January Newsletter

Ms. Waddles' 5th Grade Class

Greetings to parents and caregivers of the V.I.P. Scholars!

Happy New Year! It's 2008, and the V.I.P. Scholars are back from break and ready to start a new year of learning, growing, and fun!

Ms. Waddles' News
We are still working on the field trip to Preuss Animal House, the fabulous, unique pet store in Old Town. Apparently the tour coordinator no longer works there, so they are rather behind in scheduling store tours. We will still get our new class pets, but the trip may not take place until later this month or early February. We'll keep you posted as I learn more! In the meantime, we will launch our Animal Classification science unit as planned. The kickoff event will be a classroom visit by Copernicus the Savannah Monitor lizard, and Ophelia the corn snake. These beautiful, docile reptiles will help students learn about the diversity of life in our world, and also give them an idea of the responsibilities of pet ownership. We would like to have other pets visit our classroom, so if you have a small, gentle cage pet that can tolerate a classroom visit, please contact me to arrange for a visit! We are also hoping to obtain more classroom pets. If you know of anyone with a small cage pet that needs a new home, please put me in touch! Suitable pets would be hamsters, gerbils, mice, rats, guinea pigs, fish, or small reptiles & amphibians. All of the needed housing & other gear must be included in the deal.

SHABAZZ ONLINE! Visit our new, improved Shabazz Academy website at www.shabazzlearning.edu! Of special interest are the del.icio.us links, which let Shabazz teachers share useful and interesting websites with you. Click on a teacher's name to see their del.icio.us picks!

Coming Soon: the V.I.P. Scholar's Learning Emporium! We will learn entrepreneurial, teamwork, and math skills by selling school supplies to Shabazz students. Proceeds will go toward the purchase of books for our classroom library. Please contact me if you can donate merchandise or other materials, time, or expertise. We're looking for items that are a little special and can sell for .50- $2.00: mechanical pencils, decorated folders & notebooks, pencil sharpeners, etc.

Reading Roudup!
The V.I.P. Scholars are developing a real love of reading! "Drop Everything and Read" time is a favorite part of our day. To encourage this, my goal is to build a classroom library of high-interest chapter books: classics like Charlotte's Web and The Secret Garden, Newberry & Caldecott medal winners, and contemporary favorites by authors like J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter), Lemony Snicket, and Louis Sachar. We also enjoy historical fiction such as the Dear America and Royal Diaries series from Scholastic Books. We would greatly appreciate any help in building our book collection! Used book lots are available for very low prices on eBay- contact me for information on how you can help the V.I.P. Scholars and pick up some great books for your child's personal library at the same time!

In Memory
The V.I.P. Scholars extend our heartfelt sympathy to the family of our former student Kahlil Hoard. Kahlil was with our class during the first part of this school year. He lost his life following a traffic accident in December. This week our class will do a special activity to honor Kahlil's life and help students work through their emotions around this sad event. Parents, this tragic loss is a reminder to us all to teach, reinforce, and practice traffic safety habits. Please teach your children that sidewalks are for people and the street is for cars!

Till Next time... Knowledge is Power!

Ms. Waddles