March 2012 Soaring to Excellence

Friday Harbor Elementary 95 Grover St., PO Box 458 Friday Harbor, WA 98250

Principal Connie Martin 360-378-5209 X 1

Dear Families, Parent-teacher conferences are just around the corner. Our teachers look forward to sharing with you all the wonderful growth weve seen in your child this year. Parent-teacher conferences are a great opportunity for families to sit down one-on-one with your child's teacher to talk about school progress. Some tips from Reading Rockets to make the most of this time are below. It's important to use this time to share your impressions of the school year and to ask any questions you might have. Here are some questions that might help to set the tone for a productive and positive conference: At what level is my child currently reading? What type of growth have you seen so far this year? Can you describe my child's reading? Is it fluent and expressive? Does my child read at an appropriate pace? Can you make any recommendations for reading material? At home we try to talk about what our child has read. What other things can we do at home to help with comprehension? The homework you assign typically takes about ____ minutes to complete. We feel the homework load is (too challenging, not challenging enough, just right, etc). What strategies can you recommend to make homework as effective as it can be? What sorts of things can we do at home to keep our child motivated about his/her schoolwork? Did you run out of time? It's often hard to fit it all in during one conference. If you still have unanswered questions, follow up with a written note or schedule a second face-toface meeting. Develop a solid relationship with your child's teacher consider it your homework for the year!

Celebrating Dr. Seuss on March 2nd 2012

http://www.seussville.com/
Mrs. Martin reads The Lorax

to our FHES students.

Math Tips of the Month

Count everything! Count toys, kitchen utensils, and items of clothing as they come out of the dryer. Help your child count by pointing to and moving the objects as you say each number out loud. Count forward and backward from different starting places. Use household items to practice adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing. Include your child in activities that involve measurements. Have your child measure the ingredients in a recipe or the length of a bookshelf you plan to build. Trade equal amounts of money. How many pennies do you need to trade for a nickel? For a dime?

Reading tips of the month

Brought to you by www.ReadingRockets.org Read me a story! Whether snuggled under the covers with peanut butter sandwiches or following along with a book on tape while on a road trip, reading together is a powerful tool to motivate your child to read. Spice up your reading log! Choose a theme that goes along with your child's interests. An example is a Reading Olympics where the child goes for the gold by reading a certain number of books.

Friday Harbor Elementary Garden Project

Tanja Williamson and Janelle Teasdale are looking for some
family or community members who would enjoy getting our garden ready for the spring and summer months. If youre interested in helping with this fun project, please contact Tanja or Janelle as soon as possible. Thank you!! tanjawilliamson@mac.com or janelleteasdale@sjisd.wednet.edu

Matt Stromberg wins Friday Harbor Elementary 2012 Spelling Bee

Golden Eagle Feathers winners for the month of February!
Chelsey . From Ms. Evans Class - A Bedtime for Bear
Mrs. Raichlens 1st Grade Class With Love, Little Red Hen

Congratulations all Golden Eagle Feather Winners!

Our annual Friday Harbor Spelling Bee was held on February 28th. It included students from grades 4-6th. The students did an amazing job during the spelling bee! We are proud of each and every one of you for giving your best!
The following students participated in this event and will also participate in the Rotary sponsored th Community Bee on March 15 at 3:30 pm at the San Juan Community Theatre. 4th graders: Libby Scott, Finnoula Bourne, Merritt Deshon, Aida Must, Emmett Carrier. 5th graders: Andre Matthews, Jennifer Orozco, Joseph Kaden, Matt Stromberg, Liam Rude, Emily Cain.

6th graders: Grace Ogle, Tawan Shaller, Kiya Althoff, Lupita Plaza Garcia. Please show your support for our Friday Harbor Elementary students on March 15!

We continue to spread compassion and kindness at FHES. Students are giving and receiving links for showing compassion and kindness to their classmates and others. These links are growing bigger every day, and we plan to join them all together in a BIG Celebration in June! What are you doing at home to spread compassion and kindness around our community? Wed love to hear from you!

San Juan Historical Society introduces A Living Lesson Students at FHES will have an opportunity to step back to a time when life was simpler and before technology entered the classroom. The Living Lesson is an enrichment opportunity available to interested students in grades 3-5. More information is on its way. Stay tuned.

The Trails Passport Adventure Continues.Dont miss the fun!

Sat. March 24, 2012, 1- 4:00 pm. Meet Marilyn O'Conner, Director, Port of Friday Harbor to "Walk the Port" (airport to boat harbor) learning history and local color. Meet and park at Skagit Valley College parking lot. Length is 2 miles. Terrain is sidewalks, wooded trail and pavement. Rating is moderate. Dogs on leashes are welcome.

We Did It!!
Thanks to the dedication of our students and families, we have hit our Food Drive Goal!

Get them before theyre gone! Friday Harbor Eagles

FHES Goal: 500 Current Count: 514 Thank you for all of your donations!!

T-Shirts
On Sale until March 15th