Monday- Friday Nov. 20th - 24th:
NO SCHOOL Thanksgiving Break (All Week)
Have a Wonderful Week!
Wednesday, November 29th: All day O&A from 9am-2:30pm
We will take a bus to visit the Oregon Historical Society & Portland Art Museum
Chaperones Needed!!!
If you would like to join us, please email Ginny:
[email protected]
Level 2 Suggested Weekly Homework:
Reading Homework
Spend at least 20 minutes reading (outside of school) every day.
Reading is on the "honor system" and we ask that you help your kiddo to develop a daily reading routine with good-fit books. At fall conferences, your kiddo brought home the Tower of Books wall poster, which is a fun (and optional) reading genre challenge.
Typing Homework
Level 2 students have typing homework to develop and support important keyboarding skills. Please practice at least 20 minutes per week on: Typing.com
Math homework
It is strongly recommended that your student practice math skills
at least 30 minutes (or more) per week.
This can be completed online with Dreambox or Khan Academy. Students can also play math games, or complete worksheets (you can find grade level workbooks online or at the Learning Palace).
Current 4th grade Math Topics:
- Place Value
- Multi-digit Addition with Carrying & Subtraction with Borrowing
- Rounding Whole Numbers
- Factors & Multiples
- Multiplication Facts 2's -12's
- Prime & Composite Numbers
What's Happening in the Puffin Nest?
On Wednesday, the Plovers and Puffins participated in an "In & About" lab where they learned how our streams and fishing habits have changed over time since the first coastal people settled. They considered how people and ecosystems rely on healthy watersheds today. In a water pollution simulation activity called "Fred the Fish" presented by the Northwest Steelheaders, students got to see how pollution affects our watersheds, and thought about how to be good stewards of our water!
This week, students learned about a plan to relocate the people of their village onto a reservation. In 1854, the United States government decided to make treaties with the Northwest Coast native people to legally extinguish the native people’s right to the land and to set up reservations where the native people were forced to live. The “Territorial Governor Isaac Stevens” came into our classroom and asked to speak to the chief. Stevens read the treaty to the villagers and then demanded that the chief sign it. Students called a village meeting to discuss the treaty.
We discussed the following questions:
Why do you think they will only let you set up temporary houses where you fish?
Why does the president of the United States want the authority to move you to other places whenever he wants?
Why does the treaty demand that you be friendly to all settlers?
Why is the government providing education in agriculture and other skills?
You have always traded with your neighbors to the north. Why is that now being restricted?
Students wrote short stories about their experiences with the treaty and relocation from their character's perspective. We focused on beginning with a lead sentence to spark interest and draw the reader into the story, retelling the important event and providing clear information, using words to create vivid pictures, and including interesting details about the event. We also worked to edit carefully, making sure that our sentences sounded right and made sense when we read them out loud. Finally, we took the time to write carefully and neatly so that the stories would be easy to read and share.
On Friday, students experienced the final episode of our NW story-path unit. Because their community has faced so many changes, it is important for them to have the opportunity to come together and celebrate. Students held a ceremony that focused on honoring traditions, community values and generosity.
Students learned about the “First Salmon Ceremony” and what a serious and important event it is. We thought about the importance of the community and how people need to support one another in times of trouble. Next, we enjoyed a feast of traditional foods. This was followed by storytelling sessions, where students read their own stories. Finally, we ended by playing traditional games.
THANK YOU to all who generously donated food- it was a real feast!