Classroom News: December 12th

Dear Barn Swallow Families,

For our citizenship project this term we completed writing our Peace Letters to new friends in Iraq. This program was introduced to us through our wonderful volunteer, EmmaRose. Children in Iraq wanted to find a way to communicate with children in the United States. Your child's letter to a new friend is being sent to a translator today!

We finished reading "Dirt: the Scoop on Soil," as we read to find information. The students did an experiment to separate layers of soil, and then they made predictions on how much of each of the five layers there would be. Ask your child to name the five layers of soil in order from heaviest to lightest! (Here is the answer: rocks/pebbles, sand, silt, clay, and humus.) We also read "Animals in Winter," and learned how different animals survive the winter through various means, including hibernation, migration, storing food, or hunting and gathering. We compared this to things humans do to survive in the winter. On Friday we made and ate grilled flat bread. Earlier this semester the students harvested wheat from the Sunflower Garden and threshed it in the classroom. We ground the wheat in my new grain grinder and watched in awe as we put our freshly ground wheat flour into the bowl as we mixed the dough. We didn't have enough flour for the whole recipe, so Bob's Red Mill helped us with the rest!

First graders worked on growing patterns, counting by tens and subtraction. The first graders made 10 legged crabs to help with counting by tens. Second graders worked on double-digit addition story problems. Students focused on showing their work using pictures, numbers and words. They also worked on telling time, to the quarter hour. Second grade students have their own self-made addition flash cards that are coming home today in Home Bags. Please have your child regularly practice these facts as much as needed. Thank you!

This Thursday we will be planning upcoming spring trips and I will let you know the dates as soon as they are confirmed!

Have a fantastic winter break Barn Swallow Families!

Sincerely,

Sherry

FLAT BREAD RECIPE:

• 3 Cups of flour
• 1 Cup of ice water
• 3 Tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 Teaspoons of salt
• 2 Teaspoons of baking powder
• 1 Pinch of baking soda

Combine all ingredients and form into a dough ball. Cut the dough ball apart into smaller balls. (You decide how big!) Form the balls into flat shapes of your choosing. Cook on a griddle or in a frying pan on medium heat. Flip them to cook both sides. Brush olive oil over the bread when it's finished and add a little sea salt. (Fresh herbs and roasted garlic would also be great!)

Classroom News: December 5th

Dear Barn Swallow Families,

Last week, students worked on adding interesting details to their stories and began working on illustrations for their published writing pieces. Students learned about four ferns; sword, deer, licorice, and maidenhair. They created ferns for our classroom forest mural using their painted paper. The ferns look realistic, tucked together in our forest scene on the wall! The forest mural serves as a way for us to collect ideas for enhancing the habitat of the school forest. Ask your child which ferns she or he worked on. We also investigated the frost in the Sunflower Garden one chilly morning by looking at it under magnifying jeweler's loupes. Ask your child what he or she saw! We ended the week with an All School Meeting on Friday. Ms. Vanessa and Ms. Karen Torry were the substitute teachers for me while I was away with Ms. Karen Thias at a Story Workshop class at the Opal charter school. Both substitutes reported that the class did a great job!

This Thursday the Barn Swallows will be making vegetable soup! We will be donating half of the soup to the severe weather shelter at the UCC. Students are interested in churning butter after reading about how Ma', Mary, and Laura do it in our read aloud, 'Little House in the Big Woods'. (Ask your child how Ma' dyed the white winter milk!) We are hoping to make bread and butter in class on Friday. Thank you to families who have donated vegetables, broth, and grains!

Sincerely,

Ms. Sherry

Classroom News: November 28th

Dear Barn Swallow Families,

Writing:

Last week we continued to learn about worms and wrote worm fact pages for a classroom worm book. Students continued to work on writing and publishing their second narrative piece. Students chose an event from their own lives and described the beginning, middle, and end. They are working on using descriptive words and focused on placing capital letters and punctuation in the correct place.

Garden & Forest Project:

We began learning about the parts of soil and are in the midst of learning AMAZING facts! Ask your child to tell you about the colors of sand grains! During our Out and About we went to the Backyard garden and prepared the raised beds with the Violet Green Swallows. We picked and sampled many different kinds of greens. Then students planted garlic cloves that were harvested from the garden in the summer and saved. We ended with mulching the beds with rotting leaves.

Math:

First grade math students worked with odd and even numbers and patterns in math. They also began working on pattern block puzzles and patterns. Second grade math students worked on addition facts that made the sums of 10, 9, 8, and 7. They played the 'Make the Sums' game with these addition problems, made flash cards, and worked on memorizing the facts with partners and in small groups.

