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