FIFTH GRADE DANCE!

Mark your calendars for Friday, May 8th! That's the date of our fifth grade dance! The dance is from 6 PM to 9 PM. There will be a live D.J. and pizza provided by PTA. There is no cost for your child to attend, but you are welcome to donate drinks and snacks if you like. A permission slip will come home within the next week.

Jacksonville Symphony Field Trip Canceled

Bad news! Unfortunately, the Jacksonville Symphony Youth Orchestra, who were planning on paying for our transportation to the field trip, do not have the funds to pay for all of the buses. With all of the other field trips and things that we have asked students to pay for, we agreed that we did not want to ask students to pay for yet another field trip. So, the trip has been canceled.

However, the JSYO does have enough to pay for one or two buses, so Mrs. Laymon will be taking the Chorus and ORFF students on the trip. So, any students who are in Chorus or ORFF still need to bring their permission slips in by April 24th.

Jacksonville Symphony Youth Orchestra Field Trip!

Mrs. Laymon has once again arranged a wonderful musical experience for our children! On Monday, April 27th, we'll be going to see a performance by the Jacksonville Symphony Youth Orchestra! The JSYO is a group of musicians ranging in age from 7 to 22. You can read more information about the orchestra, here. The trip is completely free! All that's required is that you sign and return the permission slip that went home today.

A big thanks to Mrs. Laymon for scheduling this trip!


Also, ALL PARENTS need to mark May 28th on their calendars. On the night of May 28th our students will be performing "American Grandstand" for families! If you have not experienced Grandstand yet, it's a one of a kind production organized by our excellent fifth grade teacher, Ms. Harris, featuring wonderful performances of classic 50s and 60s hits! This is an event that you'll want to bring siblings, grandparents, and anyone else you can.

Over the next few weeks, students will be learning their parts in the performances and we'll be spending some time most days to prepare the routines. Look for more information on other End of the Year stuff coming soon, including Knowledge-Bowl 2009, the End of the Year Dance, our End of the Year Luncheon and party, the End of the Year picnic, and our trip to Wild Adventures!

Broadcast Field Trip!

Our Broadcast crew, including Jessica, Jayla, and Esther, had a special field trip Wednesday to Channel Four news! Check out this great picture they took with two of the anchors! Thanks to Mrs. Hartnett for arranging this wonderful experience and for working with our broadcast students all year long!

Middle School Math Prep

Over the remaining 8 weeks of school, I will be devoted the majority of our math time to preparing the kids for the type of math they'll be working with in middle school. I'm dividing the class into two groups. In one group, we'll be reviewing clustering strategies for multiplication and division, and practicing skills involving fractions and decimals.

The other portion of the class will be working on higher level math skills that they will encounter when they get to middle school, including prime factorization and other algebra skills. This extra head start on middle school content will give the kids a big advantage going into sixth grade.

While we preview middle school skills, we will also continue working on our remaining fifth grade standards with the whole class, including work with data, graphing, measurement and geometry.

End of the Year Fun!

As you can see by the calendar of events, the end of the year at Beauclerc is packed full of exciting events and celebrations! As a reminder, as I've given to the class many times already, all of the celebrations are privileges which can be revoked if a student has problems with behavior and/or actively participating in the work we are doing during these last nine weeks. Here's a run-down of the main events coming up during the rest of this year.

Safety Patrol Carnival - April 24th - This is a carnival which will be held after school and will include games and "bouncy stuff." It's being put on by the Safety Patrols and PTA!

Sights & Sounds - May 5th - Come see a special concert performance by Chorus and ORFF and check out all the wonderful artwork students at Beauclerc have worked on all year!

Science Fair - May 14th - A nighttime showing of the Science Fair will be held on Thursday! Come see the winning projects!

4th Annual Knowledge-Bowl - May 18-22 - Compete against the rest of the class to see who has learned the most during fifth grade - The winner gets a huge specially-engraved trophy and other way cool prizes!

American Grandstand - May 28 - Rock and Roll to music of the 1950s and 1960s as the Fifth Grade Class presents this unique musical extravaganza!

End of the Year Party - May 29 - Mr. Sofferin's class celebrates the end of fifth grade in style!

Fifth Grade Dance - May 29 - Dress your best and get ready to let loose at the end of the year dance!

Class Luncheon and Movie - May 30 - The whole class is invited to come out to lunch on this Saturday (location to be determined) and then we're going the movies!

Awards and End of the Year Picnic - June 3 - The end of the year picnic is a HUGE celebration for the whole fifth grade! More information coming soon!

End of the Year Trip to Wild Adventures! - June 4 - We leave bright and early so be here on time!

Last Day of School - June 5 - It's a short day, and your last day of elementary school. You'll want to be there, as there will probably be a few surprises that day!