Interestingly, we don’t have a field trip this week! For our final field trip to Bonneville Dam, fourth grade got an incredible deal on a bus that just happened to be the Winterhawks hockey team’s bus. When reflecting on the field trip, we got many, “The electricity part and the salmon information was really interesting… But the bus was awesome!” Hmmm… We’ll take our successes where we can get them. It was nice going out in style. This week we begin our fable unit of study. Students will begin their own fable written with a partner and ultimately create a shadow puppet theatrical performance the last full week of school. This week in math we continue analyzing our final week of Walk and Bike data and continuing talking probability- “What are the chances you would roll a 2 with a dice? What about an even number?” The way we discuss probability is 1 out of 6, or 1/6. In reading, we use the reading strategy of wondering and questioning this week. We will continue with “Journey West,” and also read an article from the Oregonian about how Native American school mascots are now banned in Oregon. We will create a pro and con of the situation based on why it has become a controversy for some community members throughout Oregon. The primary challenge has been tradition vs. racism. Heavy issues. I want the kids to know that Native American culture is not something to read only about in history books. This culture is continuing to fight for what they believe is right along with other Oregon citizens. Yet, in a time where school budgets are maxed, can schools afford to make the changes to uniforms and other facilities that carry their logo? This week, we also write to our first grade buddies about what we have been learning about the water cycle. I will also put up a challenge for anyone interested in creating a Water Cycle song or poem. They will have many rhymable words, since there are so many -tion words (evaporation, precipitation, condensation, transpiration, infiltration). Homework: spelling packets and math. Khan Academy for students wanting a boost. Also, I want students to take home and memorize the basic parts of the human skeleton. Take five minutes per night. We will be talking skeletons and bones and what they do/how they function as we finish the year. Please quiz your child on Thursday night! Yes, we will be busy until the final buzzer!