1.29.15 Crew News

Announcements:

Construct and Deconstruct:

I'm looking for old items that can be donated to the class for a construct and deconstruct center. I'd like to have different items that can be taken apart and put back together (for this reason, don't plan on getting these items back). I'm going to head to Lowes or Home Depot and grab some tools so the kids can unscrew, pry, and investigate how things work. I'd love to have anything around the size of a toaster or smaller. Email me about larger items. :) Thanks in advance for sending in any old items.Also if you have any tools that you would like to donate, that would be great! 

Spring Climbing: Our crew will be climbing the week of March 16th. The more belayers we have, the more climbing students get to do! Hope to see you there!

 Belay Training for Spring Climbing will take place every Wednesday through February 25th.

Sign Up online; click 'Find a SignUp' and enter Mr. Doug's email; doug.baker@dcsdk12.org.
For those new to belaying, you will need to attend the entire training, starting at 10:00am (usually lasts about 90 minutes). 
If you know the physical skills necessary to belay safely, you can come at 12:00pm to learn the enhancements added to increase the emotional safety of climbers.  (If you took the belay training in the fall, you do not need to attend unless you would like a refresher or extra practice time.)

Valentine's Day Party: We will be having a Vday Party on 2/12. Please have students decorate a shoebox, bag, or a container that can be brought to school on this day. There will be no time during school to decorate it.

In previous years, I have found that these celebrations are more meaningful when Valentines are thoughtful. I encourage home-made Valentines, and but store-bought Valentines can be personalized and work too. Please have students make enough Valentines for all of our crew (25). Here is a list of names: Adin S., Aiden P., Alyssa, Carter, Charlie R., Charlie V., Cheyenne, Cutter, Dan-Anh, Ethan, Guy, Henry, JJ, Kaden, Kami, Kelby, Logan, Mira, Natalie, Nathan, Rachel, Rylan, Tessa, Tristan, and Vitorio.

Calendar Updates:

1/30: Tomorrow! Vision and Hearing Screening
Feb 12: Valentine's Day Celebration
Feb 13: No School; Teacher Professional Development
Feb  16: No School; President's Day
Feb 23-25: Winter Voyage to Keystone
Feb 26: No school for 3rd grade (Day of Rest)

Scientists at work... This week, students have been investigating about the healthy choice of washing hands. At the end of last week, students collected samples from three "dirty" surfaces and one "clean" surface including: the bathroom pass, the bathroom sinks, our soap dispenser,  the bathroom,  the sinks by the bathroom, the nurse's office, the nurse's door handle, the nurse bed, the computer cart after it was cleaned, and the cafeteria tables. Over the weekend, the samples grew. Students worked as scientists to analyze and draw their results. They shared results. We shared the results with Ms. Kristin too! Students concluded that the areas with the most bacteria growth were from the nurse's office, from the sink faucet, a student's desk, a soap dispenser, and my cell phone (ick!). Some students realized that they had not collected their samples properly. Many students came away with new questions. Be sure to ask your child about his/her results and conclusions. Next up, we did some data collection. They wanted to find out more about the following questions: Do Renaissance students wash their hands? With soap? For the full recommended twenty seconds?  One video we watched said the average amount of time spent washing hands is 7 seconds. Today we looked at our data. We realized that by including third graders who washed their hands during the data collection, we did not have accurate results that were representative of the whole school. So! We will be collecting more data tomorrow. Stay turned for our results.  In preparation for our upcoming health fair, we have begun analyzing persuasive writing. In reading, students are using the strategy of MAKING CONNECTIONS to make meaningful text to self, text to text, and text to world connections. In writing, students are working on crafting interesting leads to opinion and persuasive writing. In word work, we are looking at contractions and the proper use of apostrophes.  We had to say good-bye to a dear friend this week. We wish Roy all the best, and he will be missed tremendously!