Since our Oregon Trail Overnight, the students in room 205 have been working on their landmark presentations. They researched the landmarks and created posters as a final projects. They will be sharing their knowledge with the rest of the class as they present their material and share their visuals. Some of the landmark that will be discussed are: Independence Missouri, Chimney Rock, Whitman Mission, Barlow Road Tollgate, Fort Kearny, Blue Mountains, Oregon, and Oregon City, Oregon.
Our new science unit begins with inquiry. Our students dissect mystery objects to find out what they contain. Using the scientific process, they will make observations, collect data, and draw conclusions to determine what the mystery objects are. The students have identified some of their findings to be bones. They are working to sort and classify these items, to determine what these creatures may have looked like.
During the month of April, our students worked on a variety of poems in honor of Poetry month. We started off our study of poetry with a novel, "Love That Dog" by Sharon Creech. This is a wonderful book written in poem formatting. The students were introduced to new vocabulary: stanza, onomatopoeia, hyperbole, alliteration, rhyme, rhythm, any many more. Our students wrote their own poems about color, being in charge of the world, spring, themselves using similes and metaphor, etc. To celebrate all of their hard work, we had a poetry slam at the Blue Kangaroo Coffeeshop. A big thank you to Blue Kangaroo and their continuous support of the event and for the generous donation of hot cocoa for all the kids!
Well, we survived the Oregon Trail! No one died of dysentery, cholera, or typhoid fever. We avoided snake bites and toughed out the elements. Extreme exhaustion was reported, but by only a few (mostly the adults).
Our students had fun during their field studies having to do with exploring the frontier and settling the homestead. They mapped an acre, built a Lincoln Log cabin using team work, made candles, milled grain, made prairie pals, cut wood, rolled logs, and washed clothes the old fashioned way. In the evening, they cooked burgers on hobo stoves trying to avoid french fried fingers, but not before requesting permission from the "Great Hobo Stove Masters". We danced the Virginia Reel while CHOMPS and her band played banjo and other instruments. The excitement was contagious. They made their way to campfire where each class did a skit or song for the others and the camp counselors helped to wind us down with a gentle serenade. The next day started with a big breakfast of pancakes and sausage and coffee, lots of coffee (for the adults that is). Off to the next field study, they went. They made baked bread over a fire, shook cream into butter, learned about trapping animals in the nature center, packed a wagon with essential items, hiked to learn about flora and fauna, and panned for gold in the creek. Thank you to the parent chaperones for coming and helping things run smoothly. Thank you to the families who collected baby food jars and helped make hobo burners at home. We can't do these trips without all of you! The kids sang us camp songs all the way back to school. What an amazing, memorable trip! On April 21st, our class went on a walking field trip to Oaks Bottom Wild Life Refuge. We worked with volunteers from Portland Parks and Recreation to pull invasive ivy and test the water quality by collecting various macroinvertebrates found in the frog pond. The weather was amazing, but the mosquitoes fierce. Students used nets to sweep across the tall grass in the pond and collect a variety of samples. They got a hold of bullfrog tadpoles, salamanders, dragonfly larvae, aquatic worms, water skippers, caddis flies, and many more. When classifying the macroinvertebrates, students use the information to draw conclusions about the water quality. Some macroinvertebrates are more tolerant than others.
If you haven't been down to Oaks Bottom for a hike in awhile, it's worth it. You can see all the changes and restoration our fourth and fifth grade classes have been working on for the last several years. Good work kids! |
AuthorKori Bass, Nancy Gilkey, and students of room Z002 Archives
September 2017
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