Feeling Appreciated

Here's the assortment of goodies and greetings I was showered with this morning. Exotic fruit basket, antique (Shorecrest colors) backgammon set for my collection and handmade testimonials from each student. Plus the door and window decorations on the theme of Farmer Hughes and his bumper crop (of students.) Thanks to all. I do feel appreciated.

Click on each picture to enlarge several times.





Oh and did I mention the luncheon with a Parisian theme thrown for us all? I wished I'd taken my camera. The committee out did themselves this year.

Your Participation Requested....Not Required

Among the most recent graded papers in the packet I'm sending home tomorrow, you will find a couple of additional items. Two souvenirs from Sophie's Belgian trip and information about a survey conducted by a USF grad student that we agreed to distribute. It's in two parts. There's a consent form to fill in if you decide to participate and have the time. The second part is a survey for you to answer. Both the consent and surveys are returned to me. If you participate, there's a brief survey for your child to complete in class on the same theme. You are under no obligation to get this done. But many of us remember this kind of thing from our own grad school days. We sure appreciated the help and time people gave us then.

This week

Wednesday is the track meet. Students wear PE clothes to school. We sent a letter out about it. We can wear purple tops this week too. This is leading up to "Relay for Life" Friday.

We have a math box quiz Friday. We pick up on our history text this week again.

Carlos won the Spring Backgammon Tournament. Taylor was second. Thomas third and Delaney was fourth.

We will be writing a literary essay about the Phantom Tollbooth and continuing to write our sequels to the same novel.

Susan B. Anthony

Sara A. and Trevor B. presented this morning tribute written by my wife to this tireless worker for women's rights. Here's the script:

Susan B Anthony was born in 1820, in Massachusetts. She was bright, inspiring,

and powerful. When she saw people being treated unfairly, or being bullied, she

spoke up. She was a teacher who thought boys and girls both should be educated

in schools together. She thought slavery was wrong and worked to abolish it. She

spoke up. She thought woman should have control over their property, and their

children, in case of divorce.

But above all, she thought American women, not just men, should have the right

to vote. She was in favor of suffrage. Not suffering! Suffrage is a funny word

that means two slightly different things---the right to be able to vote, and the

act of voting itself.

Can you imagine if your Mom or your grandmother was told, sorry, no voting for

you. Why? Because you’re a woman! Doesn’t that seem ridiculous? Susan B Anthony

and others who followed her, both women and men, spoke up! They organized, they

marched, and they picketed. Sometimes they were tossed in jail. It's hard to

persuade people to change their minds, isn't it?

Your great grandmothers could not vote until 1920, one hundred years after Susan

B Anthony was born. The 19th amendment to the Constitution assured that women

could vote.

Smart, strong, tireless women and men worked together to end the injustice.

Birds, Acting & Bulldozers: Our Day

Audubon Society talked to us about our nesting eagles.



Upper Division students led an acting workshop for us.



We checked on the work to level our indoor playing fields.

Our Week

We finish reading "Phantom Tollbooth tomorrow. The quiz for the final chapters will be Thursday. We also have the final eleven vocabulary/spelling words quiz on Thursday as well.

The Math Unit 8 assessment is Wednesday. The students prepared study guide today that they will answer tonight. We will review this tomorrow.

We practiced the words and some of the most challenging math concepts today using the dry erase boards.

We will also be finishing the final reports on the foods of Colonial America project.

Above is a photo from last week's open house to show off our technology projects. Most of them are available online. Ask your child about it.

Reading Week: Friday Oldie Goldie Book Sale

Thousands of books were gathered, donated, sorted, displayed and sold or given away today. So many volunteers and families make this event so successful each year.

Reading Week: Thursday

We listened to author and Shorecrest second grade teacher Danielle Cameron talk about her writing. She's the author of "Sister Love" an illustrated memoir about her relationship with her sister who is 13 years younger.

This Blog Viewed Globally

Check out the Clustr Map below right to see that for the first time we have been viewed on all of the inhabited continents.

Reading Week: Wednesday

We all "dropped everything" this morning and read for nearly an our outdoors. Students spread out on towels from home and despite a stiff breeze were totally engrossed in their books. What's the sound of hundreds of people reading?


Later this morning we gathered to listen to St Pete Times business reporter Kathryn Smith talk about her job. Kids asked great questions.

1000 Year Old Canoe Recovered

Pinellas County and maybe Florida history was made as a 40 foot long dugout canoe was recovered from a tidal area of Wheedon Island Preserve. You can learn all about this here.

Reading Week: Tuesday

Something we've started to do weekly is share what we're all reading. We say a little about the book and how we came to be reading it. Tuesday's are extended independent reading time....usually all of the first half hour. Then we share as Saif G. is doing in the photo.



At snack time I usually read to the class as they gather in front of me on the rug. In keeping with our Reading Week theme, I read a graphic novel shown above about the true story of saving many of the books in the Central Basra (Iraq) Library from the recent Iraq war.