Hawaiian Stars News: February 22, 2007
The Hawaiian Stars are getting excited about the Big Island trip! We have been discussing our learning goals for the trip and our group assignments. Each group has begun to formulate their research questions and how they will share responsibilities for gathering data and taking photos while on the trip. We will continue to discuss each of the stops on our itinerary and what to expect there. Their booklets of information about the Kilauea volcano and its past eruptions, various museums, and Kilauea Military Camp are provided for them to refer to. We hope to make this trip a wonderful and fun learning experience because it's the last trip for third and fourth graders.
On March 1st, I will meet everyone at the Hawaiian Airlines terminal so that you can check in with me, get your Zip-Pak if you ordered one, pick up your chaperone folder, and check in with the airlines to get your boarding passes. Adults will need a photo identification card to check in. Please give the agent your frequent flier number when you check in so that you can get mileage credit for the trip. We will assemble at the boarding gate and wait for our flights. If you run into any emergency problems that morning, please call me on my husband's cell phone. His name is Alvin, and his number is 228-1059.
Because of the tight security, please pack your water bottles in your suitcases and not in your backpacks. Security will confiscate them if you're carrying them. Pick them up at Hilo and transfer them to your backpacks at the airport. At the proper time, we will board the aircraft and be ready to begin our adventure together.
Mrs. Holzman will be on the first flight, and my husband and I will be on the second flight. When we arrive in Hilo, we need to pick up our bags and get them ready to load onto the buses.
Our class will be on Bus 1, and Mrs. Holzman's class will be on Bus 2. Once the buses are loaded, we will head to Hilo town to the two museums to begin our tours. The Hawaiian Stars only need to carry their cameras and notebooks/pencils with them at each stop on the itinerary. (I will sent them home next Tuesday.) All backpacks should be left on the buses. They should contain snacks for the day. I will ask the bus drivers for permission to eat snacks on the bus.
I would appreciate it very much if you would save the first seat across from the bus driver for my husband and me so we can discuss movements and announcements with the bus driver as we travel. I have the necessary forms to check us in at each stop and checks to pay for the admission fees.
I am so pleased that we have so many parents with us on this trip. It is always so helpful and reassuring to the children to have many adults with our group. Please be responsible for the child assigned to you to chaperone.
Grandparents Day, February 28, will be a special celebration, and the Hawaiian Stars have prepared their poems to share with the grandparents. The all-school show will be at the gym following lunch in the classrooms with the grandparents. I am eagerly expecting a large group of grandparents to join us in our classroom. We will take photos of the students with their grandparents, and the photos will be sent to the grandparents as a memento of their visit. Mrs. Cindy Kaita and Mrs. Nicole Chung are the parents who will be in charge of lunches and photos for our class. I would like to thank them very much for volunteering to help us out with these chores.
I am pleased to announce that we now have three third graders and four fourth graders who have completed their Wordly Wise books and are working on corrections. Our goal is for everyone to have the books completed by Spring Break!
Our Math Adventure planning sheets have been approved, and everyone should be working on preparing their presentation speeches and poster for next Monday. We hope to have a wonderful variety of creative and challenging projects to share.
The third graders have completed their Test Achiever books and will be working on additional test prep exercises in the weeks ahead as the fourth graders move on to their second workbooks. The skills which they have learned will help them to be better test-takers. This year only the fourth graders will take the Stanford Achievement Test in April, but everyone has had the opportunity to prepare for test-taking.
Posted on February 22, 2007 6:11 AM | Permalink