March 30, 2007

Upcoming Dates

* Thursday, April 12th: Cupertino Library Field Trip
Please remember to send your child’s blue library card to school and review the 4-digit PIN number. Some students still do not know their PIN number when we go each month!

* Friday, April 13th: Enrichment Day
This is a fun day for kids! Organized by the PTO, guests come to Eaton and the whole morning is filled with fun activities and crafts! The afternoon will also be the Author of the Month assembly.

* Monday, April 16th to Friday, April 20th: No School – Spring Break
Enjoy the week of vacation!

* Monday, April 23rd: Weather Presentations
During the past two months, we have learned a lot about weather. As one of our concluding activities for our weather unit, all the students will prepare a weather report and present it to the class on Monday, April 23rd. Please refer to the attached handout for detailed information.

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Dear Families,
We had a new student this week! Please welcome Janani and her family to Eaton! They moved here from India and Janani started her first day in Room 8 on Tuesday. We look forward to getting to know Janani better. Here are some highlights from the week:
Star of the Week: Michael
Poem of the Week: What the Rain Said
Song of the Week: The 50 States That Rhyme
Kindness is … traveling to different places
Story of the Week: The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Vocabulary of the Week: House 4
Word Wall: build, old, piece, start, under, very, wear
Next Week’s Sharing: Weather Poem
(Memorize at least 4 lines and bring picture/object to show.)
• Language Arts: Theme 7 We Can Work it Out: Week 3
• Stories: If You Give a Pig a Pancake
• Word Families: igh (high, might, sigh)
• Sounds: oo, ew, ue, ou and long I (ie., igh)
• Grammar: Pronouns

• Writing: Writer’s Workshop is going great! We had more than half of the class finish publishing their first piece on Weather senses. A few students even finished publishing their second piece, an autobiography! This week, we also spent some time reading rain poems and wrote our own free verse rain poems.

• Math: We have been working with measurement this week. We practiced measuring things first using a paper clip. Then we learned how to use rulers and measured items using centimeters and inches. Continue to practice using rulers. Our homework next week will have some problems with inches and centimeters to practice at home.

• Social Studies: We went to Mrs. Bachelor’s room this week for circuits. We talked about different types of homes in the community and we designed our own homes.

• Science: We continued a few experiments this week in weather. We tested out different fabrics and found out that nylon is the best material to wear on a rainy day. Also, we went on our field trip to the Guadalupe River Park and Gardens on Thursday. On this field trip, we had three rotations to learn about nature: exploring rivers, finding bugs, and identifying leaves. Thank you to Mr. Hung, Mrs. Nozaki, Mrs. Wang, and Mrs. Yokoyama for standing in the sun chasing after bugs!

• Fire Drill: We practiced an earthquake drill on Tuesday and practiced our procedure for evacuating classrooms. Eaton is putting a higher priority on training and preparing both students and teachers for emergency situations.

• Assembly: We had an assembly today called “Sherlock Holmes Takes the Case.” Students watched performers act out a mystery!

• Music: We are starting to rehearse for our First Grade musical, which will be the last week of school. I am enforcing the importance of singing and learning the words to the songs. I would like to see all students participating and trying their best!

With the warm weather coming early this year, some students need additional reminders of school policies. Remember that it is important the students are sitting on the bench before school. We should not be playing on the blacktop. Also, after school, students cannot be playing on the playground or running around until 3:45. Thank you for helping us enforce the Eaton School rules.