Lewis Elementary School
Weekly Newsletter

November 14, 2018

UPCOMING DATES:
Wednesday, November 14^th @ 6:30pm: PTA Meeting
Wednesday, November 14^th: SilverGraphics Order Deadline
Friday, November 16^th @ 6pm: PTA Family Bingo Night
Mon. & Tues., Nov. 19 & 20: No School for Students-Parent/Teacher Conferences
Wednesday – Friday, November 21 – 23: Schools Closed for Thanksgiving Holiday
Monday, November 26th: Foundation meeting @ 6pm
Saturday, December 1^st: PTA Holiday Bazaar and Tree Sale

Principal Glasgow’s Weekly Message:
Hopefully, you all have your conference times scheduled for next week. Conferences are an excellent time for a two-way conversation about your child's progress and needs. I encourage you to come ready with topics you'd like to address and questions you'd like to ask to ensure that you get what you need from your conference slot. Please remember, out of respect to our teacher's contract, we are trying to keep all conferences within the allocated two days (Nov. 19-20). If you are going to be out of town, you should feel free to schedule a phone conference during these dates. We have also asked that families with multiple households make every effort to schedule one conference/child. I will also be available during the conference days and evenings if you need to check in with me for any reason. Beyond conferences, I wish you a happy, safe, and warm Thanksgiving holiday with your families.
We look forward to seeing everyone back at school on Nov. 26!

Scrip is gift cards that earn money for Lewis School PTA.
There’s little to no work for you!  Simply place an order (being sent home today, and available in the office) for gift cards that you would normally buy.  Grocery and everyday shopping, birthdays or holiday gift giving.  Lewis receives the % noted for each card.  This is the only order we will please this school year, so take advantage of easy gift giving!  Stock up - the cards don't expire!  Orders are due Monday November 26th, and they will be available for pick-up Friday, December 7th.

Holiday Bazaar News:
This annual tradition has been going on for over 10 years and it is the PTA’s largest fundraiser of the year! It is a delightful time to celebrate the start of the holiday season and support local artisan vendors as well as our school.  There is no fee to attend – we just want you to come, shop and enjoy the day!
 If you are attending the bazaar for the first time, you will find local artisan vendors that sell only hand-made or locally made goods.  Lewis students also have booths to sell their crafty wares!  Christmas trees or handmade swags/wreaths will be available to purchase. 

Lunch will be available for purchase again this year.  La Buca Restaurant, a Lewis family owned Portland establishment, will be serving up some of their tasty specials.
 
We can’t do this alone!  There are countless ways to volunteer at the bazaar!  Sign-ups are posted outside the school office. This is a great community event where the money spent is not only supporting Lewis Elementary but also keeping your money in the community.  Do some holiday shopping, enjoy a delicious lunch and pick up a holiday tree or door swag.
All proceeds support Lewis School, allowing Lewis to continue bringing the programs and opportunities it has offered for many years.  A win/win for everyone!  Thanks so much for supporting our great school and amazing programs.  We need helpers to hang Holiday Bazaar posters around town.  If you are able to help with this, please stop by the office and pick up a few!
Please note…ALL of our booth spaces (local vendor, parent and student) are full!  Thank you to all who applied.
Questions? Contact Tracy in the office 503-916-6360 or tgiordano@pps.net

Staff Information:
Parents often ask the Office Staff what their child’s teachers like to do, the food they like to eat, etc.  In case you are wondering…We have a Staff Questionnaire book in the office by the Volunteer Sign-In computer with the answers you are looking for!  We appreciate the thoughts…Thank you!

Book Harvest for the Children’s Book Bank:
We sorted and counted all of the donated books this week and Lewis collected over 1000 books for the Children’s Book Bank!  Great work everyone, thank you!! If you want more info about how the books are prepared and distributed, or would like to learn about volunteering at the Book Bank, go to www.ChildrensBookBank.org.

Lewis Foundation Meeting

Monday, November 26th,  6-7:30pm in the Lewis Library

Join us to learn more about why Lewis has a foundation (hint, it's about staffing), and help us plan for the upcoming auction! Free childcare provided in the cafeteria.

    6-6:30 -- Learn about the Foundation

    6:30-7:30 -- Auction discussion

Questions? Connect with us--

Email - lewis.es.foundation@gmail.com

Website - https://www.lewis-es-foundation.com/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/lewiselementaryfoundation/

SilverGraphics Art-Based Fundraiser ordering Ends TONIGHT!
The PTA is once again taking part in the Silver Graphics Art-Based Fundraiser Program to support the Arts at Lewis (we receive 33% of every item sold).
Your student’s artwork can be made into goods such as t-shirts, mugs, pencil holders, phone covers, and much more for you to purchase, and they arrive in time for the holidays.  Think FAMILY gifts!
The order forms are student specific; each student receives their own Access Code.  Once you receive the order form, go to the website: https://www.silvergraphics.com/shop/  enter your student’s access code, and place your order.  Order deadline is TONIGHT! Wednesday, November 14^th.
Your order will arrive at the school and be sent home with your student the week of December 3^rd.
Samples of items available are in the school office.  Questions? Contact Tracy in the office (tgiordano@pps.net or 503-916-6360)

Bingo Night is THIS Friday, November 16th at 6pm!

Bingo Night is right around the corner. This free event is a favorite of many Lewis students and their families! Lots of games means lots of winners - will you be one of them? Drinks and snacks will be available for purchase.

We are on the hunt for prizes! One fun Bingo Night tradition is the assortment of "white elephant" style prizes that kids (and adults!) get to choose from when they win. If you have any unwanted "treasures" you're willing to contribute to our prize table, we'd love to have them! Bring donations to Tracy in the office anytime between now and Nov. 15th.

We're also looking for a few volunteers to help with set up and clean up. Please consider signing up for an easy 30-minute shift to help us get in and out quickly that night. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090e4eaaa62aa0f49-bingo1

Oregon Battle of the Books
If you have not gotten an email from me, Cyndi Redmond, regarding your OBOB team by today, Wednesday the 14th, it means you are not yet on the list and I need you to contact me ASAP. Please send an email with your team information to credmond@pps.net or stop by Room 17 to sign up. I will be sending correspondence and resources out periodically and I need to be sure I have an email address for your team’s coach. We currently only have information for seven teams. If you just aren’t sure, or have questions, please ask. Thanks!

BottleDrop Update: 
Now premiering - The Lewis BottleDrop Video!  Go to:bit.ly/lewisbottledropsong to watch the video and learn the song.    We’re looking for pictures or short clips of kids doing the “cup song” or gathering recycling to add to this, send these to laura@thetroxels.net so we can share them before Dec. 9th.  BottleDrop Holiday Matching event kicked off with over $300 in donations in 1 week!  If we can get to $1000 by December 9th, we get a bonus $400! Please grab a blue bag (or two or three!) from the office, ask your friends and neighbors and co-workers to donate their cans and bottles to Lewis this month.  
Drop off your cans and bottles at Lewis EVERY Thursday before school at the main entrance or now at the Glenwood door, too! You can also take your bags directly to any BottleDrop center like the one at SE King & Linwood.  

Box Tops Classroom Competition to win a popcorn party! 
Raises money for the Lewis Music Program
Keep your eyes peeled for Box Tops on items you might purchase for your Thanksgiving meal prep or your holiday cookie baking. Clip those Box Tops, place them in an envelope or baggie with your teacher's name on the outside, and submit them to the collection box in the school office. If you like using the pre-made Box Top collection envelopes or the Box Top collection sheets, extras are available in the office. Remember, the classroom that collects the most Box Tops will receive a popcorn party at the end of the year!  Here is a quick Box Tops video - http://www.boxtops4education.com/videos/box-tops-101  Each Box Top is worth 10¢ and they don’t need to be clipped perfectly... just make sure each one has the full label and expiration date.  Expired Box Tops don’t count toward our earnings. Good luck and keep clipping!  Questions? Contact Box Tops Coordinator Genevieve Benner at vivapalmer@yahoo.com

Lewis Elementary School
Weekly Newsletter

October 31, 2018

UPCOMING DATES:
Friday, November 2^nd: Walk + Roll to school
Thursday, November 8^th @ 6pm: Boys Alive Family Workshop
Tuesday, November 13^th: Picture Re-take Day
Tuesday, November 13^th: Lewis Dines Out at Westmoreland Pizzicato
Wednesday, November 14^th @ 6:30pm: PTA Meeting
Friday, November 16^th @ 6pm: PTA Family Bingo Night

Principal Glasgow’s Weekly Message:
Happy Halloween to all who observe--I wish you a happy and safe evening out and about the neighborhood. I wanted to share with you the exciting news that, in celebration of our new mission statement, our students and staff are working on a new community art installation. Lewis parent Sally Rudolph is volunteering her time to design and assemble a beautiful mandala project for our cafeteria. Students will be working on their mandalas over the next few weeks and our goal will be to have the new art pieces assembled by early January. Please stay tuned for more!
Emily

Holiday Bazaar News:
This annual tradition has been going on for over 10 years and it is the PTA’s largest fundraiser of the year! It is a delightful time to celebrate the start of the holiday season and support local artisan vendors as well as our school.  There is no fee to attend – we just want you to come, shop and enjoy the day! 

If you are attending the bazaar for the first time, you will find local artisan vendors that sell only hand-made or locally made goods.  Lewis students also have booths to sell their crafty wares!  Christmas trees or handmade swags/wreaths will be available to purchase. 

Lunch will be available for purchase again this year.  La Buca Restaurant, a Lewis family owned Portland establishment, will be serving up some of their tasty specials. 
We can’t do this alone!  There are countless ways to volunteer at the bazaar!  Sign-ups will be posted outside the school office soon, or email Tracy Giordano at tgiordano@pps.net to find out how you can help.  This is a great community event where the money spent is not only supporting Lewis Elementary but also keeping your money in the community.  Do some holiday shopping, enjoy a delicious lunch and pick up a holiday tree or door swag.
All proceeds support Lewis School, allowing Lewis to continue bringing the programs and opportunities it has offered for many years.  A win/win for everyone!  Thanks so much for supporting our great school and amazing programs.

We need helpers to hang Holiday Bazaar posters around town.  If you are able to help with this, please stop by the office and pick up a few!


Calling all Crafty Students! (Great News!  Our Adult/Parent Vendor spaces are FULL!)
Annual Lewis Holiday Bazaar: December 1^st from 10AM-3PM
It's that time of year again - we're taking applications for spaces at our holiday bazaar. 
Student booth: $10 (5'x5')
All goods sold must be handmade
For applications, go to the PTA website https://www.lewispta.org/parents print an application, and return it to the office with your booth fee, or you can pick up an application in the office  Questions: Contact Tracy Giordano at tgiordano@pps.net

Lewis Dines Out at Westmoreland Pizzicato
ALL DAY, Tuesday, November 13^th!  Lewis receives 20% of the entire days sales (11am-9pm) from Pizzicato’s Dough for Dollars fundraising event. 
All menu items, dine-in, take-out and gift cards are all eligible, so plan ahead and stock up!
https://www.pizzicatopizza.com/ 1630 SE Bybee Blvd.  503-736-0174

2018-2019 Lewis Family Directory:
The directory is coming home today.  If you need an additional copy, please stop by the office to pick one up.

Milk Carton Recyclers Needed:
November is right around the corner, and the new milk carton recycling schedule is online.  If you have some time at lunch time, sign up to help prepare our milk cartons for recycling. 
It doesn't take much time to keep a large bag of milk cartons out of the landfill.  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e094cacab28a31-november3
Thanks for supporting our green school! Kathleen Gagnon-Witter

Casting Call - Help us make a promo video for BottleDrop!
We have a chance to win $1000!

Join us Thursday, Nov. 1st at 3pm, meet in the 4th/5th hallway. We’ll be learning how to do the cup song and the lyrics to the Lewis BottleDrop song. 

Planning to film our video on Monday, 11/5 after school. We could use students and parents to be in the video in lots of rolls- not just singing.  This will be fun! 

If you want to be in the video, please wear a lewis shirt and join us Monday at 3 (even if you can’t come on Thursday). Permission slips will be required and will be in the office. Questions? Email laura@thetroxels.net
For a link to the permission slip and to hear our bottle drop song, click Lewis Bottle Drop

SilverGraphics Art-Based Fundraiser!
The PTA is once again taking part in the Silver Graphics Art-Based Fundraiser Program to support the Arts at Lewis (we receive 33% of every item sold).
The classroom teachers have been busy creating art with your students to submit for this fundraising opportunity.
Order forms are coming home today.  Your student’s artwork can be made into goods such as t-shirts, mugs, pencil holders, phone covers, and much more for you to purchase, and they arrive in time for the holidays.  Think FAMILY gifts!
The order forms are student specific; each student receives their own Access Code.  Once you receive the order form, go to the website: https://www.silvergraphics.com/shop/  enter your student’s access code, and place your order.
Your order will arrive at the school and be sent home with your student the week of December 3^rd.
Samples of items available are in the school office.  Questions? Contact Tracy in the office (tgiordano@pps.net or 503-916-6360)

Portland Council PTA Clothing Closet volunteers needed -
Thursday, November 8, 9:30am-1:30pm
Do you have a few hours to help PPS students at the PTA Clothing Closet?  Tasks include sorting clothes and helping students “shop” for much-needed winter clothes? If so, please join us at the PTA Clothing Center on Thursday, November 8th from 9:30am-1:30pm (at the Marshall campus)!
This is one of only two days per year that Lewis is responsible for staffing this important community resource, which provides free clothing to PPS students.
Please contact Tina Matheis at tmwesterlund@gmail.com or sign up on the sheet in the office window.  We need 5-6 volunteers.  Thanks!

Staff Information:
Parents often ask the Office Staff what their child’s teachers like to do, the food they like to eat, etc.  In case you are wondering…We have a Staff Questionnaire book in the office by the Volunteer Sign-In computer with the answers you are looking for!  We appreciate the thoughts…Thank you!

Children’s Book Harvest
The annual Children’s Book Harvest kicks off this Monday, October 22nd. All books are cleaned and restored at the Children’s Book Bank and given to students in our community who might otherwise not have books of their own at home. We have 3 weeks to collect as many books as we can, this weekend is a great time to sort through your collection. Our goal for Lewis is 1000 books!

Greatest needs:

• Picture books                          
• Non-fiction picture books                   
• Culturally relevant books
• Books in Spanish           
• Early reader books                           
• Easy chapter books

We have a special opportunity at Lewis! Wallace Books has offered to help collect and sort all books received, and trade out any adult books they can use for more children’s books to go to the Book Harvest!  So bring all your book donations to Lewis, boxes are spread around the school.

For more info, go to www.childrensbookbank.org, or email laura@thetroxels.net.

Counselors Corner:
Dear Families, I know current events are on everyone’s minds. I like to provide this resource that may be helpful for talking with our youth:

• Talking to Children About Violence: Tips for Parents and Teachers - article from the National Association of School Psychologists.

Classroom lessons: Lessons on the Zones of Regulation in K-2 classes have been going well.  Kindergarten students have been digging deeper into learning to identify emotions, and to sort them into the Zones.  They have also been introduced to calming tools for self-regulation. First and second grade students have furthering their knowledge of calming tools and cognitive strategies for self-regulation for real-life application. Lessons have centered around a book called The Legend of the Regulators and the Secret List. Classes will be wrapping up at different times up until conferences.  In January, 3rd-5th grade students will begin to receive lessons on promoting up-stander behaviors in ourselves and each other.

Kylea Sundberg, Lewis Counselor
ksundberg@pps.net

Lewis Elementary Foundation - The Campaign for Staffing
So far the Lewis community has donated just over $4,100 of our $30,000 goal toward additional staffing for the 2019-20 school year. A huge thank you to everyone who has taken part in this effort!

Our community is currently feeling the impact of losing the equivalent of three full-time positions this year: 1.0 FTE classroom teacher, 1.0 FTE educational assistant, 0.5 FTE of an office staff position, and 0.5 FTE reading specialist. These losses have a great impact on the educational experiences of Lewis students, and we hope to improve the situation in future years with community support of the Lewis Foundation.

Donate now to make a difference for Lewis Students! Under Select Recipient choose Select a PPS School. Then choose Lewis ES from Select a School.

Want to extend your impact? Share this appeal with grandparents and other family and friends who have an interest in the education of your child(ren), and check with your HR department to see if your employer matches gifts.

Learn more at https://www.lewis-es-foundation.com/ and connect with us at lewis.es.foundation@gmail.com and https://www.facebook.com/lewiselementaryfoundation/

Funds contributed to the foundation are fully tax-deductible. Portland Schools Foundation is a section 501(c)(3) corporation under the federal tax laws. Tax ID #93-1149789.

Lewis Elementary School
Weekly Newsletter

October 24, 2018

UPCOMING DATES:
Monday, October 29^th: No School for Students: Planning Day
Friday, November 2^nd: Walk + Roll to school
Thursday, November 8^th @ 6pm: Boys Alive Family Workshop
Tuesday, November 13^th: Picture Re-take Day
Wednesday, November 14^th @ 6:30pm: PTA Meeting
Friday, November 16^th @ 6pm: PTA Family Bingo Night

Principal Glasgow’s Weekly Message:
I want to start by sharing tremendous appreciation for our Lewis parent team who stepped forward to envision and plan our 1st annual Sciencepalooza! What a terrific opportunity for our community to engage together in science inquiry and experimentation! Thank you to everyone who joined in the fun! I also want to highlight a few upcoming events:

·         Community Celebration: Next Wednesday, we will have our October Community Celebration assemblies. These assemblies are new this year. At the end of each month, these assemblies provide an opportunity for teachers to recognize students who have embodied the core values in our Lewis mission statement over the past month. As a staff, we have decided not to invite families to these assemblies moving forward. While we appreciate the high level of family involvement at Lewis, we also understand and respect that many family's work schedules do not allow for attendance at mid-day events. To ensure that you can join us in recognizing your children, if/when your child receives an award, your teacher will send the specific recognition home to you either on paper or via email. We will also be posting photos of our recognized students each month on a bulletin board in the main hall.

·         Boys Alive: One of our staff professional development goals this year is to deepen our understanding of strategies to support the unique learning needs of boys. To support our learning, we will be working with Janet Allison from Boys Alive. Janet will also be hosting a parent workshop to help Lewis families better understand how to support the positive development of boys at home. That workshop is scheduled for Thursday, November 8th @ 6:00 pm. I hope many of you will take advantage of this learning opportunity. If you would like to learn more about Janet's work, you can visit her website: http://boysalive.com/

I also wanted to take a moment to answer a few questions that have been coming up lately:

1.     When will the gym be ready? I have been told that the gym will be done, aired out, and ready for use by November 14th. 

2.     Can students wear Halloween costumes to school? Our general policy at Lewis is no Halloween costumes during the school day. In an effort to be inclusive of all students and families--those who do and do not observe Halloween as well as other holidays--we make an effort to not celebrate holidays at school. 

It's NEVER too late to turn in Run for the Arts Money!
All funds collected, at any time, can be submitted to Young Audiences by the school to be put into our account for Art Residencies, so please drop off your collected sponsor money as soon as you can.  Thank you!

Lewis Dines Out at the Portland Bottle Shop was FANTASTIC!
Thanks to the great turnout, $375 is coming to Lewis from this great event.  Thank you for supporting The Portland Bottle Shop and Lewis School!
Next month…Lewis Dines Out at Pizzicato on Tuesday, November 13^th. More details coming soon!

Holiday Bazaar News:
This annual tradition has been going on for over 10 years and it is the PTA’s largest fundraiser of the year! It is a delightful time to celebrate the start of the holiday season and support local artisan vendors as well as our school.  There is no fee to attend – we just want you to come, shop and enjoy the day!

If you are attending the bazaar for the first time, you will find local artisan vendors that sell only hand-made or locally made goods.  Lewis students also have booths to sell their crafty wares!
Christmas trees or handmade swags/wreaths will be available to purchase. 

Lunch will be available for purchase again this year.  La Buca Restaurant, a Lewis family owned Portland establishment, will be serving up some of their tasty specials. 

We can’t do this alone! 
There are countless ways to volunteer at the bazaar!  Sign-ups will be posted outside the school office soon, or email Tracy Giordano at tgiordano@pps.net to find out how you can help.  This is a great community event where the money spent is not only supporting Lewis Elementary but also keeping your money in the community.  Do some holiday shopping, enjoy a delicious lunch and pick up a holiday tree or door swag.
All proceeds support Lewis School, allowing Lewis to continue bringing the programs and opportunities it has offered for many years.  A win/win for everyone!  Thanks so much for supporting our great school and amazing programs.

Calling all Crafty Parents and Students!
Annual Lewis Holiday Bazaar: December 1^st from 10AM-3PM
It's that time of year again - we're taking applications for spaces at our holiday bazaar. 
Parent booth: $40 (6'x6')           
Student booth: $10 (5'x5')
All goods sold must be handmade
For applications, go to the PTA website https://www.lewispta.org/parents print an application, and return it to the office with your booth fee, or you can pick up an application in the office  Questions: Contact Tracy Giordano at tgiordano@pps.net

Before/After School Enrichment Programs:
With the school districts policy changes and programs not being permitted to send information home, we are sharing available programs on the PTA website: https://www.lewispta.org/

Information for these programs will be under the “Before/After School Enrichment Programs” tab.  You can also contact the school office for a list of programs currently being offered.
The PTA has scholarships available. Information and an application can also be found on the PTA Website.

SilverGraphics Art-Based Fundraiser!
The PTA is once again taking part in the Silver Graphics Art-Based Fundraiser Program to support the Arts at Lewis (we receive 33% of every item sold).
The classroom teachers have been busy creating art with your students to submit for this fundraising opportunity.
On October 31^st, order forms will be sent home.  Your student’s artwork can be made into goods such as t-shirts, mugs, pencil holders, phone covers, and much more for you to purchase, and they arrive in time for the holidays.  Think FAMILY gifts!
The order forms are student specific; each student receives their own Access Code.  Once you receive the order form, go to the website: https://www.silvergraphics.com/shop/  enter your student’s access code, and place your order.
Your order will arrive at the school and be sent home with your student the week of December 3^rd.
Samples of items available are in the school office.  Questions? Contact Tracy in the office (tgiordano@pps.net or 503-916-6360)

Staff Information:
Parents often ask the Office Staff what their child’s teachers like to do, the food they like to eat, etc.  In case you are wondering…We have a Staff Questionnaire book in the office by the Volunteer Sign-In computer with the answers you are looking for!
We appreciate the thoughts…Thank you!

BottleDrop Fundraiser:
Special Opportunity We need your help and ideas!! BottleDrop has a matching program for Nov 8 - Dec 9, the more we collect, the higher they will match.  They are also offering a $1000 prize to the group that comes up with the most creative fundraising and promotional plan to take advantage of the matching.  WE NEED A GREAT IDEA!  How do we get our BottleDrop donations through the roof? How can we get our friends and neighbors to donate? What can we do to win that $1000? Email all your great ideas to laura@thetroxels.net.

BottleDrop collection is every Thursday before school, pick up your blue bags in the office!

Children’s Book Harvest
The annual Children’s Book Harvest kicks off this Monday, October 22nd. All books are cleaned and restored at the Children’s Book Bank and given to students in our community who might otherwise not have books of their own at home. We have 3 weeks to collect as many books as we can, this weekend is a great time to sort through your collection. Our goal for Lewis is 1000 books!

Greatest needs:

        • Picture books

        • Early reader books and easy chapter books

        • Non-fiction picture books

        • Books in Spanish

        • Culturally relevant books

We have a special opportunity at Lewis! Wallace Books has offered to help collect and sort all books received, and trade out any adult books they can use for more children’s books to go to the Book Harvest!  So bring all your book donations to Lewis, boxes are spread around the school.

For more info, go to www.childrensbookbank.org, or email laura@thetroxels.net.

Sciencepalooza! Thank you!!
That was a blast! What a great turnout for a fun evening of science and creativity. A huge thank you to all of the parent volunteers that helped make this event possible. We are ever grateful to the science groups and parents that generously contributed their time and expertise to our event. Thank you!

Let’s do it again next year! To help make that happen, there are a couple things you can do:

- Join the planning team! Email susan.rosenkranz@gmail.com

- Complete a short survey. Hearing about your experience at Sciencepalooza will help us to design and improve our next event. We’ll be sending out a survey to gather community input soon. 

If you’ve caught the STEAM bug and are searching for more family friendly science opportunities around town (in addition to OMSI), look for the Get out and Science! flier in the office.

Lewis Elementary Foundation - The Campaign for Staffing
So far the Lewis community has donated just over $3,300 of our $30,000 goal toward additional staffing for the 2019-20 school year. Thank you to everyone who has taken part in this effort.

Our community is currently feeling the impact of losing the equivalent of three full-time positions this year: 1.0 FTE classroom teacher, 1.0 FTE educational assistant, 0.5 FTE of an office staff position, and 0.5 FTE reading specialist. These losses have a great impact in the educational experiences of Lewis students, and we hope to improve the situation in future years with community support of the Lewis Foundation.

Join in the effort and make a donation today! To make a recurring or one-time donation online go to https://allhandsraised.org/donate/
Under Select Recipient choose Select a PPS School. Then choose Lewis ES from Select a School.

Want to extend your impact? Share this appeal with grandparents and other family and friends who have an interest in the education of your child(ren).

Learn more at https://www.lewis-es-foundation.com/ and connect with us at lewis.es.foundation@gmail.com and https://www.facebook.com/lewiselementaryfoundation/

Funds contributed to the foundation are fully tax-deductible. Portland Schools Foundation is a section 501(c)(3) corporation under the federal tax laws. Tax ID #93-1149789.

Lewis Elementary School
Weekly Newsletter

October 17, 2018

UPCOMING DATES:
Friday, October 19^th: Sciencepalooza! STEAM Family Night @ 6:00pm
Monday, October 22^nd: Run for the Arts Sponsor Sheet & Pledges are due
Monday, October 22^nd: TAG Info Meeting @ 5:30pm in Room 5
Monday, October 29^th: No School for Students: Planning Day
Friday, November 2^nd: Walk + Roll to school

Principal Glasgow’s Weekly Message:
I wanted to take a moment to answer a few questions that have been coming up lately:

1. When will the gym be ready? I have been told that the gym will be done, aired out, and ready for use by November 14th. 
2. Can students wear Halloween costumes to school? Our general policy at Lewis is no Halloween costumes during the school day. In an effort to be inclusive of all students and families--those who do and do not observe Halloween as well as other holidays--we make an effort to not celebrate holidays at school. 

As always, please feel free to send questions of any kind in to me and/or your child's teacher. I look forward to seeing many of you at our first annual Sciencepalooza event this Friday night! It sounds like an amazing opportunity for us to engage in exploration and learn together with our kiddos!

SCIENCEPALOOZA! Lewis STEAM Family Night: Friday, Oct. 19th!
Test drive a robot, hold a brain and learn how it works, construct pipe cleaner neurons, design a building to withstand a simulated earthquake, make slime, see animals in a new way: through an infrared camera, and more THIS FRIDAY NIGHT @ 6:00 PM in the Lewis cafeteria! Please enter the building through the West side entrance.

Sciencepalooza is a celebration of the sciences, a new FREE Lewis community event featuring interactive science activities for parents and students to explore together. This is a free PTA sponsored family event; all ages welcome! (STEAM = Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Mathematics). 

Activities and demonstrations will be facilitated by local scientists and students, such as: NW Noggin (nwnoggin.org), Wilson High School robotics team 7776 Loose Screws, Department of Environmental Quality, Portland State University (PSU) Seismic Lab, PSU Agile and Adaptive Robotics Lab, Saturday Academy, Metro Healthy Homes Program, a zoologist, botanists, OHSU biostatisticians, and more.
Check out https://www.lewispta.org/sciencepalooza-2018 for more info.  Questions? Contact susan.rosenkranz@gmail.com

Holiday Bazaar News:
This annual tradition has been going on for over 10 years and it is the PTA’s largest fundraiser of the year! It is a delightful time to celebrate the start of the holiday season and support local artisan vendors as well as our school.  There is no fee to attend – we just want you to come, shop and enjoy the day!
 

If you are attending the bazaar for the first time, you will find local artisan vendors that sell only hand-made or locally made goods.  Lewis students also have booths to sell their crafty wares!
Christmas trees or handmade swags/wreaths will be available to purchase. 

Lunch will be available for purchase again this year.  La Buca Restaurant, a Lewis family owned Portland establishment, will be serving up some of their tasty specials. 

We hope to see you there!  Do some holiday shopping, enjoy a delicious lunch and some FREE entertainment by local entertainers (TBA).

We can’t do this alone!  There are countless ways to volunteer at the bazaar!  Sign-ups will be posted outside the school office soon, or email Tracy Giordano at tgiordano@pps.net to find out how you can help. 

This is a great community event where the money spent is not only supporting Lewis Elementary but also keeping your money in the community. All proceeds support Lewis School, allowing Lewis to continue bringing the programs and opportunities it has offered for many years.  A win/win for everyone!  Thanks so much for supporting our great school and amazing programs.

Calling all Crafty Parents and Students!
Annual Lewis Holiday Bazaar: December 1^st from 10AM-3PM
It's that time of year again - we're taking applications for spaces at our holiday bazaar. 
Parent booth: $40 (6'x6')
Student booth: $10 (5'x5')
All goods sold must be handmade
For applications, go to the PTA website https://www.lewispta.org/parents print an application, and return it to the office with your booth fee, or you can pick up an application in the office  Questions: Contact Tracy Giordano at tgiordano@pps.net

SilverGraphics Art-Based Fundraiser!
The PTA is once again taking part in the Silver Graphics Art-Based Fundraiser Program to support the Arts at Lewis (we receive 33% of every item sold).
The classroom teachers have been busy creating art with your students to submit for this fundraising opportunity.
On October 31^st, order forms will be sent home.  Your student’s artwork can be made into goods such as t-shirts, mugs, pencil holders, phone covers, and much more for you to purchase, and they arrive in time for the holidays.  Think FAMILY gifts!
The order forms are student specific; each student receives their own Access Code.  Once you receive the order form, go to the website: https://www.silvergraphics.com/shop/  enter your student’s access code, and place your order.
Your order will arrive at the school and be sent home with your student the week of December 3^rd.
Samples of items available are in the school office.
Questions? Contact Tracy in the office (tgiordano@pps.net or 503-916-6360)

OBOB Informational Meeting - Wednesday, October 17th.
Calling all 3rd - 5th graders interested in participating in this year’s Oregon Battle of the Books competition. There will be an informational meeting on Wednesday, October 17th at 3:15 in Room 17. Please join us to find out more. Each team is comprised of five students and must have an adult coach. If you can’t make it to the meeting, but are ready to sign up, please send an email to credmond@pps.net listing the students participating, as well as the coaches name and email address. Hope to see you there!

Lewis Elementary Foundation - The Campaign for Staffing
Join the foundation in making an impact on future staffing at Lewis. School funding is a continual issue in our state, and school foundations are the existing option to add staffing beyond the school district allocations. Our community is currently feeling the impact of losing the equivalent of three full-time positions this year, and we hope to improve the situation in future years.   

To make a recurring or one-time donation online go to https://allhandsraised.org/donate/
Under Select Recipient choose Select a PPS School. Then choose Lewis ES from Select a School.

Learn more at https://www.lewis-es-foundation.com/ and connect with us at lewis.es.foundation@gmail.com and https://www.facebook.com/lewiselementaryfoundation/
Funds contributed to the foundation are fully tax-deductible. Portland Schools Foundation is a section 501(c)(3) corporation under the federal tax laws. Tax ID #93-1149789.

Run for the Arts was fantastic!! 
THANK YOU to all of the parent volunteers and staff for helping to make this such a great event!
All sponsor forms and money collected is due back MONDAY OCTOBER 22ND.

Lice Information:
Fall season and the start of school brings about many fun and exciting things, but also some not so fun things…. Lice have nothing to do with personal hygiene. Lice love everyone, including the cleanest kid in the class! Lice spread in schools and other group settings (like camp or even slumber parties) because these are places where people are in close contact. One reason why kids get lice more often than teens is because kids play together closely and often share more stuff.

What Are Lice?
The head louse is a tiny, wingless insect that lives among human hairs and feeds on extremely small amounts of blood. Lice (the plural of louse) are a very common problem. Kids are most likely to get lice, but teens can get them too. Lice aren't dangerous. They don't spread disease. But they are contagious, so they can spread from person to person easily. They're also annoying: louse bites can itch. If someone scratches a lot, it may lead to skin irritation and even infection. A head louse can survive up to 4 weeks on a person's head and lay 10 eggs a day. Since that means lice can multiply fast, it's a good idea to treat head lice quickly.

Signs of Lice
Lice are tiny, but you can still see them — though it's not always easy. An adult louse is grayish white or tan and about the size of a small sesame seed. Lice move fast, so you're actually more likely to see their eggs than the lice themselves.
Louse eggs are called nits. Nits look sort of like dandruff, except they don't brush or fall off as easily as dandruff. Lice attach their nits to pieces of hair, close to the scalp. If you think you have lice and see a small, oval blob on a strand of hair, it's probably a nit.
If nits are yellow, tan, or brown, it means the lice haven't hatched yet. If the nits are white or clear, the lice have hatched and just the egg remains. Lice eggs hatch within 1 to 2 weeks after they're laid.
Besides seeing nits or lice on the head, itching — or the feeling of something moving around on the scalp — is another clue that you might have lice. Like mosquito bites, the itching is a reaction to the saliva of the insect. Some people with lice also get a rash of small red bumps from scratching.  Your child’s teacher may send your child to the office to be checked if any of these signs are noticed.

