Dear Barn Swallow Families,
As your child may have already shared with you, my mom is visiting me from Wisconsin early this week! Nikki Carter is the Barn Swallows' substitute teacher until Wednesday and I will return on Thursday. She has already sent me an email letting me know how well today went. I'm proud of the Barn Swallow students for doing their best and helping routines run smoothly!
Last week we focused on pollination. We read several books looking for information about pollinating. The students made pipe cleaner bees, and became pollinators in the garden. They were amazed to see real pollen on the fuzzy faces of their pipe cleaner bees! Students continued to pull the 'band-aid/weed' plants from their garden beds. We were given a wonderful donation of free vegetable transplants from Westwind Gardens, located on Stringtown Road here in Forest Grove. Westwind grows organic vegetable transplants for many stores in the area (New Seasons, Portland, Nursery, Fred Meyer, and others). Their plants' tags are labeled 'Planet Wise'. Thank you Phil and Liz! Students were able to plant kolrabi, broccoli, pock choy, swiss chard, and many varieties of lettuce. If you would like to volunteer to join us in the garden on Thursday afternoons, we would love to have you!
If your child forgot his or her home bag this week, you have one more day to get the bag returned - our volunteer was unable to come today to get the bags ready, so they won't be going home today.
Thank you families!
Sincerely,
Sherry
Monday, April 30, 2012
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Garden Film Project and Consent Form
Dear Barn Swallow Families,
Our class has a very interesting opportunity coming up. Pacific University professor Michael Geraci, is interested in interviewing and video taping the Barn Swallow students as they work in the school garden in the next two weeks. He will be creating a short film that will include some Barn Swallow students. Please take a moment to fill out the form below letting Mr. Geraci know if you consent to having your child be a part of his project. If you have any questions, please email me and I will forward them to Mr. Geraci.
A consent form will be sent home today. Please return this form by Monday, April 30th or earlier.
Thank you families!
Sincerely,
Sherry
Monday, April 23, 2012
Classroom News: April 23rd
Dear Barn Swallow Families,
Last week the students worked on writing independent choice stories. Some students are working on fiction stories, some are writing personal narratives, and some chose to write other non-fiction stories. We have been learning about the parts of a flower. The students used a variety of magnification tools to get a good look at the various parts of flowers. Ask your child to identify the parts of flowers in your yard or neighborhood. (Stigma, pistil, stamen, ovule, sepal, petal, stem, and pollen) We went for a flower walk around the neighborhood to look at the wide variety of blooms. At the school and garden students selected flowers to bring back to class to study further. The students made diagrams of flower parts. We continued planting starts of tomatoes, tomatillos, and peppers for our school garden. Out class spent Friday afternoon learning about 'pioneer band-aid plants' also known as weeds. Students learned about the important role that 'weeds' have in preventing erosion in exposed soil in nature. Students spent time digging out the roots of 'weeds' in their gardens and mulching the exposed soil with leaves. During math, first graders used number lines and number grids. They played games to figure out missing numbers. The students asked questions and used clues to figure out mystery numbers. Second graders reviewed telling time, regrouping with addition, and measuring. They started working on fluency with single digit subtraction facts. The week ended with the annual FGCS Earth Day Bike Ride.
We have two garden work parties coming up and we really would love (and need) your help! The first work party is on Friday, May 4th, after school. The last one of the school year is Friday, June 1st, after school. If your family is interested in adopting the school gardens for a week (or weeks) during the summer, we would greatly appreciate it. We are in need of family volunteers to deeply water the gardens and pick, as well as eat, any ripe vegetables and fruits. Interested? Please let me know!
Thank you families!
Sincerely,
Sherry
Last week the students worked on writing independent choice stories. Some students are working on fiction stories, some are writing personal narratives, and some chose to write other non-fiction stories. We have been learning about the parts of a flower. The students used a variety of magnification tools to get a good look at the various parts of flowers. Ask your child to identify the parts of flowers in your yard or neighborhood. (Stigma, pistil, stamen, ovule, sepal, petal, stem, and pollen) We went for a flower walk around the neighborhood to look at the wide variety of blooms. At the school and garden students selected flowers to bring back to class to study further. The students made diagrams of flower parts. We continued planting starts of tomatoes, tomatillos, and peppers for our school garden. Out class spent Friday afternoon learning about 'pioneer band-aid plants' also known as weeds. Students learned about the important role that 'weeds' have in preventing erosion in exposed soil in nature. Students spent time digging out the roots of 'weeds' in their gardens and mulching the exposed soil with leaves. During math, first graders used number lines and number grids. They played games to figure out missing numbers. The students asked questions and used clues to figure out mystery numbers. Second graders reviewed telling time, regrouping with addition, and measuring. They started working on fluency with single digit subtraction facts. The week ended with the annual FGCS Earth Day Bike Ride.
We have two garden work parties coming up and we really would love (and need) your help! The first work party is on Friday, May 4th, after school. The last one of the school year is Friday, June 1st, after school. If your family is interested in adopting the school gardens for a week (or weeks) during the summer, we would greatly appreciate it. We are in need of family volunteers to deeply water the gardens and pick, as well as eat, any ripe vegetables and fruits. Interested? Please let me know!
