What We Learned This Week

Technology
Students were given district Google docs account this week. As a Google district (meaning we use Google products for staff and students), students must use Google docs to upload, save and share work. Fourth grade will be using this platform at the start of next year for sharing work with teachers and peers for immediate feedback.

There is NO texting and use of Google docs is expected to follow the student technology use agreement signed by every student at the beginning of the year. Google docs will also obviously not be used for casual communication between students and should be seen as no different than paper based work shared in the classroom for co-authoring and revision. The only people who will see a student's work are those they intentionally share them with. Students will not have access to outside contacts from school.

The intent of adopting the Google docs platform for sharing is to prepare our students for the technology they will use in the future for careers and to encourage efficient and productive collaboration. If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Important Dates & Reminders

Important 4th Quarter Dates & Reminders

May 18, 2015 - All library materials are due. 
May 18, 2015 - 3rd Grade Team attending full day professional development
May 22, 2015 - Volunteer luncheon
May 25, 2015 - No School Memorial Day
May 28, 2015 - 3rd Grade Team attending full day professional development

May 28, 2015 - Visiting author, Kristen Otte, visits (Please see previous email and mail.)

June 1, 2015 - Field Day (Please see Mr. Moore's email.)
June 3, 2015 - End of fourth quarter/Last day for students, Classroom parties 12:05 till 1:05pm

June 9, 2015 - Progress Reports sent home 

Newsletter for May 8, 2015

Happy Mother's Day.

Thank you for all you do!

What We Learned This Week

Word Study
We are continuing our study of r-controlled or r-influenced patterns. We reviewed our initial patterns of ar, ir, or, and ur. R-influenced vowels are tricky as many of these words have to be memorized due to them sharing sounds. For example, ir and ur have the same sound which can lead to misspellings of bird (burd) and burn (birn). We introduced ar patterns and related features this week by studying ar, are, air, and patterns that share these sounds, e.g., where. Students did an open sort first where they determine how they will sort the words. Students might sort by alphabetical order or shared beginning consonants. These inventive sorts show a lot about how a student views decoding and encoding and they can be directed to look for initial blends and vowels instead, which are often much more helpful features. We follow the open sort with a  closed sort, where the features are dictated by the teacher. Closed sorts still require the students to use both sight (spelling features and patterns) and sound to sort and may include "oddballs," words that share a sound but not a spelling pattern or share a spelling pattern, but do not sound alike. Oddballs we encountered included bear, heart, pear, wear, and where. R-influenced words include a number of homophones (e.g., pear and pair, bear and bare) which require direct instruction and memorization as well.


Reading Workshop
Students are continuing to grow through individual conferences. I'm seeing great growth in these conferences as I can focus on truly individualized reading and word study goals for each student. Conferences with fiction books are focusing on figurative topics of author's message and inference. Book choice is still a challenge for some students. As we head into summer reading, it is important to support your student with appropriate or just-right books. Students should read books they can read fluently, with a normal speaking voice pace, an accuracy rate of approximately 98%, and expression, attending to punctuation and context. You can challenge your student with harder reading material of short passages if you are explicitly working with them on an identified skill, but they should read just-right books when reading independently. 

Writing Workshop
Students are building productivity and stamina through their peer letter writing. Students are encouraged to use "wonderful words," great vocabulary and to support them with specific examples or memories of when their classmates were "kind" or "enthusiastic." Each letter gets stronger. This increased writing will support students this week as they take the District Writing Assessment.

Students continue to research animals, working towards a final product which will share what they have learned. Students will get to choose how they do this (e.g., slide show, iMovie, poster board, diorama, etc.).

Math
We continued our study of the metric system with an emphasis on personal references. Students know there are 100 centimeters in a meter and have personal references for a centimeter (width of a jumbo paperclip) and a meter (width of a door). Students also used meter sticks to explore the school looking for personal references. We discussed how a good personal reference is something that will be consistent over time. For example, our height will change and the size of posters and flags will be different, but a piece of printer paper is always 8.5" x 11", a good reference for 1 foot. Personal references are essential for catching errors in measurement computations. Centimeter also contains "cent" which means 100 and can be remembered by thinking of 100 years in a century or 100 cents in one dollar. We ended the week by introducing the fact that there are 1,000 meters in a kilometer.

Science
We continued life science through our research and studying the commonalities of life cycles: birth, growth, reproduction, and death.

Important Dates & Reminders

Important 4th Quarter Dates & Reminders

Happy May!