How They Spread
Lice cannot jump or fly. They spread from person to person when people's heads touch or after sharing things like hats and other clothing, combs, brushes, headbands, or barrettes. Lice can live up to 2 days without feeding on a person, so you also can get lice from pillowcases, sheets, blankets, sleeping bags, other bedding cloth seats and head rests in the car.

If your child has Lice
MESD Policy states that students with Lice must be excluded from school until treated at home.  Having nits alone does not require exclusion.  After treatment, a student must be checked by our school nurse, heath aide, or staff member in the office. 
If you have questions, please contact your child’s physician or our MESD health team in the school office. 

TAG (Talented and Gifted ) News
This year, Brooke Murphy will be serving as our TAG Coordinator. We will be holding our Fall Family TAG Meeting on October 22 at 5:30 in Room 5. We encourage families of TAG-identified students and/or families curious about the TAG program to join us that evening. In the meantime, if you have questions about supports for your TAG-identified students and/or the TAG nomination process, please contact your classroom teacher, Ms. Murphy (bmurphy@pps.net), or Ms. Glasgow (eglasgow@pps.net). 

Before/After School Enrichment Programs:
With the school districts policy changes and programs not being permitted to send information home, we are sharing available programs on the PTA website: https://www.lewispta.org/

Information for these programs will be under the “Enrichment” tab.  You can also contact the school office for a list of programs currently being offered.

Update from the Lewis Emergency Preparedness Team:

Last week every classroom was restocked with a fresh supply of bottled water, using PTA funds that are set aside for emergency preparedness.

Extra drinking water is one of the most important and easiest things to keep on hand in case of an emergency, this is a great time to make sure you have some at home! The Red Cross recommends you keep a supply of 1 gallon per person per day for at least 2 weeks, but having even a few gallons on hand is great start. Think about grabbing a few gallons next time you’re at the store, they’re usually around $1-2 each and last 2+ years.

Interested in learning more about or joining the preparedness team? Email laura@thetroxels.net

Counselor’s Corner:
Dear Families,
I hope everyone is enjoying this lovely Fall season!
A word about attendance - school attendance is very important. Did you know that students with good attendance are 4 times more likely to graduate high school than those who are chronically absent?
Here at Lewis last year, 84.5% of our students had good or acceptable attendance but 12.7 % of our students were chronically absent. Chronically absent means missing more than 2 days per month. 
This year, please help us provide the best possible education to your child by sending your child to school every day, on time. If you have any questions or concerns about your child's attendance, please let us know. We are here to support your family.

What you can do to support your child's attendance:………

Thanks Everyone!
Kylea Sundberg, Lewis Counselor

ksundberg@pps.net

Lewis Elementary School
Weekly Newsletter

October 3, 2018

UPCOMING DATES:
Wednesday, October 3^rd: Coffee Talk w/ Emily @ 8:45am in the Library
Friday, October 5^th:  Walk + Roll
Friday, October 5^th: Run for the Arts
Wednesday, October 10^th: PTA Meeting @ 6:30pm
Friday, October 12^th: No School: Statewide Inservice Day
Tuesday, October 16th: LDO at The Portland Bottle Shop
Friday, October 19^th: STEAM Family Night @ 6:00pm

Principal Glasgow’s Weekly Message:
Big thank you to everyone who came out to help us paint and garden last Saturday! The playground is looking great--and we've only just begun! If anyone is able to donate (or get donated) additional concrete paint in bright colors (and a small can in black), we'd love to keep working on adding games and designs.  Did you notice our spruced up soccer goals? Special thanks to Lewis parent Tye Ortego and the organization www.pitch-invasion.com for giving the goals new life!
Next week, we will also have our first visit from our Playworks Coach Ruby. Coach Ruby will be meeting with every class to teach new playground routines and games. She will also launch our Junior Coach program, which will provide a leadership opportunity for 4th and 5th grade students. I'm also looking forward to Run for the Arts this Friday. It's always fun to run with the kids in support of Lewis's arts program. Last year, this event raised over $14,000, which allowed us to bring in additional arts residencies and performances and will also support an upcoming community-wide art installation. Thank you in advance for your support of this annual event!

Run for the Arts is coming up this Friday Oct. 5!! 
Forms were due back today, please turn them in ASAP!  Please do not turn money in at this time. A Volunteer sign-up sheet is outside the school office, so sign up to help on run day!
CONGRATULATIONS to Paloma Rios on winning the 5th grade t-shirt design for 2018's Run for the Arts!
There were lots of amazing entries!! THANK YOU to all who participated. All participants received a certificate! You all did a great job!
Reminder: EVERYONE receives a t-shirt regardless of how much money you earn!
Grades 3-5 run at 9:15, Grades K-2 run at 1:20
Questions? Contact Gina @ glbiehl@yahoo.com  Looking forward to a GREAT Run for the Arts! ART IS GOOD FOR YOU!!

Lewis Elementary Foundation - The Campaign for Staffing
Join the foundation in making an impact on future staffing at Lewis. School funding is a continual issue in our state, and school foundations are the existing option to add staffing beyond the school district allocations. Our community is feeling the impact of losing the equivalent of three full-time positions this year, and we hope to improve the situation in future years.
Donation forms are going home today with the newsletter. Learn more at https://www.lewis-es-foundation.com/ and connect with us at lewis.es.foundation@gmail.com and https://www.facebook.com/lewiselementaryfoundation/
Funds contributed to the foundation are fully tax-deductible. Portland Schools Foundation is a section 501(c)(3) corporation under the federal tax laws. Tax ID #93-1149789.

A message from the PTA...
We hope you will join us for our next meeting on Wednesday, October 11th. We'll be learning about Lewis from some of the most qualified experts we know - Lewis 5th graders! That's right, bring your questions, because we'll have a panel of Lewis 5th graders on hand to tell you about specials, classroom routines, favorite Lewis traditions, why the cafeteria line is longest on Thursdays, and anything else you'd like to know. The meeting will be in the library from 6:30-8pm and free childcare is provided. Hope to see you there!

Harvest Dance and Book Sale
Don't miss your chance to dance and hula hoop the night away! The Harvest Dance and Book Sale is coming up on Thursday, October 11th from 6-8pm. Admission is a suggested donation of $2 per person or $5 per family, but all are welcome regardless of ability to pay. Pizza (including gluten free) and beverages will be available for purchase. When your feet need a break from dancing, the book sale will be waiting for you in the library. We are in need of volunteers for this event! If you'd like to help, you can sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090E4EAAA62AA0F49-lewis1  Shifts are just 30 minutes long so that you'll have plenty of time for fun with your family. We can't wait to see everyone!

Box Top Collection Contest
Along with this week's newsletter, you should find information about Box Tops as well as a collection sheet you may use to turn in your clipped Box Tops. Submit your unexpired Box Tops to the collection box in the school office to be counted toward your classroom's total. At the end of the year, the winning classroom will receive a popcorn party!  Remember to put your TEACHER'S NAME OR ROOM NUMBER on your submission (on a collection sheet or in an envelope/baggie), so it can be counted for your classroom.  Look for Box Tops on hundreds of products (like cereal, zip lock bags, Annie's mac & cheese). They come in all shapes and sizes and each one is worth 10¢ for schools. Lewis has designated the funds raised by Box Tops collection to support our fabulous music program!  Box Tops don’t need to be clipped perfectly... just make sure each one has the full label and expiration date - expired Box Tops don’t count toward our earnings. Good luck and keep clipping!  Questions? Contact Box Tops Coordinator Genevieve Benner at vivapalmer@yahoo.com

Calling All Garden Volunteers!
Kathleen needs help with some garden projects before the wet weather season arrives!  Please contact her at kgagnonwitter1@pps.net or 503-916-6360 if you are able to help.
Thank you!

TAG (Talented and Gifted ) News
This year, Brooke Murphy will be serving as our TAG Coordinator. We will be holding our Fall Family TAG Meeting on October 22 at 5:30 in Room 5. We encourage families of TAG-identified students and/or families curious about the TAG program to join us that evening. In the meantime, if you have questions about supports for your TAG-identified students and/or the TAG nomination process, please contact your classroom teacher, Ms. Murphy (bmurphy@pps.net), or Ms. Glasgow (eglasgow@pps.net). 

Join the milk carton Recycling Crew!
Every day we keep a large bag of milk cartons out of the landfill because of our dedicated volunteers who rinse them out to prepare them for recycling.  
It only takes 30 minutes during lunch time, so look at the attached sign up and help out if you can.  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E094CACAB28A31-october3

Before/After School Enrichment Programs:
With the school districts policy changes and programs not being permitted to send information home, we are sharing available programs on the PTA website: https://www.lewispta.org/

Information for these programs will be under the “Enrichment” tab.  You can also contact the school office for a list of programs currently being offered.

4th graders get FREE passes to the National Parks, good for the whole family
We did some research to find out why this is for 4^th graders only, and here is what we discovered: Fourth-graders were specifically chosen for "logistical, educational and instructional reasons", according to a White House official. The National Park Service as well as other public agencies already have fourth grade programs in place. Furthermore, many states within the United States teach state history during fourth grade, so National Park programs are relevant to the grade. Other reasons include ease in coordination of trips by a student's one teacher (rather than multiple teachers, as present in higher grades) and the idea of youth building early connections with nature.

Your child can take you amazing places! With the pass, fourth graders can bring family and friends on adventures free for a full year. Good Sept 1, 2018 through August 31, 2019.  You must sign up at https://www.nationalparks.org/our-work/campaigns-initiatives/every-kid-park

Here’s just a few places in Oregon and Washington you can pick up and use your free pass:

Crater Lake National Park, Southern Oregon, John Day Fossil Bed National Park, John Day, Lewis & Clark National Historic Park, Astoria, Oregon Caves National Monument, Cave Junction, Yaquina Outstanding Natural Area, Newport National Oregon Trail Museum, Baker City Newberry National Volcanic Monument, Bend, Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, Vancouver, WA, Mount Rainier National Park, Washington
For a more complete list, check out this link: https://findyourpark.com

SCIENCEPALOOZA is coming Friday, Oct. 19th!
Robots, brains, earthquakes, infrared technology, math games, slime, and more are coming to the Lewis cafeteria on Oct 19th from 6-8pm! Sciencepalooza is a new PTA sponsored event featuring interactive STEAM based activities for parents and students to explore together. (STEAM = Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Mathematics). All are welcome!    Check out https://www.lewispta.org/sciencepalooza-2018 to learn more and sign up to volunteer.
We are in need of parent volunteers to help during the event (30 minute shifts):
- Oversee open exploration tables: play dough, Duplo blocks, and construction materials
- Welcome Table 
Thank you for supporting our new science event!

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  Lewis Elementary School
  Weekly Newsletter

  September 26, 2018

  
  UPCOMING DATES:
  Friday, September 28: Picture Day (order forms are coming home today)
  Saturday, September 29^th: Lewis Community Care Day, 9am-noon
  Wednesday, October 3^rd: Coffee Talk w/ Emily @ 8:45 in the Library
  Friday, October 5^th:  Walk + Roll
  Friday, October 5^th: Run for the Arts
  Wednesday, October 10^th: PTA Meeting @ 6:30
  Friday, October 12^th: No School: Statewide Inservice Day
  

   

  
  Principal Glasgow’s Weekly Message:
  It was fabulous to see so many of you at Back-to-School Night last week. I feel fortunate to be a part of such a positive and engaged school community! I wanted to take a moment to give you some background on two happenings this week:

  • This Wednesday, we are holding our first monthly Community Celebrations. These are recognition assemblies that we will hold at the end of each month to celebrate classmates who have excelled during the previous month in the Core Values embedded in our new mission statement (curiosity, innovation, inclusion, personal growth) and in school attendance. These community assemblies will be student-led and will also include school announcements and a new school song. When your child is being presented with an award by his/her teacher, you will be notified and invited to join us. 
  • This Thursday, we will have our first Lockdown Drill of the year. These safety drills are an opportunity for staff and students to practice what our response would be if there were ever an active safety threat inside our building. In accordance with PPS policy, we do this type of drill twice per year. During the drill, staff lock and close their doors, turn out the lights, move students to an area of the classroom that is not visible from the outside, and maintain silence in the room. Because we know that this type of drill can cause anxiety for some students, we work hard to pre-explain and debrief the drill with students in developmentally-appropriate ways. Your support in processing the experience at home is also encouraged and appreciated

  A message from the PTA:
  Thanks so much to everyone who came to the first PTA meeting of the year. What a great turnout! We are thrilled to have so many new and returning families eager to create the best possible experience for our kids this year. If you missed the meeting, the minutes will be shared on our website (www.lewispta.org) and on the PTA bulletin board near the dip. There are also volunteer sign-up sheets posted on the office windows - swing by and pick a project to help with! If you checked the PTA box on the volunteer form you returned at the beginning of the school year, we'll definitely be in touch as opportunities arise. Membership forms are available in the office if you still need one. And if you have any questions at all, you can always reach us at lewiselementaryptaor@gmail.com, or talk to any Board member.
  
  Please join our Lewis Community for 2018 Project Community Care on September 29^th from 9 am to 12 pm!
  Project Community Care is an annual tradition and a wonderful opportunity to help beautify our school grounds in preparation for the first day of school.  Lewis’ had been postponed due to construction.  Volunteers assist with outdoor projects, such as weeding and spreading mulch.  We are also planning on having a playground painting activity.  Look for more details about this in next week’s Newsletter.
  Volunteers are encouraged to bring their own gardening gloves, water and a snack.  No volunteer registration or background check is required for this community event. All ages are welcome. Questions? Please contact Kathleen @kgagnonwitter1@pps.net
  
  Picture Day is THIS Friday, September 28^th:
  Paper order form envelopes are being sent home today.  Pre-orders for picture packages may now be placed online at https://ios.mydorian.com using your school's access key provided here C3WVVMPL. Online pre-orders using your school's access key are available up to 4 days after picture day.  The order envelope MUST be brought to school ON PICTURE DAY.  Complete the order form and put your payment, or a copy of your online receipt, in the envelope.

  TAG (Talented and Gifted ) News
  This year, Brooke Murphy will be serving as our TAG Coordinator. We will be holding our fall family TAG Meeting on October 22 at 5:30 in Room 5. We encourage families of TAG-identified students and/or families curious about the TAG program to join us that evening. In the meantime, if you have questions about supports for your TAG-identified students and/or the TAG nomination process, please contact your classroom teacher, Ms. Murphy (bmurphy@pps.net), or Ms. Glasgow (eglasgow@pps.net). 

  Join the milk carton Recycling Crew!
  Every day we keep a large bag of milk cartons out of the landfill because of our dedicated volunteers who rinse them out to prepare them for recycling.  
  It only takes 30 minutes during lunch time, so look at the attached sign up and help out if you can.  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E094CACAB28A31-october3

  Run for the Arts is October 5^th!!
  Run for the Arts is a fun and active event where students earn money for the Lewis Arts program by running laps and having each lap sponsored by family and friends! The Artists in Residence programs have included: Theater, African drumming, Visual Arts and many others. You should have your pledge forms and be getting your family and friends to pledge! They are due back by Wednesday October 3nd. All money is collected after the run and due back Monday October 22nd.

  Please note that ALL Lewis students will receive a t-shirt for participation REGARDLESS of the requirements described on the form. The Lewis Run for the Arts t-shirt will be designed by a Lewis 5th grader!! 

  Keep an eye out for volunteer opportunities! E-mail Gina Biehl with any questions: glbiehl@yahoo.com

  Before/After School Enrichment Programs:
  With the school districts policy changes and programs not being permitted to send information home, we are sharing available programs on the PTA website: https://www.lewispta.org/

  Information for these programs will be under the “Enrichment” tab.  You can also contact the school office for a list of programs currently being offered.

  4th graders get FREE passes to the National Parks, good for the whole family.
  We did some research to find out why this is for 4^th graders only, and here is what we discovered: Fourth-graders were specifically chosen for "logistical, educational and instructional reasons", according to a White House official. The National Park Service as well as other public agencies already have fourth grade programs in place. Furthermore, many states within the United States teach state history during fourth grade, so National Park programs are relevant to the grade. Other reasons include ease in coordination of trips by a student's one teacher (rather than multiple teachers, as present in higher grades) and the idea of youth building early connections with nature.

  Your child can take you amazing places! With the pass, fourth graders can bring family and friends on adventures free for a full year. Good Sept 1, 2018 through August 31, 2019.  You must sign up at National Parks Foundation and print out the voucher to get your free pass.

  Here’s just a few places in Oregon and Washington you can pick up and use your free pass:

  Crater Lake National Park, Southern Oregon, John Day Fossil Bed National Park, John Day, Lewis & Clark National Historic Park, Astoria, Oregon Caves National Monument, Cave Junction, Yaquina Outstanding Natural Area, Newport National Oregon Trail Museum, Baker City Newberry National Volcanic Monument, Bend, Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, Vancouver, WA, Mount Rainier National Park, Washington
  For a more complete list, check out this link: https://findyourpark.com
  
  Lewis Elementary Foundation - Campaign for Staffing
  The Lewis Elementary Foundation is a parent-led effort to raise funds for staffing not covered by the Portland Public Schools budget. The foundation was established to counteract reductions in staffing that happened this year, equivalent to three full-time positions. These reductions resulted in larger class sizes due to one less classroom teacher, and fewer support staff hours.

  During the month of October we’re holding our direct donation appeal. A letter is going home today with more information, and a donation form is going home next week. Learn more at https://www.lewis-es-foundation.com/ and connect with us at lewis.es.foundation@gmail.com and https://www.facebook.com/lewiselementaryfoundation/

  Chinook Books on Sale NOW!!
  Purchase the book, a mobile subscription or renew your current subscription using our special fundraising link!
  Follow this link https://chinook.co/lewispdx to purchase your Chinook Book mobile app subscription and benefit our fundraiser.  Our partner ID is: lewispdx
               Lewis receives 50% of the sales from both the book and the app.

  • Don't have the Chinook Book App yet? Follow the link above from your phone to activate a 7-day FREE TRIAL of the Chinook Book app.  If you like it, you can purchase an annual app subscription for $15 and enjoy a whole year of savings at local, sustainable places you love like Grand Central Bakery, Portland Nursery, Salt & Straw, OMSI, Oaks Park, yard debris dumping at McFarlane’s Bark and many more  Plus! Your subscription will continue to benefit our fundraiser year after year as long as we continue to fundraise with Chinook Book.
  • Already have the app?  First make sure you have updated to the most recent version of the app. Then follow the link above. It will redirect you to the App Store. Tap “open” and it will take you directly to the payment page with our partner id already loaded in so your purchase will benefit our fundraiser. Ready?
  • If you would prefer to purchase a print book or app gift card, these are available in the school office.
    Thanks for supporting our fundraiser!

  We need 2 persons or committee(s) for 2 important Lewis Events:

  • The PTA is looking for volunteers to plan and prepare a simple but scrumptious meal to be offered to both our vendors and attendees at the Holiday Bazaar on Saturday, December 1^st.  In the past we have served things like soup/salad/bread or burrito bowls. 
  • Our school is looking for someone to lead/coordinate our 30^th Annual Talent Show this year.   We need a person, or small team, to help us continue this amazing Lewis tradition.

  If you are interested or would like additional information about either of these opportunities, please contact Tracy in the school office at 503-916-6360 or tgiordano@pps.net.  Thank you~

  SCIENCEPALOOZA! is looking for parent volunteers
  Sciencepalooza is happening Friday evening, October 19th! This free PTA sponsored event will feature interactive STEAM based activities for parents and students to explore together. (STEAM = Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Mathematics). All are welcome.
  We are in need of parent volunteers to help make this a successful event. There are many ways to help: run a station activity during the event, set-up/clean-up, event advertising/communications, design/print event print materials, and more. Want to get involved? Contact Susan Rosenkranz: susan.rosenkranz@gmail.com

  PTA BottleDrop Fundraiser:
  Thank you to everyone who dropped off BottleDrop bags over the summer - we raised over $500 since June! That’s on top of the $1500 we raised last year. Can we beat that total this year?  BottleDrop collection begins Thursday, September 6th, before school by the front door. Drop off will be EVERY Thursday starting next week. Pick up a blue bag in the office, fill it with clean mixed cans & bottles and drop off before school on Thursdays.  You can also turn the bags in yourself at any Bottle Drop location, there’s one only 2 miles from Lewis at SE King and Linwood. Use the barcode on the blue bag to scan, open the deposit door, throw the bag in, and Lewis gets the money!  Check out https://www.bottledropcenters.com/Home for a full list of locations and for details on which containers are worth $.10 each for Lewis.
  Proceeds from our BottleDrop Fundraiser helps to support our Lewis Community events like Movie Night and Bingo Night.  We hope to continue to offer these events free of charge to our community.  Please continue to drop off those blue bags!  Every can and bottle helps!
  
  Reed College 5K FUNd Run/Walk:
  Thank you to all that joined us for this FUNd event!  The Reed 5K FUNd Run/Walk brings our community together as well as brings financial support to schools in the neighborhood, including Lewis.
  The support is priceless!
  
  

  Counselor’s Corner
  Dear Families,  Wow, how time has been flying - I can’t believe that it’s already almost October!  It was great to be able to visit with many of you on Back-to-School Night.  Please always feel free to stop by my office anytime to chat, or to make an appointment.  I am often out and about in the building, but I can also be reached by mobile, at: 971-804-4783.

   I just wanted to update you on a few things:
  
  Small Groups:  While K-2 students are receiving classroom lessons, small groups are being formed for 3-5 students who may need extra support.  Since Back-to-School Night, I have been receiving more signed permission forms for small groups, and am in the process of forming those groups now.  My hope is that many of the groups will start in the first week of October.  If you are interested in having your child in a small group, please confer with your student’s teacher to see if this would be a good fit for them.  Small groups address specific needs, listed on the permission form for which I am attaching a link below.  Also, some instructional time is missed for small group participation. Lastly, a limited number of Fall small groups will be open to K-2 students who may have a pressing need for a sooner start date.  Lewis counselor-led small groups interest form

  K-2 classroom lessons:   Lessons on the Zones of Regulation are underway in all K-2 classes.  Students have been learning to identify emotions, and to sort them into a system of categories we call the Zones.  Soon we will be talking about our personal triggers and our tools/strategies for managing emotions and self-regulating.  Here is a small description of the Zones:

  The Zones of Regulation

  The Zones of Regulation is a curriculum for students to help build skills for understanding and self-regulating their emotions. Throughout our day we find ourselves in a variety of zones.  We might be in the Blue zone and tired when we first wake up, but after eating breakfast we feel more awake, focused, and in the green zone.  It is not a bad thing to be in any of the zones, but our goal is to be in the green zone.  How we move in between the zones and stay in the green is by using our tools.  This could be as simple as taking deep breaths, or a longer activity like taking a break or going on a walk.  

  Examples of common language that you could here at home might sound like:  “I’m in the yellow zone”, or “I’m headed for the red zone!”.  You can always ask your child about which zone they are in, and how they can get back to a more comfortable zone.  You may also hear students say from time to time that they need to take some “belly breaths” or deep breaths, as we have begun to touch on calming strategies

  Zones:

  Blue Zone - Tired, sad, bored, sick

  Green Zone - Happy, calm, focused, feeling okay

  Yellow Zone - Frustrated, worried, silly/wiggly, excited

  Red Zone - Mad/Angry, mean, terrified, yelling/hitting

  Here is the link to the Zones curriculum :website

  FYI…..Some Resources or Upcoming Events that Parents May be interested in:

   

  ·         Collaborative Problem Solving An Innovative Approach for Teaching, Treating and Parenting Kids with Challenging Behavior: November 7-9. For more information clickhere. ·         211info: Local Community Resources , including but not limited too: o    Counseling o    Medical o    Dental o    Food o    Energy o    Housing Website here ·         Headspace App:  Meditation Made Simple -  bite-sized mindfulness exercises for busy schedules.  Website here

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  Lewis Elementary School

  Weekly Newsletter

  September 5, 2018

                                     

  UPCOMING DATES:
  Thursday, September 6^th @ 6pm: Kinder Family Social
  Friday, September 7^th: Walk + Roll
  Wednesday, September 12^th @ 6:30pm: Lewis PTA Meeting
  Friday, September 14^th: PTA After School Social
  Thursday, September 20^th: Lewis Back to School Night
  Saturday, September 22^nd: REED 5k FUNd Walk/Run
  Friday, September 28: Picture Day (order forms will be sent home on September 19^th)
  Saturday, September 29^th: Lewis Community Care Day, 9am-noon

  
  Principal Glasgow’s Weekly Message:
  It’s been another smooth and productive week at Lewis! I’ve enjoyed watching your children settle into their new classrooms—learning new routines, making new friendships, and connecting with new adults. Each year, each child’s Lewis circle expands a bit—it’s truly a beautiful thing to watch. In the coming weeks, we also have several opportunities for adults in our community to connect, re-connect, and expand circles—our Kinder Family Social, the PTA After School Social, Back-to-School Night, etc. I hope that you and your family will make an effort to join us for as many of these community events as possible. If your family likes to walk and run together, I also encourage you to register for the Reed FUNd Walk/Run (5K) on September 22, 2018. All of the proceeds from this super-fun event go back into neighborhood elementary schools—Lewis included. I’ll be running with my daughter, and I’ll hope to see you there. You can register at this link: https://www.reed.edu/5k/.
          Here’s to another great week!  Emily

  Woodstock Gives Back
  Join us at Portland Family Health this Sunday, September 9th, from 10am-3pm in support of Woodstock Gives Back and Lewis Elementary! We are located at 4004 SE Woodstock Blvd. just next door to the Woodstock Wine and Deli.  

  Woodstock Gives Back is a Woodstock business community event hosting family fun up and down the street to raise money for various causes and charities.  

  Visit us at Portland Family Health for FREE chair massages on our porch, corn hole competitions for all ages, face painting by recent Lewis alumni, and other prizes and festivities, including a raffle to win things like a free nutritional consultation, acupuncture or craniosacral treatment with our many providers. Or just pop in to say hi!

  Additionally, schedule an appointment with Dr. Jen Kearns for an acupuncture treatment, dietary or herbal consultation, or for chiropractic care or massage therapy with another wonderful provider during the week of Sept. 10-15 and 10% of all new patient proceeds will go back to Lewis! All of our providers treat all ages.

  Check out more event details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/299903160599750/

  Chinook Book on Sale NOW!
  Purchase the book, a mobile subscription or renew your current subscription using our special fundraising link!
  Follow this link https://chinook.co/lewispdx to purchase your Chinook Book mobile app subscription and benefit our fundraiser.  Our partner ID is: lewispdx
               Lewis receives 50% of the sales from both the book and the app.

  • Don't have the Chinook Book App yet? Follow the link above from your phone to activate a 7-day FREE TRIAL of the Chinook Book app. If you like it, you can purchase an annual app subscription for $15 and enjoy a whole year of savings at local, sustainable places you love like Grand Central Bakery, Portland Nursery, Salt & Straw, OMSI, Oaks Park, yard debris dumping at McFarlane’s Bark and many more  Plus! Your subscription will continue to benefit our fundraiser year after year as long as we continue to fundraise with Chinook Book.
  • Already have the app?  First make sure you have updated to the most recent version of the app. Then follow the link above. It will redirect you to the App Store. Tap “open” and it will take you directly to the payment page with our partner id already loaded in so your purchase will benefit our fundraiser. Ready?
  • If you would prefer to purchase a print book or app gift card, these are available in the school office.
    Thanks for supporting our fundraiser!

  We are looking for adult volunteers for lunch duty:
  Each day during lunch period, we need 2 volunteers to assist Kelly and Laurie (our Nutrition Service staff) in servicing lunch to our students.  We have utilized 4^th & 5^th grade student volunteers in the past, but with our change in our lunch routine, students would miss most of their lunch recess.  In an effort to avoid this, we are looking to our volunteers.  Our 2 volunteers would assist in serving lunch to our students.

  If you are interested, please click on this SignUp Genuis link to volunteer: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0a44a9a82ea31-lewis1

  Milk Carton Recycling:
  Help continue our recycling tradition at Lewis!  Come to the cafeteria during lunch for 30 minutes and rinse milk cartons to prepare them for recycling.  Every day we keep a large garbage bag full of milk cartons out of the landfill.  Click on the link to sign up:
  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e094cacab28a31-august1

  For the Safety and Security of our students, the staff, and our building…
  All doors except the West side door on SE 43rd are open from 8:30-8:45am for drop-off and from 2:55-3:15pm for pick-up.
  The West side door on SE 43rd is ONLY open at dismissal time from 2:55-3:15pm. 
  For YMCA drop-off and pick-up only, please use the door from the playground between the gym and the cafeteria.  There is a doorbell for your convenience.
  The front door is the only door open during school hours.  It is open from 7am-430pm.
  For the protection of our students, all visitors and volunteers MUST check in at the office, sign in and wear a badge at all times.

  Only custodial parents, legal guardians, or emergency contacts listed on a student’s registration form can pick up a child from school.
  If someone other than those listed on the registration form is to pick up your child, the office must receive a call from your child’s parent/guardian to authorize that person.  We will not release any student to someone that is not authorized for pick-up.

  **Please note that we WILL check identification if we do not recognize the person picking up your child.

  Lewis School Mail Volunteers Needed!
  We are looking for adult volunteers to assist our Junior (K-2nd grade student) Mail Carriers in collecting, sorting, hand-cancelling and delivering our Lewis School Mail.
  Our students write letters to their classroom friends, drop it in our Lewis mailbox, and excitedly wait for our mail to be delivered.
  This volunteer opportunity takes appx. 1 hour and you will work with 2-3 students each time.

  Thank you so much for helping us to keep this wonderful Lewis tradition alive! 
  Please follow this link to sign-up:  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0a44a9a82ea31-lewis2

  Please send your students prepared for school:
  Please be sure to send your student to school with the appropriate gear for the weather, as we will go outside for recess even on rainy days.  Closed-toed shoes are recommended for our playground, as the bark chips can give splinters and the logs can become slippery.
  Also, please send water bottles!  On PE days, athletic shoes and no long dresses please.  Thank you in advance for sending your child(ren) to school ready for a successful day!
  
  Playground Access from Glenwood Street, the section of blacktop from the Glenwood Street fence to the Gym, and the bike racks in that area will be inaccessible while the seismic upgrades to the Gym are completed.  The anticipated completion date is late October.  All other parts of the playground will be open and accessible. 
  This past weekend, the blacktop was pressure washed and cleared of all construction debris and the field was inspected and any remaining debris has been removed.

  School Meals:

  • We encourage parents to submit a Free and Reduced Meal applications online via SchoolCafe` at schoolcafe.com or by paper (available from the office). Whether you are going to use this benefit or not, Lewis has the potential to access additional resources if we have a certain percentage of Free and Reduced qualifying families.  Please consider submitting an application.
    Families that were approved last year for Free and Reduced Meals have a 30 day grace period to apply for meal benefits for this year.  After the 30 day grace period, families will be charged for meals.
  • Please note: students will no longer be able to purchase a la carte milk OR a second meal.

   

  PTA BottleDrop Fundraiser:
  Thank you to everyone who dropped off BottleDrop bags over the summer - we raised over $500 since June! That’s on top of the $1500 we raised last year. Can we beat that total this year?  BottleDrop collection begins Thursday, September 6th, before school by the front door. Drop off will be EVERY Thursday starting next week. Pick up a blue bag in the office, fill it with clean mixed cans & bottles and drop off before school on Thursdays.  You can also turn the bags in yourself at any Bottle Drop location, there’s one only 2 miles from Lewis at SE King and Linwood. Use the barcode on the blue bag to scan, open the deposit door, throw the bag in, and Lewis gets the money!  Check out www.BottleDropCenters.com for a full list of locations and for details on which containers are worth $.10 each for Lewis.

  Proceeds from our BottleDrop Fundraiser helps to support our Lewis Community events like Movie Night and Bingo Night.  We hope to continue to offer these events free of charge to our community.  Please continue to drop off those blue bags!  Every can and bottle helps!

