Delivering our donations to Street Roots!

Dear families,

This is very late notice but I was able to arrange a time with the Street Roots office for us to drop off our donations and get a little tour!  If you are free and interested, please meet me at 9AM tomorrow (Saturday 12/19) at

Street Roots

211 NW Davis St.

Portland, OR 97209-3922

The office is right in the heart of Old Town Portland not too far from the Old Town/Chinatown Max station.  There are two large pay parking lots just East of the office on Davis, if you drive.

We will have a brief overview of their work and then head out for a hot cocoa!

Hope to see you there!  Mark

971-322-6806

Wrapping up the [calendar] year.

Dear Families,  

This week is often one where excitement and energy levels run quite high.  To keep up with the excitement we a have some fun events scheduled.  I know you have busy lives and work schedules but if you are at all free, we would love for you to join us for the following.  

• Thursday 12/18 at 12:30 we will debut our Authors and Actors memoir scenes.  Come see your kids read portions of their memoirs while their peers act them out.
• Friday 12/19 Our Annual Family Breakfast and Singalong. Please join us for Breakfast at 8:15.  Bring a healthy dish to share. If your child has any allergies, please bring something they can eat.  We will provide drinks, plates and utensils.  At 9:00, Mr. Colvin will be back with his guitar for a group singalong.

We are still taking donations to support Street Roots. See the wish list on the back of this sheet for which items they can and cannot accept. I will take the donations down to the Street Roots office during Winter Break.  Thanks in advance for anything you are able to donate.

HOMEWORK THIS WEEK:   Due Friday 12/19

• MATH: Math practice sheet!
• READING: Daily reading and one Reading Journal Response.
• Attached is an optional fun pebbles challenge.  Read it through.  It takes a minute but you will enjoy it!

Our awesome donation project.

Dear Families,  

What a wet and rainy morning and well ... rainy day.  Everyone had a short adventure tale to tell of their journey to school this morning.  We will not be spending too much time outdoors while this torrential downpour continues but please send your child with appropriate rain gear in case we do have a chance to get some fresh air.  

And speaking of rain gear, these conditions turn my mind to folks who are not fortunate enough to have a roof over their heads at this time.  Our class will be gathering supplies to donate to Street Roots over the next two weeks.  Street Roots is a weekly paper and advocacy organization by and for folks experiencing homelessness. You can find out more about the organization at their website, streetroots.org. I had the opportunity to volunteer in the Street Roots office a while back and was inspired by the work happening there.  

See the wish list below for which items they can and cannot accept. I will take the donations down to the Street Roots office during Winter Break.  Thanks in advance for anything you are able to donate. Just send along your donations with your student.

HOMEWORK THIS WEEK:   Due Friday 12/11

• MATH: Math practice sheets!
• READING: Daily reading and one Reading Journal Response.

Street Roots Wish List

(http://streetroots.org/support/wishlist)

Your in-kind donations keep us going. We welcome any of the following in clean, useable condition:

Vendor Program

• Little Hotties handwarmers
• Hiking or regular tube socks
• Gloves
• Band-Aids of various sizes
• Neosporin or other antibiotic ointment (individual packets are best)
• Tri-Met passes
• First-aid supplies
• Cough drops
• Cup-O-Noodles
• Ibuprofin, Tylenol, Asprin
• Razors

Office

• Postage Stamps (Forever stamps are best)
• Printing paper (letter size, white)
• Yellow note pads
• Black and red ink pens
• Paper towels
• Toilet paper (partial rolls OK from housekeeping or janitorial programs)
• IKEA gift certificates
• Ace Hardware gift certificates
• Apple computers running Snow Leopard (OSX 10.6) or later (desktops and/or laptops)
• A black and white laser printer that will print up to 11"x17" (monochrome only; no color)
• Office Depot gift certificates
• Cash-N-Carry gift certificates
• Safeway, Fred Meyer, and/or Trader Joe's gift certificates
• A working refrigerator (energy-efficient)
• An 8 foot folding ladder

We are unable to accept clothing, perishable food, and blankets, but can refer you to a worthy program that welcomes such items. If in doubt, give our office a call at 503-228-5657 and we can talk with you about your donation.

Reading, Reflecting, Responding

Dear Families,  

Last week I wrote about students getting things done and fostering independence.  This weekend I finally had some time to really hunker down with the writing our students have been doing.  I was trying to walk my talk, but it is really just astounding how much you learn about students when you have time to read, reflect and respond to their work.