May 12th through May 14, 2015 - Students will eat in the classroom due to the 5th Grade Musical. Please do not send peanuts or tree nuts in packed lunches!

May 18, 2015 - All library materials are due.
If you have lost an item, email our media clerk, Edie Hartmus to confirm payment or replacement at enhartmus@uaschools.org. You can look for a used copy online or at a book store. It's usually cheaper for you and it guarantees the book will be back on the shelf for next year.  If you lost the book and it was hardback, please purchase the hardcopy edition. Alternatively, send cash or a check to Windermere for the replacement cost.  Mrs. Hartmus will let you know what that is. Outstanding items that have not been replaced will block your child's record at the beginning of the next school year. 

May 25, 2015 - No School Memorial Day

June 1, 2015 - Field Day
June 3, 2015 - End of fourth quarter/Last day for students, Classroom parties 12:05 till 1:05pm

June 9, 2015 - Progress Reports sent home 

Newsletter for May 1, 2015

 What We Learned This Week

Word Study

We focused on linking verbs (being verbs, e.g., is, am, are, etc.) and r-controlled vowels. Four new vocabulary words were introduced from our Words of the Week resource. Students defined the words, used them in sentences, and looked for them in their daily reading.

Reading Workshop

Students are diving deeply into fluency. Using poetry, tongue twisters, Seuss, and "voices," (such as teenager, quarterback, cowboy, etc.) students are reading a broad range of short passages with an emphasis on phrasing that matches their speaking voices, expression, and attention to context and punctuation.

The first annual Book Room film festival was hosted at the Tremont Library this week. Here are a few shots of the festivities. If you weren't able to attend, you can still see the students' work at our Book Room blog here: http://mrhudsonsbookroom.blogspot.com/ Thanks for coming out. The students were very excited to show their work and more importantly, talk about books! I also want to share my sincere thanks with Mrs. Hastings for her time and energy in this collaboration.

We are on to our final novel read aloud of the year, a favorite piece of contemporary fantasy, The Edge Chronicles: Beyond The Deepwoods by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell. I'm trying to engage students in this read aloud through all of the strategies (e.g., prediction, inference, question, compare and contrast, message, etc.) we've studied this year.

Finally, we began our last research project of the year. Students were assigned two animals (with as much choice as possible) that they will compare and contrast across classification, habitat, adaptations, food web, and life cycle. They will then determine how they would like to present and share the information they learned. This is a challenging project and demands use of all of the reading and writing skills we've learned this year. This project will culminate in a fun art project based on their two animals' adaptations being utilized in a foreign habitat. More to come on that...

Writing Workshop

We are writing our end of year "Memory Books." Using a list of positive adjectives, students are composing a two paragraph letter daily that describes a classmate as a friend and a learner. Students are encouraged to use adjectives that describe their classmates and to make each letter unique and sincere by including examples of the attributes they include. This has been a great end of year project in previous years and really ends the year with rigorous writing practice with students becoming much more efficient. Because their peers are a meaningful audience they tend to be easy to motivate to do a good job and put a lot of thought into their work. The letters will go through a final editing process and will be shared on the final day of school as a keepsake from the year. I will also have students write a final letter to me about what they found most meaningful and challenging this year as well as what they might suggest to improve the year. This can be supported by discussion at home prior to this final writing assignment.

Math Workshop

We reviewed multi-digit operations for addition, subtraction, and multiplication. Mastery of basic facts is essential. We also kicked off our final math unit of study: measurement. We introduced different types of measurement (time, length, volume/capacity, and mass). We also talked about why we might need each of these forms of measurement to build interest in the topic. I started our in-depth study with metric length and converting centimeters to meters and vice versa (e.g., 125 cm = 1 m and 25 cm; 3 m and 18 cm = 318 cm).

Science

We skipped our typical rotation this week to take a final trip to Thompson Park to document change in the Thompson Park Tree Trek. We will be updating the blog soon. I'll post an update once we've had a chance to complete this.

Guidance
From Ms. O'Keefe...
"The Art of Positive Parents (TAPP) EXPRESS
Sign up now for a 3-week parenting class at Windermere Elementary taught by Dionne Meddock.  This class will be held from 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. on May 5, 12, and 19.  Registration fee is $75.00/person and $125/couple.  Register online now at www.positiveparents.com or call 614-224-0222, ext. 103."

Important Dates & Reminders

Important 4th Quarter Dates & Reminders

Happy May!

