Upcoming Events
Friday, January 14th: FGCS Spirit Day!
The spirit theme for January is 'dress like your favorite character.' This could be a character from a book, movie, video game, whatever. Costumes should be school appropriate (think PG-rated - nothing violent or scary, no weapons, etc.) and not include any masks (except, of course, the mandatory masks we're all wearing). Students should also be able to easily remove the costume for PE or be able to participate in PE with the costume on. Participating in Spirit Days with costumes is completely optional - no pressure for those who don't want to dress up.
Friday, January 28th and Monday, January 31st: NO SCHOOL for students
Grading & Staff Development- End of Semester 1
Needed in the NEW YEAR: Snack Donations
When level 2 students go out to 2nd recess, they are welcome to bring their water bottle and a snack. There are many kids who need a healthy snack each day, and our classroom supply is quickly dwindling.
Thanks so much to everyone who donated snacks in 2021!
If you are able, please consider donating a box of individually wrapped snacks to the Puffin nest in the new year.
What works best? Easy-peel Clementine oranges, granola bars or fruit leather make great individually wrapped snacks. We are looking for healthy, low-added-sugar snacks.
Just send your class donation in with your kiddo when they return in January.
Our Puffins thank you!!
Winter is here!
It's imperative that students come to school with warm layers of clothing, warm socks and rain gear (shoes/coats). We strongly recommend that students keep a change of clothes in their backpacks. Gloves, hats and rain gear will continue to be needed in the new year!
2021-22 School Year Calendar
A message from Art Teacher Stephanie:
Yearbook is on sale now for $20. To purchase a yearbook please go to www.treering.com/validate Then 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 [email protected]. Thanks for all your support!
What’s happening in the Puffin Nest?
Once upon a time…
This week, we launched our fairy tale writing unit.
In December, we prepared for this work by reading lots of different fairy tales, as well as their modern adaptations. By reading and listening to these stories, students deeply connect with story arcs, archetypes and lessons.
As we begin our writing unit, we need to know how to go about writing fairytale adaptations. We looked back at our notes of all of the adaptations we studied in December. The question that guided our inquiry this week was:
- What does the author seem to be trying to do when they change some things and not others?
Changes to the CHARACTERS
- a girl to a boy
- a mean character to a nice one
- something old-fashioned to something modern
- something rich & fancy to something more people can relate to
- country-like to city-like
- olden times to modern times
- wanting money & power to wanting to do good in the world
- something that grown-ups care about to what kids care about
Our list will be a great tool for us to use as we write our very own adaptations. Next week, we will begin planning and writing!
Engineering Labs
As the weather continues to be cold and wet, we are staying warm with our In&About Engineering Labs! This week, students imagined, created, tested, made improvements and found solutions as they built an item that would assist characters in another well known fairy tale.
For our final Fairytale engineering challenge, teams created a trap for the witch in Hansel and Gretel using various recycled materials. The trap had to include some sort of kinetic movement, and students were challenged to not use any tape in their design. Students showed so much creativity with traps that included pulley systems, drop cages, trap doors, and more!
Mystery Science:
This week, we started a new unit: Waves of Sound
All sounds are vibrations. Normally, we hear those vibrations but don't see them. The activities in this unit will give students the opportunity to observe how sound waves feel and look.
Students were introduced to the unit anchoring phenomenon, a music video by composer Nigel Stanford, that showcases a series of devices that make sound waves visible. In our activity, they created an initial conceptual model to explain how each device works. We asked:
How can invisible sounds cause the patterns we can see in the video?
Level 2 "Inclusive Community" Read-Aloud Series
We will continue to engage a weekly "Inclusive Community" read-aloud series. Through these read-alouds, we will learn about and celebrate diversity in our community.
January: LGBTQ+ History and Awareness
- I am Jazz
- Be Amazing
- Love Makes a Family
- 10,000 Dresses
- Pink is For Boys