One Book, Two Books, Read Books, Knew books...

You're never too old, too wacky, too wild,


To pick up a book and read with a child.


You're never too busy, too cool, or too hot,


To pick up a book and share what you've got.

In schools and communities,
Let's gather around,


Let's pick up a book,
Let's pass it around.

Read a book all day long, read to someone you know,

Oh the thinks you will think, oh, the places you'll go!

March 2, is Dr. Suess' birthday and is celebrated as Read-Across- America Day! This Tuesday is all about reading! We will have guest readers, buddy reading and time to enjoy independent reading as well. We will explore a "Suess-ish" substance called Oobleck and try to determine if it is a solid or liquid (we might find it has properties of both). Because we want to focus on the reading, we need to be really comfortable. Tree Swallows are invited to wear PJ's and bring one favorite stuffed friend (to read to). We will be going outside for break, so please make sure to have a coat and shoes. Slippers are o.k. in the classroom.

Wednesday is our trip to Salem for the Entomology Museum and to the Children's Museum for a "Bug building" class. We will be leaving FGCS parking lot sharply at 9:00am and will return at 2:45 pm. We will not have access to a microwave for lunches. The majority of our O&A will be indoors. However, we are planning on having lunch and a short break outside, so please make sure that your child is prepared in case of rain (forecast say's it is supposed to be raining).

If that isn't excitement enough for one day... Wednesday evening is Celebrations of Learning 5:00-6:30. This is like an open-house event where you can come see what is going on in the classroom. Come explore our backyard Storyline (character homes, diary entries and the Critter Cafe menu items). We will have samples of the Swallows work with the Merlins (recorded books and supplemental activities) and an invitation to help complete this gift to the Adelante Mujeres preschool.

LET'S GO OUT WITH A BANG... The Pennies for Peace fundraiser was scheduled to end February 28th. We are so close to our goal of $300.00 and have done so much to prepare for this project. To honor the investment of time and creativity by the Tree Swallows and the Kestrels, we will be showcasing student Pennies for Peace PSAs and inviting your penny donations during this Celebrations of Learning evening.

What's up next?

Monday, March 8, we will be heading to the Oregon Zoo. There we will participate in a guided exploration of habitat with a NW focus. I am seeking a few parent guides for this trip. If you are willing and able, please contact me asap.

On Wednesday, we turn our attention to Ash Street Field, where we will look for signs of NW life and broaden our research in preparation for our public information product (later this year).

Oh, the places we'll go...

This Wednesday, we are off to Nana Cardoons! We will begin our afternoon there with our Level 3 “Garden” buddies to explore soil, research plans and perhaps, help Richard and Charlene prepare their garden for planting (this gets us ready for when it will be time to plant our FGCS garden). The second half of our time there will be time to work on our Treasure Book (shhhhh… this will be a surprise for our hosts). Tree Swallows will be taking photos, researching and mapping grounds (depending on their topic pages) to create a book about this garden farm and what lives, grows and visits here, including our experiences.

It is estimated that there are approximately 10 quintillion (10,000,000,000,000,000,000) individual insects alive. There are 1,017,018 species of insects in the world with some experts estimating that there just might be as many as 10 million species out there. That means you could spend your whole life looking at different kinds of insects and you'll never be able to see them all.

That doesn’t mean we aren’t gonna try, though. On Wednesday, March 3^rd, we are going The Oregon Department of Agriculture's Insect Museum in Salem. The collection, with 150,000 pinned specimens, is open to small tour groups. It's hard to imagine, but 95% of all the animal species on the earth are insects!!

Where we left off...

The Tree Swallows bid farewell to our Ash Street invertebrates last week. The weather was perfect for our trek to the wetland and their homecoming. Along the way we pointed out signs of spring (they are everywhere!) and collected litter (Tree Swallow, Josie has set a semester goal to encourage litter collection on all O&A and create a cleaner Forest grove).

That same lovely day, back in the classroom, we met new “guests.” Riddle: What do you call a worm with 6 legs, 2 antennae and shedding skin? Answer: Tenebrio molitor, or mealworm for short. And your budding entomologists will tell you, the mealworm is no “worm” at all! The “un-worm” shares a habitat with a pupa and a darkling beetle.