Home Bags:

Students have been doing a great job with remembering their Home Bags! In the rare case that your child forgets his or her bag on Monday, he or she will be able to get books the NEXT Monday and can reread the old books for that week, or find more at the library. Spelling and handwriting work will still be sent home. Thank you families!

Cooking:

Next week, on December 8th, we will be cooking garlic bread, using garlic and a little wheat from the school garden, and we will be making a healthy vegetable soup! If you would like to donate a food item, this is what we will need: (Organic, if possible) Vegetable stock, potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips, rutabegas, kale, fresh herbs (thyme, sage, rosemary, oregano, chives, basil...), celery, turnips, quinoa, and lentils. Please email me with the ingredient(s) you and your child would like to donate to the class and bring them to school by Tuesday, December 6th. Thank you families!

Sincerely,

Sherry

Classroom News: November 14th

Dear Barn Swallow Families,

Pika and Teddy:

Our classroom birds are here! Please ask your child to tell you all about Pika, our Cockatiel, and Teddy, our parakeet. They had a great first day! Teddy preened Pika and did some acrobatics, Pika climbed the branch and sat in the book baskets in the library, Francis fed them both fresh peas, and Jacob offered them a carrot.

What We Did Last Week:

Last week we learned about reading books to find information and enjoyed a few non fiction worm books. We have learned MANY new facts about worms and have a large list for you to see on our door! For our Out and About, we went to the Backyard garden. First we marked the existing (and newly transplanted) plants in our future forest site. Then we moved many loads of leaves to the forest floor, in hopes of feeding the worms, protecting the soil, and bringing in more nutrients for the forest plants. The students felt like we were gathering food for a huge worm party! We ended our Out and About with worm exploration and observation. Every student found at least one worm! Last week we also worked on painting paper in preparation for our painted paper forest mural, which will be in our classroom. The forest mural is a way for us to keep track of all of the forest plants and animals we're learning about, as well as help us plan for how we want to enhance the school's 'forest' in the garden.

Math Last Week:

First graders worked on addition facts using buttons and bug story problems. They looked for patterns among addition facts. Second graders continued to work on fluency with addition facts that make the sum of 9 and 10. They made flash cards with these facts, practiced with partners, and continued to play the 'Make the Sum' game in small groups.

Home Bags:
Thank you families for helping your child remember to bring his or her Home Bag these last two weeks. Please help your child to make sure that all homework is labeled with the child's name. We have volunteers on Monday morning that are helping us to prepare the homework each week, and they will not have time to check your child's homework to make sure that it has a name. Please make sure that your child cuts out the spelling letters each week and manipulates them to make words. This step is very important in the process. Please do not put the letters back into the bags (please recycle the letters at home). Homework calendars will be coming home soon. This tool will help you and your child keep track of the work that is being completed at home, as well as allow me to learn more about your child's homework routine. You can look at the calendar with your child and plot out when your child will do each homework activity. It will also provide a space for your child to record the number of minutes spent on each subject. Please keep the calendar in the Home Bag. Thank you families!

Volunteer Opportunity:
On Thursday, December 8th we will be cooking at the UCC. We will leave the school at 1:00 and return by 3:00. I would love to have 2-3 parent volunteers to join us! If you are able to join us, please send me an email at S.Reuter@fgcschool.org. (Please also send me an email to confirm if you have already shared an interest in joining us!)

Thank you families!

Sincerely,

Sherry

Classroom News: November 7th

Dear Barn Swallow Families,

Last Week:

We finished publishing our first narrative writing of the year, and celebrated with a publishing party last Wednesday! The students shared their stories with the Violet Green Swallow classroom. On Tuesday we made leaf rubbings of the leaves we collected on our leaf walk. On Wednesday afternoon the students learned about gathering data using tally marks and practiced taking data on the colors of leaves we have in the classroom. On Thursday we headed out to the Tillamook Forest and it was a fantastic trip! The students gathered information about mushrooms, nurse logs, plants, and animals of the forest. We had a wonderful group of parent volunteers that really helped to make the trip a success. Thank you to Ramona, David, Dick, Vanessa, Beth, Brenda, Becky, and Craig! On Friday morning we had an All-School Meeting. One of the topics was learning more about FGCS students' rights and responsibilities. During the afternoon we began to write letters to children in Iraq, as part of a program that promotes peace through communication. We ended the week with a work party in the garden. Thank you to all the families that came out to help! Your effort, time and commitment were appreciated. You really helped us to prepare the garden as an amazing learning environment for your children and I can't wait to get the kids in the soil!

