UEW Update

Hello UEW Families,

 

It is hard to believe that it is already Halloween!  We are looking forward to hearing all presentations of the historical characters tomorrow.  See below for a reminder of the guidelines.  The students have been working hard to finish the rough draft of their Widji research.  This week, they will be working on their presentation.  Most of the supplies that they need can be found at school, but some students are choosing to do project that involve additional supplies such as a tri-fold poster board or a box for a diorama.  Please check in with your child to see what they need. 

 

Conferences are right around the corner!  This year all 5^th and 6^th year students will be joining us for conferences. 

 

Parent/Teacher/Student Conferences will be held on Thursday, November 10th and Friday, November 11th.  

Thursday: 8am-7:30pm

Friday: 8am-4:00pm

 

 

This year, we are planning Historical Persons Day for Oct. 31.  We've already discussed this with your children - here are the parameters we set:  

- The person can be alive or deceased

- A child may dress up as a person of a different gender

- A child may dress up as a person of a different race

- No masks or weapons are allowed

- Large props are not allowed (glasses, hats, canes, books, and small things are okay)

- Face paint, body paint, and colored hair spray are not allowed

 

We will participate in School Spirit Week November 1-4.  Please see school announcements for dress up days if your child is interested in participating.  

 

Our bunny is growing rapidly!  He's eating several cups a greens a day.  In order to help us keep up with his needs, we've been harvesting from the GRS garden and taking him for walks in the garden!   When the weather changes, we'll need help feeding him - please consider donating greens or veggies to satiate our ravenous rabbit!  He loves herbs, dark greens, cabbage, and lettuce.  Thank you in advance!

 

Thank you,

Jean and Amanda

 

UEW Update 10/19/16

Hello UEW Families, 

 

Our classroom has been a very busy, productive place!  Many children have discovered limericks!  We have limericks popping up in all subject areas.  Many of them have been shared as part of our Love of Words gathering.  We gather on Fridays and the students share some of their work with the rest of the class.   In addition to the limericks, students can choose BFD, best friends with the dictionary, and find new and interesting words.  We have also explored prefixes and onomatopoeias! Here are a couple of examples-

 

Limericks are fun,

Write them in the sun,

They are the short

Poem sort,

Five lines and you are done.

 

Snig-let, noun, any word that has no specific name

 

My cousin has a dog named Zeus,

He like to chase moose,

He's black and white,

He has good eyesight,

And he is always on the loose!

 

There once was a country called Andorra,

There were only two people named Nora,

Andorra is quite small

Not very big at all,

And the people love the myth Pandora.

 

 

This year, we are planning Historical Persons Day for Oct. 31.  We've already discussed this with your children - here are the parameters we set:  

- The person can be alive or deceased

- A child may dress up as a person of a different gender

- A child may dress up as a person of a different race

- No masks or weapons are allowed

- Large props are not allowed (glasses, hats, canes, books, and small things are okay)

- Face paint, body paint, and colored hair spray are not allowed

 

We will participate in School Spirit Week November 1-4.  Please see school announcements for dress up days if your child is interested in participating.  

 

Our bunny is growing rapidly!  He's eating several cups a greens a day.  In order to help us keep up with his needs, we've been harvesting from the GRS garden.  When the weather changes, we'll need help feeding him - please consider donating greens or veggies to satiate our ravenous rabbit!  He loves herbs, dark greens, cabbage, and lettuce.  Thank you in advance.

 

 

Please check in with your child regarding any late work.  If your child has work that is late, it will be written on the homework sheet coming home today. 

 

Have a lovely long weekend!  

Jean and Amanda

Update with a fixed typo!

Hello UEW Families, 

It feels like fall!  Our room is either really warm or really cold. so layers are the best solution.  We still have clothes from WIdji, if you are missing anything, come and check it out.

This week the students in UEW finished their classroom contract.  They also spent time talking about expectations of work and behavior and consequences.  The students have made decisions and signed a contract.  If your child has work to be done at home in addition to homework, you will be notified by email.  

We check email in the morning and again at lunch.  If you need to send us information regarding pick up, after lunch time, please make sure to notify the office! 

Pictures from Widji and projects from our quilting residency will be displayed at this Saturday's Harvest Festival.  It takes place here at GRS and runs from 2-5pm.  Please consider attending to feast, dance, and appreciate the work of our community!

School picture day is this Friday, October 14th.  Please send your order form with your child Friday or place your order online.  The photographers will collect paper forms.  

