Dates to Remember:-Student Conferences (No School):
Thursday, October 28th and Friday, October 29th.
Sign up information is soon to come!
Veteran's Day (No School)
Thursday, November 11th
Thanksgiving Break (No School)
Wednesday, November 24th through Friday, November 26th
Important: Upcoming Trips and Volunteers Needed!
Wednesday, October 20th, 10:00-2:00: Gales' Creek Trip
(4-5 Parent Volunteers Needed)
(Near Timber Road)
-We're going to explore the water in Gale's Creek near Timber road! How does the this section of Gales Creek, which is in the forest, compare to the part of Gales Creek here in town? (We floated our small boats in Gales Creek in town.) What creatures live there? Where does the water come from? Where is it going?
Would you like to join us? I will need 4-5 parent volunteers to help supervise small groups of students and guide them in 'question making'.
Tuesday, October 26th, 12:30-3:00: Baking Pumpkin Recipes at the UCC in Forest Grove
(2-3 Volunteers Needed)
-We're going to pick several of the pumpkins growing in the sunflower garden and make pumpkin bread and bake pumpkin seeds. Would you like to join us? I will need 2-3 parent volunteers to help guide small groups with following the pumpkin bread recipe.
Wednesday, November 3rd, 9:00-2:15, Tillamook Forest Center & Stream Exploration
(4-5 Volunteers Needed)
-We're visiting the Tillamook forest and will be able to borrow various water equipment in order to learn more about what lives in the river. We'll also have time to explore the education center and will focus on displays that teach about water ecosystems. Would you like to join us? I will need 4-5 parent volunteers to help supervise and guide small groups.
Goggles, Snorkels, and a Kiddie Pool
We are hoping to borrow enough goggles and snorkels for our students to practice using this week. If you have any extras, we would take great care of them, and wash them before and after using. Do you or anyone you know have a small kiddie pool that we could borrow this week? If we have enough goggles, we will begin an activity with them on Thursday of this week. Thank you!
Home Bags
Students and families have been doing a fantastic job of bringing the Home Bags to school every day. By now you have noticed that I am sending home black and white books. My main goals are to provide just right reading materials at home and create more opportunities for reading. Most of all, I want students to enjoy reading. If your child would like to keep the book for more than one day, that is fine. Ask your child to let me know and I will keep it in his or her bag. Some books are meant to be repeated many times. The beginner books should be read often. You can read them with your child or ask if he or she would like to try reading it independently. You can also ask your child about what he or she has read to check his or her level of comprehension. Overall, these books are a way to help ensure good reading habits at home. Please email me with any suggestions or additional thoughts.
Snack Schedule
The snack schedule can be found at the top right of the blog page. Snacks need to be store bought and not prepared at home. We have been enjoying the healthy snacks families have been sending. Thank you! Here is a snap shot of our snack schedule:
Colby -October 11-14
Ben -October 18-21
Siobhan -October 25-27
Emma -November 1-4
Alyssa D. -November 8-10
August -November 15-18
Connor -November 22-23
Alivia -November 29-December 2
Apollo -December 6-9
Luella -December 13-16
Lola -January 3-6
Last Week's Classroom News
Literacy: Reading and Writing
Students continue to show great independence with 'Read to Self' and 'Work on Writing' routines in the classroom. I have been able to meet with students in small groups as well as one on one. We have a very independent class!
We continue to look for examples of descriptive language in our reading and writing. Students have been sharing examples of adjectives that they find in the books they are reading. We started learning about nouns and categorized them in three categories: people, places, and things. We also began to talk about the conventions of writing and discussed when a noun should begin with a capital letter.
In writing we are working on the trait called 'Word Choice.' Students wrote a short true story about something from their lives. Their goal was to use adjectives throughout the writing. Many students were able to read their writing to the class. When we heard an adjective, we did a silent cheer! Students also began writing a scary story or picture book with captions. Our goal is to give the readers goosebumps! (Be careful when you read these stories. You may want to keep the lights on!)
We also had a very grouchy spider join our classroom. His name is Harry. He was found in a web in the branches in our room and he was holding a book called, 'The Witches' by Roald Dahl. If anyone can teach us descriptive language and fantastic word choice, it's Roald Dahl! (We finished another of his books last week, called 'Esio Trot'. This story is about a man who loves a sweet woman, but the woman is in love with her tortoise. Ask your child to tell you more about this book!)
Out and About
We were able to make it to B Street Farm! Students spent time harvesting ripe vegetables like cherry tomatoes, zucchini, fennel, thyme, mint, borage flowers, peppers, and more. Students shaped the dough of their individual pizzas, decorated them with vegetables from the garden, and then Terry O'Day helped us bake them in the wood 'rocket oven'. While the pizzas baked students explored the garden. Many found berries, a snake, some were eating mint and handing it out to others, some tried edible flowers, and some just picked and ate cherry tomatoes. There was a chicken that joined us in the garden and she seemed to enjoy the added company! The pizzas turned out really well and students enjoyed their time at the farm!
We also were able to go out to the sunflower garden on Thursday. Students picked basil, kale, lemon balm, calendula petals, pumpkin flowers, nasturtium flowers, and red swiss chard. We blended it all up in a food processor to make our own version of 'garden pesto'. The Barn Swallow students were not sure of this curious mixture and many wanted just a little taste on their first cracker. Just about everyone tried it, loved it, and asked for a heaping spoonful on their second round! It you would like the recipe, ask your child! (I can help too!)
This Week's Classroom News
Literacy: Reading and Writing
Students are finishing their scary stories and will soon share them with the class. Students will also be setting their reading and writing goals this week. Each student will spend time reading with me and sharing their writing. We'll discuss their strengths in reading and writing, then brainstorm some possible goals together. Your child will share his or her reading and writing goals with you at his or her conference.
Out and About
We're going to B Street Farm this Tuesday during our Out and About time. We'll spend some time harvesting and eating vegetables as well as explore the food forest garden that students helped plan and plant last year. We will learn about the bridge that is being built next to the farm. It goes right over Gales Creek! We will also learn about a possible Pacific University student project where students will design a frog pond in the children's food forest. If the project begins, we would be welcome to help them build the pond.
