February 20 Celebrations of Learning
February 21 Seed Orders Due
February 22 Lunch Orders Due
Homework - More details posted on the Homework Page
1. Read for at least 20 minutes per day and fill out your reading log each night. Your parents must sign your reading log.
2. Complete your math homework.
Upcoming Out and Abouts
This week, we will begin our study of water with a "River Rangers" presentation by Clean Water Services, followed by a visit to the water treatment facility at Fernhill Wetlands on February 26th.
PE News
8th grader, Noah Tufts, will be working with Rick to complete a capstone project which involves our class. He will be teaching self-defense and safety practices. Please see the note below about his project:
Dear Parents of Children at Forest Grove Community School,
I am an eighth grade student, Noah Tufts, working on my capstone project. Through this project, we’re supposed explore an interest we have while also making a connection to the community. We also need to get a mentor to help us. What I have decided to do for my project is to teach self-defense practices to all students at the school. I am a skilled martial artist (black belt level), and so is my mentor Mrs. Hansen. I won’t be teaching the kids anything dangerous or scary. We’ll talk about things like situational awareness; how to respond to strangers; and then a few simple drills of what to do if someone grabs you. In a survey of Oregon students, kids were asked if they would help a stranger find a lost puppy. Older kids said No, and most of the younger students did too. But when asked if they would help a stranger find a lost kitten, almost all younger kids said Yes. So, I want to help kids to learn that they should never go with strangers and other basic guidelines of safety. With Vanessa and Rick’s approval, I’ll be teaching students these guidelines during PE classes next week.
Math Notes
This week in Third Grade math, we will continue our study of multiplication by solving and creating our own real-world story problems. Here's an example of the type of multi-step problems we are working on: "The snowboard and ski computer games will be available this Friday. 3 friends want the snowboard game and 4 friends want the ski game. The snowboard game costs $11 and the ski game costs $15. How much money will your friends spend altogether?" Please come visit the Plover classroom during Celebrations of Learning for more examples of third grade math and multiplication games you can play at home!
For homework, students will complete Home Connection 14.
This week in Fourth Grade Math, we will continue our unit focusing on fractions and division. We will also be preparing for our math-focused Celebrations of Learning on Wednesday February 20th from 5-6:30. Fourth graders will focus on applying their developing knowledge of fractions through playing games. These games will be shared with families at Celebrations of Learning. Please plan to join us!
Homework This Week: Division Word Problems. Questions/Comments/Concerns, please contact Becky at [email protected]
Weekly Review
We had a wonderful friendship celebration last week in honor of Valentine's Day. We started Morning Meeting by offering compliments to each other and saying what we appreciated about our classroom community. Then, we played a Valentine's-themed math game and worked together to solve some challenging logic problems! After lunch, the Plovers made pet rocks and other story workshop characters to give to the Level 1 classes. I read the story of Owen and Mzee, a true story about an orphaned baby hippopotamus who becomes friends with a 130-year-old tortoise! Finally, we are healthy snacks (thank you families who contributed!) and exchanged Valentine's cards.
To prepare for our River Rangers presentation this week, we played a game called "The Incredible Water Journey." Each student pretended to be a drop of water and traveled to different stations depending on the roll of a dice. Some students got stuck in the clouds or the ocean for a long time and others traveled between the soil, plants, groundwater and lakes. As they stopped at each station, each drop of water (aka student) collected a bead to put on a piece of twine; this helped them track their incredible journey! Once back inside, we discussed the different phases of the water cycle and where water is stored (in glaciers, rivers, lakes, oceans and groundwater). We also read the book All The Water In The World by George Ella Lyon and Katherine Tillotson.
Communication
Please contact me with any questions or concerns. Parents and students can e-mail me at [email protected]. You can also leave a voice message on the class phone, come into the classroom before or after school, or call me before 8PM at home.