Thank you Laurie Wilson for always stepping forward on our latest field trip to Jean’s Farm. Lara, with our “Garden Education” program added her valuable expertise to the February field trip. We all observed the wonderful restoration of the banks of the Johnson Creek. The creek rushed by us as we planted tree cuttings....
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*Plan on being at the upcoming Lewis Auction! I’ve seen evidence of some of the Lewis painted chairs that will be up for bidding and they are fabulous! My gratitude is flowing to Amy Spring and Suzanne Miller who became our artists in residence (at least for a day or two) to guide the...
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This past week students have been completing an art design by Wassily Kandinsky in preparation for art night in May.  We have been targeting vocabulary words such as geometric abstraction, contrasting, blending, bold and diagonals as well as following directions.  Students working on specific sound production (articulation and phonology) have also been working on...
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Tomorrow will be our one hundredth day of school!  Time sure flies.  At the same time, I am so impressed with the growth students have made.  We will celebrate our 100th day by sharing collections of 100 items; measuring 100 steps, 100 inches, 100 seconds; and playing games with the number 100. Friday, we will...
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We have finished our writing assessments this week and will be moving on to our next writing focus which is persuasive writing.  Our next writing project will aslo include letter writing; this is a district-wide focus.  Our tadpoles are doing great; legs are forming, and last week we found out what they like to...
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This week in our primary music classes we will start with a new game and song “Bow Wow Wow”. Once they learned the game we will add instrumentation and continue to work on the Do pentatonic. Second graders will also be starting the Orff piece “If”. For this piece they develop a simple instrumental...
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Despite being caught in a large hail storm, we had a good field trip to Jean’s Farm! We learned more about our water shed, and got to plant willow tree starts at the creek’s edge. We got to put our names on a tag and tie it on the bush we planted. It will...
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I’m amazed that it is March! Our trip to Jean’s Farm last week was fantastic. Thank you all for being flexible. We learned about the Johnson Creek watershed and planted willow trees on the banks of the creek. We are finishing and beginning lots of projects at the moment. Our social studies Portland timeline...
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In room 5 we focus on a different color and shape each month. As we enter March our color of the month changes from red to green. And, of course, the shape will be a clover. March’s color poem of the month is: Three leaf clover, you’re so green! Three leaf clover you grow...
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Whew, last week flew by! We had fun with our worm observations and the children seemed to really enjoy our wiggly friends! We also learned about Chinese New Year. We made dragon puppets, New Year masks, and even saw a real Lion Dance! This week we continue our hibernation unit. Students will be bringing...
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Have you noticed the bulbs sprouting and the robins beginning to return to our school grounds? Spring is in the air! In our classroom, we are learning more about how plants and animals rest and hibernate over the winter months and how the seasons effect their life cycle, including their “re-awakening” in spring. We...
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This week we are putting lots of effort into our State Writing Assessments. Students are working hard to complete their rough drafts and then edit and proofread them. The state will send these back, with scores for each of the six writing traits, hopefully in late May. We are looking forward to our field...
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*Many thanks to Suzanne Miller for putting together such a fun Valentine art activity that allowed each child’s creative juices to flow! *Our Valentine party was a wonderful success! The children had a ball! Thank you for all the contributions. The children were thrilled with their surprises. During the exchange of cards, I had...
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Each student in our classroom who is attending camp this spring is bringing home a camp bank book today.  Yesterday I sent home a letter explaining that the camp bank will open next Wednesday morning.  Please send all money in an envelope marked with the student’s name and the amount.  If you haven’t sent...
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This week in our primary music classes we will finish up with our poem “Out goes the Rat” to discover the Do pentatonic scale. We’ve learned 4 basic bass rhythmic patterns and are using the Do – So relationship to create our own bass ostinati. The third grade is also working in the Do...
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As February comes to a close, we continue our study of the red as we read the following books: The Red Caboose, The 5 Red Quilts, The Very Lazy Lady Bug, and The Big Red Sled.
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This week there are a couple of new changes in room 17. First, students have new seats, hopefully increasing time spent on learning. Next, many students are placed in new reading groups to address gains that have been recorded on the Direct Reading Assessments and/or the Oregon State Reading Assessments. The students are finishing...
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“Gung Hay Fat Choy!”… Happy Asian Lunar New Years to you! This week we will explore this important Asian Celebration and it’s cultural significance for many people in the world. We will be reading, writing, doing math and art activities including mask and puppet making, caligraphy, painting and creating tangrams. On Friday we will...
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Last week was full of activity. Our class really enjoyed our Valentines Day celebration. Thank you to all who donated all the wonderful food and drinks, and to all who helped make our celebration a success. We also enjoyed going to the play on Thursday. Again, a big thank you to all the volunteers...
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This month groups of students are reading stories to our kindergarten buddy class. This week, one group is reading Dr. Seuss books, and the other group is sharing books written by Eric Carle. Also, Anne Logue and I will be planning future activities for our two classes. Working with money and time may be...
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Tuesday was the first day of Chess Academy. Thank you to the wonderful student tutors. We will be meeting every Tuesday and Thursday morning from 8:00-8:40am. If you are interested in learning chess, please don’t delay. Everyone is welcome!
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