Dear Parents,

Summer is just a few weeks away and students are anxiously waiting for the last day of school. Some will be vacationing and others will be attending summer school/summer camp. It is important for students to continue practicing their academic skills over the summer in order to keep those skills sharp and to prevent summer loss. The key to keeping children motivated is to make learning fun and exciting. This may be more challenging than you might think!

I'd like to suggest some ways you can make learning fun and relevant. For writing, encourage your child to stretch her writing muscles by giving stories a new twist. Together, read one of your child's favorite stories, such as Goldilocks and the Three Bears. When you finish, work together to rewrite the story with a different setting. Perhaps it could take place in another country or in the middle of a big city. Ask your child to think about how the setting might change the story. Your child can practice spelling and phonics by making spelling pictures out of old magazines. Let your child cut out magazine pictures that start with each letter of her spelling words. For example, when using the word "cat," she could use a (c)ar, an (a)pple, and a (t)rain. Have her glue the pictures on a piece of paper and write each letter of the spelling words under the pictures. In Science, have your child pretend she is a magnet. Can she find three things she would stick to? Examples might include a soup can or paper clips. What kinds of things wouldn't she stick to? Finally, in Social Studies your child can look up your state flower in an encyclopedia. Let him draw the flower on paper and cut it out. Tape on a drinking straw "stem." He can make a bouquet by adding flowers from states he would like to visit.

The school library is beginning to wind down and Mrs. Hunter is now collecting all overdue books. Please refer to the following dates below:

• Overdue notices for library books will be sent out the week of May 9-13.

• Please return all library books by Friday, May 20. (6th grade can return Monday, May 23)

• During the week of May 23-27,shelf searches will be made to find books you think have been returned.

• All lost books must be paid for by Friday, May 27.

I told you last month that it would be my last posting until August. Well, after some research, I was able to get access to a couple more newsletters, including two summer activity calendars for your perusal. Yeah! So, please click on the following link to see the Summer 2011 Reading Connection.
Sincerely,

Mrs. Humphries
Reading Specialist
mhumphries@saintlawrence.org
#(408) 296-2260 ext. 413