  Walk + Roll begins Friday, September 7^th!
  Welcome back to school!  Just because summer is over, it doesn't mean the kids have to put away their walking shoes, bike, scooter, skateboard, or wheelchair.
  Please join us for "Walk and Roll" beginning Friday, September 7th in the morning before school.  There will be popsicles for the kids, coffee from First Cup for the adults, and a bike mechanic from The Missing Link for those much needed adjustments to the kids' bikes, plus a raffle, music, and good cheer!
  Parents, we need your help!  Please consider volunteering for this event and on the first Friday of every month thereafter, 7:45-8:45, setting up tables, making/serving refreshments, registering students, and cleaning up.  You'll be doing your part for the health of our kids and the health of our planet!
  Please email me your contact information to be added to the emailing list:
  Brett Bolstad
  Walk and Roll Coordinator 2017-2019
  brettbolstad@yahoo.com

• Lewis Elementary School
  Weekly Newsletter
• August 29, 2018
   

Upcoming Dates:
Thursday, August 30: 1^st Day of School for Kindergarten
Monday, September 3^rd: No School: Labor Day Holiday
Thursday, September 6^th @ 6pm: Kinder Family Social
Friday, September 7^th: Walk + Roll
Wednesday, September 12^th @ 6:30pm: Lewis PTA Meeting
Friday, September 14^th: PTA After School Social

Principal Glasgow’s Weekly Message:
It's been so wonderful to see your kiddos back at school this week--they have settled back into the swing of things without missing a beat! Kinder families, we can't wait to greet your little ones tomorrow! As your kids may have told you, one of our new shifts this year is that we are trying recess before lunch. In conjunction with our new Playworks program, we have confidence that this switch will lead to safer playing, healthier eating, and better focus in class after lunch. If you'd like to review some of the research on this shift, you can find it here. Also, while our building is looking great, I know some of you still have questions and concerns about the effects of summer and ongoing construction. I have asked partners from PPS Communications and the Bonds Office (including a contracted environmental hazards expert from OHSU) to join us for a community meeting/Q&A session next Wednesday, September 5th at 8:45 am (right after drop-off) in our Tech Lab. Please join us if you have questions about the information that has already been sent out or would like more information about the continuing construction in our gym. If you are unable to make this meeting, but are seeking answers to questions, feel free to email me your questions and I will work to get you answers. 

As always, please feel free to stop in and visit or email/call with any questions/concerns/ideas that are on your mind. I believe that communication works best when it is often and early--so, don't hesitate to reach out. I hope your kids have had a great first few days. I know it's going to be a terrific year!

Counselor’s Corner:
Dear Lewis Families,

Welcome to the 2018-2019 school year!  Although many of you already know me, I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself.  My name is Kylea Sundberg and I am the school counselor at Lewis.  My hours are full-time and I am located in Room Eleven.  As a school counselor, I offer a variety of student services, including but not limited to:  classroom lessons based on social and emotional learning, small groups centered on a variety of student needs, individual check-ins and breaks for students who may need them.  I am also available to help with finding access to outside counseling and resources for families.  In the coming weeks I will be sharing more specific details about what’s coming up in our school counseling program at Lewis. Please feel free to contact me anytime at 503-916-6360 or ksundberg@pps.net.

Back-to-School Packets were sent home with your child(ren) this week.  The Student Profile Form and the Forms Packet (white paper with the color cover) needs your attention ASAP.  The profile form needs to be reviewed, updated if needed and signed, and the forms need to be completed.  Please return them to your child’s teacher by September 7^th.
**For Kindergarten Families, you will receive these packets when you and your child come in for your Assessment Meeting on either Monday or Tuesday.  You will complete these forms while you are here.
The rest of the packet is for you to keep.  Important information we wanted to share with you, the Lewis School Handbook and Calendar, and lunch menu are included.
**There was an error in the website information for our PTA in the packet.  Please note the PTA’s website is https://www.lewispta.org/

For the Safety and Security of our students, the staff, and our building…
All doors except the West side door on SE 43rd are open from 8:30-8:45am for drop-off and from 2:55-3:15pm for pick-up.
The West side door on SE 43rd is ONLY open at dismissal time from 2:55-3:15pm. 
For YMCA drop-off and pick-up only, please use the door from the playground between the gym and the cafeteria.  There is a doorbell for your convenience.
The front door is the only door open during school hours.  It is open from 7am-430pm.
For the protection of our students, all visitors and volunteers MUST check in at the office, sign in and wear a badge at all times.

Only custodial parents, legal guardians, or emergency contacts listed on a student’s registration form can pick up a child from school.
If someone other than those listed on the registration form is to pick up your child, the office must receive a call from your child’s parent/guardian to authorize that person.  We will not release any student to someone that is not authorized for pick-up.

**Please note that we WILL check identification if we do not recognize the person picking up your child.

Playground Access from Glenwood Street, the section of blacktop from the Glenwood Street fence to the Gym, and the bike racks in that area will be inaccessible while the seismic upgrades to the Gym are completed.  The anticipated completion date is late October.  All other parts of the playground will be open and accessible. 
This past weekend, the blacktop was pressure washed and cleared of all construction debris and the field was inspected and any remaining debris has been removed.

School Meals:

• We encourage parents to submit a Free and Reduced Meal applications online via SchoolCafe` at https://www.schoolcafe.com or by paper (available from the office).   Whether you are going to use this benefit or not, Lewis has the potential to access additional resources if we have a certain percentage of Free and Reduced qualifying families.  Please consider submitting an application.
  Families that were approved last year for Free and Reduced Meals have a 30 day grace period to apply for meal benefits for this year.  After the 30 day grace period, families will be charged for meals.
• Please note: students will no longer be able to purchase a la carte milk OR a second meal.

We are looking for adult volunteers for lunch duty:
Each day during lunch period, we need 2 volunteers to assist Kelly and Laurie (our Nutrition Service staff) in serving lunch to our students.  We have utilized 4^th & 5^th grade student volunteers in the past, but with our change in our lunch routine, students would miss most of their lunch recess.  In an effort to avoid this, we are looking to our volunteers.  Our 2 volunteers would assist in serving lunch to our students.

If you are interested, please click on this SignUp Genuis link to volunteer: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0a44a9a82ea31-lewis1

Milk Carton Recycling:
Help continue our recycling tradition at Lewis!  Come to the cafeteria during lunch for 30 minutes and rinse milk cartons to prepare them for recycling.  Every day we keep a large garbage bag full of milk cartons out of the landfill.  Click on the link to sign up:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e094cacab28a31-august1

PTA BottleDrop Fundraiser:
Thank you to everyone who dropped off BottleDrop bags over the summer - we raised over $500 since June! That’s on top of the $1500 we raised last year. Can we beat that total this year?  BottleDrop collection begins Thursday, September 6th, before school by the front door. Drop off will be EVERY Thursday starting next week. Pick up a blue bag in the office, fill it with clean mixed cans & bottles and drop off before school on Thursdays.  You can also turn the bags in yourself at any Bottle Drop location, there’s one only 2 miles from Lewis at SE King and Linwood. Use the barcode on the blue bag to scan, open the deposit door, throw the bag in, and Lewis gets the money!  Check out www.BottleDropCenters.com for a full list of locations and for details on which containers are worth $.10 each for Lewis.
Proceeds from our BottleDrop Fundraiser helps to support our Lewis Community events like Movie Night and Bingo Night.  We hope to continue to offer these events free of charge to our community.  Please continue to drop off those blue bags!  Every can and bottle helps!

Walk + Roll begins Friday, September 7^th!
Welcome back to school!  Just because summer is over, it doesn't mean the kids have to put away their walking shoes, bike, scooter, skateboard, or wheelchair.
Please join us for "Walk and Roll" beginning Friday, September 7th in the morning before school.  There will be popsicles for the kids, coffee from First Cup for the adults, and a bike mechanic from The Missing Link for those much needed adjustments to the kids' bikes, plus a raffle, music, and good cheer!
Parents, we need your help!  Please consider volunteering for this event and on the first Friday of every month thereafter, 7:45-8:45, setting up tables, making/serving refreshments, registering students, and cleaning up.  You'll be doing your part for the health of our kids and the health of our planet!
Please email me your contact information to be added to the emailing list:
Brett Bolstad
Walk and Roll Coordinator 2017-2019
brettbolstad@yahoo.com

Pets in our building/District Policy:
Per district policy, pets are not permitted in school buildings.  We apologize for this inconvenience, but we have concerns about students and family members with allergies, fearful pets, and students that are fearful of dogs and other animals.  Please leave your pets outside if you bring them at drop-off or pick-up time. 
If your child(ren) has an interest in bringing a pet to class for sharing, please contact the teacher to make those arrangements. 

Coat Exchange:
We are holding a coat exchange event during this first week of school.  You can donate a coat that your child has outgrown and/or find a new one for the school year.  The coat rack is in the hallway by the front door.  Please help yourself.

Open House for Errol Heights Park Project:
Neighborhood residents and park enthusiasts have two opportunities to weigh in on the city’s plans to improve Errol Heights Park to maximize recreational opportunities and enjoyment of nature. Please share this information your friends, neighbors, colleagues and family.
1. Open House for Errol Heights Park Project - Saturday, September 8, 2018, 10 am- 1pm.  Come join us at SE 52nd Ave and SE Tenino Court for morning coffee and scones. Learn about upcoming park improvements and provide input on two concept designs, guiding principles and park elements/programming.  Park Ecologist, Christian Haaning will be leading trail walks at two different times that morning.
2. Survey – Provide input on all aspects of the project. The survey deadline is September 22, 2018. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/errolheightspark

Lewis Elementary School
Weekly Newsletter
August 25, 2018

We are excited to welcome you and your child(ren) to the new school year~

Before you return on Monday, we wanted to send you a few reminders and let you know of a few things happening this week~

Back-to-School Packets will be coming home with your child(ren) on Monday.  The Student Profile Form and the Forms Packet (white paper with the color cover) needs your attention ASAP.  The profile form needs to be reviewed, updated if needed and signed, and the forms need to be completed.  Please return them to your child’s teacher by September 7^th.
**For Kindergarten Families, you will receive these packets when you and your child come in for your Assessment Meeting on either Monday or Tuesday.  You will complete these forms while you are here.
The rest of the packet is for you to keep.  Important information we wanted to share with you, the Lewis School Handbook and Calendar, and lunch menu are included.

Playground Access from Glenwood Street, the section of blacktop from the Glenwood Street fence to the Gym, and the bike racks in that area will be inaccessible while the seismic upgrades to the Gym are completed.  The anticipated completion date is late October.  All other parts of the playground will be open and accessible. 
This weekend, the blacktop will be pressure washed and cleared of all construction debris, all debris will be removed, the field will be inspected and any remaining debris will be removed.

For the Safety and Security of our students, the staff, and our building…

All doors except the West side door on SE 43rd are open from 8:30-8:45am for drop-off and from 2:55-3:15pm for pick-up.
The West side door on SE 43rd is ONLY open at dismissal time from 2:55-3:15pm. 
For YMCA drop-off and pick-up only, please use the door from the playground between the gym and the cafeteria.  There is a doorbell for your convenience.
The front door is the only door open during school hours.  It is open from 7am-430pm.
For the protection of our students, all visitors and volunteers MUST check in at the office, sign in and wear a badge at all times.

Only custodial parents, legal guardians, or emergency contacts listed on a student’s registration form can pick up a child from school.
If someone other than those listed on the registration form is to pick up your child, the office must receive a call from your child’s parent/guardian to authorize that person.  We will not release any student to someone that is not authorized for pick-up.

**Please note that we WILL check identification if we do not recognize the person picking up your child.

Information from Nutrition Services:

• The PPS Nutrition Services website has been updated pps.net/nutrition with new menus, new meal prices and updated meal benefits related information.
• Parents can use SchoolCafe` to deposit funds to purchase school meals, view transactions and balance, setup low balance alerts, transfer funds from one student to another, etc. Parents need to create a SchoolCafe` account to use the system. There is no cost to use SchoolCafe` features, except when a debit/credit card is used to fund a student’s meal account. The minimum payment is $15 and there is a 5% fee per online transaction. Cash and check (made payable to Portland Public Schools) payments can be submitted directly to the cafeteria or school office.
• Parents can submit Free and Reduced Meal applications online via SchoolCafe` at schoolcafe.com or paper. Families that were approved last year for Free and Reduced Meals have a 30 day grace period to apply for meal benefits for this year.  After the 30 day grace period, families will be charged for meals.
• NEW! Families can download the SchoolCafe` mobile app on any Android or iOS device and submit a meal application as well as use all of the other features listed above.
• The kitchen will be offering the opportunity for students to receive one breakfast and one lunch per day. Students will no longer be able to purchase additional meals or a la carte milk.

Coat Exchange:

We will have a coat exchange available the first week of school.  You can donate a coat that your child has outgrown and/or find a new one for the school year.

Meriwether Lewis Elementary School Weekly Newsletter

June 6, 2018               
        

Upcoming Dates:

June 7- Bottle Drop Collection 845am
June 8- Last Day of School
June 9- Lewis Dines Out- Portland Fish Market’s Fish and Chip Window.
June 25- Lewis School office closes
Aug 13- Lewis School office reopens

Message from Ms. Glasgow

It's hard to believe that this is truly our last newsletter! I want to sincerely thank you for welcoming me to the Lewis community this year and for entrusting me with the care of your wonderful children. It has been a pleasure getting to know you and learning the ways of Lewis.
I wanted to take this last newsletter opportunity to offer well-wishes to staff who will be leaving us this year and to share updated news about staffing for next year. I hope you'll join me in honoring the hard work and dedication of the following staff members who will be moving up, on, and away at the end of this school year:

Lynne Leake--congratulations on your retirement!! Wishing you well-earned rest & relaxation!
Mark Hansen--we wish you well on your international adventure with your family!
Mark Richner--we wish you well on your family's move to Tennessee!
Heather McDaid--best of luck in your new full-time position!
Quiana Allen--thank you for all of your hard work in kindergarten this year!
Vianca Estrada--best of luck as you transition with the student you support to middle school!
Sarah Fakhoury (Health Asst)--best of luck on your next adventures in nursing!
Janice Weber (Kinder EA)--we will miss your steadfast support in kindergarten!
Wendy Connolly (student teacher)--it was a pleasure to have you learn with us this year!

And, for some staffing updates:

We will be welcoming two new teachers to the building next year--Shannon D'Aurora to join Jennifer Meyer in the Learning Center and Kira Parker in Kindergarten. While these assignments have the potential to shift over the summer, we are pleased to welcome Shannon and Kira to our team.

Since Mark Richner announced his plans to relocate, we have made some shifts in grade assignments with current teachers. Ms. Elissa will now be moving back up to teach 4th grade next year and Ms. Leslie will be transitioning from Kindergarten to 3rd grade. This means that we will be posting a vacancy to hire a new Kindergarten teacher later this month.

In terms of student placements, please know that our teaching teams have been extremely deliberate and thoughtful about the class lists they've created for next year. You can expect to receive a letter from Lewis in mid-August notifying you of your child(ren)'s class and teacher assignment.

I wish you all safe, happy, and healthy summers! Please do not hesitate to reach out to me at any time if questions/concerns arise (eglasgow@pps.net).
 

Medication End of the Year Pick Up

Parents- Please pick up your student’s medication by the end of the day on June 8th. Per district policy, all medications that are not picked up by the end of the school year must be disposed of. Parents must pick up medications. Students are not allowed to bring their own medication home.

Thank you for your cooperation and have a nice summer!
Bev O’Brien, School Nurse

*Lost and Found items remaining after June 8 will be donated.  Please check the lost and found located inside the main entrance.

News from the School Office:

Despite the summer construction going on, the office will remain open until June 25th.  The office will reopen for the Fall on August 13th.
Registrations for new, incoming students for grades K-5 are still being accepted for Fall Enrollment, but please don’t wait!  We would love to have registrations in by mid-June so we have a clearer picture of our enrollment before we close for the summer.

Report Cards will be mailed home June 15th.  You will also receive information regarding school supplies for the 2018-2019 school year.
2018-2019 Welcome Letters from your child’s teacher will be mailed home the week of August 13th.

For news and info over the summer, be sure to follow us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/lewispdx/) and check the Lewis Website (http://www.pps.net/Domain/135).

Also follow the Lewis PTA on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/ptalewis/) and their website as well (https://www.lewispta.org/)

As always, please feel free to email Tracy at tgiordano@pps.net if you have any questions.

Want an easy way to show your appreciation for all our teachers' great work? 

One of the ways we say a big Thank You! to our staff is to clean out the lunch bins at the end of the year.  It's quick, easy and the staff love the help!  This year we'll be cleaning bins on the last day of school, Friday, June 8th from 3:00-4:00.  We'd love your help!  Click the link below to sign up!
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090E4EAAA62AA0F49-staff4

BottleDrop collection this Thursday 6/7. 
BottleDrop has raised over $1500 so far for Lewis PTA!

It’s time to prepare for summer - Did you know you can turn the blue bags in yourself? Pick up a few blue bags to get you through the summer, fill up with clean returnable bottles, go by any Bottle Drop location including the one only 2 miles from Lewis at SE King and Linwood!  Use the barcode on the blue bag to scan open the drop off door, throw the bag in, and Lewis gets the money!
Check out www.BottleDropCenters.com for a full list of locations and for details on what containers are worth $.10 each for Lewis.

Important Summer Construction Work at Lewis

Lewis will be under construction this summer. Work at Lewis Elementary School includes a vital seismic retrofit that will bring the school up to “life safety” standards, new fire sprinkler system throughout the building, improvement of the existing fire alarm system and ADA accessibility improvements.  This work is part of the voter approved May 2017 Health, Safety and Modernization Bond.

What you need to know:
·         Construction will begin immediately following the end of this school year, in June. Construction hours:  Monday-Saturday, 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
·         The school site will be closed for the entire summer.  
·         Construction fencing will surround the school including the asphalt walkways and parking lots.   The adjacent field and play structures will remain open and accessible as long as there are no safety concerns once construction begins.  
·         There will be increased construction traffic in and around school grounds; however, street closures are not anticipated at this time.
·         School Registration will take place at the school office which will remain accessible.

We recognize that this construction may impact school neighbors.  Our apologies in advance for any inconvenience this may cause, but, please know that Lewis Elementary School will be receiving much needed work.

For more information about the PPS School Health and Safety Improvement Bond 2018 Summer Projects - Contact: 503-916-2222   E-mail: schoolmodernization@pps.net BondProgram:www.pps.net/bond
 

OBOB 2018/2019

Looking for some reading suggestions over the long summer? Want to branch out a bit and try some new books and titles? Want to ask your friends to read with you, to laugh together, solve mysteries together, learn about history?  Ever heard of Oregon Battle of the Books (OBOB)? OBOB is a reading and comprehension program (http://www.oregonbattleofthebooks.org/) starting in 3rd grade all the way to 12th grade. Their mission states to “encourage and recognize students who enjoy reading, to broaden reading interests, to increase reading comprehension, promote academic excellence, and to promote cooperative learning and teamwork among students”. They have picked out some excellent books, for everybody to sure find a new favorite. Find the list here: http://www.oregonbattleofthebooks.org/2018-2019-obob-book-titles/ Ask your friends to join you and form a team (4-5 members), brainstorm a team name, have fun with the books and get ready for the OBOB battle at Lewis in the new school year.

The Multnomah county library has all titles available and books stores around town usually have a shelf dedicated to the OBOB books. Happy reading and have great summer. If you have any questions, please email stadleranja@gmail.com

Thank you from the PTA board!

As we wind down and head into summer break, a huge thank you to all the volunteers and participants who have played a role in the successes of the PTA this spring.

We've raised money through

Lewis Dines Out at Reverend’s BBQ, Laurelwood, and Pizza Roma, and coming up this Saturday at Portland Fish Market
The Lucky Luau and Auction
The plant sale and Earth Day Fair
Bottle drop, Scrip, BoxTops, Fred Meyer Rewards, and Amazon Smile

We've also had a lot of fun at movie night, socials, walk and roll, the Lonesome Teacher Trio Dance, and the end of year picnic. These events are really important ways to build community and encourage fun for the whole family.

Curious about what we raise funds for? Want to learn more about getting involved? Join the conversation by coming to a PTA meeting in the fall. Can’t attend a meeting? Connect with us--

lewispta.org
facebook.com/ptalewis/
lewiselementaryptaor@gmail.com

We are very grateful to everyone who joined the PTA in supporting all Lewis students this spring.

Keep Reading this Summer

We’re excited to announce a great resource for reading this summer: Capstone Interactive eBooks!

This summer, Capstone is providing free access to thousands of ebooks that can be read from school, home, or on-the-go. These eBooks can be used with a laptop or desktop computer or an iPad.
Best of all, Capstone Interactive eBooks provide critical supports like text-highlighting and read-aloud audio, recorded by professional voice-over artists. Plus, the easy navigation makes it inviting for your student to find their Capstone favorites: like the spunky Katie Woo, stunning photography from PebblePlus books, and thrilling reads like Library of Doom from Michael Dahl.  And you can feel comfortable knowing your student is exploring an ad-free website bursting with resources to help them read in and out of the classroom.

Check out all the titles available using the login information below.

Go to www.mycapstonelibrary.com
Login: summer18
Password: lovetoread

P.S. Want to read offline?
Download the app directly from iTunes!

Meriwether Lewis Elementary School Weekly Newsletter

May 30, 2018
               

Upcoming Dates:
May 31- Spring Music Concert 630pm
June 1- Walk and Roll
June 1– End of the year picnic 6pm
June 6- Coffee Talk with Emily
Last Day of School is June 8
June 9- Lewis Dines Out- Portland Fish Market’s Fish and Chip Window.

Message from Ms. Glasgow
It's hard to believe that we're this close to the end! Thank you to everyone who came out to help with Field Day--what a fun and playful day for everyone. Hopefully, many of you are planning to attend our Spring Music Concert on Thursday night and our End of Year Picnic on Friday night! Lots of opportunities to come together and celebrate everyone's hard work this year. Personally, the end of the year is providing me with a great opportunity to reflect on all that we've accomplished during my first year at Lewis and all that lies ahead. For those of you interested in that level of reflection, I am working on a "State of the School" narrative that I plan to have out by early next week. Our last Coffee Talk of the year--scheduled for next Wednesday after morning drop-off--will be an opportunity to dialogue around some of the themes in that narrative. If you cannot make the Coffee Talk, but would like to have some discussion about our work at Lewis, feel free to reach out at anytime.

News from the School Office:
This week will be our last week for Classroom Notes via School Messenger. Look for end-of-the-year news directly from your child’s teacher.
The Lewis Weekly Newsletter will continue through June 6th.
Despite the summer construction going on, the office will remain open until June 25th.  The office will reopen for the Fall on August 13th.

Registrations for new, incoming students for grades K-5 are still being accepted for Fall Enrollment, but please don’t wait!  We would love to have registrations in by mid-June so we have a clearer picture of our enrollment before we close for the summer.

Report Cards will be mailed home June 15th.  You will also receive information regarding school supplies for the 2018-2019 school year.

2018-2019 Welcome Letters from your child’s teacher will be mailed home the week of August 13th.

For news and info over the summer, be sure to follow us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/lewispdx/) and check the Lewis Website (http://www.pps.net/domain/135)

Also follow the Lewis PTA on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/ptalewis/) and their website as well (https://www.lewispta.org/)

As always, please feel free to email Tracy at tgiordano@pps.net if you have any questions.

Want an easy way to show your appreciation for all our teachers' great work? 
One of the ways we say a big Thank You! to our staff is to clean out the lunch bins at the end of the year.  It's quick, easy and the staff  love the help!  This year we'll be cleaning bins on the last day of school, Friday, June 8th from 3:00-4:00.  We'd love your help!  Click the link below to sign up!  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090E4EAAA62AA0F49-staff4

Please note the following changes to our Lunch Menu for the month of June:
Friday, June 1st:  Alaskan Pollock OR BBQ Chicken Drumsticks w/ Roasted Potatoes & Coleslaw
Monday, June 4th: Orange Chicken w/ Rice
Tuesday, June 5th: Vegetable Lasagna
Wednesday, June 6th: Hamburger OR Cheeseburger
Thursday, June 7th: Pizzeria Day
Friday, June 8th: Oven Roasted Chicken

Spring Book Drive- Thank You!
Lewis's Little Free Library is well stocked and ready to go for the new school year.  Thank you for your generous donations.  Happy reading!

BottleDrop collection this Thursday 5/31 before school! And one more next Thursday 6/7. 
BottleDrop has raised over $1500 so far for Lewis PTA!

It’s time to prepare for summer - Did you know you can turn the blue bags in yourself? Pick up a few blue bags to get you through the summer, fill up with clean returnable bottles, go by any Bottle Drop location including the one only 2 miles from Lewis at SE King and Linwood!  Use the barcode on the blue bag to scan open the drop off door, throw the bag in, and Lewis gets the money!

Check out www.BottleDropCenters.com for a full list of locations and for details on what containers are worth $.10 each for Lewis.

Important Summer Construction Work at Lewis
Lewis will be under construction this summer. Work at Lewis Elementary School includes a vital seismic retrofit that will bring the school up to “life safety” standards, new fire sprinkler system throughout the building, improvement of the existing fire alarm system and ADA accessibility improvements.  This work is part of the voter approved May 2017 Health, Safety and Modernization Bond.

What you need to know:
·         Construction will begin immediately following the end of this school year, in June. Construction hours:  Monday-Saturday, 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
·         The school site will be closed for the entire summer. The adjacent field will remain open and accessible.
·         Construction fencing will surround the school including the asphalt walkways and parking lots.
·         There will be increased construction traffic in and around school grounds; however, street closures are not anticipated at this time.
·         School Registration will take place at the school office which will remain accessible.

We recognize that this construction may impact school neighbors.  Our apologies in advance for any inconvenience this may cause, but, please know that Lewis Elementary School will be receiving much needed work.
For more information about the PPS School Health and Safety Improvement Bond 2018 Summer Projects - Contact: 503-916-2222   E-mail: schoolmodernization@pps.net BondProgram:www.pps.net/bond
 

*Lost and Found items remaining after June 8 will be donated.  Please check the lost and found located in the hall between the gym and the cafeteria.

The Lewis End of Year Picnic is coming!
June 1, 6-8pm on the playground
Celebrate the end of the year with family and friends - bring a picnic or purchase food there!
Otto’s hot dogs and sausages for sale
6:00 - Boomin' Beats performance
6:30 - Kickball game
7:00 - Limbo
7:30 - Hula Hooping

We need your help to make this fun event a success! Sign up for short shifts here
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090e4eaaa62aa0f49-endofyear1

For more information and updates, visit
https://www.lewispta.org/end-of-year-picnic
 

OBOB 2018/2019
Looking for some reading suggestions over the long summer? Want to branch out a bit and try some new books and titles? Want to ask your friends to read with you, to laugh together, solve mysteries together, learn about history?  Ever heard of Oregon Battle of the Books (OBOB)? OBOB is a reading and comprehension program (http://www.oregonbattleofthebooks.org/) starting in 3rd grade all the way to 12th grade. Their mission states to “encourage and recognize students who enjoy reading, to broaden reading interests, to increase reading comprehension, promote academic excellence, and to promote cooperative learning and teamwork among students”. They have have picked out some excellent books, for everybody to sure find a new favorite. Find the list here: http://www.oregonbattleofthebooks.org/2018-2019-obob-book-titles/ Ask your friends to join you and form a team (4-5 members), brainstorm a team name, have fun with the books and get ready for the OBOB battle at Lewis in the new school year.

The Multnomah county library has all titles available and books stores around town usually have a shelf dedicated to the OBOB books. Happy reading and have great summer. If you have any questions, please email stadleranja@gmail.com

Lewis Foundation Meeting- Tonight!
Wednesday, May 30th at 6pm in the Library
You might have heard that Lewis will see a reduction of 3 full-time equivalent positions next year. To off-set the reduction in future years and maintain the programs that Lewis families are used to, a school foundation is being started. A community meeting took place on May 10 to discuss creating a foundation and there was enough interest from the parents attending to make it happen.

Our first official foundation meeting will take place on May 30th at 6pm in the Lewis library. Free childcare will be provided in the cafeteria.
The agenda will include:
(a) election of the board of directors;
(b) election of officers;
(c) setting the meeting schedule for 2018-19;
(d) next steps

Are you interested in joining the board of directors? Read more about the positions and nominate yourself using this form
https://goo.gl/forms/XWW9QHsl3Vu7nUx72
Everyone is welcome to attend and join in the conversation. Please reach out if you have questions to ellen.yerkes@gmail.com

Reminder: Lewis school library books are due back to the library by June 1st

Last "Walk and Roll" Friday, June 1!
Come join us for the last Walk and Roll of the school year on Friday, June 1!  In addition to celebrating the use of human power to get to school, there will be juice-based popsicles for the kids.  And don't forget to sign in for the drawing at lunch time.

I would like to thank James Hazuka and Justin Boyles for being stalwart volunteers during the past year.  Without their help, Walk and Roll simply would not be possible.  These two have committed to staying on next year, but we would welcome more help.  Please consider volunteering for this event on the first Friday of every month, 7:45-8:45, setting up tables, making/serving refreshments, registering students, and cleaning up.  You'll be doing your part for the health of our kids and the health of our planet!

If you are interested in helping with Walk and Roll next year, please drop me an email.
Brett Bolstad,  Walk and Roll Coordinator 2017-2019
brettbolstad@yahoo.com

Books for Summer
Are you ready for some "new to you" Summer reading material? It's time to switch up those book shelves! There will be a book swap at the end of year picnic this year. If you have books to donate, please drop them off in the office. Both children's and adult books are welcome. Alternatively, you can also bring books with you to the picnic. Then, make sure you stop by the book tables at the picnic and pick out some books to enjoy over the summer.

Medication End of the Year Pick Up
Parents- Please pick up your student’s medication by the end of the day on June 8th. Per district policy, all medications that are not picked up by the end of the school year must be disposed of. Parents must pick up medications. Students are not allowed to bring their own medication home.
Thank you for your cooperation and have a nice summer!
Bev O’Brien, School Nurse

Woodstock Clean up
Join Lewis students for the SolvE sponsored  7th Annual Woodstock Community Neighborhood Clean-Up!
Date: June 2^nd
Time: 9:00 – 11:30 am
Follow the link for details:
https://www.solveoregon.org/opportunity/a0C1I000002IQHeUAO

Staff questionaires
A reminder from the PTA... Did you know all Lewis staff members have filled out forms listing their likes/dislikes and these forms are available to view in the office? As we approach the end of the school year and families start thinking about how to thank the wonderful staff members who care for our kids each day, these forms can be a big help! Ask Tracy in the office if you'd like to take a peek at them.

Meriwether Lewis Elementary School

Classroom Notes

News and information from our classrooms...

May 30, 2018

Notes from Ms. Allen - Kindergarten

Wow! I can't believe we only have 8 days of school left.

The kindergartners had a blast yesterday during field day. Many students said yesterday was the best day ever.  We have a few fun activities planned over the next 8 days.  This Friday we will be attending the Children's Museum from 10am-1pm. Parent volunteers who will be joining us are Esther, Annie, Kevin, Jessica, and Kendyl.

Next week,  Wednesday the 6th we will be walking to the park with our 2nd-grade reading buddies. I will be sending home more details; It would be nice if we could have a few volunteers join us next Wednesday at 10 am.

Reading and writing workshops are going well; it has been amazing seeing all of the reading and writing growth. Tomorrow we will go book shopping for the last time. This week will be wrapping up with our science unit. The students have had a fabulous time learning about worms, fish, and seashells.

Reminders: On Friday, June 1st we will be going to the Children's Museum, and we will leave at 9:45 and will return by 1 pm. Also, all library books are due Friday, June 1st. Lastly, please continue to provide a snack each day for your child, we have no more class snacks available.   Thank you!

P.S. I have pictures of your child from the school year, and I would like to put together a simple yearbook, please let me know if you have experience putting together a yearbook, and would like to help. Since we have 8 days left, I might send the pictures to Kinkos and pay to make a yearbook for each child, so please let me know if you have any other suggestions. Also, I would like to have a kindergarten last day of the school celebration next Thursday at 2:30, I will send home more details A.S.A.P.

Notes from Ms. Kennedy - Kindergarten

I can’t believe this is our final addition of Classroom Notes from Room 4! What a remarkable year it has been. The emotional, social and academic growth has been just phenomenal to watch unfold. When we look at work that was completed at the beginning of the year and compare it to the work that is being done now, the improvement is truly amazing. Ms. Connolly has been an invaluable addition as a student teacher and I have great faith that she will be in charge of her own classroom in no time. Thanks so much to the friends and families of Room 4 for the contributions at home and in the classroom.

If you are available to join us on Friday June 8th around 2pm, we are having a kindergarten celebration. This is a low-key event. We will share some relatively health snacks, watch a slide show, and take one last tour around the classroom. Hand me a hankie!

The final batch of weekly photos posted https://mskennedyroom4.blogspot.com/ Thank you one and all!

Notes from Teacher Leslie - Kindergarten

Wow, what an amazing year we have had!  Can you believe there is only a week and a half left of Kindergarten?  We are filling our last days of school up fast with tons of fun activities.  Yesterday we had so much fun playing games with our friends during Field Day.  Thank you to Mr. Williams and all our volunteers who came to help out! Friday is our field trip to the Children’s Museum.  We will be leaving school at 10:00 and returning at 1:00. We will be eating before and after our trip so try to send extra snacks if you can!

Yesterday we had our first two Special Interest Project presentations and they rocked it!  A great visual poster about sharks and an interactive model about tornadoes had our students eager to learn more.  This is an optional project, but if your student would like to participate, they may bring their presentation to school up until our last day.  They may not get to present on the day they bring their project, but we will definitely get to them all. Each student is giving kind feedback to the presenter by writing a comment on a post-it note.  I love seeing their faces light up when reading the comments from their friends :) Let me know if you have any questions about this project!

On Thursday, June 7th, we will be going to Berkeley Park for an end of the year celebration with our 3rd grade buddies from Ms. Cyndi’s class.  We will walk to the park at 1:00, play some games, have a treat, and play until 2:30.  If you would like to join us or donate a treat, please let me know.

