Author: dbassobrien

This week we jumped right back into school after our wonderful time outside the classroom walls in Estes Park.

5/6th Graders Projects: Students had their proposals due on Monday, October 30 via Google Classroom. They should have talked over their ideas with parents. We will be having presentations on the mornings of December 13, 14, 18, and 19 to showcase the learning students have. Next week we will focus on the difference between a project product and a project presentation as well as credible sources.

Some student essential questions include:

• Will training my dog tricks and agility improve her behavior?
• Who is needed in the movie making industry and how do they contribute to the film?
• How can we recreate Geodes?
• How does wind affect landscapes?

5/6th Grade Writing Workshop:

We got into the workshop mode this week by revisiting the Writing Process (via a Sketchnoting notetaking process). Then, students stepped into working on revising and editing getting ready for publication. We are working on spelling. They each have individual spelling lists they are working on. Stay tuned for some published pieces of writing.

5/6th Grade Reading Workshop:

We are working our way through The Wild Robot and learning about what makes a good citizen. We focused on Is Roz (the main character and a robot) a good citizen of the island?   Students said, Roz is a good citizen of the island because:

“. . . she is willing to help, but she also lets nature takes its course.”

“. . . she takes responsibility for her negative actions and mistakes.”

“. . . she invited the animals in the Nest, so they wouldn’t freeze and she made sure hunters wouldn’t hunt while they are in the nest.”

“. . . she saved the brother bear even though he popped her foot off.”

Students’ Sketchnotes on Citizenship:

7/8th Grade Writing Workshop:

We went to Janee Martiniez’s 4th grade class and helped revise and edit their third person narratives. I feel like it really gave the students confidence to know they are writer’s and have advice on writing.

Students are working on their Poet Study. They have gathered their research on the outline of a head. Next week we will analyze their favorite poems from the anthologies they are reading and we will begin writing poetry.

I plan to have students share their work on a Poet Study Blog. Stay tuned.

7/8th Grade Reading Workshop:

We finished A Long Walk to Water and will have a guest: Daniel Majok Gai from Project Education South Sudan to share his experience.  Students will compare Daniel’s story to Salva Dut Ariik’s from A Long Walk to Water.

Next week:

• Monday, Nov. 6 8-9:30 Guest speaker
• Tuesday, Nov. 7 Archery at Western Archery for PE students
• Wednesday, Nov. 8 7/8th graders on a caving field trip with Samantha. Deb will have 5/6th graders all day.
  • 5/6th graders will walk to one of our A Little Help Houses to help rake. We need extra rakes if anyone has one to bring to school.
• Thursday, Nov. 9 Amica’s Pizza for lunch (if you paid for it ahead of time)

Giving Back

The first week in October, we helped out at the Community Center sorting food for seniors. We do this once a month, the first Wednesday of the month.

This same week, we did Kochia removal on our adopted Striker Trail.

On Oct. 17, students collected candy at Walmart to be distributed to houses on F Street. We will deliver candy on Oct. 31 from 2-4 to house on F Street.

 

October is Global Read Aloud (GRA).

We will be wrapping up in the next two weeks.

The 5/6th graders are reading Wild Robot by Peter Brown and connecting with a school in Edmonton, Canada and another in North Carolina. We have done Google Hangouts to meet the students in Mrs. Frank and Mrs. Ogbouma’s classes as well as been having discussion using a Padlet format.  This set of books we are using was generously donated by The Hachette Book Group.

The 7/8th graders are reading A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park and connecting with a school in Macomb, Illinois. We have shared Google Slides with Ms. Pennington’s Class and will create some Flipgrids in the next week.

The 5/6th graders shared their project presentations the week of Oct. 16-19 with their peers and parents. Project folders and rubrics have been graded and returned to students. I am very proud of the students for bringing everything together for their first projects of the year. They have spent a lot of time reflecting on how they will make changes for their next projects.

They have their next project proposal in Google Classroom ready to be completed, so they can start their next projects on Monday, Oct. 30.

On Oct. 19, we had our second Spanish Cafe. A Spanish II class from the high school joined us. Students are really putting their Conversational Spanish into practice. They can continue their practice through Duolingo. Our next Spanish Cafe will be Nov. 16 from 12:30-1:00.  Please, feel free to join us.

For PE, we have been mountain biking. Jackson Karls, a 7th grader, taught basic skills to students new to mountain biking and Andrew Null, parent, helped take more advanced bikers on an adventure. Next month, we will start an archery unit. We will be working with Western Archery and Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

Last week, we had a successful trip to Estes Park. Thanks for Diane French and Josh Visitacion for joining us!

On our drive up, we checked out Casa Bonita while practicing our Spanish and also, got a tour of the Lulzbot 3-D factory.

We stayed at the YMCA and visited Rocky Mountain National Park while 6 students along with Mrs. Bahn took a River Watch Training. We learned about Elk Ecology, Geology including mountain formation from glaciers, did team building, roller skated, swam, did arts and crafts, and celebrated birthdays.

Coming up next week (Oct. 30-Nov. 2):

• The 7/8th graders will help Janee Martinez’s 4th grade class revise and edit writing (1:30-2:30 on Oct. 30)and 3 students (Dharma, Maya, and Gwen) will submit work to a Yes! Magazine writing contest (Nov. 2). They will continue to work on their Poet Studies and finish reading A Long Walk to Water.
• Students will help out at the Community Center with food deliver for senior citizens. (5/6 9-10 on Nov. 1 & 7/8 9:30-10:30 Nov. 2)
• Students will deliver candy to F Street. (2-4 on Oct. 31)
• The 5/6th graders will continue reading Wild Robot while thinking about if Roz makes a good citizen of the island. They will work on the revising and editing stages of the writing process and learn about Sketchnoting. For their projects, we will be focusing on finding credible resources for research.