Some exciting news about A! She was picked for a solo in Notebusters! I am not sure which song it is, but she has a solo and she is very happy. We are very much looking forward to her concert in June.

In other news… it has been a long week but all is well. A's teacher had a baby on Monday, which is exciting news for her. Here is the note we got from one of her substitute teachers:

By
this time I am certain that your very sweet and very excited children
delivered the news that Charlotte Jane Powell was born yesterday
weighing in at 7 pounds and 7 ounces on the auspicious day of May 13,
2013!  Mrs. Powell and baby girl are healthy and happy.

 Your children were happy and adjusting well to change too!  Ms. Hollins had a great action-packed first day as Mrs. Powell’s long-term substitute teacher.

Since
Ms. Hollins worked in our room for the first half of the year, she
knows all of your children and remembers the routines of the classroom.  These factors and her energy  made for a very smooth transition .  I will continue to co-teach with Ms. Hollins as much as possible.

 Today,
your children began their day in Art Class. Your children built
colorful D.C. building sculptures that you will see displayed at the
D.C. Theater Café.  (See photo below.)In writing, we wrote
an acrostic poem for the baby as a class followed by each student
writing an individual poem which we will mail to Mrs. Powell.

 We
had Peace Class today with Ms. Ryden. Ms. Hollins began our unit on
equivalent fraction followed by a spirited practice of our Reader’s
Theater piece with Mrs. Jensen in anticipation of the D.C. Theater Café
next week.  We ended the day with a birthday celebration on the playground for Isaiah with his grandmother. 

 Ms. Hollins and I are so happy to be with your children.

And here also is a poem that A wrote that she read last week for the Mother's Day celebration in her class. It was inspired by a Shel Silverstein poem, and I have pasted that one in as well.

If I Were A Billion Feet Tall

by Alexa Feldman, inspired by the poem If I Were An Inch Tall by Shel Silverstein

A whole hurricane would be my swimming pool
A could would be a little feast
It'd last me just a minute at least
A blue whale would be a cute little beast
If I were a billion feet tall

 
If you were a billion feet tall, you'd need to walk over the door
It'd take a second to get to the store
The moon would be a little bed
I'd swing upon a lightning thread
I'd wear Saturn's ring right on my head
If I were a billion feet tall

 

I'd surf across the ocean on a great white shark's tum
If you think you can hug your family then you're a little dumb
I'd run from lightning in just a little fright
And just to move a pen would take all night
This poem took a quadrillion years to write

Here is the original:

If you were only one inch tall, you'd
ride a worm to school.
The teardrop of a crying ant would be your swimming pool.
A crumb of cake would be a feast
And last you seven days at least,
A flea would be a frightening beast
If you were one inch tall.

If you were only one inch tall, you'd walk beneath the door,
And it would take about a month to get down to the store.
A bit of fluff would be your bed,
You'd swing upon a spider's thread,
And wear a thimble on your head
If you were one inch tall.

You'd surf across the kitchen sink upon a stick of gum.
You couldn't hug your mama, you'd just have to hug her thumb.
You'd run from people's feet in fright,
To move a pen would take all night,
(This poem took fourteen years to write–
'Cause I'm just one inch tall).

Shel Silverstein