May 7, 2015 - Walk-A-Mile Day
The entire Windermere community (staff and students) will walk one mile around the Windermere block next Thursday as a follow-up to the Walk-a-Mile Day that we held in the fall. This time, we will walk in honor of our Wish Run beneficiary, Canine Companions for Independence. This is held in lieu of a pep rally, to foster enthusiasm and encourage participation for the upcoming Wish Run. Please be sure your child dresses appropriately for the weather and wears comfortable walking shoes.

May 9, 2015 - Wish Run
Registration starts at 8am. 5K starts at 9am. One Mile Fun Run starts at 10am.
All proceeds go to Canine Companions for Independence!
Register online at www.premierraces.com.  Click on Events and search for Wish Run.

May 25, 2015 - No School Memorial Day

June 1, 2015 - Field Day
June 3, 2015 - End of fourth quarter/Last day for students, Classroom parties 12:05 till 1:05pm

June 9, 2015 - Progress Reports sent home 

We have a big week planned!



On Tuesday, we will meet at the Tremont Library to celebrate students' Book Room videos. Due to limited seating I will be splitting the screenings and awards ceremonies into two groups.

Students with LAST names beginning with A through G will present their films at 7:00pm.

Students will LAST names beginning with L through W will present their films at 7:45.

I want to share my sincere thanks to Mrs. Hastings who has given so much time and direction to this project! I hope to see you there.

 

On Thursday, we will head to Thompson Park for or final field trip of the year. Rain threatens to dampen the day so we will NOT plan to eat at the park. We will likely go on the field trip rain or shine so you may want to send a change of clothes for your student. Keep an eye on the forecast for updates. We will meet in our room at 9am for a quick review of what we hope to accomplish and our protocol for documenting change in our trees. We should be back at Windermere well before 11am.

Important 4th Quarter Dates & Reminders

April 28, 2015 - Film Festival of Book Recommendations (Tremont Library 7-8pm)
 
May 9, 2015 - Wish Run
May 25, 2015 - No School Memorial Day

June 1, 2015 - Field Day
June 3, 2015 - End of fourth quarter/Last day for students, Classroom parties 12:05 till 1:05pm

June 9, 2015 - Progress Reports sent home 

Newsletter for April 3, 2015

Happy April! It is so nice to have finally reached warmer weather and sunshine.

What We Learned This Week

Word Study

We concluded our cursive loop group: lowercase h, k, b, f, l and e. We will begin our final group, "hills and valleys" next week: lowercase n, m, v, y, x, and z.

Reading Workshop

We are focusing on fluency. Students are learning that fluency is so much more than just speed and accuracy. Fluent readers:
- Read "just right" books.
- Read with appropriate pace, which is influenced by context and convention.
- Decode automatically using context clues and visual clues (e.g., recognizing prefixes and blends).
- Read with expression, also influenced by context and convention.
Students are reading "easy" texts, Dr. Seuss, which require students to pay attention to all of the above elements and rhyme. We will support this practice further using poetry.

Writing Workshop

Students are finishing up taking notes on their African American study subjects. Having read for vocabulary and main ideas, they used t-charts to record main ideas and supporting details. Next week we will order their main ideas and work with partners to identify missed noteworthy facts, correct incorrect information and understanding, and share questions for additional research. Students will then compose paragraphs from their ordered notes. This is a very slow and challenging process, especially finding the right reading level for all students. Where I was unable to find an appropriate level, I met with students to support them in their comprehension of materials and note taking.

Math Workshop

We started our geometry study this week introducing polygons, sides, vertices, regular polygons, irregular polygons, and angles.

Science

Students celebrated their science in technology study with a grade level Invention Convention. I was so pleased with their work, presentation boards, prototypes and sharing. It can be very intimidating for third graders to share, especially to adults, but they did a great job! Here are a few photos of them sharing their ideas. Thanks to all of the parents who were able to come and share in our celebration. I meant a lot to the students!

Important Dates & Reminders 

It's Kid Fest Raffle Basket time again and PTO needs your help sending out the SignUpGenius link below to your class and collecting the students' donations.  Each classroom will have a box for donated items and a separate envelope for money.  We will try to come through and collect items every few days, so your classrooms don't become too cluttered.  You may either keep all of the money until the April 14th deadline or give it to us on collection days.  I will be out of town from April 2 -11, so Heather Petzinger will collect items from the classes. 