As we wrap up this year I want to say a big thank you to each and every one of you for your support this year.  You have volunteered in the classroom, hung art, made copies, chaperoned field trips, read to your students at home and so much more.  It has been a pleasure working together with you this year to help your student grow. We will be sending home reflection papers and art projects this last week of school so be sure to check folders and take time to celebrate all your students wonderful accomplishments from this year.  Leslie

Notes from Teacher Dana -- 1st Grade

We have been having so much fun in Room 3.
We’re another week closer to the end of the year! Field Day was so much fun Tuesday.  The weather was perfect, and the kids had a great time playing the different games. This week we are wrapping   up our farm unit by writing stories about our farms and acting them out with partners. The kids loved having the opportunity to play around with the farms that they worked so hard to create. The whole unit was hard work but a lot of fun! We are looking forward to much celebration as we wind down the year. Our class won the box top competition and got popcorn and apple juice as a reward. We will be having a little class party sometime early next week. Our class is featured on the bulletin boards on the dip between the upper and primary hall. We have been learning about poetry and each wrote a piece about ourselves using a few of the things we learned about poetry. I think they are really sweet and I'm proud of the work they did.

We will be taking a walking field trip with our buddies on June 7th from 1-2:30.Parents are welcome to join us! We will be asking for snack/treat contributions closer to the date.

It’s hard to believe the end of the school year is so close! Second grade, here we come.

Notes from Mrs. Logue - 1st Grade

I hope your Memorial Day weekend was wonderful! I was able to spend time relaxing and hiking at the beach with family and friends and feel rejuvenated and energized for our final weeks of school together!

This week we continue working on our fairy tale and all about stories during writing and in math, students are working hard to accomplish a variety of assessments and Farm Math continues with the addition of chickens, horses and later, crops, ponds and fields!

We are planning a Summer Birthdays Celebration at 2:15 on June 7th. Let me know if you would like to contribute a little snack or drink:)

Please take a little time daily with your child at a set time and place to enjoy reading, writing and math together through out these last weeks and into summer. I will be sending home a list of resources soon!

Thanks so much,  abuckley@pps.net
Mrslogue.wordpress.net (for photos)
Twitter@AnneAbuckley

Notes from Mrs. Jamesbarry - 1st Grade

Wow, it is hard to believe that there are only 8 days left in the year! This will be our last week of classroom notes… First of all, I hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend. Secondly, we had a blast at Field Day on Tuesday morning. What a great way to kick off the week! The kids rotated through some great activities- and the sun even came out towards the end! A big thanks to our parent helpers - its always nice to have a few extra pair of hands!

In the classroom, we are starting to wrap up things up. In writing, we will be crafting letters to our future Second Grade teachers. After learning the parts of a friendly letter and working together to write a thank you to Mr. Williams for a fabulous Field Day, we will be writing to introduce ourselves for our 2nd grade teachers. Please take a minute to help your kiddo think about what they might want to include when introducing themselves to their next teacher.

In math, we are also finishing up our unit on double digit addition. We will be having some fun with data collection and math in the coming days, as well. As things wind up will we be continuing many of our routines with a few fun things along the way, just to mix it up.

Finally, we will be having a Summer Birthday celebration on Tuesday, June 5th. Please check in with me if your student has a summer birthday, as we would like to have lemonade tasting party along with a birthday treat to share with the group.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Summer! Be sure to stop by and say hello next year and beyond!  Cheers,  Ms. Sarah

Notes from Ms. Murphy - 2nd Grade

WOW! It is hard to believe there are only 7 days of school yet. We will be going on two walking field trips to Berkeley park. I will be sending out a request for parents to join us soon. 

In math we have started new workplaces. The kids are working with play money to add and subtract larger numbers. We will be working a lot this week on brushing up our math skills to prepare for our final year end math assessment. 

In reading we are finishing up the series book clubs. The students have moved on to reading more books in our series or trying new books in new series. The kids are loving these books and I hope the students can continue reading these books over the summer!

In writing, we are finishing up our opinion letters. The students have worked hard on finding evidence to support their opinions. We have primarily been focusing on writing about our book series. This week I will be collecting a final writing sample to score for the last report card.

In science, we will be working on researching and creating a slide show about a particular habitat. This week students chose a habitat to research and are looking for information from a variety of kid friendly websites. They will transform the research into a slide show later this week and early next week.

Notes from Ms. Leake- 2^nd Grade

Dear Lewis Families and Community,  
I wanted to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for making my days at Lewis some of the most rewarding ones.  As I write this, it is hard to believe that this year marks the end of my 37 year career in teaching.  I will retire this June and will have many fond memories of my 11 years at Lewis.

Thank you for hanging out after school and for sharing stories of your lives. One of my most important missions has been to build community with my families and I've done my best to get to know you and your children. Thank you for all of the supportive emails, warm wishes, thoughtful cards and gifts over the years. They are testimony that the work I've done has been valued and is important. I love being a part of such a caring community!

As we close out the year, I would love to say goodbye to each of you if you have a few minutes to stop in after school. This will be the first time in 50+ years that I won't be starting school in the fall. I imagine that will be a freeing experience but also know that it will be a bit of a challenge for me to sit with myself and be open to what else life has in store for me. My plan for retirement is to spend time with my family and friends, my dog Simon, and explore my creative side. I hope to take a class or two and try some different art forms.

Thank you again. I will cherish the time I've spent here at Lewis. I am sure that I won't be able to stay away for long and know that you will see me in the halls sometime in the future

Meriwether Lewis Elementary School
Weekly Newsletter               

May 23, 2018               

Upcoming Dates:
May 24- PTA After School Social
May 28- Memorial Day- No School
May 29- Field Day
May 31- Spring Music Concert 630pm
June 1- Walk and Roll
June 1 – End of the year picnic 6pm
June 6- Coffee Talk with Emily
Last Day of School is June 8

Message from Ms. Glasgow
It was a pleasure to celebrate with many of you at the Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast this morning. Thank you to all of you who take time to support our work at Lewis. Next year, in an effort to streamline the many volunteers in our community, we'll be offering a new "volunteer squad" system. Look for more information on this in your opening day packet next year. I also wanted to circle back and report that--after gathering feedback from you, from students, and from staff--our School Site Council has drafted a refreshed mission statement for Lewis: "At Lewis, we nurture personal growth within a supportive community. We encourage curiosity, seek innovation, and embrace inclusion." We will be working to bring this new mission statement to life next fall through regular monthly celebrations with students, a community art project, and classroom lessons on the values embedded in this statement.
 

Field Day is a fun-filled end of the year event that involves fun outside activities for our students.  We need your help with running the different stations.

We will have 2 sessions this year: 
Grades K-2 will be in the morning from 10:00-11:15
Grades 3-5 (including Ms. Canales' class, Room 16): 1:30 - 2:45

The link below will take you to the sign-up page: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0a44a9a82ea31-2018
Thank you!

Want an easy way to show your appreciation for all our teachers' great work? 
One of the ways we say a big Thank You! to our staff is to clean out the lunch bins at the end of the year.  It's quick, easy and the staff  love the help!  This year we'll be cleaning bins on the last day of school, Friday, June 8th from 3:00-4:00.  We'd love your help!  Click the link below to sign up!

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090E4EAAA62AA0F49-staff4

Important Summer Construction Work at Lewis
Lewis will be under construction this summer. Work at Lewis Elementary School includes a vital seismic retrofit that will bring the school up to “life safety” standards, new fire sprinkler system throughout the building, improvement of the existing fire alarm system and ADA accessibility improvements.  This work is part of the voter approved May 2017 Health, Safety and Modernization Bond.

What you need to know:
·         Construction will begin immediately following the end of this school year, in June. Construction hours:  Monday-Saturday, 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
·         The school site will be closed for the entire summer. The adjacent field will remain open and accessible.
·         Construction fencing will surround the school including the asphalt walkways and parking lots.
·         There will be increased construction traffic in and around school grounds; however, street closures are not anticipated at this time.
·         School Registration will take place at the school office which will remain accessible.

We recognize that this construction may impact school neighbors.  Our apologies in advance for any inconvenience this may cause, but, please know that Lewis Elementary School will be receiving much needed work.

For more information about the PPS School Health and Safety Improvement Bond 2018 Summer Projects - Contact: 503-916-2222   E-mail: schoolmodernization@pps.net BondProgram:www.pps.net/bond
 

*Lost and Found items remaining after June 8 will be donated.  Please check the lost and found located in the hall between the gym and the cafeteria.

The Lewis End of Year Picnic is coming!  June 1, 6-8pm on the playground
Celebrate the end of the year with family and friends - bring a picnic or purchase food there!

Ottos hot dogs and sausages for sale
6:00 - Boomin' Beats performance
6:30 - Kickball game
7:00 - Limbo
7:30 - Hula Hooping

We need your help to make this fun event a success! Sign up for short shifts here
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090e4eaaa62aa0f49-endofyear1
For more information and updates, visit
https://www.lewispta.org/end-of-year-picnic
 

Book Room Helpers Needed
Our Literacy Couch Ala needs help on Monday, June 4 getting the Book Rooms back in order before next year.
Signup for an hour, or a couple of hours if you are inclined.  We can use all the hands we can get!
Follow the link to sign-up:

www.SignUpGenius.com/go/30E0A44A9A82EA31-book

Lewis Foundation Meeting  
Wednesday, May 30th at 6pm in the Library
You might have heard that Lewis will see a reduction of 3 full-time equivalent positions next year. To off-set the reduction in future years and maintain the programs that Lewis families are used to, a school foundation is being started. A community meeting took place on May 10 to discuss creating a foundation and there was enough interest from the parents attending to make it happen.

Our first official foundation meeting will take place on May 30th at 6pm in the Lewis library. Free childcare will be provided in the cafeteria.
The agenda will include:
(a) election of the board of directors;
(b) election of officers;
(c) setting the meeting schedule for 2018-19;
(d) next steps

Are you interested in joining the board of directors? Read more about the positions and nominate yourself using this form
https://goo.gl/forms/XWW9QHsl3Vu7nUx72

For more information about what was discussed at the May 10 meeting, go here--

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1i35ayFtBlY8RzLS_wN2_PaOSNAEkDaRU

Everyone is welcome to attend and join in the conversation. Please reach out if you have questions to ellen.yerkes@gmail.com
Reminder: Lewis school library books are due back to the library by June 1st

Last "Walk and Roll" Friday, June 1!
Come join us for the last Walk and Roll of the school year on Friday, June 1!  In addition to celebrating the use of human power to get to school, there will be juice-based popsicles for the kids.  And don't forget to sign in for the drawing at lunch time.

I would like to thank James Hazuka and Justin Boyles for being stalwart volunteers during the past year.  Without their help, Walk and Roll simply would not be possible.  These two have committed to staying on next year, but we would welcome more help.  Please consider volunteering for this event on the first Friday of every month, 7:45-8:45, setting up tables, making/serving refreshments, registering students, and cleaning up.  You'll be doing your part for the health of our kids and the health of our planet!

If you are interested in helping with Walk and Roll next year, please drop me an email.

Brett Bolstad
Walk and Roll Coordinator 2017-2019
brettbolstad@yahoo.com

Help us welcome new kindergarten families to Lewis!
Do you have Lewis t-shirts your kids have outgrown? Maybe you have an adult Lewis t-shirt you no longer wear? Don't take them to Goodwill - we want to pass them on to incoming kindergartners and their families! Please bring any unwanted Lewis t-shirts to the office between now and May 17th and we will pass them on to an incoming Lewis family who will give them a second life. Donations of all sizes are welcome and appreciated!

Spring Book Drive for Lewis's Little Free Library
Lewis Elementary School’s Little Free Library needs more books. We want to make sure that our little library is stocked and ready for readers this next school year. The Spring Book Drive kicks off next Monday the 21st. You must participate! (Actually, it’s optional.) All you have to do is find a kids book that you don't read anymore and drop it in one of the boxes. It would be very helpful because we want everyone to have plenty of books to read. After all, that’s one of the reasons we put up the library. Hey, if there are no good books in the little library, or no books at all, then what books will we have to read? Boxes will be located in front of room 20 and next to the office. The Spring Book Drive will be from May 21st to 25th. Happy reading!

Books for Summer
Are you ready for some "new to you" Summer reading material? It's time to switch up those book shelves! There will be a book swap at the end of year picnic this year. If you have books to donate, please drop them off in the office. Both children's and adult books are welcome. Alternatively, you can also bring books with you to the picnic. Then, make sure you stop by the book tables at the picnic and pick out some books to enjoy over the summer.

Planning for 2018-2019 Events
Did you have a favorite PTA event this year? Maybe your kids loved the Lonesome Teacher Trio dance, Walk and Roll mornings, or an after-school social? Want to help make it even better next year? We are currently looking for people to help coordinate next year's events - sign up sheets are on the office windows. Sign up now and we'll contact you as the event gets closer to remind you and offer support! If you have questions about what is involved, contact Kendyl Watts (kendylann3@yahoo.com) or Claire Giesige (clairestar.g@gmail.com) for more information.

Medication End of the Year Pick Up
Parents- Please pick up your student’s medication by the end of the day on June 8th. Per district policy, all medications that are not picked up by the end of the school year must be disposed of. Parents must pick up medications. Students are not allowed to bring their own medication home.
Thank you for your cooperation and have a nice summer!
Bev O’Brien, School Nurse

Woodstock Clean up
Join Lewis students for the SolvE sponsored  7th Annual Woodstock Community Neighborhood Clean-Up!

Date: June 2^nd
Time: 9:00 – 11:30 am
Follow the link for details:
https://www.solveoregon.org/opportunity/a0C1I000002IQHeUAO

Staff questionaires
A reminder from the PTA... Did you know all Lewis staff members have filled out forms listing their likes/dislikes and these forms are available to view in the office? As we approach the end of the school year and families start thinking about how to thank the wonderful staff members who care for our kids each day, these forms can be a big help! Ask Tracy in the office if you'd like to take a peek at them.

Meriwether Lewis Elementary School

Classroom Notes

News and information from our classrooms...

May 23, 2018

Notes from Ms. Canales- 2^nd-3^rd Grade

May continues to be a terrific month in room 16!
What are we up to?

Reading: We are working through our Character Studies unit. Right now we are reading Because of Winn-Dixie and learning about story structure.

Writing: We’ve finished up poetry, now we are working on some end of the year tasks and graphic novels (using what we’ve learned about story structure in reading).

Social Studies: We are finishing up our Vanport unit by creating collaborative posters. Next we will start our mini-unit on Bridges.

Math: 2nd graders are working on Unit 5. They’ve been working hard at using different strategies for 2 digit addition and subtraction. Ask them about the open number line or decomposing a ten. 3rd graders are finishing up testing and focusing on multiplication and division strategies.

Reminders

June 6th: we will be walking to Berkeley park in the afternoon with our buddy class. More info to come!

Send in pre-cut 2 by 1 foot pieces of cardboard for our Bridges building. Sending them in pre-cut is super helpful!

Check out our DonorsChoose page if you’d like to help fund some projects for our classroom. Right now we have one project up for balance ball seats and another project for more wobble stools! Thank you to everyone who has donated so far! Our page website is:

https://www.donorschoose.org/cassiecanales

Notes from Mr. Hansen/Ms. Brenan - 3^nd Grade

To start, I have some big personal news.  My partner and I have been trying to find jobs teaching overseas for a few years.  There have been some near misses but this year we landed on what feels like a good match.  In July we will be moving to Prague, Czech Republic, to teach at the International School of Prague.  I have very mixed feelings, because it is a dream come true but I am sad to be leaving our Lewis community.  My teacher email will stay active for a bit so feel free to reach out if you want to stay in touch.

I also want to thank you all for allowing me to work with your amazing children.  We have formed a tight, little unit in our class.  I also want to thank Jill for being a great teaching partner and Angela for how much she brings to our class.  This year has been a real highlight in my career. 

These last days of school will hold a lot of fun projects.  We are researching bridge engineering, learning about the bridges of Portland and also building bridges.  For families with older siblings that went to Lewis, this will look a little different than how they built bridges.  This will not be a take home project; we will build them in class.  I know that some of you are cheering that and others will miss the fun project.  If you find yourself with and un-scratchable itch to build a bridge, please reach out so that we can invite you to join us.  We will need help managing supplies, supporting safe use of hot glue guns and following building plans. 
Best always,  Mark

Notes from Mrs. Redmond - 3rd Grade

May continues to be a great month in Room 17! Boy is it flying by though!

We finished our last official Reading unit on Character Studies and I was really impressed with how students did on the post assessment. Moving forward, in addition to a little more Freading (Free Reading,) much of our reading will revolve around bridges, as we really dig deep into the NF book, Big & Awesome Bridges. We will also do quite a bit of writing related to this new Social Studies unit we started yesterday. As part of the unit, students will also be making models of a truss bridge. This will most likely take some grown-up assistance, so please let me know if you have time toward the end of next week to help out. Speaking of Social Studies, we wrapped up our unit on Vanport this week. Please check out the collaborative posters the students made, which are hanging outside the classroom. The final assessment was a letter to someone about Vanport. Many of you will be receiving one, so be on the lookout. In Math, we are continuing to work on fractions.

As the end of the year approaches, we will be doing several reflective writing assignments. Students will write a letter to their future 4th grade teacher, which I will pass along in the Fall. They will also write a piece about the best parts of 3rd grade. We brainstormed, as a class, a list of all the different things we have done this year. I’m excited to see what the favorites were. One of my favorite activities we have done, just recently, has been with our paper chain counting down the remaining school days, a bittersweet activity for me. We started with 24 rings, one for each student. I pull a name of someone each day and then give a little description of that student and their many wonderful qualities. I would say 95% of the time students are able to guess who it is on the first try. A testament to how much we have grown to know each other as learners and individuals. I will miss this closeness and community next year.

We have some important dates coming up:

Tuesday, May 29th, 1:30 - 2:45 - Field Day
Wednesday, June 6th, 8:45 - 3:00 - Field trip to Bull Run Watershed (please turn in your permission slip if you haven’t already - we still have a few chaperone spots open. Let me know if you are interested in joining)
Thursday, June 7th, 1:00 - 2:30  - Walking field trip with our buddy class to Berkeley Park
Friday, June 8th - Last day of school

Notes from Ms. Elissa – 4th Grade

We are keeping busy, busy, busy right up until the end!  We have been learning to multiply larger numbers, working to refine our structured writing skills, and diving into the history of Japanese Americans in Portland.  Lots of events coming up, so read on to learn more!

We will take our end of unit test later this week on large number multiplication strategies.  Students have explored several ways to approach a multi-digit multiplication problem: sketch an array, use partial products, and we have dipped a toe into using the standard algorithm.  Students will refine their techniques in 5th grade.  We are continuing to work on our multiplication fluency - keep practicing at home!

Students have been composing a letter to themselves to open when they are 30 years old.  They are making some predictions about what their life will be like (or what they hope it will be like), where they will be living, and what they will be doing for work.  These letters are a great read and I hope you will help your child in finding a good place to keep their letter safely for a few years.  :)

Next Wednesday is our field trip to the Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center in downtown.  This field trip blends perfectly with our Japanese American history unit.  Please make sure that your child's permission slip is returned by this Friday.  We have space for a few chaperones, so please indicate if you are interested in joining us!  Additionally, we will be having a culminating event at the end of this unit so students can share their learning with you.  An invitation was sent home on Monday.  Please come join us on Wednesday, June 6th from 8:40 - 9:40 to see what we have been working on and to see some performances!

Our buddy field trip to Berkeley Park is coming up on Thursday, June 7th.  We will head down the hill around 1:00 and return before the end of the day.  I will post a sign up outside of our room for chaperones and/or to bring games and popsicles.

Finally, we are having another 4th Grade Family Breakfast and Sing Along on the last day of school this year!  Come spend some time chatting and snacking with friends from 8:15 - 9:00 and then join us for a sing along led by Mr. Colvin.  It will be a perfect close to the year!
Take care,  Ms. Elissa

Notes from Ms. Rotwein - 4th Grade

Students are heavily invested in our Japantown Storyline unit. Here's what we have been up to:  Each family unit has a special Japanese tradition that they are known for.  Families researched their tradition, taught the class about it, and then did a small performance.  Students began their character journals about what daily life is like in Japantown.  Residents had both ups and downs last week.  Every family had a positive community interaction last week- cookies and a nice note from the landlord's wife, a letter of praise from their child's teacher, or a police report thanking them for helping stop a burglary.  One family received a letter from their cousin in Japan expressing dismay at no longer being allowed to immigrate to the United States due to the passage of the "Immigration Act of 1924," which halted all further immigration from Japan.  Residents of Japantown were saddened to realize this meant permanent separation from their family members.  Families woke up on Monday morning to find that their homes and neighborhood had been vandalized with racial slurs.  They held a community meeting and decided to contact their landlord and police.  The landlord and police were both unhelpful and blamed residents for not "being American enough."

We are continuing to read "The Westing Game" mystery as a class.  Students are loving the novel and I am enjoying hearing their "detective theories" about what is happening in the book.

Students are taking their final math assessment on multiplication strategies this Friday.  This is also the last week of homework.  Our times tables quizzes will continue into the last week of the school year so please make sure your child continues to study for ten minutes each evening.

In writing, students are writing an essay/letter to their thirty-year-old self.  In the letter, they are writing about where they will live, their occupation, and what they will enjoy doing in their free time.  My hope is that you save the letter for them so they can read it on their 30th birthday!

We have some important dates coming up:

Thursday, May 31st, 9:00-1:30, Nikkei Legacy Center Field Trip
Wednesday, June 6th, 8:40-9:40, Japantown Showcase, Room 22
Thursday, June 7th, afternoon, Walking Field Trip with Buddy Class to Berkeley Park
Friday, June 8th, 8:15-9:30, 4th Grade Family Breakfast and Sing-Along

Notes from Mr. Richner- 4^th-5^th Grade

Greetings!

Team 20 has had yet another busy and productive week. We began a poetry project, venturing into the Lewis garden to collect poetic images. Kids will use the images that they collect to grow their poems while pulling on their poet’s tool kit of strategies. Here are some photos: bit.ly/team20-poetry
We also began writing a play. This year’s play takes the form of a news report and features a return of some favorite characters from prior plays, including FedExians (FedEx aliens), and a plot featuring more than a few surprising twists and turns. The writing and rehearsals will dominate a good chunk of our remaining time. We will perform our play on both Wednesday and Thursday morning at 9:40. Family is invited, and know that if you cannot make it in that the play will be live-streamed through our Twitter feed (twitter.com/LewisRoom20) and archived on our blog.

We had a wonderful bike safety retreat. In the classroom, kids learned how to navigate right of way at five different types of intersections, how to use turn signals, and how to size and fit a bike helmet. With the instructors from PBOT/Safe Routes to School, kids practiced some street scenarios on the playground before we put it all together with some practice at a nearby intersection and went on an afternoon ride as a whole team to Woodstock Park. Here are some photos: bit.ly/bike-safety

On Monday, we talked as a team about the importance of sustaining daily reading during the summer. It felt kind of silly to have this conversation, considering that kids in Team 20 love to read. However, many kids were surprised to learn that when kids do not read during the summer that they actually forget some of what they have learned. We talked about how this effect is cumulative, that this loss can build over multiple summers. At the same time, continuing their established daily reading habit can have the opposite effect of sustaining and strengthening their reading abilities. I encouraged kids to think about what their reading routine will look like this summer. When will they read? What is their favorite reading spot? How can they support their siblings’ reading?

I also shared that all kids at Lewis are already enrolled in Multnomah County Library’s Summer Reading (multcolib.org/summer-reading). Kids will bring their game board home during the last week of school. MCL’s Summer Reading encourages kids to read whatever they want.  If your kid doesn’t have a library card, here’s how to get one: multcolib.org/get-a-library-card. More great news is that there are no longer any late fines for kids 0-17 for any items. All existing late fines on kids’ accounts and materials have been lifted. Kids who are going into sixth grade and older may volunteer for the Summer Reading team: multcolib.org/volunteer/volunteer-summer-reading-team

We have several school-wide activities scheduled. Field Day is scheduled for Tuesday, May 29th at 1:30. The Spring Music Concert will be the evening of Thursday, May 31st, and the afternoon of Friday, June 1st at 1:00. All Lewis Library books are due by Friday, June 1st. The PTA End of Year Picnic is Friday, June 1st at 5:30 p.m. Alex Addy will return to put on a drumming performance with the Obo Addy Legacy Project on Tuesday, June 5th at 10:00 a.m.  On Friday, June 8th, we will be having our 4th Grade Family Breakfast. It will be a great opportunity for students, families, and teachers to come together to celebrate our year. The breakfast is for all 4th graders and will take place from 8:15 to 9:00 a.m. in room 22. A flyer with more details will come home soon. Fifth Grade Promotion will be scheduled for the afternoon of Friday, June 8th, in the cafeteria. More details about Fifth Grade Promotion will be forthcoming, and family is certainly welcome to attend.

So, welcome to the final weeks of the school year! It has been an outstanding year. The kids have done so much! They have progressed by leaps and bounds! The last two week should be a celebration of all we have done!
Have a good week!  Mark

Notes from Ms. Speer - 5th Grade

I can’t believe we’re down to out last few weeks of school! We have many fun things going on the next few weeks. Several of our planned activities will involve walking trips to local neighborhood spots so please let me know ahead of time if you have things scheduled that will interfere with daily student attendance. Also make sure you are checking with your kiddos every night to see if I’ve sent home info or requests. We want to make the most of our last days as a fifth grade family. I’m going to miss these kids! I better switch to updates before I get too sentimental…

Thursday, May 23rd- Safety Patrol Picnic to Oaks Park
Monday, May 28th- No School- Memorial Day
Tuesday, May 29th- Field Day-Make sure your kids are wearing comfy shoes
Thursday, May 31- Spring Concert at 6:30pm
Monday, May 4th- Zoo Trip
Friday, May 8th- LAST DAY OF SCHOOL- More info to come on details!!

*Please let me know if you have any wonderings about out last few weeks

Notes from Ms. Sarah Kohn - 5th Grade

First, let me extend a big THANK YOU for all the lovely treats during Teacher Appreciation Week. I haven't yet had time to sit down and write notes, but please know that each and every gesture filled my heart. It is hard to believe that we have such a short time left together. It is such a busy time here at Lewis and in Room 23! We finished our Colonial work with our Colonial Trade Fair on Tuesday and it was terrific! Thanks for your support in helping your kids learn their trade and be prepared with their projects. There are several upcoming events to note. Tuesday, Thursday, many kids are headed to Oak's Park in appreciation for their service with Safety Patrol!  May 29th is Field Day. If you want to come out and have some fun with the kids, we would love you to join us. It will be in the afternoon from 1:30- 2:30. On Monday, June 4th, we are heading to the zoo to have some fun as a community. Parents are driving. Thank you to all who have volunteered. We may need one, or two more chaperones. If you are able, please reach out. I promise to let you off the hook, if we end up not needing you. We must have enough drivers to make the trip! On June 5th, we are going to Berkeley Park with our buddies in Room 10. I will have a sign-up outside the door next week. We have ice cream sundae's along with the fun! Again, I would love to have some parent help, so please either drop me a note, or swing by the room and sign-up. Many of you are checking in on 5th Grade promotion. That will happen on the last day of school, June 8th. There will be a luncheon for the students prior to welcoming all of you. I am not yet sure about the timing, yet, but will keep you posted. If you are interested in helping with the luncheon, please contact Eryn Kehe @ edeeming@alum.mit.edu

You can expect work to come home little by little that final week. I try not to send kids home with one huge bag, but to send it in stages, so you can look at it and decide what to keep, what to recycle and what to toss. As always, it is such an honor to work with these kids. While I am looking forward to summer, spending time with family and relaxing, it is bittersweet, as I will miss each and ever child in my class more than I can ever express. Don't hesitate to check in if you have any questions, or concerns.

Notes from Mr. Post - Room 7

For our Unique Learning System unit “See How They Grow”,  we have been reading and learning about the life cycle of plants. We have done activities like going to the Lewis garden and drawing sketches of plants, and identifying the “yummy” parts of plants, like lettuce leaf, carrot root, apple fruit, etc. We are also preparing to do an experiment to compare a set of beans that get water and light with a set of beans in a dark box.

For Math, we finished a review unit on subtraction. Now we are reviewing strategies for multiplication and division. For Reading, leveled groups are doing red folder work with books and literacy packets about plants.

For Writing, students have been doing Grammar and Writing practice. Next they will start a writing project about what they would like to grow in a garden. Last week, they finished making Google Slide projects about their superhero’s stats, like their superpowers, strengths, and background info and shared these with their classmates. On Wednesday, we went to  “Superhero APE Field Day” at Jefferson High School. Everyone (including the adults) had a blast dressing up and acting like heros for the day! We made it through most of the field day events, and one highlight was the Aquaman Relay with APE Teacher Chuck as Aquaman. Another fun event was the tug-of-war; we did DC characters vs. Marvel characters.

Music News from Mr. Jamesbarry

The end of the school year is fast approaching and we have one last big performance before heading off into summer break. This performance will feature music from all three of our musical groups, and will be the culmination of our students’ year long work. The Spring Concert is Thursday, May 31 @ 6:30 PM. There will be a repeat performance for the Lewis student body and staff on Friday, June 1 @ 1:30. I’ve sent out information to all families and will post the info on my blog. Hope to see you there!

Meriwether Lewis Elementary School 
Weekly Newsletter               
May 16, 2018               

Last Day of School is June 8

Upcoming Dates:
May 17- Bottle Drop Pick Up 845am
May 17- New Kinder playdate 3:15pm

May 23- Volunteer Breakfast 8am
May 24- PTA After School Social

May 28- Memorial Day- No School
May 29- Field Day

May 31- Spring Music Concert 630pm

Message from Ms. Glasgow
Next Wednesday, we will be holding our annual Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast. In advance of that event (in case any of our fabulous volunteers can't make it), I want to sincerely thank all of you who have given your valuable time to support teachers, students, and classrooms at Lewis this year. It truly does take a village, and it has been tremendous to see what the Lewis village offers to support our building. Also, I want to give you the heads up about a major summer construction project happening at Lewis this year. We will be having both seismic and ADA upgrades. Long-term, this is a great thing for the security and accessibility of our building. Short-term, we will feel the impact of a major summer construction project. Please see below for further details from the Facilities Department.

Important Summer Construction Work at Lewis
Lewis will be under construction this summer. Work at Lewis Elementary School includes a vital seismic retrofit that will bring the school up to “life safety” standards, new fire sprinkler system throughout the building, improvement of the existing fire alarm system and ADA accessibility improvements.  This work is part of the voter approved May 2017 Health, Safety and Modernization Bond.

What you need to know:
·         Construction will begin immediately following the end of this school year, in June. Construction hours:  Monday-Saturday, 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
·         The school site will be closed for the entire summer. The adjacent field will remain open and accessible.
·         Construction fencing will surround the school including the asphalt walkways and parking lots.
·         There will be increased construction traffic in and around school grounds; however, street closures are not anticipated at this time.
·         School Registration will take place at the school office which will remain accessible.

We recognize that this construction may impact school neighbors.  Our apologies in advance for any inconvenience this may cause, but, please know that Lewis Elementary School will be receiving much needed work.
For more information about the PPS School Health and Safety Improvement Bond 2018 Summer Projects - Contact: 503-916-2222   E-mail: schoolmodernization@pps.net
BondProgram:www.pps.net/bond

*Lost and Found items remaining after June 8 will be donated.  Please check the lost and found located in the hall between the gym and the cafeteria.

Music Notes from Mr. J
The Spring Concert is  Thursday, May 31st. Band, Recorder Club and Boomin’ Beats will be performing at 6:30 PM on the Lewis stage. They will then play for the student body on Friday June 1st. For Band and Recorder this will be their final performance. Band students will need to turn in their instruments after that school performance. If Band student would like to rent an instrument over the summer, they will have to arrange that with their middle school band teacher. If you have questions, please contact me. The Boomin’ Beats will have one last performance to help open the PTA End of Year Picnic on Friday June 1st at 5:30 PM. I will send out more detailed info to families later this week.

BOX TOP COLLECTION - Deadline: May 23 for Classroom Popcorn Party
As we near the end of the year (what?! I know... crazy) let's make that final push to turn in all the Box Tops you have been collecting. The deadline for the Box Tops competition is May 23 and the winner of the classroom popcorn party will be announced in the May 30 newsletter! The current top three classrooms are: Ms. Dana at 811, Ms. Cyndi at 578 and Ms. Leake at 497! Keep your eyes peeled for Box Tops on items you have purchased, clip them and place them in an envelope or baggie with your child's teacher's name on the outside. Bring them to the collection box in the school office. If you like the "official" Box Top collection envelopes or using the Box Top collection sheets, extras are available in the office. Remember, each Box Top is worth 10¢ and they don’t need to be clipped perfectly... just make sure each one has the full label and expiration date.  Expired Box Tops don’t count toward our earnings. Good luck and keep clipping - even over the summer! Questions? Contact Box Tops Coordinator Genevieve Benner at vivapalmer@yahoo.com

Reminder: Lewis school library books are due back to the library by June 1st

Help us welcome new kindergarten families to Lewis!
Do you have Lewis t-shirts your kids have outgrown? Maybe you have an adult Lewis t-shirt you no longer wear? Don't take them to Goodwill - we want to pass them on to incoming kindergartners and their families! Please bring any unwanted Lewis t-shirts to the office between now and May 17th and we will pass them on to an incoming Lewis family who will give them a second life. Donations of all sizes are welcome and appreciated!

