News From Room 4 Kindergarten-Miss Cindy and Miss Morgan
The week is rushing by with Monday as a no school day and today as a late opening! I appreciate everyone who has turned in the field trip permission slip to see the play, Don’t Let The Pigeons Drive The Bus. The book, Little Mouse, is the focus literary book this week. The class will fill out a word web, write about the characters they see in the book and continue writing and brainstorming describing words in their writing. We are focusing on capitalization and punctuation during journal writing: commas, periods, exclamation points and question marks. Last Friday we got together with our buddy class and created pictures of toucans, using the undercoating technique and oil pastels. Since the kindergartners have already done this, they were able to be the “teachers” to their buddies. We had over 50 children in class; thank you so much for my parent helpers!!! On Friday, your child will be receiving their report card and then spring break arrives! How fast the school year has gone by. I hope you all have an enjoyable week off.
Notes from Ms. Leake
Another busy week is coming to a close. This past week found us spending time at the beach. Students started with the question ‘What is a beach?’ We then looked at how sand is made. Students worked to together to turn sugar cubes into sand. They also looked at samples of sand from different parts of the world. They found out that sand is made of rocks and shells but can also have bits of plants, wood, glass and even plastic in it. After looking at sand with me, they talked about erosion with Tiffany and experimented with how water can change a beach and reveal hidden treasures. The next day, we moved onto ocean water. Again we did experiments to show students how different the ocean is from fresh water. They learned that things are more buoyant in salt and saw an egg sink in the fresh water and float in the salt water. They blew with straws on a pan of water to make waves and then played with a wave in a bottle to see that water is always moving. Finally we moved onto the animals that live in the water. We’ve made a list of animals and sorted them by class: floaters, active swimmers and bottom dwellers. We’ll use this information to create a mural in our classroom.
Another big part of our day has included assessment. We are working with students to see record their academic gains as we set learning goals for the remainder of the year. Students are becoming more independent in their reading and writing. They are able to read for a longer length of time and work on monitoring their reading for meaning and self correcting when the text doesn’t make sense. In Writing, students talked about what makes a good piece of writing and checked over their piece for spelling, spacing, capitals, and end punctuation. They then went back and reread their piece to include more details.
Classroom Notes from Mrs. Logues’ First Grade.
Last week, we celebrated what would have been Dr. Seuss’, (Theodore Geisel’s), 106th birthday by reading all the Seuss books we could together, alone and with our Forth Grade Buddies! It was wonderful:) We also measured, recorded information about and cared for our shared bean garden. Each child is raising a bean and wild flower garden in a glass and the daily changes above and under the soil are apparent and interesting. What does a plant need and what happens when it does not/does get those needs met? This is just one of many questions we explore as observant scientists in the classroom. Along with our plant unit we have done some charcoal sketches, and delved into the worlds of the earth and red wriggler worms in the playground and in the classroom compost bin. Ask your child about them and check out their Work Time Center Work too! This week we kicked off our Right Brain Initiative Art in the school project with an awesome assembly with Rodolfo Serna. He is the well known Portland Muralist who will be working with the K through second graders to create a giant mural on the wall across from the Lewis Butterfly Garden. You will have seen the sketch papers brought home this week for your family and your child to create a drawing of a representation of, object/artifact that symbolizes family/ancestry/community strengths to these children. The organic nature of these drawings will also be a highlight. Last week we created a chalk mural on the playground after we learned about the life and works of Diego Rivera, ancient cave paintings in Baja California and the Sistine Chapel murals of Michelangelo . All murals tell a story and/ or represent something of importance. I can’t wait to see the mural our children create with Rodolfo Serna! Math and Writing focus continues as last week and in Art we will be creating garden posts and crafting beads. The children and I will be working hard on updating current assessments for our coming report cards. So much progress… I can’t wait to share it with you!
Music and Technology Notes from Mr. Jamesbarry
These next two weeks bring some changes to the after school music schedule. Due to the upcoming drama production there will be some cancellations this week and next. This Wednesday March 10th, there will be no after school strings. The following week March 15th – 19th there will be no 4th grade strings nor 5th grade band. After spring break all groups will resume their normal scheduled practice times. These after school groups continue to meet through the end of May.
