*This week we enjoyed a beautiful hike and an informative habitat class at Tryon Creek. Thanks again to Mo Grant, Shirley Hofeld, Sakar Kalle, and Jay Miller for accompanying us! *We are finishing up a big review of many different math concepts, and are excited about how much we have learned this year! We...
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Hope you had a pleasant Memorial Day weekend; it fit in nicely with our study of American Revolutionary heroines!  We are watching a series of cartoons called Liberty Kids produced by PBS and learning a lot about the Revolutionary War through the eyes of these ficticious children.  We will finish our reading book “Battling...
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I hope you all had a relaxing, or fun (or both) Memorial Day Weekend.  There was a lot of relaxing at my house.  Which is just what we needed! Last week, I shared that a few of our Mealworm pupas had become Darkling Beetles.  On Wednesday, we were very fortunate to actually see several...
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The bridges look fantastic!! All third graders did a terrific job of putting their bridges together. All bridges will be on display in the short hallway leading out to the playground. We are on our way to Downtown Portland tomorrow! We will take public transportation both in and out of the city. A few...
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With the end of May also comes the end of Level 2 Band. This was a good year for band at Lewis with a total of 46 4th & 5th graders participating. Level 2 players should turn in their instruments this week. They can keep their books and sheet music. In classroom music this...
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We hope everyone had a nice 3 day weekend; you can definitely feel summer is coming soon. The kids are already starting a countdown! Last week students started working on an Oregon Trail webquest. They were each assigned a specific role and task to complete. They will work on this project during technology and...
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On Your Mark! Get Set! Start Reading! Gameboards are coming home today!! All Lewis students are enrolled and may start recording their reading time on June 1st. Game rules and parent information are included in the materials. Look for suggested activities and free events to keep your student reading over the summer. The game...
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I had a reflective Memorial Day Weekend as I imagine many of you did. It was great to return on Tuesday to a glorious type summer day and watch with the students the skillfully performed Tears of Joy Puppet Theater. Tomorrow the third grade bridges are due. This is always an exciting event, culminating...
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I hope you all had a wonderful three day holiday. On Tuesday, our class attended an assembly, Little One Inch, put on by the Tears of Joy Puppet Theatre. It was performed using Japanese bunraku puppetry; each puppet is moved by two puppeteers, who are dressed all in black. This is the last week...
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The Lewis Outdoor Center was the scene of the amazing ladybug release party last week and we had a great time helping them to “fly away home” and get on with their cycle of life! We are continuing to learn about beetles of all kinds this week and any beetles you might bring in...
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Music and Technology Notes from Mr. Jamesbarry What a treat we had last week. On Friday the Sellwood Marimba band came to Lewis for a spectacular show. The Boomin’ Beat opened and did a wonderful job. I was very happy to see that nearly half of the Sellwood Marimba band was made up of...
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Last week we had a great time conducting fun science experiments! We are learning about the water cycle and the different effects erosion has on land and sediment. We set up an experiment to see how a slow stream affects the land versus a fast river. We are anxious to see the results this...
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Don’t miss the big field trip of the year! I will need six lucky chaperones to accompany us on our annual downtown Portland walking tour. We will leave at 10:00 a.m. and return at 2:45 p.m. on Friday, June 8th. This will be quite an adventure, using both the public bus and MAX systems....
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It is hard to believe how quickly this year is flying by.  In a couple short weeks we will be honoring Lewis Elementary’s wonderful volunteers.  If you have helped in our classroom or school this year, you should have already received an invitation to the Volunteer Breakfast on June 8th.  Please reply as soon...
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*By the time you are reading these classroom notes, our class should be back from an exciting field trip to Tryon Creek State Park. Thank you very much to our parent volunteers who helped with the trip: Nihad’s mom, Sierra’s mom, Sky’s dad, and Easton’s grandma! *We are working hard to finish the end-of-the-year...
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This week’s writing homework (a newspaper article about an heroine of the Revolutionary War) is a continuing assignment from last week and is the last formal homework this year; please have your child keep reading nightly at home and filling out their reading calendar for the month of May!  Mrs. Keefer and I need...
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Last Friday, we saw a marvelous marimba concert by the Sellwood Marimba Band with an opening show by Lewis School’s Boomin’ Beats. The best way to describe the concert is to quote a student that said, “they sound like professional bands.” It was inspiring to see and hear young musicians with talent and enthusiasm....
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We had a wonderful walk to the Learning Gardens Laboratory last week! Thank you to all the adults that accompanied us. With the teachers there,we prepared garden beds and planted sunflower plants in them, listened to Native American folklore, toured the gardens and learned about all the helpful insects we saw. To top it...
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We all had a wonderful learning experience on our field trip to the Learning Garden Laboratory last Friday. The weather was perfect and the children had a great time planting corn and sunflowers, hearing the legend of The Three Sisters and learning about where and why to plant different types of vegetables in specific...
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We are enjoying the beautiful weather, and we are getting outside more these days. I am thinking of scheduling our downtown walking tour on Friday, June 8th. I wish that I could somehow sign-up to keep this amazing weather too, but we will go whether it is nice or not. Let me know as...
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