Upcoming Events
Wednesday, Nov. 13th Trackers PDX Archery
1:50-2:50pm
Chaperones Welcome!
We will walk up to the district building to use the field
Monday November 11th NO SCHOOL Veterans Day
Friday, November 22nd All School Meeting: Puffins & Plovers present!
Forest Grove School District building (1728 Main St.) in the Grove Room @ 9:45am
November 25th - 29th NO SCHOOL Thanksgiving break
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.
Empty Bowls Event:
Bring your whole family, have a lovely dinner, and help your community! Every student at FGCS made a bowl this year, with the help of Pacific University's clay studio. We are having a wonderful event called EmptyBowls. November 22nd (the Friday before Thanksgiving break) from 5 pm to 7 pm at the Forest Grove Senior Center. You will be able to purchase a bowl made by students for $5, then you will get to fill it with soup and have dinner. All of the money raised will go to HomePlate Youth an organization going to help feel homeless teenagers in Washington County. It is a great way to give back to our community right before Thanksgiving. I hope to see you there. Attached is a flyer with a little more information. If you have any questions about the event or want to help out email Stephanie at [email protected]
A big THANK YOU to everyone who sent in donations for our feast next week.
We are all set with an abundance of traditional foods!
What’s happening in the Puffin Nest?
Our NW Story path encountered two more critical incidents. During the middle to late 1800s, new settlers from the United States traveled to the Northwest Coast, which was part of the Northwest Territories, and started establishing communities and laying claim to the land.
This week, a settlement appeared near the students’ village followed by a land dispute and an illness outbreak.
The action began when students received word that the people of the settlement were going to cut down the trees in the forest for lumber and that all native people must stay out of the forest. Next, people from the new settlement asked for food. The villagers were concerned for their own safety because illness (measles and smallpox) outbreaks has killed native people in other villages. The village met to decide what to do.
Through discussion of these two events, students considered the conflicts that can result when two different groups of people come together. To encourage reflection, we discussed these questions:
- Why do you think the settlers were afraid or looked down on the NW Coast people? Why did they treat them unfairly?
- Are there situations like this today in which there are misunderstandings between different groups of people? Give an example!
- What do we need to remember when two different cultures come together?
- What can we learn from the encounters of new settlers and native people of long ago?
Next, 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.
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
Current 4th grade Math Topics:
- Place Value
- Multi-digit Addition/ Subtraction and Rounding
- Multiplying 1-digit numbers
- Factors and Multiples
- Prime and Composite Numbers
This week, 4th graders brought home more resources for practicing their multiples at home:
1) Skip counting mazes
2) Multiples bunting banners- we started this project in class, and your student has the supplies and know-how to make banners for their multiples of 4's, 6's, 7's and 8's to hang up in their rooms as fun facts practice decorations. This week, please remind your student to finish and hang their banners.
Important note: all 4th graders should be practicing multiplication facts 2-12 DAILY. Helping your student remember to practice by fitting in a few minutes each day will go a long way in supporting this important facts acquisition. Thank you for supporting your 4th grader:)