Tree Swallow Times: September 20, 2010 "It is just the beginning..."

It's a bird...  it's a plane...  it's... the first full week of school!
  And what a week it has been!  We have been getting to know each other through song, greeting and sharing.  We have shared our hopes and dreams for the school year (I am awe-struck at the list this year) and have begun to document them through illustration and writing.  We have worked together to create our expectations for meeting times and this week we will create our peaceful classroom expectations (our class rules).
  We also spent the week getting to know our space so that we feel invested and care about "caring" for it.   In pairs we explored the Sunflower Garden as scientists making observations and as writers using adjectives to describe what we found.  Early in the week, we worked in returning and new Swallow partnerships to tour the school grounds and the school garden.
   In Literacy Workshop, we have discussed ways we choose books and learned how to determine if a book is "just right" for the reader.  We practiced this at the Forest Grove Library on Thursday.
   On Friday we found a red canoe for sale in our classroom.   We had a lot of questions:   "Why is it here?  How did it get here?  When?  How much is it? "  We called the number and left our questions on Mr. Roe Allot's message machine.  We hope to hear from the seller and "purchase" the canoe this week for use during our water study.

  We're on our way to somewhere... the 21 of us and you:
This week we will continue to get to know more about one another.  We will start to share our Autobiography in a Bag.
We will begin our Storyline, "3 Months on a River in a Red Canoe...."  this week.
On Thursday, we will take a trip to Jackson Bottom Wetlands to meet and have lunch with our St Thomas Moore buddies.  After lunch, we will have a tour to learn about the current restoration and hear an invitation for our monitoring project.  We will visit JBW four more times with St Thomas Moore kids.
  PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU WOULD BE WILLING AND ABLE TO CHAPERONE A SMALL GROUP DUING THIS TRIP.  WE WILL LEAVE FGCS AT 11:00 a.m. AND RETURN AT 2:15.

COME MEET YOUR CLASS FAMILY!
 Wednesday is our BACK -TO-SCHOOL-NIGHT (5:00-6:30).  Swallows will share features about the room and/or schedule with you as well as share info about FGCS.  We will have goodies in the class to foster a get-to-know-you even near the close of this evening.  I will have information about various snack-share models and an opportunity for your input during this time at the Back-to-School-Night.

RED CANOE UPDATE:  We have a plan for "purchasing" the canoe.  Ask your Swallow to tell you all about it.

Tree Swallow Times: September 13, 2010 "An Introduction"

Oh! The places you'll go in the Tree Swallow classroom this year...

This year, our overarching focus is “Water”. Within this topic, we will be scientists, writers, explorers, artists, researchers and agents of change in order to foster an understanding and love of our local place. Along with hands-on, outdoor inquiry, we will explore this topic immersed in a literature-based  Storyline and a collaborative restoration monitoring project at Jackson Bottom Wetland. 

What is a Storyline, you ask?

Storyline is both a method of creating and implementing curriculum using the elements of story:

Setting: The scene in a particular time and place

Characters: People and or animals (or insects)

Plot: A way of life or event to investigate

Conflict/Problem-solution: Real problems to be solved.

By creating and interacting as characters in a story, teacher and students create a context for learning content and skills with the active and personal involvement of each student. Tasks (a need to know and learn information or skill) arise from the context of the story, and become significant and meaningful, a “real-world problem”. Issues explored within the context of the story are both extracted from and applied to real-world, local needs and environments. Storyline is also art-rich, emphasizing asthetics and an ethic of excellence in work produced.

I have used elements of Storyline in past years of teaching and last summer I spent time in a workshop to learn more. I am very excited about inviting the Tree Swallows to our Fall Storyline, “Three Months on a River in a Red Canoe.” 

Feel free to contact me with further questions and/or comments.

"Reading, Writing, 'Rithmetic"...

Along with mathematic activities incorporated in thematic studies, beginning this week, we will teach math by grade level, four days a week.    The Maples (1^st grade) are with Karen, the Oaks (3^rd grade) are with Sherry and the Cedars (2^nd grade) are with me.   Be sure to check out your child’s math class blog for news and resources to support your young mathematician (see links on the right). 

Now, Read This!

