Our Most Recent STARS OF THE WEEK!!!!

Ireland likes to play “Rock Band” on the computer, and she loves to ski. She wants to travel to Africa some day.

Caleb enjoys playing soccer and loves his pet dog, Moxie. He has done a lot of traveling and would like to visit Paris some day.

Bryce loves his visits to Lake Michigan and searching for agates while he’s there. He also enjoys watching DANTDM!

Izak likes to learn about space and participate in Cub Scouts. He hopes to travel to Japan and Egypt some day.

                                             SCIENCE: Land and Water

We’ve been learning about how land and water interact with each other.  In this experiment, the students were observing what happens to soil when it rains.

                                       Literacy:Character Study

We are learning to think deeper about the characters in our stories. After reading the story,”Fox”, students worked in groups to identify the variety of traits found in the main characters. They also analyzed how these characters displayed a change in attitude and/or behavior throughout the story.

                                    PAINTING PUMPKINS

So fun! Our gems did a fantastic job painting their mini pumpkins. They will be coming home next week. Right now, they are displayed in our classroom.

For those of you who weren’t able to attend Open House, here is a display of the kiddos and their “Power” words for the year.

Introducing Spencer! He loves to play football, and he wants to travel to the East Coast.

Today, the Ghioni Gems did an excellent job of explaining all of the different ways that energy was displayed throughout their homes. We had nine classrooms come to see the houses and learn about energy! The kiddos were exhausted after the last class left. I was so proud of them all.

Hello Families,

I apologize that so much time has passed, since the last post! Between report cards and preparing for state testing, I have found very little extra time.

You can be very proud parents! Your children have been working very hard as they’ve been learning and preparing for the state tests. We’ve completed two tests, and we have six to go!! As a reminder, we’ll be testing Monday through Thursday this upcoming week.

Reading, Writing, and Poetry

As I stated in the report card, we have been focusing on reading and analyzing nonfiction text. We’ve been writing summaries about articles and determining the author’s perspective. We are also continuing to enhance our skills through writing narrative, expository, and persuasive essays.

The kids are having a blast learning about poetry! They have been amazed that the meaning behind a poem is usually much more than what’s initially obvious. They have also been delving deep in the analysis of the content, the speaker, the audience, and the theme of each poem.

Math

We have been learning about geometry in the mornings and fractions in the afternoons.The overall mood about math has been a positive one. I’m not sure they’ve really noticed how much math we’re doing. 😉 In geometry, students are learning about lines, angles, polygons, triangles, and  how to use a protractor. See…doesn’t that sound fun? In fractions, we just took our final test on fractions with common denominators. Our next unit will be on fractions with uncommon denominators.

Our most recent STARS OF THE WEEK!! 

Here are Abi, Matthias, and Emma. 

Field Day

We were thankful it didn’t rain during our scheduled walk time!!! 

Social Studies: Oregon Trail Field Trip

Here are a few pictures from our Oregon Trail Adventure field trip. Your kiddos were divided into small pioneer family units and each group was assigned a “Prairie Schooner” Radio Flyer wagon. Starting at the trading post, students pretended to purchase supplies in order to stock their wagons and then traveled along the Oregon Trail through Farrell-McWhirter Park and back again. Along the way they had encounters similar to what the real pioneers faced, and had to make tough choices in order to survive. At the end of the journey, students had the chance to make butter, compete in log races, and build homes with Lego Logs.

Science: Land and Water

We recently wrapped up our Land and Water unit. Students investigated the interactions between land and water. Using a stream table as their model, they observed how runoff causes stream formation; how groundwater forms; how soil is eroded, transported, and deposited; and how water shapes land. Each group followed the “Engineering Design Model” as they created a dam in their stream tables to keep the city from flooding. They asked questions, made a plan, observed, and then improved their plan. Some cities were protected and others…not so much. But either way, there was a lot of hands-on cooperative learning and knowledge building.

Art: Clay

Melissa Cox kindly volunteered her time to help us make fish out of clay. Thank you Melissa!!

Introducing Our New Ghioni Gems

Samantha moved here a few weeks ago from Mexico and is learning English. Jack joined us a couple of weeks ago, and he has moved here from Texas. They are both awesome kids, and we’re so glad they’ve both joined us.

Our Field Trip to Benaroya Hall to see the Seattle Symphony

I wasn’t able to take pictures inside of Benaroya Hall, but I can tell you it was amazing! The presentation was very upbeat and kid friendly. Our Gems enjoyed playing their recorders along with the symphony, and seeing some of our student’s art work displayed on a big screen. The following pictures were taken at the Sculpture Park in downtown Seattle, where we ate our lunch and took a walk around the area.

Valentine’s Day

We had a great time passing out Valentines and playing “Heart” Bingo.

Science

Our unit of Land and Water will be introduced tomorrow. Students will look at a variety of pictures, which included water and land features. We will make a chart about what we already know about water/land and what we would like to know.

