Weekly Update 9/25/19

       This week in Mr. Hill's homeroom we talked about our jobs. I obviously got the job of blogger. We also had to vote on our class president and secretary, which was pretty cool, but also boring because everybody nominated everybody else. We had our heads down for about 3 minutes. The jobs were weird. There was one called interior decorator, which was just arranging desks and other things. And, the secretary takes actual calls, from a phone. 

Math: In math we have been working on adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing integers. 

Shakespeare: Currently in Shakespeare we are waiting to learn what part we will get. We had auditions yesterday and everyone got to preform so Ms. Laura can decide which part we will get. We will learn what part we get on the 25th of September 2019 the auditions took up all our lunch recess. 

LA in Mr. Brown’s class  

In LA (Language Arts), we have been learning about poetry and what it means. Many poets write poetry to express themselves and their feelings to the world. However, some poets write to inform or to make people laugh. We have asked a family member to tell us their favorite poem and why, and then share it with the class. We have also been tasked with writing an ode, because that is the kind of poem that we are currently studying. Of course, we have also been given time to write our own poems and will publish our favorite owns. In the beginning of every class, we are given time to fill out our planners and get organized. We always have a mini-lesson after that, in which we come to the carpet and discuss our day’s topic. After that we have some work time. If we finish early, we can free write, free draw or read.  

Weekly Update 9/20/19

Language Arts: Hello all. Students have been busy with Ms. Lara and I and digging deep into some Shakespeare. We started by learning about Shakespeare himself, reading a summary of Twelfth Night, and watching some videos about him. Students then learned about iambic pentameter, and have practiced looking for the rhythm embedded in much of Shakespeare’s poetry by finding which syllables are stressed. We have been round robin reading through Twelfth night and using No Fear Shakespeare books to help us access and understand the more difficult and challenging sections of text.

We are starting a poetry unit next week (paired with Shakespeare). Students have an assignment to ask a friend or family member about their favorite poem. Please share with your student if you have a connection with poetry, including song or rap lyrics. Additionally, feel free to get in touch with me if you have any strong interest in sharing/teaching poetry in the classroom. In other news, Mr. Brown’s homeroom has voted on and agreed upon Class name—the Avocados!

In math this week we started the first unit on integers and rational numbers. We investigated both in effort to get them thinking about positive and negative numbers as well as converting fractions to decimals using long division. Several homework assignments were given but students we given substantial time in class to work on it. Homework is always due on Friday but due dates for homework are flexible, so if a student misses Friday, they can talk to me and turn it the next time they come to class. All assignments that are counted towards grading is posted on Schoolology.  Students can see any missing assignments on schoolology and download and print them if they lose the copies from the book. If students are having difficulties with homework, one resource they can use is the Pearson Online portal on the district website. Here is the link to the district resources page that has a link to Pearson Easybridge. Make sure you click under Middle School. Every student has access to this. The only thing on Pearson that is graded are the Chapter Assessments and Work Samples. I do assign supplementary material that students can use to help them with homework or review but these are not graded. Let me, Mr. Hill, know if you have any questions.

In science we started the modeling matter unit that focuses on what all matter is made of. We are looking at this through the eyes of a food scientists. We are looking at separating mixtures into there parts. We are connecting molecules, atoms and properties to what makes a mixture and the properties of that mixture compared to the individual molecules. We will also, eventually make a model of a molecule of our choice. This is a fun unit and I look forward to what we will be doing.

Mr. Hill's homeroom has named our class mascot. They are Caramel (or Carmel depending on who you ask) the sloth. We also built our chart. The word include; Positive, Challenged, Safe, Supported and Included. All great feeling to feel while learning. We talked about how to make sure everyone feels these ways. It is going to be a great year and I look forward to working together to support student growth this year.

Artwork for Display

The art room is looking for students to bring in small artworks that either they made or a relative made to hang up in the classroom.

Much Appreciated,

Ronnie

Notice from PE

To improve communication coming from PE this year, we now have our own link on the Cascadia school webpage. It can be found under Academics>Physical Education. I will be posting new information and schedules a few times a month. I will also be adding a sign up genius for volunteers in PE by October 1st. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at kasayles@seattleschools.org.
Thanks!

Ms. Sayles
#perocks

Cheers,

Kate Sayles

Physical Education Specialist

Cascadia Elementary

(206) 413-2000

“I’m thankful for my struggle because without it I wouldn’t have stumbled across my strength.”

Dates to Remember!

Dates to Remember:

October 2^nd Curriculum Night 5:30-7:15pm

October 3^rd Picture day

Oct. 11 State In-service Day (no school for students)

Oct 17^th Race & Equity Parent Event

Oct 22^nd PTA Fall Festival

Nov 8^th Picture Retake Day

Nov. 11 Veterans Day (no school)

Nov. 25 – 27 Elementary conference days (no school for elementary and K-8 students; varies by school)

Nov. 28 – 29 Thanksgiving break (no school) Nov. 28 Thanksgiving, Nov. 29 Native American Heritage Day

Dec 3^rd Shakespeare

Dec 5^th Shakespeare

Dec. 20 1-hour early dismissal (winter break)

Dec. 23, 2019 – Jan. 3, 2020 Winter break (no school)

Jan. 20 Martin Luther King Jr. Day (no school)

Jan. 28 Day between semesters (no school) *possible snow make-up day (1 of 3)

Feb. 17 – 21 Mid-winter break including Presidents Day (no school)

March 5^th Race & Equity Family ed night

March 18^th Culture Night

April 8^th Science & Engineering Night

April 13 – 17 Spring break (no school)

