Dear LEW Families,

What we're doing

First years have been learning about the parts of a river and creating models to demonstrate their knowledge.  We're also learning about the purpose of a preposition.  The students are having fun creating stories with all of the parts of speech we've learned.  We're also continuing our practice with the stamp game--addition with carrying and even long division for some.

Second years have a lot of big works lately that take multiple days... parts of a mollusk, bead bar multiplication... so it was fun to get outside last week and do a fun science lesson. The students had to identify and collect 4 different types of stems: woody, herbaceous, aerial and underground. Here's a picture of our little adventure:

Third years are finishing up their study of the Mississippi River. A good friend of mine got to come in on Thursday and share her knowledge of the river with us. She has biked the entire length of the river, so it was fun hearing her stories and seeing photos of her trip.  We'll also be learning more about the lifecycle and importance of river mussels before our field trip on Friday.  In math, third years are continuing their practice with the test tubes and are also learning how to do long division with recording.  Currently, we are reading Linnea in Monet's Garden by Christina Bjork. It's about a young girl who travels to France to visit Monet's garden. The book has taught us interesting facts about French museums, botany, and impressionistic art. The students will have a chance to be artists once we're finished...  

Field Trips this Friday, May 15th!

First and second years will be going to the U of M to explore the agricultural campus.  Third years will be going to the Science Museum to check out the Mississippi River Gallery. 

Thank you to all of you that have volunteered to chaperone.  Here's a little time table for all of you:

U of M Trip

9:00 - meet in LEW

9:36 - take city bus to U of M

10:00 - U of M activities

11:30 - bus back to GRS

Science Museum

9:00 - meet in LEW

9:15 - bus to Science Museum

9:30 - Science Museum activities

11:45 - bus back to GRS

Touch Tank

Yesterday, we had the pleasure of having some students from the U of M come and talk to our class about invertebrates! We learned about marine biology, the importance of diversity in the ecosystem, food webs, and what we can do to help preserve marine life. It was great for the students to see some real-life examples of all of the invertebrates they've been learning about, especially all of the echinoderms! 

Here are some photos from the experience: 

 Courtney, Brittany, and Sam

 Horseshoe Crab

 Sea Urchin

 Echinoderm

It was a fantastic time and we hope to have them back again next year.

That's all for now. Have a wonderful weekend.

Kind regards,
Jessy

Dear Lower Elementary West Families,

GRS Occupational Therapist, Christine Spray, doing mindfulness activities. She'll be coming in every Friday to work with small groups of students.  We're all really enjoying her presence already :)

What we’re doing in the classroom

First years have started gardening in and outside of the classroom. Courtney Tchida, a mother of our first year students, has come in to share her expertise of gardening and agriculture with the students and we feel so fortunate.  Students have also continued practicing using materials like the stamp game and the golden mat to practice addition and multiplication.  On Friday, first years learned about a research material that they can use to study animals. They’ll answer questions like: What does your animal eat? How do they move? How do they protect themselves? It’s a simple material that helps the students learn how to do more in depth research of animals.

Second years are continuing their work with bead bar multiplication and taking that knowledge to the checkerboard work we’ll be exploring.  They are also creating beautiful posters, books and cards based on the parts of the mollusk.  The mollusk was the first animal to have a shell made of calcium. Yay for the building blocks of the bones in vertebrates! With everything coming to life outside, the second years will also get the chance to explore and identify different types of flowers as well as get the chance to get their hands dirty in the garden.

Third years have finished up their work with the study of a nation and their collections of maps are quite the feat! We’ll be exploring a very important water form that they identified in the U.S. Don’t want to give too much away, but we’re hoping to study this water form and then hopefully take the third years on a trip to the science museum to study this water form with the experts. I’ll keep you posted if we can make this happen. We’ll definitely need some chaperones.  Third years have also been fine-tuning their long division skills with the test tubes, getting closer and closer to learning how to divide abstractly. 

Important dates to mark on your calendar

Spring Festival ~ Saturday, May 2nd 4:00

Come and celebrate Spring with us at GRS. There will be games, activities, food, and sunshine!

Museum Project Day ~ Friday, May 29^th 1:45-2:55

This is a day when all of the lower elementary combines and shares their projects and exhibits with families. It’s a fantastic experience for both classrooms since teachers and students get the chance to work in each other’s classrooms and learn and build their exhibits together.  You won’t want to miss this event!

