Upcoming Events
Monday, May 27th NO SCHOOL: Memorial Day
Thursday, May 30th Celebrations of Learning Event 5:00pm – 6:30pm
Level 2 kiddos will present an interactive book tasting café open in both classrooms.
Book Swap!
Visitors will have an opportunity to participate in a “Book Swap” out in the Level 2 hallway.
Bring a Book--Take a Book!
If you have books that you would like to donate to the book swap, please have your Puffin bring them in during school on Wednesday May 29th or Thursday May 30th.
Books should be in good condition and can be for younger or older readers (K-8).
To help keep this event manageable, please limit your donations to no more than 5 books per student.
We will also have handouts about the summer reading program at the Forest Grove Public Library. Our goal is to help get students and families excited for summer reading!
Wednesday, June 6th LAST O&A!
Fernhill Wetlands 9:30am- 1:15pm
Chaperones Needed!
Thursday, June 6th
FGCS Bridging Ceremony
1:00-2:30 p.m. at Taylor-Meade Auditorium (Pacific University)
This event honors our 'bridging' students (2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th graders) who are moving up to the next level at FGCS or the high school. Parents and other family members of bridging students are encouraged to attend. Doors will open for the event at 12:30 p.m. and the event will start at 1 p.m. Click here for a map of the Pacific University campus. Please note that the 2:30 p.m. end time is approximate - the ceremony may run longer.
Students may be dismissed to parents immediately after the Bridging Ceremony, but you must check out with me before taking your student. Students may not self-release after Bridging. Puffins not going home with parents after the ceremony will be dismissed at the usual time and place.
Friday, June 7th
Field Day and Last Day of School:
Regular 1:05pm Friday dismissal
Community School Calendar 2018-2019
What's Happening in the Puffin Nest...
This week, we travelled out to the Oregon coast to participate in the Haystack Rock Awareness Program.
The HRAP is an environmental education program with a mission to protect, through education, the intertidal and bird ecology of the Marine Garden and Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge at Haystack Rock.
Students cycled through three stations where they learned about tidal pool animals, sea birds, and the interactions of those organisms with the environment where they live.
Students also put their teamwork skills to the test with our Oceanic Olympic Challenge:
Our O&A Objectives:
In the classroom, we continued our unit on plant life cycles & heredity. This week we solved the mystery, 'Why do plants grow fruit?' We saw how fruit is a tasty container for seeds, and how all fruits are simply one part of a flower (the ovary).
You can help support this week’s learning by involving your child when cutting vegetables or fruits. Ask them, “What should I look for, to know if what I’m cutting was once part of the flower?” (Answer: Look for seeds!)
Next, we learned about plant domestication, or how thousands of years ago we chose plants from the wild, such as tiny apples, and by carefully selecting seeds generation after generation, we’ve made them sweeter and bigger. We solved the mystery, "Why are some apples red, and some green?"
You can support this week’s learning by including your child on a trip to the grocery store’s produce section! Ask them to look for different varieties of one type of fruit. Consider asking them to find some new they’d like to try, such as a variety of apple or pear they’ve never tasted.
Writing Workshop
Students are exploring the "Art of Informational Writing" during writer's workshop.
Our Process and Goals:
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 and a well-lit, comfy reading spot away from distractions.
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
Every week, the math homework is to complete at least 30 minutes of math practice.
Ideas for math practice:
3rd grade parent info:
Current 4th grade Math Topic:
All 4th grade math students should be practicing their multiples DAILY.
Review Topics for 4th Grade Math:
Monday, May 27th NO SCHOOL: Memorial Day
Thursday, May 30th Celebrations of Learning Event 5:00pm – 6:30pm
Level 2 kiddos will present an interactive book tasting café open in both classrooms.
Book Swap!
Visitors will have an opportunity to participate in a “Book Swap” out in the Level 2 hallway.
Bring a Book--Take a Book!
If you have books that you would like to donate to the book swap, please have your Puffin bring them in during school on Wednesday May 29th or Thursday May 30th.
Books should be in good condition and can be for younger or older readers (K-8).
To help keep this event manageable, please limit your donations to no more than 5 books per student.
We will also have handouts about the summer reading program at the Forest Grove Public Library. Our goal is to help get students and families excited for summer reading!