Spring Book Drive for Lewis's Little Free Library
Lewis Elementary School’s Little Free Library needs more books. We want to make sure that our little library is stocked and ready for readers this next school year. The Spring Book Drive kicks off next Monday the 21st. You must participate! (Actually, it’s optional.) All you have to do is find a kids book that you don't read anymore and drop it in one of the boxes. It would be very helpful because we want everyone to have plenty of books to read. After all, that’s one of the reasons we put up the library. Hey, if there are no good books in the little library, or no books at all, then what books will we have to read? Boxes will be located in front of room 20 and next to the office. The Spring Book Drive will be from May 21st to 25th. Happy reading!

The Lewis End of Year Picnic is coming!
June 1st, 6-8pm
Celebrate the end of the year with family and friends - bring a picnic or purchase food there!
Details are being finalized--the Boomin' Beats will be performing, and there's rumor of a possible kickball game.
For more information as details are set, go to https://www.lewispta.org/end-of-year-picnic or https://www.facebook.com/ptalewis/

Books for Summer
Are you ready for some "new to you" Summer reading material? It's time to switch up those book shelves! There will be a book swap at the end of year picnic this year. If you have books to donate, please drop them off in the office. Both children's and adult books are welcome. Alternatively, you can also bring books with you to the picnic. Then, make sure you stop by the book tables at the picnic and pick out some books to enjoy over the summer.

Planning for 2018-2019 Events
Did you have a favorite PTA event this year? Maybe your kids loved the Lonesome Teacher Trio dance, Walk and Roll mornings, or an after-school social? Want to help make it even better next year? We are currently looking for people to help coordinate next year's events - sign up sheets are on the office windows. Sign up now and we'll contact you as the event gets closer to remind you and offer support! If you have questions about what is involved, contact Kendyl Watts (kendylann3@yahoo.com) or Claire Giesige (clairestar.g@gmail.com) for more information.

Oregon Health Plan
Starting Jan. 1, 2018, the Oregon Health Plan (OHP) is available to more children and teens younger than 19, regardless of immigration status. OHP is free health coverage for Oregonians who meet income and other criteria. It covers many health care services such as check-ups, tooth fillings, glasses and prescriptions. It also covers labs, x-rays and hospital care. It even pays for rides to and from the doctor’s office. Apply to see if you qualify. Help is free. A trusted and OHP-certified community partner nearby can help you apply. You can find one by calling 1-800-699-9075 or 711 (TTY). You can also go online at http://www.oregon.gov/oha/HSD/OHP/Pages/OHPcoversme.aspx.


Medication End of the Year Pick Up
Parents- Please pick up your student’s medication by the end of the day on June 8th. Per district policy, all medications that are not picked up by the end of the school year must be disposed of. Parents must pick up medications. Students are not allowed to bring their own medication home.
Thank you for your cooperation and have a nice summer!
Bev O’Brien, School Nurse

Woodstock Clean up
Join Lewis students for the SolvE sponsored  7th Annual Woodstock Community Neighborhood Clean-Up!
Date: June 2^nd
Time: 9:00 – 11:30 am
Follow the link for details:
https://www.solveoregon.org/opportunity/a0C1I000002IQHeUAO
 

Attention Cleveland Youth Football Families!
Registration is NOW open for Cleveland Youth Football (Fall Season).
Spring is here and football season is near! Registration is now open for the Cleveland Warriors Youth Football fall season. There will be teams for the following grades: 3rd-4th, 5th-6th, 7th (JV) and 8th (Varsity).
Our motto is Safety + Youth Development + Success. All players who register by the end of May will receive a free Warriors T-Shirt. Need-based scholarships are available. Register now at http://clevelandwarriorsfootball.com and check out our FREE preseason skills clinic and parent meeting on May 19th - 2pm @ Cleveland HS Football Field.
Questions? Contact Richard Melo - richard.melo@gmail.com
 

Staff questionaires
A reminder from the PTA... Did you know all Lewis staff members have filled out forms listing their likes/dislikes and these forms are available to view in the office? As we approach the end of the school year and families start thinking about how to thank the wonderful staff members who care for our kids each day, these forms can be a big help! Ask Tracy in the office if you'd like to take a peek at them.

Meriwether Lewis Elementary School
Classroom Notes

News and information from our classrooms...

May 16, 2018

Notes from Ms. Allen - Kindergarten

Thanks to all of you who attended Art Night, and thanks for allowing your child to be a docent. They took their job serious so thanks again! We will be taking a field trip to the Children's Museum on June 1st, so more details will be coming home soon. The kindergartens are enjoying our 2X2 science unit, kudos to Mrs. Janice for making this happen. She has been teaching our science unit, and handling those squirmy worms; today will be learning about snails. Next week, we will learn about goldfish and guppies.

Students are no longer allowed to bring stuffies or toys to school.
It has become a distraction when parents linger around after the school bell rings.  Your child has been in school for over 150 days, so please say goodbye at the classroom door. Thank you! ☺

Reminder:
Please remember to pack your child a small snack to school each day.
On May 23 I will be out all day attending a literacy workshop.
 

Notes from Ms. Kennedy – Kindergarten

In Writing Workshop, students are creating and sharing their second How-to Book. We are learning the importance of going back into a piece of writing, adding more detail, and revising so things make more sense. Many students have completed all levels of their Word Rings and are incorporating that knowledge into their stories. It is really rewarding to watch as students become experts and help one another. There are only a few more Words Their Way lessons as we wrap up that portion of our curriculum.It has been a rather rollercoaster of weather this week! I personally don’t need it to be 88 degrees when school is in session. The first grade teachers might have a chuckle next fall, as former kindergarten students in Room 4 will be remarking on the importance of staying hydrated! It always amuses me to see and hear what children pick up and mimic from their current teacher.

With Science having come to a successful conclusion, we are back to a full math class in the afternoons. Please continue to work with your child on number sense whenever possible. A few examples: If you have one bowl of 14 snap pea pods and one bowl of eight pepper slices, how many veggies do you have in all? If you have 12 grapes and eat five, how many are left? How can you split six crackers between two people? Rather than just having your child state an answer, please have say the number sentence and explain their thinking. For instance, “14 plus eight equals 22, so there are 22 veggies in all.”

Last week, after filling a continuous row of numbers along one and a half walls, we ran out of room. The remaining school days are being placed in the front of the room now. On Monday, we began counting down, with only 19 days left! We have one final field trip for all three kindergarten classes: on June 1st, we are headed to the Children’s Museum. Look for permission slips to come home soon. Also, I would like to have a kindergarten celebration around 2pm on Friday June 8th. It doesn't have to be anything extravagant, just some snacks and a chance to watch a slide show together. I have been saving my favorite images of the year, and we will go backwards until we arrive back at September 2017. There may be a few tears on my part.

Weekly photos posted https://mskennedyroom4.blogspot.com/ Thank you one and all!
 

Notes from Teacher Leslie - Kindergarten

Hi Families,
We LOVED our field trip to the Children’s Theater to see the Hungry Caterpillar play.  It was such a wonderful performance with beautiful costumes and set designs. The students were buzzing about their favorite stories and characters when we returned to school.  Thank you so much to our chaperones for keeping us safe and respectful during this performance.

It looks like it might finally be getting warmer around here.  Our classroom gets very hot with the warmer weather so I will be encouraging students to drink lots of water.  If you got out of the habit, please remember to send your student to school with a clean water bottle to school each day.

Last week we chose new “just right” books for our book tubs.  It was so much fun to see our avid readers find books that they enjoy reading and even some books that are a bit challenging!  I am so proud of all our readers and the strategies I see them using to improve their reading skills.

Art Night was amazing!  Thank you to all who came to support our students and their wonderful art.  I was so proud of our student docents and thankful to those who stopped by to ask our experts questions about the artwork.  The next few weeks of school will be busy! We have a field trip to the Children’s Museum on June 1st (keep an eye out for a field trip form SOON!) a walking field trip to the park with our 3rd grade buddies, and more!  Looking forward to lots of fun in our last month of Kindergarten :)
 

Notes from Teacher Dana -- 1st Grade

The past few weeks have been filled with so many fun things at Lewis School. We of course got to celebrate the artistic talents of our students with Art Night. The Buckman Choir came and performed for us and we got to hear the Boomin' Beats preform as well. The energy in the building is just so positive with all the creativity. We are really looking forward to our field trip this Friday to see Frog and Toad at the Oregon Children's Theater. We are culminating our informational reading and writing units this week and will be present to our buddy class at the end of the week. We are going to do a mini writing and reading unit around poetry.  We are also having a final day of mindfulness with Ms Jennifer. We will have a tea party and talk about all the learning we've done this year around the topic of mindfulness.

We will also be doing a short science unit on animal biodiversity which goes very well with our farm unit in math. We will be learning about the sheer range and variety of animals that inhabit our planet. We are about midway through our Farm unit in math. We are creating our own farms. Each student has to use a variety of math skills to build their farms. We use play money to purchase land and animals, a farm house, a barn, fences a silo and wheat to feed the animals. There is a lot of problem solving, adding and grouping numbers, planning, geometry. The kids are having a blast with this unit.

Notes from Mrs. Logue - 1st Grade

I hope you had a wonderful Mother’s Day and enjoyed the little strawberry plant and card from your beautiful child! I spent time with my daughters and relished each moment with my awesome 84 year old Mom! Feeling so lucky and loved:) What an exciting time in the classroom and especially in our mini science lab! Elliot brought in an amazing insect terrarium , (habitat), full of interesting bugs found in his backyard, including pill, stink and lady bugs! All five of our Painted Lady Butterfly caterpillars made it to the final stage of metamorphosis and we celebrated by setting them free to fly around our Lewis front door garden.  Most of our meal worms have morphed into pupas and several have reached their final growth stage to darkling beetle.  This week students will work to finish a final nonfiction story to share with classmates, (we have quite a collection!), and will also be embarking on a reading and writing unit featuring Fairy Tales as mentor texts.  Our math-farm adventures, adding barns, silos, pastures and crops on our “ land” continue daily at 12:40 pm and we would love to have volunteers to lend a hand. The students are learning how to pay with farm bucks money, counting large numbers by 20”s, 10s and 5s.It is a busy and creative time in math!

This week we will be revisiting our beloved Frog and Toad book series and all we know about real frogs and toads  to prepare for our field trip on Friday May 18th. Thanks for returning all permission slips and thanks to chaperones! Also, we have a late opening, 10:40,  for students this Wednesday, May 16th and dress as a favorite BOOK CHARACTER if possible for the rest of the day:-) Remember, Lewis School Volunteers, mark your calendar for the Volunteer Breakfast 8 am, Wednesday, May 23rd. We love to do this for you and can’t thank you enough for all you do!
abuckley@pps.net
Classroom photos: mrslogue@wordpress.com

Notes from Mrs. Jamesbarry - 1st Grade

We sure have gotten lucky with the spring time weather! It has been so fabulous, we are really enjoying our recess times! Thankfully, the classroom hasn’t gotten too hot yet, but it is likely to soon, so sending a full water bottle is always a good idea!

The class is very excited about our field trip on Friday, May 18th. We will be heading downtown to the Newmark Theater to see the Oregon’s Children’s Theatre award winning production of A Year with Frog and Toad.  We have been reading Frog and Toad books this week and have really enjoyed getting to know these characters better. We can’t wait to see them come to life!

In the classroom, the kids have been hard at work on an All About animal poster. We hope to start getting them on display next week. They have been working hard to read up about their animal and create illustrations that teach about it. We are excited to see what everyone has learned!

In math, we are wrapping up our work on place value. We have been practicing saying what is ten more and ten less than any number under 120. You can give your kiddo a quiz any time. They love to show what they know! Next, we are turning our focus to double digit addition/subtraction, geometric shapes, and fractions for the remainder of the year.

Finally, we will be scheduling a Summer Birthday party some time during the last week of school. We will be celebrating anyone who has a birthday that falls over summer. I will send a “party food” sign-up home with those kids who do have summer birthdays as we get closer so we can host some end of year fun for all.

Thanks for all of your support this year. It has been an exciting journey.   Cheers!  Sarah Jamesbarry

Notes from Ms. Murphy - 2nd Grade

Thanks for your participation during Art Night! It was fun to see everyone out and about enjoying the beautiful art work that the students of Lewis created. We will be going on a field trip in a few weeks to study wetlands for our habitat unit. I have almost all of the slips back and signed. Volunteers, please send in 3 dollars soon as well.

We have been in deep in our new math unit. WOO HOO! The students have already completed a story problem involving presents and parcels. Here we are working on adding, subtracting, finding half and finding double amounts of presents over the number 10. We are working on solving them and then they will go home! This past week we are branching into larger numbers and working extensively with numbers above 10. We are using visual models such as base ten pieces, hundreds grids, an open number line and the actual algorithms. We are practicing every day in guided math groups and in partnerships with our math work places (games).

In writing, the students are working on poetry on Mondays. This week we talked about poetry structure and created our own poems by writing a list poem or a “conversation poem”. The class has also started our next writing unit on Opinion Letters. Here we are writing our opinions on the books we are reading in reader’s workshop. This week the kids are sharing their opinions about a character in their books, supporting their opinions and including a good introduction to their letters. We will continue to work on this genre in preparation for the next writing sample for the last report card.

In reading, the students are in book club groups studying a series. Amongst these series are; Eerie Elementary, Worst Witch, Kennah Ford, Mercy Watson, Ivy and Bean , Geronimo Stilton and Zapato Power. Please ask your child which book club they are in! We have been focusing on characters, how they behave, how they relate to other characters and using what we know to draw inferences and make predictions. The students are almost done with their first book in their series and will begin their second book soon!

Notes from Ms. Leake- 2^nd Grade

This week we begin our last rounds of math workplaces.  One of the skills the program wants students to develop over the next few years is computational estimation or the ability to estimate the results of adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing any set of numbers.  We begin this process in the 2nd grade by asking students to estimate the results of adding various pairs of double digit numbers.

After working with on story problems in our Presents and Parcels unit and other place value activities such as the Base Ten Bank, many children will look at 26+43 and know that the answer is in the 60's.  Most will combine the 10's and then the 1's to see the result is 69. When you pose the problem 46+29, students use a variety of strategies to come up with their estimate. Some will +1 to the 9 and make the 29 a 30. Students begin to play with rounding up or down with numbers during a game called Pick 2. 

In Pick 2, students first spin a target number and then turn over 3 cards. They are asked to choose the two  cards that come closest to the target number. Students are encouraged to use the base ten pieces if if neither partner is able to figure out the total mentally.  Since the numbers on each spinner count by 10's and 5's, it is likely that children will be able to add the two numbers in their heads.

In the game Make 100! Under or Over?  Students get the chance to add double digit numbers together as they race to be the partner closest to 100 after turning over 2-3 cards.  The students are asked to use their estimating skills to determine if it would be to their advantage to choose a third card.  We also continue or practice of 'borrowing and carrying' when we play a game called Shopping for Key Chains.  Each player chooses a key chain with a price tag and then spins the spinner to see how much the key chain is marked down. They need to calculate the sale price of the keychain. Players add up the prices they paid at the end of 3 rounds.  The player with the lowest total wins.

Meriwether Lewis Elementary School

Weekly Newsletter               

May 9, 2018                

Last Day of School is June 8

Upcoming Dates:

May 9- Lewis Dines Out Pizza Roma
May 10- Community Meeting 6pm
May 16- Late Start- Favorite Book Character Day
May 17- New Kinder playdate 3:15pm
May 23- Volunteer Breakfast 8am
May 24- PTA After School Social
May 28- Memorial Day- No School
May 29- Field Day
May 31- Spring Music Concert 630pm

Message from Ms. Glasgow
Hello. As we move into this final month of school, there are fun and exciting things happening at Lewis (and beyond) every day--field trips, special projects, bike riding, presentations, and more! It's been wonderful to see so many of you coming in to support these end-of-year culminations--thank you for your time and support!

In this message, I want to give you a few reminders about upcoming meetings/events and also a preview of next year's classroom teacher roster. This Thursday evening at 6:00 pm, there is a community meeting to discuss the possibility of starting a Foundation at Lewis. If this topic interests you, I hope you'll join. And, next Wednesday, we have our last Late Opening of the year (and Favorite Book Character Spirit Day).

In terms of staffing for next year, here is our projected roster of classroom teachers:

• Kindergarten: Leslie Dillavou, Pamela Kennedy, & TBD (vacancy)
• 1st Grade: Dana Jacobsen, Anne Logue, & Sarah Jamesbarry
• 2nd Grade: Brooke Murphy & Jill Brenan
• 2nd/3rd Grade Blend: Cassie Canales
• 3rd Grade: Cyndi Redmond & Elisa Dingus
• 4th Grade: Abby Rotwein & Mark Richner
• 5th Grade: Sarah Kohn & Natalie Speer
• 3rd-5th Grade CB: Brian Post

Thank you for continuing to respect our policy about not accepting parent requests for classroom placements. Our team will be very thoughtful about how we group and place students for the coming year!

BOX TOP COLLECTION - Deadline: May 23 for Classroom Popcorn Party

As we near the end of the year (what?! I know... crazy) let's make that final push to turn in all the Box Tops you have been collecting. The deadline for the Box Tops competition is May 23 and the winner of the classroom popcorn party will be announced in the May 30 newsletter! The current top three classrooms are: Ms. Dana at 811, Ms. Cyndi at 578 and Ms. Leake at 497! Keep your eyes peeled for Box Tops on items you have purchased, clip them and place them in an envelope or baggie with your child's teacher's name on the outside. Bring them to the collection box in the school office. If you like the "official" Box Top collection envelopes or using the Box Top collection sheets, extras are available in the office. Remember, each Box Top is worth 10¢ and they don’t need to be clipped perfectly... just make sure each one has the full label and expiration date.  Expired Box Tops don’t count toward our earnings. Good luck and keep clipping - even over the summer! Questions? Contact Box Tops Coordinator Genevieve Benner at vivapalmer@yahoo.com

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Penny Drive through May 15!

Keep that change coming! The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Penny Drive is going great and we still have one more week to go! Check your couch cushions and cup holders. Dig into your pockets and donate that change you find jingling around. So far, Lewis has raised almost $200 to help support blood cancer research and help local cancer patients. No need to write a big check, just send in any extra change you have (although they will not say no to bills or checks.) Please consider donating if you can. We will be collecting until May 15th. Thanks!

Help us welcome new kindergarten families to Lewis!

Do you have Lewis t-shirts your kids have outgrown? Maybe you have an adult Lewis t-shirt you no longer wear? Don't take them to Goodwill - we want to pass them on to incoming kindergartners and their families! Please bring any unwanted Lewis t-shirts to the office between now and May 17th and we will pass them on to an incoming Lewis family who will give them a second life. Donations of all sizes are welcome and appreciated!
 

Community meeting, Thursday, May 10 @ 6pm
Lewis is at a pivotal moment regarding funding available for staffing. Next year Lewis will see a reduction of 3 full-time equivalent positions. To off-set the reduction in future years and maintain the programs that the Lewis community is used to, a school foundation can be established with the support of the Lewis community.
Join the discussion about what a school foundation can do and help think about what it might look like for Lewis.
The meeting will take place in the library, with free childcare provided in the cafeteria.

Books for Summer
Are you ready for some "new to you" Summer reading material? It's time to switch up those book shelves! There will be a book swap at the end of year picnic this year. If you have books to donate, please drop them off in the office. Both children's and adult books are welcome. Alternatively, you can also bring books with you to the picnic. Then, make sure you stop by the book tables at the picnic and pick out some books to enjoy over the summer.
 

Last Day- Lewis Dines Out at Pizza Roma
May  9
Pizza Roma will donate 20% of all sales to Lewis!
Dine-In, Take-Out & Delivery!
***You MUST present a flyer at the time of your order.  We will send flyers   home with the newsletter next week
Proceeds from Lewis Dines Out go towards the Teacher Class Projects funds - support our teachers, their creativity, those great projects for our kids and one of our community partners and grab a slice or a whole pie!

Save the date for the Lewis End of Year Picnic!
June 1st, 6-8pm
Celebrate the end of the year with family and friends - bring a picnic or purchase food there!
Details are being finalized--the Boomin' Beats will be performing, and there's rumor of a possible kickball game.
Want to help plan?
Contact lewiselementaryptaor@gmail.com
For more information as details are set, go to https://www.lewispta.org/end-of-year-picnic or https://www.facebook.com/ptalewis/

Oregon Health Plan
Starting Jan. 1, 2018, the Oregon Health Plan (OHP) is available to more children and teens younger than 19, regardless of immigration status. OHP is free health coverage for Oregonians who meet income and other criteria. It covers many health care services such as check-ups, tooth fillings, glasses and prescriptions. It also covers labs, x-rays and hospital care. It even pays for rides to and from the doctor’s office. Apply to see if you qualify. Help is free. A trusted and OHP-certified community partner nearby can help you apply. You can find one by calling 1-800-699-9075 or 711 (TTY). You can also go online at http://www.oregon.gov/oha/HSD/OHP/Pages/OHPcoversme.aspx.

Medication End of the Year Pick Up
Parents- Please pick up your student’s medication by the end of the day on June 8th. Per district policy, all medications that are not picked up by the end of the school year must be disposed of. Parents must pick up medications. Students are not allowed to bring their own medication home.

Thank you for your cooperation and have a nice summer!
Bev O’Brien, School Nurse

Woodstock Clean up
Join Lewis students for the SolvE sponsored  7th Annual Woodstock Community Neighborhood Clean-Up!
Date: June 2^nd
Time: 9:00 – 11:30 am
Follow the link for details:
https://www.solveoregon.org/opportunity/a0C1I000002IQHeUAO

Meriwether Lewis Elementary School Classroom Notes

News and information from our classrooms...

May 9, 2018

Notes from Ms. Canales- 2^nd-3^rd Grade

May is off to a marvelous start for room 16!
What are we up to?

Reading: We are working through our Character Studies unit. Right now we are reading Because of Winn-Dixie and analyzing characters thoughts and actions to deeply comprehend the text. Writing: We’ve finished up our Where I’m From poetry. Now students are working on Outside/Inside poems.
Social Studies: our Vanport unit continues. We are finishing up with viewing Oregon Experience: Vanport by OPB. We are taking notes as we watch and writing about what we learn. Next we will explore a few different texts about Vanport.
Math: 2nd graders are working on Unit 5. They’ve been working hard at using different strategies for 2 digit addition and subtraction. Ask them about the open number line or decomposing a ten. 3rd graders are finishing up testing and focusing on multiplication and division strategies.

Reminders and Thank Yous
3rd graders are finishing up their Smarter Balanced tests over the next few weeks. Please send them to school rested and ready to do their best!
Thank you to all the fantastic docents on Art Night! It was such a wonderful evening!

Check out our DonorsChoose page if you’d like to help fund some projects for our classroom. Right now we have one project up for balance ball seats and another project for more wobble stools! Thank you to everyone who has donated so far! Our page website is:

https://www.donorschoose.org/cassiecanales
 

Notes from Mr. Hansen/Ms. Brenan - 3^nd Grade

This week we started wrapping up our Vanport unit.  One of our final projects is to create collaborative posters in small groups.  Each group read a focus text that featured a different aspect of the city’s history (Shipyards, People, Vanport City, Vanport Life, The Flood, and Aftermath).  The kids are using these texts, along with the videos, song lyrics, and other Vanport resources we’ve studied during our unit, to make a poster that shares their learning with others.  I’ve really enjoyed watching the level of collaboration, depth of understanding, and creativity happening in each group.

Memorial Day marks the 70th anniversary of the devastating flood that destroyed Vanport, Oregon’s second largest city.  On May 23-28, Vanport Mosaic, a local artist-led non-profit, is hosting the Vanport Mosaic Festival.  There will be events held throughout the city, honoring the people, history, and legacy of Vanport.  A link to a schedule of events can be found on their website www.vanportmosaic.org.  If you’re unable to attend the festival, I encourage you to check out their website. It’s a fantastic resource.

Once we wrap up our Vanport unit, we’ll be moving on to a mini-unit on Bridges.  After learning about structural variation and design, the kids will have an opportunity to create their own bridges in class.  We can’t wait for this fun year-end project!
 

Notes from Mrs. Redmond - 3rd Grade

What a fabulous time we had last week! Lewis Art Night never seems to disappoint and that was certainly true this year. It is a sight to behold walking down the halls and seeing them covered in such a lovely showcase of artistic talent. If you were not able to make it, I highly recommend walking the halls over the next week to take it all in. And that recorder club!?! They sounded great!

On Thursday, we hosted middle schoolers from Sunnyside Environmental School. They took us on a “Wildlife Tour” and taught us all about different animals and habitats. The weather cooperated and we had a ton of fun. Ask them to tell you about where you can find natural vanilla scent and flavoring. Friday we enjoyed a visit from the Buckman School Choir, who performed with our own Boomin’ Beats. All the Nations Like Bananas was a real crowd pleaser. Also on Friday was our walking field trip to Reed College. Sarah and Asia led us through a lesson, which blended math and art.

Speaking of field trips, look for a permission form going home this week. We will be visiting Bull Run Watershed on Wednesday, June 6th. There are a limited number of spots for chaperones, so please get your forms back right away if you would like to go. You must have a current background check with PPS to attend. There will also be an opportunity to join us, that last week of school, for a walking field trip with our kindergarten buddies. 

Yesterday we started the math portion of the Smarter Balanced state test. The performance task section will take place next week. When not testing, we continue to work on our fractions unit.

This week students are working in groups to zoom in on one specific aspect of Vanport. They will be designing and making posters to teach the rest of the class (and people walking through the hallway) about their topic. Once we wrap up Vanport, we will continue our studies of Portland, focusing on the city’s bridges. This year, third graders will be building a Portland bridge in class. Keep an eye out for opportunities to come in and help with the construction.
 

Notes from Ms. Elissa – 4th Grade

Time flies when you're having fun.  And we are certainly having fun (which must be how it is already almost halfway through May...).  We have been delving headfirst into our Japantown Storyline Unit.  Students received their immigration acceptance letters, traveled via steamship to the United States, created a paper portrait of their character, and are now working to build their home and family business.  The creativity abounds in this group and I cannot wait to see their finished buildings.  Feel free to swing through before or after school to check things out for yourself!

Art Night was truly a delight this year.  I think these are some of my favorite art projects I have ever done with a class.  The docents were knowledgeable and informative.  Thank you to all who were able to come and listen in.

We have started taking multiplication quizzes twice a week (Monday and Friday) and tracking our progress on mastering our facts to 12.  Several students have been very diligent in practicing at home, but many need more practice!  Please find a routine to help your child practice their facts.  They will be expected to know them fluently at the beginning of 5th grade.
Enjoy the warm weather!  Ms. Elissa

Notes from Ms. Rotwein - 4th Grade

It was a pleasure seeing so many of you at Art Night on Thursday!  A big thank you to our amazing docents who shared our work with the community.

Students are loving our Japanese American Incarceration unit, and so am I!  This past week, students developed background on their character and family story.  Then, they created incredible paper portraits.  Come check them out in our classroom!  We have written blueprints for our businesses and homes and will be building Nihonmachi (Japantown) in class this week. 

We are also having a blast reading our mystery novel as a class.  Students are "collecting clues" (taking notes) as we read and coming up with some interesting theories about what's going on in the story.

Our final math unit is on multiplication, and you're finally going to see some math that looks similar to what you did in school!  Students will learn the partial product and standard algorithms for multiplication.  The standard algorithm will be the same way that you learning multi-digit multiplication.

Please make sure your child is continuing to practice times tables for ten minutes each evening!  Thanks!
 

Notes from Mr. Richner- 4^th-5^th Grade

Lewis Art Night was held last Thursday. Docents were on hand to explain the art outside of every classroom. Team 20’s exhibit included interactive Sol LeWitt-inspired instruction-based art (bit.ly/team20-SL), a hand-drawn GIF (bit.ly/team20-GIF), and a collaborative flip book (bit.ly/team20-FB).

Bike Safety Day will be this Thursday. A note went home on Monday reminding kids that we will be outside for much of the day – rain or shine – and to come prepared for whatever out-of-door elements come our way with warm clothing, a raincoat, and shoes. A reminder on their lunch choice was also noted. Please remember to wear team t-shirts.

With fifth graders off to Zenger Farm on Wednesday, fourth graders began learning the story of people of Japanese descent before, during, and after World War II, with a focus on Japanese incarceration. We began with some background information on World War II and on early immigration to the United States from China and Japan. The kids were very curious about World War II and I did my best to give an age-appropriate explanation. I told the kids that if they want to learn more, it is not a topic to just “look up,” but is rather something to talk about with an adult in their lives. For our study, our primary resource is densho.org, a website about Japanese American history that was created by the Japanese American Literacy Project. It has specific resources for educators and students, including several that the kids are accessing through the Japanese Incarceration page on our classroom blog.

We also talked about some goals for the time we have left. I shared a sports analogy about how even the strongest teams can let their guard down as the season comes to a close. The final moments can transition from being productive to lackadaisical and from being focused to unfocused. So the goal for our team during our remaining weeks is to “stay strong.” Stay strong means something slightly different in each context, whether it is coming into the room and choosing a priority during the morning routine, transitioning through the hallways to specials, being focused during writing, choosing a good spot to read during independent reading, and so on.
Mark

Notes from Ms. Speer - 5th Grade

Art Night was amazing! Thank you for those of you that were able to make it and a special thanks to those that helped make it possible. We have another crazy week here in Room 21!

Wednesday we head to Zenger Farms. Please make sure your children are wearing comfortable shoes and clothing. They are carrying their lunches to and from the farm so please make sure you keep that in mind when packing lunches. *We will be leaving exactly 5 minutes after the bell rings so please make sure your kiddos are on time.

Friday we will participate in a full day Bike Safety Extravaganza. You will need to pack a home lunch unless you specified otherwise on the permission slip. Please make sure your kiddos are wearing close-toed shoes and have appropriate clothing.

Please reach out if anything comes up for you this last month of school. I can’t believe how close it is to summer!
 

Notes from Ms. Sarah Kohn - 5th Grade

Happy May everyone! We are in are final full month of school and all of us in Room 23 are feeling a bit melancholy. We spent some time last week thinking about how we want this month to look and feel. We are working to create a really happy, memorable ending to the year. Having said that, we had a lovely day at Zenger Farm this week! Thanks to our parent volunteers who were able to join us! Today we had a full day of Bike Safety! Kids did a great job and now have some great knowledge they will be able to carry with them as they ride around our wonderful city! The Colonial presentations are well underway. We have more this week and next. Then on Tuesday, May 22nd, we will have our Colonial Trade Fair. It will be held in the morning from 9:15-10:00. If you are able to swing by, we welcome you to join us! Students brought home a blank piece of paper yesterday. They are working on creating a memory page for a 5th Grade Memory Book, we are putting together. Those are due by next Tuesday. I sent home an idea sheet. The only requirement is their name and to leave space on the left hand margin. Other than that, they have a lot of options! We are almost finished with SBAC testing! It has been a long stretch and students will be relieved to have it done. Thanks to everyone who came out for Art Night! The kids did an amazing jobs as docents and the art they all created was lovely! It is a Lewis tradition that inspires me. Please keep in touch as the year draws to an end. There will be more announcements about end-of-the-year activities and more opportunities for you to join us!
 

Notes from Mr. Post - Room 7

This week we are starting a new Unique Learning System unit titled “See How They Grow”. It’s about the life cycle of plants, and we started the unit with a round of Vocabulary Bingo to learn some key terms. At the end of this week, students will do an experiment with beans and compare ones that get water and light with ones in a box. Last week for Science, students worked again with their paper bridges. They checked how many pennies the flat bridge would hold, then how many the folded-fan bridge would hold.

For Math, we are doing some quick review units, last week was addition, and this week is subtraction. We will also do some work with coordinate grids, labeling 2D and 3D shapes, and the tangram puzzler this week was a watering can. For Reading, leveled groups are reading books about various kinds of plants. For Writing, students are sharing their passages about new construction projects in the area. They are also preparing to be in character for  “Superhero APE Field Day” at Jefferson High School May 17th. Students have each decided which superhero they will dress up as, and they will write down their hero’s stats, like their superpowers, strengths, and background info. We also ordered capes and masks for each of them.

Art Night last week was a great success as it is every year! A majority of the students from Room 7 brought their families to see our three main art exhibits, the Fairy Tale Puppet Shows and Watercolor Settings, the Recycled City Project Video, and the Flowers and Haikus. 
 

Music News from Mr. Jamesbarry

I first want congratulate all Art Night musicians. Band, Recorder Club and Boomin’ Beats, you all did a fabulous job that night, and you should be very proud of your achievement. I also want to acknowledge the Boomin’ Beats musicians who came back the very next day for a second high energy performance with the Buckman Choir and for the Lewis student body.

I can’t believe we are in the final month of the school year. All groups will still be meeting at their regular rehearsal times through the month of May. All three groups will be performing some new material for the Spring Concert which will be on Thursday May 31st at 6:30PM. I will be sending out more information on this concert in the next week or two.

This week I will not be at school on Thursday so Band and Recorder Club will not be meeting. I will be back on Friday for Boomin’ Beats rehearsal.

