Field Trip to JTerm Play today cancelled

Hello Crow Wing Families, 

Due to the snow day, A1 is unable to run a dress rehearsal for us today.  Our trip is cancelled.  Please consider attending the play this weekend - it's fun to see what students, both familiar and new, produce each year.  Ticket info is available on our blog.  

Thanks, 

Cate

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https://crowwingriverclass.blogspot.com/

Upper Elementary Homework Due Feb. 6, 2018 - St. Paul Winter Carnival

The St. Paul Winter Carnival starts Wednesday, January 24th and runs for 17 days.  Among the many festivities are: the royal coronation, the ice palace, the snow/ice sculpture competition, the cat show, parades, and the medallion hunt.  The Winter Carnival is one of St. Paul’s biggest events, and it will be even more fantastic than usual this year because Minnesota is hosting the Super Bowl.  

Essay Options:

1. Attend an event!  Here’s a full events calendar:  https://www.wintercarnival.com/calendar/  Write about what you see, learned, and thought about the event.  Please include pictures or illustrations as well.  
2. Participate in the medallion hunt!  Check out the clues in the Pioneer Press and record your thoughts about their meanings.  If you don’t win the medallion hunt, be sure to check out who does and where the medallion was hidden.  Include photos if you go out hunting!  Here’s the Pioneer Press website:  http://www.twincities.com/
3. Read the legend of the Winter Carnival.  Write a retelling of the legend and illustrate the story.  Use your book binding skills to make a short book!  Here’s the legend:  https://www.wintercarnival.com/legend/

Essay Expectations:

Write an organized essay with a topic sentence for each paragraph.

Note, if you are retelling a story, you may have more paragraphs.  If you are doing the medallion hunt, you should organize your report to include a paragraph or more for each clue.

Check your spelling and grammar – it’s okay to ask an adult or another child to help you with this.

4th years must write at least TWO paragraphs of 4 to 5 sentences at a minimum.

5th years must write at least THREE paragraphs.

6th years must write at least FOUR paragraphs.

Update 1/22/18

Hello Crow Wing Families, 

The rapidly changing weather has been a significant challenge for students as they attempt to dress for recess.  Many kids are forgetting their boots, snow pants, indoor shoes, and other assorted outdoor gear as the weather warms and then dives back into winter.  Please help your children prepare for school by making sure they have what they'll need for the forecasted weather and have a pair of shoes to wear in the classroom.  

We are taking a field trip to see the A1 JTerm Play rehearsal Wednesday.  We'll be leaving GRS for the Wellstone Center around 11:40am and returning around 3:00pm.  We're so excited to see our former classmates and students in the play!  

We have had multiple cases of influenza in our community.  Please watch your children for flu-like symptoms.  We are encouraging students to take water bottles home for washing frequently, use placemats for lunch, wash hands thoroughly, and get lots of sleep.  

We will not have early work this week (Wednesday, January 24th) because we will be in a meeting.  Early work will resume next week on January 31.  

Things we're working on:

End of semester assessments (all grades)

Final round of storytelling competition (all grades)

4:

Personal Narrative final drafts

Convection Cycles in the Atmosphere

5:

Native Peoples Project - research and note taking

Coastal Wind Cycles

6:

Persuasive Essay rough drafts

Imaginary Island Topographic Maps

General reminders:

- Essay homework is posted on the class blog, which is linked below

- We have office hours Wednesday from 3:15-4pm.  You can stop in to discuss your students' progress without an appointment.

- We will do our best to reply to urgent emails, but often cannot do so on the same school day.  GRS expects faculty members to reply to emails within two school days.  

- Students are invited to come in early on Wednesdays at 7:45am to work on projects or follow up work on which they need additional time or support.  

Thank you for your ongoing support!

Andrea and Cate

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https://crowwingriverclass.blogspot.com/

A1 J-Term Productions: MacBeth & Hairspray Jr - January 25-27

The 2018 Production of Hairspray and MacBeth are Live!

Below are the links.

GRS Presents Hairspray Jr.! and Macbeth Thursday 1.25.18.  Doors open at 6:10, Show Begins at 6:30pm

GRS Presents Hairspray Jr.! and Macbeth Friday 1.26.18 . Doors open at 6:10, Show Begins at 6:30pm

GRS Presents Hairspray Jr.! and Macbeth Saturday 1.27.18

Doors open at 1:40, Show Begins at 2:00pm

If your situation requires that you should need free or reduced price tickets, contact Tami Limberg at tlimberg@greatriverschool.org.

Tickets are $15 for adults, $7 for children.  Drinks and cookies (and maybe coffee) for sale during intermission.

HW Due 1/23/18 - Cities Around the World

Please choose one of the following essay topics:

1. Research a city on another continent.  Describe what makes that city unique and give basic details about it such as the country it is located in, the language people speak there, any major religions, when it was founded, and what water or landforms are important to the city.  Remember to cite your source!
2. Write a fictional diary of a traveler to a new city.  Describe a few attractions the traveler would see, any major landmarks or natural features, and something about the culture.  Include at least three days of entries and one illustration.  Remember to cite your source!
3. The Olympics will be starting shortly in Pyeongchang, South Korea.  Choose to either investigate Pyeongchang or another Olympic host city.  Research the preparations a city needs to make to host the Olympics and the history of the city you chose.  Remember to cite your source!

Essay Expectations:

Fourth grade students should write a minimum of two organized paragraphs with topic sentences for each paragraph.  

Fifth grade students should write a minimum of three organized paragraphs with topic sentences for each paragraph.

Sixth grade students should write a minimum of four organized paragraphs with topic sentences for each paragraph.  

All students should edit their work for spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and basic grammar.  

