Happy Halloween

HW due Friday:

1. Service Journal pages (something you have had assigned all week... no reason that you should have to do this tonight unless you were not proactive).
-p. 42 (service log), p. 9 (garden log), 19, 12, 15, 26

2. Term 1 Service Complete (unless you have talked to me already)

HAVE A SPLENDID HALLOWEEN!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOnqjkJTMaA


Thursday, Nov 7th 
1. Last day of term
2. Service Reflection due!!!
3. Field Study Questions for Fish Hatchery and Jean's Farm #2 due!!!!

Day of the Dead Processional
Join the third annual Day of the Dead celebration!   Procession starts at 5:30pm downtown on SW Columbia and Clay. Kids are gathering at Sunnyside School at 4pm to get their face painted and then taking the bus downtown for the procession. (please send bus $)  Parents, we will need all the help we can get painting faces. Bring any pictures or items to remember those who have passed. Middle school students participating will earn service hours for community service!  Thanks to 8th grade Spanish students who will make sugar skulls for the event!
The procession will end at the Crystal Ballroom with a huge alter, Aztec dancers, mariachi music. Adults are $12 and kids under 12 are free.

After Eagle Fern...

HW due Thursday...
1. Rest
2. Relax
3. Smile as you should be proud of yourself, your class, and your school for a special and wonderful trip (THE RAIN CAN'T HOLD US BACK!)
4. Share a story of the trip with a family member

You had other weekend homework that you were supposed to have done last weekend. If for some reason you chose not to do it then you are actually looking at having homework tonight (My Life as a River graphic organizer vignette and river facts... I gave detailed info on them in my last blog post)... Homework tonight sounds miserable. If you did not do your weekend homework last weekend and are trying to do it tonight I would suggest you rest tonight, take a few late points, and do it VERY well this upcoming weekend. Use it as a lesson learned about putting things off until later (it never works very well). REST REST REST! Your health, sanity, and relaxation are the most important thing tonight!

Thanks for a great Eagle Fern Extravaganza!!!!

Eagle Fern on Monday... and Weekend HW

Have a restful week in preparation for Eagle Fern!

At the bottom of this email you will find the packing list in case you need one!

Eagle Fern logistics:
-Come with a positive and engaged attitude!!!
-Connect with other classmates during the trip!
-Pack for extra warmth/layers/rain protection (even though the weather should be relatively dry)
-Bring a day pack with a lunch for the first day
-Label all your gear!!!!
-Show up to school @ 8:45, drop stuff (with name on it) under the sign with my name on it at the back field, head up to core class to check in

HW due Monday.
1. Choice Fiction Reading Assignment #3
...Complete the assignment WHILE you are reading your book
...Add in the page numbers to the work

Example My Life as a River Graphic Organizer Paragraph

***Hook!

***Explain how it connects to the river feature

***Explain what that river feature is

***Tell your story!!!

Topic/Big Idea:  

I can't wait to go to school today I thought to myself as my alarm beeped in the background. I have so much to talk about with my friends! The depth of my river dropped quickly when I started high school, forming a pool that I swam and splashed in for 4 years.  Much like a pool within a flowing river, my time in high school represented a sense of peace, calm, and place. I loved my experience, my family, my friends, and life, and I felt like I could have stayed in that unmoving space forever!

Other ideas within my story...

• Friends represented the calm that a pool provides
• Freedom allowed me to dive deep within my pool
• A sense of self and peace was a part of my being much like the pool of a river

Transition-

But even the deepest water molecule doesn’t stay in the pool forever as I eventually found myself floundering with the rapids of a river.

HW due Thursday (that you should really do this weekend because it is not too difficult, you don't have much weekend homework, and doing homework the night you get back from Eagle Fern will be miserable).
1. My Life as a River VIGNETTE - Graphic Organizer
...Bring all three stories + River Map with you to class on Thursday

2. Find 5 rivers that interest you in our country. Write 1 interesting fact about each river. Be thinking about a river that you would be interested in studying more about.

Packing list:

•  
  o   Clothing for all weather – layers, warm, cold and rainy
  (rain coat,boots or sneakers, change of socks and undergarments, hat for campfire, pajamas, etc)
  o   Sleeping bag and pillow ( (if they are not in stuff sack, please place in garbage bag labeled with student name; sleeping pad if you have it)
  o   Hygiene items (deodorant, toothbrush, etc.)
  o   Water bottle
  o   E-core journal and pencils
  o   Flashlight
  o   Sack lunch for first day
• o   Daypack
• o   Optional:  Musical instruments for campfire, sports equipment, deck of cards

DO NOT bring any valuables such as electronics  (there is no cell phone reception at the camp).
DO NOT bring any personal snacks as food is not allowed in cabins (but do bring your own lunch for day #1).