Again, thank you for everything.  Our children are so very lucky.  Windermere is a very special place because of YOU!  

Warmest thoughts,

Brooks Whitcomb

www.SignUpGenius.com/go/10C0A4FA9AF2DA31-3rdgrade1/9247238

Important 4th Quarter Dates & Reminders

April 9, 2015 - Spring Picture Day
April 13 through May 22, 2015 - District Writing Diagnostic Testing
April 14, 2015 - Progress Reports sent home
April 14 & 15, 2015 - PARCC Math Assessment
April 22, 2015 - Ohio Reading Achievement Assessment
April 24, 2015 - Kid Fest
April 28, 2015 - Film Festival of Book Recommendations (Tremont Library 7-8pm)
April 28 through 29, 2015 - Math State EOY

May 1 through 29, 2015 - STAR Reading and Math Diagnostic Testing
May 9, 2015 - Wish Run
May 25, 2015 - No School Memorial Day

June 1, 2015 - Field Day
June 3, 2015 - End of fourth quarter/Last day for students, Classroom parties 12:05 till 1:05pm

June 9, 2015 - Progress Reports sent home 

Newsletter for March 13, 2015

What We Learned This Week

Word Study
We learned four new cursive letters (l, h, k, b), all based on the lowercase l shape. Students are starting to employ cursive in their writing, especially on their dry erase boards.

Students learned four new vocabulary words this week and they have become very motivated to pay attention to vocabulary as they can earn apple punches towards reading graphic novels or homework passes.

I reintroduced word ladders this week. We begin with a word and slowly "climb" the ladder by changing the order of, adding, or deleting letters from our base word. Many of these words are strong vocabulary words (e.g., rut, char, etc.) that challenge students. Words ladders train students to both listen and look for connections in words.

Students learned action verbs (as opposed to being verbs, e.g., is, am, are, etc.). We also discussed verb tenses. We also learned when applying present tense verbs to plural nouns (which often end in -s) the verb does not end in -s (e.g., cats purr), but when applying present tense verbs to singular nouns (which do not end in -s) the verb often ends in -s (e.g., cat purrs). I cannot stress enough to students that most have had the benefit of hearing correct grammar since infancy and they can often identify errors in their writing simply by reading their writing aloud.

Reading

 

Wow!!! I've never been more pleased with student research. While we are taking it slowly, students used their notes to produce fantastic paragraphs on Martin Luther King, Jr. They are using a process of developing a guiding question. Understanding why we are studying any subject focuses our research and writing, rather than trying to include every thing we read, which results in weak positions and poor, rambling and disconnected writing. Our guiding question is "What is Martin Luther King, Jr.'s legacy?" Next, students used a T-chart, something they have done with me many times in reading group, to take notes, recording a main idea and supporting details from each paragraph of their source materials. Students then numbered their main ideas based on their perceived importance, even combining some. This was very helpful in developing a meaningful sequence to students' writing. While we had a lot of commonalities in our note taking, we had a lot of variation in our order and students' interpretations of what was most important to King's legacy provided interesting variation in paragraphs that would not have resulted without the confidence that there were many ways to approach this question, all of them valid as long as they could be supported by the text. I can't wait to start our independent research projects next week. Students will be assigned a partner they will check in with from time to time throughout the process to support their learning and practice. Many students voluntarily wrote persuasive essays asking to study specific famous African Americans.

I am focusing on fluency as my recent assessments show many students have plateaued with this skill. We are reading Dr. Seuss tongue twisters, Shel Silverstein poetry, and will begin plays after spring break. All of these practices should improve students' speed, accuracy, and expression.

I finished our read-aloud, Fablehaven, by Brandon Mull. This has to be an all time favorite for any of my classes. I suspect many of them will read other books in the series. So far we've read aloud realistic fiction (Wonder) and fantasy (Fablehaven) titles. Our next read aloud will be the young readers' edition of I Am Malala by Nobel Peace Prize winner, Malala Yousafzai. This class in particular has a strong sense of social justice, as evidenced by the number of families involved in community activities and charities. I think the insights students showed during Wonder will be built upon through I Am Malala.

