Service Project- Birthday Gifts for Kids in Shelters

Dear Mann Community,

Housing Forward, formerly PADS, was so impressed with our blanket drive efforts last year that they asked if we would join them in an exciting service project. They received a grant through the Future Philanthropists Program that our Student Council members, under the direction of Mr. Hayward, Mrs. LaHucik, and help from Mrs. Sullivan, have been working hard on and want to share with you.

There are three main components of the grant. First, we received money to create 13 activity kits for the local shelters and two Prevail sites. We are filling the kits with games, books, crafts, etc. that can be used by the preschoolers – fifth grade students living in the shelters. The second part is an educational piece. Our student council members are learning about homelessness and how they can make a difference in the lives of those affected by it. Finally, the third part involves our wonderful community.

We would like to provide birthday gifts for the kids living in the area shelters. Over the next three weeks, we will be collecting donations in Mrs. Sullivan's office. As you will see below, the items consist of toys, clothing, and other interests of the children. Other age appropriate items would be welcomed.  For the teenagers, gift cards (such as Visa) would be wonderful to help them acquire their wishes. Items should come to school unwrapped and labeled such as "Girl, 2 yrs." The Student Council Members will organize, wrap and deliver the donations. ****Donations will be collected through February 1st. It is with your help, we can achieve this third part of the grant. Grade levels have been each assigned two children.

Grade Level	Children in shelters	Family wishes
Kindergarten	Girl (2yrs) Boy (19 yrs)	Clothes; underwear; educational toys Pants (26 waist; 34 length)shoes;  needs his laptop fixed
1st Grade	Boy (1 yrs) Girl (16 yrs)	Pampers size 3; clothes; educational toys American Girl Doll; clothes; art items
2nd Grade	Girl (9 yrs) Boy (17 yrs)	Boots, coat, (likes blue/purple; chocolate and Wizard of Oz) I-tunes gift card; music posters; football
3rd Grade	Girl (2 yrs) Girl (15 yrs)	Summer outfits (size 2T); stuffed animals with big eyes; I-tunes gift card; nail polish; jewelry; clothes size 8
4th Grade	Girl (2 yrs) Girl (15 yrs)	Clothes; toys (favorite color is pink) Drawing sets; paints; sketch pad; hair clips
5th Grade	Girl (8 yrs) Boy (17 yrs)	Shoes and boots (size 7-8); Pikachu;  reading and art items Clothes – size 32; jeans t-shirts; socks; pictures of Rugby

Thank you in advance for your generosity in helping with this grant,

Jim Hayward, Ann LaHucik and Cheryl Sullivan

4th and 5th grade Student Council Members

World War II Jigsaw Posters

Boys & Girls, here are the posters your classmates made and presented to us this week.  Reference these to add additional notes to your note catcher.

Additionally, here the introduction presentation I gave you last week.  You can reference this for additional facts.

Wax Museum 2016

Here's our Mannequin Challenge from our Wax Museum!  How fun!

Here's a slide show of all our "wax" innovators!  I am so impressed by all these 4th graders!

Today's Homework

Because we had the classroom set up to create our backdrops, we were not able to easily access our planners to write down homework.  Here is the HW to work on tonight.

Reading- Read at least 20 minutes
Innovator- Signed Speech Rehearsal sheets are due tomorrow. Also, work on costumes.
Spanish- Spanish HW is due on Wednesday.
Math- Lesson 17 HW

Accepting & Respecting Literature Circles

This week, students received their new Literature Circle books and they were very excited to start reading!  Each book has a common topic of accepting & respecting others, especially those who are different from us.  It is a powerful message that will promote and teach empathy.

We also spent time reviewing the weekly requirements.  Every week, the students will have to read a chunk of the book (pages indicated on their bookmarks), complete at least one sticky note every 10 pages (requirements linked), and complete 1 role sheet every week.  More information is posted below!

Thank you so much to our fabulous parents who have volunteered their time to come in each week to monitor and facilitate rich discussions about literature! You ROCK!

Presentation Explaining Literature Circle Requirements and Procedures


Bookmarks for Required Reading


Chunk Due Dates: Our class will have literature circle meetings every Thursday from 10:15-11:15, so that is when their reading chunk, role page and sticky notes are due.  

• Chunk 1: Due 11/3
• Chunk 2: Due 11/10
• Chunk 3: Due 11/17
• Chunk 4: Due 12/1

Unit 1 Test: Place Value, Rounding, Addition, Subtraction and Multi-Step Word Problem

We have our final math assessment over Unit 1 material on Friday!  The test will cover the concepts on the quiz from last week (lessons 1-10) plus adding, subtracting & multi-step word problems.

Students will complete a study guide in class today.  They should use that to help study for the test as the test mirrors the study guide.  We will review the study guide and questions about it more detail on Thursday in class.

There are many problems not completed in the student workbook that kids can use for additional study practice.

• Addition (lessons 11-12)
• Subtraction (lessons 13-15)
• Word Problems (lessons 16-18)

Remember, to study for a math test, you must do problems!  

Global Virtual Classroom Introduction

Explore the winners from last year!  http://www.virtualclassroom.org/win15.html