Weekly Update 5/31/16 - 6/3/16

The countdown is on! Only one more Monday left in the school year and not a day goes by without a little something "extra" going on around here. On Monday, we paired up with Third Grade for All Trinity Builds where teams were challenged to find a way to drop a plastic cup of water from the balcony of our classrooms to the courtyard without spilling the water. It was a treat for the teachers to watch creative, problem-solving minds set to work with the limited supplies of fabric, tinfoil, string, and plastic. Most every team attempted to create a parachute of sorts before realizing that the plastic wrap and extra padding was a better route. All Trinity Builds revolves around the Engineering Design Process, which includes a cycle of imagining, planning, creating, improving, and asking.

The other exciting piece of our week came Thursday morning, when we were able to celebrate the year with your families. Not only did everyone enjoy starting their day with donuts, but it was a joy to reflect upon the year, see pictures, read poetry, and be in community. If you'd like to view the slideshow again, please click HERE.

In the classroom, we are squeezing things in! In Writer's Workshop, your students have been working on their realistic fiction stories. This will be our final writing piece of the year and we will work on publishing next week. In Reader's, we end the year by enjoying our just-right books -- and we must say, what is now "just-right" for your children is far different than what we saw in August! Perhaps one of the biggest joys about this time of year is our chance to see all the growth that has happened, and these second graders have truly grown like beanstalks. In case you haven't heard, a new series has taken our class by storm -- Wrenly! Our Unit 8 Assessment from Investigations will be sent home this week and we ask that you please review, sign, and return it by Friday. This will be the last math assessment that comes home. We will begin a new unit on measurement, however will not take an assessment on the material. Aside from these core subjects, our days are filled with end of year activities and as much community time as possible. We love our classroom and we love your children -- we just have no idea where the year went!

Reminders for the upcoming week:

• Please return your the Student Math Handbook that went home at the beginning of the year. We hope this has been a helpful tool for you throughout the year and appreciate your cooperation as we collect these books for next year.
• Monday, June 6th -- 8th Grade Commencement. We will celebrate with 8th Grade next Monday and then gather on the field at our normal lunch time (12:00) for a picnic lunch. 
• Tuesday, June 7th -- Alumni Book Buddy Day! A few weeks ago, students wrote invitation letters to alumni, which we know were well received and we look forward to having a few graduates visit next week!
• Wednesday, June 8th -- Last day of school! Moving Up Chapel will be at 10:30 in the gym and dismissal will be at 11:30 following the service. We hope to see you there!