Since 1994, millions of dollars have been raised in pennies and other spare change by more than 10 million elementary, middle and high school students throughout the country. The funds, collected during a three-week period, benefit The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Everyone who participates is a winner!

Students across the country are now collecting pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters during the Pennies for Patients.

Any spare change (or even dollars) that you can contribute will go to a very good cause. Thank you so much!

Since we are learning about the forest, we have scheduled a field trip to Muir Woods on Wednesday, April 3. There is a permission form in the Friday folder. Please fill it out and return it to school as soon as possible. We will be traveling by private car, so let us know if you can drive. We need more drivers, so if you can possibly rearrange your schedule and let us know we would appreciate it. We will leave Sun Valley at about 9:00 and return after lunch by 1:15. Thanks.

Run for Reading is on Monday. We are scheduled to run from 11:30-12:00. Please be sure your child wears shoes that are appropriate for running. If you have time, come to school to cheer our K-1 runners on!

The Common Core standards clearly communicate what is expected of students at each grade level. Common Core is a real-world approach to learning and teaching. Developed by education experts from 45 states, these K-12 learning standards go deeper into key concepts in math and English language arts. The standards require a practical, real-life application of knowledge that prepares students for success in college, work and life.

Common Core provides:

• Consistent learning expectations for all students.
• Clear standards that focus on understanding over memorization.
• Emphasis on the critical topics students need to succeed after high school.
• Faster testing results with a better, more focused online assessment system.

Mrs. Dupree and Ms. Flynn have spend many days out of the classroom this year attending meetings at the District Office in an attempt to understand and be ready to implement the new Common Core Standards in August of 2013. This is a double-edged sword. We have really missed being in the classroom with our students, yet the training and knowledge we have gained, gives us a much better understanding of what we, as teachers, need to do next year in order for our students to be successful. With that said, we still have a few more days during which we need to be out of the classroom.  : (

Students have written team paragraphs as well as individual paragraphs about the raccoon. Next week we will begin expert groups on other animals that live in the forest.

Kindergartners need to practice writing their numbers from 1-30. They are also working on solving simple word problems. Next week they will learn to tell time to the hour.

The following is an overview for for the areas of focus in Unit 7 in first grade: • name shapes, • answer questions about data, • find the rule in function machines, • write fact families, • show amounts of money with coins (pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters) and • draw hands on an analog clock.

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