Math:

In math, first graders learned coin values and names of pennies and nickels. They created graphs and explored probability. They will bring home a game in their homework bags that will help them to review this learning. Second graders played a new game called 'Make the Sum'. They worked on addition facts that make the sum of 9 and 10. This game is coming home in Home Bags today! Please take some time to regularly play this game with your child throughout the next weeks.

Volunteer Opportunities:

On Thursday, December 8th, we will be cooking at the UCC. We will need 2 or 3 more parents to join us and would love to have you! I am also looking for parent volunteers who would like to regularly come on our Thursday afternoon Out and Abouts from 1:00-3:00. Most of this time will be spent in the school gardens. Please let me know if you are interested in this commitment!

Thank you families!

Sincerely,

Sherry

Classroom News: October 30th

Dear Barn Swallow Families,

Tillamook Forest Trip:

We will have enough volunteers for our trip to the Tillamook Forest this Thursday! Thank you family volunteers! The bus will be leaving at 9:00 and returning to school at 2:15. (We will park at the Tillamook Forest Center.) We will be learning about the layers of the forest, nurse logs, fungi, and the living plants and creatures of the forest. The majority of the day we will be exploring outside. Please help your child to dress in plenty of warm layers, long pants, and shoes that are comfortable for hiking. Warm coats will be required for this trip!

Costume and Candy Reminder:

FGCS sent out an email to families about refraining from wearing costumes and sending candy in lunches to school. If you have questions, please email me. Thank you families!

Upcoming Out and Abouts:

Students will be spending more time getting to know the Backyard garden during most of our Out and Abouts in November and December. We hope to be planting garlic from seed saved this summer as well as fava beans to enrich the soil with nitrogen in the newly dug garden beds. On Thursday, December 8th, from 1:00-3:00, students will be cooking at the UCC in Forest Grove. We may make garlic bread using the garlic and some of the wheat from the school gardens. We may also make a fava bean hummus. Students are also interested in using the grain called amaranth in order to make an amazing (and healthy) dessert. We will see! Students will be cooking in small groups and we will need 3 or 4 parent volunteers. Please email me if you are interested in joining us. Thank you!

What We Did Last Week:

Last week students worked on editing and publishing their stories about our trip to the Kittle's Farm. Students know how to use carrots in their writing in order to add more details. They have been learning about capital letters at the beginning of sentences and punctuation at the end. We have discussed adjectives and even touched on similes and metaphors.

We studied why leaves change color and then went on almost an hour long leaf walk. Students' goals were to gather leaves from different types of trees, to find a variety of colors, and to find some leaves that were still green for an experiment. On the walk we saw mushrooms popping up all over. We were amazed to see large, bright red mushrooms with white polka dots scattered between the road and sidewalk by Wells Fargo Bank on A Street. (It is worth the walk over, if you'd like to see them! We were careful not to disturb them.) We ended our short week with a leaf experiment. We used rubbing alcohol and coffee filters to draw out the chlorophyll and pigment from the leaves. There are now 'ribbons' of green, orange, and yellow pigment trailing up the coffee filter!

Math:

In math, the 1st graders classified, sorted and graphed a variety of manipulatives. The 2nd graders practiced single-digit addition and subtraction. They reviewed telling time by the hour and identifying coins. Soon they will be working on fluency with single digit addition.

Home Bags:

This Monday is the first day for Home Bags! With this being the first week of work-at-home for level 1 students, it's important to take some time to discuss with your child the new routine that works for your family. It may be helpful to make a chart with days of the week and pictures showing what will be happening each day and when for your child to refer to. Thank you for making this important effort in supporting your student at home! Please let me know if you have any questions.

Garden Work Party:

I hope you are able to join us on Friday for the garden work party. In order for our level 1 students to have a garden to work in regularly, starting as early as November, we will need many adults (and kids!) with shovels this Friday. Our goal is for small groups of 4 or 5 students to each have a 4' by 8' garden bed to learn and work in for the rest of the school year. We want our students to have experiences growing, caring for, and tasting fresh vegetables and fruits. The garden work party will be from 1:30-5:00 in the Backyard and you are welcome to join us for all or part of that time. Once the beds are dug, we will welcome leaves from your yard to serve as mulch and for learning about decomposition.

It was great to see you all at conferences!

