Update 11/29/17

Hello UE Families, 

Thank you for your generous contributions to our feast last week!  It was so fun to see our students sharing their traditions and food with each other.  Student organized events are always a little messier than adult organized ones, and we are especially grateful to those of you that volunteered to support clean up after the feast!  

Especially with the widely varying temperatures lately, many children are arriving at school without jackets, hats, boots, or other cold weather gear.  Please remind your children that they are required to wear jackets, hats, and gloves or mittens when temperatures are below freezing and must have outdoor shoes or boots.  If your child does not have the gear they need, please let us know and we will work to provide what is needed.  On a related note - if you have gently used winter coats, snow pants, hats, or gloves that you are willing to donate for our recess borrow box, please send them in with your child.  

We are busily preparing for the Upper El Geography Fair, which will be held Wednesday, December 13th from 2-3pm.  We are inviting families to come in to see student work.  Each student will have a space to present their project, and families can circulate among classrooms to listen to presentations.  Please consider attending!

Do you have unused exercise equipment sitting around, taking up space?  We'd love to put it to good use.  With less than ample space for movement breaks and meeting sensory needs, we're hoping to find donations of the following:  a stationary bike, medicine balls (5-12lbs), a small trampoline, and a pull up bar.  

Please help your student schedule time to do their homework.  It is our hope that students can be mostly independent with their work, but with busy schedules, they will likely need help planning time to do their work.  We have seen a decrease in homework returns - please remind your child they can check our blog for essay work.  

Check out the Crow Wing River Blog for weekly essay homework, updates, and occasional fun postings about what we're doing in class:

https://crowwingriverclass.blogspot.com/

A few things we're working on this week:

4

Trickster Tales

Density

Diamante Poems

Geography Fair

5

Creation Stories

Geography Fair

Fractions

Tree of Languages

6

Geography Fair 

Languages of Native Peoples

Percents or Multistep Equations

Minnesota Indigenous Science and Medicine

  

Thank you for your ongoing support! 

Andrea and Cate

Upper Elementary Homework Due 12/5/17 - Animal Stories

Please choose one of the photos below.  Write a story you feel explains the photo, or in which the photo could reasonably appear.  

Your story should have all of the parts of a story from Freytag’s Pyramid:

An exposition to introduce the characters, setting, and time period

A conflict that forces your main character(s) to act

Rising action in which your main character tries to solve the conflict

Climax in which your main character finally is or is not able to solve the conflict

Falling action, allowing your characters to wrap up the conflict, taking care of smaller issues

A resolution, or a new normal for your main character, who should be changed by the experience of the story.  

There is no paragraph requirement for this homework.  You should write enough to include all parts of your story.  Consider adding descriptions and dialogue, and remember to title your story.

No Early Work Today, 11/22

Good Morning Crow Wing Families, 

We have a meeting this morning and need to cancel early work.  We're sorry to the late notice!  We will have someone watching for students arriving, but will not be here to work with kids.  Again, apologies for the late notice!

Thank you, 

Cate

Upper Elementary Homework Due 11/28/17 - Letters of Gratitude

Please write a letter to someone in your life expressing gratitude.  Describe the things about that person you appreciate and/or the things they do for you and others.  It might be that this person is consistently kind to you, helps you do new things, has been there for you when you are sad, or that the person helps others in the world by doing big work in our community.  The person doesn’t have to be someone you know personally.  Be as specific as you can about why you are thankful for the person and how you will honor the person’s good work by doing your own good work.  

Make sure your letter is neat, has correct spelling, capital letters at the beginning of each sentence and for all proper nouns, and that you have used punctuation where needed.  Remember that letters have a date in the upper right hand corner, a greeting with the person’s name, and that you sign the letter at the bottom.  

You may choose to send your letter yourself and turn in a copy, or you may bring the letter and an address to school and we can help you send it.  You must mail your letter.  Please choose a person to write to that doesn’t live in your home so that your letter can be a surprise.  

Fourth grade students should write at least two paragraphs.

Fifth grade student should write at least three paragraphs.

Sixth grade students should write at least four paragraphs.  

Remember - each week you have the option of proposing your own homework idea.  You must make a plan by Friday and check it with your guide.  

