Polished Presentations and Christmas Music: December 6, 2007

'Tis The Season for Christmas Music
The children were treated to beautiful music during lunch today.  Students from the high school orchestra and band performed a selection of Christmas songs for the elementary students.  As the children ate lunch, they spontaneously broke out in song when the orchestra and band played popular songs such as Frosty the Snowman and Deck the Halls.   It was a pleasure to sit with the children and enjoy the lovely festive music.

Polished PowerPoint Presentations
Thank you to all the parents, grandparents, and siblings who came to our Animal Research Presentations yesterday.  The students did a fantastic job with their PowerPoint presentations!  Before the "real" presentations, the students created a mind map of "What Good Presenters Do"  and practiced executing the elements of good presentations.  Here is the list the students generated for "What Good Presenters Do."

• Use expression
• Always try your best
• Don't give up
• Work hard
• Speak loudly
• Face forward and look at the audience
• Use eye contact
• Speak clearly
• Listen attentively to other presenters
• Read the words in your head, then stand forward and speak to the audience
• Stand straight and tall
• Don't block the pictures and words
• Be attentive
• Have a smile on your face
• If you make a mistake, keep on trying
  

When it came time to present their research projects to an audience, all the children did a fabulous job!

Christmas Bake Sale Fundraiser
The children have decided to raise money for Heifer International, which is a perfect way to end our Animal Inquiry and give the gift of hope to others at Christmas.  Our donation of animals will help families all over the world.  Check out their website: http://www.heifer.org/.

Our class and Ms. Revard's class will have a Bake Sale on Tuesday, December 18, to raise money.  We will also learn about setting up businesses, advertising, making change, and counting money.

We ask that each family make and package at least 15 bags of baked goods and send them to school on the morning of the 18th.  A ziplock bag might contain two or three cookies, a brownie, a piece of cake, or any other kind of yummy treat you would like to make.  All items will be marked for sale by the children and will cost 50 cents.  Mrs. Hussey will inform all the parents in the school about the sale in her Thursday letter and request that children bring no more than $2.00 to purchase items.  The sale will take place during morning and lunch recesses (9:30-10:00 and 11:30-12:30).  We will be asking parents to help out at the sale, so look for a sign-up sheet soon.  Thank you for your support of this worthy cause!

Animal Art Project with Ms. Brooks
In art class, the students created abstract animals and designed a habitat for their animal.  A description of the project is posted on Ms. Brooks' website: http://midpac.edu/elementary/art/ .  The boards are displayed in our windows, so you can see all the abstract animals and habitats at conferences next week!

Wacky Web Tales and Indoor Recess
Wet weather usually means indoor recess, and the recent rain and wind have led to a lot of indoor recess.  While the students eat their snacks, we have been playing with words (nouns, adjectives, adverbs and verbs) and making up some hilarious stories thanks to the following website: http://www.eduplace.com/tales/.  The collaborative process is such a hit that when it starts raining outside, the children eagerly await the chance to have indoor recess and create funny stories and songs.

Thank You
Thank you to Karen Mento for baking delicious banana muffins for our class.  The student devoured the homemade treat at snack today.  TC brought in two caterpillars for our class to observe.  One caterpillar is looking quite plump and will probably be a chrysalis when the children return to school on Monday.  Thank you to the Chen family for bringing in Jamba Juice and special cake to celebrate JC's birthday.  We enjoyed the yummy snack while reading the following birthday books JC donated to our class: Sweet Tooth, Do Pirates Take Baths?, and Little Polar Bear.
Note From the School Nurse
One of the children in our class has been diagnosed with strep throat.  If your child complains of a sore throat, please take it seriously and have him/her tested.  If the test is positive, let the school office know.  Likewise, if your child has a fever that persists, please take him/her to the doctor.

Reminders:

• Have children wear their green MPI Polo shirt on Monday, December 10, for special Elementary Christmas chapel.
• Parent-Teacher-Student Conferences on Thursday, December 13, and Friday, December 14.
• Send in packaged baked goods for Bake Sale on Tuesday, December 18.
• Drop-off canned foods at autoline on Tuesday, December 18.
• Please continue to clip and send in box tops!
  

Posted on December 6, 2007 7:38 AM | Permalink