Here's the schedule for our first Decade Day:

We will start the day with art. Our docent will take small groups next door to E-2 to do a project based on early century art. Meanwhile, back in our room, students will share their immigrant art!

See past examples in the file here:

Then we will play games that people played in the early part of the 20th century while we listen to period music. If you have a copy you don't mind sending in, we would love to have:
Parcheesi
Pit
Mah Jongg (or Chinese checkers as a substitute)
cribbage
crossword puzzles
jacks

I will also let kids play games I have in the room:
checkers
chess
Solitaire

After lunch we will have math.

At 2:15 we will watch a movie and have our treats. 

Don't forget the final draft, typed questions and answers (or a sets of paragraphs) from the interview is due Monday, October 14.

We do poetry readings each trimester. Our first time will be during October. Each child has signed up for his or her day on the class calendar. 

I asked each child to 

1. Pick out a book of poetry to read. I hope they read the whole book! I hope they pick a book they like!
2. Choose poems to read aloud. 
3. I didn't give a set number of poems to read. I said, "Plan on reading for about five minutes. That could be one really long poem or several short ones."
4. PRACTICE reading the poems aloud. Find out how to pronounce all the words. Think about your facial expression and gestures.
5. Come in and read aloud!

​
​And here's the rubric.

I also asked students to interview someone who is older than them--their parents' age or older. It can be a family member or a family friend. The questions have to do with how things have changed over that person's lifetime.

The final draft, typed questions and answers (or a sets of paragraphs) is due Monday, October 14.

​You can see the directions here:

We had a great talk today about how hard this class is and about how it's easier to "hit the wall" in elementary school instead of high school or college.

I told the kids if they feel like they are in the deep end of the pool, that makes sense. My job is to teach them how to swim. To encourage them--to "put courage in."

We ran into a few technical difficulties in the computer labs this week, so I told the kids I would give them more time next week to work on their job applications and the writing prompt about their place or adventure (or both). No homework over the weekend!

The image shows the notes from our first grammar lesson. We talked about how writing might be important for a variety of reasons. One boy said you might need to be able to write to do your job. I told about a class I took on computer programming for gaming. I asked the instructor what classes students should take to get into the filed. He said (wait for it) grammar and creative writing! Wow, were my students surprised! See if your child can tell you why those classes would be important for that kind of job.

FIRST
Tuesday, Sept 3, 12-1:30, is the Suquamish Elementary Back to School Round-up. Bring the kids to see the classroom--and me! In case you can't make it, here is the main information I've already posted on the board:

First of all, here is the SUPPLY LIST for the 2019-2020 school year!

Second, you will want to notice the CALENDAR button on the right (under my picture). As I make plans for the school year this summer, I will continue to update the school calendar for the year.

Parents, you will want to check that calendar at least every week for updates on due dates.

​Students, as we agree on due dates in class, you will want to remind me to add them to the calendar!

We finished our last poetry readings. We read a different poem nearly every day in April for National Poetry Month. Now students are writing their own poems: cinquain, diamonte, haiku, autobiography poems, and more.

Ask to read the poems in your child's 3-ring binder--the ones from our literature unit and the ones they wrote.

Monday  is PJ Day. Come to school in your pajamas!
Tuesday is College and Career Day. Do you have a shirt or sweatshirt from a college or university you hope to attend someday? Or you could come to school dressed up like the career you hope to have.
​Wednesday is Crazy Socks Day. 
Thursday is Suquamish Spirit Day. Wear your Suquamish shirt or sweatshirt. (A field day shirt works.) Thursday is also the Earth Day and online check-in evening extravaganza. 
Friday is Freaky Friday. We said we would all try to come dressed like Mr. B. (Don't tell!)

​Meanwhile we will continue to read poems for Poetry Month. I hope your children are sharing the poems we are reading together every day.

Today we talked about how to write high-quality conclusions for science experiments. I told the class, "When you are asked to write a conclusion, you will write several sentences." Here are the notes from today's lesson:

• The first sentence will go back to the hypothesis and tell if it was true or not. (The hypothesis was correct.)
• The second and third sentences reference the low and high data points. (The plants with three hours of light a day grew three inches. The plants with 12 hours of light a day grew nine inches.)
• The fourth sentence starts with the word "overall" and shows the relationship between the low and high data, preferably with a multiplier. (Overall, the plants with 12 hours of light a day grew three times taller than the plants with three hours of light.)
• The last sentence answers the question "why." (Obviously, plants need light to grow.)