 In the morning, five days a week, students spend an hour in Literacy’ Workshop. Within this period, students engage in Literacy Centers that are designed to support growth and experience in reading, writing, speaking and listening. Centers support various learning styles, interest and skill, as well collaborative and social learning. While all students spend some time engaged in a variety of Literacy Centers independently,  I meet with Book Clubs (4-6 students at same readiness/skill level based on reading inventory assessments which occur at least three times during school year) to develop skills as active, critical readers while fostering listening, speaking and writing to interact with and respond to literature.  Nurturing a culture of reading and the concept of one’s self as a reader also occurs throughout daily experiences (DEAR, read-aloud and buddy reading). 

*NEW THIS YEAR:  We will visit the Forest Grove Library every other Wednesday afternoon (1:00-1:30) so that students will be able to check out books.  Please make sure your Tree Swallow has a library card (or their number).  I have a handy folder to house and carry student cards so feel free to just keep it at the school.  OUR FIRST TRIP IS September 16^th!

S-p-e-l-l-i-n-g (or Word Study): Words Their Way is a developmental spelling program. The students study words based on spelling patterns on a continuum of spelling development. Word sets are introduced weekly and the students spend time sorting these words by spelling categories (same and different rules). Each day of the week, the students have tasks to do with their word cards, to become more familiar with the words and the categories. At the end of the week, students take a word quiz to assess mastery of words and spelling patterns. Students are assessed using a developmental spelling inventory in the fall, winter and spring, and these and weekly word study tests help to determine appropriate placement for the Word Work Group.

The "Write" Stuff...

Writers’ Workshop has always been a celebrated time in the Tree swallow classroom!  We begin by seeing ourselves as “writers.”  To support this goal, we will create our Writers’ Notebooks by adding photos and clippings to a folder.   By personalizing with time and attention, we foster a sense of ownership, ceremony and pride. After we create this special space to record and keep our writing, our workshop begins with personal narratives.  Students will be writing about family, goals and experiences in order to foster community. Tree Swallows will also write to reflect on personal progress, experiences and open-ended prompts (personal goal reflection, journals and readers’ response), as well as writing to respond to and explore our place (nature journaling).

We celebrate our writers with Authors Tea!  A much-anticipated event, Authors Tea is a ceremonious event where Tree Swallow writers share published work (a piece of writing that has been drafted, revised and edited) before an audience of their peers.    

Wait!....What about Learning Centers?

Of course we will have centers this year—imagination station, take-apart and even sewing. Centers are designated areas and activities designed to support multiple intelligences and to encourage play and independent interest. Centers include reinforcement activities for concept or skills covered during other core times (i.e., math games and writing center) as well as extension centers that expand on ideas we are exploring (i.e., science center featuring rocket design or happy sock construction).   This is also the perfect time for students to work on personal goal projects.  Learning Centers Time this year will be at the end of our day on Tuesdays.

It is all “special”, but….

Three days a week (one per day) we will have “specials”: Two Art days and one Physical Activity (P.A.).  We begin our Specials this week. On Monday and Tuesday the Tree Swallows will have art with Teresa, and on and Friday, Physical Activity with Rick.

Out and About is a fundamental part of our program, placing our students and the learning outdoors and in our local community. We have O&A each week on Thursday afternoon. Remember Tree Swallows, always come prepared for an outing – walking shoes, water bottle and curiosity, as our studies often take us into the “wild”….plus, this is Oregon after all, and therefore often wet.

Birthdays and Volunteers and Snacks, Oh, my….

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU…..

Birthdays are very important in the Tree Swallow classroom. After all, they are celebrations of the joy that is each of you! We celebrate in the classroom with wishes on pennies to the birthday Tree Swallow and a happy birthday wish in the form of a song and an inedible “treat” from the Birthday Chest. Some students really want to bring in "treats" to share with their class. Please consider some healthy options if you want to bring something in. Some hits last year: bagels, fruit, special erasers or pencils.

I know we have many summer birthdays; we will celebrate summer birthdays on the half birthday.

HATS OFF TO YOU...

This classroom and this school would not be what it is without our families. We have been so fortunate to have tremendous volunteer support, so thank you. I will be introducing and inviting volunteers into the classroom over the course of the second and third weeks.

That said...here is our first plea: We will have our morning and lunch break in our play yard we need volunteers to be with students, monitor and play with the class while at break. Please contact me or Vickie in the front office for further information if you are able to commit to this volunteer opportunity. WE NEED YOU!