Sincerely,

Sherry

Classroom News: October 24th

Dear Barn Swallow Families,

As you already know, school photos will be taken tomorrow! Please send your completed order form with your child, even if you will not be ordering photographs. Thank you!

Your child brought home his or her Personal Learning Plan today. Please take some time to read it before our conference. At the conference your child will share his or her goals with us and we will discuss ways we can support the goals. Next we will discuss work at home, which begins next week. After your child has had the chance to ask questions, he or she will go to the foyer for a quiet activity. Last, we will discuss your child's next steps for reading, writing, and math. This is also a time to ask questions and devise a plan so that together we can support your child academically at school and at home.

Our next big trip is to the Tillamook Forest (meeting at the Forest Center) on Thursday, November 3rd. We will be leaving at 9:00 and will return to school by 2:15. We do not currently have other trips scheduled, but are working on some for the spring. If you are able to join us for the Tillamook trip, we would love to have you! We will need 3-6+ volunteers in order to go on the trip. Thank you families!

On Friday, November 4th, from 1:30-5:00, we will have a work party so that we can get the garden beds ready for students. We need your help! Would you and your family like to join us? If you have leaves to donate to the school garden, you may drop them off at the garden on this day. Thank you families!

Next week we will begin sending home just right books and a spelling activity in "Home Bags". Students will bring home their "Home Bags" every Monday (or the first day of the school week). Please return your child's Home Bag each Monday morning to ensure that our volunteers are able to switch and replenish your child's books.

The students learned SO much at the Audubon Sanctuary last week and were brimming with facts to share when we returned! Thank you to Becky, Sue, Dick, and Craig for volunteering. Students took a tracking class and learned more about looking for signs of life in the woods. They also went on a hike and visited the many birds in the wildlife care center. Students are working on figuring out which native plants, trees, animals, and insects would help create a biodiverse and healthy forest ecosystem. We are planning for our school forest by using our wall as a giant mural and soon we hope to be adding models of the life we hope to have and help in our forest.

This week in the garden students collected edamame, calendula, and bean seeds. We will be saving them to plant in the spring. Students also moved logs and rocks from the garden to the forest area in hopes of creating nurse logs and animal habitats.

In writing students are working on adding details and adjectives to their stories and students are meeting in reading, spelling, and handwriting groups. First grade math students worked on graphing sea creatures and measuring in cups. Second grade math students worked on their fluency with addition and subtraction facts.

Please remember to sign up for conferences, if you haven't already done so. I look forward to seeing you then!

Sincerely,

Sherry

Classroom News: October 18th

Dear Barn Swallow Families,

We had a great time at Gales Meadow Farm last Thursday! Students prepared for the trip by writing questions to ask Farmer Anne. We were able to taste test many different organic heirloom vegetables, observed runner ducks working (They were busy eating slugs), helped harvest a variety of colorful squash, and gathered ideas for our own school garden. Thank you Phil for volunteering! Soon we will need a lot of extra adult help with getting our school garden ready for two classes to work in it at the same time. Would you like to help us dig new beds? A garden work party after school is soon to come and I will let you know the date as soon as it's finalized!

Students will visit the Tillamook Forest on November 3rd for an all day trip, in order to learn more about what makes a forest a balanced ecosystem, as well as to help them plan how to enhance our school's forest in the making. We will need 3-6+ volunteers for this trip. Would you like to join us? We'd love to have you! Please send me an email if you are interested at: S.Reuter@fgscshool.org and thank you!

Do you have piles of leaves at your house? Soon we will be gathering leaves for mulching in the garden (as well as to learn more about decomposition). If you are able to, we'd like your leaves! Please let me know if you would be able to bring leaves to school. Thank you!

Janelle, our former special education teacher, and Kate, our Americorps volunteer, have been working with our students in the mornings during our literacy block, allowing us to offer additional time in small reading groups and for individualized instruction. Thank you Janelle and Kate! Please continue to encourage your child to read 5 to 7 days a week for about 20 minutes each day.

This Friday we are having our All School Meeting in the Grove Room at the old Central School. Our class will be singing some of our morning meeting literacy songs, and they know many! It will be hard to narrow down our list of options! All School Meetings also call for school spirit, which means Friday is an optional 'Crazy Head' day where students can wear crazy hats or make their hair crazy.

Student goal setting conferences will be held October 27th and 28th. Please call the office to set up your conference. I look forward to seeing all of you!

