Author Visit

                         April Jones Prince Speaks with Students

                                                                      

         Shrewsbury author, April Jones Prince, made her annual visit to Coolidge School today. This year Ms. Jones introduced the second grade students to her newest publication - a biography of Jackie Robinson.  We learned interesting information like the fact that Robinson was pigeon toed. We learned important information too - Robinson was the first African American to play in the major league.
       We were excited to notice that Ms. Jones uses some of the same tools when writing that we use. We both record our facts on sticky notes. We sort our facts on a mat to see which are interesting and which are important. (A good story needs some of both.) We both use an organizer to frame our stories. The only difference is that many more people edit and revise her work before it is published. : )
       Thank you PTO for sponsoring this presentation.

Spotlight on Schools

     School Committee to Meet With PTO and Film Cable Show

                                  

         Dr. Dale McGee, Chairman of the Shrewsbury School Committee and Jason Palitsch, Vice-Chair and candidate for State Representative will meet with the Coolidge School PTO on Thursday, February 12th. The meeting will be featured on Spotlight on Schools, the monthly cable show of the Shrewsbury School Committee. Please join us for an informative session and the opportunity to let the community know of the wonderful activities undertaken by our amazing students.

Best Literature of 2014

                                  Students Select Award Winners

                                                 

         The students have made a second post to their blogs. They have selected what they believe to be the best selection of children's literature for 2014 and given it an award in their name. They considered books they had read independently, during a guided reading lesson, as part of a whole class language arts lesson, in a curriculum connection, during a research project, or a class read aloud. The selections named were vast, however; Toys Go Out, the read aloud we just finished earned a clear majority of the votes. Please log in to read your child's post and those of all the students.
                       http://kidblog.org/TheHappyLittleHurleys2014-15/
Don't forget to comment. We love hearing from our fans.

Peace Is . . .

                     Martin Luther King Jr. Remembered

                                                

       There is no school Monday, January 19th in remembrance of Martin Luther King. Today the students watched an excerpt of MLK's  "I Have A Dream" speech and his speech accepting the Nobel Peace Prize. We read a biography to gain background information about his life and the time in which he lived. Students wrote and illustrated peace poems for their poetry books. The students were very engaged and inquisitive. Please continue the discussion of peace and equality at home.

Early Release - January 13th

                                                       
 
        Tuesday, January 13th is an early release day. Students will be dismissed at 12:15. If your son/daughter will be going home a different way than usual please send a note ahead of time letting us know of your plans so we can avoid any confusion or last minute panic.
        The cafeteria will be closed Tuesday. They will not be serving breakfast or lunch. Please send a healthy snack to school with your child. We will replace our 11:00 lunch break with a morning snack.

Weather Watchers

                                         

          The Happy Little Hurleys have become weather watchers. We recorded the high and low temperature on the first day of winter, December 21st. The low temperature on the winter solstice was 30 degrees and the high was 34 degrees. We will predict, record, and graph the weather throughout the month of January watching for any patterns that develop.

         We will use weatherunderground - Shrewsbury, Massachusetts to collect our data. Check out the site as a family and discuss your findings together. It will be interesting to see if your weather predictions are similar of different from those of the family in room three.

Supplies Wanted

                                          

          The start of the new year is a great time to replenish your school supplies. Are you prepared for success in 2015? Do you need glue sticks, sticky notes, pencils, twistables, dry erase markers, folders, or a new just right bag?

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to The Happy Little Hurleys and their families!

I wish you all health and happiness, love and laughter in 2015.

May all your dreams come true!