Little Blue Bulletin 6/9-6/13

The year is winding down, and we are gearing up for the summer! Next week there will be several exciting events await for your child to experience. Please read the following notes carefully.


Monterey Bay Aquarium on Monday
We are going to the aquarium on Monday. It should be a great day. We are leaving at 8:15, so be to school on time! Please remember to bring the following items:
•sack lunch
•sweatshirt
•good attitude


Field Day on Tuesday
The whole school is going to enjoy a morning full of games and fun activities, such as sponge toss, jump rope, and running relay. Please remember the following items to make it a successful day.
•a water bottle with your name on it
•comfortable and cool clothing
•athletic shoes (no sandals)
•eat a healthy breakfast
•wear a smile and use teamwork ☺

Reading "Field Trip" on Wednesday
It's not a real field trip! But we will have lots of fun reading books with our teammates on the lawn. Bring the following items to school:
* Two of your favorite books (with your name)
* A beach towel or blanket
* Sun glasses or sun hats (optional)

Important reminder--School will be closed on Thursday at 11:20am. Please arrange pick up. See you on August 7th!

Note from the principal:
Direct Donation Drive 2008:

We’re still in need of your donations. The Murdock-Portal School Community Organization (PSCO) has been created and organized with the primary purpose of making parent resources (money, materials and time) available to our children. Parents contribute toward funding various enrichment activities such as art, hands-on-science, music, PE, instructional aides, and assemblies to name a few.

Our Donations Goal this year is to raise 260K. The PSCO collects only the direct donation of $400 per child and uses this to fund all the enrichment programs. Your donation is tax deductible.

We also launched a new "Technology Fund" this year, to ensure ongoing technology upgrades are available for our innovative programs. Please consider adding your $100 donation per family, for this new initiative. This Fund was launched instead of increasing the Direct Donation amount per child, and will ensure that funds are used exclusively for technology upgrades and equipment. This donation is also tax-deductible.

If you have already donated, we thank you for your financial support to make Murdock-Portal a success year after year. If you have not sent in your donation, please send it in today!
Plus! All Donations received by June 16th, will receive a 2008 Entertainment Book, full of great coupons and discounts for shopping, dining and kids activities in Santa Clara.

Thank you!

Have a good weekend,
Little Blue Teachers

Little Blue Bulletin 6/02-6/06

We are counting down our days of school and we are now in the single digit numbers! Only nine days left. Our megaskill this month is perseverance and we are all in need. Please talk to your children and discuss what it means to show this very valuable skill. We started school almost 180 days ago and need to complete this year on a good note. Some kids have been getting a little too excited about being out for the summer and are forgetting to make wise choices. We need to work hard the next two weeks!

BOB BARNER was kind enough to come to school and sing, draw, and read to us on Monday. I think we all had a great time. You can check him out: www.bobbarner.com

Click here for updated calendar!

Reminders:

Wednesday, June 11th: Lunch on the Lawn
Friday, June 13th: SPIRIT DAY: Portal T-shirt day
Tuesday, June 17th: Field Day. Parent Volunteers and Alumni needed. Please sign up!

Sharing:

Week of 6/06: Your favorite ocean creature
That's it for the school year!

Let's make our last sharing topic fun and interesting. We can't wait to see and hear all about your favorite ocean creature.

Book Bags:
The last book bag goes home today! PLEASE remember to read over the summer. Practice your summaries and your favorite parts! Have some D.E.A.R. time--Drop Everything And Read at least once a day.

Language Arts:
Spelling Helpers!!! Monday's spelling will be at 8:30. This will also be our last week of spelling, so again we can't thank you enough for volunteering the entire year! WOW! We couldn't make this program work without your help.

Students can practice their narrative writing over the summer. Use this as a guide!
Beginning - characters and setting
Middle - 2-3 events that happened to the character
End - the solutions, finish up the story


Math:
We are back in addition and subtraction so remember to practice, practice, practice. The kids can use fishy crackers to make different fact families. We are also practicing our problem solving skills. Don't forget to use pictures, numbers, and words to show your answer. First graders could draw pictures to practice regroup. It helps if they can also memorize their facts. Keep up the good work.


Science:
We are enjoying our new unit on our ocean geography and marine life. We are learning about all of the oceans in the world and what makes each special. It should be a great unit before our end of the year field trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Their website is awesome, be sure to check it out.

www.mbayaq.org/

Social Science:
Megaskill:
This week we started to discuss PERSEVERANCE. It means "finish what you start." See the note above and work on this at home.

