1. Special Reminder: Please remind your student to bring their recorders and song books to school on Monday. Also, Scholastic Book Orders are due by May 13 th. Upcoming Events: 5/2: Pizza with a Purpose/Officer Friendly 5/4: Battle of the Books/SJS at Capannari’s Ice Cream 5/11: Band and Recorder Concert Upcoming Events: 5/2: Pizza with a Purpose/Officer Friendly 5/4: Battle of the Books/SJS at Capannari’s Ice Cream 5/11: Band and Recorder Concert Miss Castaldi’s Newsletter May 2 nd - May 6 th IN NEED OF DONATIONS Allergy season is upon us and sniffles/sneezes are running ramped! We are running low on Kleenex, Hand Sanitizer, and Disinfecting wipes. If there is any chance that you have extra product hanging around, we would be ever so grateful for your donations. Please send materials to school with your students. Thank you! Battle of the Books Monday is a spirit wear day for the students who read ten or more Battle of the Books. Spirit wear passes have been distributed to students who met the criteria. We will have our first battle on Wednesday, May 4. The kids are extremely excited! Please encourage your student to keep reading their assigned books! If you are able, please remind your child to review the book titles and author names for “extra” points. Thank you for supporting your child’s reading and participation in this awesome program! A Note from the Music Room… Be sure to save the dates for the two upcoming performances: Wednesday May 11th: Recorder and Band Concert: 7pm in the PC And our end of the year concert: “It’s a Musical World” Monday June 6th: 2pm in the PC. This Week Religion- The students worked so hard to make a special mass this week. They did an amazing job! I can’t even begin to tell you all how proud I am. Special thanks to Mrs. Bayer for taking our class pictures! English Language Arts- Students reviewed contractions and learned how to properly use their, there, and they’re. We also continued our poetry unit and discussed how authors use sensory details to evoke certain emotions. We also discussed how these sensory details can help us find the meaning of unknown words. Math- Students learned about expressions and equations. We learned how to write and evaluate multi step problems using the Order of Operations. Social Studies- In Social Studies this week, students wrapped up chapter 8 by learning about the United Nations. We compared South Africa’s struggles with human rights to the US Civil Rights Movement. The students even discussed similarities between Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela. Science- The students discussed how we can save our planet with the 3 R’s… reduce, reuse, and recycle. States and Capitols Please encourage your child to be prepared for their weekly Wednesday quizzes. They will need to identify the states and capitals on a region map as well as list the corresponding capital next to the state name. Studying their region will be a part of their daily homework. Some suggestions for home studying include apps such as “Stack the States”, flashcards (store bought or homemade), using the worksheets from class, and online games such as “Penguin Hop” on ABCya! (http://www.abcya.com/us_states_and_capitals.htm).http://www.abcya.com/us_states_and_capitals.htm Next Week: Social Studies Chapter 8 Test on Monday Southeast Region Quiz on Wednesday Math Chapter 9 Test on Thursday WTW Assessment and Vocab Test on Friday @ Rachel Thorp 2013 Questions? Feel free to call or e-mail me. ccastaldi@stjamesschoolah.org Questions? Feel free to call or e-mail me. ccastaldi@stjamesschoolah.org

2. I just wanted to say how unbelievably grateful I am for each and every one of these students. You all should be proud of what amazing and genuine children you are raising. I thank God every day for blessing me with such a wonderful class. @ Rachel Thorp 2013