Here We Go Again

Dear Families,

Mother Nature does want she wants, eh?

A few weeks ago, I shared with families a private link to view your child’s recorded TedTalk that they produced on a program called Flipgrid. I was extremely impressed with their efforts on this and loved watching the final outcome of their reading research. Plus, technology is fun. I asked the class if there were any volunteers that would be willing to share their TedTalk with you through this newsletter and definitely had some takers. The following students, and their names include links to their TedTalks, reported on a range of a topics: Kevin, Lucas, Oak, Anand, and Jack.

It’s hard to believe, especially with the recent weather, that February is almost over and that the second trimester of the school year is about to come to a close. Thursday, March 7th is officially the last day of the second trimester. I will be working on progress reports and I will let you know when those will be sent home, which will be either the week of March 11th or March 18th depending on many factors like my toddler, my toddler’s incoming molar, my toddler’s love for getting every sickness that passes through his daycare, the phase of the moon, and the weather.

While today was the last day for students to bring in their pledges for our participation in the American Heart Association Jump Rope for Heart fundraiser in order to earn prizes, you can still make pledges online. Remember that if each child donates $5, then the school meets our goal. You can make online donations here.

The end of the second trimester marks the beginning of the third trimester. With the third trimester brings visions of longer days, being able to wear shorts without suffering the wrath of Mother Nature’s February fury, and planning for the overnight field trip. The fourth and fifth graders will be heading to the Scablands of Central Washington to check out evidence of the Missoula floods. We’ll be staying at Delany Environmental Learning Center in Sun Lakes-Dry Falls State Park in Coulee City, Washington. We’ll leave on Tuesday, May 14 and return Thursday evening May 16. There will be a lot more details shared right before and after Spring Break. If you’re interested in learning more about the ins and outs of this trip, I’ll be hosting one informational meeting for families on Wednesday, April 3 at 4pm in my classroom. Feel free to come on by then if you want to learn more, and please note coming to the meeting is definitely not required. A lot of information will be shared digitally. We’ll be sharing permission slips the first week of April and we want you to be informed and aware!

The ancient event known as The Missoula Floods happened between 10,000-15,000 years ago. The floodwaters scoured out a large part of Central Washington and the Columbia River Gorge. A massive dam, located just west of Missoula, Montana, was left over at the end of the last Ice Age. In spectacular fashion over the course of thousands of years, it broke, thus allowing a whole bunch of water to flood through Washington, down the Columbia River, and flood the Willamette Valley before it petered out to the ocean. One reason why our Gorge is so beautiful is because these floods helped carve out the southern side of the Gorge, our backyard, leaving us with some pretty cool waterfalls.

Lastly, we’re very close to finishing our argument essays. Students are more than welcome to work on this at home this weekend. We’ll put the final touches on it next week. Mark your calendars for Wednesday, March 20th at 8 am. We’ll be holding our Writers’ Celebration then. I’ll send out more details about the celebration next week.

Have a great weekend!

Mr. B