Sincerely,

Sherry

Classroom News: October 10th

Dear Barn Swallow Families,

We had a fantastic time at the Kittle's farm last Thursday! We spent the morning in the woods looking for signs of forest life and collected branches to build shelter structures in the school garden. We found deer trails and saw scat and tracks from a variety of animals. Students were like detectives and used clues to figure out what animals lived there in the woods. In the afternoon we collected eggs, picked Italian plums and cooked delicious plum custard tarts. We also fed the horse carrots and ate salsa made from the garden produce. Thank you to the Kittle family and to our volunteers Jenna, Scott, Dick, and Sheila!

This Thursday we are going to Gales Meadow organic farm to see what food is growing in October. We will be leaving at 11:10 and will return to school by 2:15. We will be outside for this trip. Please help your child be prepared with warm layers, a rain coat with a hood, rain boots, a healthy lunch, and a full water bottle. We have enough volunteers for this trip, but if you are interested, you are welcome to join us!

This week students will continue reading in their book clubs. At the beginning of the school year we brainstormed a large list of WHY people read and the students came up with many reasons. Most of all, reading should be fun! If your child does not yet have a habit of reading at home, please take some time to consider what kind of reading routine would make sense for you and your child. Five to seven days a week, for about twenty minutes at a time is a good goal for first and second graders. You can read books to your child, he or she can read them to you, or he or she can read them alone. Soon we will be sending home 'just right' books with all students so that you will always have reading material that fits your child!

We are also working on our personal narrative writing unit, which will focus on our experiences at the Kittle's farm. We filled up almost three pages with favorite memories when we came back to school that afternoon! I think the students have a lot to write about and am looking forward to their stories! Students will continue working on handwriting this week, as well as spelling, and are deciding what their own school goals should be for this year. Students will share their goal with you at their goal setting conference on October 27-28.

Since we have a short week this week, I'd also like to check in with families about our trip on Tuesday, October 18th to the Audubon. If you have volunteered to join us, could you please send me a short confirmation email? We had many parents interested in this trip and I want to be sure I have my volunteer list in order! Part of our trip will entail a hike and tour through the forest. Then we will take a class on identifying animal tracks and detecting other signs of life while out in the woods. This class will help us when we go to see what lives in the Tillamook Forest in the spring, as we are trying to build a forest habitat for forest creatures at school! ***The day we go on this trip is normally a pizza fundraising day. Please remember to send a healthy lunch with your child and your pizza order will be pushed up to the next week, if you ordered. Please also help your child be prepared for wet and cold weather by wearing warm layers, a rain jacket, rain boots, as well as a full water bottle.

Thank you Barn Swallow families! We have a great class!

Sincerely,

Sherry

Classroom News: October 3rd

Dear Barn Swallow Families,

We had a great time last week learning about forest and garden seeds and plants at B Street Farm. We were cool in the shady forest there and VERY warm in the vibrant sun in the garden. I wonder if that was our last 'hot' day?! Keep sending rain jackets and rain boots to school every day. (You are welcome to leave them there at school, too.) Thank you to our volunteers that day; Brenda, Camille, Beth, Luke, and Chelsea! Your help made a difference for the class!

This week, our tentative trips to Ayers Creek Farm or Tillamook Forest did not work out. HOWEVER, Beth and Jeff Kittle, Tommy's parents, have offered for our classes to come to their farm this Thursday to pick and eat food in their gardens and study forest amongst their many trees! All students will need to come with a full water bottle, healthy lunch, rain jacket, and rain boots. We are still looking for more parent volunteers for this trip. If you are able to join us, please email me. We look forward to having you!

We are still looking for more parent volunteers for our trip to Gale's Meadow Farm on Thursday, October 13th and to the forest sanctuary on Tuesday, October 18th. If you are able to join us, please email me. Thank you!

This week students are beginning their book clubs! It's so nice to see everyone with 'just right' books. We are also starting a non-fiction personal narrative writing unit this week. We have been working on handwriting and are starting spelling this week. Tomorrow students will pick a little wheat and we'll see if we can grind it into flour. Wish us luck! We are also writing a letter as a class to Terry O'Day, who runs B Street Farm, to see if we could have some of the farm's amaranth grain. I told the class that a few years ago students in my class picked amaranth, got the grains out, popped it into tiny popcorn, and mixed it with honey and chopped walnuts to make 'candy'. The students are very intrigued and excited to try it! I will let you know if we have a cooking day scheduled in the near future.

Thank you families!

