School notes: Yorktown Elementary School, park ranger save the planet By Sandy Stewart
The Student Council at Yorktown celebrated Earth Day with school partner Park Ranger Robin Martin discussing ways to take care of our Earth. The group discussed the benefits of recycling and then cleaned up the school grounds. The group also looked for bottles and cans on the grounds that could be recycled instead of thrown away.
Student Council members also greeted visitors to the school on PGCPS Visitation Day last week.
Second-graders recently visited the Howard B. Owens Science Center to participate in the "Science from Toys" investigations program, which supports the science unit on forces and motion. During the hands-on investigative approach, students learned about forces of motion and identified where potential energy is stored in several toys and when kinetic energy is observed as the toy is moved. By the end of the investigations, students had a thorough understanding of potential and kinetic energy as well as the vocabulary (motion, push, pull, force and gravity) associated with the lesson.
Teachers believe that good teaching is their reward, but Teacher Appreciation Week is a great time to let teachers know how they have touched your or your children's lives. Here are ways to tell your teacher thank you:
Write a thank-you note (students and parents); send in some classroom supplies such as chalk, stamps, stickers, etc.; give them flowers or plants for their classroom or home; send in artwork created by your child; gift certificates for coffee, meals, services, etc.; or offer to volunteer in their classroom.
Don't forget the specialists, physical education teacher, music teachers and media center specialists and the student teachers, too.
The PTA will provide the following events in the teacher's lounge for the teachers and staff during Teacher Appreciation Week: Monday, May 5, breakfast smorgasbord; Wednesday, May 7, catered lunch; and Friday, May 9, dessert bar.
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ST. PIUS X REGIONAL SCHOOL
students in Sheila Graham's third-grade class read Joseph and Chico to prepare for the visit of Pope Benedict XVI. The approved biography of Pope Benedict is told through the eyes of his cat, Chico. Students also selected one fact about the pope to illustrate and display. Each of the students found a different picture of the pope that a parent volunteer will place in chronological order and bind into a book which will be sent to Pope Benedict.
Other students throughout the school also prepared birthday cards and letters for the pope's trip to the United States. In Anne Curran's class students watched broadcasts of the Papal Mass from Nationals Stadium.
Students in kindergarten attended a field trip recently to the Baltimore Zoo. They also saw the play "Sleeping Beauty" presented by Bowie High School.
The school community raised money for Earth Day through a tag day.
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HOLY TRINITY SCHOOL
Discovery classes reviewed the alphabet and numbers this week. The Explorers took a trip around the globe as they studied bodies of water. They learned about oceans and the creatures that live in the water. They compared gills and lungs and how sea creatures breathe air. Students will visit the Baltimore Aquarium where they will see a dolphin show and explore all ocean life.
Second-graders took part in the Outdoor Education program by joining teachers at a cook-out and participating in a variety of group initiative activities. What a wonderful way to connect with one another.
Fifth-grade social studies classes continued their study of Colonial American life with presentations on education, farming, family, clothing, foods and newspapers. Students created illustrations to go along with the projects. Sixth-graders are studying jazz history and Duke Ellington. In art, sixth-graders designed and created African masks. They formed their masks from clay and learned about glazing. Seventh-graders, in their literature and the sea unit, wrote a work of fiction - the first chapter for a sequel to a novel The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle. They are reading a selection of sea poetry by Longfellow, John Masefield, Tennyson and Lucille Clifton. Students will compose sea poetry at the end of this unit. Eighth-graders participated in the Dream Flag Project that is inspired by Langston Hughes and the tradition of Buddhist prayer flags. This is a collaborative literature and art project where the students wrote poems about their dreams for the world and transferred their poems into artwork.
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School representatives should send information for School Notes to Sandy Stewart via e-mail at sstewart@bladenews.com or via fax at 301-464-7027.
