Springfield Elementary

Story Time Special Guest: C.J. Sebastian

Maria — Tue, 06 May 2008 21:10:18 +0000

Springfield Elementary is extremely pleased to host noted children’s book author, C.J. Sebastian. Ms. Sebastian will join us on Tuesday, May 20 for a special Story Time in the newly remodeled Library, where she will read her latest book, Rupert Takes a Helicopter Ride, to Kindergarten and First Grade Students in a number of sessions throughout the morning.

A Springfield resident, Ms. Sebastian is the author of ten children’s books that explore new experiences from a child’s point of view. Her books help children expand their horizons by exposing them to new and exciting things. Her descriptive yet simple phrasing expands vocabulary while keeping meaning clear to her young readers.

A helicopter pilot for the past eight years, Ms. Sebastian will also address the fifth and sixth grades at a future assembly, where she will narrate a slide show of photos taken from her helicopter in the Springfield area. She has already participated in a Career Day at Springfield High, where she landed her helicopter on the football field and spoke directly to students about careers in aviation.

Ms. Sebastian also provided some learning materials for our sixth grade class to study helicopters:

About Helicopters is an illustrated student handout about helicopter aerodynamics.
How Helicopters Fly is an audio file that explains how Ms. Sebastian got started as a pilot.
Sky Harbor Takeoff Video

Ms. Sebastian will be available to autograph books and answer student and parent questions during the lunch break after her final reading on Tuesday. Mark your calendars!

Library Remodeling Complete

Maria — Tue, 06 May 2008 20:30:30 +0000

Construction is now complete on the new Kindergarten section of the school library. It opened yesterday with a brief ceremony conducted by our Librarian, Mrs. Tome.

Since the school first opened, all Kindergarten books were housed in the common area between the two Kindergarten classrooms. Because the Kindergarten is so close to the school library, Principal Sheeney and the Board of Education decided to create a special Kindergarten area within the library. Kindergarten classes will make weekly “field trips” down the hall to the library for story time and occasional puppet shows. The library will be closed to other students during this time.

The new Kindergarten section will be a great way to introduce our youngest students to what libraries are all about.

How We’ll Spend Our Summer Vacations

Maria — Mon, 05 May 2008 22:57:27 +0000

Mrs. Stewart’s third grade class has big plans for summer vacation. Some class members will travel to faraway places in the United States and even Europe while others will spend most of their time closer to home, doing fun things with family members.

“I’m going to summer camp in the mountains,” writes Amber Smith. “My sister and brother are going, too. We’re going to sleep in log cabins like Abraham Lincoln.”

Johnny Cooper tells us:

My family is going on a car trip to visit my Grandma in Arizona. We go every summer. It takes a few days to get there and it’s very hot. Last year I went fishing in the pond behind my Grandma’s house. I didn’t catch any fish but I found lots of golf balls. I gave them to my dad for when he goes golfing with his friends.

Some other places Mrs. Stewart’s classmembers are going to include:

Nancy Carlson: New York City
Jimmy Drew and Cindy Olsen: Disneyland
Billy Jones: The Grand Canyon
Peggy Ann Williams: England

Mrs. Stewart will put all of the summer vacation essays from her class on the wall in the hallway outside her classroom this week so other students and teachers can read them.

Join the Writing Club!

What are you going to do this summer? You can write an essay about it for our new writing club. Talk to Mr. Riggle about how you can join the club.