• When soldiers are in combat they carry food called "MRE'S" which are vacuum-packed and can last up to 4 years! (The students did not want to try any of these samples!)
• The success of the army is based on team work and good listening skills- just like the students of Clark!

3. We reviewed capitalization, punctuation, wrote a friendly letter to Lt. Piatelli and a "I Am" biography poem, reviewed our lesson on Benjamin Franklin and constructed educational kites, moved along in our Wordly Wise books, started to review Dolch Words and progressed in our Reading Comprehension books.