Week 18

It was a short week here in Mrs. P.'s class, but what work we got done in just a few days! Mrs. P. is happy to announce that all of this term's alternate assessments have been completed, and that she is proud of each and every one of her students' hard work! Great job everyone!

Beginning with this week, Mrs. P.'s class will be responsible for reporting Friday morning announcements and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. This is a very important job for our students, as it not only relays important information to the entire school, but also helps our students build confidence reading and speaking for others. This week's readers did a wonderful job, and future readers will have plenty of practice before their turns as next month's sight words will be pulled right from our nation's pledge!

As you all know, this month's country and sport of concentration are Japan and tae kwon do. This week, the school was treated to a special demonstration of another of Japan's martial arts sports called karate! Guests from Martial Arts America visted the school and taught us about the rules and values of karate. Students learned that karate is a method of self-defense which literally means "meeting of hands," though it is only implemented as a method of self-defense when karate's three preceding methods have been exhausted: walk, talk and tell. Our guests also explained that those who practice karate typically value it for its strong emphasis on strength, self-discipline and self-empowerment. Check out Mrs. P.'s class having their try at being real live karate kids!

This week was Mrs. P.'s class' final week of art. We would like to say a big thank you to Ms. Teresa Cote for all of the fun activities she included our classroom in, as well as her help in creating flags for our classrooms from the countries we are studying.