newsletter

Peregrine Press

January 27-30

 

Schedule

Tuesday:  Out and About: Teambuilding and Leave No Trace;

Arrival of our Korean Exchange Student

Wednesday: PE

Thursday:  Art

Friday: Running Club

 

**Two highlights from last week….we watched the inauguration with Gretchen's class and were the audience for the High School's presentation of "Tres Osos" or "The Three Bears."

     

Last Week

The main focus for the three day week was to finish up the consumerism unit.  Each student created their own final product that summarized some aspect of the consumerism unit.  Students created posters, comic strips, brochures and poems.  They are so creative!  We had a guest speaker from the Chamber of Commerce speak to us about how the Chamber works, and what it does for our community.  We held our classroom Spelling Bee and our Champion was Tyler!  He will compete against the finalists from the other classes for the school championship this coming week.  On Friday we met our new Korean Exchange student named Beth.  She will be with us for one month to experience American Schooling.  Gretchen and Charlie are also hosting exchange students from Korea.  The sister of one of our high school students teaches English in Korea and these are some of her students.  They will be living with her while they attend school here.  I am so excited for this opportunity!

 

Next Week

Students that would like to, will present their consumerism projects.  We will also spend a great deal of time brainstorming and starting our sloppy copies for the Treasure Books.  The Treasure Books will be a great opportunity to work through the writing process in preparation for the writing test. Towards the end of the week we will start our World Fair Unit that will be focusing on the geography and cultures of the world.

 

**If anyone still owes money for Outdoor School please turn that money in to the office by next week.

**Report cards will be sent out mid-week.  They are slightly different from last year so please let me know if you have any questions.

 

Upcoming Events:

February 10: 4^th Grade State Writing Test

Peregrine Press

January 20-22

 

Schedule

Tuesday: No Out and About

Wednesday: Guest Speaker from the Chamber of Commerce; PE

Thursday: Art

Last Week:

We spent time wrapping up a couple of odds and ends this past week.  The rest of the literacy groups completed their books.  The geography bee finalists competed at the School Geography Bee, where an 8^th grader named Timo was announced the champion.

For our consumerism unit we went on a scavenger hunt through Forest Grove to see what our local small businesses have to offer.  A place that only a few students knew about was the Community Garden located at the end of Cedar Street near the Aquatic Center.  When we returned the students made lists of businesses they would like to see in Forest Grove.  We then had a discussion later in the week that really impressed me.  They came up with pros and cons for some of these businesses.  We discussed what it would be like if the Max came to town, or if a New Seasons, Chocolate/Candy shop or a Toys R Us were built here.  I would never have imagined the students would have come up with some of the pros and cons that they did.  This is clearly a class that "thinks outside the box."

The rest of the week's consumerism unit focused on "Price vs. Cost."  The students all identified where their clothes came from by reading the tags and then read about how many companies do not provide a clean and safe work environment for their employees. We also found that a clear majority of our clothes come from Asia. They read a poem by two voices that shared the experiences of two teens working in two very different kinds of factories: one factory being safe and the other one breaking laws.  This topic was very intriguing to most of the class and we decided to research it more.  So, on Thursday we went to the computer lab to conduct our research.  The computer lab has never been so silent.  The students were so engrossed and appalled with what they found that no one really felt like talking much.  On Friday the students critiqued magazine advertisements and rewrote the ad including some of the hidden costs that the consumer typically does not see. The students wrote some very clever things!

 

***Sadly only 13 students turned in their homework this week.  I expressed my disappointment with them and hope that they will eventually learn to be responsible.  Many of them gave me excuses for not turning it in, but the bottom line is that those excuses won't get them out of trouble when they get older.  They will get fired from a job or do poorly in college if they can't learn to be responsible.

 

This Week:

We have a very short week due to the holiday and report cards.  The students will do some self-reflections for the semester that I will send out with the report cards.  They will also each be responsible for doing a very small project on consumerism.  I will provide them with time in school to do this, but some students may have homework if they do not manage their time wisely.  Finally, students will begin to brainstorm ideas for the treasure books.  At the Level 2, each student will create their own treasure book that will be a professionally hardbound book.  I will send out more information on these books in a few weeks.  I would like to students to start thinking about possible ideas they would want to turn into a book.  Last year I had students write a book of poems, a how to guide, a series of short stories, or one long story.

 

Snow Day Make-Up days

Due to the snow days, we will have to make up 2 days.  Those days will be Presidents Day which is February 16^th and, March 6^th which was originally an in-service/no student day.

 

newsletter

Peregrine Press

January 12-16

        

Schedule

Monday: Running Club

Tuesday: Out and About, Exploring Forest Grove Businesses and Resources

Wednesday: P.E.

Thursday: Art

Friday: Geography Bee at the Library

 

Last Week

Well, for missing a whole extra week of school the students did a phenomenal job of getting right back into the routine.  We continued our literacy circles, with two groups finishing their books, and the rest of the groups to finish this week.  The reindeer tales were completed mid week and will be on display in the downstairs hall for anyone that is interested in coming in to see them.  Each student turned in a brainstorming, rough draft and final draft so that I can assess just how well they understand the writing process and how to edit.  I did not assist them in editing this assignment because I wanted to see what they were all capable of.  They did a fantastic job!  They are creative and well written with the use of literary devices.

Our Out and About to Goodwill was really interesting and fun.  The students first went on a tour and learned many personal stories of people that Goodwill has helped over the years.  The students finished the trip with a scavenger hunt to find specific household items and record their prices.  A few days later we shopped online in the computer lab to try and find similar items and compare prices.  The students impressed me with their ability to see many pros and cons to both shopping online and shopping at Goodwill.

We started the preliminary round of the Geography Bee and will finish the last 3 rounds this week.  On Friday the top 2 students from our class will compete against 8 other students from our school, who will then be named our Geography Bee Champion.  The champion from our school will then complete a written test to hopefully qualify for the regional bee.

Friday morning we had a guest speaker from Metro come and talk to the class about toxic chemicals found in the home.  They learned how to read the different levels of toxicity on a label.  The students summed up the presentation perfectly by saying that the best way to deal with toxic chemicals is to "not buy any."  There are many ways to clean your house without using toxic chemicals and as consumers it is our job to make educated decisions about what we purchase.

Our party on Friday was a success!  Thank you to those parents that donated goodies.  Also, a big thank you to those that donated to the soldier care packages.  I sent them out this weekend.

 

*We are starting to run low on pencils and erasers if anyone can please donate, that would be appreciated.  Some of those pencil sharpeners that have a built in container to hold the shavings would be great too.

 

 

This Week

For our consumerism unit this week we will be focusing on Price vs. Cost.  Students will learn about manufacturing, and the different types of work environments that exist for factory workers.  They will also be looking at advertising techniques and will be doing an activity using some of those techniques.

Our Out and About will involve learning about the local businesses and resources that we have here in Forest Grove and how we as consumers can support them.

The school geography bee will be held in the Rogers Room at the Library on Friday at 11:15.  You are invited.

 

Homework Update:  I am going to send homework out this week but it may look different than previously.  I only heard back from a few parents so I am going to try something new this week and talk with your children about homework they could do that they feel they would truly benefit from.  We will talk about it being their responsibility.  I am only sending homework home with the children that have requested it. (Or the parents requested it.)  I would still like everyone to turn in a weekly update though, of things they worked on at home that are connected to goals that they have.

 

Upcoming Events

No School Monday the 19^th for Presidents Day

No School Friday the 23^rd for Report Card Prep

No School Monday the 26^th for Report Card Prep

Tuesday January 27^th arrival of our Korean Foreign Exchange Student