Homework starts this week! We will send our first essay home today.  I will also post it to our classroom blog each week.  Please feel free to gently remind me if I forget to post the assignment.  I will probably forget at least once a month.  Homework is given out on Wednesdays and is due back the following Tuesday.  The goal of homework is to help students build their time management skills and to take responsibility for managing their work.  Topics range widely, but are usually intended to facilitate reflection or to engage students in their local communities.  Math homework may be given to supplement students' work here at school, and will be aimed at reviewing skills and helping students see math applications in their lives outside school.  You can help your child by scheduling time with them that can be set aside to complete the work.  It is our expectation that homework take no more than an hour a week, unless it involves attending an event. Our classroom blog can be found at: grsuew.blogspot.com

This is the last week of our Quilting residency.  Next week we begin a World Dance residency with Robin Nelson.  We're looking forward to active cultural learning and the opportunity to move a bit more in the afternoons!  You can meet Robin (and Mariann, our Quilting resident) at the Harvest Festival!

Best,

Jean and Amanda

UEW Update 10/13/2016

Hello UEE Families, 

It feels like fall!  Our room is either really warm or really cold. so layers are the best solution.  We still have clothes from WIdji, if you are missing anything, come and check it out.

This week the students in UEW finished their classroom contract.  They also spent time talking about expectations of work and behavior and consequences.  The students have made decisions and signed a contract.  If your child has work to be done at home in addition to homework, you will be notified by email.  

We check email in the morning and again at lunch.  If you need to send us information regarding pick up, after lunch time, please make sure to notify the office! 

Pictures from Widji and projects from our quilting residency will be displayed at this Saturday's Harvest Festival.  It takes place here at GRS and runs from 2-5pm.  Please consider attending to feast, dance, and appreciate the work of our community!

School picture day is this Friday, October 14th.  Please send your order form with your child Friday or place your order online.  The photographers will collect paper forms.  

Homework starts this week! We will send our first essay home today.  I will also post it to our classroom blog each week.  Please feel free to gently remind me if I forget to post the assignment.  I will probably forget at least once a month.  Homework is given out on Wednesdays and is due back the following Tuesday.  The goal of homework is to help students build their time management skills and to take responsibility for managing their work.  Topics range widely, but are usually intended to facilitate reflection or to engage students in their local communities.  Math homework may be given to supplement students' work here at school, and will be aimed at reviewing skills and helping students see math applications in their lives outside school.  You can help your child by scheduling time with them that can be set aside to complete the work.  It is our expectation that homework take no more than an hour a week, unless it involves attending an event. Our classroom blog can be found at: grsuew.blogspot.com

This is the last week of our Quilting residency.  Next week we begin a World Dance residency with Robin Nelson.  We're looking forward to active cultural learning and the opportunity to move a bit more in the afternoons!  You can meet Robin (and Mariann, our Quilting resident) at the Harvest Festival!

Best,

Jean and Amanda

Homework Due 10/18/16

 

Camp Widjiwagan

 

Camp Widji was such an amazing experience!  Please write a descriptive essay describing your experience.  It can either be one particular event, or an overview of the whole trip.  Make sure to use lots of adjectives to make it descriptive!

 

 

Expectations:

Write an organized essay with a topic sentence for each paragraph.  Check your spelling and grammar – it's okay to ask an adult or another child to help you with this. 

 

4^th years must write one paragraph of 4 to 5 sentences at a minimum.

5^th years must write two paragraphs.

6^th years must write three paragraphs.

UEW update-10/06/16

Hello UEW Families, 

 

Widji was a huge success!  We had so much fun hiking, canoeing, singing, sharing meals, and being together.  Thank you so much for your support and trust.  Our key experience does so much to bring upper el to a real sense of community and it's delightful to see how strong and independent your students are in nature.

 

We have a sizable Widji Lost and Found set up in the upper el commons.  If your child is missing something, please ask them to check there.  However, many children have been certain that socks, shirts, and other gear are not theirs until we have shown them their name inside, so please consider stopping by yourself to check the table for items that your child may not recognize.  Similarly, if you find things in your child's luggage that don't belong, please send them back and we'll add them to the L&F tables.    

 

As a follow up project from our time at camp, each student will be conducting a research project stemming from her or his experience at Widji.  Students are working this week to identify topics and make mind maps to guide their research.

 

This month our school nurse will be conducting vision and hearing screening with all 4th grade students.  You may hear from her if your child shows signs of not hearing or seeing well.  Fifth and Sixth grade parents can request screening for their students - just email us!

 

Picture day is October 14th!  Your child should have an order form that you can use to fill out an online order or can send back on the 14th if you want pictures.  The photographers will collect the order forms, so you do not need to send them back until the 14th.  

Thanks!

Jean and Amanda