FOOD FOR THOUGHT…

In this classroom, we have always had a shared family snack. This has worked well for the past three years, (aside from the few minor glitches of schedule share…). On a rotating schedule, each family contributes a healthy snack from two of three food groups (proteins, whole grains, and fruits and veggies). It provides opportunity for students to try new foods, for us to have a shared “meal” and to think about and apply concepts around nutrition and mathematics. 

I know this is not the only way.  I would like to review different options for snack and make a plan for the year during the Back To School Night on September 22.   This is a partnership and I want us all to feel as if we are invested... even in snack.

And now, back to the beginning…

The goals of the first few weeks in a classroom are getting to know each other and the shared space, establishing expectations of how to be together, voicing our “hopes and dreams,” and building a community of learners ( “a class family”). Through writing and art activities, the students will share what makes them each unique and learn what makes us each alike. We will use small-group cooperative brainstorming and whole group discussion to begin the process of creating our classroom expectations for being together. This is not an easy task– creating “laws and rules” democratically, and we will see our share of frustration. However, it is so important that each member has a “voice” in deciding how we are with each other, with our space and with the tools that we use. These agreements will guide classroom procedures and activities through the year.

In addition to developing our class family we will begin to nurture our school community as well. Through “buddy projects,” our students will begin (and continue) building relationships with students outside their classroom. 

This year we will also have a partnership with a second grade classroom in Portland. 

I can hardly wait, friends!

Rachel

Feel free to contact me with questions, comments or compliments by email or phone, 503-880-5478

Dear Tree Swallow Families,

First of all, I hope you took advantage of yesterday's absolutely perfection to get outdoors and play, discover something new in your backyard and get a good dose of vitamin D. Today on the other hand, is made for catching up with reading, baking cookies (perhaps for some hammy teacher that you know..:) and for some of us work (for those of us, work is not really "work", right?).

Here we are with just 7 days of this fabulous school year left. Oh and it has been a fabulous year. I have been working to create a Tree Swallow yearbook, compiling highlights from the year. I really tried to focus on key projects, events and studies, hoping to keep production costs and time to a minimal. Last night I was at 26 pages and, like that drum-rolling rabbit, "still going and going...."

About 10:00 pm the program closed unexpectedly, loosing about half of what I had just created; I like to think it was the universes way of offering some perspective.

We have had a year filled with meaningful and authentic projects, relationship building and remarkable creativity. To truly capture this, the yearbook might have to be upwards of 50 pages or " you had to be there". I will do my best to create a summary memento of this year.

One of our most authentic projects just culminated this last Thursday. Recall that the Tree swallows have been stewards and students of a local seasonal wetland, we call Ash Street Field. This space is managed by Metro and will border one of the trailheads for the FG Emerald Necklace Trails. The Swallows wondered what the surrounding neighbors knew and wanted to know about Ash Street Field. We worked together to create a survey and planned how and where this survey would be distributed. We distributed surveys door-to-door, providing many Swallows an authentic opportunity to practice and refine public speaking skills. A few weeks later, the survey came back to us and we worked together to extract and analyze the information.

What did the public know? What misunderstandings did they have? What were their questions? This guided expert group research topics to create our brochure and our information share. The Tree Swallows also created a presentation visual: an informational mural of Ash Street Field out of painted paper. It is gorgeous!

Last Thursday, at the Rogers Room in the Forest Grove Library, the Tree Swallow Stewards of Ash Street Field presented in partnership with two representatives from Metro. To an audience of about 25 (FGCS high-schoolers, Pacific faculty members, our Principal and invited neighbors of this field), four Tree Swallow ambassadors presented on our stewardship of this wetland, our creation of a public survey about this space and survey results. All Tree Swallows "Ash Street Experts" were onstage and at the ready to answer audience questions about the survey project and the wetland. The audience members and Metro received brochures and Metro asked if they could have the mural to display in the Metro lobby in Portland. Wow!

After this monumental event, the Swallows were surprised with ice cream at Joe's. The waitress at Joe's commented on how well behaved and respectful they were.

Congratulations Swallows, we are all so proud, as you must be too!

What could possibly follow this, you ask?

