Weekly Update

Dates to Remember
Picture Day, Wednesday, October 5th
King County Elections Office, Thursday, October 20th
Camp Sealth November 2nd through the 4th
Shakespeare Performances will be held March 13th and 14th
(not sure which date is which class, yet).




Picture Day
Photo day is on Wednesday, October 5. Yuen Lui has generously donated gift certificates for families who could use financial assistance for their student’s school photos. Please Beth Lee at brlee@seattleschools.org if you are interested. The gift certificates are for Package A and Package C.


Camp Sealth
We are starting to take money for Sealth and each child will be $125. Adults will be $100. If you need assistance with this, please contact Beth Lee at brlee@seattleschools.org. Make checks payable to Cascadia Elementary. We also want to make sure kids are comfortable, so make sure you have warm dry clothing. If you have any extras and think you can pass them down to someone else in the class, feel free to send in any clean wet weather gear.


Mr. Hill’s Class
This week we started Instrumental and many kids moved in and out of class throughout the day. As a homeroom, I am pleased that students are working well together and diligently on projects. It was also nice to meet you during curriculum night and hopefully we got to answer most of the questions you have. Please feel free to email me if you have any comments or concerns.

Mr. Hill has a blog that you can check for additional information and resources for both classes. http://rooms306.blogspot.com/



Schoolology
Here is a link to the district Student Portal. One of the links is Schoolology and has logins for both students and parents. I use this for my grade book, for assignments and other communications. This link is information on logging in and I will be teaching students how to log in, in the first few weeks. It is good for students to get used to checking grades and looking at assignments as well as being able to communicate with their teachers before they move in to middle school and hopefully this will help prepare them for next year.



Typing Agent
There is also a link to typing agent on the district website. Students all have a login and we encourage each student to spend a regular amount of time practicing as much as possible.



Math
This week we worked on our Integers Game boards and students came up with some amazing game ideas. Some I think should be published and made available to all schools. Hopefully friends and families get a chance to play and enjoy these amazing creations.


I also handed back tests from last week and students were instructed to make corrections. Those grades should be available on schoolology. They were given some ideas about how to get a 4 out of 4 and students who complete corrections and return them to me will be regraded. Instructons for this is on schoolology.



Science
We built our water table models and are preparing for many experiments that model erosion and deposition. Examining how speed, pressure and movement of water shape land formations. Next week we will start with rain and move into different stream types. Students will be expected to take notes and examine how the surface of the earth is shaped.



Writing
Students continued their work in poetry this week, writing poems inspired by music, traditional haikus, and finally working on haikus with a purpose towards a public good inspired by this NPR story: http://www.npr.org/2011/12/03/143053082/haiku-traffic-signs-bring-poetry-to-nyc-streets. Students chose to write Public Service Announcement haikus from a range of issues important to them, ranging from school issues like bullying, to more global issues such as pollution or racial discrimination.


Reading
In reading this week, students analyzed metaphors and similes from the short story All Summer in a Day by Ray Bradbury. Students created posters that both illustrated visuals depicting the metaphor or simile, and then drawing what was literally happening in the scene. Finally, students explained how the use of figurative language improves the readers understanding of what is happening.



Social Studies
Students completed a government pre-assessment, and began looking at the history of voting rights in the US. Students also looked at a timeline of changes to our constitutions, helping them compare who was able to vote in 1776, versus who is allowed to vote today.


Volunteers
We are going to need chaperones and volunteers for events this year. Please get your paperwork in as soon as possible the deadline for this paperwork is October 15th and the district is not flexible about that date. If you would like to be one of the overnight chaperones for camp, that paperwork is a little different and need to be turned in as soon as possible. Forms are available in the office. Remember to bring ID. If you have a job or hobby that would be relevant to our in-class studies, then we’d love to have you.