Wednesday, June 6th LAST O&A!
Fernhill Wetlands 9:30am- 1:15pm
Chaperones Needed!
Thursday, June 6th
FGCS Bridging Ceremony
1:00-2:30 p.m. at Taylor-Meade Auditorium (Pacific University)
This event honors our 'bridging' students (2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th graders) who are moving up to the next level at FGCS or the high school. Parents and other family members of bridging students are encouraged to attend. Doors will open for the event at 12:30 p.m. and the event will start at 1 p.m. Click here for a map of the Pacific University campus. Please note that the 2:30 p.m. end time is approximate - the ceremony may run longer.
Students may be dismissed to parents immediately after the Bridging Ceremony, but you must check out with me before taking your student. Students may not self-release after Bridging. Puffins not going home with parents after the ceremony will be dismissed at the usual time and place.
Friday, June 7th
Field Day and Last Day of School:
Regular 1:05pm Friday dismissal
Community School Calendar 2018-2019
What's Happening in the Puffin Nest...
This week, we travelled out to the Oregon coast to participate in the Haystack Rock Awareness Program.
The HRAP is an environmental education program with a mission to protect, through education, the intertidal and bird ecology of the Marine Garden and Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge at Haystack Rock.
Students cycled through three stations where they learned about tidal pool animals, sea birds, and the interactions of those organisms with the environment where they live.
Students also put their teamwork skills to the test with our Oceanic Olympic Challenge:
- Complete Field Notes: a record of our field activities, investigations, observations and thoughts.
- Whale sonar challenge
- Micro-plastic clean-up
- Sand sculpture of a coastal animal
- Make a safe burrow: dig a burrow in the sand and use driftwood to create a protective structure around an egg that can withstand a water bottle drop
- Build a food pyramid with your bodies
Our O&A Objectives:
- Identify challenges faced by animals in coastal ecosystems
- Identify how tide pool animals and seabirds have adapted to survive in the Pacific Northwest Coast marine ecosystem
- Demonstrate how to interact with tide pools and nesting seabirds without causing harm
- Practice solving problems with our teams during the Oceanic Olympics
In the classroom, we continued our unit on plant life cycles & heredity. This week we solved the mystery, 'Why do plants grow fruit?' We saw how fruit is a tasty container for seeds, and how all fruits are simply one part of a flower (the ovary).
You can help support this week’s learning by involving your child when cutting vegetables or fruits. Ask them, “What should I look for, to know if what I’m cutting was once part of the flower?” (Answer: Look for seeds!)
Next, we learned about plant domestication, or how thousands of years ago we chose plants from the wild, such as tiny apples, and by carefully selecting seeds generation after generation, we’ve made them sweeter and bigger. We solved the mystery, "Why are some apples red, and some green?"
You can support this week’s learning by including your child on a trip to the grocery store’s produce section! Ask them to look for different varieties of one type of fruit. Consider asking them to find some new they’d like to try, such as a variety of apple or pear they’ve never tasted.
Writing Workshop
Students are exploring the "Art of Informational Writing" during writer's workshop.
Our Process and Goals:
- We will select a topic for our informational writing.
- We will conduct research and gather informational notes from trustworthy sources.
- We will use an outline to organize information.
- We will write an interesting beginning and conclusion.
- We will write paragraphs with a topic sentence, facts and relevant details.
- We will read, revise, and edit as we work.
- Using Book Creator on the iPad, we will include headings, text boxes, pictures with captions, and other visuals in our finished books.
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 and a well-lit, comfy reading spot away from distractions.
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
Every week, the math homework is to complete at least 30 minutes of math practice.
Ideas for math practice:
- Recommended: Students can get valuable math practice with their Dreambox account. The Dreambox accounts offer an easy way to track math progress and feature assignments that are on-topic with what we are learning in class.
- If your family would prefer to practice math skills in other ways (practice books, worksheets, flash cards, math games or other online resources such as Khan Academy), please send in your student's work OR send me an email before Friday morning each week letting me know how they completed their 30 minutes of weekly math practice.
- Current 3rd/ 4th grade math topics are listed below.
3rd grade parent info:
Current 4th grade Math Topic:
All 4th grade math students should be practicing their multiples DAILY.
Review Topics for 4th Grade Math:
