Dear Families,

We seem to be moving quite quickly to the end of the school year. Here are some events that will be taking place soon.

• Hats off to all the students who gave their speeches about the many Native American Tribes. The students did an amazingly good job speaking in strong voices, sharing interesting information using keynote, powerpoint, pictures with the doc.camera. It was thrilling to see the improvement from spring break to now! All students had many opportunities to  score their peers.

•Firstly, the library is officially closed. Please search through your house to see if there are any Edison books still abound! We want to thank our efficient, focused, and friendly library volunteers: Lisa, Sue, Dana, and Zhong Ping who were pairing students with compatible books, checking out books, shelving books, and answering all kinds of questions. Thank you so much for making Friday afternoons so much fun! OBOB books are out and there’s great reading to complete this vacation.

• The Edison Jog-a thon will take place this Friday from 9:15-10:15am. We’ll walk to SEHS along 24th Street. Walk with us to the track, mark lap cards, walk, jog, and cheer on the kids. To help reduce waste, please make sure that your child has his/her own water bottle. We’ll label them in the class before we good. That way, our footprint is lighter as we avoid the extra plastic waste. Students need comfortable shoes, clothes, sunscreen, and a change of clothes for the afternoon, if needed.

• If your student asks for you to buy a tape measure, take it seriously. On Friday the students walked about the halls and outside, measuring the length and width of objects to figure out the area and the perimeter with a real tape measure.  Real life experiences makes the abstract math concepts come alive. We continue with more problem solving.

• Our Social Studies/Reading integrates the Oregon Trail experience. We’re reading historical fiction in both books: Dear Levi and Moccasin Trail. We’ll be working on mapping of the places that pioneers traveled through and start a simulation where each student takes the role of a person on a wagon train, choosing supplies, and moving forward without mishaps.

• Next week, 5/23/13, on Thursday is our Portland train trip to OMSI. Check your itinerary to make sure you’ve got a way for your child to get to the station by either carpooling with other families or driving yourself, or meeting Jenny at the school for your child to have a ride. Healthy snacks are a must since we’ll be on the go all day. Walking shoes, water bottle, and sturdy backpack are needed.

• We are so lucky to have all the talented student volunteers who help in our classroom. Aaron has taken the reins in in his student teaching position and is doing a great job. I Chun continues her amazing Chinese lessons, as well as Rosie and Aaron helping on Thursday and Friday. I’m profoundly grateful and impressed by the commitment of these young people working towards their degrees in Education.

 Buenas semanas y bonne semaine et have a good week,

Debra, Aaron, I Chun, and Cassidy