This Week's Spelling List

Unit 6:  Freedom                                                  

Week 1                                                                                                                                                                                               

                                                               

This week we are reading “The Story of the Statue of Liberty” by Betsy and Giulio Maestro.  We will focus on some vocabulary words in this story.  It would be helpful if you will reinforce the meaning of these words at home with your child.  Also, on this newsletter you will find our spelling words for the week.  Please practice these words at home as well.  Students are expected to practice the first 15, 20, or all 25 of the words.   Be sure to refer to the spelling rule described below.  Please listen to your child read the spelling words aloud.

Vocabulary Words:  unveiled, unforgettable, tablet, torch, models, symbol, liberty, crown

Spelling Rule:  Vowel Sound in tooth and cook

The vowel sound in tooth can be spelled oo, ew, ue, and ui: 

           school, few, glue, fruit.

 The vowel sound in cook can be spelled oo and u:                                        cookie, cushion.  

1.  few      2.   school      3.   true      4.   goose      5.   fruit      6.   cookie      7.   cushion      8.   noodle      9.   bookmark    10.   balloon

11.  suit         12.  chew      13.  glue      14.  Tuesday   15.  bushel

                                 EXTRA CHALLENGE WORDS

16.  bamboo           17.  mildew           18.  soothe           19.  barefoot           20.  renewal               EXTRA  CHALLENGE WORDS                      21.   zoologist         22.   askew             23.   recruit           24.   accrue         25.   residue

April 18-22

Greetings Families!

                                                                    

This Friday our class will be taking a walking tour of downtown Portland.  This field trip supports our Portland History studies.  Urban Tour Group hosts free educational walking tours for school children.  They are a knowledgeable group of volunteers who enjoy sharing stories and information about Portland history, architecture, and public art.  In fact, Amy Erickson's grandfather, Bob Erickson, is the head tour guide for Friday's field trip!  I know the class will be in good hands!

It pains me to say this, but I will not be able to attend the walking tour.  The field trip involves a 2- hour walk around downtown, in addition to the walk to and from various bus stops.  Even if I'm feeling better by Friday, I know that much walking would not be a smart choice.  Mrs. Peterson will be our guest teacher for the day, and I may join the class for their picnic lunch down at the waterfront after the tour. 

Please be sure your child comes to school Friday with a sack lunch, water, comfortable walking shoes, and a rain coat if the weather is rainy.  They will be walking around outside, rain or shine.  Umbrellas are not allowed during the tour.  

    DOWNTOWN WALKING TOUR 

Site:	Downtown
Date:	Friday, April 29
Departure Time:	8:45 am
Return Time:	1:30 pm
Transportation	TriMet
Cost	$0.00 (Thank you PTA!)
Chaperones	Ian Pierce (Lola's dad) Sarah Witter (Riley's mom)   Mark Friel (Tai's Dad) *Please arrive at 8:30 AM
Special Rules	Sack Lunch/Water Needed  Comfortable Walking Shoes No Umbrellas

LITERACY

This week we read the story Me and Uncle Romie by Claire Hartfield.  This was a very endearing story about a boy from North Carolina who gets sent to stay with his uncle in New York City.  His mother is getting ready to have twins and needs some rest, so James is put on a train and sent to his uncle Romie’s.  James is very worried about meeting his uncle, whom he has never met.  James is also worried because he will be spending his birthday with his aunt and uncle, and he doesn’t know what to expect. 

Throughout his stay James gets aquainted with his uncle and with Harlem.  He learns that his uncle Romie is a fantastic collage artist who makes great pictures of the people and culture in Harlem.   He learns to appreciate his uncle and the city that is so different from his home.  He returns home with a special connection to his uncle and the time he spent with him.

WRITING

The students are still making progress on their persuasive writing pieces.  

MATH

This week we began Unit 5: Working with large numbers.  This unit will be quick, seeing that the students have been demonstrating knowledge and skill with adding and subtracting large numbers using the standard algorithm.  Monday's pretest showed that they needed some review of multiple ways of showing their thinking.  

Not only do students need to be able to show their thinking in various ways, they also need to be able to interpret these models when they see them.  

In order to practice these multiple strategies, we had students practice writing and solving their own addition and subtraction word problems containing large numbers. 

When they were finished, they chose their favorite ones to transfer to a notecard.  

On Wednesday, we played "scoot" with our word problems.  The students rotated from seat to seat solving each other's word problems.
                                    

 Mattie used 3 different strategies! 

We ended the week with a review of graphing.  On Thursday we took the data we collected from our "Pull and Graph" math center a couple weeks ago, 

    and assembled the classes data into a line plot.  

                     
                              
                                (sample line plot)

We practiced identifying the mode and range of the data.

On Friday, I decided to apply the data and graphing focus to Earth Day, as I posted various questions around the room that students took turns answering. 

The questions related to environmental impacts students may have on a daily basis. 









The students rotated around the room answering the questions, and then partners were assigned a set of data to then represent in a graph.  

I will post pics of their graphs next week.  

PORTLAND HISTORY

Our studies of Portland History continued this week as read in our history book...

illustrated more events...

                       


and added/subtracted/moved things around on our classroom mural.

We learned how the forest nearest the clearing began getting cleared, in order to provide resources and space for the immigrants to build cabins and settle the land.  

In addition to log cabins, the immigrants built plank roads.

These wooden roads were built to make it easy to travel to the farms and back.



Our mural also changed as we added more stumps and took away trees...

Hence “stumptown” was born. 

Eventually, the settlement grew to the hefty size of 25 and the people decided they needed a name for their growing town.  Two prominent immigrants, Francis Pettygrove and Asa Lovejoy, discussed the matter of naming the town, and agreed to flip a coin to see who would decide.  

                
Our text includes a play for the naming of Portland, so we took this opportunity to engage in a little reader’s theater.  

The students were put in 3 groups and began practicing their lines.  

They will each get a chance to act out this event from Portland's history this week.

Good-bye Ms. Janson

It was a sad moment in the classroom on Friday afternoon as we said good-bye to Ms. Janson.  It was such a pleasure hosting her in the classroom this year, and the students grew very fond of her and her teaching.  She will be missed by all.  (I know they look happy, but they were not happy to see her go.)

There was an exchange of gifts...

Each student signed their name around the edge of the canvas.  

(THANK YOU SARAH ERICKSON!)

 Ms. Janson made each student a personalized bookmark with a sentimental note.

Ms. Janson also taught the students a fun outdoor game in the spirit of Earth Day.  Ask your child to explain how to play "Oh Dear".  The game simulates the competition for food, water, and shelter that an animal in the wild experiences.  The amount of each resource fluctuates throughout the activity as some students from the "environment" side become "deer", while some students who are "deer" become part of the "environment" when they can't locate the food, water, or shelter they are seeking.

Ms. Janson introduced the students to the concept of "carrying capacity"-- the total number of a species that an environment can sustain.  She is going to make a fantastic Middle School Science Teacher!

Silly Faces!

                 Group hug for Ms. Janson

                     IMPORTANT DATES

Tuesday, April 26 - Spring Picture Day

Friday, April 29 - Downtown Walking Tour

May 2, 3, 4 - Smarter Balance Language Arts Test

May 13 - Portland Bridge Tour

May 18 ,19, 20 - Smarter Balance Math Test