Friday, October 15th NO SCHOOL for students
Professional Development/Grading Day
Thursday, October 21st: NO SCHOOL for students
Student Conferences
Friday, October 22nd: NO SCHOOL for students
Student Conferences
2021-22 School Year Calendar
A Note About Water Bottles:
This year, all students need to come to school with a labeled water bottle. Due to Covid, we had to turn our water fountains into water dispensers so that students wouldn't be drinking from the fountain. Students can fill their water bottles at the water fountains but can't drink from them. Please make sure your kiddo brings their water bottle to school each day.
Dressing for Cold & Rainy Weather :
To ensure comfort and general happiness, please make sure that your kiddo is prepared for the weather. Students should wear or bring weather/activity appropriate footwear and an outer jacket that can repel water.
Monday & Thursday: Outdoor PE Wednesday: Out & About
Recess: Twice Everyday
NOTE: Students can also bring extra clothes/socks/shoes and masks (keep in backpack).
If you need any help getting rain gear for your kiddo, please let us know!
What’s happening in the Puffin Nest?
Our current Storypath: “Early Northwest Coast People”
Level 2 students are exploring the history of early NW coastal people through the creation of a story that centers around a community living on the Pacific Northwest Coast in the 1800s. Students began their study of the people of the Northwest Coast by creating a setting and characters. Each week, they learn more about early Northwest Coast culture through role-playing and writing about critical historical events. This unit spans the time period from pre-European contact through the forced relocation of Native Americans to reservations.
This week: Constructing the Village
After creating the setting and the families our story, we were ready to create the village where our characters live. Before creating the village, we learned more about the skills each of the characters can contribute to the community. In this way, we are able to understand more clearly our role within the village community
We learned that every member of the Northwest Coast community had jobs to do. Older relatives sang songs and told stories that taught the children about family history. When children were about six years old, they left their older relatives and worked with the adults. This is how they learned to do adult jobs such as:
- Gathering, cooking and preserving food such as berries, roots, and shellfish.
- Weaving baskets, clothes, and blankets.
- Carving tools, utensils, canoes, and totem poles
- Fishing and making traps, nets, hooks and harpoons
- Hunting and making bows and arrows
This week for our Out & About, students learned all about the art and process of bow making, and the importance hunting played in the life of Indigenous people in our area. The local Atfalati people took great pride and care in making their bows as it often took up to two years to create. We learned that bows were made from native plants like hazelnut, ocean-spray, and rattan, and were used to hunt animals like elk (mulak), deer, and smaller game as well. It took a lot of knowledge to hunt successfully, and much of that knowledge was passed down from generation to generation within a tribe. Students got to practice shooting bows and arrows on our Out & About with foam archery sets donated by Oregon Airsoft. We practiced shooting in a field before doing some target practice!
Back in the classroom, we continued our discussions about natural resources and building shelter with the following questions:
- What resource for building shelters is abundant in this environment?
- What kind of shelter is needed in a cold, wet climate?
- What could be used to heat a shelter from the inside?
- Since it rains a lot, what would be a good shape for a shelter’s roof?
- Why do shelters need to be big?
- What would be in a village besides longhouses?