Learning Updates

Dear Families,

What a week! Our last 5-day week together was filled with fun and surprises. Market Day. Egg Drop. An unexpected offer to drop our top 5 parachutes from the top of Eastside Fire & Rescue's 75 foot tall ladder truck! And a cameo appearance by my two boys--William & George at the end of our day on Thursday.

Market Day

Our second Market Day was a huge success! Students had so many innovative and creative ideas. Plus they really seemed to apply the lessons learned from the first Market Day. Also, I'd like to thank all the parents who helped out before and after--Tulika Gupta, Lynn Brueckman, Helen Yantus and Eden Zasloff--we couldn't have done it without you! Be sure to check out some amazing photos Michelle Enebo captured of Market Day.

Egg Drop

For more egg drop pictures, click here to view the photo album. And now for the full story, which I'm sure you've probably already heard all about...We were on our 28th and final egg drop Thursday. Christian held his parachute over the rail and prepared to release it. Suddenly, alarms blared all around us. Fire drill! I yelled at him to drop his parachute NOW, and drop it did! The .75 seconds it took to fall 18 feet won Christian the distinction of fastest drop. The egg landed with such force that gooey yolk shot straight up in the air. We quickly cleared his parachute and our garbage bag landing pad out of the way of the building exit and headed for the field, parachutes, clipboards, data sheets, and pencils in hand. 

After the drill was over, Mrs. Otley pulled me aside and said the Firefighters noticed we had egg drop parachutes in hand and wanted to know if we'd like to drop our top 5 parachutes from the top of their ladder truck. "Um, YES!!" was my almost automatic answer. I donned a firefighter's hat and, holding our top five parachutes (reloaded with eggs), climbed in to the bucket. One of the firefighters clipped us in and he fully extended the ladder 75 feet above our sand field. Students counted down and we dropped each of the parachutes. Jacqueline's parachute floated for a record 16.3 seconds to the ground. All 5 eggs landed in tact! I think these students may have a design and engineering future! :) Big thanks to Eastside Fire & Rescue Ladder 73 crew for absolutely making our day. Very very cool!

Why? Because our 18 foot tall staircase just wasn't high enough! :)

Egg Drop--who would've thought it would end like this?

Market Day Setup

Market Day in full swing. Our room saw lots of shopping traffic.

Special visitors. My sons William and George made a quick appearance at the end of our day Thursday to meet the class. William made himself right at home.

Science

• Created a parachute, an airplane, and a bird's flight pictorials
• Students reviewed and brought home their graded Air unit tests Friday
• Conducted our class Egg Drop and analyzed results and average drop times

Math

• Finished our 12th and final math unit
• Took and reviewed the End of Year Math test
• Per district policy I cannot send the end of year math assessment home, however you may make an appointment with me to review it

Reading & Writing

• Finished class-wide literary essay thesis brainstorming. Students chose one thesis and worked to support it with evidence. Later we held a thesis clinic and discussed strengths and weaknesses in the approaches students took.
• Though we won't have time to fully draft out and publish these pieces, students are learning some valuable lessons about in depth reading of excellent literature. They are also learning how to frame a quality thesis and supporting sections. I've told the class that this is advanced writing work that students in high school and college often undertake.
• Read Aloud, historical fiction -- The Watson's go to Birmingham--1963: we made much more headway this week. The students are loving the humorous adventures of this family. The Watson's have just arrived in Birmingham against the backdrop of the Civil Rights movement in the U.S. Ask your student to fill you in on some of the Civil Rights issues they've begun to encounter, as well as some of the funny things that have happened lately.

School News 6.10.11

SCHOOL NEWS: 

From the Library: All library materials were due on June 3rd. Patrons are responsible for payment of lost/damaged materials. Students who have missing materials (library books included) will have report cards held at the end of the year.

   

SAVE YOUR BOX TOPS & LABELS FOR EDUCATION
Don't forget to collect Box Tops and Labels for Education over the summer break.  Our first contest among the classes will be in the Fall.  To find out what products qualify and even more ways to earn money for our school on products you buy at the store and on-line, please go to: boxtops4education.com and labelsforeducation.com.

Summer school registration is now open for elementary school students.

·    Elementary Summer School is for current first through fifth graders who would like to get a jump-start on next year’s learning. The program also provides remedial assistance over the summer.  Classes are held on weekdays from July 5 to July 29, 9AM to 12 PM, atClark Elementary School.  Tuition is $375 and applications are available in your school office or on theDistrict website.

·    Summer Computer Camp is for current fourth and fifth graders. Students will learn how to use a camera, how to film correctly, and how to transfer video into the computer.  They will learn the fundamentals of video production and editing and how to use still pictures and video to make a movie. Their final project will be to produce a DVD.  Summer Computer Camp runs weekdays from July 11 to July 22, 9:30 to 11:30, atClark Elementary School.  Tuition for this two-week program is $225 and applications are available in your school office or on the District website.

Learning Updates

Dear Families,

It's hard to believe we've entered in to June. With this recent great weather it finally seems more real that summer is near. Time has truly flown!

Here's a quick update from our short, but busy week together in the classroom:

Parachute Investigations

Be sure to check out all the photos from this week, here!

Math

• Continued to learn about figuring rates
• Converted rates to more comprehensible rates, ie Laughs per lifetime to laughs per day.
• We'll wrap up our final math unit next week, take the end of year math assessment and also the Unit 12 math assessment

Science

• We've learned so much about properties of air this past week. We had an air investigation marathon just about the entire day on Wednesday
• Check out the photos of our parachute investigations. Ask students what sorts of things we learned about parachutes, ie which parachute designs worked best?
• Students will put their new learning to use on the design of their Egg Drop parachute (home project--directions went home Thursday). The Egg Drop assignment is due Thursday morning 6/9
• Ask your student about the film they watched, the reading they did, and our investigations around Bernoulli's Principle--how air pressure helps an airplane fly

Writing/Reading

• Continued working on our literary essays
• Took a closer look at two of our five texts as a class. We read them together and discussed the deeper meanings embedded within them. Then we began constructing a list of potential theses that students could adopt and write about
• The Watson's go to Birmingham--ask your student what's been happening lately in our Newberry Award Winning read aloud. Also, what happened to Byron's tongue on a cold day? How did the author bring in humor during this scene?

Market Day

• Students should be working on their Market Day projects at home. Market Day is this Wednesday 6/8 from 9:30-10:30. Parents are welcome to join us. We can supply you with some Grizzly Bucks in order to make purchases. However, purchases should not be made for your child--that's what their hard earned money is for! :)

School News:
Got science? The proposed new elementary science materials are on public display through June 8 at the Administration Building. Because of unprecedented state budget cuts, a community coalition—including the Issaquah Schools Foundation, PTSA, and chambers of commerce—is raising funds to bridge the gap so that the curriculum can be fully implemented next fall for every kindergarten through fifth-grade student. With two weeks left in the campaign, the coalition is still about $187,000 short of its goal (a target of $50 per elementary student). Learn more about how you can help.