Meriwether Lewis Elementary School

Weekly Newsletter               

May 3, 2018                                    

Upcoming Dates:
May 3- Art Night 630pm-8pm
May 4- Walk & Roll
May 8- PTA Meeting 6:30
May 8&9- Lewis Dines Out Pizza Roma
May 10- Community Meeting 6pm
May 16- Late Start- Favorite Book Character Day

Message from Ms. Glasgow
Wow!! Things are looking pretty amazing around the hallways of Lewis! I hope you're all able to join us at Art Night tonight to take in the amazing creativity and brilliance of our students and staff. I have never seen anything quite like it!
On a less glorious note, I also wanted to give you the heads up about some facilities/repair work being done on our yard next week. We have discovered another sinkhole near the nature playground (which may have been the origin of the sinkhole this fall). Next week, facilities will be out repairing the hole. This will mean that a portion of the asphalt will be fenced off for a good part of the week. The fencing will ensure that construction vehicles are able to safely enter and exit the playground without disrupting the school day or recess periods.
And, I want to close by reminding everyone that next week is National Teacher Appreciation Week. I hope you'll join me in taking an extra moment to appreciate the above-and-beyond efforts of the teachers who work tirelessly to meet the needs of your kiddos every day!

The Lewis Art Night is TONIGHT!  Thursday, May 3rd at 6:30PM.

Art Night Music Notes from Mr. J:
5th Grade Band, The Boomin’ Beats and the 3rd Grade Recorder Club will be polishing up their pieces this week in preparation for the big event. =
All performances will be held on the Lewis stage.
The performance schedule is as follows:

6:30 5th Grade Band
7:00 3rd Grade Recorder Club
7:30 Boomin’ Beats

If you have a Lewis T-shirt or this year’s Run for the Arts shirt please wear it with blue or black pants. No shorts please. If you are dressed up to be a docent, that will be fine too!

5th Grade band students should meet at 6:00PM in the music room to warm up.

Recorder Club and Boomin’ Beats should meet me on the stage 10 minutes before their scheduled performance time.
 

Art Night- We need your help!
Lewis School’s 29th Annual Art Night is TONIGHT!!   We are so excited to share our student art with our families!
Lewis becomes an art exhibit during this wonderful evening.  Our student art docents will share information about their art pieces with you as you wander the beautiful halls.
Part of the Lewis Art Night tradition is our Paint Brush Café, where you can purchase a slice of a gourmet dessert and sit down to enjoy music performances from our 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students.
We need your help to make this happen!
We need donations of store bought, gourmet desserts (please deliver to the office on Thursday, May 3rd before 4:00 pm), and we need volunteers to run the Café’.

Time slots are quick and easy 30 minute increments so you will still have plenty of time to stroll the halls, take in all of our amazing art presented by our student docents, and listen to the music performances.

Proceeds from the Paint Brush Café` support our art program.

Here’s the link to our Sign-Up Genius to sign up for a time slot: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0a44a9a82ea31-paint

BOX TOP COLLECTION - Deadline: May 23 for Classroom Popcorn Party

As we near the end of the year (what?! I know... crazy) let's make that final push to turn in all the Box Tops you have been collecting. The deadline for the Box Tops competition is May 23 and the winner of the classroom popcorn party will be announced in the May 30 newsletter! The current top three classrooms are: Ms. Dana at 811, Ms. Cyndi at 578 and Ms. Leake at 497! Keep your eyes peeled for Box Tops on items you have purchased, clip them and place them in an envelope or baggie with your child's teacher's name on the outside. Bring them to the collection box in the school office. If you like the "official" Box Top collection envelopes or using the Box Top collection sheets, extras are available in the office. Remember, each Box Top is worth 10¢ and they don’t need to be clipped perfectly... just make sure each one has the full label and expiration date.  Expired Box Tops don’t count toward our earnings. Good luck and keep clipping - even over the summer! Questions? Contact Box Tops Coordinator Genevieve Benner at vivapalmer@yahoo.com

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Penny Drive is Here!

Check your couch cushions and cup holders. Dig into your pockets and donate that change you find jingling around. We will be raising funds, to help support blood cancer research and help local cancer patients. No need to write a big check, just send in any extra change you have (although they say no to bills or checks.) Students will be coming home with boxes to fill this week. 3rd Grade students will collect boxes from classrooms and count the change as we go. Please consider donating if you can. We will be collecting until May 15th. Thanks!

Help us welcome new kindergarten families to Lewis!

Do you have Lewis t-shirts your kids have outgrown? Maybe you have an adult Lewis t-shirt you no longer wear? Don't take them to Goodwill - we want to pass them on to incoming kindergartners and their families! Please bring any unwanted Lewis t-shirts to the office between now and May 17th and we will pass them on to an incoming Lewis family who will give them a second life. Donations of all sizes are welcome and appreciated!

Community meeting, Thursday, May 10 @ 6pm
Lewis is at a pivotal moment regarding funding available for staffing. Next year Lewis will see a reduction of 3 full-time equivalent positions. To off-set the reduction in future years and maintain the programs that the Lewis community is used to, a school foundation can be established with the support of the Lewis community.

Join the discussion about what a school foundation can do and help think about what it might look like for Lewis.

The meeting will take place in the library, with free childcare provided in the cafeteria.

Save the date!  Lewis Dines Out at Pizza Roma May 8th & 9
Pizza Roma will donate 20% of all sales to Lewis!

Dine-In, Take-Out & Delivery!

***You MUST present a flyer at the time of your order.  Flyers were sent home yesterday.

Proceeds from Lewis Dines Out go towards the Teacher Class Projects funds - support our teachers, their creativity, those great projects for our kids and one of our community partners and grab a slice or a whole pie!

*** Classroom Notes will resume next week

Meriwether Lewis Elementary School Weekly Newsletter

April 25, 2018              

Upcoming Dates:

Apr 26- Be Smart Presentation 6pm
May 2- Coffee Talk with Emily 845am
May 2- Spring Picture Day
May 3-  Bottle drop pick up 845am
May 3- Art Night 630pm-8pm
May 4- Walk & Roll

Message from Ms. Glasgow
As today is Secretary Appreciation Day, I want to start by inviting you to join me in appreciating the amazing work of Tracy and Kathleen! I feel honored to work side-by-side with such competent, committed, and compassionate women. I hope you'll take a moment this week to send an email or deliver a hug to let them know how much they mean to us all. On another note, I know that many of you are starting to think about next year--so, I wanted to take a moment to share our policy and my approach to class/teacher requests. As a staff, we have time set aside this spring to generate next year's class lists. Each grade level team (with consult from specialists and myself) will generate class lists for the rising grade (i.e. 1st grade teachers will make the 2nd grade lists). The making of these lists is a very thoughtful process that seeks to create balanced groupings--taking into account academic needs, social-emotional needs, race, gender, friendships, etc. Parent/family requests do not have a place in this process. While you are always welcome to share with us unique information about your child's needs, we will not accept requests for specific teachers or classrooms. I hope you will trust that the educators who have worked most closely with your children know them well and are committed to seeing them well-positioned in the coming year.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Penny Drive is Here!

Check your couch cushions and cup holders. Dig into your pockets and donate that change you find jingling around. We will be raising funds, to help support blood cancer research and help local cancer patients. No need to write a big check, just send in any extra change you have (although they say no to bills or checks.) Students will be coming home with boxes to fill this week. 3rd Grade students will collect boxes from classrooms and count the change as we go. Please consider donating if you can. We will be collecting until May 15th. Thanks!

Scrip = Gift Cards that earn schools money

What is Scrip? Gift Cards for stuff you were going to buy anyway!

Check out this short video for more information - https://www. youtube.com/ watch?v=Qa-nklx3Wno  NOTE: #4 in the video (can labels) is no longer an active program.

Why? Costs you nothing extra & proceeds go to support Lewis PTA Programs, such as classroom support and Lewis Library book purchases. Use the cards for your grocery shopping, stocking stuffers, teacher gifts and more!

How? Purchase available cards in the office (New Seasons, Safeway, Fred Meyer Amazon, Starbucks and Powells Books) OR pick up an order form in the office (or use this link to the Personal Order form: https://www.ttsdschools. org/Page/1108) to purchase gift cards for shopping, gifts, groceries and more!  Please complete your form and give it to Tracy in the office with payment attached.  Orders placed by 5:00 Monday will be available for pick up after 3:00 Thursday.

Spring Picture Day
Spring Picture Day and our All=School Photo will be on Wednesday, May 2nd.
Spring Photos are fun, Spring themed portraits.
Students will ONLY get their picture taken if they have an order envelope with payment on picture day.
The All-School photo will also be available for purchase.
Order envelopes will be sent home on Wednesday, April 25^th

Art Night
Lewis School’s 29th Annual Art Night is right around the corner.
Thursday, May 3rd at 6:30pm

Part of the Lewis Art Night tradition is our Paint Brush Café`, where you can purchase a slice of a gourmet dessert and sit down to enjoy music performances from our 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students.

We need your help to make this happen!
We need donations of store bought, gourmet desserts (these will not be needed till the day of Art Night), and we need volunteers to run the Café’. 

Time slots are quick and easy 30 minute increments so you will still have plenty of time to stroll the halls, take in all of our amazing art presented by our student docents, and listen to the music performances.
Proceeds from the Paint Brush Café` support our art program.
Here’s the link to our Sign-Up Genius to sign up for a time slot:
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0a44a9a82ea31-paint

Questions?
Please contact Tracy in the school office 503-916-6360 or tgiordano@pps.net
 

Artwork Fundraiser 2017-2018 Continues!
Today is the last day to order for Mother’s Day!!!!!
Shop your child's artwork by April 25th and it will be delivered by Mother's Day!
https://shop.silvergraphics.com/
username: Lewis
password: L3wis2017

Go to your teacher and find your child's artwork.  33% profits still go to Lewis PTA!

Enrichment at Lewis
Check out the extracurricular and enrichment activities that are happening at Lewis!  STEAM, Spanish, coding, basketball, and more! Read all about it at  https://www.lewispta.org/enrichment"

Bottle Drop Update
BottleDrop has raised over $1000 so far for Lewis PTA! We’ll be collecting blue bags twice a month now: the first and third Thursday of every month. The next drop off will be Thursday, April 19th. Pick up a blue bag in the office, fill up with clean returnable bottles, drop off in front of Lewis before school.

Did you know you can turn the blue bags in yourself? Fill a blue bag, go by any Bottle Drop location, including the one only 2 miles from Lewis at SE King and Linwood!  Use the barcode on the blue bag to scan open the drop off door, throw the bag in, and Lewis gets the money!

Check out www.BottleDropCenters.com for a full list of locations and for details on what containers are worth $.10 each for Lewis.
 

Be SMART presentation    Thursday, April 26th, 6pm
Come join us at this PTA sponsored educational event on how to prevent child gun deaths. Be SMART is a non-political presentation for adults about how we can keep our kids safer from unintentional shootings and suicide by introducing basic steps to parenting and everyday life. Learn more at the presentation and at besmartforkids.org.

Help us welcome new kindergarten families to Lewis!
Do you have Lewis t-shirts your kids have outgrown? Maybe you have an adult Lewis t-shirt you no longer wear? Don't take them to Goodwill - we want to pass them on to incoming kindergartners and their families! Please bring any unwanted Lewis t-shirts to the office between now and May 17th and we will pass them on to an incoming Lewis family who will give them a second life. Donations of all sizes are welcome and appreciated!

Community meeting, Thursday, May 10 @ 6pm
Lewis is at a pivotal moment regarding funding available for staffing. Next year Lewis will see a reduction of 3 full-time equivalent positions. To off-set the reduction in future years and maintain the programs that Lewis families are used to, a school foundation can be established with the support of families.
Join the discussion about what a school foundation can do and help think about what it might look like for Lewis.
The meeting will take place in the library, with free childcare provided in the cafeteria.

Save the date!  Lewis Dines Out at Pizza Roma May 8th & 9
Pizza Roma will donate 20% of all sales to Lewis!

Dine-In, Take-Out & Delivery!
***You MUST present a flyer at the time of your order.  We will send flyers   home with the newsletter next week

Proceeds from Lewis Dines Out go towards the Teacher Class Projects funds - support our teachers, their creativity, those great projects for our kids and one of our community partners and grab a slice or a whole pie!

Meriwether Lewis Elementary School Classroom Notes

News and information from our classrooms...

April 25, 2018

Notes from Ms. Canales- 2^nd-3^rd Grade

April continues to be a fabulous month for room 16!
What are we up to?
-Reading: We are working through our Character Studies unit. Right now we are reading Because of Winn-Dixie and analyzing characters thoughts and actions to deeply comprehend the text.
-Writing: We are just about finished up publishing our information writing. Look for that in the hallway soon! We are spending a few weeks on poetry! Right now students are working on there Where I’m From poems.
-Social Studies: our Vanport unit continues. We are in the middle of viewing Oregon Experience: Vanport by OPB. We are taking notes as we watch and writing about what we learn.
-Math: 2nd graders are working on Unit 5. They are focused on multi-digit addition and subtraction, place value, and money. 3rd graders are focusing on multiplication and division strategies.
-Science: We are finishing up our Changes unit where we will explore the scientific concepts behind changes we see everyday. We’ve been discussing states of matter and experimenting with different solids and liquids.

Reminders
3rd graders are taking their Smarter Balanced tests over the next few weeks. Please send them to school rested and ready to do their best!
Sign up to volunteer in room 16! There is a sign up sheet posted by our classroom door.
Check out our DonorsChoose page if you’d like to help fund some projects for our classroom. Right now we have one project up for balance ball seats and another project for more wobble stools! Thank you to everyone who has donated so far! Our page website is:
https://www.donorschoose.org/cassiecanales

Notes from Mr. Hansen/Ms. Brenan - 3^nd Grade

Dear Room 10 family,
We made it through the first part of testing pretty smoothly.  Students were super patient as they learned how to use the new-to-them interface and worked hard to do their best.  You should be very proud of them.  Next week we will be starting some Math testing but we have not landed on the date.  We will send out a notice as soon as we know.
Some upcoming dates to remember.  On May 3rd we will have our annual Art Night.  Sign-ups for docent shifts will come home soon.  On May 4th we will be walking to Reed College for our final Math sessions with the college mathematicians.  If you are interested in joining us please contact Mark or Jill.
Best,  Mark

Notes from Mrs. Redmond - 3rd Grade

Wow! It feels like Summer out there. We still have plenty of school left, however, and a lot of work to be done. Over the past two weeks, students worked on the English Language Arts portion of the Smarter Balanced state testing. They handled it with confidence and I was very proud of their perseverance. The math portion of the test will begin the week of May 7th.

We have been working hard to complete several art projects for Art Night, which is next Thursday, May 3rd from 6:30 - 8:00*. The pieces have come together so nicely and I can’t wait to see the students show them off. If your student would like to serve as a docent for the evening, please return the green form that is going home today. *The original form that was sent out last week had the wrong times. I apologize for the inconvenience. I will email families that have already returned to form to see if we can just bump them back by half an hour.

Next Thursday, we will have visitors from Sunnyside Environmental School taking us on a “wildlife tour.” Also next week, on Friday, we will be taking a walking field trip to Reed College for one last lesson with our guest mathematicians, Sarah and Miranda. We have space to take a few volunteers, please let me know if you’re interested in joining us. We will be leaving around 12:30 and back before pickup.

In math, we are starting a new unit on fractions, money, and probability. Coincidentally, we are the class that will be collecting and recording the change that is brought in for the Leukemia & Lymphoma drive, so the kids will get lots of practice working with the real deal.

Our Character Studies reading unit is just getting going and the students are excited to be focused on fiction after working so hard our non fiction unit.

During Social Studies, students are digging deeper into Vanport as we continue to learn about the importance the unique city played in Portland’s history.

They have been working on some amazing poetry during writing. I’ve been impressed by their thoughtful reflections while writing to complete their “I Am From” poems.

Please help your students to remember a water bottle each day. As the temperature goes up outside, so does the temperature in our classroom. Going to the water fountain has become a work avoidance tactic for some students that I would like to curtail. Thank you for all of the support you give your students. They really are a great bunch and I feel lucky to spend my days with them.

Notes from Ms. Elissa – 4th Grade

Last week, we took a walking field trip to Reed College.  We were able to view the campus, some of the biology labs, the fish ladder, the canyon, the nuclear reactor, and the bouncy bridge!  It was a full day of walking but the weather was perfect!  On Monday, we traveled back in time through Oregon's past at the Oregon Historical Society where we were able to see 9,000 year old sandals that belonged to a Native American, a dugout canoe, preserved animals from Lewis & Clark's expedition, a real covered wagon, and a ton of other interesting artifacts!  This exhibit is being remodeled at the end of this month, so we were fortunate to sneak in before it closed.  I wanted to say thank you to all of the chaperones who were able to come with us on our field trips!  We couldn't have done it without you.

We are continuing to work our way through our state testing.  Over the next two weeks, students will be working on the math portions of the test.  First, we will take the Math CAT which is a longer comprehensive assessment of students' math understanding.  Next week, students will take the Math Performance Task which is a shorter exam that focuses on problem solving strategies and how students communicate their mathematical thinking.

Next Thursday is Art Night and I am on the look out for docents!  I will need about 9-12 docents for our pieces this year.  Please take a look at the form and sign up for an available time slot if you can.  Return your form by Monday.

I hope you have had a chance to review your child's report card with them.  Please return the signed envelope to let me know it made it home.

Enjoy this sunshine!!
Ms. Elissa

Notes from Ms. Rotwein - 4th Grade

We have been working hard in Room 22 on three extraordinary projects for Lewis Elementary Art Night.  Please join us NEXT THURSDAY, May 3rd, from 6:30- 8 PM.  I will be sending home docent forms later this week if your child would like to sign up to be one of our class docents.

A large portion of our class time the last few weeks has been taken up with the Smarter Balanced assessments.  Students will be taking their last assessment next week.

Our Japanese American unit has begun!  Students have been divided into family groups, and this week they will find out if their applications to immigrate to the United States have been accepted.  They will learn about the history of early Asian immigration to our country and what travelling by boat in the 1920's would have been like.

In literacy, we are starting our final novel study.  As a class, we are reading the classic mystery novel, "The Westing Game," by Ellen Raskin.  Students are working in "detective teams" to collect clues and try to solve the mystery first.

Students really enjoyed proving the properties of triangles last week.  They had a lot of practice with finding the missing interior angle in a triangle.  This week, we are learning about coordinate points, symmetry, and reflecting shapes.  Students will be taking their Unit 4 post-assessment on Friday.  Please help your child be successful by making sure she/he is continuing to practice times tables facts for ten minutes each evening.

Thank you to all the parents who joined us on our field trip to Reed College last week!  The kids really enjoyed it and we couldn't have gone without your assistance.

Please get those signed report card envelopes back to me by the end of this week.  Thanks and I hope you are enjoying the sunshine!

Notes from Mr. Richner- 4^th-5^th Grade

Greetings!
The first of the English language arts portions of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium standardized test consumed much of our Monday and Tuesday mornings last week. I have no way of knowing how kids scored; results won’t be available for months, but I do know how they approached the task. They were serious. They were focused. They used the strategies we had talked about in the week preceding the test. We are now into the second of the four tests. This test has kids reading some passages and then writing an essay over the course of several days. I have been working to keep most of our usual routines in motion; however, our days are more fragmented as testing and testing direction time gets inserted into the mix. Kids who have opted out are continuing to work on some independent activities during our testing time.

We have been “on the road” a number of times during the past two weeks. Yesterday, we were on a Reed College campus tour led by the folks from Reed Science Outreach (bit.ly/RC-tour). We hiked through sunny Reed Canyon, visited a zebra fish lab, toured some buildings, and visited the rat colony before walking back to Lewis.

Last Friday, we had a wonderful field trip to the Oregon Historical Society (bit.ly/team20-OHS-1 and bit.ly/team20-OHS-2). Fourth graders visited the Oregon My Oregon exhibit to learn more about Native American histories and westward expansion. Fifth graders visited the History Hub to learn more about Oregon’s diverse histories. There is plenty more to see there, and you can do so for free as a Multnomah county resident.

We also made it to the Portland Youth Philharmonic at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall (bit.ly/team20-PYP) and fifth graders visited Sellwood Middle School for an official welcome this morning.

Looking ahead, Lewis Art Night is on May 3rd from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. Your kid has the opportunity to be a docent in charge of explaining one of our pieces of art during Art Night. A flyer about docent sign-up went home yesterday. Please sign up by Monday, April 30th.

Last, but not least, a Bike Safety flyer also went home yesterday. Please review it, indicate your kid’s lunch preference for our May 10th bike day, and return it and the waiver on the second page by Monday, April 30th. The folks from Bike Safety are asking for at least three volunteers from students’ families to assist with our bike day. If you are able to join us for a day of biking, please be sure to indicate that on the second form.

Please follow us on Twitter @LewisRoom20 and at LewisRoom20.blogspot.com for photos and regular updates!
Mark

Notes from Ms. Speer - 5th Grade

“Sun is shining, the weather is sweet” … Can’t you hear the sound of summer?! These fifth graders are soaking up the last few months of Lewis. We are having so much fun and are so busy, we can barely keep track of what day it is. Here are a few helpful updates to keep you in the loop…

-Thursday, April 26th--We are headed to Reed College for the day. We will explore the canyon, visit the nuclear reactor, tour the buildings and dorms, experience science labs, and enjoy all that Reed has to offer. Thank you to parents who volunteered to join. I sent home a little slip of paper to tell you what time we are leaving.

-Monday, April 30th-- First wave of Colonial America Home Projects are due. I have now sent home two papers (one white, one green) that explain the expectations. Please feel free to contact me with questions or wonderings.

-Thursday, May 3rd-- Art Night. Your children have created so much beautiful art this year and they are excited to share it with you. I sent home Docent Sign Up Forms this week. Please encourage your children to sign up for a slot.

-Wednesday, May 9th--Zenger Farm--Permission Slips will be sent home this week. We will need 5 parents to join us…

-Friday, May 11th-- Bike Safety Day. More info to come later this week...

*Please make sure your kiddos are prepared for all of the above dates (ie sack lunch, appropriate dress for the weather, signed permission slips, etc) I hope you have an amazing week and weekend. Make sure you allow for some time outside--soak up that vitamin d!

Notes from Ms. Sarah Kohn - 5th Grade

Spring has sprung! It is so nice to have some warmer weather and the sun shining! With that, the classroom is getting warmer and the need for layers and water are important. Also, a number of kids are experiencing allergy symptoms and are pretty miserable. We will have windows open, as it can be unbearably warm, so if there is anything they need to take to help them manage, please keep that in mind. In Room 23, we are busy with testing, Colonial research and art! Next week brings our annual Art Night celebration. Students have been creating some really wonderful projects that will be displayed next Thursday. I will be sent docent forms home yesterday. I hope many students are able to participate and that you are able to come as see their efforts, as well as all the amazing art throughout the school, the musical groups featured and of course, dessert! Last week, we had a great time at Reed College touring the campus and spending time with Javin, our helper. This is our last week working with Reed College Science. They have done a great job and we appreciate our partnership with Reed College. Please look for a permission slip for two activities coming up. (Boy, have we had a lot of permission slips lately!) One, is for upcoming Bike Safety. Please get those back to me by Monday. Next, we have our final field trip to Zenger Farm for the year. We are going Monday, May 7th. Please get those permission slips back by Tuesday, May 1st. Thanks for all you do to support our efforts in school. I value our partnership greatly!

Notes from Mr. Post - Room 7

This week for Science, students worked in groups to build two types of bridges. One bridge was a flat piece of paper spanning two cups, and the other bridge had a piece of paper folded like an accordion for extra support. Then students predicted which type would hold more coins, and most correctly guessed that the bridge with the fan support would be stronger. We are also still graphing the high and low temperatures each day, and recorded how much rain was in the rain gauge each of the rainy days we had. For Reading, leveled groups have Reading A-Z books about how things are built, like houses, cars, and airplanes, and they are working on literacy packets. For Math, we finished our story problems unit, and now are working on time, elapsed time, and money.  For Writing, students are doing research on new construction projects around Southeast Portland. Students have chosen projects like a new grocery store, a health center, and the recently common “multi-use” buildings that have retail on the first floor and apartments upstairs.

We are also gearing up for Art Night. Look for information coming home soon about students signing up to be “docents” who spend 30 minute shifts explaining the art projects being exhibited by Room 7. One project is a slide-show of the Recycled City we built with Nancy Judd for our Right Brain project. Another project is a display of students’ watercolor settings and popsicle puppets, plus videos of their Fairy Tale Puppet shows. Our third exhibit is of springtime poetry and painted flowers in bloom.

Meriwether Lewis Elementary School

Weekly Newsletter               

April 18, 2018              

Upcoming Dates:
Apr 19- Bottle Drop pick up 845am
Apr 20- Plant order pick up 3-5pm
Apr 21- Garden Fair 9-Noon
Apr 26- Be Smart Presentation 6pm
May 2- Coffee Talk with Emily 845am
May 2- Spring Picture Day
May 3- Art Night 630pm-8pm

Message from Ms. Glasgow
And, finally, the sun is shining and it's starting to feel like spring! With spring, comes many events and busy calendars. This weekend, I encourage you to drop by the Garden Sale on Saturday morning. And, I hope you have Art Night in your calendar on May 3rd. It has been amazing to watch our teachers and student prepare for this big annual event--the deep teaching and instruction around artists, art techniques, and creative expression happening all around the building is beyond anything I've seen before at the elementary level. Yet another reason to deeply appreciate what it means to get a Lewis education!

Music Notes from Mr. J
Two weeks until Art Night! All groups are rehearsing this week at their regular times. 5th Grade Band Tuesday & Thursday from 3:00PM -4:00PM. 3rd Grade Recorder Club will meet Thursday from 8:00AM - 8:40AM. And The Boomin’ Beats will meet on Friday from 3:00PM - 4:00PM.

Searching for Lewis Green Team Leader for 2018/2019 School Year
Are you passionate about recycling and conservation? Lewis is a “Green” school because of our recycling and conservation efforts.  We’re looking for someone to lead a group of volunteers next year to coordinate Lewis’ green work.  If this is something you might be interested in, please email me at kgagnonwitter1@pps.net.  Thanks- Kathleen

Spring Picture Day
Spring Picture Day and our All=School Photo will be on Wednesday, May 2nd.
Spring Photos are fun, Spring themed portraits.
Students will ONLY get their picture taken if they have an order envelope with payment on picture day.
The All-School photo will also be available for purchase.
Order envelopes will be sent home on Wednesday, April 25^th

Art Night
Lewis School’s 29th Annual Art Night is right around the corner.
Thursday, May 3rd at 6:30pm
Part of the Lewis Art Night tradition is our Paint Brush Café`, where you can purchase a slice of a gourmet dessert and sit down to enjoy music performances from our 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students.
We need your help to make this happen!
We need donations of store bought, gourmet desserts (these will not be needed till the day of Art Night), and we need volunteers to run the Café’. 

Time slots are quick and easy 30 minute increments so you will still have plenty of time to stroll the halls, take in all of our amazing art presented by our student docents, and listen to the music performances.

Proceeds from the Paint Brush Café` support our art program.
Here’s the link to our Sign-Up Genius to sign up for a time slot:
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0a44a9a82ea31-paint
Questions?
Please contact Tracy in the school office 503-916-6360 or tgiordano@pps.net
 

Artwork Fundraiser 2017-2018 Continues!

Shop your child's artwork by April 25th and it will be delivered by Mother's Day!
https://shop.silvergraphics.com/
username: Lewis
password: L3wis2017
Go to your teacher and find your child's artwork.  33% profits still go to Lewis PTA!

Enrichment at Lewis
Check out the extracurricular and enrichment activities that are happening at Lewis!  STEAM, Spanish, coding, basketball, and more! Read all about it at  https://www.lewispta.org/enrichment"

Bottle Drop Update
BottleDrop has raised over $1000 so far for Lewis PTA! We’ll be collecting blue bags twice a month now: the first and third Thursday of every month. The next drop off will be Thursday, April 19th. Pick up a blue bag in the office, fill up with clean returnable bottles, drop off in front of Lewis before school.

Did you know you can turn the blue bags in yourself? Fill a blue bag, go by any Bottle Drop location, including the one only 2 miles from Lewis at SE King and Linwood!  Use the barcode on the blue bag to scan open the drop off door, throw the bag in, and Lewis gets the money!

Check out www.BottleDropCenters.com for a full list of locations and for details on what containers are worth $.10 each for Lewis.
 

Be SMART presentation
Thursday, April 26th, 6pm
Come join us at this PTA sponsored educational event on how to prevent child gun deaths. Be SMART is a non-political presentation for adults about how we can keep our kids safer from unintentional shootings and suicide by introducing basic steps to parenting and everyday life. Learn more at the presentation and at besmartforkids.org.

EARTH DAY FAIR April 21st 9AM-12PM!
GARDEN FAIR
Saturday, April 21st 9AM-12PM

This year's Garden Fair is going to be full of fun activities and treats, including:
An I Spy scavenger hunt through the Lewis garden
Kid’s crafts
Expert advice from gardening gurus - bring your most challenging gardening questions!
Italian sodas, pastries and hot beverages for sale
Plants galore and more!

We still need some volunteers to help prep the event on Friday and staff it on Saturday. Sign up here: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090e4eaaa62aa0f49-garden

And if you can donate STORE BOUGHT pastries or baked goods for the pastry table, please sign up at this link: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090e4eaaa62aa0f49-garden1

We're still looking for plant donations! Now is the time to pot up those extra plants to donate to the sale. If you need pots, you’ll find some in a wagon near the office, and if you have extra pots, leave them in the wagon for others. We'll be collecting the plants the morning of Friday April 20th at drop off and again in the afternoon at pick-up.
*Drop off plant donations Thursday at drop off and after school, and Friday at drop off and after school.  Drop off those plants at the SE Glenwood entrance.

Learn more about the Garden Fair at the PTA website: https://www.lewispta.org/earth-day-fair

And most important: Bring friends, share on social media, and come and by plants for an amazing and bountiful gardening season!

April 22, 2018 - Sellwood Middle School Foundation 5K Run/Walk for Education.
All proceeds benefit the SELLWOOD MIDDLE SCHOOL FOUNDATION which raises funds to support the amazing Elective Programs at Sellwood Middle School. Race registration is $25 and t-shirts will be available for purchase on-site. Raffle tickets for great prizes from local businesses are $5 each or 5/$20. To register online or for more information, please go to https://sellwoodmiddle.ejoinme.org or contact Lemmy Cooper with questions at lemmy.cooper@gmail.com

Meriwether Lewis Elementary School Classroom Notes

News and information from our classrooms...

April 18, 2018

Notes from Ms. Allen - Kindergarten
Ms. Allen will be sending her classroom notes with her students soon.

Notes from Ms. Kennedy - Kindergarten
Hello Room 4 families! Ms. Connolly and I were so impressed with the most recent batch of Weekend News entries. Children have so much to share and now have a whole host of tools to help them be successful. Students know to collect all their writing supplies, including their personal dictionary and Word Ring, and get settled to write. They are doing a beautiful job of extending their thinking beyond one or two sentences. We’ve even seen labeled illustrations that really add to the work. Please encourage your child to write at home. It can be a personal narrative, a how-to piece, or something about unicorns. Unicorns are an especially popular topic this spring. We learned that the narwhal tusk was once thought to be that of the illusive unicorn, when in fact it is a giant tooth! Last week, several students took their K’nex pieces into the hallway in order to measure 10 feet, the length of some of the biggest narwhal tusks.

Speaking of measurement, this month’s calendar follows the pattern of time, weight, temperature and length. Each day shows a different method to measure a variety of common things: a wristwatch, a grocery scale, an outdoor thermometer, a ruler. The wooden cuckoo clock had quite a few people stumped. That isn’t a very familiar item unless you watch The Sound of Music!

The exciting news of the week has to be that we are all going on a field trip to the Oregon Children’s Theatre! Around 10:30, everyone will be having the first part of their lunch in the classroom. After a bathroom break, we’ll board the school bus and be on our way at 11:00am. The bus will be packed with 63 kindergarteners and their teachers. Thank you in advance to the brave volunteers who are joining us! You are encouraged to meet outside the classrooms and carpool to the theater. Please be at the Winningstad Theatre on 1111 SW Broadway, Portland, OR 97205 by 11:20. From 11:30am-12:30pm, we’ll be seeing The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show. “Eric Carle's iconic creatures from four different stories crawl from page to stage with the help of a marvelous menagerie of 75 magical puppets.” If you weren’t able to join us for the afternoon performance, the presentation continues through May 20th. Click on this link to buy tickets http://www.octc.org/hungry-caterpillar

In the meantime, we continue our Words Their Way study, as well as Reading Workshop and Math. Every day we try to add another element to the art work that is being created for the fabulous Lewis Art Night on Thursday, May 3rd. When my children were in kindergarten and first grade, they loved to dress up for the event: crowns, capes, clunky jewelry, fancy hats and
shiny shoes. You might want to start looking through the dress-up box pretty soon!

Weekly photos posted https://mskennedyroom4.blogspot.com/ Thank you one and all!
 