Thank you families!
Sincerely,
Sherry
Monday, April 16, 2012
Classroom News: April 16th
Dear Barn Swallow Families,
Thank you for joining us for conferences last week. All students did a fantastic job presenting their work!
The student Treasure Book forest field guides arrived today! They were sent home this afternoon. If you would like to order additional copies, you can now order them online. (The ordering information is inside of the book. If you have questions, I can help you!)
This Friday FGCS is celebrating Earth Day by having its third annual bike ride at 2:00. If your child is interested in joining the bike ride, he or she will need to return a signed permission slip by Thursday and have an adult accompany him or her. All participants must wear a helmet as well. (I will send home permission slips with interested students tomorrow, or you can get a copy of the form from the school website to print.)
We have our last big trip to the Tillamook Forest scheduled for Thursday, June 7th. If you would like to join us, we would love to have you!
Thank you families!
Sincerely,
Sherry
Monday, April 9, 2012
Classroom News: April 9th
Dear Barn Swallow Families,
We had a full week last week! The Barn Swallow students have been busy preparing for their Student Led Conference, which is this Thursday. If you haven't yet signed up, please stop by the office or call the school (503.359.4600) to schedule. The Student Led Conferences are an opportunity for your child to shine as he or she shares with you the growth he or she has made this year in school, as well as for you to see some samples of work. Your child will share work, demonstrate learning, and explain areas of growth. I will be in the room, and can give your child guidance if needed, but I try to take a backseat so that your child is empowered to take the lead. I hope that you will feel as proud of your child's accomplishments and I do. We look forward to having you visit the classroom!
Last week, students began writing stories about something that they did over spring break. For our Out and About, students started tomato, tomatillo, and pepper seeds and they are now under lights on the shelf that the students put together. Students planted potatoes in the backyard and we had a visit from twin lambs in the garden. In small groups, students had an opportunity to spend time petting and learning about these sweet, wooly creatures. Thank you to Logan's family for bringing the lambs. What a fun and busy Out and About!
During math, first graders worked on learning and practicing telling time to the hour and half hour. They worked on solving each others lobster picture problems. Second graders began measuring in inches and centimeters and were introduced to measuring to the nearest whole number. Second graders will be regularly receiving math homework every Monday, starting on April 9th. The homework will serve as an opportunity for your child to review and reinforce what we are currently working on in math class. It is not mandatory, though I will make special notes at the top of pages that may particularly benefit your child, based on informal and formal assessments. I encourage your child to return the work done at home, especially if your child needs additional practice with particular skills.
If you would like to join us for our Out and Abouts to the garden on Thursdays, we would love to have you!
Sincerely,
Sherry
Monday, April 2, 2012
Classroom News: April 2nd
Dear Barn Swallow Families,
Welcome back! I hope that all of you had a great spring break and that everyone is now healthy again!
The Barn Swallows finished their Treasure Book pages last week and our Oregon Forest Animal Field Guide is being printed this week! I am so proud of the amount of effort, detail, and care that the students put into this project. We're looking forward to getting our published books in the mail!
As you know, both of our trips to the Tillamook Forest got cancelled. We were able to reschedule one trip on Thursday, June 7th. Hopefully the weather will be more cooperative by then! If you would like to volunteer to join us, we would love to have you.
We will be focusing on studies in the gardens for the rest of the school year. Soon, students will be working on writing free verse poetry.
This week, students are preparing for their Student Led Conference, which is held in the classroom on Thursday, April 12th. This is a time for students to share what they have been working on this year with their families. Please sign up in the office for your conference.
If you would like to order a yearbook, you can pick up an order form in the office. Yearbooks are $20. Orders are due this Friday, April 6th.
Thank you families!
Thank you families!
Sincerely,
Sherry
Classroom News: March 20th
Dear Barn Swallow Families,
With the predicted 2 to 5 inches of snow for tomorrow at elevations of 1000 feet, we have decided to cancel the trip to the Tillamook forest tomorrow. (The bus company would let us know by 7:00 in the morning if they are able to make the trip or not, but we have decided to make a decision earlier so that families, trip volunteers, and teachers can prepare accordingly.)
Sincerely,
Sherry
Classroom News: March 19th
Dear Barn Swallow Families,
I wanted to send you a quick note letting you know a little more about how the level 1 Treasure Book order forms work. I have many students with older siblings in levels 2 and 3. In the higher levels, students write their own entire book and their first one is free. They can also order additional copies at cost. For level one, students do not receive a free copy of the book. Students each are responsible for two pages in the book and together, this year, they are working on a forest animal field guide. If you intended on ordering/receiving a copy of the class book, and need to change your order form, I can either send a new form home with your child, or your child can take the original form home. Purchasing the book, of course, is optional! All forms need to come back either way, according to the company's system, by Wednesday. Thank you families!
Sincerely,
Sherry
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