I can't believe it is already October! The first month of school flew by. Students have been working hard and are now settled into a great routine. We are deep into our Botany unit, studied the classification system, taxonomy, and photosynthesis. Students are loving the elective time in the afternoons; they are in classes from yoga to gardening, to rug making. This week I sent home some Scholastic Book Club order forms. I love having books in the classroom and this is how I stock it with new books - each time students buy books, we get points to spend on things for the classroom. There are two ways to order: fill out the order form and bring me the money or you can order online (code NDJGJ) and it will be shipped with all the other orders to school. The due date is set for Oct. 26. I am so excited to be at Springwater again this year! I feel blessed to have found a place so magical. This will be another great year, there are so many wonderful things being planned. The first two days have been busy and full of energy because of the new year and not being able to go outside. We hope that tomorrow brings some fresher air, but if not they have handled this wonderfully. Please visit each section of our site here, there are several updates explained throughout. One change to our River Otter schedule this year is that Monday-Thursday students will be taking electives. Each day will have different class options ranging from art to gardening to drama and PE. We are hoping each student will find something that fits their interests and are excited about. Every student will be required to choose a PE, but they are able to choose PE twice if desired. Once electives are chosen, students weekly schedule will be set. The last few weeks were incredibly busy - we worked on our final projects, ran hard for the school jog-a-thon, participated in project share and fly-up day, visited Oaks Park, and had fun during field day. Many students worked hard on a class newspaper, please take a look at it here. This was such an incredible year. This group of students is unlike any other. I feel honored to be a part of their educational journey, and I look forward to seeing where they go in the future. This is just a short post, more about sharing pictures than information. The last two weeks been filled with research and writing for our final project - an Oregon Coast Field Guide. What an amazing week! The sunshine showed up for a couple days and we took full advantage of it! Unfortunately it did not last long enough and we had a soggy Friday Field Study. This week we studied Rocky Shores Intertidal Zones. We built a 3D wall in the classroom with lots of species richness (still a work in progress, pictures to come). We also "visited" several tide pools to observe the diversity that can be found in the tidal area. We will be doing the same activity at outdoor school in real tide pools!!! On FFS we looked for clues showing water height changes. Although we were looking at a river, these same clues can be found when observing the tides change along the coast. They did a fabulous job pointing out places of erosion and vegetation growth. Thank you to Kristin Harris and Genevieve Shelley for volunteering and helping our class have a fun last FFS of the year. Students should have come home with Outdoor School information this week. We are all getting really excited about this quickly approaching adventure. Next week we will start going over expectations so that they are familiar with the rules and routines to ensure they have a safe and unforgettable week. Testing is almost over. Many students have already finished all their testing but several will still be working on it this week. If you have a student who is still working hard testing please help by encouraging them, making sure they have a good nights sleep and great breakfast. Teacher Appreciation Week was incredible! I have not been a part of a school quite like Springwater, and that's one of the many things I love about being here. You all went above and beyond to make the teachers here feel special - Thank You!!! This week we played with graham crackers to review plate tectonics! It was messy but lots of fun and delicious afterward. Students learned about the mid-ocean ridges and how new earth is formed. We also learned about the tides and the many ways tides are effected, from the sun and moon, to weather and rotation. One of the Foxes created Kindness week! She did a wonderful job teaching about kindness all around Springwater. Our class learned about bullying and becoming a leader. Our students learned a lot, you could see a change in the class, and there was a great difference seen all over campus. Don't forget to check the Outdoor School page for all the info you need to be prepared in two weeks. Last week was very busy. We learned about the different layers or zones of the ocean (epipelagic, mesopelagic, bathypelagic, abyssopelagic, and hadalpalegic) and how the water column changes as you go down into the depths of the water. We started looking at the websites we use for research and whether they are a reliable source. We will continue to work on this as well as citing our sources used in our searches. Testing started this week. Students worked really hard on their tests and are taking their time to do their best. Please continue to make sure they are getting a good nights sleep and eating breakfast in the morning. Friday was full of excitement! Our River Otter class worked with Caitlin's Dragonflies to fill, carry, and rake out rock for the new jogging path that now goes around the field. It was such an amazing site to see, our sixth graders were so kind and caring to the first/second graders and very encouraging as well. I was proud of all of them! After working hard we went out into METRO and used some of the knowledge gained about defining levels of the ocean to create levels of the forest next to our campus. I am amazed at how fast this year has gone. The end of the year is quickly approaching and there is so much happening. I will be keeping this site up to date with all the activities going on in class and at Springwater. This last term we are studying Ocean Ecology and heading to Beverly Beach for Outdoor school in only 4 weeks! We also have to fit in state testing in those four weeks, starting tomorrow. I have no concerns about our students but here are some important things to remember during testing: healthy meals, a good nights sleep, and stay positive, don't stress about them. I want to thank you all for making my transition back to work so easy! I love all my students and it is so nice to be back (although I do miss my little Jaxson while at school). I am so grateful to have a job I love and to be part of the Springwater community has been wonderful. So always please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions of concerns. Welcome to all my new River Otters! What a first week it has been! I really enjoyed our first two days together and look forward to a great term. This is a place where I post information, pictures, and student work for everyone to see and celebrate.
There have been several concerns voiced about my maternity leave coming up in a couple weeks and I tried to reassure all the students this week. My last day is scheduled to be Friday, February 17, the sub will spend that last week in the classroom with us to get aquainted with the students and our routines. I will then return after Spring Break. If you or your students have any questions or concerns, please let me know. This week was full of excitement! The start of the week was of course Halloween and the students were full of energy, so we kept the day simple introducing our topic of the week - the cell cycle. Knowing that Tuesday they would come to school on a sugar high, I decided to keep it going by doing an Oreo Lab! Students worked in their table groups creating the different phases of mitosis with Oreo cookies and sprinkles, then they got to eat their lab projects! As you know, Wednesday was a bog day as well. Students brought in their 3D Cell Projects. They are incredible! You can really see how hard the students worked and they are all so proud of what they created! I am not going to post pictures of them yet because they will be displayed at Family Night on Nov. 10 for you all to see in person. You will also be able to watch our performance of the Cell Rap! (Cell Rap lyrics for students to practice can be found here.) Friday was the perfect day for field study, it was warm and beautiful. We worked on our writing skills but using four of our senses (we didn't use taste) to describe different locations around the Clear Creek METRO area. I want to give a huge thank you to Dawn and Heidi who were our parent volunteers this week! If you are interested in coming out with us on Fridays please sign up on the Springwater site, volunteers help to make Fridays more in depth and successful. |
Upcoming EventsNov 9: No School
Nov 12: No School Nov 19-26: No School Nov 30: FFS - Volunteers Needed. Dec 7: FFS - Volunteers Needed Dec 14: FFS - Volunteers Needed Dec 21- Jan 7: No School Previous Posts
October 2018
|