Notes from Ms. Swan’s 2nd grade class, Room 10
*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 also followed up a wonderful Tears of Joy Puppet Theater performance by drawing our favorite character and writing letters to the puppeteers. The last few weeks of school, we’ll be learning all about weather, focusing on the water cycle, wind, temperature and air pressure.
*We hope everyone enjoys this week’s sunshine and is able to stay cool!
Classroom Notes from Room 21
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 for Independence” this week and take a test. We still need a parent to coordinate the fifth grade party; fifth grade t-shirt orders are due now. Students need to keep reading for homework!
News from Room 23-Mrs. Keefer & Ms. Chapman
We continued to learn about the American Revolution. We are discussing the many battles this week. Friday was Spy Day here in class. We had the best time. Every group had to figure out many different kinds of codes as they traveled all over they school. In the end, they found their bounty! I know it is sad but…..fifth grade is coming to an end. Many letters are coming home this week such as the T-shirt letter, the 5th grade party, and the yearbook letter! There are many students who did not order a yearbook….there are a few extra. This week we are trying to get all students’ interviews taped. A big thank you to Pat Reilley for helping us with the videotaping! This week for homework, we have the May reading logs, and the math packet. We have two events coming up. One is our movie night (June 6)and the other is our play(June 11). Put them on your calendars!
Mrs. Parks Class — 5/30/07
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 beetles emerge and begin their last stage of life. Here’s an example of what happened:
The students (and myself) gathered around after Martha announced her beetle was ready to emerge. With “unending patienceâ€, most students looked on for at least 60 seconds. Martha, however, being the caretaker of this particular worm, would not be distracted. After about 30 minutes, she told Thomas as he walked by, “My mealworm is a beetle now!â€Â Thomas took a look and replied, “Good job, Martha!â€, while patting her on the shoulder.
Reluctantly now, students are placing “THEIR†beetles with others from the classroom. (A crash course in parenthood that makes me smile every time.)
News From Ms. Davis’ Class
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 of the sites we are going to see are: Pioneer Courthouse Square, Portlandia, the smallest park in the world, many of Portland’s bridges, and China Town. Please make sure that your child dresses appropriately- comfortable clothes and shoes. The trip should be an adventure for all. During reading/writing time we are immersed in shadow puppetry. All children are working in groups to create their own shadow puppetry show to perform for the class. Thanks to so many of you for signing up to bring things to our buddy ice cream party. Next Thursday we will have a Museum Night from 6-7 in our classroom to display all of the work the children have done in social studies this year. You’ll receive an official invitation from your child, but please make sure to mark in on your calendar.
Music and Technology Notes from Mr. Jamesbarry
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 week we are getting ready a few numbers for the end of year assembly. And in Tech Lab, 4th and 5th graders are finishing their documentary projects.
What Up in Room 16? – Mrs. Bennett & Ms. Armstrong
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 social studies.
In math we have finished our units and our state testing. We are going to spend these last 3 weeks concentrating once again on basic facts and calculations, in which many students are still quite weak. We will divide into groups in the classroom and work to meet each level of need, including those students who know their basic facts well.
Multnomah Co. Library Summer Reading 2007
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 ends and all incentives must be claimed at a Multnomah County Library location by August 31st.
Library services are drawing to a close. Please start returning all Lewis library books. Look for those elusive books under beds, in drawers or closets, on the bookshelf, behind the hamper…..your diligence in getting books returned promptly will be greatly appreciated.
Classsroom Notes from Mrs. Ross, Third Grade, Room 17
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 the study of our Portland bridges. The students need to make sure that they have a bridge description, which has been edited for spelling. Also, the following information needs to be included: What is the type and does it move?
News From Room 4 Kindergarten–Miss Cindy
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 of learning about bugs; however, we should be getting butterflies to observe as they grow in stages before the end of the year. In literacy, the words look, up and no have been added to the word rings; these are the last high frequency words that kindergartners are required to read. Journal writing continues and many children are using more than one page to write stories and information. On Friday, we will meet with our buddies to finish up art projects started last week. Thank you all so much for signing up to help at our end of the year celebration and donating ice cream sundae goodies!
Classroom Notes from Mrs.Logue’s Kindergarten
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 to visit would be welcome! Bees and their work will also be explored but please leave them at home in their hives. We are low on Imagination Station supplies,(basically fun reusables!), snack items,(goldfish, graham crackers and/or pretzle type things), and glue sticks:) Thanks for any donations you are able to make and thanks especially to those who have already donated. Last week we wrote, read and talked about one of our favorite topics, feelings. It is easy for the 5 and 6 year old to feel them but not as easy to describe them or recognize them in other people! They did a good job though and several realizations were made as we discussed literature and had class meetings about feelings and empathy. We will continue learning about and planting plants, (our magic beans are beginning to sprout!), and reading Tops and Bottoms, The Enormous Turnip and The Carrot Seed. We will complete our year long books, “Eating Through The Months With the Very Hungry Caterpillar”, and we will create a book to leave for next years Kindergartners, “How to Be a Kindergartner” and for everyone else, please keep a look out for the soon to be published and posted outside our classroom, “Secrets to a Happy Life” by Room One Kindergartners…. all you will ever need to know:) Next week I will let you know about the end of year/ summer birthday celebration planned for the last week of school and our watermellon walk with our Third Grade Buddy classroom coming soon!