Notes from Teacher Leslie - Kindergarten
Hi Families!
Here are some exciting things happening in Room 2:

Mystery Science - We are having a blast exploring and learning with Mystery Science.  This is a program that provides ready-made science mysteries for elementary school students.  Each lesson contains a central mystery, discussion questions, supplemental reading, and hands-on activity.  We are currently working in a unit called Force Olympics. This unit helps students develop their first concept of “force” and the idea that by playing with forces and thinking about them, we can accomplish surprisingly big things.   Last week our mystery asked the question “How can we protect a mountain town from falling rocks?” Ask your student about how they placed their push pin towers to prevent the ping pong ball from knocking over their town.

Technology - This week in Technology we learned about Google Slides.  Students partnered up to make a slideshow about themselves. They learned how to make a title, type in slides and insert a picture. 

Writing - This week we have been working hard on our handwriting skills.  We are reviewing how to form each letter correctly and concentrating on using lowercase letters in our writing.  Follow this link for a document explaining the language we use in the classroom around handwriting.  I encourage you to practice with your student at home!

Art - Last week we learned about the Dutch artist Piet Mondrian, who is best known for his abstract paintings.  We then used tempera paint and oil pastels to create our own Mondrian style painting. Make sure to check them out at Art Night on Thursday May 3rd!  We will have student Docents there to explain our art during Art Night. I will be sending more information about how to be a docent and where to sign up home soon! 

Field Trip - We are so excited for our field trip to the Oregon Children’s Theater this Friday.  Chaperones will need to meet us there since there will be no room on the bus. I encourage you to meet at school beforehand and carpool over! 
 

Notes from Teacher Dana -- 1st Grade
Teacher Dana will resume classroom notes when she returns.

Notes from Mrs. Logue - 1st Grade
Last Friday was a busy time for teachers preparing third quarter report cards. For me, it is an awesome opportunity to look at your whole child and observe the growth that has happened this year. This is one of the many reasons I love to teach First Grade!

In math this week, we continue to study penguins and build on our understanding of inches, pounds, comparisons and of the places penguins live around the world! In science, we have finished our Pebbles, Sand and Silt Unit and  are now embarking on our final science unit, Insects! Students are excited and come with a lot of background knowledge to further enrich our studies! Our "Science Lab" has factual books, magnifying glasses, journals, painted lady caterpillars, crickets and individual containers of meal worms for each child to observe and keep care of. We will record changes, do scientific drawings and learn the body parts of insects, (there are three of them!).

The annual Lewis Garden Fair takes place April 23th and it is a wonderful celebration and fundraiser for Lewis. Through out the year, many people work hard to make our grounds more beautiful and healthy and thanks to to our Garden Coordinator and Teacher, Kathleen Witter, we are able to host this fundraiser! Please plan to attend and purchase plants and garden art. Monday, April 23 is our Field trip to Tryon Creek State Park. If you have not returned your signed permission slip please do so as soon as possible.

Hoping to get more volunteers in the classroom this final quarter of first grade! Please remember to let me know when you can volunteer. We need you, no matter the duration, organize books, classroom supplies, wipe down surfaces, encourage and connect with students, play at recess, help during P.E. or library. If you have any questions, please contact me at abuckley.pps.net and check out classroom photos at mrslogue.wordpress.com
Twitter@AnneAbuckley

Notes from Mrs. Jamesbarry - 1st Grade
April seems to be flying by, which means there are a lot of things happening in the coming weeks! We will be off to Tryon Creek on Monday morning, April 23rd. Most of the permission slips are in - but if you haven’t returned yours yet, please do so ASAP. We will taking a 45 minute hike in the woods - so please help your student dress for the weather. Although it may be as warm as 70 degrees, we will be in the woods, so long pants are recommended. We will be eating lunch there- picnic style. Please send a drink (with lunch) as there are limited drinking fountains and the kids are sure to get thirsty. We will be looking closely at insects and plants, as well as talking about adaptations. It’s always a lot of fun!

Up next is Art Night! Lewis will be hosting our annual Art Night on Thursday, May 3rd from 6:00- 8:00. Each year students present their art to the community. So plan on getting dressed up and head on over to view  the fantastic art projects done by students throughout the school. Don’t miss the music performances and dessert happening in the cafeteria! I will be sending home a student docent sign-up next week.

Finally, in the classroom we continue to read and write nonfiction. Some of the kiddos are having a difficult time coming ups with ideas for All About books. It would be super helpful if families could talk through possible topics for All About Books. This can be on just about anything (although I’m really trying to steer kids away from video game topics) from family, to places you’ve traveled to, to special interests like animals, music, games, people, toys, etc… Thanks so much!
Cheers! Ms. Sarah
 

Notes from Ms. Murphy - 2nd Grade
We have had an exciting couple of weeks.  Last week, OMSI came to our class with an interactive lesson called COWABUNGA CHEMISTRY.  The students learned about a Polymer, which is neither solid or liquid.  Can you guess what we made? You got it!  Slime! 

Last Tuesday, we were invited to see the Talent Show rehearsal. Three of our classmates were actually in the show and they were all fabulous!  I hope everyone enjoyed the actual show last Thursday.

Writing:  Each student published their favorite poems last week.  Students have learned how poets use line breaks, repeat words, use certain vocabulary to help the reader visualize and we are learning to read out poems to an audience as well.  The class revised and edited their poems before they typed their first publish piece.  We are hoping to get the up in the hallway soon.

Math:  We have started our fifth unit!  This unit is focusing on larger numbers, problem solving, and the number line.  This past week we have been solving story problems using addition, subtraction, finding the difference, half, twice as many and three times as many.  The kids will be creating their own story problems involving presents and parcels this week!  We are continuing to work on telling time.  Please support this at home as well!

Reading:  The past few weeks we are getting ourselves ready for starting our next unit on Series Book Clubs.  The mini unit we are focuing on now involves brushing up our skills as reaers by using expression, reading in longer phrases, reading to the mood and reading like the characters.  It has been so much fun for the kids to share their reading with their partners and then with the group.  We are also trying to spend more LEXIA in class.  I want to invite you to do LEXIA at home as well.  Please email me if you need login information to do LEXIA at home.

Notes from Ms. Leake- 2^nd Grade
There is nothing that we as adult readers like better than to pick up the latest book by our favorite author.  Children are the same. Whether your child is a fan of the characters in the Magic Bone, Owl Diaries, or Stink and Judy Moody, it is almost impossible not to fall in love with these characters when they find themselves in challenging predicaments over and over again. This week, we begin our next Unit of Study called Series Book Clubs. Children will welcome the opportunity to read a lot of books about a favorite old or new character.  Series books provide a safe, supportive context for thinking about characters and the author's message. They also allow children to do some break through work with reading skills. As children become more familiar with the characters, their thinking will become more insightful. Readers will challenge each other to compare and contrast information they've read about the characters as they read across the series. Look for your child to choose a series  to read and share their insight about the characters with you.

Writing About Reading is our next Unit of Study in writing.  This unit works well with the Series Book Clubs reading unit.  Children will learn to write about beloved books in ways that persuade others to love the books as much as they do.  Students will have opportunities to share their opinions about characters as they write letters to their classmates. The goal of this unit is to help children learn to state clear opinions and support these ideas with evidence from the text.  Writers must introduce the book they are writing about, supply reasons that support their opinions, and provide a concluding statement or section. This unit brings a renewed energy to the writers' workshop because students can't wait to convince classmates to read their books.

Meriwether Lewis Elementary School

Weekly Letter               

April 11, 2018              

Upcoming Dates:

Apr 12- Talent Show 6:30pm
Apr 13- No School for Students, Teacher Planning Day
Apr 18- Late Start- Monochromatic Day
Apr 19- Bottle Drop pick up 845am
Apr 20- Plant order pick up 3-5pm
Apr 21- Garden Fair 9-Noon

Message from Ms. Glasgow
It was wonderful to preview the many talents of our students this week at the Talent Show dress rehearsal. I encourage you to come be wowed and entertained by the songs, dances, and jokes of our kiddos Thursday night at 6:30! This week at the PTA meeting, I shared a short presentation on our Balanced Literacy model (the way we teach reading and writing at Lewis). If you were not able to make the meeting, but are interested in taking a peek at the presentation, you can access it here. Also, please remember that there is no school for students on Friday—it is a Teacher Planning Day. This Friday, teachers will be working on completing 3rd quarter report cards. The report cards should come home with students on Friday, April 20th. After reviewing your child’s report card, if you have any questions about his/her progress, please do not hesitate to contact your teacher for more detailed information.
 

Enrichment at Lewis
Check out the extracurricular and enrichment activities that are happening at Lewis!  STEAM, Spanish, coding, basketball, and more! Read all about it at  https://www.lewispta.org/enrichment

Bottle Drop Update
BottleDrop has raised over $1000 so far for Lewis PTA! We’ll be collecting blue bags twice a month now: the first and third Thursday of every month. The next drop off will be Thursday, April 19th. Pick up a blue bag in the office, fill up with clean returnable bottles, drop off in front of Lewis before school.

Did you know you can turn the blue bags in yourself? Fill a blue bag, go by any Bottle Drop location, including the one only 2 miles from Lewis at SE King and Linwood!  Use the barcode on the blue bag to scan open the drop off door, throw the bag in, and Lewis gets the money!

Check out www.BottleDropCenters.com for a full list of locations and for details on what containers are worth $.10 each for Lewis.
 

Be SMART presentation
Thursday, April 26th, 6pm
Come join us at this PTA sponsored educational event on how to prevent child gun deaths. Be SMART is a non-political presentation for adults about how we can keep our kids safer from unintentional shootings and suicide by introducing basic steps to parenting and everyday life. Learn more at the presentation and at besmartforkids.org.

Congratulations, Welcome and a big Thank You to our PTA Board Members~
We want to send a huge note of appreciation to our 2017-2018 PTA Board members, Ellen, Claire, Sarah, Dan, Kendyl, Foy, Zicra and Derica, for all of their efforts on behalf of our students and community this year.

And we would like to welcome our 2018-2019 PTA Board Members~

Co-Presidents: Claire Giesige and Kendyl Watts
Vice President: Cyndi Redmond
Secretary: Jen Barnes
Treasurer: Sarah Buckley
Auditor: Derica Waller
Fundraising Coordinator: Tracy Giordano

Thank you to everyone for all you continue to do!

Nominate your Teacher as Educator of the Year - Click here to learn more!
https://www.lewispta.org/we-love-lewis-teachers

EARTH DAY FAIR April 21st 9AM-12PM!
This year's Garden Fair is going to be full of fun activities and treats, including:

An I Spy scavenger hunt through the Lewis garden
Kid’s crafts
Expert advice from gardening gurus - bring your most challenging gardening questions!
Italian sodas, pastries and hot beverages for sale
Plants galore and more!

We still need some volunteers to help prep the event on Friday and staff it on Saturday. Sign up here: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090e4eaaa62aa0f49-garden

And if you can donate STORE BOUGHT pastries or baked goods for the pastry table, please sign up at this link: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090e4eaaa62aa0f49-garden1

We're still looking for plant donations! Now is the time to pot up those extra plants to donate to the sale. If you need pots, you’ll find some in a wagon near the office, and if you have extra pots, leave them in the wagon for others. We'll be collecting the plants the morning of Friday April 20th at drop off and again in the afternoon at pick-up.

Learn more about the Garden Fair at the PTA website: https://www.lewispta.org/earth-day-fair

And most important: Bring friends, share on social media, and come and by plants for an amazing and bountiful gardening season!

SCIENCEPALOOZA! Lewis Family STEAM Night – postponed until October 2018

Lewis Shops, and Fundraisers, at Sugar Threads!
Lewis parent Jo Sampson, owner of Sugar Threads, is giving back to Lewis!
Sugar Threads is a local clothing boutique offering comfortable, affordable clothing for women and kids!

Date: Sunday, April 15^th
Hours: 11-3
20% of purchases donated to Lewis Elementary

Address: 6021 SE 72nd Ave
www.shopsugarthreads.com

April 22, 2018 - Sellwood Middle School Foundation 5K Run/Walk for Education.
All proceeds benefit the SELLWOOD MIDDLE SCHOOL FOUNDATION which raises funds to support the amazing Elective Programs at Sellwood Middle School. Race registration is $25 and t-shirts will be available for purchase on-site. Raffle tickets for great prizes from local businesses are $5 each or 5/$20. To register online or for more information, please go to https://sellwoodmiddle.ejoinme.org or contact Lemmy Cooper with questions at lemmy.cooper@gmail.com

Meriwether Lewis Elementary School Classroom Notes

News and information from our classrooms...

April 11, 2018

Notes from Ms. Canales- 2^nd-3^rd Grade

April has been an amazing month so far in room 16!

What are we up to?
Reading: We just wrapped up our Reading to Learn nonfiction unit. Now we are starting Character Studies which focuses on deep comprehension skills related to paying close attention to characters and their thoughts/motivations/actions.
Writing: We are publishing our information writing!
Social Studies: our Vanport unit continues. We just finished thinking, discussing and writing about 6 different images from Vanport. We will be moving to notetaking and watching a documentary on Vanport next.
Math: 2nd graders are working on Unit 5. They are focused on multi-digit addition and subtraction, place value, and money. 3rd graders are focusing on multiplication and division strategies.
Science: We are finishing up our Changes unit where we will explore the scientific concepts behind changes we see everyday. We’ve been discussing states of matter and experimenting with different solids and liquids.

Reminders
3rd graders are taking their Smarter Balanced tests over the next few weeks. Please send them to school rested and ready to do their best!
Sign up to volunteer in room 16! There is a sign up sheet posted by our classroom door.

Notes from Mr. Hansen/Ms. Brenan - 3^nd Grade

In March we launched an in-depth unit on Vanport, an important -- but often overlooked -- part of Portland’s history. The unit explores Vanport through six lenses: the shipyard, Vanport City, the people, life in Vanport, the flood, and the aftermath. The focus of the unit is to build understanding around how multifaceted the people and life of Vanport were and sheds light on Portland’s racial past, bringing awareness to redlining, segregation, and exclusionary practices.

Our initial work focused on a rich collection of historical photographs and prompted some great discussions and inquiries. Many of these questions led us to OPB’s video, Oregon Experience: Vanport. This 60-minute video is a great resource and provided the kids with opportunities to deepen their understanding while practicing note-taking and paraphrasing skills. In the coming weeks, we’ll extend our learning through the analysis of song lyrics, in-depth readings, and letter-writing. If you haven’t seen the Vanport video and are interested in checking it out, you can find it on OPB’s website: https://www.opb.org/television/programs/oregonexperience/segment/vanport/

Later this month, on April 21, Multnomah County’s Midland Library will host a free performance of Our Story: Vanport, the Musical. Your child will bring notice home this week. Information can be also be found on the Multnomah County Library’s website.

Finally, this week marked the start of the State’s Smarter Balanced Assessment in English Language Arts. We’ll continue testing throughout the week (and possibly next) until the students finish. Please make sure your student receives a good night's sleep, eats a healthy breakfast, and is at school on time each day.

We spent a little time last week going through the practice site to familiarize them with the testing format and give them a sense of what to expect. We’ve also talked with them about doing their best work, without putting any undue pressure on themselves.

Thank you. Please reach out if you have any questions. Jill

Notes from Mrs. Redmond - 3rd Grade

This time of year always amazes me because it seems to fly past so fast. There is a lot we will be packing into the last two months of school. There was a lot of energy in the class last week, which resulted in assigned carpet spots, among other changes. We had big talks about being respectful and doing their best to make sure they, as well as their classmates are able to do their best learning. This week has gone much smoother. Thank you to everyone who has help to reinforce the high expectations I have for them, as well as our school rules.

Writing: This week we are doing final edits and then publishing our non-fiction pieces. From black holes to Larry Bird to the Titanic, these kids have taught me a lot with their writing. April is poetry month, so after the long weekend, we will be doing a mini poetry unit.

Math: The kids have become whizzes at adding and subtracting large numbers using multiple methods, including the traditional algorithms. Up next, we will be working on fractions.

Social Studies: We watched a fascinating OPB documentary last week on Vanport and worked on note taking and then turning those notes into complete sentences. Ask them to teach you a little about the city and what happened to what was once a thriving community.

Science: We took a break from science, but hopefully, will be working to wrap up some more experiments on states of matter within the next week or so.

Art: Art Night is May 3rd and we will be working to complete several lovely pieces. It is such a special night, I can’t wait to see all of the installments.

Testing: We started the first round of our state testing yesterday and the kids did great. Thank you for making sure they were all at school on time, well rested, with full tummies. Next week we will work on the ELA performance task and then the math portion will be given the first part of May.

Reminders

No school this Friday as it is a teacher planning day
Walking field trip to Reed College on May 4th.  Please return the permission slip I sent home regarding Scratch accounts.
I’m excited for these last few months with these amazing kiddos.

Notes from Ms. Elissa – 4th Grade

Students are finishing up the ELA CAT (Reading) portion of the Smarter Balanced Assessment this week.  Next week, students will take the Writing Performance task which asks them to read several articles and do a longer writing piece about them.  We will examine the practice test online to get our minds prepared for the task ahead.

In math, we are taking a deeper look at geometry by measuring angles with protractors, and learning some of the unique properties of triangles.  Protractors can be a tricky tool, but students have been having a lot of fun with them so far!

In writing, students are revising, editing, and getting ready to publish their persuasive essays.  Get ready to be persuaded!  There are some very convincing arguments being crafted in here.

Our field trips are approaching soon!  We will walk to Reed College on Friday, April 20th to take a tour of the campus, see the reactor, and look at the fish ladder.  On Monday, April 23rd, we will take a school bus to the Oregon Historical Society to tour the Oregon, My Oregon exhibit.  If you signed up to be a chaperone, look for an email from me later this week!

Finally, we are gearing up to launch our Japanese American unit next week!  We will be doing a lot of creating during this unit, so if you have popsicle sticks, empty spools, foil, beads, pipe cleaners, or any other odds and ends lying around, please send them in!

Thank you for all that you do!  Ms. Elissa

Notes from Ms. Rotwein - 4th Grade

I hope you and your family had a lovely and restful Spring Break!  Here's the news from Room 22:

Math:  We began our new geometry unit last week.  Students have been learning about how to measure angles with pattern blocks and with a protractor.  Next week, we will be studying the interior angles of triangles.  Times tables quizzes are now twice a week.  Please help your child be successful by having him/her practice for ten minutes each evening.

Reading:  This week and next week, students are taking the English Language Arts portions of the Smarter Balanced Assessment.  Please make sure your child is arriving to school on time and well-rested.

Writing:  Students are currently working on rough drafts of their persuasive essays.  They are adding in more evidence and revising their writing prior to typing final drafts next week.

Social Studies:  Last week, students presented their timeline markers about Black History in Oregon.  On Friday, we watched a documentary on OPB about the same topic.  We will be starting our Japanese American unit next week.

Thanks to everyone who joined us on our field trip to the Oregon Historical Society today!  The History Hub is a fabulous exhibit that is all about Oregon's diverse history. 

Next Friday, April 20th, we will be taking a walking field trip with Ms. Elissa’s class down to Reed College.  We will be taking a campus tour and visiting science laboratories.We will leave Lewis at 9:00 AM and return around 1:30 PM.  Students will be bringing lunches with them and eating on the college campus.

The trip is free and we can bring as many chaperones as we want!  As we will be divided into two groups, the more adults the better.  If you would like to join us, please email me at arotwein@pps.net to let me know. 

Notes from Mr. Richner- 4^th-5^th Grade

Greetings!

We had an absolutely delightful time at outdoor science camp at Camp Trickle Creek last week. The weather cooperated nicely. We hiked. We did nature activities. We had a lovely campfire and songs. All in all, it was an outstanding outing. I hope you heard the stories. Here are some photos from camp (bit.ly/sci-camp). Back at school, kids shared their favorite episodes from camp through a creative dramatics activity called freeze frame. Thank you to Mrs. Zimmerman for teaching our fourth graders while we were away. They were abuzz with stories of art activities, science, and circuits when we returned!

Looking ahead, we have a number of field trips scheduled…so have your team t-shirt ready! We are off to see the Portland Youth Philharmonic at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall this Wednesday. Then we head to the Oregon Historical Society on the 20th. You are welcome to join us for a Reed College campus tour on Tuesday, April 24th, sponsored by the folks at Reed Science Outreach. They will show us some chemistry demonstrations, we’ll get a tour of the nuclear reactor, check out some of the biology labs, and get a campus and dorm tour. We will leave Lewis at 9:00 a.m. and return after eating lunch on the campus. We should be back to Lewis at around 1:30. We will need a couple of chaperones to make the trip a go. Please RSVP to let me know if you can attend by Monday, April 16th. A fourth trip is for the fifth graders to visit Sellwood Middle School on Wednesday, April 25th. Please also have this permission slip signed and returned by Monday, April 16th. They will be welcomed in the gym and then head out on tours led by middle school student leaders.

The first of four rounds of state standardized testing will begin next week. Please have your kid to school well rested and with a good breakfast in them. We are working through some practice tests as a team so that kids have an idea of how the first tests will be administered and formatted and what sort of questions to expect. If you are planning to opt your child out of state standardized testing, you may get a form from the school office or via this link (bit.ly/SBAC-OPT-OUT). Opt out forms must be turned in by Monday morning. Kids who have opted out will be working on some alternate activities during our testing time.

Please follow us on Twitter @LewisRoom20 and at LewisRoom20.blogspot.com for photos and regular updates!   Mark

Notes from Ms. Speer - 5th Grade

Science Camp was a complete success and we had a blast!  The weather was great and the scenery was beautiful. We hiked, explored nature, and experienced engaging science lessons.  Thank you to everyone for fundraising and working hard to make this all possible. Don’t forget to send camp tuition checks my way.  Please make checks payable to Lewis Elementary or pay online.

For these last few months of school I will try to keep you updated each Wednesday with upcoming events. Find these updates on our classroom blog...

-We are scheduled to begin the Smarter Balanced Assessment this week.  Please contact me with questions, comments, or concerns.

-No school this Friday, April 13th.  It is a teacher work day since we are at the end of our 3rd quarter.  Report cards will go home next week. If you still have the report card envelope from last quarter, please make sure you sign and return those.  I am only missing a few

-We also need volunteers for our upcoming walking field trip on Thursday, April 26th. We will visit Reed College for a campus tour. We’ll get a tour of the science labs, the nuclear reactor, and the dorms.  A few of our Reedies volunteered to show us a few chemistry demonstrations too! We will leave Lewis at 9:00am and return after eating lunch on campus.  We will be back to school by 2:00pm. Please let me know if you are able to join us.

Notes from Ms. Sarah Kohn - 5th Grade

Happy Wednesday to you all! First, let me say what a wonderful time we had at camp. It was so great to see the learning and fun that was had! It was also so nice for us to bond as a community and to be able to play together, sing and be silly! Thank you all for doing your part to make it happen. Today we went on another adventure, which was a lot of fun! We journeyed to the Portland Youth Philharmonic and it was great! Such talent! This week we also got to see a preview of the Talent Show, which was terrific! Hopefully you can come see the show on Thursday night at 6:30. We started state testing this week. We began with the science portion this week. We will continue next week and throughout the coming weeks, until we are finished. If  you have any questions about testing, or the testing schedule, please let me know. Speaking of assessments, we have will be working on report cards Friday, so there isn't school that day. I want to let you know about an upcoming walking field trip we have next week. Thursday, we will be walking to Reed College to visit the campus and do a tour. You are welcome to join us. I will send a note home soon with specifics. I know we are going in the morning, but don't have the time, yet. Also, look for a permission slip coming home about a trip 5th grade is taking to visit Sellwood. We will be going on April 25th. We need to have that slip signed and returned right away. Man, is there a lot happening! Thank you all for everything you do. I love working with this group of kids!

Notes from Mr. Post - Room 7

During Share Time this week, students are sharing their passages about their favorite kind of weather. They also made rainbows and drew pictures of something they like to do in their favorite weather, and these are on display on the bulletin board at end of primary hallway. For Math, we are working on a story problems unit, plus doing end of grading period assessments. For Writing, students are working on High-Frequency Words, Edit-It packets, and Grammar and Writing Practice. For Science, we have continued to graph the high and low temperatures and the type of weather each day. We also have been checking our rain gauge, and over the stormy weekend it rained two inches! This week for Science, students worked in groups of two to draw outlines of shadows in the morning and afternoon, then look at how the length and direction changed. For Reading, leveled groups are reading books about our new unit, “Something has Changed”, which explores the positive and negative changes people make to the environment.

Last week the fifth graders went to outdoor school at Trickle Creek near Salem. On Thursday, Mr. Post took the fifth graders from Room 7 down there for a day trip. When we arrived, we found their schoolmates finishing an activity, then joined them for lunch. After lunch, we hiked around on the trails and saw a pond, birds, banana slugs, and newts. Then it was time to do some life science activities, including playing an animals and resources game, observing the bones of herbivores and carnivores, and learning about the adaptations of beavers. After that, we got in the van and had some snacks on the way back home to Portland.

Music News from Mr. Jamesbarry

Welcome back 5th graders! I’ve been checking in with the 5th grade group and it sounds like it was another great camp experience.

With the first week of April in the books, we get that much closer to Art Night on Thursday May 3rd. All three groups will be performing for the event. The this first performance so close, every rehearsal becomes that much more important. This week I’m asking for all band members to come to both Tuesday and Thursday rehearsals. Boomin’ Beats will meet on Wednesday after school this week as there is no school on Friday. Recorder Club will meet at it’s usual time, Thursday before school. Remember, daily home practice is crucial at this time of year. A student practicing just 10-15 minutes a day can make tremendous improvement.

Meriwether Lewis Elementary School  Weekly Letter               

April 4, 2018                

Upcoming Dates:

Apr 5- Bottle Drop Collection 845am
Apr 6- Walk and Roll
Apr 10- PTA Meeting 6:30pm
Apr 12- Talent Show 6:30pm
Apr 13- No School for Students, Teacher Planning Day
Apr 18- Late Start- Monochromatic Day

Message from Ms. Glasgow
Welcome back from what I hope was a restful (or at least fun-filled) Spring Vacation)!
We have settled right back in to the swing of things at Lewis. I want to give you a few reminders for the upcoming weeks:

SBAC Testing:

Our 3rd-5th grade students will be starting statewide Smarter Balanced testing next week. As a reminder, here is the general schedule for testing (exact dates and times will vary by class):

Students will only be testing during specific days/time windows during each of these designated weeks--your classroom teacher may provide you with more details about your classroom's schedule. Our teachers have done a great job preparing students with the knowledge they need to navigate these assessments. The best thing you can do to support students with SBAC testing over the next few months is to ensure that they are at school on time every day, well-fed and well-rested. If you would like more information about the SBAC tests, you can go to this link. If you have chosen to opt your children out from the SBAC assessments (and have submitted opt out paperwork), we will provide alternate work and space for your children during assessment periods.

PTA Meeting & Literacy Workshop:
Also, the PTA's monthly meeting will be held next Tuesday at 6:30 pm. At that meeting, I will provide a mini-lesson on our school-wide Balanced Literacy curriculum for those of you who would like to better understand the way we teach reading and writing at Lewis. 

Wishing you a happy rest of the week and eventual spring sunshine!!
Emily
 

Bottle Drop is this Thursday before school!
Pick up a blue bag in the office, fill up with clean returnable bottles, drop off in front of Lewis before school tomorrow.

Did you know you can turn the blue bags in yourself? Fill a blue bag, go by any Bottle Drop location, including the one only 2 miles from Lewis at SE King and Linwood!  Use the barcode on the blue bag to scan open the drop off door, throw the bag in, and Lewis gets the money!

Check out www.BottleDropCenters.com for a full list of locations and for details on what containers are worth $.10 each for Lewis.

Music Notes from Mr. J
I hope everyone had a fantastic Spring Break. If you stuck around Portland, I know the weather wasn’t the greatest, but we did have a couple of nice days there towards the end. Now that we are back, we need to turn our attention to Art Night. Yes, that is just around the corner. In fact Art Night will be Thursday May 3rd from 6:30PM - 8:00PM. The Recorder Club, 5th Grade Band and the Boomin’ Beats will be performing. I will send out the performance schedule later this week to families and post it by next week outside the music room. With the upcoming performance, it means that all remaining rehearsals become that much more important. Please try to have your student attend all scheduled rehearsals. This week all 5th grade Band members will only meet Tuesday from 3:00-4:00PM. Thursday Recorder Club will meet at 8:00AM. And the Boomin’ Beats will meet Friday from 3:00PM-4:00PM (tired 5th Grade campers are excused of course). See you in the Music Room.

Nominate your Teacher as Educator of the Year - Click here to learn more!

https://www.lewispta.org/we-love-lewis-teachers

EARTH DAY FAIR April 21st 9AM-12PM!

We need volunteers, STORE BOUGHT baked goods (PPS no longer will allow homemade goods to be sold on school property), and plant donations.  Learn more about this here: https://www.lewispta.org/earth-day-fair

Signup genius for this event: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090e4eaaa62aa0f49-garden

Now is the time to pot up those extra plants to donate to the sale. If you need pots, you’ll find some in a wagon near the office, and if you have extra pots, leave them in the wagon for others.

And most important: Bring friends, share on social media, and come and shop!

The SafeOregon Tip Line Aims to Increase Student Safety

In keeping with our commitment to student safety, last October PPS joined school districts across the state in using the SafeOregon Tip Line. We want to remind you about this important resource.

SafeOregon was funded by the Oregon Legislature as part of a statewide effort to improve school safety. It provides a secure means for anyone to anonymously report suspicious or imminently unsafe situations, such as threats of violence, fights, drugs and alcohol, weapons, bullying, harassment, intimidation or self-harm.

Anyone, from students to parents to community members, can access the system in a variety of ways, including:

The “Report unsafe behavior” button found on every PPS school’s website

The SafeOregon website

A live call/text (844-472-3367)

An email to tip@safeoregon.com

The mobile app that can be downloaded from your Smart Phone via iTunes or  Google Play

Trained staff are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to respond.

Please be sure to share this information with your friends and family. Remind your students: If you see or hear something, say something – immediately.  Let’s work together to keep our community safe.

Lost and Found & Clothes Closet
Please check the lost and found, there are a lot of jackets hanging up right now.  We also could use some help taking lost jackets down to the rack and hanging them up each week.  If you can help us out, please see Tracy or Kathleen in the office.  Lewis also keeps an assortment of clothes in a closet for kids who need a change of clothes.  If you can help us with organizing that closet, we could use your help.
 

Come join the Lewis PTA Board!

PTA Board elections are coming up April 10th and we are looking for a few good people who want to support and guide the great programs our PTA sponsors.  From funding arts and technology in the classrooms to fun community events, this is a wonderful way to make a difference for all the kids at Lewis!

In particular we are looking for a PTA President or two CoPresidents, a Fundraising CoCoordinator and a CoTreasurer, although all positions are open to those interested.  For more information about Board position descriptions and frequently asked questions, please go to the PTA website at

https://www.lewispta.org/current-leadership for the FAQs and to

https://www.lewispta.org/nominations-for-leadership for the position descriptions.

If you are interested in nominating yourself or someone else, please contact Derica Waller at Dericawaller@gmail.com
 

SCIENCEPALOOZA! Lewis Family STEAM Night

A new free event is coming the evening of May 15th!  SCIENCEPALOOZA! is a celebration of the sciences and scientific inquiry. The PTA sponsored event will feature interactive STEAM based activities for parents and students to explore together. There will be stations with interactive projects led by Lewis students, parents, and local area scientists. STEAM = Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Mathematics.

Calling 4th and 5th graders! We invite you to help run interactive project stations at the event. To learn about the projects and prepare, you will have the opportunity to work with Science Mentors from Reed College at a workshop prior to the event. Sign up forms will be available in the main office.

We also need parent volunteers to help make this a successful event. Sign up to run a station during the event, help with Science Mentor workshops, event advertising, set-up/clean-up, and more! If you are you a scientist, an artist that collaborates with scientists, know of local scientists or organizations we should invite to run a station, or simply want to be a part of this great event, we would appreciate your help!

Want to volunteer, run a station, have ideas or questions? Contact Susan Rosenkranz: susan.rosenkranz@gmail.com

Mike’s Pruning & Tree Care gives back to Lewis!
For parents of students at Lewis Elementary School they will donate 10% of each job they do for a Lewis Parent to Lewis School.  Just show them a Lewis t-shirt, calendar, etc.
541-680-2777
Mike offers tree removals with free permits, tree pruning, hedge trimming, wind thinning, as well as 24/7 emergency services.

Lewis Shops, and Fundraisers, at Sugar Threads!

Lewis parent Jo Sampson, owner of Sugar Threads, is giving back to Lewis!

Sugar Threads is a local clothing boutique offering comfortable, affordable clothing for women and kids!

Date: Sunday, April 15^th
Hours: 11-3
20% of purchases donated to Lewis Elementary

Address: 6021 SE 72nd Ave
www.shopsugarthreads.com

April 22, 2018 - Sellwood Middle School Foundation 5K Run/Walk for Education.
All proceeds benefit the SELLWOOD MIDDLE SCHOOL FOUNDATION which raises funds to support the amazing Elective Programs at Sellwood Middle School. Race registration is $25 and t-shirts will be available for purchase on-site. Raffle tickets for great prizes from local businesses are $5 each or 5/$20. To register online or for more information, please go to https://sellwoodmiddle.ejoinme.org or contact Lemmy Cooper with questions at lemmy.cooper@gmail.com

 Notes from Ms. Allen- Kindergarten

Ms. Allen is out ill, and will send home notes this Friday.