Work Share Day ~ Friday, June 5^th 1:30-3:00

Come in and work with the some of our favorite classroom materials with your child.  It’s a great way to see how the Montessori material works.  The students love giving presentations to the families.

Parent appreciation ~ Monday, June 8^th 1:30-3:00

It’s time to celebrate you! Please come and experience an event completely organized by the students to show their appreciation to you. Thank you for all of your love and support.

Upcoming Field Trips

Como pool ~ Thursday, June 4^th

We had a fantastic time at the pool last year. The entire GRS elementary had the whole pool to ourselves.  It was a great way to end the year.  If you are interested in chaperoning, please let me know. 

U of M Agricultural Fields ~ Date TBD/mid-May

We’re hoping to send the first and second graders to check out the agricultural department at the U of M.  Courtney Tchida works in this department, so we’re hoping we can take advantage of her connections and go and visit sometime in mid-May. Will need chaperones.

Science Museum ~ Date TBD/mid-May     

Third years will get the chance to explore a specific exhibit in the museum. Will need chaperones.

That's all for now. 

I hope you all have a beautiful, last week of April.

Kind regards,

Jessy

Hello LEW Families!

What we're doing

First years are classifying and reading about vertebrates and invertebrates.  They're also charting growth of pinto beans and corn seeds. We learned about germination through reading From Seed to Plant by Gail Gibbons and the students are measuring the growth of their seeds from day to day.  They're also practicing dynamic addition and multiplication problems, using the stamp game and the golden mat for larger multiplication problem.  

Second years are reviewing types of polygons and combining geometry with arithmetic. They are practicing multiplication by creating rectangles - for instance 5x6 would by a 5x6 rectangle. Second years have also just learned about the parts of a mollusk.  We got to feel and learn about why mollusks are important to the evolution of animals! They've just finished up dissecting and writing about the parts of flowers as well.  Ask them about the purpose of the corolla or the stamen. 

Third years just finished up MCA testing and they were troopers and patient with finicky technology.  They are also currently working on the study of a nation, using the U.S. as an example.  We talked about what a nation is--it's not just a random place on a map. A nation is a place filled with different languages, foods, mountains, rivers, symbolic flags, national birds and flowers. It's a place people feel proud enough to defend and maintain.  By the end of this work, students will have a collection of U.S. maps, each depicting a different aspect of the nation.  Third years are also collecting data through line plots. Some plotted the number of pets each student has or the number of electronics in each household. Ask your child what they plotted.

GRS Garden Time

Courtney Tchida, one of our first year parents, has a graciously agreed to work with the students in the garden.  They are going to help each other make the elementary plot into a salad garden. Big thanks to Courtney for sharing her agricultural expertise with us! 

Big thanks to all of you for your contributions at IRACE.  

It was a beautiful day. Our classes combined to enjoy a meal together and the food was delicious. Thank you! 

The adolescents also came in and shared an activity with the students. They created peace doves and hung them up around the school. 

Check out the pictures below:

Thanks again to all of you for helping make IRACE such a success. 

Enjoy the springtime sunshine!

All the best,

Jessy

Happy Spring Break!

IRACE

Wednesday, April 8th. 

I-Race is a day where our entire school community gathers and discusses topics around race. Elementary will be teaming up with adolescents to do a peace activity and the whole elementary community will share lunch time together, eating different foods inspired my our families' cultures.  Please read the flyer below:

Bring Food For IRACE Summit 2015! IRACE is a day where students can talk about race. Bring a dish that is important to your family that relates to your cultural background. The Summit is on April 8th. Bring a dish that is important to your family or your culture!

Last year was a major success. The students had an amazing time connecting with one another, the food was delicious, and the parent volunteers were an integral reason why it all ran so smoothly.

We need your help!

We would love your support again this year. If you have the time and you are able, cook a meal together as a family to share for this special event. If you also have the time to volunteer to help set up, serve, and clean up, we would greatly appreciate your support. We would most likely need help from around 10:30-1:30.

 Please contact me if you're interested in volunteering.  

  

What we finished up this week...