Notes from Mr. Woods
This week all classes will participate in fitness activities. Grades 3-5 will have 2 minute drills on Wednesday and a fitness run on Friday. Grades K-2 will do a “mini” fitness run on Wednesday and
have a fitness assessment on Friday.
As always, wearing the proper attire will increase each students success in pe this week.
Music and Technology Notes from Mr. Jamesbarry
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 former Lewis students.
In case you missed the show, Sellwood presented me three CD’s of their music. It is some amazing stuff, include their Jazz and Advanced Band. We’ll try to make the tacks available in school as an internet stream. If you want one of these CD’s contact Sellwood. All proceeds help to fund their program.
On Friday this week I’ll be holding an end of the year breakfast for all 3rd Grade Recorder Club Players. Students should return their recorders at this breakfast. Students need not bring anything else,- music, etc. I’ll bring the food.
What’s Up in Rm 16?
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 week! We also really enjoyed our assembly last week. We heard Boomin Beats play a few songs (outstanding job), as well as the Marimba band from Sellwood Middle School.
This week we put on a small play of the Lewis and Clark journey in our class. Each student has an important part. We will also start learning about The Oregon Trail.
News from Room 23-Mrs. Keefer & Ms. Chapman
It’s hard to believe we are coming to the end of May! We have been very busy learning about the American Revolution. We will be learning about the different battles this week. We will also begin filming our History Speaks projects this week. The class turned in some wonderful scripts and I can’t wait to see them in action! We were not able to have Spy Day last week, so we will be pushing it to this Friday. We will still have fun with secret codes and will learn about some of the spies of the American Revolution. In math students are continuing on in the unit Building on Numbers You Know. Students have enjoyed making multiple towers as high as themselves! This week for homework, we have the May reading logs, math, and students should still be working to memorize their speeches. There will be no more spelling homework for the rest of the year. Ms. Chapman
Classroom Notes from Mrs. Ross, Third Grade, Room 17
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. We will start the Portland urban tour at 4th and Pine. From there we will view the surroundings of the U.S. Bank Tower building, entering to observe the interior architecture and the public art. We will continue walking on our planned itinerary in the direction of Pioneer Courthouse Square. For lunch we will stop in the South Park Blocks for a picnic. If the weather becomes disagreeabe, we will have lunch, instead, at the foodcourt of Pioneer Place. Our final destination will be the beautifully restored downtown library. Let me know as soon as possible if you will be able to accompany the students on this special downtown trip. I will then send home some background information on all of the stops that we will make.
I need all of the students’ bridges to stay home untill Thursday May 31st because I have no room to store them. Also, the longer the bridges are in the classroom the greater the chance of damage due to touching hands.
Thank you for your help in this matter.
Mrs. Parks Class — 5/23/07
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 as possible so we can plan to pamper and honor you. Please also remember, the paper trail between home and school is shaky at best. If you did not receive your invitation and should have, let me know. Chances are great it is in someone’s backpack or recycling and they have no idea you are waiting for it! Lewis would not be the fantastic school it is with you.
This week, we began a new science unit, called Balls and Ramps. To start with, we will describe many different kinds of balls. Then, the students will investigate which balls bounce and/or roll best. We will continue to study insects also through the end of the school year.
Ms. Swan’s 2nd grade class, Room 10
*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 assessments before report cards, and have been reviewing important math and spelling concepts.
*We’ve also learned the special structure of a diamante poem, and wrote two of our own–one for our moms on Mothers’ Day, and a second for our classroom wall.
*For the last four weeks of the school year, we will be learning all about weather. We’ll learn about rain clouds, the water cycle, temperature, thermometers, and more.
RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE UPDATE:
Our last day to collect pull tabs will be Thursday, May 31st. Thanks to everyone for their efforts. Because of you, we’ve done a lot to help family members of critically ill children stay with their loved ones.
Classroom Notes from Room 21
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 fifth grader parents who are willing to pull together a end-of-the-year party for the fifth graders. Please send a note or give me a call if you are willing to help plan and buy supplies for the party. The Revolutionary War is heating up with the Battle of Bunker Hill this week. We continue to strive for independence! Hope you get to try a little of the herbal salve our students made with our gardening teacher, Angela!
News From Ms. Davis’ Class
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. Next Thursday, will be going on a walking field trip to the west side of city to view many of the landmarks we have studied this year in class. If you would like to join us on the tour, please let me know. The final homework assignment of the year, the Bridge Project, went home last week. Children are to build a model bridge following the guidelines on the paper sent home. All bridges are due on Wednesday, May 30. We will be meeting with our buddy class this Thursday morning to do an activity. Thanks to all of the parents that give support in the classroom!
Classroom Notes from Mrs.Logue’s Kindergarten
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 off, each child was given a sturdy tomato plant to grow and nurture at home! This week in the classroom, literacy, science and math studies will continue to revolve around beneficial plants and insects. Our special focus will be on The Little Red Hen, Jack and the Beanstalk, growing legumes and getting up close and personal with the sweetie of the beetle family…ladybugs! We will release them into our Lewis Learning Gardens and hopefully these little red friends will stay and keep our Room One lettuce garden aphid free! I am continuing to assess the children this week for end of year reports and I have seem some great growth and most importantly to me is that each student sees themselves as successful in all academic areas in my classroom! Keep a look out for some of the things I would like your child to practice in the next few weeks for final assessments before kindergarten graduation! I am really going to miss them this summer, your children are awesome!