Besides megaskills, we also learned more about our neighborhood. We talked about people who work at school, and how they help us every day. Ask you child to name as many school workers as he/she can!

Note from the principal:
Direct Donation Drive 2008:

We’re still in need of your donations. The Murdock-Portal School Community Organization (PSCO) has been created and organized with the primary purpose of making parent resources (money, materials and time) available to our children. Parents contribute toward funding various enrichment activities such as art, hands-on-science, music, PE, instructional aides, and assemblies to name a few.

Our Donations Goal this year is to raise 260K. The PSCO collects only the direct donation of $400 per child and uses this to fund all the enrichment programs. Your donation is tax deductible.

We also launched a new "Technology Fund" this year, to ensure ongoing technology upgrades are available for our innovative programs. Please consider adding your $100 donation per family, for this new initiative. This Fund was launched instead of increasing the Direct Donation amount per child, and will ensure that funds are used exclusively for technology upgrades and equipment. This donation is also tax-deductible.

If you have already donated, we thank you for your financial support to make Murdock-Portal a success year after year. If you have not sent in your donation, please send it in today!
Plus! All Donations received by June 16th, will receive a 2008 Entertainment Book, full of great coupons and discounts for shopping, dining and kids activities in Santa Clara.

Thank you!

Have a good weekend,
Little Blue Teachers

Little Blue Bulletin: 5/27-5/30

Little Blue is having fun!!! Our Tribute to Our Moms ans Dads was a big success. It is so nice to be at a school with so much parent support. Our kids did a great job singing and we love you too! Thank you all for coming.

Click here for updated calendar!

Reminders:
Monday, June 2nd: Author Bob Barner visits our school. We should have a fun morning.
check him out: www.bobbarner.com
Tuesday, June 3rd: Community Builder-Fresh Choice (look in today's book bag for flyer)
Tuesday, June 3rd: Volunteer Brunch. Join us to thank all our hard working volunteers (feel free to bring younger siblings if necessary.)
Wednesday, June 11th: Lunch on the Lawn

Sharing:

Week of 6/02: What you hope to do this summer
Week of 6/06: Your favorite ocean creature
That's it for the school year!

Preparation Tips: PLEASE TRY TO COME UP WITH AN INTERESTING TOPIC SENTENCE! Try a question, a poem, or a song. Brainstorm ideas first.
1. Start with your topic sentence to tell your audience what you're going to share about. DO NOT introduce yourself or say "Hello, class".
2. Add 2 or 3 sentences to describe your topic. Use transition words such as first, next, last.
3. Stand up straight, look at your audience, and speak clearly.

Something extra: Bring a picture to show your audience!

Book Bags:
Book bags will be coming home on Friday. Thank you for remembering to return all parts of the book bag on Thursday morning.

Language Arts:
Spelling Helpers!!! Note our spelling on Monday will be at 8:10. Thanks and please plan accordingly.

Last week we started writing naratives stories. The students did a wonderful job planning. Beginning - characters and setting
Middle - 2-3 events that happened to the character
End - Finish up the story
They could always practice this format at home for fun.

Math:
We have started our skills groups again. We are back in addition and subtraction. Practice, practice, practice. The kids can use fishy crackers to make different fact families. First graders could use them to regroup. It helps if they can also memorize their facts. Keep up the good work.


Science:
We started our new unit on our ocean geography and ocean life. Bob Barner has a book called Fish Wish so he inspired us to create an awesome bulletin board. We will learn about all of the oceans in the world and what makes each special. It should be a great unit before our end of the year field trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Social Science:
Megaskill:
This week we have reviewing May's Megaskill: Common Sense. This is a great topic to discuss at home. How do you use common sense at home and school?

REMEMBER: another aspect of social studies is current events. Cyclone in Myanmar, earthquake in China, and fire in Santa Cruz Mountains are all relevant to us. Talk with your child about how people need shelter, clean water, food, and medicine. Brainstorm with your child about how we can help. One way to help is to give money. A parent from the Adelie village is coordinating a fund raising drive for the people of China who have been affected by the powerful earthquake. The checks can be made out to "The Mercy Corps" or cash is also accepted in the school office. Mercy Corps received a 4-star rating on Charity Navigator -- which is the highest rating possible.

Thanks in advance for your generosity.

Have a good weekend,
Little Blue Teachers