Update 1/11/18

Hello Crow Wing Families, 

Bun is back from his extended vacation over break.  We appreciate donations of vegetable scraps such as broccoli stems, lettuce hearts, and the outer leaves of Brussels Sprouts, cabbage, and cauliflower.  Bun cannot eat legumes, meat, dairy, or grains.  

There will be no early work Wednesday, Jan. 24.  Andrea and I have a meeting to attend and won't be able to receive students until our regular arrival time, 8:15am. We will have early work next Wednesday, January 17th. 

We have an ongoing need for kleenex.  Our use has far outpaced our budget this year!  Please consider donating tissues if you are able. 

Our sixth graders are holding a fundraiser for their end of the year trip Monday, January 15th.  The Thomas family is hosting - I've attached a posting from Heather with details.  

What we're working on:

4th

Personal Narrative Essays

States of Matter

Logical Analysis

Types of Angles

5th 

Native Peoples Project

Technical Writing

Air Pressure and Prevailing Winds

Direct Speech Conventions

6th

Imaginary Island - Types of islands and landforms review

Persuasive Writing

Degrees of Dependence

Drafting MN History Projects

We are all working on serving the community through "selfless acts" since returning from break.  The sixth graders have taken the lead on this work - they have been working to identify good options and lead by example since mid-December.  They are working to complete three acts of service to our community a day (helping others with work, picking up and cleaning the classroom, supporting lower el students, supporting transitions, etc) and younger students are working to complete one or two community oriented tasks a day.  

Thank you for your ongoing support!

Andrea and Cate

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https://crowwingriverclass.blogspot.com/

Upper El Homework Due 1/16/18 - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Options:

1. Choose an event taking place in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr to attend.  Some examples might include - MLK Celebration at King Park in Minneapolis on 1/15 at 6:30pm or the Friends School MLK Celebration on 1/12 at 7pm at the O’Shaughnessy.  Write about what you see, learn, hear, and feel at the event.  What did you learn about community, rights, and Dr. King?
2. Read the “African American Civil Rights” article on the History For Kids website (available: http://www.historyforkids.net/african-american-civil-rights.html).  Then choose at least one other person or topic to read about under the Civil Rights heading.  There are links available at the bottom of the page, or you can search History for Kids with the keywords “Civil Rights.”  Good examples might include: The Montgomery Bus Boycott, Rosa Parks, Native American Civil Rights, Mahatma Ghandi, or Nelson Mandela. Write a summary of your research. Explain what you learned and why it is important to the Civil Rights movement. 
3. Memorize a portion of one of Dr. King’s famous speeches.  You may either choose a section and get it approved by your guide, or you may memorize the section of Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream Speech” below.  Be prepared to recite your section to your class.

Essay Expectations:

Fourth grade students should write a minimum of two organized paragraphs with topic sentences for each paragraph.  

Fifth grade students should write a minimum of three organized paragraphs with topic sentences for each paragraph.

Sixth grade students should write a minimum of four organized paragraphs with topic sentences for each paragraph.  

All students should edit their work for spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and basic grammar.  

Excerpt from Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream Speech,” August 28, 1963, Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its Governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places plains, and the crooked places will be made straight, and before the Lord will be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the mount with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the genuine discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, pray together; to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom forever, vowing that we will be free one day.

Fifth Grade OWL lessons

Hello Fifth Grade Families,

This year  at Great River our fifth grade students will be instructed in an adapted OWL curriculum: a comprehensive approach to gender and sexuality education delivered in an age-appropriate manner.  Fifth grade OWL workshops will begin this January, meeting weekly through the beginning of April.

Over our ten sessions we'll cover a broad range of topics, including health and safety, love and family, puberty and growing up, sex and gender, communication and decision making--through relatable activities and reflections.  Each student will bring home supplemental readings to support their learning.

Both workshops and readings will include topics from the OWL curriculum books that have been adapted specifically to suit our public school environment and to keep pace with the dynamic landscape of gender and sexuality education.

Our instructors are GRS faculty members Jenny Kordosky and Derek Damron.  Each of these faculty members work in upper elementary, have been trained in the OWL curriculum, and have experience teaching this content area. If you would like a more in depth overview of the workshops or readings, please contact our instructors at: owl@greatriverschool.org

We look forward to compassionately guiding your students through this fundamental component of the human experience!

Jenny and Derek

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https://crowwingriverclass.blogspot.com/

UE Homework Due 1/9/18 New Year’s Day

Choose one of the following options:

Many people choose to make a resolution at the start of the new year.  It’s a convenient time to decide to make a change for the better.  What is your resolution for 2018?  How do you see yourself growing this year?  How will you hold yourself accountable?

Research how a different culture celebrates the new year.  Does that culture celebrate at a different time?  What are some traditional foods or activities people include in their celebrations.  Remember to include your source!

Think back over the past year.  What did you accomplish that you feel proud of, and how did you grow?  Consider including things that you worked hard to accomplish, areas in which you were not successful, or big events in your life as well.  Many students wrote essays last year setting New Year’s Resolutions.  You could reread your resolution essay and reflect on the progress you made towards your goal.

Research our calendar.  Why is New Year’s located in winter and just after the winter solstice?  How did we come to have months named for mythical gods and Roman numerals?  What are some quirks or challenges of our calendar?

Essay Expectations:

Fourth grade students should write a minimum of two organized paragraphs with topic sentences for each paragraph.  

Fifth grade students should write a minimum of three organized paragraphs with topic sentences for each paragraph.

Sixth grade students should write a minimum of four organized paragraphs with topic sentences for each paragraph.  

All students should edit their work for spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and basic grammar.