Sincerely,

Sherry

Classroom News: September 26th

Dear Barn Swallow Families,

Students have been spending time in the Backyard garden picking, observing, and eating bok choy, tomatoes, basil, borage, calendula, onions, chives, sage, thyme, garlic, and swiss chard. They have learned how to use jeweler's loupes to see the amazing tiny details of each vegetable, and have finished their botanical drawings of our garden pesto ingredients. Students this year will be planning and contributing to the school forest and school gardens and are ready to see other examples of gardens, farms, and forests in order to help them get ideas and plan.

We have several trips tentatively scheduled and will need to have MANY parent volunteers join us!

-B Street Farm: (CONFIRMED) Thursday, September 29th (From 12:45-3:05) (0-6+ volunteers needed)

-Ayer's Creek Farm OR Tillamook Forest: (TENTATIVE) Thursday, October 6th (From 11:10-2:15) (3-6+ volunteers needed)

-Audubon Sanctuary: (CONFIRMED) Tuesday, October 18th (From about 9:10-2:15) (3-6+ volunteers needed)

Please email me if you are able to join us. We look forward to having you!

In reading students have been building stamina with the length of time they are reading. We started at three minutes and are now close to 20. We are learning the comprehension strategy of connecting our own lives to the text by saying, "This reminds me of...". We are also spending some time reading picture books about vegetables, gardens, seeds, and forests in order to gain more background knowledge as a class.

In writing we are reviewing how to sound out words, stretching them out, and writing the sounds we hear. One of the emergent stages of writing is phonetic spelling, which is a very important stage. Students are able to focus on their ideas more and gain confidence as they share their thoughts through words on paper. Spelling will be taught soon as well!

Students are beginning to plan what we should do to enhance the habitat in the school forest this week. We are also beginning to notice and collect the many seeds of the autumn gardens and wild nooks. We are learning about seed saving! Students are encouraged to continue noticing seeds around them, especially outdoors, and to bring them in to share with the class. We will also be collecting materials from home to be reused to create a large model of the school forest and Backyard garden on the large walls of our classroom!

So many students were wearing their rain jackets today! We have a prepared group of kids this year. Please continue to send (or keep) a rain jacket to school with your child.

I'd also like to remind our families that we have a great chance to get together and meet new families during the Harvest Celebration held in the Backyard garden this Wednesday night at 5:30. Come see the future site of the swallows' gardens and forest as well as meet the wonderful people that make up our school community!

As always, weekly classroom news will be posted, along with some photos, at : BarnSwallowClassroom.BlogSpot.Com You can go directly to the blog rather than email if it is more convenient for you.

I hope to hear from you about joining us on our trips!

Sincerely,

Sherry

Classroom News: September 19th

Dear Barn Swallow Families,

I'd like to share with you the following description of what level 1 will be working on this school year!

GARDENS AND LOCAL ECOSYSTEMS

"Children in level 1 will experience the changes of the seasons through taking an active, hands-on role with growing food in the school gardens, observing, exploring, and comparing local ecosystems, and using their knowledge to enhance habitats in the school yard. Children will learn how the garden and ecosystems follow similar natural rhythms and cycles through hands-on experiences. They will also explore the similarities and differences in how humans and animals interact within their environment throughout the seasons. Through various creative means, children will regularly share their knowledge of local gardens and ecosystems with their community."

YEAR 1: GARDENS AND FORESTS

"Children will compare and contrast the ecology of gardens and forests throughout the seasons through regular experiences in the school gardens and trips to nearby forests. In the fall children will identify what is ready to eat for humans and animals in the gardens and forests. Harvesting, tasting, comparing, and observing will happen regularly as children study and explore new vegetables and fruits in the gardens. Children will study the emerging seeds, fungi, and the decomposition process happening in the gardens and forests. As the weather turns colder, children will learn how humans and some animals can store and preserve the bounty of the fall harvest in preparation for the dormant winter. In the winter, they will explore various ways that humans and forest animals stay warm during the cold months and will observe how the rainy season affects the life of the gardens and forests. Children will also begin to plan the school gardens for the year and begin to plan how to enhance the forest habitat on the school grounds based on their experiences and observations in the forest. They will witness the dormant natural spaces of the gardens and forests 'come to life' in the spring. The children will explore the first plants that are ready to eat for humans and animals after the cold, dormant winter. While they observe seeds naturally sprouting on the forest floor, they will also be sprouting their own seeds for the school gardens. Students will learn about plants of the garden and forest, witness and study life cycles of garden and forest creatures, and observe and learn about the pollination cycle. Finally, children will plant, tend, harvest, cook, and eat produce from the school garden as well as take steps towards enhancing the forest habitat on the school grounds. This year is especially important, as level 1 students will be working hard to reconfigure the school garden beds, allowing more than 40 students to be working in the garden at the same time!"