Upper El Feast 11/23

A note from the students that are working on the Upper El feast next week:

Hello Upper El Families, 

We, the Student Feast Committee, are busily preparing for our Upper El Potluck Feast next Wednesday, November 23rd.  Our feast will start at 12:15, immediately following recess.  Students will sign up for foods to bring today, Wednesday, November 15.  It is our hope that students will prepare the food they choose themselves, with some help from adults.    

We are also asking for families to donate compostable flatware, paper plates and napkins, and paper cups.  Shingobee and Crow Wing families should send in paper plates and compostable flatware if you are able.  Platte and Little Elk families should send in paper napkins and paper cups if you are able.  If you are willing to send in these items, please do so by Tuesday, November 22nd.  

Please send food in serving dishes that don't have to be plugged in (crockpots).  We will keep food hot or cold in coolers.  Please send serving utensils with your dish.  Label both and we'll make sure they are returned to your child at the end of the day.  

Please list ingredients for each dish so we can help students with dietary restrictions chose their food.  Small signs for each dish created by your student would be helpful.  

We will serve food buffet style and mix students among upper el classrooms for lunch together.  

We are seeking six adult volunteers to help with clean up following the feast (1-1:45pm).  If you are available, please sign up here.

Thank you for your contributions!

Sincerely, the students of the UE Student Feast Committee.  

Upper Elementary Homework Due 11/14/17 - Fall Phenology

As we learned at Widji, phenology is the study of seasonal change and how the seasons affect animal and plant life.  We are now firmly into fall in Minnesota and many changes have taken place in the past weeks that are observable and measurable.  

Option 1:

Choose at least five phenological changes to observe.  Create a chart of these data points and observe at least five times throughout the week.  Choose one or more of your observation sets and make a graph to communicate your data.  

For instance, you might observe the temperature when you wake up each day, the behavior of squirrels in your yard each day when you get home, or the changes in a particular tree’s leaves.  

Option 2:

Write a short story from the perspective of an animal or plant you can observe in your daily life.  Your main character should reflect on phenological changes as part of your story.  It might be that you write from the perspective of an oak tree watching its leaves fall and the changing behavior of the squirrels nearby, or a chickadee that is busily preparing for winter and watching its neighbors migrate south.  

Remember that stories must have certain aspects - an exposition, rising action, a conflict, falling action, and a resolution.  If your main character has nothing at stake in the conflict, chances are your story will be boring.  

Option 3:

Research daylight savings time, which ended early Sunday morning.  Many people struggle with the decreasing light in the fall, the darker evenings, and with changing their internal clocks to match the time switch.  Why do we have daylight savings time?  When was it invented, and to solve what problem?  What is your personal opinion about the usefulness of daylight savings time?  

Remember to cite your source and follow the grade level paragraph requirements for this essay.

Update 11/2/17

Hello Crow Wing Families, 

Please consider stopping by our Critter Cash Sale today after school.  We'll be in the parking lot to the north of the elementary building with used books, baked goods, and cocoa (while supplies last!).  Prices will be low - maxing out at $4 for bigger, fancier books, so only a few dollars will get you home baked treats and high quality books!

Early Wednesdays are up and running!  Please support your student in completing late work or receiving extra lessons by making a plan to attend Early Wednesday work time.  We're here at 7:45am, students can knock on our exterior classroom door to be let into the building.  

We are looking for a couple more lamps and extension cords to use in our classroom.  As the light fades into winter, we'd like to be able to light our space with softer lamp light instead of the overhead fluorescents.  If you are willing to lend or donate a lamp or extension cord, please let us know.  

Our bunny is a voracious little composter!  He likes many things that would otherwise be food waste:

- cilantro and parsley stems

- broccoli stems

- cauliflower and lettuce hearts

- carrot peels

- ribs of greens like kale, chard, collards, and mustard

If you are willing to collect and send these items into school, we can cut our rabbit food budget a bit each week.  

Conferences are in two weeks.  Sixth grade students must attend their conferences and will lead the discussion of their work and goals.  Fifth grade students may choose to attend to present their work.  Fourth grade students do not attend conferences.  We look forward to seeing you all on the 16th and 17th.  

Things we're working on:

Everyone: Finishing Widji Projects 

4th grade: First and Second Laws of Motion, Equivalent Fractions, finishing the study of early humans

5th grade: Natural Systems, Adding and subtracting fractions, Apostrophes and plurals

6th grade: Human geography and rain shadow deserts, Minnesota History Study - the Dakota War, complex sentences and dependent clauses

Thank you for your ongoing support!