This inquiry study has us learning and applying scientific observation skills. We have discussed and applied qualitative observation—using our senses and recording visible characteristics of the mealworm, a pupa and a darkling beetle. Students closely and carefully examined each and recorded their theory of the relationship between the three critters. This week, we will formally discuss collecting quantitative data (quantity, measurement, change over time) in order to confirm or modify our predictions.

The Critter Café is a feast for the imagination! Come tour the “crawlinary” delights next Wednesday. It is Celebrations of Learning (1^st Wednesday, FG Open House). More on this later…

Fabulous February!

Greetings Swallows and families! It is just after noon on Sunday, and the mix of sun and heavy clouds are casting the most captivating shadows on the hillsides making it near impossible to keep my gaze and attention on the computer. Ah, so this is Spring fever… Clouds….birds chirping…must… share…..news…. oh, dancing clouds……

Greetings Swallows and families! It is almost 2:00. Mother Nature’s lightshow continues, and while I still have a peripheral eye toward the window and spring on the horizon, my thoughts are on the Swallow week and sharing it with you.

Let’s recap where we have been….

Buddies:

The Tree Swallows and Merlins have completed their audio book project. The partners have recorded a reading of their chosen book and created several supplementary activities (coloring pages, maxes, word search and retelling props) to donate to local pre-school (Adelante Muheres). We are talking about a plan to deliver the packets soon.

Storyline:

A character, Ely Earthworm, is interested in opening a café in the backyard. He has petitioned his neighbors to help create a menu that will interest and satisfy every backyard critter. After acquiring some background knowledge about insect mouthparts (form and function) and the relationship to diet through a hands-on lab, students were given the task of creating a menu item for The Critter Café. The Swallows researched diet and mouthpart for their chosen insect or insect neighbor. We brainstormed “mouthwatering” words and are in the process of creating descriptions of a menu item that incorporates known facts and imagination. Swallows are also creating clay representations of their entrée, dessert or side dish. Feeling Famished?

Ash Street:

We continue to build our sense of stewardship with the local wetlands we have dubbed, “Ash Street Field.” We have spent the last couple Wednesday’s getting to know this place more deeply, through observational journaling, sensory activities and open explore. Last week, our budding entomologists explored the field for critters. With an eye toward insect identification (six legs, 3 body parts, two antenna and sometimes wings), the Swallows recorded did careful data collection. We found mostly worms. Oh, but ask your young scientist about examining a worm up close with the jewelers loop! We will perform this same investigation next each remaining month to compare.

Aye, Matie….Treasure!

We have officially announced our classroom Treasure book! We have decided upon an informational/scrapbook of Nana Cardoon’s. Each Swallow has decided upon a specific topic about Nana’s and our time there, and has begun drafting illustrations and text. We will submit our final version early March and expect published versions back at the beginning of April. Your Swallow should have brought home an order form. Even if you don’t plan to order a copy, please send the signed form (check no and sign) back. This is how we earn a free class copy.

WE HAVE JUST GOTTEN STARTED….

This week, we continue our backyard saga. The Critter Café is sure to open its doors this week and will offer a delightfully imaginative menu. The critics (and crickets) will rave! A mysterious “visitor” to the backyard will invite students to explore critter adaptations for survival/defense and examine critter life cycle.

Writers and Illustrators will continue work on their Nana Cardoon page this week.

Which brings me to Wednesday’s Out and About…

The Swallows need to do some field research for their Nana topics, so I have arraigned for a trip and time to write, illustrate and interview both the land and the owners. There is a slight possibility that this trip will need to be postponed. If that happens, we will head to Ash Street to collect supplies and specimens for a habitat creation and investigation.

I will keep you posted.

IT IS TIME TO CELEBRATE EACH UNIQUE MEMBER of OUR CLASS FAMILY…

We have started the much loved and highly anticipated tradition of HEART AFFIRMATIONS. Each day, a Swallow student is honored in a special class gathering. This begins with the student sharing about his or her “favorites” and then each member of the class offers an affirmation/ compliment about the honored student. This is all recorded on (what else) a large paper heart, which will adorn the walls (yes, I know, I am thinking “where” too…) for the next several weeks.