Lewis Elementary has a special relationship with Reed College. For the past few years biology students from Reed College have come to share their expertise with our students. This year five students have come to our classroom to teach a science unit about the brain and the science process. In...
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Our third graders have a student teacher, Mr. Joseph Chadborn, who comes to room 17 every Monday. He comes to us from Concordia University. He is expected to gain practical knowledge in the classroom under my guidance. The university requires him to teach one lesson a month, ending with fulltime classroom...
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Thank you to all the parents who donated books to our third grade class from the Scholastic Book Fair. The children were so excited to be able to read a variety of new books. The P.T.A., who ran the book fair, also sent the class some books that I selected. I...
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This is the first week for a complete homework schedule. This means that on Monday a spelling list went home. (The spelling test will be on Friday.) Tuesday and Thursday are math homework days. Finally, the Wednesday homework is either a research homework due the following Tuesday, or it is a...
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Thank you for coming to our “Open House”. It was such a pleasure to meet with all of you. If I didn’t get to answer one of your questions or you remembered later another question, I am always available at 3:15 p.m., except for Mondays when we have faculty meetings. ...
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I would like to welcome our new and returning Lewis’ families to another wonderful year of learning. The new third grade students have been working very hard learning the many expectations of third grade. At this time they have taken a math test to assess what second grade skills and...
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We have come to the end of another amazing school year. We are so proud of the social and academic growth of our students. Thank you for your reinforcement to get the homework in to me during the school year, of course the piece de resistance was the Portland Bridges. On...
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It is time to go on our third grade “Urban Tour” this Thursday, May 29th. We are boarding the bus at 9:20a.m. The students should wear comfortable walking shoes, and they should also bring a light jacket for the early morning cold and the eternal possibility of rain. The tour starts...
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It is said that a speaker is only as good as their written speech. I can attest to that as I record the many fine speeches of our third graders this week. The speeches originate from their informational papers, which are based on their chosen Portland bridge. During their speeches,...
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The weekly notes this week brings sad news for students and parents. This is the last week for “Spelling” and “Math” homework. I can hear the cheers out there. Okay – it’s good news!!! We are continuing our informational writing on bridges which will be turned into our bridge speeches by next...
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Our third grade class has been doing social studies since the beginning of April and learning about the History of Portland. We will continue to work our way from the 1800’s to the present. The students have done some amazing painted murals of Early Portland and I encourage parents...
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Along with this weekly teacher notes, the students will bring home the criteria for their third grade bridges. Please share the contents of the bridge building sheet because the students’ social studies, writing, and speech scores will depend that the bridges are completed on schedule. Any parents who feel that their...
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Thank you Sharon Blajev for chaperoning our class on our trip to see the musical – Ghosts of Treasure Island. The journey to and from the Keller Auditorium was an adventure, going by bus and then MAX. With Mrs. Blajev’s help, the students learned the value and ease of getting around...
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This Friday we will depart for our fieldtrip to the Keller Auditorium to see the musical of Treasure Island. Please send a sack lunch because we will be out of the building during the school lunch period. We will leave Lewis at 10:15 a.m. and return at 2:30 p.m. ...
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I was out of the classroom with the flu, but the classroom was well taken care of by Mrs. Sharp, our student teacher from Portland State. Since Friday is a professional development day, there is no new list of weekly spelling words. This gives your child the opportunity...
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A big “Bravo” to all of the students who performed in the Lewis’ production – Blather, Blarney, and Balderdash. The fourth and fifth graders had such energy, commitment, and focus, which heartily entertained Lewis families and friends. A special thank you to Suzanne Miller who organized, purchased or made all of...
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Thank you for sending rocks for our kindergarten/third grade buddy activity. It was such a fun activity for all of them. It warms my heart to watch how kind and helpful our third graders are with their buddies. On Monday, our class wrote odes to Rocks. They caught on quickly, and...
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Don’t forget to support our Lewis Auction this Thursday from 6-9 p.m. at the Laurelhurst Club. The P.T.A. uses the money from these fund raisers to support our classrooms and to guarantee that all of our students may participate in our many fieldtrips. This will be a fun evening full of...
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Last Friday, the third graders in our room wrote letters to my neice, Fiona, who is in the hospital for third degree burns. Their letters brought her so much joy during a very painful period in her life. I don’t want this type of tragedy to happen to anyone...
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Last Wednesday, Gregory MacNaughton gave the third graders a preview of our fieldtrip to the African American art exhibit at Reed College. He showed the students slides, and he held a lively discussion about the possible social and cultural meaning of the art pieces. Yesterday, we walked over to the Cooley...
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Last Thursday our class was a splendid example of a learning, supportive family. If you could of seen our third graders taking care of their kindergarten buddies as they collabratively performed short alphabet poems with actions, you would of been so proud. The third graders’ patience was certainly commendable. Later in...
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On Monday our class worked in our garden with Julia Hammond, Mrs. Sparks, and myself. The weather was glorious, and the students really enjoyed learning in our outside classroom. I noticed walking into my classroom that, as of yet, no one has signed-up as a volunteer for our school’s...
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