May 24th Update

Salutations!

I just wanted to give you a few important updates and reminders before our Space Camp departure on Friday morning. First of all, all students and chaperones attending the field trip MUST wear a PKY Blue Wave t-shirt. These shirts cost $12 each, and may be purchased up until this Thursday afternoon (at the absolute latest). I have the shirts in my room, and accept cash or checks (made payable to UF).

On Friday, please pack a lightweight, disposable brown bag lunch for your child. We will be "on the go" and will not be able to carry heavy coolers or lunch boxes along. Friday's dinner and Saturday's breakfast will be provided at the Space Center, so you only need to pack food for Friday's lunch.

Any chaperones who are driving their car to Kennedy Space Center will get a parking pass once we arrive at the front welcome area. Only children of chaperones may ride in the cars; children without chaperones must ride on the bus.

Please pack light! Once we get to the Space Center at noon, we can leave our luggage in the bus/cars while we have lunch, tour the rocket garden, see the Imax movie, shop, etc. We will go back to retrieve our luggage once we exit the visitor complex and begin the "Overnight Adventure" portion, at 4pm. It won't be until close to 10pm when we will get to set down all our gear. So, you will be responsible for carrying your luggage during that time.

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Stepping away from the Space Camp talk - Today, the students chose which media they would like to use to design their 20th Century Project Presentation. They had a choice of Glogster (an online scrapbook style poster), Microsoft Photo Story (a multisensory slide show), or PowerPoint. Our Project Design workshops begin tomorrow, with Mrs. Bostic leading Glogster, Ms. A. leading Photo Story, and Ms. Geiger leading the PowerPoint sessions. The students are thrilled to begin this final, creative stage of their projects!

There will be more to come, soon. As always, please contact me if you have any comments or questions. Thank you for your continued support!

Space Camp Checklist

Hello, Families…Here’s a list of items that students and chaperones should pack for our galactic adventure! Remember to pack light because YOU have to carry everything you bring with you until we are able to set it down by our sleeping area:

NO ELECTRONIC DEVICES! - THIS INCLUDES MP3 PLAYERS, WALKMANS, NINTENDO DS, GAMEBOYS, ETC…

1. Sleeping bag or Air mattress
2. Warm pajamas (it gets very cold where we sleep!)
3. Blanket
4. Pillow
5. Toothbrush
6. Toothpaste
7. Any other necessary toiletries (NO SHOWERS)
8. Money for souvenirs
9. Camera
10. chapter book (for the bus)
11. deck of cards (for the bus)
12. comfortable shoes
13. Change of clothes for Sat. morning
14. A stellar PK attitude! (most important!)

DEPARTURE: We will be leaving promptly at 7:30am on FRIDAY, 5/28, so chaperones be here between 7:00-7:20am! NO EXCEPTIONS!!!

RETURN: We expect to be back at PK on Sat., 5/29 at 12:30pm. Please be prompt to pick your student up on Saturday.

May 19th Update

Greetings to all!

We are already a week and a half into our 20th Century Project research, and the students are finding great information on their perspective topic! The goal is to find at least 5 facts about the experiences their group of people (i.e. soldiers, African Americans, Latinos, women, children) endured in each of the four 20th Century conflicts - WWI, The Great Depression, WWII, and the Civil Rights Movement. Then, they write a brief, one paragraph summary for each conflict. The students will use these summaries in their presentations. They will have a choice of a variety of media in which they will present their project information. The media workshops for the "design" portion of the project begin next week; the students are very excited to get to put all of the pieces together to create something unique and memorable! FYI - Your child might bring his/her flashdrive home one night this week (and most definitely this weekend) to finish his/her conflict summaries. All conflict summaries should be complete by Monday, May 24th.

Also, our Space Camp Trip is steadily approaching! Ms. A, Mrs. Bostic and I will be sending home information on what to pack, our schedule, and other specific details by the end of this week.

Our Math Unit 12, which covers rates, will come to a close with the End-of-Unit test on Monday, May 24th. I will send home a Study Guide today.

Thank you for your continued support! I will send more information, soon! Until then, have a wonderful week!

May 3rd Update

Greetings to all!

Our Space Camp trip is quickly approaching, and an email was sent out to all parent chaperones from Stacey Smart last Thursday in regards to completing a background check. It is super important that you follow the instructions in the email, and complete the screening - otherwise you will not be allowed entry into Kennedy Space Center. If you are a chaperone, and have not received an email, or have any questions, please contact me as soon as possible.

This week is a busy week - being Teacher Appreciation week, having our last Wacky Wednesday, starting the Z to A countdown on Thursday, and wrapping it all up with our Unit 11 test on Friday. Please look for the Unit 11 Study Guides in a future parent email. Also, end-of-year progress testing has begun, and it is important that your child come to school on time and well-rested. I will send more news your way soon! Until then, take care, and thank you for your continued support!

Here is the Z to A schedule, which begins May 6th:

Z – Wear zebra colors (black and white); eat Oreos or Zebra Cakes

Y – Wear yellow; bring yo-yo’s for recess; eat a yummy snack

X – Make and wear x-rays; eat x-ray fish

W – Wear white; wear a wig; eat watermelon

V – Vegetable can drive; eat vanilla wafers

U – Wear University of Florida gear

T – Wear a t-shirt; walk as slow as a turtle; eat Tootsie Rolls

S – Wear stripes and socks; eat Skittles or Starbursts

R – Wear red; eat raisins; read your favorite book

Q – Queen’s Day (Girls get to make the rules!)

P – Wear purple, pink or PKY gear

O– Wear orange; eat oranges outside

N – Wear a necktie; eat nuts

M – Wear mustaches or make up; walk like a mouse in the halls

L – Wear light colors; eat lollipops

K – King’s Day (Boys make all the rules.)

J – Jump everywhere; wear jumbo t-shirts or jackets

I – Wear indigo colors; eat ice cream; study insects

H – Hat day; help one another; give a friend a hug; happy faces

G – Wear green; eat grapes

F – Wear flowers; eat fruit

E – Wear elegant clothes

D – Wear dark colors ; dance in the halls, eat Doritos

C – Wear crazy clash; eat cookies; cleaning day

B – Wear blue; boogie; blow bubbles

A – Wear animal print; say "Adios" or "Aloha" (Wear a lei!)