Weekly Newsletter

Have a great summer!

6/14/2022

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Wrapping up our year...

Dear Puffins,

It has been a great joy to be your teacher this year! Each day, you impressed me with your enthusiasm for learning, your creativity, positive attitudes, and care for each other. You are all truly magnificent human beings and I feel so lucky to be a part of your journey.

You have all grown so much this year and I am exceedingly proud of you. Remember to embrace challenges, put forth your best effort, and be creative problem solvers. Be kind and have fun!
Have a wonderful summer everyone:)

Best Wishes,
Ginny

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June 6th - 10th

6/7/2022

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Upcoming Calendar Events:

Daily class snack for recess-
Once again, we are nearly out of snacks...
A BIG Thank you to all of our amazing families who provide daily snacks for the class. Your support is amazing!! If you are able, please consider donating a box of individually wrapped healthy snacks to the Puffin nest. Our Puffins thank you!!

Wednesday, June 15th:
Bridging Ceremony at Taylor-Meade Hall at Pacific University map
9:30am- 11:30am
At FGCS, our annual year-end Bridging Ceremony honors students in 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th grade who are moving up or 'bridging' to the next level at FGCS or who are moving on to high school. This year, we are planning two bridging ceremonies, one for 2nd and 4th graders and one for 6th and 8th graders. All students will attend these ceremonies during the school day.
PLEASE NOTE: Because of the current surge in Covid cases, we're trying to limit attendance at about 50% of capacity this year, and we must limit guests at Bridging to 2 per Bridging student.
For level 2, ONLY family of 4th graders are invited to attend. Here are details for this year:

Bridging ceremonies will take place on Weds., June 15 at Taylor-Meade Auditorium on the campus of Pacific University. June 15 is the next-to-last day of the school year.

Puffins & Plovers: The lower school (2nd/4th) ceremony will take place at 9:30 a.m. Weds., June 15.
The upper school (6th/8th) ceremony will take place at 1 p.m. Weds., June 15.

Each bridging ceremony will last 60-90 minutes. June 15 is a full school day; all students will be dismissed as usual at 3:20 p.m.

Thursday, June 16th:
Field Day and Last Day of School- 3:20pm dismissal

A message from Art Teacher Stephanie:
Yearbook is on sale now for $20.
To purchase a yearbook please go to www.treering.com/validate and enter the number 1016052158063632. Students are now creating the cover of the yearbook. A yearbook is a great way to remember their time this year. If you have any questions please email Stephanie at s.woods@fgcschool.org. Thanks for all your support!

What’s happening in the Puffin Nest?
Our current science weather unit: The Birth of Rocks
This week in science we continued our geology unit about rocks. We asked, “How can you survive a landslide?” Your child learned about landslides and how a steep slope plus rain can cause broken rocks to tumble and cause real damage. Your child brainstormed solutions for preventing landslides, keeping people safe, and protecting property.

You can support this week’s learning by picking a problem that your family is encountering and brainstorming solutions with your child. Take a few minutes to write down some ideas together. Remember, when you’re brainstorming, there are no bad ideas! After you’ve generated some ideas, discuss them and decide which idea you think has the most promise.

Out & About
This week, we held our Level 2 Talent Show! Talented students from both classes presented their skills on stage at the Grove Room. We had a great time and really enjoyed the show. Thanks to all of our brave kiddos for stepping up to perform!

Writing Workshop
Students finished their informational biography books during writer's workshop.
Our Process and Goals:

Begin the informational writing journey by choosing an inspirational change maker to learn about.
Conduct research and gather notes. As they read a biography about this person, students locate information in the text about childhood, overcoming obstacles and accomplishments
Use an outline to organize the information from their research.

Write an interesting beginning and conclusion.
Write paragraphs with a topic sentence, facts and relevant details.
Read, revise, and edit.
Include headings, text boxes, and pictures with captions in our finished books.

Biography Bottles
To bring our project to life,
we got to work creating our "Biography Bottle People".
A biography bottle is a recycled bottle made to look like a historical figure, past or present, who made an important contribution to our world. After finishing our bottle people, we shared our biography books and bottle people in small groups.

Read Aloud
Our storytelling adventure continues with our current read-aloud:
The Wanderer by Sharon Creech
The Wanderer combines storytelling, adventure, family relationships, and compelling characterization to tell a tale of a difficult journey to another land and to a sense of self-awareness.

A Reminder about Level 2 Homework:
In Level 2, our homework is on the honor system. We ask families to develop and sustain this important practice at home in a way that works best for you. Having a regular routine (time/place/materials) will ensure that your child will be prepared to tackle their required homework in Level 3 more easily.

Math: at least 30 minutes (or more) of math practice each week.

Practicing multiplication math facts at home is a GREAT way to support your kiddo!

3rd graders should work on: 2's, 3's, 4's, 5's and 6's

4th graders should work on all multiplication facts for 2-12's.

We also recommend that students engage in 10-15 minutes of a math activity (math website or game) and then complete one page in their math workbook at least 2 days per week.
All level 2 kiddos brought home a math workbook (or packet) for homework practice in November. Let us know if they are ready for a new book!
For computer practice, take a moment to set up a free account for your child:

Khan Academy: instructional videos and problem solving practice
Prodigy: answer math questions, complete quests, earn rewards
SumDog: solve math problems while playing video games
Math Game Time: no account set-up required, select grade level & play!

Reading: at least 20 minutes reading (outside of school) every day.

The public library is a great resource. Make sure your kiddo has access to lots of “good fit” books that they are excited to read. Check out our Level 2 Book Recommendations HERE.
Read-alouds and audio books work too! Also, listen to your child read out loud, and ask them questions about their reading & thinking.

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Have a great summer!

June 6th - 10th

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