Goal!

What's Growing on in the Goal Garden?

Make sure you check out the blooms, fruits and veggies that have emerged. Each one indicates a student personal goal was met! This deserves a yippee and hooray for each one also represents the student's initiative, perseverance and collaboration with family and school community.

The front of the school will be even more beautiful because of a student goal to create a butterfly garden, and because of her peers collaboration to make it happen.

18 level 1 and 2 "LEGO- lovers" are getting together and practicing teamwork, cooperation creative expression because of a student's personal goal and the family support to make it happen.

Our community is a little cleaner because of a O&A Trash Collection Contest for level 1 and 2 coordinated by a student personal goal.

There are ongoing goals and new sprouts too (that means new goals)!

We have students who are writing chapter books, teaching science inquiry, making a documentary about volcanoes, co-teaching music with our music volunteer, teaching ballet and jazz to a group of peers, teaching drawing and coordinating a fundraiser for the ASPCA, to name a few.

Thank you again, Families, for your support! These kids see no limits!

Forward MARCH!!!! AKA what is happening this month...

I am sorry, but who pushed the fast-forward button? How is it possible that we are 2/3 of the way through this school year and already near through the month of March? Ugh...now we have the time change to boot (you did remember to jump forward an hour?)

Let's jump right in....

Our listening library project for Adelantes Mujeres with the Merlins is complete. Each buddy group put together a wonderful packet, complete with audio recording of selected book and supplementary learning activities. To be truly complete, we would like to be able to send the book along too. For this we need your help. We are seeking donations of selected book titles to send along to the Adelante Preschool. Below is a list of titles we still need. Please let me know if you need the authors name to locate the book and if you are able to donate (used or new) this title to make our project complete. When we have collected each title, we will coordinate a trip to deliver the literacy packets to the preschool. Thanks for helping to make a reader!

-I Saw It Happen On Mulberry Street (Seuss) -If You Give A Cat A Cupcake

-Butter Battle Book (Seuss) - Thomas the Tiger

-Green Eggs and Ham (Seuss) - Chrysanthemum

-Horton Hatches an Egg (Seuss) -The Girl Who Swam With the Fish

-Imogene's Antlers - The Secret Shortcut

-The Little Red Hen

SOMETHING TO TREASURE....

Our Treasure book is almost finished! This week we decide on a title for this homage to and informational tour of Nana Cardoon, the garden-farm that has become our treasured backyard. The Swallows have taken this authorship task very seriously and have worked very hard to create this informational book and scrapbook of experience. Thank you to all have already sent in order/decline sheets. If you have not sent in either an order form or a decline to order, please do so by Wednesday this week. Even if you decide not to order, your completion of the form guarantees the class a copy of the published book. If you do wish to order, unlike other books we have created in the past, this book can not be ordered at a later date. There is just one publication run. If you would like to see a mock-up print, please contact me by email or in person by Wednesday morning.

AUTHORS' TEA: THIS FRIDAY!

This will be our 3rd opportunity this year for Swallow writers to publish and share the writing they are doing in the classroom. All Swallows will have the opportunity to share their Treasure book pages and many writers have indicated they have pieces to share with the Swallow audience. This Tea will be the first "trial" with a microphone. Join us as audience, if you are able.

SPRING BREAK IS NEXT WEEK

When we return...

WEDNESDAY is our O&A to Nana Cardoons to learn about and explore creating cobb mud structures/sculptures. Alas....although our initial plan was to create a FGCS earth oven and many of us prepared to support this, we have since discovered that we can not create this for our school. This will not preclude our cobb workshop with Nana Cardoon on March 31st or our plan to create both a useful and aesthetically pleasing cobb structure.

O&A this week...

We will have two outings this week and the weather is predicted to cooperate! That is worth the outing alone... However, there are additional reasons we will be heading outdoors.

WEDNESDAY: This week, we will begin "publishing" our backyard "Critters" storyline and shifting our full-time focus to Ash Street. Over the next couple months, we will become "experts" about this space (what lives and grows here and public and educational use) to create some information sharing product/forum. Wednesday, we will head to Ash Street at 1:00 p.m-3:00 p.m. to identify and record native plants and animals and to work toward deciding upon focus for independent study.

THURSDAY: We have been gifted the opportunity to explore another local organic garden/farm (think Nana Cardoons...) and habitat for natives wildlife (insects, amphibians and mammals) with a buddy classroom.

This Thursday, we will head to Flamingo Ridge Farm near Gaston at 9:05 a.m., with our Peace Buddies (Charlie's Level 2 classroom). There, we will tour the garden farm to gather inspiration and information for our own garden/farm. We will spend time identifying native plants, insects and animals species. If the weather cooperates, we will have lunch there and return to school by 12:30.

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.