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TAS Blog: ‘3/4’ Category

News Letter 3/4

Posted April 16th, 2010 by Stacia Farabee
Categories: 3/4 | No Comments »

Hello everyone!

We hope you all had a restorative spring break. We have been hearing about all the adventures from your children. We are almost finished with Anne Frank’s A Diary of a Young Girl. We have created a space in the front entrance hall to display highlights from the biographies as well as the work surrounding Anne Frank. Please take time to enjoy the group’s work with your child before or after school.

April is National Poetry month. We have been hard at work creating our own poetry utilizing various formats and topics for inspiration. We will be “publishing” our work on the wall outside our classroom for you to enjoy.

Please continue to send in those Read-a-thon pledges. If we are able to collect all of the pledges we will have made over $900 for our class!!! Mystery Readers were a huge hit and we would like to continue this and weave in poetry. If you would be willing to come in and read some of your favorite poetry to the class, we would be grateful. Look for an email coming soon with questions to help the students contemplate the mystery guest.

Please send a water bottle for your child to keep at school (with a LID!). We will be spending more time outdoors and we want to ensure children remain hydrated. Be sure to apply sunscreen to your child each morning before school. If you would like for him/her to keep sunscreen in their backpacks for reapplication feel free to do so. Please place it in a zippered plastic baggy.

Important Dates:

Saturday April 24 Inman Park Parade please have your child here at noon!

Spring Trip is set for the first week of May. More details to come!

Have a great weekend!

Kristen and Mindy

Inman Park Festival

Posted April 13th, 2010 by Stacia Farabee
Categories: 1/2, 3/4, 5/6, 7/8/9, Events and Announcements, K/1, PreK, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Dear parents,

Inman Park Festival time is upon us and we are now busily preparing for this important community and fund raising event. Festival weekend is a lot of fun and also a lot of work! We ask every family to work at least one shift. A sign-up sheet will be on the door of the elementary school building beginning this afternoon. If your family cannot help, we ask that you please write a check in the amount of $40 so that we may hire someone to cover your shift.

We will be selling water, doing festival hair and face painting, supervising the playground and participating in the parade._ Everyone _ is encouraged to be in the parade. This year’s theme is “Garden Party” and you will be receiving a separate e-mail regarding costuming and decorating.

Thank you so much for your support and participation. We look forward to working and playing with you all next weekend.

Jennifer and Joy

Newsletter for 3/4 Class March 29 – April 2

Posted March 27th, 2010 by Stacia Farabee
Categories: 3/4 | No Comments »

What an exhilarating week we have had in the 3rd and 4th grade classroom. Monday opened with a bang as student presented their oral reports. Your children have done a spectacular job with their biography projects. The oral presentations have been tremendous! We performed for the other lower school students and each presenter talked about his or her life and accomplishments and subsequently responded to the groups’ questions. All the hard work will be compiled into a class book for each student to have and cherish. Do not fret, more research lies in your child’s future… with the biography projects behind us we are ready to do more research and writing – stay tuned to hear what we have planned next!

We are nearing the end of The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. We have looked into the political context surrounding the book. Come glimpse the enormous time line the group created hanging in the classroom. As part of our research process we have been learning about different ways to systematize vital information using visual tools (time lines, webs, graphic organizers, etc.). Conversations have continued about WWII, concentration camps, and worth of human life, how people make choices, relationships, and similarities and differences between each of us. Many of our conversations have been emotional as your children are outraged the more they learn and read. Please continue to talk with them about this at home; it is such a fantastic way to explore core concepts of humanity and values.

Another strand of our focus the last few weeks has been discovering and creating different forms of poetry. Through their poetry the children are exploring topics, styles, language, and genre. Children are learning about different types of speech and their purpose (noun, verb, adjective, and adverb). Madlibs have made their way into this unit and the children and cracking themselves (and others) up!

Please don’t forget to have your child get pledges for the read-a-thon Monday and encourage them to read, read, and read! We are so excited about next week and looking forward to a super literacy celebration. As always, we adore your children and are grateful for the chance to teach and learn with them.

Lit Week: March 29- April 4 (an abbreviated list of what’s happening)

Monday: 3/29 Wear pajamas, bring a “snuggly”, read-a-thon, breakfast for lunch (bring a fruit break)

Tuesday: 3/30 Wren’s nest, no heat-up picnic

Wednesday: 3/31 Little Shop of Stories, no heat-up picnic

Thursday: 4/1 Book exchange, reading feast (potluck lunch of favorite book food, bring a fruit break)

Friday: 4/2 Dress as your favorite character, pizza party (bring a fruit break)

Dates to remember:

Spring Break: April 4- April 9

Have a great day!

Kristen and Mindy

EASY way to raise money for TAS!!

Posted March 24th, 2010 by Stacia Farabee
Categories: 1/2, 3/4, 5/6, 7/8/9, Events and Announcements, Homework, K/1, PreK | No Comments »

Hello All,

Last year we let you know about an opportunity to raise money for the school through shopping online. If you go to www.igive.com and register under The Atlanta School, any shopping you do at member web sites through Igive the store donates a portion of the sale to the school. we have a TIME SENSITIVE, super easy way to raise up to $5000 for the school. In the next 24 hours please sign up for (or log into) www.igive.com and then just click on one of the member stores, and Igive send the school $1. That’s it. See details below and please send this to everyone you know. THANK YOU!!

We’ll give The Atlanta School a dollar for each person who joins iGive using the special link below and visits one store via iGive between noon Wednesday, March 24, 2010 (Chicago time) and noon Thursday, the next day.

