Saturday, September 26, 2009

Peregrine Press

September 28-October 2


Schedule:

Monday: Art

Tuesday: NO Out and About

Wednesday: Out and About to Nana Cardoon's (Local Garden-cider pressing and garden activities); PE

Thursday: Art; Buddy Reading at the ELC

Friday: Music at Tom McCall; Fitness Friday (Vanessa subbing for me so I can get ready for my wedding the next day!)


Last Week:

We had a very fun and productive week! We worked on writing and reading assessments that were not necessarily fun for the students, but a necessary part of school. They were wrapped up on Friday so now we can really just focus on fun learning! Tuesday we did some team building at Roger's Park. We played a game called "Chocolate River" that you should ask your kids about. It is a favorite in this class for returning students. When we returned to school we created mini-weather experiments with convection currents and twisters. The rest of the week was more Lewis and Clark journal writing, Word Work to improve spelling, and some weather activities. On Thursday we had a great presentation on managing energy levels. It is called "How's your engine running?" The students experienced different sensory things and gauged if it brought their energy level up or down and put it where it needed to be. I thought it was very beneficial for the whole class. Friday we had our first music class at Tom McCall. It was so much fun! The kids really seemed to be excited about it. They were very respectful and really represented our school well. I was very impressed.


This Week

We will continue our focus on Lewis and Clark, and weather. Students will be writing their second, and hopefully third journal entry for their experience on the Corps of Discovery. We will also have some changes in our schedule. We will not have Out and About on Tuesday because we will be going to a local garden/farm, Nana Cardoon's, on Wednesday instead. The students will get to press apple cider and help with some other projects that need to be done. This will also shift our Wednesday art class to Thursday morning. On Thursday we will also start Buddy Reading at the ELC (Early Learning Community) at Pacific University. We participated in this last year and it was a very positive experience. We join with a class of preschool kids and read to them, write stories with them and occasionally do some art projects. This will happen 2 times a month. Friday Vanessa will be subbing for me because I am getting married on Saturday and I have a lot of prepping to do. The kids will have a great time with her!


Outdoor School Information:

Monday I will be sending home information about Outdoor School. The blue guidebook, the medical information form, and the souvenir form need to be returned to me, by October 16th. (If you can return them at conferences, that would even be better!) The blue guidebook is just some generic information so please don't write in them because they get shared through the whole region. We will also send home a "what to bring" list which you can keep.



Important Upcoming Events:

October 8 and 9: Goal Setting Conferences (We will have more information coming about signing up.)

October 15th (Thursday): Field Trip to Fort Clatsop. We need 2 more parent volunteers to let me know if you can come. Also, we have to leave the school at 7:45 on a Mid-Columbia bus so we need all students to the school at 7:30! We will be back in time for a normal dismissal.


October 27th (Tuesday): Field Trip to Historical Society in Portland. We need 1 or 2 more volunteers for this event so please let me know if you can come. We will be riding tri-met and need to leave right at 8:50 so please have your children here by 8:35. We will return in time for a normal dismissal.



Sunday, September 20, 2009

newsletter

Peregrine Press

September 21-25


Schedule

Monday: Art

Tuesday: Out and About (Teambuilding in the Community)

Wednesday: Art; PE, Back to School Night 6:00-7:30

Thursday: Regular Day

Friday: Music at Tom McCall; Fitness Friday


Last Week

We had a very productive week for our first full week! The students researched the person they have become on the "corps" and wrote their first journal entry. They also learned about the Louisiana Purchase through an activity using google earth. They used maps to identify the present day states that the Louisiana Purchase included as well as the route the Corps of Discovery took. For our Out and About we headed to the Tom McCall Forest and did a teambuilding activity to start with. Then they spent an hour doing a variety of sketching activities to mimic the record keeping that Lewis and Clark did with the flora and fauna (plants and animals.)

We also spent a some time learning about different clouds and what they mean. Fitness Friday was successful with the majority of the class really participating well. We met our new Out and About teacher Erin and had a chance to as her some questions and share some ideas for outings this year.


This Week

This coming week we will continue our focus on Lewis and Clark and weather. Our Out and About will be at a park in the community where we will do some teambuilding activities to help build our classroom bond. We will also start a music class at Tom McCall Upper Elementary School on Friday. This means that we will leave the school at 9:00 and walk to Tom McCall for the music class.

Back to School Night: This night will be an opportunity for parents to come to the classroom and learn about how we do things at FGCS. Please leave your lovely children at home because this is really meant to be an information night for the parents. We will have 2 sessions: 6:00-6:45 an 6:45-7:30. You just choose the session you want to come to (you don't need to tell me beforehand) and head to the classroom. We will go over the PLP, Report Cards and our teaching methods. This will not be a time to ask specific questions about your child, we will be able to discuss those personal things at the conferences on October 8th and 9th.


Upcoming Events

October 8 and 9th: Conferences

newsletter

Good Morning Everyone,
Here is the newsletter for this week.  I forgot my camera cord, so I will get pictures added to the blog later today, or tomorrow.  Feel free to check them out later.  To get to the blog you can go to the school website fgcschool.org, click on the Classroom Info and then click on Peregrine Falcons.  Also, don't forget that pizza money is due on Tuesdays, and please encourage your child to bring a plate from home so we don't have to waste paper plates.
Thanks and I hope everyone had a great weekend!
Veronica

Saturday, September 12, 2009

newsletter

Hello Peregrine Falcon Families,
Here is the newsletter for this week.  Let me know if you can't open it.   I hope you all enjoyed the weekend!
Thanks,
Veronica

I just remembered one more thing.
Pizza Wednesday starts this week.  Please have your money in by Tuesday.  I sent home the forms on Friday, let me know if you have any questions.