If we could just keep the snow out of the forecast, we can begin to appreciate the signs of spring! I hope you have time today to get outside and enjoy the sunshine.
Friday was the official conclusion of our ELA and math PARCC testing. We will offer make-up tests this week for any student who was absent during the testing period. We are so proud of your students and the hard work they put into these tests! PARCC results will be available and sent home next fall.
This week in ELA we will continue our unit on poetry in honor of National Poetry Month. We are currently writing seven different types of poems, and we will begin sharing these poems with our classmates in our “Author’s Chair” as well as reading some published poems. If you have any poetry anthologies at home that you would be willing to loan to our ELA classes, please send those in with your child this week. These books will be used in the classroom only, and we promise to handle them with care. All poetry books borrowed will be returned to you by the end of the month. Thank you!
In science, we have been preparing our first debate, “Should people have to pay for water?” Based on their initial opinions on this question (both classes were evenly divided on the issue), the students have been assigned a group of 2-3 and have begun writing arguments and preparing rebuttals. We should be ready to put our persuasive skills to work on Tuesday and begin debating with our classmates. This will wrap up our unit on water and the water cycle and we will begin our Earth science unit by the end of the week.
This week we celebrate our many volunteers who do so much work in the classroom and behind the scenes for our students. Thank you all for everything you do to support your children and PCCS. We truly value your partnership. We will also celebrate the unique abilities of every student this week as an extension to the Peace Week we celebrated earlier in the year.
Thank you to those who have returned the camping commitment deposit (which was due on April 6th) and other camping forms. Collecting these forms is a large, important undertaking, and the earlier the forms are returned, the easier it will be for Ms. Bonicontro and Mr. Siegel to organize and prepare them for the trip. In addition to the camping forms, a permission slip for Earth Week went home last week. This will be an amazing week that includes a cooking day, a visit from the Wildlife Center, a bike trip to Independence Grove, and a field trip to Lincoln Park Zoo. A digital copy of the permission slip can be found below if you need an extra. We are looking for a few ingredients for our cooking day as well as half gallon milk jugs (yes, milk jugs again 🙂 for our herb garden if you are able to donate. Thank you!
And finally, please enjoy some photos from our STEM water filter project in science last week. The students were given a task to make water filters out of plastic cups, coffee filters, paper towels, bandanas, and cotton balls. It was a great learning experience as we designed, tested, and re-tested the best way we could filter unclean water using household materials. Definitely a challenge!