Here’s where you come in. Send your friends, family, and colleagues the following link in an e-mail, tweet it, do a Facebook posting, put up posters, shout from mountain tops (you know the drill) and let them know you think The Atlanta School is pretty cool and deserves their support, especially since it’s free! You can even just forward this e-mail. The only way The Atlanta School will get new supporters and that free $1 (or more) is if you invite them.

This is the link:

http://www.igive.com/welcome/warm_reg_promo.cfm?m=628270

Make sure you tell your friends to perform a store visit, so that they earn the dollar.

5,000 new members, $5,000. No purchase necessary. That’s 5,000 new members for all causes, not just yours, and it’s only for 24 hours, so it’s a bit of race.

It can turn into more than a dollar, much more … if these new members search or buy something at an iGive store they’ll earn much-needed money for The Atlanta School. Right now, we’re donating a special bonus of $5 for that first purchase plus the usual percentage. Active iGive members raise an average of over $40 per year for their cause.

The details:

- Offer active between 12:00 p.m. (noon) March 24, 2010 and 11:59 a.m., March 25, 2010 (Chicago time).

- New members only (never have been an iGive member previously).

- All the normal rules of membership, searching, and purchasing apply, our site has the details.

- Once we’ve given away $5,000 in total, the offer ends.

- The special link and visiting a store via iGive are necessary. No link, no store visit, no $1.

That’s it. We’ve added tons of new stuff in the last months that we want to really test out, so spreading the word helps both The Atlanta School and iGive. Check it out yourself at http://www.iGive.com . You may need to login first.

Hello All,
Last year we let you know about an opportunity to raise money for the school through shopping online. If you go to www.igive.com and register under The Atlanta School, any shopping you do at member web sites through Igive the store donates a portion of the sale to the school. we have a TIME SENSITIVE, super easy way to raise up to $5000 for the school. In the next 24 hours please sign up for (or log into) www.igive.com and then just click on one of the member stores, and Igive send the school $1. That’s it. See details below and please send this to everyone you know. THANK YOU!!
We’ll give The Atlanta School a dollar for each person who joins iGive using the special link below and visits one store via iGive between noon Wednesday, March 24, 2010 (Chicago time) and noon Thursday, the next day.
Here’s where you come in. Send your friends, family, and colleagues the following link in an e-mail, tweet it, do a Facebook posting, put up posters, shout from mountain tops (you know the drill) and let them know you think The Atlanta School is pretty cool and deserves their support, especially since it’s free! You can even just forward this e-mail. The only way The Atlanta School will get new supporters and that free $1 (or more) is if you invite them.
This is the link: http://www.igive.com/welcome/warm_reg_promo.cfm?m=628270
Make sure you tell your friends to perform a store visit, so that they earn the dollar.
5,000 new members, $5,000. No purchase necessary. That’s 5,000 new members for all causes, not just yours, and it’s only for 24 hours, so it’s a bit of race.
It can turn into more than a dollar, much more … if these new members search or buy something at an iGive store they’ll earn much-needed money for The Atlanta School. Right now, we’re donating a special bonus of $5 for that first purchase plus the usual percentage. Active iGive members raise an average of over $40 per year for their cause.
The details:
- Offer active between 12:00 p.m. (noon) March 24, 2010 and 11:59 a.m., March 25, 2010 (Chicago time). - New members only (never have been an iGive member previously). - All the normal rules of membership, searching, and purchasing apply, our site has the details. - Once we’ve given away $5,000 in total, the offer ends. - The special link and visiting a store via iGive are necessary. No link, no store visit, no $1.
That’s it. We’ve added tons of new stuff in the last months that we want to really test out, so spreading the word helps both The Atlanta School and iGive. Check it out yourself at http://www.iGive.com . You may need to login first.

This week from the 3/4 Class

Posted March 15th, 2010 by Stacia Farabee
Categories: 3/4 | No Comments »

We are sailing through March in the 3rd and 4th class. We are grateful for those sunny days, but also welcome the rainy ones too in hopes of a beautiful spring. On rainy day mornings the students have been creating various mixed-media sculptures. Our first series is installed above our classroom door. When you pick up your student we encourage you to check them out. Our seond series has evolved from discussions about parts of speech, scraps of cardboard, cloth, and tape into fashion clothing and marine life. We are constanly amazed by our children’s imaginations. The pieces they create really do capture their visions. We are installing these pieces at the end of the hallway as they are finished.

Our group math unit on decimals is growing deeper as we dive into a real understanding of place value. Please encourage this by enriching this unit by having your child make cash purchases when he or she is with you. Dealing with real money helps drive the concepts home.

All the hard work on the biographies is really paying off. Students are finishing their editing and are working on the note cards for their oral presentations next Monday. They are excited about dressing up like their person and sharing with the group all they have learned. Thank you to Susan, Zander and Lexi’s mom, for coming in last Monday to help the students edit. Everyone’s hard work will be compiled into a class book that each student will have and bring home for you all to enjoy. We are half way through Anne Frank and many interesting conversations have emerged. We are sending along some information for your children to share with you from the book, hopefully you can experience some of the rich conversation happening in the classroom.

The week of April 29th through May 2nd will be a literacy celebration week. Watch for exciting details and opportunities to be involved and help!!!

Days to remember:

March 24 Sensations

March 30 Wren’s Nest

March 31 Little Shop of Stories

Thank you all again for letting us spend our days with your children. Each one brings so much to our lives.

M&K