Peregrine Press

April 20-23

      

 

Schedule

Monday: 5^th Grade State Science Test; Running Club

Tuesday: 5^th Grade State Science Test; Out and About to Tom McCall Forest (SOLV Clean-Up)

Wednesday: Buddy Activity at the ELC; PE (no longer at Pacific)

Thursday: Art

Friday: No School Teacher In-Service Day

 

Last Week

We had such a fun week!  Monday started out with decorating Safeway paper bags with messages for Earth Day which were then delivered to Safeway on our Out and About on Tuesday.  The students presented the bags to the manager at the store and then we took a brief tour through the store to see what kinds of things Safeway does that is helping our Earth.  The students were able to identify several "green" practices including selling organic produce, cloth shopping bags and energy efficient light bulbs.  Once we were finished at Safeway we headed over to Roger's Park to participate in a teambuilding and egg protecting activity.  The students worked in groups to create contraptions that would protect an egg from cracking when dropped from a high location.  The teams worked very well together in creating their egg saver and then shared a brief commercial to advertise the greatness of the contraption.  Every team did such a great job that not a single egg cracked.  We even had to do a second round where I threw the eggs in their contraptions onto the concrete sidewalk and they still didn't crack!  The students were very supportive of each other and had a really fun time.

 

We finished our independent project speeches with some very fun video presentations.  I was very pleased with the work these students accomplished through the independent projects.  They all should have brought home a scoring rubric for their speech and essay.  If they earned a "proficient" rating that means they met the requirements.  If they were "developing" they were very close to meeting the requirements.  Several students even went above and beyond my expectations.

The yo-yo unit was introduced Tuesday afternoon with an activity that helped them work more with the scientific method.  They dropped rocks, pebbles and paper from the same height to see which ones would hit the ground first.  They then were given a little bit of time to start experimenting with the yo-yos.

 

Wednesday the students continued practice with the scientific method and were introduced to pendulums.  They also went on a nature walk with their buddies from the ELC.  They helped their buddies identify signs of spring and we could not have had a more beautiful day.  Trees and flowers were blossoming all over Pacific's campus and they all had a great time.  The last day for PE at Pacific was Wednesday afternoon and they all got to participate in a Field Day with really fun activities and games.  I think overall the program was a success.  We have lots of students that can't wait to have Rick for PE again though!

 

Thursday the students learned about kinetic and potential energy by working with flywheels (made with buttons and string) and their yo-yos.  These concepts are tricky but I think they are starting to make some sense of it.  We also practiced the state testing in the computer lab to get a feel for how that will work in the coming month.

Friday the students started the mapping unit that Becky will be teaching for her work sample.  It is titled "The Forest Grove Grid Project."  They explored Google Earth and then created wordles to describe our town.  Ask your kids what wordles are-they loved it!  You can go to www.wordle.net to see them.

 

This Week

This coming week we will continue the yo-yo unit and the really get into "The Forest Grove Grid Project."  The students will have running club on Monday but we will do that in the morning because it looks like it will be a very warm day.  We will help clean up the Tom McCall Forest for part of a SOLV clean up.  Wednesday we will return to the ELC and write stories with our little buddies.  The 5^th graders will be taking the State Science Test this week as well.  There is no school Friday for a teacher in-service day.

 

**Becky has been teaching the 5^th grade math and several other activities each day and she is doing very well.  The students have made her feel very welcome and enjoy her sense of humor.

 

** Please remind your 5^th grade students to get lots of rest Sunday night and eat a good healthy breakfast Monday morning.  We want them to feel prepared and ready for the science test