Ms. Sarah’s Classroom Notes
We are having a busy week in Room 3! On Monday we got to meet our mural artist, Rodolfo Serna and find out more about the mural project we will be doing with him. The primary grades will be working on a piece that will cover the wall behind the butterfly garden area. In the next weeks, we will be thinking about ideas that we would like to be included in the mural. Rodolfo will take those ideas and combine them to make a collaborative piece that represents our school and community. On Tuesday, we enjoyed a puppet show, Kenji and the 3 R’s. We learned about how to reduce, reuse and recycle. Please ask your child about what they learned and see if you can’t practice some of the important conservation lessons at home! We begin worktime this week around the story, My Lucky Day. This is a very fun story and we are exploring sequence of events as well as character traits. In art, we have been learning about abstract art through the artwork of Wassily Kandinsky and began creating our own beautiful piece using oil pastels. They are stunning and will be featured on Art Night in May. Next week, I am thrilled to inform you, we will have a new addition to our class. Starting Monday, Kaylea Gardner, a student teacher from Concordia University will begin working in our room. She will be with us full-time for the remainder of the year. I know that you will hear more about Kaylea and will get a chance to meet her and work with her soon! Permission slips went home yesterday for the upcoming play, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! Please get those back to me as soon as possible! Monday there is no school due to teacher planning. I will be busy working on report cards! Wednesday is late opening. If you are in need of care for your child, please consider sending them to the Wednesday Camp, which is sponsored by the PTA. Sign-up sheets are available in the office! Thank you for all you do!
Classnotes From Ms. Vasquez
On Monday the children started a month long drama class with Michael Wehrili . The children will go four days a week for 30 minutes. They will play theatre games and learn acting techniques that will help the children feel confident in performing. Plan on coming to an Evening Performance! The date and time will come later.
This week during Science Workshop the children are making mobiles to reinforce the concept of balance, counterbalance, and stability. The most important part of the activity is sharing their ideas on how to make their mobile balance. They will write and draw about this experiment in their Science Journals.
Ask your child about who Alexander Calder was and the meaning of the word kinetic.
Reminders:
• The play The True Story of The 3 Little Pigs is next Thursday, March 18th.
• Scholastic Book Orders will be sent home on Friday.
Mrs. Pechette’s First Grade
With Mrs. Joy’s wonderful guidance, the children’s curiosity has taken them into exploration of Pebbles, Sand, and Silt. As scientists we use our eyes (and a magnifying glass), touch, smell, and hearing. When investigating rocks we did not use our taste. Here are some bits of what we have noticed so far. Zoe remembered rubbing the rocks together and making them warm with specks of dust. ”Sand comes off, tiny particles of rock,” noticed Avi. Nina told us, “Friction makes the rocks warm.” Gloria heard scratching when she rubbed her rocks together. Albert was excited to tell us he made smoke! Ask your child what happened when their rocks got wet and where did the bubbles come from? As we become fluent writers, punctuation becomes more important. Does your sentence begin with an upper case letter? What words should be capitalized in a title, and what about the names of months and days? Do you need a period, question mark, or exclamation mark at the end of a sentence? The Star of Are should have come home Monday to help with the understanding of the use and spelling of “are” and “our”. The first graders are excited to be participating in mural making with artist Rodolpho Serna, who visited our class to begin our thinking about murals. Each one of us will have our ideas incorporated. Don’t forget next Wednesday, March 17th, is a 2 hour late start. Take advantage of the late start camp run by parents. There’s more information in the office if needed.
Room 1 News Teacher Dana’s Class
The kids did a wonderful job for Patricia while I was away. She commented on how well they follow the routines and how independent they are. I appreciate all of your support and kind words. On Monday, the class met with our artist in residence, Rodofo Serna. They are all very excited about the mural we are going to get to work on with all of the other primary classes. Please be sure to work with your child on the take home portion of this project. It will help in the planning of the content of the mural. This week or lead story is called My Lucky Day. Our comprehension focus is on character, and cause and effect. In math we are focusing on grouping and sets of numbers. In writing our focus is on using exciting words to make our stories more interesting. Next week we will have a teacher planning day on Monday, and a late opening on Wednesday. If you are in need of childcare for the late opening there is a late-opening camp here at Lewis. If you are interested, please inquire in the office.
CLASSROOM NOTES FROM MS. ROSS, THIRD GRADE
Last week the students did splendidly with their third grade speeches. So far, I have videotaped half of the class. These students successively delivered their memorized speeches and they were able to maintain eye contact with the audience. This is a big accomplishment because clear communication is so important in our complex society. This week, the second half of the class has finished writing and perparing for their speeches. While they took longer to go through the writing process, they are spending valuable time developing their ideas.
Also this week, our drama residency with Michael Whirlie starts. Every day for the remainder of March, he takes half of the class for 40 minutes at 12:20pm, and the other half at 1:00pm. Please try not to make any dental or medical appointments during this time frame.
On Fridays, starting this week, we will be having four sessions of an art workshop with Rudolfo Serna through the Right Brain Grant. The third, fourth, and fifth grade students will create a mural in the upper hall as the final project.
