Last Thursday evening we had our annual fall Celebration of Community. Our students had an opportunity to lead their families around the classroom. Students were able to showcase their art pieces, published stories, science explorations, and classroom routines. It was a wonderful time of connection with families and community members. Our students were simply glowing with pride. Thank you, Mr. Mark, for documenting this time of togetherness.
This week was filled with Flat Stanley adventures and musical fun! Students had an opportunity to share their Flat Stanleys’ adventures around Oregon. Our flat people discovered so many Oregon places, crops, vegetation, animals, activities, and businesses. Students got to be experts for their classmates as they shared their photos from around Oregon. We had many interesting conversations about what makes Oregon interesting and unique. This week Razah’s mom, Cynthia, came in to share about our Oregon capitol building and how the adults in government work together to make laws for Oregon. We got to take a virtual tour of the capitol building. On Wednesday we had our first music making session with Ms. McKenzie. We sang new songs, learned some music terminology, danced with scarves, and played some instruments. She also gave each student a beautiful song book full of songs. Students will get to take home these books at the end of the term. In literacy this week we learned to read and recite a poem called Come Little Leaves. We also met in our reading groups and worked on learning new spelling patterns. Some students are working with Sea Lion helpers on a literacy program called Read Naturally. Asayo’s mom, Casey, came in to teach us how to play a math game called Knock Out. Hudson’s grandma, Linda, came in to start a sewing project with students. Students are learning how to use a sewing machine to sew book bags. We sure love getting to learn from our parents, grandparents, and other community members.
This week our Flat Stanleys have been busy exploring Oregon with various Otter families. Our Flat Stanleys have visited pumpkin patches, flower farms, cattle ranches, vineyards, Mount Hood, local hiking trails, Hagg Lake, and more. As students share their photos with classmates we are having great discussions about Oregon’s crops, vegetation, activities, and special places. We used several Oregon crops to make salsa this week, including tomatoes, cilantro, onions, garlic, and jalapeños. Yum! We took a nature walk to discover what Oregon vegetation looks like in fall and to discover how Oregon animals are preparing for winter. We observed leaves changing colors and squirrels burying acorns around campus. This week we launched our reading groups. These small groups of readers meet with Ms. Aja to work on decoding and comprehending a wide variety of texts. Otter Guess Who was a popular board game during choice time. We completed our September calendar and learned a new October poem this week. In writers’ workshop we’ve been working on writing conventions. We are making sure that our sentences start with capital letters and end with punctuation. We are being sure to include every sound in the words we are recording. And we are working to ensure that our sentences have no sneaky capitals! This week Otters began learning how to peer edit. They helped each other check writing for correct conventions. We discovered that when we work together, we can all learn and grow! This morning at Friday Summit we gathered as a whole school to sing songs and share what’s happening in each classroom. Hudson did a great job representing the Otter class!
Over the last few weeks we’ve focused on learning more about ourselves and each other. We’ve created self portraits, name art, all about me posters, and family drawings. We’ve discussed our similarities and differences and shared our stories with one another. Students and teachers shared thoughts about how we learn best and what we want our community to look like. Throughout this time the emphasis has been on creating a cohesive community of learners who are valued and encouraged to pursue their highest potential. This week we launched our first unit of study: Around the World with Flat Stanley. We are broadening our focus to learn more about our state, our country, and the world. Earlier this week students brainstormed a list of all the things they already knew about Oregon. They recorded their knowledge in their personal “thinking books” with pictures and words before sharing their ideas with classmates. Over the next few weeks we will learning everything we can about Oregon. For example, we will be learning more about Oregon’s animals, plants/trees, crops, businesses, food, traditions, seasons, and climate. After becoming experts on our own state, students will be engaging in a penpal program with people from other states and countries to learn more about how people live across this beautiful planet. We read a chapter book called Flat Stanley about a boy who becomes flattened by a bulletin board and discovers that as a flat person he can fit inside an envelope to travel far and wide. Today students created their own Flat Stanleys. Students will be taking their Flat Stanleys home for a week to explore Oregon and take photos around our state. This week learned more about some of the crops that grow here in Oregon. We used delicious Oregon apples to make an apple crisp to celebrate the start of the fall season. We took a virtual field trip (via Zoom) to Sun Gold Farms where Farmer Chris showed us how he grows and harvests popcorn in Forest Grove. He even sent us some popcorn to sample- yum! We also took a fall walk to observe what fall looks likes in our state. We noticed colorful, crunchy leaves and frolicking squirrels. We examined some interesting fall treasures under our microscope. This week we also walked to downtown Forest Grove to admire the beautiful chalk art, which is an annual fall tradition in our community. We read a wordless picture book called Chalk, which depicts chalk art coming to life. Students collaborated to create vivid descriptions to accompany the pictures in the book. We talked about how writers can find inspiration for stories anywhere- especially in the art and nature that surrounds us. We added over 20 newly published student stories to our classroom library this week too! One of the highlights this week was celebrating our first Otter birthday of the year. We worked together to create a word cloud for our birthday girl describing many of her wonderful characteristics. It’s been a fantastic week full of learning, joy, and deepening connections.
This week we continued to build our community, learn our routines, and become stronger learners. This week students practiced noticing careful details as they created self-portraits. We had a blast playing Otter Guess Who and trying to guess which Otter drew each self-portrait. We guessed most of them correctly! We worked together to create a class poster of ourselves, and finished drawing our family art pieces. In writer’s workshop we’ve been writing up a storm and we’ve published over 30 books so far! This week we also took photos of the plants in our cedar classroom so that we can record and analyze how they change over time and throughout the seasons. This morning we started a new ELC tradition called Friday Summit. All the classes gathered in our creative play room to sing songs, reflect on the week, and spend time together. We feel lucky to be part of this wonderful community of learners.
