Week 6

 Weekly Greetings!

The fall field trip to Deadman Lake turned out to be a lot of fun, and Stephen Rudoph was a great guide. He did a wonderful job pointing out and explaining characteristics of the boreal forest.

After a quick picnic lunch at the lake, we drove to the Northway School for a Cross Country running meet. The students were excited and ready to run!

Out of our ten students, four finished in the top of their group. They all did better than the first meet at the Tok School. The time away from the classroom was well worth the trip!

This week we will be doing some cultural activities with the help of Alan Dick. Most of the week's focus will be in making drums and village Science activities. I will have pictures to share next week and will explain more then.

I will continue to send home a Spelling list and homework for the week, but there will not be a Spelling test until next week. We will continue to use the same words next week in our regular reading program. Some students are opting for a "Homework Pass" as a reward for good behavior, but I hope they are still spending some time reading each night. I have only had a few "Reading Logs" that have been returned, and I suggest that you encourage your child to read at least 15 minutes each night.

I hope you have an awesome week!

Kind Regards,

Julie Brown

Week 5

Weekly Greetings!

Last Friday, we ended the week watching a fun movie with grades K-5 on the events leading up to the creation of our countries Constitution using the Peanuts characters to help narrate. After the movie, everyone student got a red, white, and blue snack to help commemorate our remembrance on Constitution Day.

Leading up to the Friday event, our class studied the early Americans and the conflicts that arose from the taxation of the colonists. On Tuesday, we even did a simulation using M&Ms as currency and a King that kept heavily taxing the others with the help of a Parliament member.
 Every time taxes were increased, a tax collector went around and took more currency away from the others. If you look closely at the pictures below, you can see how unhappy the group paying taxes got over giving up their currency. Hopefully, the simulation will help the class understand how the colonist felt, and why they declared a need for independence.

The students are getting much better about staying on task when doing assignments during the day, which allows them to have some enrichment time before going home. It also gives students that have been absent, or need more time to complete work, a little time during the last 25 minutes of the day. I snapped a few pictures the other day as students played Yahtzee, worked on beading projects, and had computer time on PBS for kids. These are just a few of the enrichment choices they can choose.

Almost all the students have completed their "All About Me" posters and we all have really enjoyed each presentation. There is just one more to be finished, and then we will share the posters out in the hallway for others to see.

This week, we will continue in the Treasures reading program with the unit focus of "Growing Up". In Science we will focus on Ecosystems to prepare for our field trip to Deadman Lake on the Tetin Refuge this Thursday. Please make sure your child is on time that day, so we can leave just after breakfast. Students will also need their running shoes for the Cross Country meet in Northway that day.

Have a great week!

Kind Regards,

Julie Brown

Week 4

 Weekly Greetings!

I hope you have been having a successful fall harvest, and that the four-day weekend was productive.
 First of all, I want to thank all of you that contributed to the bake sale we had last Thursday! We had so many things to sell, and made $335.75! The students did a great job helping to sell items, and I was impressed at how well they could do mental math to give back change! It was well worth the time and effort, and I hope we can schedule something else for early October, possibly a dinner movie event.

With the parent letter going home, I will be sending home a permission slip for a field trip next week on Thursday, September 22. This is a short week, so I wanted to allow enough time to get the paperwork returned. We will be leaving school early that day to travel to Deadman Lake on the Tetlin Refuge. After walking the trails there, and observing characteristics of the boreal forest, we will travel to Northway for the Cross Country Running meet at 12pm. The school will provide a picnic bag lunch, but you are welcome to send any additional snacks if you think your child will need more for the long day.  Also, I sent home book order forms last week and if you plan on getting books for your child, please return the forms with the amount needed to purchase the books by this Friday.

Now, to recap a few highlights from last week...Our class now has ten students! Marco returned on Wednesday and the class was so happy to see him. The class puzzle is complete!

The students have completed the mini unit on the Six Keys to a successful year. The books they created really turned out nicely and will be in the class as a reminder of how important the keys are. Some of the pages were displayed on the WOW Wall outside our classroom before being combined into individual books.

 In addition, each student made a promise in an area they hope to grow this year to place on the Commitment Wall.

 The "All About Me" posters are getting finished, and each week there is time to share what everyone has filled in on the poster. Eventually, these will be moved out to the hallway for others to see.

To complete our Healthy Habits unit in Science, the class made a visit to the greenhouse to sample healthy vegetables. It was great to see how much the students enjoyed fresh Kale, cucumbers, and other vegetables they were allowed to pick.

This week, we will be continuing with a regular schedule in Math and Reading. In Social Studies, we will discuss the early beginnings of our nation in preparation for Constitution Day on Friday. In the afternoon, the K-5th grades will meet for a special movie commemorating the day.  If you have any questions, please feel free to give me a call.

Enjoy your week!

Kind Regards,

Julie Brown

Week 3

Weekly Greetings!

I hope you all enjoyed the holiday weekend and the beautiful fall weather we have been having! This will be a very short week, as there are only three days. We will have this Friday and the following Monday off for hunting. I will still send home two days of enrichment homework, as the students continue to settle back into a school routine. The homework will not be graded, but the students can earn prizes for returning the weekly assignments, and an additional prize if they do all the assigned work during the whole month. A spelling list will be included, but the test will not be until next week on Friday, September 16. In addition, most of the class took home a Reading Log on Friday, and can return it each Thursday for a party incentive per season. For example, the fall party would be the first week of December.

Another important piece of information is that we will be having a class bake sale as a fundraiser on this Thursday, September 8, at Three Bears from 4:00pm to approximately 6:00pm. Please help out by baking with your child and bringing the items to the store that day.

Now, on with some highlights from last week. The week started off with the first Cross Country meet of the fall. All the students participated and did their personal best. I had trouble snapping pictures as they crossed the finish line because they went by so fast! Though, I have posted some before and a few after pictures below.

As a closing to the Six Keys unit from the start of the year, and a growth mind set of persevering when things get hard, we made Turtle Bread to remind us of who won the race in the old traditional folk tale of the Tortoise and the Hare.

 The students even carried the concept over into their monthly Art visit and made clay turtles with Shauna Lee.

 In Science, we have continued to learn about healthy habits and did an experiment using a peeled potato that was handled with dirty hands, and hands that were washed. The potatoes were bagged as shown below, and placed in a dark closet.

 At the end of a week, after looking at things that Scientists do, we looked at the potatoes again. Even in a zip-locked bag, the potato with germs smelled so bad and had molded terribly! We hand to get rid of it quickly, because some students were starting to gag a bit. I think they understand how important hand washing is to remaining healthy!

 After looking at the potatoes, the class also looked a slide of germs under the microscope.

 During the first week of school, everyone started a poster to share about themselves with the others in the class. Most were completed last week and as they have gotten done, each student has shared with the group.

All the students seem to love to read, and when it is silent reading time, they get very comfortable in the "Book Nook".   When I took the picture below, it was so quiet that I though they might be asleep! When I checked, they were deep in their books and just relaxed while doing so!

As for this week, we will look at good foods to stay healthy in addition to our regular math and reading materials.

Have a wonderful week!

Kind Regards,

Julie Brown