Spring 2012 Newsletter

Busy as usual here.  Our latest big project was a study of the Universe.  Can’t get much bigger than that!  We traveled along with space explorations, compliments of National Geographic, watching incredible filming of “what’s out there.”  Our new power point projector and large screen made us feel every bit a part of the journey.  Those visuals offer something that no book or description can match!

Universe research journals were created and illustrated. The children amassed volumes of interesting information. They found, for example, that there are more galaxies in the universe than there are grains of sand on the earth.  We looked at the history of astronomy, learning of the variety of early explanations for our universe that were once widely accepted, only to be found out later the explanation missed the mark.  We learned of Galileo’s life and work.

We acquired a number of Universe games, a board game and a bingo game that gave opportunity to demonstrate knowledge of those facts.  A very large solar system mobile was created as a group project.  The proportionate sizes were kept in mind as a variety of balls, including some very large beach balls were covered with paper mache and painted to create a representation of our solar system.  It now hangs the 64 foot length of our classroom.

We had an evening of Poetry, the theme being, of course, the universe and the solar system.  A few students wrote poems that were submitted to a Poetry Anthology contest.

Esta, our theater teacher, directed “Go, Dog, Go!” for the Spokane Children’s Theater.  One of our students, Anna, auditioned and was selected to be in the play.  The class went on a field trip to see the performance.  They loved hearing their classmate reveal the behind the scenes stories of the preparations for the play.  Our well loved theater classes are continuing and we are soon to be focusing on our end of the year performance.

We were visited by an owl from the West Valley Outdoor Learning Center and we dissected owl pellets.

Now that spring is here, at least we hope it is here, we are anticipating the arrival of harvester ants, cecropia moth cocoons and painted lady butterfly caterpillars.  We love the annual ritual of observing these creatures.  Nature never disappoints!

With the crazy weather around the nation this year, we launched into a weather study.  We had our eyes on some spectacular weather events!  The Dallas tornado with the flying semi-trucks is sure to be a memory for a long time to come!

The Stretch and Grow physical education program continues to join us once a week for an hour of movement, games and fun.  We’re anticipating the warmth of spring and getting back outside for our PE activities.

Community Service:

The children continue their contribution of hauling donations to and from the My Bag organization located in the Manito United Methodist Church building.  Their leg muscles are very much appreciated by the volunteers who fill the back packs that are delivered to children in our community each week.

We had our February food drive and collected over 200 items of food for the 2^nd Harvest Food Bank.  The donated food items were divided into 4 piles and 4 groups of children set about building structures with the items.  Lots of fun and creativity before the items were packed and delivered to the food bank!

And we are grateful to Sue and Fred for their community service to our classroom.  Sue and Fred, grandparents of former Southside students, continue to join us each week and listen to students read aloud.

We’re now talking about biographies, learning about several individuals and soon will be selecting individuals to study and present, in costume, at our Biography Night presentation in May.  This is one of our favorite events!

Enrollment for 2012-2013: Space is filling up quickly.