April 27^th Instrumental Concert-band

April 29^th Instrumental Concert-strings

May 4^th-8^th Teacher Appreciation Week

May 14^th Volunteer Appreciation Night-Parents Night out

May 20^th Art and Talent Show night

May 25 Memorial Day (no school)

May 28^th Shakespeare

June 15^th 5^th Grade Promotion

June 16^th Field Day

June 18, 2020 Last day of school (1-hour early dismissal) *possible snow make-up days June 19 and 22

First Week

Dear Brown and Hill Families,

It has been a wonderful first three days. We are both extremely grateful to have met all of your wonderful students, and we are super excited to get started this year. Both classes began by establishing and learning procedures, participating in ice-breaker activities, and (re)familiarizing themselves with the building. Mr. Brown’s homeroom did the Treasure of Tragon, an algebraic puzzle, looked at the technology contract for using computers, and logged into the laptops with Mr. Hill. With Mr. Brown, they wrote Friday letters, started important work towards creating a class charter, and played the picture sentence game. The Sloths (Mr. Hill’s homeroom) worked on their charter by discussing 5^th grade feeling words, and they played kickball with Mr. Hill. With Mr. Brown, they wrote Friday letters and played a name game.

We wanted to communicate a couple of other notes of interest. You should have received a paper invitation to class dojo from your student. If you need a log-in code, email Mr. Hill (jdhill@seattleschools.org). We use class dojo only as a secure way to share photos with parents. No personal information is used, and first name and last initial is used to identify students.

One last note, In case it comes up—Mr. Brown does allow gum in his room. It is not allowed anywhere else in the building or on the busses. If they want to bring gum, I allow students to chew it in the classroom. No bubble gum, though, please!

Have a great weekend.

Nathan and Josh

Welcome

Dear Families 

 

We are Josh Hill and Nathan Brown and we are super excited to be your Cascadia 5th grade teacher team. Josh teaches Math and Science and Nathan teaches English/Language Arts and Social Studies. Additionally, we both teach Ruler, a social emotional curriculum. Our fantastic specialists will be teaching art, music, P.E., and library with your students as well! 

 

We are excited to be working with your child and I look forward to a wonderful year. Below is a link to the state websites that shows Washington State Standards. It has a lot of information and is searchable. Math at Cascadia is two years ahead with students learning the 7th grade Common Core Standards. The curriculum for math is the Envision 2.0, Course 2. It is a brand-new curriculum and more information will be sent out soon. Students will have their own login for the many digital resources. For ELA, Seattle has adopted a new curriculum called Center for the Collaborative Classroom (CCC), which Mr. Brown enriches with additional, project-based social studies curriculum. 

 

Meet the Teacher is Wednesday, August 28th from 4:30pm to 6:00pm. 

 

School Supplies: 

We are asking that everyone contribute $30 towards classroom supplies that have already been purchased. You can send a check, made out to Cascadia Elementary, or follow the link to Seattle School’s SchoolPay. Additionally, 5th grade students must also bring a personal organization system, such as zipper binder with pencil pouch and dividers, and a sketch book (for October). If you would like to donate additional supplies, we always welcome them and need the following; multi-colored Expo markers, post-its, Scotch tape refills, scissors, painters’ tape, highlighters, and rulers. 

 

Every day your student needs: 

• Water bottle  

• Their binder (or organizational system) with pens and pencils (homework inside) 
• 2 high appeal books to read 
• Healthy Snack 

 

Volunteers: We are going to need chaperones and volunteers for events this year. Please get your paperwork in by the end of September. If you would like to be one of the overnight chaperones for camp, that paperwork is a little different and needs to be turned in as soon as possible. Volunteer Paperwork is available on the district website.  Also, if you have a job or hobby that would be relevant to our in-class studies, please get in touch with us. 

 

Room Parents: 
Room Parents are vital to helping us coordinate volunteer needs for the classroom and with planning and support of parties and other classroom events. If this is something you're interested in, please go to the Cascadia PTA website and sign up. 

 

About us: 
Josh’s background is in business and design so he hopes to bring real world situations to every class period. He feels this helps students to make connections to their future. He has a master’s in teaching from Willamette University in Oregon and is licensed to teach elementary education, as well as math and science at the middle school level. He spends much of his off time with his family but does enjoy traveling and seeing the world. He is Dive Certified and enjoys exploring the world’s water.  

 

Nathan's background is in Interdisciplinary Learning and Spanish Language and Culture. He completed his master’s in teaching at Seattle University, and worked in Highline School District before starting at Cascadia. Outside of school, Nathan loves reading, creating collaborative art projects, playing Ultimate Frisbee, and spending as much time as possible with friends and family.  

 

Our goal is to create an open conversation about your student’s education, so please feel free to contact us with any questions related to school. Our contact information is listed below; we prefer email and we will try to get back to you as soon as possible. 

 

Check our blog rooms306.blogspot.com/ regularly for information from both teachers and student bloggers. Not only do we post weekly, we also have sections with resources and activities that you can use to support learning. Thank you for this opportunity to work with your child and we look forward to hearing from you. 

 

This link is the district, Online Student Resources page and has links to most of the schools curriculums as well as links to Schoology (assignments), Pearson Easybridge (math), Office 365 (Microsoft tools) and so much more. We will get students logged into these the first few weeks of school but it also a good idea for you to get acquainted with these resources as well. 

 

Joshua Hill 

jdhill@seattleschools.org 

 

Nathan Brown 

ntbrown@seattleschools.org 

 

State Standards: 

http://www.k12.wa.us/Science/Standards.aspx 

http://www.k12.wa.us/Mathematics/Standards.aspx 

http://www.k12.wa.us/ELA/Standards.aspx 

http://www.k12.wa.us/SocialStudies/EALRs-GLEs.aspx