Bone

I love reading new books and discussing them, so I was pleased to be asked about the graphic novel series, Bone. Is it genre defining fine literature? Absolutely not, but it has its place. Graphic novels introduce young readers to different genres, rich vocabulary, creative worlds, dialogue and expression, and can be a literary palette cleanser between more challenging reads. I discourage students from reading two consecutive graphic novels, but they can also be a path to reading for reluctant readers. Ultimately, I want my students to be reading everything and anything they can get their hands on, to become voracious readers!

so many books

We have many more wonderful book recommendations recorded in our "Book Room." Many thanks to Mrs. Hastings for helping with this project! Please visit it for your student's (or your) next book choice. http://mrhudsonsbookroom.blogspot.com/

Writing
We have a wonderful writing opportunity to start corresponding with pen pals from Dubai. Because of different school schedules, we will be rushing to get these done next week, but I am hopeful we will have a meaningful cultural exchange where we can learn about each other.

Math
We concluded our fraction unit by converting whole numbers to fractions (e.g., what fraction can the whole number 5 make with a 6 in the denominator?) and converting fractions to whole numbers (e.g., 30/6 = 5). We also practiced simplifying or reducing fractions by dividing by fractions equivalent to 1 (or the "whole"), where the numerator and denominator are the same. I suggest students start with the following three fractions: 2/2, 3/3, and 5/5 as they will typically work for reducing any fraction. Students who are strong in their multiplication and division facts often find larger common factors they can use to simplify.  I will assess students next week on Wednesday and Thursday.

Science
Students shared their inventions and their process in small teams where they had the opportunity to hear what their peers liked, hear peer suggestions for improvement, and field questions.

 

Students will share their prototypes and finished presentation boards on Monday to their entire class. This will support communication standards and prepare them for the actual Invention Convention on March 31st. Please visit the earlier blog post to learn more about our Invention Convention. 

http://3rdgradehudson.blogspot.com/2015/03/invention-convention.html

 

Guidance
A NOTE FROM THE COUNSELOR:

Dear Windermere Families,

This week’s classroom lesson focused on celebrating each other’s differences.  We read the book It’s Okay to be Different,  by Todd Parr, which looks at how everyone has differences.  It explains acceptance, understanding, and appreciation of the differences in a way that the children really connect with.  After reading the book, we brainstormed similarities and differences that we see within the class, and talked about how to appreciate and respect everyone and their differences.  Children wore a poem about a difference that they learned about or have experienced and how it is okay.  As one student put it, the world would be really boring if we were all the same!

I hope you might take this opportunity to talk with your child about this lesson.  Here are some questions that can help with the conversation:

·      What are you proud of that makes you different?
·      What are ways that you can show respect to everyone in the classroom?  At home?  On the playground?

Thanks for all you do!

Katie O’Keefe

School Counselor

kokeefe@uaschools.org

614-487-5060, ext. 7022

Monday - Thursday, 9am - 4pm

Important Dates & Reminders 

Please complete planned absence forms if you know your student will miss school. I am happy to send one home with your student if you email me.

Important 3rd Quarter Dates & Reminders

March 16, 2015 - Invention Convention display boards and prototypes due
March 16, 2015 - recycled instruments due for 3rd Grade Musical
March 17, 2015 - 3rd Grade Musical (arrive at 6:45, instruments due Friday, March 13th.)
March 20 through 27, 2015 - No School Spring Break
March 31, 2015 - Invention Convention Open House 10 to 11am - free to go out for lunch afterwards

April 2, 2015 - End of third quarter
April 2, 2015 - Early dismissal 
April 3, 2015 - No School
April 6, 2015 - No School, teacher grading day

Important 4th Quarter Dates & Reminders

April 8, 2015 - Early Dismissal/Teacher Development (rescheduled for April 2nd)
April 9, 2015 - Spring Picture Day
April 13 through May 22, 2015 - District Writing Diagnostic Testing
April 14, 2015 - Progress Reports sent home
April 21 through 22, 2015 - English Language Arts State EOY
April 22, 2015 - Ohio Reading Achievement Assessment
April 24, 2015 - Kid Fest
April 28, 2015 - Film Festival of Book Recommendations (Tremont Library 7-8pm)
April 28 through 29, 2015 - Math State EOY

May 1 through 29, 2015 - STAR Reading and Math Diagnostic Testing
May 9, 2015 - Wish Run
May 25, 2015 - No School Memorial Day

June 1, 2015 - Field Day
June 3, 2015 - End of fourth quarter/Last day for students, Classroom parties 12:05 till 1:05pm

June 9, 2015 - Progress Reports sent home 

What We Learned This Week

Word Study

I assessed students understanding of contractions by having them construct contractions from two words and deconstruct contractions into two words. These assessments will come home next week. I also revisited dialogue convention in relation to contractions. We discussed that we often use contractions in speech, but rarely in writing, unless we were using dialogue to show a casual or familiar relationship. We also revisited possessive nouns, the other situation in which we use apostrophes.

