My apologies for not posting sooner than this. It has been a very busy Spring here at Lawrence Avenue. Since my last post, we have had Spring Break, Passover, Easter and Tas Cru in the house!

It seems as though many of you had exciting adventures over Spring Break! Whether you stayed in the North Country or traveled south, the children came back to school excited to share their adventures. My family traveled to South Carolina for the very first time during Spring Break. Although I was dreading the long car ride, I found it was more enjoyable than I had anticipated. Not only did I get to spend some quality, up close and personal time with my family, I was also able to reconnect with two of my former teachers who have retired to the area I visited. Mr. and Mrs. "H" had such a profound effect on me while I was in school! I only hope I can touch the lives of my students as they have touched mine! (They were my 5th and 6th grade teachers!...see pic.)

Mrs. Williams came in to our classroom and shared another Sammy Spider adventure with us. This time, the Shapiro's were preparing their house for Passover and unknowingly destroy the Sammy the Spider's web. Though Sammy becomes fascinated by his mother's explanations of the holiday traditions, he is repeatedly told, "Spiders don't celebrate Passover. Spiders spin webs." Following instructions, Sammy completes a new web?and participates in the Shapiro family observance after all. Using cut-paper artwork made festive with cheery patterns, Kahn depicts a contemporary human family and a mother-son spider duo reminiscent of Eric Carle's creations, complete with a review of basic shapes. We also got to taste unleavened bread dipped in chocolate. Thank you, Mrs. Williams.

Next, our 4th grade friends visited us donning their Easter Bonnets. Each student designed his/her own bonnet to mirror individual interests, etc. We really enjoyed their visit!

Finally, on Monday, April 25th, Dr. Rick Bates, professor of Literacy at SUNY Potsdam (aka Tas Cru, who participates in the North Country's Blues for Books campaign) visited our classroom and performed several of his blues songs based loosely on Eric Carle's books. The children thoroughly enjoyed Dr. Bates' visit, as did I! I ran into Rick in Saratoga Springs last month while attending the NYSRA Reading Conference. Rick was my sponsor teacher many moons ago when I was his student teach at SUNY Potsdam's Campus School. Thank you, Rick!

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