We all had the chance to do a little science experiment with mummification this week since so many students were fascinated by Ancient Egypt during our African unit.  We mummified apples by using sodium and sodium bicarbonate (salt & baking soda). This mixture is called Natron and it is the same mixture that bodies were buried in to be preserved in Ancient Egypt.  We learned that it was believed that the dead would need their bodies in the afterlife, so they needed to be kept in tact.  All organs except for the heart were taken out before the bodies were placed in the natron mixture, so the students wanted to leave in apple seeds to represent the heart.  We wrote down how to do the experiment, the supplies we needed, and came up with a hypothesis about what we thought would happen to the control apple and the natron apple. We already saw a drastic difference between the two just after 5 days. Ask your child what they observed.  

First years have completed their study of the five vertebrates, ending with an exciting experience with one of our favorite school mammals--Bella the bunny.  We had the chance to observe Bella all week, take care of her and study her characteristics.  We also finished creating and studying the parts of a mountain. We still practicing addition with the stamp game and the bead frame, as well as learning how to do multiplication using the golden mat--a precursor to the long multiplication problems they will do with the checkerboard.  

Second years have finished up their study of their physical maps of Africa and their salt dough maps looked fantastic. Some students may need to put some finishing touches on their maps like painting the mountains, rivers, deserts and forests and labeling all of the landforms and water forms.  We also did a study of Ancient Egypt and learned about the importance of the Nile River and learned more about the geography of the region.  We reviewed how to do all of the operations using the stamp game and we also polished up our search for 10 addition facts.  

Third years also brought home their salt dough maps of Africa and may just have a couple of parts to add to the finished product.  We also spent some time studying  Nelson Mandela and his influence on South Africa.  Fortunately, one of our third graders is from South Africa and has been sharing his knowledge and experience of the country with all of us.  We've also studied the next animal in our animal classification study--the arthropod. Ask your third grader what the evolutionary game changer was for the arthropod.  Third graders have also been practicing rounding to the nearest 10, 100, and 1000 as well as utilizing input and output tables. 

Third Grade MCA Reading Test - April 9th & 10th 

Third graders will be taking the MCA reading test on the Thursday and Friday after Spring Break.  We've been practicing reading stories and answering comprehension questions about the text all throughout the year and I've enjoyed the discussions we've had and the progress they've made.  Just like any day your child comes to school, we just ask that they come well-rested and nourished ready to learn and participate.  

Big Thanks!

A huge thanks to all of you for buying supplies from our wish list posted at conferences.  Students are excited to use the playground equipment some of you brought and the adults are thankful for the extra office supplies.  We are all very grateful to all of you for your support.  

Please let me know if you would be interested in volunteering at our IRACE event on Wednesday, April 8th and I hope you all have a fantastic spring break!

In appreciation,

Jessy

Hello Families!

Three short pieces of news:

1. Early Release on Wednesday @ 12:00

Please keep in mind that we have a half day on Wednesday and no school on Thursday and Friday for conferences.

2. Water Bottles and warmer weather

With temperatures rising, it's nice to have reusable water bottles handy for recess and walks to the park.  Please consider sending your child with a water bottle labeled with their name. Snow boots will be going home this week.  

3. Classroom Deep Clean: We are still in need of adult volunteers to assist in our next classroom deep clean on Tuesday, March 17th from 5-7pm. These events help keep our learning environment sanitary, beautiful and orderly.  Many hands make light work!  Please RSVP to Jennifer Nelson if you can attend.

All the best,

Jessy

Dear LEW families,

What we're working on... short and sweet

First years are finishing up their external parts of birds, reading about King Tut and practicing addition facts along with the bead frame.  

Second years are finishing up their work with annelids, their salt dough maps of Arica and practicing multiplication facts.

Third years are continuing their work with invertebrate classification. Their salt dough maps of Africa will start this week and they are working on a project called "Fraction Masters" to help them practice and become more familiar with fractions in different forms.  

Huge Thanks to Jennifer Nelson for supporting the class while I was away.

I hope you all know just how fortunate we are to have such a warm, caring and unconditionally helpful person in our community.  With my voice gone Wednesday through Friday, Jennifer took on my lessons and helped our community run safely and efficiently.  My substitutes and support staff were just delighted to work with her--she truly did a magnificent job.  I feel so fortunate and grateful to be working along side her.  

I have a feeling many of us are still under the weather, so make sure to get some rest, eat well, wash your hands frequently and get better!

