Upcoming Events:
Scholastic Book Clubs
Class Code: L79X9
Order Due Date: TUESDAY 3/10/20
Book orders must be paid for online - we can no longer accept checks or cash.
- Go to scholastic.com/bookclubs
- Enter our one-time Class Activation Code: L79X9
- Shop and submit your child's book order.
- As soon as your order is delivered to our classrooms, we will send it home with your child.
Wednesday, March 18th O&A: Backyard Garden
We are hoping for 1-2 parent volunteers to help run our "pioneer chores" stations in the backyard garden from 1:50pm-3pm.
Please email if you are interested: [email protected]
Friday, March 20th: All School Meeting: Puffins present! (Spirit Theme: Super Hero)
Forest Grove School District building (1728 Main St.) in the Grove Room @ 9:45am
FGCS YEARBOOK: The 2019-20 FGCS Yearbook is now available to order online! Click here to purchase a yearbook with credit or debit. If you prefer to pay with cash or check, you may do that in the office using this form, which is also available in the school office. Yearbook orders are due by 3 p.m. Fri., March 20.
March 23th-27th Spring Break: No School
Wednesday, April 8th: O&A to Oregon Historical Museum. 10am -2pm
Bus departs at 10am, returning to FGCS by 2pm
2 Chaperones needed- please email if you are interested: [email protected]
Wednesday, April 22nd: Pioneer Cook-off at the UCC 9:15am - Noon
3 Kitchen volunteer/chaperones needed to assist students with their cook-off challenge and to also assist Amy with clean up at the UCC.
Please email if you are interested: [email protected]
Wednesday, April 29th: Pioneer Day at the AT Smith House 10am-2pm
Oregon Trail Dress Up Day! More details will follow.
We are hoping for 5 chaperones. The AT Smith House is close to the school and chaperones are encouraged to drive themselves (we will have room for 1-2 chaperones on the bus if needed).
Please email if you are interested: [email protected]
What’s happening in the Puffin Nest?
Book Clubs
We continue to nurture a culture of reading in our classroom with student-led book clubs. The Puffins selected their books in small groups at our book tasting event last week. This week, they created a group contract to outline their vision for how they would like the group to work. Next, they worked together to come up with a book club name, choose meeting jobs, make plans for upcoming meetings where they will share their response work and discuss their books.
Club members will practice responsibility, cooperation, reliance and resilience. They will have the opportunity to find their voice, and to contribute their unique ideas and perspectives. Ask your kiddo to tell you about the book they are reading!
Read Across America Day
Grab your hat and read with the cat! The Puffins celebrated the National Education Association's annual Read Across America Day on Monday, March 2nd. The Puffins honored Dr. Seuss's birthday with a day of buddy reading, art appreciation and poetry!
Storytelling in the Classroom
Puffins are learning about the art of storytelling and building their public speaking skills. Last week, students read several stories and selected the one they wanted to learn.
This week, they created a "story map" to help them memorize their own version of the tale. Next, we did several fun activities in class to help them practice and prepare to tell the stories out loud in class. We are working on:
- Talking loudly, clearly, and slowly enough so that our audience can hear everything
- Using gestures and facial expressions to help the listeners SEE the story
- Emphasizing some words and repeating parts to make them stand out
- Being brave, assertive, and calm when speaking in front of others
Ask your kiddo to practice at home by telling you the "Story of Sneezy"
as well as the Noodlehead story they chose to learn!
If you are interested in encouraging more storytelling at home, check out these prompts for telling personal or family stories. Sharing stories at home can be an enriching experience!
Science in the Puffin Nest
What we're learning in science this week...
Our current unit of study: The Human Machine.
This introductory human body unit takes the perspective that we can think about our bodies as being like a machine. We have parts for moving around, sensors, and a built-in computer. Students explore their senses and consider how the information we process helps us understand and react to our environment.
This week’s focus: Light, Eyes & Vision
Our guiding question : “What do blind people see?”
This week your child created a working model of a human eye! Using that model, we discovered the basics of how our eyes work, and figured out some of the causes of vision problems.
One thing you can do to support your child’s curiosity about this topic is to have a discussion about any family members or friends who wear eyeglasses (or contact lenses). In our lesson, we learned about why some people have blurry vision, but we did not discuss how some people have better near-vision (nearsightedness) while other people have better far-vision (farsightedness). This would make a great dinner table discussion!
Adapted Fairy-Tale Writing & Stop-Motion Project
Level 2 students presented their stop motion animation stories at our Celebrations of Learning event. Wow! These kids are amazing! Thanks SO much to all the FGCS families and community members who visited our classroom to view these projects.
Here's how our stories came to life:
- Piggy Locks
- Cinders and Ella
- Jack and the Giant Hole
- Goodallocks and the 3 Chimps
- The 3 Little Soldiers and the Big Bad Tank
- Winterlocks and the 3 Penguins
- The 3 Little Sharks and the Big Bad Narwhal
- Astrolocks and the 3 Aliens
- Little Creative Puffin
- The Sushi Man
- The Donut Man
- Jack and the Magic Portal
- The Little Blue Dolphin
Our current class Read Aloud:
Where The Mountain Meets The Moon by Grace Lin. This story incorporates many Chinese folk tales told by the main character's father, which makes it a great fit with our focus on folktales & storytelling!
Level 2 Suggested Weekly Homework:
Reading Homework
Spend at least 20 minutes reading (outside of school) every day.
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.
Click here for DreamBox
Recent 4th grade Math Topics:
- Multiplication: 1 digit by 2 digit and 2 digit by 2 digit using the "area method"
- Divide 1 digit by 2 , 3 and 4 digits using an area model
- Division Algorithm (AKA: Long Division) Watch a Video!
- Fractions
Prefer a worksheet for math homework? You can download here, or your student can pick up a paper copy in class.
Here are the practice pages for the previous weeks:
- Homework #1: Introduction to Fractions
- Homework #2: Unit Fractions/ Finding Fractions on a Number line
- Homework #3: Comparing Fractions
- Homework #4: Adding & Subtracting Fractions
- Homework #5: Adding & Subtract Fractions with UNLIKE denominators AND Multiplying a Fraction by a Whole Number
- Homework #6: Proper and Improper fractions, Conversions between improperfractions and mixed numbers, addition of mixed numbers
- Homework #7: Multiplying a mixed number by a whole number
- Practice Test A review of all fractions topics we have covered
- Homework #8: Subtraction of mixed numbers (with regrouping), multiplying a mixed number by a whole number and decimal notation