 

9/30

Happy end of September!

HW due Tuesday:

1. Writing - My Life as a River
...Following the Movie Behind Your Eyelids rule/idea (use detail... capture emotion... Write with all 5 senses) write 1 story from your My Life as a River Map. Your story should be somewhere between 1 paragraph to 2 pages. You should not have to spend more than 30 minutes on this homework assignment unless you want to spend more time writing because you love writing!

2. Current Event
...Pick a current event related to a river (any river in the world)
...Some helpful research hints include going to a news website (oregonlive.com) and searching the word river or searching for a specific river (Willamette, Columbia, Balch Creek, etc...)

3. Bring your choice fiction novel to class for silent reading tomorrow!

Thursday = Field Study to Forest Park (round 2!)
Friday = Last day before I send grades home to families

Belmont Library Resources

How to choose a "Just Right Book" according to the Belmont Librarian extraordinaire, Jane Corry...

Look at the cover.

Read the flap.

Open at random and read a page. See if you are intrigued.

Look at what authors wrote blurbs on the cover of a book you liked, read something by them.

Get recommendations from trusted friends or relatives.

Read another book by an author you like.

Ask a librarian for suggestions, we love talking about books (one you know or…)

https://multcolib.org/reading-suggestions

Use a booklist.

http://multcolib.bibliocommons.com/explore/featured/staff_picks

Use a database.

            Novelist

https://multcolib.org/resource/novelist-plus

Goodreads

http://www.goodreads.com/

Read an award winner

OBOB,

http://oboblsta.pbworks.com/w/page/53190401/OBOB_Titles_Main_Page

ORCA,

http://www.olaweb.org/orca

 Printz Award

http://www.ala.org/yalsa/booklistsawards/bookawards/printzaward/previouswinners/winners

Newbery Medal

http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/newberymedal/newberyhonors/newberymedal

Sibert Award (non-fiction)

http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/sibertmedal/sibertpast/sibertmedalpast

Take a chance, they are free from the library and you don’t have to finish a book just because you started it.

9/16

HW due Tuesday:

1. Current Event
...Find a current event from a news source of your choice about anything going on in the world!
...Complete the current event worksheet form
...When filling it out know that I care most about your connection to the current event, reason for choosing it, and opinion.

Potential News Sources (there are so much more!)
-newspaper, magazine, radio, tv
-websites...
http://www.oregonlive.com/
http://tweentribune.com/frontpage?link
http://www.teenkidsnews.com/
http://www.npr.org/
http://www.happynews.com/
http://www.cnn.com/studentnews/

2. Bring silent reading material (if you are reading something from my bookshelf tell me before class)


Wednesday
-Late opening
-Trip to Belmont Library (bring library card or a home address/phone number so we can get you a library card)

Thursday
-Willamette River Walk field study

Friday
-Have chosen your choice fiction novel
-Have your "binder" set up and organized (see below for specifics)

Michael’s Class – Binder Organization

Expectations

1. Have a section/folder/space for HW that is needs to be completed or is going to be turned in
2. Have a section/folder/space for handouts
3. Have a section/folder/space for notes/activities
4. Have a section/folder/space for returned homework (keep returned homework until the end of the term)

Tips:

• Put new things towards the front, old things towards the back
• Avoid loose papers, stuffing things into your backpack
• Check/clean/organize your binder/backpack once every few weeks (avoid binder/backpack monster)

9/13

Happy weekend! Enjoy the sunshine :)

HW due Monday...

1. "Important Moments in My Reading History"
 ...Help me build an understanding of who you are as a reader
 ...Explain the significance of each example

2. Writing
...Complete "Who are We?!" interview partner form
...Complete "Who am I?!" form
...We had plenty of time working on these in class today. Most of you were close to (if not all the way) finished. If this assignment is a struggle for you this weekend think about using your time more wisely in class!

3. Year of the River image (this is the least important homework assignment)
...The class has some of my images about what I think "The Year of the River" looks like. I want you to add your own so that its not my ideas but our ideas.
...Bring in something that represents what the Year of the River looks like in your mind (it can be an image, actual picture, map, quote, poem, word, anything!)

Thursday - Willamette River field study
Friday - must have selected your (just right) choice fiction novel