After reading their memoir drafts, I see our class with whole new eyes.  I am newly up to date on where they are on their journey as writers - how they express their thoughts, how they prioritize information, how they try to reach their readers.  Maybe more importantly, though, I also feel like I just know them better. I learned about mysterious disappearances, sibling conflicts, amazing discoveries and scary occurrences.  Who knew our class had lead such fascinating lives?  

This week, as we continue to develop our memoirs, I would love it if you took some time with your student to tell a few stories from your life.  Also, what are some funny or touching stories about them that they might not know about?  We are always looking for more ideas to add to our memoirs.  

HOMEWORK THIS WEEK:   Due Friday 12/4

• MATH: Math practice sheets!
• READING: Daily reading and one Reading Journal Response.

Working together AND being independent.

"Can we have partners?" is one of the most common student requests as I send them off to work after a lesson.  "Can we be a trio?" is probably the next one.  There is a joy in collaboration.  There is also an underlying social context and component for all learning.  We make meaning together by sharing and listening.

And we do work together a lot in class. We play partner games in Math. We have Read to Another time in Reading.  We have Writing Response groups, Science partners, table talk, and time to play and create together.  Most students live for this, though there is a strong contingent of kids who say "I'd prefer to work alone right now."

Recently, though.  We've been working on independence.  And we've unpacked what that means: not being dependent.  Not needing others to get assignments done and the ability to create on one's own are life skills that need support, too.  In a language rich, socially supportive learning environment there should still be plenty of time and space devoted to fostering self-discipline and pride in accomplishment.

Mostly we've been working on this in writing.  We've seen tremendous growth in the responses students are writing in their weekly Reading reflection journals.  Each week there is some newly sophisticated use of language or punctuational flare.  And I am pushing this in our current work around memoir.  We are writing for longer amounts of time and using all of the tools we can think of to keep ourselves going.  Some students run into a wall now and then and want to stop but with some guidance and some strategies for staying engaged, they dive back in.  It is a slower and less visible process, but for me, watching kids become more independent as writers is as thrilling as that first time they wobble down the sidewalk on two wheels when they learn to ride a bike.

Testing out some ideas

Our study of electricity and circuits is continuing to be lots of fun.  Last week students explored how to light a bulb and then how to create a circuit with a switch.  This week we are going to study materials that are conductors, nonconductors and insulators by making “conductor testers.” We will use our knowledge about switches to leave an open section in a circuit that we can then attempt to close with various materials. If the bulb lights, it is a conductor. If it doesn't, then it must be an insulator.

If you are interested in brushing up your own understanding of electrical vocabulary, I recommend the Brainpop mini-films on the topic. If your child does not remember the login information, just give me text.

If your child has not returned their Reading Journal for a while, please send it in this week.  I would love to take a look at any work that they have done.  If it is lost, we can make some new ones.

Reading Aloud

There are times when the importance of a certain basic thing reemerges.  For instance, reading aloud.

I have the harmonious situation of parenting a fifth grader and teaching third and fourth graders.  It makes it really easy to buy or check out books for my boy: "You want that novel? It can come live in my classroom library when you're done with it? Sure. Let's get it."

The lines between home life and school life can get a little blurry, but overall that is a good thing.  For instance: the power and the struggle of reading together with a child.  In the classroom it's easy.  I pick a great book, I read it out loud to the class, we talk about it, and enjoy it together.  One of my favorite things as a teacher is when I look up from a read aloud and the whole class is quietly staring into space, completely wrapped up in a story. It happens with good nonfiction, too.

There is a lot of educational writing, theory and research about the importance of reading aloud to students.  And there is an even larger amount about the importance of families reading together.

But guilty secret, here - sometimes I dread it.  After a long day of working, meeting other people's needs, getting to and from work, etc., I really need a minute or two to myself.  There are some nights when my son asks me to read to him before bed that I really have to find a happy response.  I dig up the resolve from knowing there will soon be a day when he doesn't ask and I will miss it.

Speaking to many families over the course of my career, I know this is true for many of you, as well.  But I want to challenge you in the coming weeks to make that time, if you can.  A few years ago my family tried the TV Turn-off challenge for a week and it was astonishing.  I finished two serious books and started a third. Louis plowed through a pile from the library.

We have been working in class on reading to someone else as part of our daily reading routine.  It's kind of my new favorite part of the day.  There is so much subtle learning happening.  Everyday I see students coaching their peers, too, in ways that help me design lessons. Partner reading spreads a passion for certain books and new genres and builds new friendships.  Students discover new things about each other and themselves. If you can, make some more time to read together this week!

Homework, due: 11/6

Reading Response
Math Practice and Challenge
Read together!