State Projects...

After a lot of research and preparation our projects were complete. The books were filled with lots of interesting information. The tri-fold boards gave a quick look at the motto, state bird, flower, tree, animal, and a state map. The speeches were well crafted and packed full of history, politics, and fun facts. There were a wide variety of 3-D models representing each state that really captured a lot of our attention.

Rowena Spring Trip May 2010

Rowena Spring Trip 2010

Our class visited Rowena Plateau to observe the changes from fall to spring and to view the differences between the west and east.

The LIberty Project

As a wonderful way to conclude our study of early U.S. history and government we had two special visitors. Sara Grigsby and Joe Schneider came into ur classroom to share The Liberty Project. Joe is making a float for the Corbett Fourth of July parade that will feature the head of the Statue of Liberty. Surrounding the head will be flags created created by Mrs. Handy's, Ms. Steichen's, and our classroom.

Each classroom discussed what liberty and freedom meant to each of us and then we took those thoughts and ideas and design flag. The creativity and ideas they came up with were amazing. Be sure to look for the float in the Fourth of July parade and it will also be displayed in Portland at the Waterfront Park sometime in September.

Enjoy the slideshow!

Columbia River Gorge

Lose yourself in nature and find peace...

The final five weeks of our time together will be doing just that! We will be exploring the beauty of the Gorge. Comparing how it changes from fall to spring, looking at the beauty of the wildflowers that grow, helping to paint a mural in the grade school, and doing our part to help it remain the amazing place that it is.

To begin our classroom has been asked to paint important places and things found in the Gorge from Wahkeena Falls to Cascade Locks. From the historic stonework to the many falls and parks, our paintings have been done with lots of thought and care.

On May 10th and 11th we will be traveling up the Gorge to revisit Rowena Plateau and Larch Mountain to experience the changes that have taking place. We will also have the opportunity to see the beautiful wildflowers that are so abundant.

We recently joined with all of the members of the intermediate pod to help in the fight against garlic mustard. This very invasive plant is endangering many areas in the western part of the Gorge. Together we were able to pull over 80 bags of this plant near Guy Talbot State Park.

Mixtures and Solutions

Our new science exploration has our classroom busy with mixtures and solutions. Last week we learned the difference between a mixture and solution and how to separate them. Mixtures could be separated using screens and filters, but solutions required a bit more time. We quickly learned that evaporation was the way to find salt that was in our solution of salt and water. We loved looking closely at the result. We discovered that the salt was now small square crystals that all had little "x"s on them. We learned that salt's scientific name is sodium chloride.

This week we used what we learned about mixtures and solutions and how to separate them with screens, filters, and evaporation. We worked in teams that had to design a way to separate a dry mixture of gravel, salt, and a powder. Each team came up with a unique was to solve the problem. We learned that there can be more than one way to complete this, but some might work a bit better than others!

Revolution Wrap up

We are wrapping up our studies of the Revolutionary War. We have read about the events and researched important people. We learned how to sew like the colonists and made a pillow of our own. We listened to a historical fictional story and discussed how hard it would have been to have a dad on one side and our brother on the other. To finish up we are writing a story of our own. We will complete our stories when we return from spring break.

Enjoy the break because our spring will be a filled with learning more about the U.S. Constitution and exploring the three branches of our government. Each student will also be assigned a U.S. state to study and make a presentation on. During April we will also be creating the hallway mural of the Columbia River Gorge, investigating chemicals and solutions in science, and writing poetry.

Take care!

Area of Study Celebration - Round 2

Today was such an amazing experience watching and listening to all of the conversations! The celebration was a wonderful way of wrapping up a lot of hard work by many.