Trips are currently being scheduled for the school year and soon we will be looking for parent volunteers! I will send out an email to Barn Swallow families the moment we have firm dates in hopes to have 3 to 5 parents accompany our class on each big trip. The more volunteers we have, the more successful the learning experiences are for students while "Out and About". We also anticipate that we will need the help of our families when it's time to dig the new garden beds. I hope you can join us!

Last week students brainstormed a list of possible class rules and responsibilities. Then we took the long list and categorized it into four easy to remember rules for school time:

• Take care of each other and critters that we meet.
• Be safe.
• Do your best.
• Take care of all things.

Students also practiced new reading routines and are quickly gaining independence! They have been working on self portrait paintings and they will be up by the end of this week! In Ms. Karen's first grade math class, students explored the many manipulatives that they will be working with this year, as well as got to know each other. Students in the second grade math class picked cherry tomatoes after recess and used them to review counting by tens. We also used the tomatoes to practice estimating how many we had, and then dissected them to count their seeds. Students were introduced to place value as they sorted out the tomato seeds into ones, tens, and even hundreds! During our Out and About to the Backyard garden, students identified and picked over 10 vegetables and herbs. We blended our 'Secret Garden Pesto' ingredients in the food processor, which the students have named "Cropper Chopper". Taste tests on Friday afternoon were mostly positive!

This week we will begin our writing routines as well as start italic handwriting. Students will share their 'Secret Garden Pesto Recipe' with you through their artwork and writing.

As students gain independence throughout the day, I will be starting one on one reading assessments. Reading assessments help me know where students are on the continuum of reading, allowing me to meet children where they are and guide them along the continuum. Please ask your child what 'reading stamina' is, as well as how to choose a 'just right book'.

Time spent on establishing community and routines provide an extremely important foundation for the entire school year! Students are off to a fantastic beginning and I'm looking forward to our indoor and outdoor time together!

Please email me at S.Reuter@fgcschool.org with any questions you may have.

Sincerely,

Sherry

Week of September 12th, 2011

Dear Barn Swallow Families,

The Barn Swallow class has had a great beginning to the school year! We have been spending a lot of time getting to know each other, building class culture and community, and learning the procedures and the routines of the classroom. We have learned a few new games, for example, the Freeze Game and the Name Game. We've learned the songs Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes, Do Your Ears Hang Low, and My Bonnie. Students have been practicing the 'Hand Shake Hello' greeting during our Morning Meetings. We practice giving a firm, but gentle hand shake, with eye contact. Students also learned about the three ways to read today (Read the pictures, read the words, and retell the story).

Last week students visited the Backyard garden, helped water the many dry plants, and taste tested a variety of garden plants. Some favorites were borage (leaf and flower) and calendula petals. Students have also been working on their self portrait water color paintings. They will be finished and on display very soon!

We will continue to build our class community this week and begin to form our classroom rules as a class. I am going to begin introducing the main parts of our literacy structure, which allows students to work productively and independently while I meet with reading and writing groups, as well as confer with students one-on-one. Math by grade also began today. We will have math on Mondays through Thursday every day after the morning recess. First graders will have math with Ms. Karen and second graders will be with Ms. Sherry. Students will also meet their P.E. and art teachers this week. Please refer to the weekly schedule below to ensure that your child is prepared for each day at school. We will have our Out and About on Thursday afternoon at the Backyard garden this week and hope to pick and sample fresh vegetables. We will also begin to think about how to use the garden space so that our classes can grow an abundance of fresh food this year!

Students have a morning snack before their first recess and classroom families take turns bringing healthy snacks every day for a week (Monday through Thursday). On average, families bring the class snack 2 times during the entire year. We currently do not have any food allergies. Students will be working on brainstorming a snack list this week which will include whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and nuts. Good snack choices are foods that are substantial, low in waste/wrappers, and ready to eat, as we do not want to use up a drop of our reading time! The students and I will not have time to cut apples or peel oranges, for example, because we will be busy working on literacy goals and will be reading up a storm! The snack schedule will be sent out by the end of this week.

Birthdays are a special time for students and birthday kids are welcome to bring a simply prepared favorite vegetable or fruit in the morning of his or her special day. (If you would like to.) Party invitations are allowed at school only if the entire class is invited.

