Welcome Winter! We have had an interesting week with the snow and cold! I appreciate all the effort it takes to get your children to school, rested and dressed appropriately, (although it has been a little “iffy” walking/driving to and fro I am sure!). In class this week we have created some holiday gifts,...
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This week’s homework is as follows: Reading: Read 20 minutes and write a short summary of what you’ve read. Math: 2 sheets based on our current unit on area. Spelling: Practice your spelling words for Friday’s test.
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Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow! Based on this week’s weather pattern, it looks like we are all in for a few extra days of vacation. On Tuesday, we spent lots of time with our buddies making edible gingerbread creatures and paper gingerbread people. In math, we worked with geo-boards to...
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On Monday, December 8th, we went to the Cooley Gallery to see some of the abstract paintings and discuss what students saw in them, how they felt about them, and how they were made.   We wrapped up our Home Living Unit on Wednesday with Nurse Martha doing a tooth-brushing demonstration. Students chewed up red...
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HOMEWORK Week 15 Name: ____________________ Dec. 16-19 Tuesday: 1. Reading: Read for 20 minutes. Summarize for, or discuss with, parent. Book I Read:_____________________________________________ Read from page ____ to ____ 2. Math: Do worksheet assigned. Study addition and subtraction facts. 3. Spelling: Study this week’s words. 4. Oregon Cities Project: If you are up to...
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We had a good time Tuesday decorating gingerbread men with our buddies in Ms. Swan’s room. The cookies looked adorable and, of course, were enjoyed by all. They were the hit of the day! In writing we have been working on an imaginary piece. Students have sketched their story; used a four-square for organization;...
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We are busy in our week before winter break.  The students have a final copy of their imaginative tall tale due Friday.  They received their geometry test results on Monday and had to correct the problems they missed for homework.  The students were each given a book and an assignment to read and complete...
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What a wild week of weather.  As much trouble as the bad weather can be, it always makes me feel good for the children.  There’s nothing more magical than children and snow.  We have lots of Gingerbread plans this week.  If the weather doesn’t permit us to do them all, we’ll finish up in...
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***Our class is really enjoying our gardening time with Ms. Julia on Wednesdays. Starting on January 14th, we will be on an every other week schedule. Last week, the class worked on a variety of projects including prepping a bed for native plantings and composting. They even got to eat an evergreen huckleberry! ***Our...
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 We have a very busy week of kindergarten planned this week. Our field trip to the Wizard of Oz will be a very fun day. At this point, I am assuming we will have school and if not we will reschedule our field trip.   We are continuing to read many versions of the Gingerbread Boy....
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It is an icy, snowy, wintery week and the days we will be in school this week are filled with wonderful, academic projects. We made cookie gingerbread creatures and decorated paper gingerbread men with our buddies; children painted their clay light holders, which will be fired in the kiln; children were read more versions...
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Portland turned into a winter wonderland last Sunday. I hope that the school closures didn’t cause your family any problems. I know the children loved the extra day to play in the snow. We have started our third grade ‘Reader’s Theatre” with Ms. Tori Padellford directing. She takes the students in two separate groups...
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On Monday, we attended a fun assembly on water conservation; we hope your child shared something they learned! Ms. Breen is working with our class on health materials titled, “Steps to Respect.” This week we continued to work on how we can be kind to others; look for random acts of kindess around your...
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  As we approach winter we are learning all about animals and how they survive the winter. Our lead story this week is A Bed for Winter. The vocabulary words for this week are scurry, and hibernate.  In math we are continuing patterning and also beginning to focus on problem solving. We are learning how...
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What a busy week we have had! On Tuesday we walked to Reed College, where we got to view the artwork of David Reed. The kids were so impressive as they discussed movement, color, lines, and abstract art. We had the added bonus of viewing a bald eagle that was perched among the trees...
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This week we are in the midst of many projects. In math, children are working on flips, turns and slides. This week children worked on creating tessellations with four unit shapes. In social studies, we have been discussing various holidays that are being celebrating this time of year. We have begun creating crafts relating...
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Reading Tips for Parents of Kindergartners In the following weeks, I’m going to give some suggestions to families about reading with your children. I will start with kindergarteners and work up through the grades. Play with letters, words, and sounds! Having fun with language helps your child learn to crack the code of reading....
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We started the week with a field trip to Reed College to release our salmon fry into Johnson Creek. Back in October our Reed students gave us about 100 salmon eggs. The class has thoroughly enjoyed watching them hatch, mature into alevin, and develop into fry. The fry now are capable of forraging for...
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This week in music classes we are learning a children’s clapping game from Japan “O Mochi-o”. All grades except for Kindergarten are trying the hand so to speak at this challenging partner game. Ask your child to play a quick game. You’ll be have a great time. This week most grades will also be...
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We said good-bye to our wonderful Reed College teachers last week. They taught some amazing science lessons about the workings of the brain. The students practiced doing the scientific process during every lesson. By the final lessons, the students really understood how to make a hypothesis, make tests, collect the data, and draw conclusions....
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HOMEWORK Week 14 Name: ____________________ Dec. 8-12 Monday: 1. Reading: Read for 20 minutes. Summarize for, or discuss with, parent. Record what you read below. Book I Read:_____________________________________________ Read from page ____ to _____ 2. Math: Do worksheet assigned. Study multiplication facts. 3. Library tomorrow. Bring back books you want to return. 4 Oregon...
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We did a lot of exciting things last week. We had our first gardening class with Julia, we made “foamy” ornaments, and rediscovered the wooden blocks in our classroom. We also did some activities related to Japan, including stories, a “virtual tour” of Japan on Google Earth and Google maps.  The students also used Skype to...
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