News From Ms. Davis and Ms. Miura, 3rd grade
We were fortunate to start gardening class this week in the afternoons with Ms. Julia. Children built a pea trellis, planted peas, and weeded two of the garden beds. We are discussing why it is important to weed gardens. We are on the brink of finishing our read aloud book No Flying in the House by Betty Brock. Children have been practicing asking questions as I read the book aloud. Most of their questions have been answered throughout the book but a few remain. We’re hoping the answers are revealed in the final chapter. Ask your child to retell the story to you. On Tuesday, we attended a kickoff assembly to launch the residency of mural artist Rodolfo Serna. Rodolfo will be working with the 3-5 students to create a mural that will be revealed on Art Night. His residency will begin in April. Please help your child study multiplication facts this week. Thanks for your ongoing support.
HOMEWORK FROM MS. ROSS, MARCH 8TH
MONDAY: SPELLING
TUESDAY: Math- Two Part Problems
WEDNESDAY: ABC HOMEWORK- Research Russia
THURSDAY: Math- Revisiting patterns.
Ms. Swan’s Second Grade
And the Oscar goes to…
***Congratulations to our wonderful student actors! Both our class and Ms. Davis’ third graders did a wonderful job presenting their
Shel Silverstein poems to the school in the afternoon and their families in the evening. The music and the acting were delightful!
***Today we met with our new artist-in-residence, Rodolpho Serna.
His family came from Mexico and moved to the poorest area in Chicago. Even though he faced such challenges growing up, he stuck to his dreams of making art and working with people in need, which he does to this day.
***The class is excited to get started on our mural. I sent a planning sheet home on Monday with a cover letter about expectations. I’d love to have your child’s and/or families input by Thursday (but no later than Friday.) The Primary Team’s outdoor mural will be by the front west entrance, the wall nearest to the butterfly garden.
***We’ve concluded our Literacy unit on numerous versions of The Three Little Pigs. Today, we made dioramas with a self chosen scene from one of the books. Next up will be our actual field trip downtown to see the play!
Notes from Mr. Post’s Classroom
Last week we finished our Three Pigs prints and hung them in the hallway outside of our room. Some students are using CoWriter to write parts of the story that will also be displayed with the prints. We read a few versions of Little Red Riding Hood, including one called “Little Red”, where the main character is a boy. Mr. Lee did an activity with the class in which students acted out The Three Pigs, The Three Bears, and The Three Billy Goats’ Gruff. In the garden, we helped Julia to replant some flower bulbs in better locations. Some of the students were fascinated with the worms they found in the dirt.
This week we are reading fairy tales about princesses, including Princess and the Pea, The Frog Prince, and Cinderella. The letter of the week is “X”, so we will learn common words beginning with the prefix “ex”, like exit, extra, exercise, excel, and explore. For math, we continue to work on subtraction problems and strategies. For art, we are working with Play Doh to prepare for a project using clay.
keefer homework
HOMEWORK
READING
Read 20-30 minutes each night and complete your reading log
Due Daily
Book Review #7–- Due 4/2
MATH
Math Packet–Due 3/12
IMPORTANT PAPERS
Read-a-thon permission slips are OVERDUE
Field Trip Permission Slips Due 3/12
keefer notes
The read-a-thon has begun. All students are participating even if they are not earning money for camp. We are reading everyday and recording our pages. Some students pay for their entire camp bill by the read-a-thon! This week in math we are working on problem solving. We took our Unit 4 math test last week and overall our class did excellent! Please review your child’s test with them. We are working hard on the beginnings of our imaginative stories. They are very creative.
A field trip notice was sent home last week, please make sure you read and return it by Friday. The last day of the trimester is Friday. There will be no school for students on Monday, March 15th.
Continue reading on www.raz-kids.com! Top 3 RAZ-KIDS Kids= Hayden- 11,300 stars, Darby- 10,770 stars, Chase- 9,160 stars
Notes for Room 13 by M.L. Amsbury
At this time of year we begin state testing. Third, fourth and fifth graders all participate in the Scaffolded version of the Extended State Test. All participate in the reading and math. Fourth graders also participate in the writing test. Fifth graders participate in the science test. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to email: mamsbury@pps.k12.or.us; call: 503-916-6429; or go to the Oregon State Department of Education website. The tests will be administered by the teacher one student at a time between now and April.
