Students enjoy Fall Festival

Dear Parents,

Please mark your calendars:

Monday, October 28:    Teacher Work Day
Tuesday, October 29: Field trip to Art of the Brick in Graham
Saturday, November 2:    Family Day ( 9 a.m.-11 a.m.)
Monday, November 11:     Parent-Teacher Conferences ( No school for students)
Tuesday, November 12: Parent-Teacher Conferences (No school for students)

Pinewoods will be hosting a Lego Fun Day camp on November 11 and 12.  Please e-mail Jennifer Sewell if you are interested in enrolling your child.

Fall Festival

Thank you to everyon    e who participated in the Fall Festival and especially to Kim McNally for her help in creating the elementary haunted trail.  The Fall Festival has become an annual event that the students look forward to each year.  We hope to continue the tradition and make it bigger and better each year.

Art of the Brick
Students will leave campus on Tuesday around 12:30 for a field trip to see Art of the Brick; a Lego display at the Graham community center.  On a recent trip to the library, I returned with an armful of books, including  one outlining the history of Legos.  The book was a big hit and made it around the classroom.  Students quickly began making timelines of Legos and so I booked a field trip.  Thank you to Michelle Manzon, Sherrie Kempf, Sean McNally, and Tony Walker for volunteering to chaperone on the trip.

The beauty of a mixed aged classroom
I was reminded on Friday why I love teaching in a mixed aged classroom.  (Sometimes there are challenges, but it is never boring).  The third year students were busy working together using math materials and large white boards to solve some math problems.  The upper elementary were busy finishing up a project and I was approached by one of my second year students, who requested a lesson on fractions.  Before I knew it, a small group of students joined in.  As I introduced some of the fraction materials and concepts, in unison the students begin to sing a silly song I made up years ago.  They had already absorbed many of the introductory lessons just by listening to them as they were introduced to their peers.  They were
excited to finally experience the lesson for themselves.

Writing Club
Last week I read a book that was written by one of my fourth year students years ago.  The students participating in the writing club were re-inspired to continue working on their own stories.  We reviewed the elements of a story and examined the seven main plots of all books.  Each student will complete and "publish" an original book by the end of the year.

Students will begin making a fort on the elementary learning environment.  It will be the beginning of a physics unit and will be included in our imaginary town that we will be creating and using to learn about geography, natural disasters, and civics.  Is anyone growing bamboo on their property?  I am looking for some bamboo poles to use in the structure.   I will be purchasing the bamboo by the end of the week if we are unable to secure some from our community.

I still need email addresses and passwords for Rosetta Stone.  Please provide the information no later than Tuesday for your child to participate in Spanish instruction.  (Additional information can be found in last week's post).

Finally, I know everyone shares in the deepest sympathy for the Horton family. We are still considering the best way to show Lindsey how much we want to support her family at this time.  We will continue to inform you as plans develop.

Warm Regards,

Jo Ann and Summer