Reading Workshop

Students concluded shared research on Martin Luther King, Jr. using T-charts to record main ideas and supporting details. The research materials we are using are a little more challenging than what we’ve used previously for identifying main idea (e.g., reading homework) and the main idea was inferred in many paragraphs, rather than explicitly stated. Students shared their main ideas for each paragraph with a partner and then we determined a shared main idea as a class, often explaining why a suggestion was really a supporting detail, rather than a main idea.

Writing Workshop

We will co-construct a research paragraph next week, using our shared note taking on Martin Luther King, Jr. before I assign individual’s independent research topics. Students who are more secure will receive additional source materials to differentiate and stretch their research materials. 

Math Workshop

Students are delving deeply into fractions. Students are learning to compare fractions using inequalities (< > =) and order fractions from least to greatest. Students should understand fractions whose numerators are zero (e.g., 0/4, 0/2, etc.) are equal to 0. Fractions whose numerators are half their denominators (e.g., 1/2, 2/4, 3/6, etc.) are equal to 1/2. Fractions whose numerators are equal to their denominator (e.g., 3/3, 5/5, etc.) are equal to 1 or “the whole.” Knowing and recognizing these three conditions will enable students to quickly organize and compare many fractions as well as supporting their understand of fractions as equal parts of a whole or one. Students began simplifying fractions by dividing fractions by different forms of the whole or the one.

4/10 can be simplified by dividing by 2/2 because both 4 and 10 are divisible by 2 and when dividing by one, we are simply changing the name or number of pieces, but not the relationship of numerator to denominator or the value.

                4/10 ÷ 2/2 = 2/5

We will conclude our study of fractions by comparing at fractions with common numerators (e.g., 2/3, 2/4, 2/5, etc.) and fractions with common denominators (e.g., 1/4, 2/4, 3/4, etc.).

Science

Students worked on their student journals in class and we looked at examples of display boards from previous years’ Invention Conventions. Students should bring their display boards and student journals on Monday to share and receive ideas for improving them.

Important Dates & Reminders 

Important 3rd Quarter Dates & Reminders

March 9 through 13, 2015 - PTO Book Sale

March 17, 2015 - 3rd Grade Musical (Please have your student wear green, arrive at 6:45, and bring their instrument on Friday, March 13th.)

March 20 through 27, 2015 - No School Spring Break
March 31, 2015 - Invention Convention Open House 10 to 11am - free to go out for lunch afterwards

April 2, 2015 - End of third quarter
April 3, 2015 - No School
April 6, 2015 - No School, teacher grading day

Important 4th Quarter Dates & Reminders

April 8, 2015 - Early Dismissal/Teacher Development at 1pm
April 9, 2015 - Spring Picture Day
April 13 through May 22, 2015 - District Writing Diagnostic Testing
April 14, 2015 - Progress Reports sent home
April 21 through 22, 2015 - English Language Arts State EOY
April 22, 2015 - Ohio Reading Achievement Assessment
April 24, 2015 - Kid Fest
April 28, 2015 - Film Festival of Book Recommendations (Tremont Library 7-8pm)
April 28 through 29, 2015 - Math State EOY

May 1 through 29, 2015 - STAR Reading and Math Diagnostic Testing

May 9, 2015 - Wish Run - Please remember to mark your calendar for Saturday, May 9, the date of the 12th Annual Windermere Wish Run!  This event culminates a whole-school service-learning project.  Following a school-wide vote March 16 - 17, Student Council will announce the charity chosen to receive the proceeds from this year’s Wish Run.  The nominated organizations are the American Red Cross, Canine Companions for Independence, Meals on Wheels and Special Olympics. Entry forms for the Wish Run poster contest will be available in the school office and from your child's teacher on March 18 and 19. Registration forms for Running Club and the Wish Run will be available in the school office the week we return from spring break.  (Running Club will be held from 3:00 to 3:45 on the five Wednesdays preceding the Wish Run--April 8, 15, 22, 29, May 6.)   

May 25, 2015 - No School Memorial Day

June 1, 2015 - Field Day
June 3, 2015 - End of fourth quarter/Last day for students, Classroom parties 12:05 till 1:05pm

June 9, 2015 - Progress Reports sent home