*Weekly Schedule: *Occasionally there are changes!

Monday: Art

Tuesday: Art & Sometimes Garden

Wednesday: P.E.

Thursday: Out and About

Friday: Sometimes Garden

Thank you Barn Swallow families. I'm really looking forward to our year together.

We have a GREAT class!

Please email me with any questions, ideas, or thoughts at: S.Reuter@fgcschool.org

I look forward to hearing from you!

In the future I will also post classroom news to our classroom blog at: BarnSwallowClassroom.Blogspot.com

Sincerely,

Sherry

Classroom News: May 23rd

Dear Barn Swallow Families,

Our trip tomorrow to Oceanside is based on a fantastic true story of the actions two naturalists took in the early 1900s. William Finley and Herman Bohlman were two young scientists who met as boys while bird watching in Portland, Oregon. While in Oceanside, the two young naturalists witnessed many people on boats going past the Three Arch Rocks, using the sea lions and shore birds as targets for target practice. Day after day, boats would come by and shoot hundreds of animals, leaving them behind. William and Herman realized that if the animals were getting killed at this rate, there soon wouldn't be any left. They decided to take a 14 foot boat to to the large rocks to photograph the birds and wildlife, hoping that they could teach others about the animals and help save them. After an amazing adventure of getting themselves and their delicate camera equipment to the cliffs on the rocks, William and Herman were finally able to take many photographs of the coast animals. Months later, they traveled from Oregon to Washington D.C. to meet with Theodore Roosevelt and showed him their photographs and explained what was happening on the Oregon coast. President Roosevelt was convinced by these two young naturalist to make Three Arch Rocks a National Wildlife Refuge. It was the United State's third sanctuary and the first ever on the west coast. It offers protection to thirteen species of birds and three species of seals and sea lions.

Tomorrow we'll be able to enjoy and learn about the animals that these two young scientists risked their lives to help many years ago! Students learn throughout their time at FGCS that ecosystems are connected and the life within them is interdependent, which includes people. Tomorrow the Barn Swallow students will not only see the Three Arch Rocks where a healthy ecosystem exists, but will also learn more about the life close at hand, thriving in the many tide pools on the shore of Oceanside. Students will choose one or two tide pool creatures that they observed and will be painting them on clay tiles that will be displayed as public art around the school. The tiles will serve as a reminder to all of us of the shore animals, just as William and Herman's photographs helped bring an awareness to the animals of the Oregon coast.

Students should bring a healthy lunch, a full water bottle, wear shoes that are easy to walk in and that can get wet and/or sandy, and wear layers to stay comfortable on the shore. We will be leaving right away at 9:00 and the bus needs to be back to school by 2:00. This makes for a quick but special trip!

Thank you families!

Sincerely,

Sherry

Classroom News: Volunteer Confirmation

Dear Barn Swallow Families,

Here is a list of our parent volunteers as of Friday, May 20th. We have enough volunteers, but if you are interested in joining us, you are welcome to do so! Thank you for your support families!

-Oceanside Trip: Tuesday, May 24th (all day) VOLUNTEERS: Beth (Alyssa K.'s mom), Jey (Lola's mom)

-Jackson Bottom Wetlands: Tuesday, May 31st VOLUNTEERS: Becky (Alivia's mom), Jey (Lola's mom)

-Haystack Rock Trip: Monday, June 6th (all day) VOLUNTEERS: Jeff (Alyssa K.'s dad), Jey (Lola's mom), Jennifer (August's mom)

If you have questions, you are more than welcome to email me at S.Reuter@fgcschool.org

Sincerely,

Sherr

Classroom News: Upcoming Trips and Dates

Dear Barn Swallow Families,

There are many trips and special events happening during these last weeks of school. Here is a list of all important upcoming dates:

-Oceanside Trip: Tuesday, May 24th (all day)

-Third grade speeches due: Thursday, May 26th

-Memorial Day (No School): Monday, May 30th

-Jackson Bottom Wetlands: Tuesday, May 31st

-Celebrations of Learning: Wednesday, June 1st (5:00-6:30)

-Grading Day (No School): Friday, June 3rd

-Haystack Rock Trip: Monday, June 6th (all day)

-Field Day: Monday, June 13th (Please send your child to school in comfortable clothes, with sunscreen on, and full water bottles.)

-Bridging Day: Tuesday, June 14th (Dismissal is at 1:05)

If you have questions, you are more than welcome to email me at S.Reuter@fgcschool.org

Sincerely,

Sherry