The STEM Night/Science Fair packets were sent home today. Inside the packet, you will find the Rules & Regulations Guidelines, The Steps of the Scientific Method, a Scientific Process Worksheet (students may use this form or a form of your choice), and a sample of the Grading Sheet I will use to assess each project. Gems are expected to do their experiment and project at home, but I will be guiding them (explain and guide them through the steps of the project) along the way from school. Their scientific question (idea for the project) is due March 13th.  

Social Studies

Students have spent much time and thought preparing for their long and challenging trip across the Oregon Trail. Here is a list of the preparations that were made.

• They were divided up into family groups of five.
• They chose their names, personalities, and outfits for their characters.
• After research, each family decided what kind of animal would pull their wagon, as well as what provisions they would take.
• They created a mural of the many landforms and forts they will experience along the way.
• Finally, they created a map of the trail to help guide them.

**Ask your child about the first challenge they faced while traveling across the plains. It was exciting!!

Celebrating our STARS of the Week!!

Emelia and Jacob

E

Reading

We continue to focus on building our understanding of both realistic and non-fiction text, by finding specific evidence to support our observations/thinking. We have also been learning about Greek and Latin roots and their derivatives. Last week, we learned that “photo” means light and that “ology” means the study of.

Writing

We have been working diligently on our editing and revising skills. Also, we have been very busy practicing our writing skills through persuasive essays, narrative journal writing, and letters. For example, before we “set off” on the Oregon Trail, we wrote Farewell Letters to friends and family back home. Currently, we are using the writing process to create a narrative journal entry, which will reflect the first event that happened during our journey.

Math

Last week, we began our fourth unit on Algebraic Equations and Solving Word Problems. This unit focuses on enhancing reasoning skills, using comparisons to solve problems with more than one step, and analyzing patterns. We continue to work on memorizing our math facts, twice a week, with our 2-minute timed drills.

Homework

The March Reading Log went home on Thursday. Please make sure your child shows you their reading goal and sign the bottom of the form. As a reminder, your child is expected to read at least 20 minutes each night, (Monday through Thursday), and record the minutes read on the log. They are to be returned each Friday. (See the dates on the form :).

Communication: Email is the best way to reach me. ghionit@riverview.wednet.edu. Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

This class continues to be amazing! They are hard workers, great thinkers, and supportive of one another. That is a huge reflection on you and your parenting!! Thank you for helping to make my job a joy.

Mrs. Ghioni

Introducing our new student!

Our new Ghioni Gem joined us on Monday, and her name is Abilinah. Her favorite color is purple, and she enjoys riding her bike and coloring.

READING & WRITING

All students have just finished writing their first Narrative story of the year. They worked on creating a story plot, developing character traits, and connecting the ideas within their beginning, middle and end. We are enjoying listening to those who are willing to read their stories to us.

In reading, we continue to focus on recognizing the variety of traits found within a main character, making claims about the identified traits, and writing evidence that supports the claims.

We have begun our literacy stations, where I’m able to work with small groups each day. We are currently focusing on nonfiction texts with an emphasis on text features, vocabulary, and the difference between making inferences and finding “right there” information.

MATH

We continue to do our two-minute timers to practice our math facts each week. Many of the students have clearly been practicing, as they are moving up quickly to the 12’s.

We have just begun our unit on Division. Most kiddos are picking up on this challenging concept quickly.

SCIENCE

Before break, students presented their research projects on their Puget Sound animals. Some students made posters and the others created board games or activity books.

SOCIAL STUDIES

We have launched into our Oregon Trail Unit. We began by learning the overview of our U.S. history that led up to the pioneers setting out on the Oregon Trail. This week, the students will form family groups and join a wagon train, which will help them build an understanding of the journey across the U.S. in the 1840s. They will confront difficulties such as illness, food shortages, and a broken wagon. Encounters with Native Americans will set the scene for examining the views of the period as well as the ethical issues surrounding westward expansion.

ART

3-D Hands

Pumpkin Art that focused on Positive and Negative Space. 

Do you want to build a snowman? 🙂  

Celebrating our Stars’ of the Week!! 

We just wrapped up our unit on addition, subtraction, place value, rounding, and estimation. Our next unit focuses on multiplication with whole numbers. Please help to make sure that your gem has his/her multiplication facts memorized up to 9. This will ensure that when he/she learns the new concepts, they will feel much more manageable.

Our last couple of “STARS” were Megan, Emma, and Juan!

This unit focuses on Puget Sound as an ecosystem, including the watersheds surrounding the Sound. It introduces students to the difficult and complex choices Puget Sound residents must make concerning the management of our natural resources.

Currently, The Ghioni Gems are deep into research. Each student chose a Puget Sound marine organisms to investigate. After they find at least 30 facts, through exploring three or more resources, they will apply their knowledge by giving a presentation as well as completing a project option. I will be sending home a copy of the directions and expectations on Monday, so you can see the due dates and the project options. Your child will have plenty of time to work on this project in class, but they are welcome to work on it as home as well.