Volunteer Opportunities

1. Classroom Deep Clean: We are in need of adult volunteers to assist in our next classroom deep clean on Tuesday, March 17th from 5-7pm. These events help keep our learning environment sanitary, beautiful and orderly.  Many hands make light work!  Please RSVP to Jennifer Nelson if you can attend.

2. Visitors to share their experiences with Africa! Come in and do some mini lessons with the students or share with the whole class - stories, artifacts, and experiences you had in Africa. 

Stay healthy everyone and enjoy the warmer weather!

Warmly,
Jessy

P.S. Remember - Movie night is this Friday on the West Campus... Check the GRS website for updates. 

Dearest Lower Elementary West,

What we're working on...

We've ended our study with Asia and it was fantastic to see all of the hard work that came from it. We're now studying Africa! It was wonderful to have visitors to come in and talk about their firsthand experience during our Asia unit, so if you're interested in coming in to present about your African adventures, please contact me. The students love having visitors come in and it really helps the work come alive!

First years are creating Africa maps, practicing math with the bead frame (a kind of abacus), and learning about the external characteristics of birds. Spelling focused on -ock words and they'll also be explore African folk tales this week. 

Second years are identifying the physical features of Africa and will be creating physical maps out of salt dough. The students remember this work from last year and are eager to have a turn to create their own this time.  Second years are also wrapping up their work with the timeline of life and are currently focusing on the next invertebrate - the Annelid.  They are also practicing long division with the stamp game and spelling focused on -st words. 

Third years are also identifying the physical features of Africa and will be creating physical maps out of salt dough.  The third years have caught on to the different aspects of what they can study when we begin our work on another continent, so many are already independently researching African animals and countries.  These students are also doing scientific animal classification work.  We learned the classification system: Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species and also the fun way to help us remember: King, Philip, Came,  Over, For, Good, Soup.  We're beginning our study with the most simple invertebrates--porifera, cnidaria, and annelids--and learning about their "Evolutionary Game Changers." See if your child remembers the evolutionary game changer for each invertebrate and ask them about the comic books they're creating to go with this work.  Third years are also doing perimeter practice and answering word problems surrounding perimeter, like "The perimeter of a pool is 150 meters.  If the length is double the width, what are the length and width of this pool?" Spelling focused on o/au words last week.   

Snack Time Grace & Courtesy

As a whole group, we are going to be focusing more on grace and courtesy revolved around snack. It is a freedom and a responsibility to have snack time and we're going to discuss and discover as a whole group what changes we need to make so that snack time is used properly.  

If your child likes to bring an extra snack, they are more than welcome to, but we want to avoid from students eating the majority of their lunch during snack time. If you could prepare lunch with your child and specify what the extra snack is, that would help us reinforce snack expectations.  Thanks in advance for your support.  Snack time is especially important to us since we don't eat lunch until 1:00, so we want to make sure it is done right.  

Volunteer Opportunities 

Lower Elementary West is in need of a few volunteers for the remainder of the school year.  If you are able to fulfill any of these requests, please contact Jennifer Nelson at jennifer.nelson@greatriverschool.org

1. Classroom Deep Clean:

We are in need of adult volunteers to assist in our next classroom deep clean on Tuesday, March 17th from 5-7pm. These events help keep our learning environment sanitary, beautiful and orderly.  Many hands make light work!  Please RSVP to Jennifer Nelson if you can attend.

2. March Laundry:

Our classroom is in need of someone to wash our classroom linens for the month of March.  Laundry is sent home once a week on Thursdays.  Clean linens can be returned the next day or the following Monday.

3. Snack Shoppers for April and May/June:

We are in need of two families to shop and deliver our snack ingredients for the months of April and May/June.  Grocery lists are provided to your family the Thursday before each upcoming week.  Ingredients can be purchased over the weekend and delivered on the Monday of each week.  You can choose to be reimbursed for part, all or none of these purchases. Please be aware that the gift of your time is fully appreciated, so do not hesitate to ask for reimbursement if needed!  

Big Thanks

To all of our current volunteers for your ongoing support in the classroom. Your help does not go unnoticed :) 

To Jennifer Taylor and Susan Sochacki for helping our beginning readers. 

To Laura Whitley for helping with our laundry.

To Mary and Dave Green for helping with snack purchase this month. 

And to Heather Thomas for helping with Thursday Folders and working with students on their projects.  

That's all for now! Keep an eye out for the next GRS Movie Night scheduled for Friday, March 13th.  

Warm regards,

Jessy