Let's start at the beginning: I hope you have had a chance to work in and/or visit the garden. Last week, the Swallows worked to build the foundation of the benches. The Owls and Swallows worked together to brainstorm possible bench designs. This week, we will work with the Owls to create the back of the benches---a curving worm. In order to accommodate for both classes schedules, we need to take any open opportunity we can. The first is this Monday (tomorrow) morning at 9:00 - 10:00. I just checked the weather and it supposed to be 70 and clear tomorrow (the only day next week). However, it was supposed to be 70 with a 20% chance of rain today, and ummmmmmm, well, see how that worked out? We will be flexible (it is a life skill). The plan is to work with our Owl buddies in the garden, making and applying cob. This gets messy. Please send boots and perhaps a change of clothes for tomorrow. If the weather is like this, we will postpone our bench making for another day this week.

Tuesday: The Tree Swallows will have a well-known substitute for the last hour of the day. I have an appointment. I just want to say thank you for all the support you have given your kids and me during this time. What a family I have.

Tuesday afternoon we will visit the high school classrooms as audience for their poster presentations.

Wednesday: RETURN TO NANA CARDOON'S: This will be our second annual end-of the year celebration in one of our most beloved places, Nana Cardoon Garden. We will leave school at 11:30 and return at dismissal. While there, the Swallows will rotate through stations to steward the garden, prepare for our celebration and just be together as a class family and community. We will be presenting Richard and Charlene with their autographed copy of the treasure book (shhhhit is a surprise for them) and reminiscing about the year. I have spoken to some of you about coming with us. Please let me know if you will be attending and if you are willing to guide/lead a small group during this event.

Thursday: The Swallows will have an extended PA (it is the last for the year and they presented during their PA block last week). This is also scheduled to be the day of our last Authors Tea.

Friday: We will spend our Art period in the garden working on our cob benches. This is our last All School Meeting for the year.

* Third Graders are required to prepare and give a 2-minute speech. The Swallow elders have all selected their topics (something they know some about that they want to teach or share with the class) and some have been working on these in class. This Thursday and Friday, the 3rd graders will present their speeches in front of the class. While there will be blocks of time for the Swallows to write and practice, it might be helpful to offer your child an opportunity to share their speech and practice it with you. Ask your swallow about the scoring guides.

NEXT WEEK:

Monday the 14th: Bridgers will visit their receiving class for 40 minutes. This is Field Day.

Tuesday, the 15th: BRIDGING CEREMONY at Pacific University from 11:00-12:00. School ends this day at 1:05. Happy summer!

Love,

Rachel

Stewards of Our Place: Ash Street Field

Ah, Ash Street Field.... Here, we have been scientists, writers, stewards and playful. We have a sense of ownership and responsibility for this place. This role is shared with Metro, the governmental entity that owns this private-use wetland.

To further nurture our role as stewards and fill an authentic need to gage public awareness of this space, the Swallows have created a survey for public in the neighborhoods surrounding Ash Street Field.

We have collected our first round of completed surveys and have begun to analyze the information. We are identifying both what neighbors know (fact and misconceptions) and what they want to know. This will guide our information share with Metro and the public.

The students were all so professional during their interactions with neighbors!

This week, Tom Gamble from Forest Grove Parks and Rec. will visit to share more about the Emerald Necklace trailhead that borders Ash Street Field. Next week, the stewardship coordinator from Metro will meet with us and June 3rd we will have our final information share. Watch for updates...

Playing in the Mud?

While not exactly "play" or mud, making cob at Nana Cardoon's was an absolute giddy joy. Just look at their faces...

Richard guided the Swallows as they mixed soil, clay, sand and water by dancing (really.. we did the twist) to create a building material similar to adobe. With plans to create a cob bench in our school garden, we needed to have some experience with the material.

We shared our experience with our Owl buddies (Level 3, Chris) and then worked with our buddies and the cob to try and create invertebrate inspired bench models. It was messy and tricky, but we learned a lot about working as partners and the limitations of the material. Last week buddies took a step back and drew plans for their bench design. The designs are inventive and indicate applied understanding about the material.

Tomorrow we will meet with the Owls again to create 3-d models of these plans. Our goal is to propose one of these benches for the FGCS garden to be built during the VBC. We will keep you posted.

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.