March 4, 2016

Spring

By Wendy

(Third Grader in Ms. Melani's Crew)

Spring, oh spring, vivid greens and blues  
Birds  singing sweet, soft, tunes to the sun as it rose at dawn
How quiet colors stream off butterflies as they perch in harmony.

The scents of blossoms in bloom, so sweet
The gorgeous shimmer of ponds in the sun as swans drift
peacefully leading families.
The joy of sitting in the grass is great and big.

At the evening, crickets chirp just before the sun sets
In a flash of flowing colors just waiting for people to sleep
Mothers lullaby their children until it dawns again.   

So maybe it's not quite spring yet... but her poem inspires me!

A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words

A few shots from Kim's fieldwork

Every students got to race with the dogs!

Ask an expert from Kim's Crew about the noise these dogs make and why.
They read about it, they knew about it, but it came alive when they heard it for themselves.
The power of field work.

What do you do when you aren't racing the dogs?
S'mores of course!

Nothing compares to learning from an expert!

Who got the last ride of the day?

Here's what Kim shared about her day in an email to me:

The debrief after solo journal writing was excellent. Not only did they share how the first hand experience helped them understand dogsledding in general, but they also made great connections to what we've been talking about regarding values in our expedition and with passions connected to our mission statement. 

Way cool Kim!

Winter Voyages

More to follow when sixth grade begins their

Winter Voyages in April.

Thank you, each and every one of you, who played a role

in making this powerful learning experience happen

for our kids. It's not always visible today -

but we know, for sure, that this learning experience

does empower our kids. It matters!

Thank you!

Calendar

March 7 - 11th:

Monday 7th: Lucy Calkins Ready training - Deb, Deborah, Josie and handful of teachers out of the building.

Tuesday 8th:

* RTI 7:30 a.m.

* 9 - 11 a.m. Cindy - School Director makes site visit

Wednesday 9th:

* The Beat

* DCSD Art Show (Yeah, Pam!) Wednesday through Saturday at Lone Tree Arts Center

Thursday:

* Elementary Admin mtg. Deborah out of the building

Friday:

* Grade level/team meetings with Deborah

Saturday:

5-8 p.m. Julie's farewell celebration @ Andrea's house

March 14 - 18th:

PARCC Testing Begins

No RTI this week

Friday 18th: We DO have students - be sure to remind your parents as our calendar is uniquely different on this day. We do not have students on Monday, April 4th, when other schools do.

*** Please make a note to yourself to schedule iReady diagnostic the week we come back from Spring Break. Then schedule a time that you will input those final scores into CITE 6. There is a very tight time line that must be adhered to. Thanks!