Classroom Notes from Mrs. Gould and Mr. Riedl
We started our OMSI Camp Read-a-thon this week! Everyone is reading up a storm; we read daily for 30 minutes right after lunch. Our Kindergarten buddies will miss us over the next two weeks, but we will resume our reading time with them in two weeks when the Read-a-thon concludes. I hope that you received our last letter about camp. If your child is not participating in the Read-a-thon, you will need to pay ½ of their camp bill on March 31st with the balance due on April 30th. Our preparation for the Colonial Simulation continues; all students have been working in their colony groups preparing mapping assignments that earn wealth units. Later this week we will design our colonial flag. After checking in homework last Friday, I am concerned that students are not practicing their reading at home. Only half of our students turned in their reading homework last week. It is really important that all fifth graders read nightly; please support our efforts at school by enforcing a reading time at home. Like Ms. Jen’s math group, our math group is now assigned nightly math homework that we begin in class. We noticed that we have many March birthdays; if you are planning to bring something to school for your child’s birthday, please call us the week before so we can schedule it and help you plan it.
News from 5th Grade – Ms. Jen
This week is our Read-a-thon. Your child should be writing down how much time he is reading every day this week. Please encourage daily reading. We are continuing our colonial unit. Students should be doing a project every week and turning it in every Monday. Please check my webpage for these colonial projects. Students are expected to do a quality effort on these projects. They are also required to finish the class assignments for this unit and work together in their groups. My math students are now adding like and unlike fractions this week. We finished our graph unit although there are many students who have not turned in their line and circle graphs that should have been done on excel. Please check whether your child finished these assignments. Thanks to the parents that came with us to Reed College last Friday. We had a wonderful experience with print making and seeing the art gallery.
News From Room 4 kindergarten-Miss Cindy and Miss Morgan
Our class was so excited to meet our Artist in Residence Rodolfo Serna on Monday. He spoke at a morning assembly about himself and what the kindergartners will be creating with first and second graders during the next four Tuesdays after spring break. It is a giant mural that will be put on the outside of our school near the butterfly garden on Evergreen Street! Each child will be making a symbol of something important in their lives and will be giving their picture to him so it can be incorporated into the final mural picture. Monday afternoon, everyone visited the garden area with Julia; they are having a wonderful time outside doing so many things-be sure to ask them what they did. This week the main story is, “My Lucky Day”. During work time, the class will be learning about cause and effect, setting, characters, retelling, predicting the next event and using adjectives to describe the two characters. In writing, the focus is on using describing words in sentences to make the writing more interesting. Children are really challenging themselves when writing different adjectives in their stories. In Math, I have reintroduced Venn diagrams; we are also continuing to play Shake Those Beans to help learn number facts and problem solving. I have finished assessments and will be filling out report cards next Monday; I am thrilled how well everyone has improved in all areas! On Friday, we will meet with our buddy class; the kindergartners will be teaching their buddies how to create a specific art piece. The children each brought home their own copy of the class story, Mr. Loving”; each child wrote a sentence and illustrated it. A BIG THANK YOU TO JESSE, SADIE’S MOM, WHO MADE A COLORED BOOK FOR EACH CHILD TO TAKE HOME!!!!!
*Next Wednesday is a late opening; camp will be offered again so please think about signing up for it. It is taught by Kathy Bartlett.
Mrs. Wieand’s Class Notes
We had an assembly on Tuesday to kick off the work we will be doing with the Right Brain Initiative this spring. Students will be working with a mural artist to design and create a mural for one of our hallways. The students have a homework assignment for this project that is due THIS FRIDAY. Please help your child complete the assignment.
This week students have been participating in our read-a-thon. All students are reading for at least 30 minutes a day and some students are reading for pledges. We are recording our pages and will let you know the results next week so that you can begin to collect the money. Those students who are not participating in the read-a-thon need to pay for half of camp, $55.00, by the end of March. You can send this money with the camp bank book on any Wednesday morning.
Reminder: Please return field trip permission slips and money as soon as possible.
Mrs. Wieand’s Homework
- Reading Log
- Math packet
- Word Study
- Right Brain Initiative Assignment
Ms. Swan’s Second Grade
***We really enjoyed the water conservation assembly, “Where’s Rosie?” I learned it takes about 5 gallons of water a minute to take a shower, 17 gallons per load to run the dishwasher and approximately 45 gallons to run the washing machine.
***Many days, while one group is at drama class, I’ve been using the time to teach art. Our portrait study has taken many interesting turns. We can’t wait to share some of our projects with you on Art Night in early May.
***I told you about attending a Right Brain Initiative conference earlier this year with an Arts team from Lewis School. Due to working with them, we will get to have another artist in residence this year! Artist Rodolpho Serna will be working with the Primary Team on an outdoor mural and with the Intermediate Team on an indoor mural. Stay tuned for more exciting details to come!
***We have been having so much fun comparing many different versions of The Three LIttle Pigs in preparation for our downtown field trip on March 18th. We also split into groups and did a Reader’s Theatre of the popular tale.