Notes from Ms. Kennedy - Kindergarten

Welcome back everyone! I hope your Spring Break was full of rest, relaxation, and reading. We are settling back into our kindergarten routine in Room 4. As an added bonus, we now have Ms. Connolly in the classroom five days a week! The plan is for Ms. Connolly to take over more of the teaching as I provide support during the day. This is a cooperative teaching arrangement, and I think we will all benefit from it!

With the start of a new month, students are selecting new Reading Partners and received a new set of leveled books for their book tubs. It is very rewarding to hear the sentences that students can now read. We are using all of our reading powers to tackle words and figure out their meaning. Please continue to practice at home, even if it means reading the same book over and over again :)

After evaluating recent assessments, students have been placed in new Words Their Way groups. There are four groups, each one with a different focus and target skill. You can help your child with these spelling patterns by going over the work that comes home, as well as writing as often as possible! During Writing Workshop, we have begun a study on whales. Students watch videos about the creatures, then turn and talk with their shoulder partner. They discuss observations and ask questions. One of the things we’ve learned so far is that there are two types of whales: baleen and toothed. Students are filling in personal whale books with facts and illustrations.

In Math, we continue to add and take apart bigger numbers. We have been working on looking at the pattern that odd and even numbers make, and figuring out that any number with an even number in the one’s place must be an even number!

As Art Night approaches, you may wonder where all of our weekly art projects have gone. I am holding back on hanging up artwork so there can be a big reveal during Art Night. If you are new to Lewis, I think you’re in for a real treat on Thursday, May 3rd.

Weekly photos posted https://mskennedyroom4.blogspot.com/ Thank you one and all!

Notes from Teacher Leslie - Kindergarten

Welcome back families!

I hope you all had a restful and relaxing Spring Break.  I am happy to see more healthy faces back at school and hope we can remain germ free until the end of the year!

At this point in the year, students gain independence in reading and writing and it has been amazing to see the progress they have made in the last couple months.  In writing we are becoming authors and creating books to share with the class. In reading we are becoming avid readers who can’t stop reading!

Our new math centers include a bucket of frogs and building with polydrons.  The students love using their imagination while building and sorting. We will begin working with math story problems.  Both solving and creating story problems is a fun and challenging math activity on the horizon.

We have been doing some fun activities in technology with Mr. Mark.  We explored with Scratch Jr. which is a visual programming language designed to introduce coding skills to children.  This program helps children learn to think creatively and reason systematically. Another fun program we have been exploring is Chrome Music lab.  This is a website that makes learning music more accessible through fun, hands-on experiments. Check it out at home!

We are looking forward to our April 20th field trip to the Oregon Children’s Theater!  We will be reading lots of Eric Carle stories to prepare for The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show.
 

Notes from Teacher Dana -- 1st Grade

Hello Room 3 Families. There is so much news to catch up on. I hope you all had a fun and restful break. Mine certainly was! I wanted to shares some photos of things from the past few weeks.

Please check out this info with attached photos at teacherdana.wordpress.com

We did our final science lesson for our unit on the work of water. This unit helped students develop the idea that water is a powerful force that reshapes the earth’s surface. Students learned  that water isn’t just something we drink. It carries sand to create beaches, carves out canyons and valleys and, as ice, scrapes entire areas flat. In our experiment on erosion we learned how water creates canyon using cornmeal.After this lesson, we culminated the unit with a wonderful presentation from Peyton's dad, John on the structure and design of bridges. We then got to design and build our own toothpick and marshmallow bridges. It was so much fun!

In Writer's Workshop, we did our final unit celebration by sharing our book series with our buddy class. The kids were so incredibly proud of their work and I was so proud of them. They really took this so seriously and got so much out of the sharing of their work.

Another big event we shared along with all the students at Lewis was our March for Peace and Kindness. It was an incredibly emotional and powerful day. My emotions that day ran the gambit from anger to empowerment, from despair to hope but at the end of the day, just a lot of love for these kids and this community we call Lewis. It was great to have parents and other folks from the community come out to support us and to march with us. Thank You!

Notes from Ms. Logue- 1^st Grade

I hope you had a wonderful Spring Break! I spent time with my family visited with friends and did a lot of "Spring Cleaning":) I am very happy to see the students again and look forward to our next three months together! This week we welcome April with it’s blustery skies and the return of buds and blossoms everywhere. Our 6 and 7 year olds are noticing the Spring changes in their environment and will soon enjoy more visits to the Lewis Outdoor Classroom and our upcoming field trip to Tryon Creek State Park. Insects under rocks, buds and plants growing such as the pussy willow branches and cherry blossoms in our classroom Science Center. We are reminded to use our senses to make discoveries! What can you learn when looking, smelling, or touching? On Monday, the students started the day writing accounts of their holidays and it sounds like they connected, relaxed and made memories! Your First Grader has been working hard to be responsible for their learning. In math we are in the middle of our Penguin Measurement Unit and are continuing to explore connected Work Places, (math games). Delving into explorations in geometry is our next math focus, fractions for First Graders:) This week students will begin learning about writing nonfiction books and reading nonfiction books with writing elements to explore. It is awesome to have such beautiful, spring weather and we are taking advantage of it with "short but sweet" brain breaks at least twice a day. Room 6 First Graders love to play make believe, throw and catch balls, climb monkey bars, blow bubbles and make daisy chains. We could use some more bubble liquid, wall balls and/or soft balls if you would like to donate any or all:) Thanks for all you do!
CLASSROOM PHOTOS: twitter@AnneAbuckley
mrslogue.wordpress.com
 

Notes from Mrs. Jamesbarry - 1st Grade

Welcome back! I hope everyone had a fun-filled and restful Spring Break. It’s hard to believe we are just a few months from the end of the school year. The spring will be busy with lots of math, writing and science. We have switched our literacy focus to nonfiction and informational texts. We will be reading lots on nonfiction books with the goal of getting really smart about all sorts of things. In addition to the reading, we will be writing nonfiction or teaching books. We have been brainstorming topics, planning our writing across our fingers (ask your student to show you how!), writing our headings, and now we are finally getting to the best part - writing all of the things we know!

We have a field trip to Tryon Creek State Park coming up on Monday, April 23rd from about 9:30 - 1:30. Permission slips will be coming home soon. We can only have a limited number of chaperones on this trip, so if you’re interested in going let me know asap. We will have at least one more field trip in May to a play. I will work to make an equitable choice.

Last call for volunteers! All are welcome to come work with readers, writers and mathematicians. I will put a calendar/schedule up outside the classroom door. Please sign up - just 30 minutes can be really helpful to students.
Cheers!  Ms. Sarah

Notes from Ms. Murphy - 2nd Grade

I just wanted to start out by asking you all to start following our class on Twitter!  We are @MurphyRoom5.  I try to take photos and share what is going on in our classroom a few times a day.  It is fun to take a peek into our day and especially exciting when you can see your own special child working hard. This is also a great way to start a conversation with your child about their day. 

Writing:  We worked very hard on our Nonfiction stories the past month!  I am keeping copies of their final nonfiction books they created until after the next report card.  I will send them home as soon as I have assessed them all for the next grading period.  This week we started poetry.  On Monday, the students decorated their very own poetry books using images and words from magazines.  On Tuesday, we used natural objects to inspire our first poems!  Students compared objects to other things like animals and went from there.  We shared our favorite lines from our poems in a “symphony share”.  Please feel free to send your child to school with a natural object as we will continue using these items as inspiration for the next week.

Math:  Our last unit on Geometry has concluded.  Students worked hard on their Math Work Places.  I sent home their last workplace packets yesterday.  So please take some time to look through them and have your child share what they worked on!   This week we launched Unit 5: Branching into Larger Numbers, Money and Place Value.  Students will be working extensively with numbers above 10.  We will work with money, groups of 10 and 5, adding and subtracting using a variety of strategies, story problems and we will write story problems as well. 

OMSI will be coming next week!  I will be sending a permission slip and asking for the fee.  Please get that back to us by Friday!

Notes from Ms. Leake- 2^nd Grade

This week we continue our investigation of Weather. Shortly before break, students learned about the water cycle. We built on the information we knew about how clouds developed to come up with the parts of the water cycle.  We knew that the sun warms up the water and evaporates it. We learned that water then changes into a gas form and rises into the air. From our recipe for a cloud, we knew that as water vapor rises, the it condenses and droplets mix with dirt and pollen to form a cloud.  When the droplets cool, the fall from the sky as precipitation. Precipitation can be rain, snow, or a wintery mix.  Finally, all of the precipitation soaks into the ground as run off and flows to the local water sheds, like Johnson Creek. The sun warms up the water and the cycle begins again.

After students were familiar with the cycle, we linked our new knowledge with the nursery song, The Itsy Bitsy Spider.  We identified which parts of the Water Cycle went with which parts of the song. Then we were ready to make our own water cycles in a baggie. Students drew the cycle on a baggie. They put a Dixie cup in the bag to represent local lakes and added water to the cup. Student noticed that the water in the cup evaporated and rose into the air as a gas or water vapor.  When the water vapor warmed up, it condensed at the top of the baggie and formed a cloud.  We saw that when the droplets cooled, it began to rain. The water collected in the bottom of the baggie and they observed the runoff portion of the water cycle.

Next week, the 2nd grade classes in Rooms 5 and 12 will work with OMSI in a science inquiry based lab. OMSI brings their lab to Lewis to help the classes make predictions, create a hypothesis, experiments and then share their observations or results with the peers.  Students will perform amazing chemical reactions as they measure and mix ingredients and discover substances with the strange and surprising properties of polymers.  They will make two different slimy concoctions for big time chemistry fun. Students will learn about chemical reactions, states of matter, polymers, and procedures for running a safe lab.

Lewis 2nd graders will experience an adventure in science without leaving the classroom. OMSI  will come to each classroom for $6.00 per student.  Please send your check made out to Lewis or cash by next Wednesday.

Meriwether Lewis Elementary School Weekly Letter               

March 21, 2018            

Upcoming Dates:

Mar 22- Bonus Bottle Drop Collection 845am
Mar 22- Talent Show Auditions 3-5pm
Mar 26-30- Spring Break

Message from Ms. Glasgow
Wow!! So much CRAZY HAIR today! Once again, I was blown away by the creativity and spirit of our community. There were so many amazing 'dos today that we couldn't stop short at just one winner. We selected three winners per grade level. Winning students will be coming together as styling squads to fashion crazy hairdos for me later this week (K-2 winners on Thursday/3-5 winners on Friday). Thanks for your help supporting this fun day at home!

On a more serious note, I am wrapping up our staffing plan for next year and wanted to keep you in the loop on how things are looking for 2018-19. The overall news is that Lewis, like many schools in the district, is facing a reduction to our overall full-time equivalency (FTE) allocation next year. This reduction is a result of two major factors: (1) a new staffing allocation formula used by the district and (2) shifting demographics in our Lewis community. This reduction will result in larger class sizes in grades 2-5 (ranging from 27-31 students) and a decrease to supports outside of the classroom. While classes of this size would not be our preference, the current PPS staffing model allows for very little discretion at the building level. Allocations for homerooms, specials, and student supports have, in our case, all been centrally-designated. Here is a more detailed look at what will stay the same and what will change:

Homerooms: We will continue to have 3 kindergartens, 3-1st grades, 2-2nd grades, 1-2nd/3rd grade blend, and 2-3rd grades.  Next year, we will have just 2-4th grades and 2-5th grades.

Specials: We will continue to have a full-time music teacher, a full-time PE teacher, and a fully- staffed library (1/2 time Media Specialist & 1/2 time Media Assistant).

Office: We will shift from 2.0 secretaries to 1.5 secretaries. Ms. Kathleen will be reducing her hours to half-time. We are working on a plan to maintain our garden program in light of this reduction--we may be soliciting parent/community help with this priority.

Student Supports: We will still have a full-time counselor and our special education and ESL teacher allocations will remain the same. We will not be able to fund the additional support of a Reading Intervention teacher and an Educational Assistant that we funded this year. We will be able to keep Mrs. Zimmerman on-board three mornings a week to do math support for our blend and reading intervention for identified students. We do not yet know how many paraprofessionals will be allocated to our building to support students with special needs in general education classrooms. The staffing of Mr. Post's room will remain the same.

Coaching: We do not expect to have the in-house support of a Literacy Coach next year. We will still have a half-time Tech Smart coach.

If you have questions or concerns about the information presented here, please feel free to reach out. We are committed to ensuring that, despite reductions, your children continue to receive all of the academic instruction, support, and enrichment that they currently receive at Lewis. I have already started a conversation with the PTA about how we might be able to maximize our tremendous pool of parent volunteers to help support large classrooms and support programmatic gaps.
 

Talent Show auditions are tomorrow, Thursday, March 22, from 3:00- 5:00 in the cafeteria. Your child may leave after they audition with either a note giving permission, or you signing them out! Plan to send a snack along. We are looking forward to a great show!
Contact Sarah Kohn @ skohn@pps.net, if you have any questions.

Oregon Battle of the Books A big congratulations to the Ink Archers team that competed on March 10 at the regional OBOB competition! Way to go, Beckett, Billy, Jaxinn, Joe and Airamay! They worked so hard! While they did not advance to the state level, they did a fantastic job and had a lot of fun! We will be acknowledging their efforts later this week, as well as the accomplishments of each participant in OBOB this year. Next year's selections will be posted soon, so it's not too early to put a team together for next year!

Pre Garden Fair Plant Sale
Plant orders are due today, WEDNESDAY, 3/21. 

Lost and Found & Clothes Closet
Please check the lost and found, there are a lot of jackets hanging up right now.  We also could use some help taking lost jackets down to the rack and hanging them up each week.  If you can help us out, please see Tracy or Kathleen in the office.  Lewis also keeps an assortment of clothes in a closet for kids who need a change of clothes.  If you can help us with organizing that closet, we could use your help.
 

Staff Appreciation Dessert Extravaganza
The PTA is changing up staff appreciation this year. Rather than one intense week of celebration, we're celebrating on days throughout the year.

Thursday, March 22nd is the dessert extravaganza, when we shower the staff with love through chocolate (and other sweet treats). Bring in a dessert for the staff to enjoy throughout the day. Please include a note with any common food allergens in your treat.  Thanks!  Ellen

Come join the Lewis PTA Board!
PTA Board elections are coming up April 10th and we are looking for a few good people who want to support and guide the great programs our PTA sponsors.  From funding arts and technology in the classrooms to fun community events, this is a wonderful way to make a difference for all the kids at Lewis!  We must have a full board to have a PTA...

In particular we are looking for a PTA President or two CoPresidents, a Fundraising CoCoordinator and a CoTreasurer, although all positions are open to those interested.  For more information about Board position descriptions and frequently asked questions, please go to the PTA website at

https://www.lewispta.org/current-leadership for the FAQs and to

https://www.lewispta.org/nominations-for-leadership for the position descriptions.

If you are interested in nominating yourself or someone else, please contact Derica Waller at Dericawaller@gmail.com or come to the March 13th General PTA Meeting.  We'd love to see you there!

SCIENCEPALOOZA! Lewis Family STEAM Night
A new free event is coming the evening of May 15th!  SCIENCEPALOOZA! is a celebration of the sciences and scientific inquiry. The PTA sponsored event will feature interactive STEAM based activities for parents and students to explore together. There will be stations with interactive projects led by Lewis students, parents, and local area scientists. STEAM = Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Mathematics.

Calling 4th and 5th graders! We invite you to help run interactive project stations at the event. To learn about the projects and prepare, you will have the opportunity to work with Science Mentors from Reed College at a workshop prior to the event. Sign up forms will be available in the main office.

We also need parent volunteers to help make this a successful event. Sign up to run a station during the event, help with Science Mentor workshops, event advertising, set-up/clean-up, and more! If you are you a scientist, an artist that collaborates with scientists, know of local scientists or organizations we should invite to run a station, or simply want to be a part of this great event, we would appreciate your help!

Want to volunteer, run a station, have ideas or questions? Contact Susan Rosenkranz: susan.rosenkranz@gmail.com
 

Mike’s Pruning & Tree Care gives back to Lewis!
For parents of students at Lewis Elementary School they will donate 10% of each job they do for a Lewis Parent to Lewis School.  Just show them a Lewis t-shirt, calendar, etc.
541-680-2777
Mike offers tree removals with free permits, tree pruning, hedge trimming, wind thinning, as well as 24/7 emergency services.

Notes from Ms. Canales- 2^nd-3^rd Grade

March continues to be a wonderful month in Room 16!  What are we up to?

Reading: We are continuing Reading to Learn, our nonfiction unit. Students have been working on summarizing and solving hard words.
Writing: We are continuing The Art of Informational Writing. Students are drafting and editing their informational books.
Social Studies: Our Portland unit continues. We are beginning our discussion of Vanport.
Math: 2nd graders are working on Unit 5, which covers problem solving and multi digit addition and subtraction. 3rd graders are focusing on multiplication and division strategies.
Science: We are continuing our Changes unit where we will explore the scientific concepts behind changes we see every day. We’ve been discussing states of matter and experimenting with different solids and liquids.

Reminders:
Thank you for all of your kind words! I appreciate your support, I’m so lucky to be at Lewis!
Sign up to volunteer in room 16! There is a signup sheet posted by our classroom door.
I’m sending home a daily compliment to one family via email or Remind. Look out for one coming your way! 

Notes from Mr. Hansen/Ms. Brenan - 3^nd Grade

Hey all,  we are doing a lot of new fun learning.  We are winding up our study of persuasive writing and I am so gratified by how many different ways students have chosen to frame their messages to change the world.  We have poster campaigns, intellectual treatises, celebrations and philosophical dialogues, all intended to shape your thinking about how the world should be.  Look forward to a digital compilation of pieces coming your way.

Jill has been piloting a fascinating new set of curricular materials about the history of Vanport in the bigger picture of Portland's story.  The story of Vanport plays an important role in the changing face of Portland's commitment to fairness and diversity.

Soon we will have our last lesson with our Reed College mathematicians.  They are hoping to host us on their home ground for a celebratory wrap-up.  We are still settling on a final date but stay tuned for an invitation to join us.  We would greatly appreciate any adult who could join us for a walking field trip down to Reed.  Thanks, as always, Mark

Notes from Mrs. Redmond - 3rd Grade

We have been working hard to wrap up a lot this week prior to leaving for Spring Break. We finished our Unit 4 Math assessment

Monday we will be celebrating the completion of our nonfiction reading unit later in the week. Our expository writing process has moved into the revising and editing stages. Look for those to be published the first part of April.
Speaking of wrapping (or sewing) up, the students have been doing a great job sewing their quilt squares. My goal is for them to be done this week, so I have some time to piece it together over the break. If you can spare a few minutes Thursday or Friday of this week, please let me know as it would be great to have a few more grownups to help get them finished.

We started our new unit on Vanport this week, which I am very excited about. This is an area of Portland’s history, which I only became aware of quite recently, as an adult, and I feel lucky to be able to introduce and explore the topic with the kiddos.

Third grade marks the first year students participate in the Smarter Balance state testing. The first round, Language Arts computer adaptive test, is set to take place the week of April 9th. As this is the students’ first exposure to the testing, we will spend some time the prior week looking at the testing site and going through a practice test to familiarize them with the process. If you are choosing to opt your student out, please make sure you get the appropriate paperwork filled out and returned to the school office before April 9th.

Reminders:
Please help your student remember to bring a water bottle to school each day. Having a water bottle in the classroom helps to cut down on trips to the water fountain. They are welcome to leave it here throughout the week.

The afternoon of April 13th we will be having a walking field trip to Reed College for our last session of Reed College math with Sarah and Miranda. I will send more information as we get closer.

Art Night is May 3rd! Leading up to the event, I will gladly accept help with getting art finished up, matting it, and eventually hanging. Please let me know if you’re interested. More information to come.

I hope you all have a wonderful break! Please make sure your little ones are continuing to read each day, as well as taking some time to get outside and enjoy the nice weather that is expected. I definitely plan to do the same! See you in April!

Notes from Ms. Elissa – 4th Grade

We wrapped up our unit on fractions and this week I am sending home students' post-assessments.  Students did well overall, with a class average of 82%! Please take the time to review the test with your child, noticing where they were successful and what they still need to work on.  This particular assessment required a lot of labeled pictures and many students lost points for not labeling or explaining their sketches clearly.

When we return from break, students will be starting multiplication fluency checkups twice a week where they are asked to solve 40 problems in 2 minutes or less.  Last week, we took some time to see what it would feel like to attempt this feat and students made flashcards to practice.  Please support your child in memorizing these facts with regular practice for 10-15 minutes at a time.  We aim to have all facts through 12 mastered by the end of the year.

This week, students are completing their second natural disaster research project.  This time, students focused on strategies to compare and contrast information between their first and second topics.  We also practiced using a rubric to self score our work before submitting it to be graded.  It gave many groups a chance to make important changes independently!

In writing, students are outlining a second persuasive essay.  After spring break, students will choose which outline they would like to take through the rest of the writing process and publish. 

In social studies, we are covering Black History in Oregon.  We are using an article from the online Oregon Encyclopedia to build up some background knowledge on our state's historic laws and policies that deterred Black people from immigrating here.  Later this week, partners will take a closer look at specific individuals or events and create timeline markers for our giant timeline in the hall.

I hope you all have a delightful spring break!  Don't forget to read!-  Ms. Elissa

Notes from Ms. Rotwein - 4th Grade

We are spending this week wrapping up work ahead of Spring Break.  Here's what we are up to in Room 22:

Math:  The Unit 3 Post-Assessment went home with students on Monday.  Students certainly improved their understanding of fractions!  Last week we did a mini-unit on measurement conversions.  After the break, we will start Unit 4, which is on geometry.

Reading:  Students are finishing up their second extreme weather research projects.  This time, students are sharing their learning by creating a slide show on Google Docs.  Ask your child to show you at home what he/she has been working on!

Writing:  The last two weeks, students have been creating outlines for persuasive essays.  They have been learning about writing to a specific audience and choosing strong evidence.  When we come back from Spring Break, students will choose one of the outlines to turn into a completed essay.

Social Studies:  Last week, we began our unit on Black History in Oregon.  Students learned about the history of exclusionary laws and policies, as well as individuals and groups who challenged those policies and made a positive impact on our state.  This week, students are doing research and presenting timeline markers to their peers.

Upcoming dates:  We will be taking a field trip to the History Hub exhibit at the Oregon Historical Society on Wednesday, April 11th.  I will send home permission slips on the Monday after break.  If you would like to come along as a chaperone, there are five spots available and they are first come, first serve.

I've noticed an alarming amount of absences and tardies lately.   We do so much work in the 4th grade, and even a few hours of school missed is hard for kids to catch up on.  When children get to school late, they start the day behind and out-of-sorts.  Please help your child be successful by getting him/her to school at 8:40 every day.

I hope you have a lovely Spring Break, see you in April!

Notes from Mr. Richner- 4^th-5^th Grade

Greetings!

We have been busy and productive in room 20. We celebrated Women’s Day on March 8th with a whole day learning about how women have changed our world. We began with a focus on kids as change makers, learning about Malala Yousafsai and Mari Copeny. Then we shared our own interview stories about important women in our lives. We began this sharing by facetiming with my Grandma about what school was like for her and how women’s rights have changed during her lifetime. Kids then shared in small groups and in a circle as a whole team. Thank you for supporting your kid with completing their interview. I loved hearing their stories! During the afternoon, kids read books about important women in history from the Lewis Library and the Multnomah County Library. We finished our day with an art activity; kids wrote a takeaway and added watercolor. You can see the collection from all third, fourth, and fifth grades on display between rooms 16 and 17.

On March 14th, our school held a March for Peace and Kindness (bit.ly/team20-peace). We gathered as a school for a short assembly during which some kids from Team 20 and other intermediate grades shared their hopes for peace and kindness. We then joined together in a song led by Mr. Jamesbarry before walking out to the playground by classes carrying signs that we created to share our hopes for peace and kindness and walking two loops of the yard.

Congratulations to the many Team 20 members involved in the wonderful Lewis School Play. My family enjoyed Thursday night’s performance. Twyla returned home from the show and did an interpretive dance and then balled herself up on the ground and said she was a rock. Norah Lee pretended to take a nap on the couch and said she was dreaming of dragons. I think that the school play is part of the heartbeat of Lewis. I am always struck by what an amazing opportunity the play is for kids each year. Thank you so much to Ms. Tori, Mr. Jamesbarry, Mr. Colvin, Ms. Angela, Levi, and families for making this possible.

For Oregon History, we completed a mini-unit about Westward Expansion. We watched a National Geographic and a PBS video on Lewis and Clark and the Oregon Trail while taking some notes.

Thank you for returning the field trip form for our April 20th Oregon Historical Society trip and our April 11th Portland Youth Philharmonic trip. Thank you, too, for returning the overnight/wildnerness permission slip for Fifth Grade Science Camp. If the school has not yet received your Science Camp payment, please send in a check or pay online using SchoolPay. The full cost of camp is $160. Information about using SchoolPay for this was sent home some time ago. If you have questions about using SchoolPay, please call the office at 503-916-6360. We are so excited for camp!

An email about state testing was sent from the school this week. It looks like testing will now begin after spring break. If you are planning to opt your child out of these standardized tests, a state testing opt-out form is available in the Lewis office and at this link: bit.ly/SBAC-OPT-OUT. The district states that teachers can neither promote nor discourage participation in state testing; that opting out is a parent decision. However, if you have any questions about the tests, please do not hesitate to ask.

A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to be on a panel at The Children’s Book Bank about why all children need books featuring diverse characters. I enjoyed hearing the panelists and sharing the work being done by Team 20 and at Lewis on this important topic. This thread (bit.ly/BooksOpenMinds) includes a link to a nice write up about the evening and links to a couple of great articles that were mentioned during our talk.

We will have a read-a-thon this Friday! Kids will be able to enjoy a full day of reading in our room. For this reading event, kids are welcome to bring a few things to make them comfy while reading. They may bring a pillow, a blanket, and wear pajamas.

Please follow us on Twitter @LewisRoom20 and at LewisRoom20.blogspot.com for photos and regular updates!
Mark

Notes from Ms. Speer - 5th Grade

Spring break is only days away and we have a busy week!  A few weeks back we began preparing fabric for our classroom quilt.  Yes, quilt! It’s an ambitious project but the kids and I are very excited!  The first week, students planned, measured, and cut the fabric for each of their quilt blocks.  This is a fun and relevant way to integrate math and art. Last week students used a stem stitch to hand sew their quilt blocks.  Stay tuned for photos and reports from your children. This completed quilt will be displayed at Art Night on May 3rd. Once again, thank you to my two volunteers that are making this all happen!

Also, coming up this week, is a Reading Marathon.  This will take place Friday, March 23rd. Students may wear pajamas and bring their favorite cozies.  Students will need to have shoes with them to wear out to recess and to put on for bathroom breaks :) Please encourage students to bring favorite books to share.

We leave for camp the week after Spring Vacation. We will be heading to camp on Wednesday morning, April 4th, soon after the second bell.  Students should arrive at regular time. Don’t be late!! All clothing, bedding, and equipment should be in labeled bags.  These labels should include your child’s full name, school, and teacher. (example--Lily Roberts-Lewis- Nat) I would suggest using masking tape and a permanent marker in case it gets wet. We will return from camp on Friday, April 6th at approximately 1:30pm.  Students may be picked up at this time or they can wait inside of the classroom until 3:00pm.

Please make sure you review the supply list and let me know if there is anything you need.  Students should pack a variety of clothing because the weather may be warm and/or rainy. I recommend bringing multiple pairs of socks and other clothing that may get wet.  Don’t forget that students are not allowed to bring any type of digital device, not even for the bus ride. Please make sure they leave all devices at home so we don’t have to take them away. 

I will send home another copy of the ‘Clothing and Equipment List’ on Friday so you have plenty of time to pack over break.  *We are hoping to collect all camp tuition by Spring Break so please send that in when you can. Checks should be made out to Lewis Elementary and feel free to use SchoolPay if that’s easier. Have a fabulous Spring Break and I’ll see you in April!

Notes from Ms. Sarah Kohn - 5th Grade

Happy Wednesday! I think I speak for everyone when I say we are all excited about the upcoming break! It has been a really busy time and everyone seems like they are tired. We had a meaningful gathering and march for Peach and Kindness last Wednesday. It filled my heart to see the sentiments on posters, listen to the children sang, and witness the beautiful poems! The drama performance was amazing! Tori Paddleford does such tremendous work with the kids and everyone shined! This week we are wrapping up loose ends. We are finishing up our opinion pieces, some of which will be mailed to our president, or delivered first hand to our representatives in Washington D.C. next week! In math we are working on multiplying fractions. We will finish our fraction unit with diving fractions, which we will learn right after break! We are also wrapping up our work with non-fiction this week. We will be ready to start fresh after break! Speaking of after break, we are heading to camp when we get back. I still have a handful of families who need to get their camp payment turned in. Please either send in a check, or use SchoolPay to take care of that right away. Keep an eye out for packing sheets to come home. Please remember to mark all items with your child's name and do NOT overpack. Space on the bus is limited. We are only gone for 2 nights! Permission slips for our upcoming trip the the Portland Youth Philharmonic were due today. If you have not yet returned that, please do so right away, also! This coming Friday we will be having a 5th grade Readathon in our rooms! We will spend the day immersed in books and reading. Kids are welcome to wear their jammies! If they would like to bring one small pillow, or a blanket, they are welcome to do that, as well. They will go outside for break and recess, so they need to have appropriate shoes! Finally, 5th Grade will delay the science portion of Statewide Testing until after we return from science camp. If you are planning to opt out your child for testing, those forms should be returned before testing begins, if possible. You can either download a form through the PPS website, or pick one up from the office. I wish you all a wonderful break. I hope the sun shines, you get some time to play and make some wonderful family memories!

Notes from Mr. Post - Room 7

Last week our class designed and made beautiful signs for Lewis School’s “March for Peace and Kindness” On March 14th we had an assembly and students followed Miss Glasgow’s lead to do sound effects that simulated a rainstorm. Then Mr. Colvin lead a sing-along of “Building Bridges”. After that, classes brought their signs outside and we chanted and marched around the field with families. When we returned to Room 7, we had a snack and a chat about it. During Share Time this week, each student is performing a puppet show of their fairy tale. For Math, we are finishing a unit on fractions and also doing some work with reading time and determining elapsed time.

For “Our Changing Weather” unit, each student is writing about his or her favorite kind of weather and what they like to do in it. Final drafts will be typed up on their Chromebooks and shared with the class. For Reading, leveled groups are working on Reading A-Z books and literacy packets about weather and climate. For Science, we have been graphing the high and low temperatures and the type of weather each day. We also have a new rain gauge that we set up outside of our window, and shouldn’t have to wait much longer to get enough rain to measure! For Art, we are going to do a “Signs of Spring” project that will be on display on the bulletin board at the end of the hallway in April. Last Monday, Miss Kathleen took groups of students to go observe the sprouting flower bulbs they planted last month, and the cilantro and spinach they planted last week.

Music News from Mr. Jamesbarry

I first want to acknowledge the wonderful 4th and 5th graders who had a part in this year’s play.

Their work was exceptional and inspiring. Over the four performances Wednesday through Saturday one could not help but notice the growth and confidence from each of these fine young artist. I was lucky enough to work directly with the musicians who learned nine pieces for this show and played them all with great musicianship. Congratulations to all.

We have 2 more days until Spring Break. And this week all before and after school music groups return to their regular rehearsal schedule. Band members will meet either Tuesday or Thursday at 3:00 PM. 3rd Grade Recorder Club will meet at 8:00 AM on Thursday. And the Boomin’ Beats will meet at 3:00 PM on Friday.

Meriwether Lewis Elementary School Weekly Letter               

March 14, 2018            

Upcoming Dates:
Mar 14- Lewis Dines Out- Laurelwood Public House
Mar 15 & 16 - Drama Production, 6:30pm
Mar 17- Drama Production 3:00pm
Mar 21- Late Start- Crazy Hair Day
Mar 22- Bonus Bottle Drop Collection 8:45am
Mar 26-30- Spring Break

* Talent Show Permission Slips Due Tomorrow 3/15

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
Door Opening and Closing Schedule:
All doors except the door to the back parking lot are open in the morning from 8:30-8:45am, and 2:55-3:15pm.
The door by the back parking lot is only open at dismissal time from 2:55-3:15pm.  The YMCA door is now the door to the playground between the gym and the cafeteria.  The front door is the only door open during school hours.  It is open from 7am-430pm, and visitors must check in at the office.
 

Message from Ms. Glasgow
Wow! I feel humbled and inspired by this morning's March for Peace and Kindness. What an amazing display of community, creativity, and student leadership! And, what a powerful message of peace, kindness, and hope! Thank you to all of our staff members and family members who supported our students' preparations for today and came out to join the march. For those of you who were not able to make it, you can view pictures of the assembly and the march at this link and on our Lewis Facebook and Twitter feeds. I'm proud to be a part of such a vibrant and caring community!

Talent Show Permission Slips Due Thursday!
The Talent Show is coming! Now is your chance to be a part of this great event. If you want to sign up, you need to pick up a permission slip in the office and have it returned by Thursday, March 15th! Each participant needs to turn in a signed permission slip. This year there are a couple of changes. Participants are welcome to be in one act only! Also, if you are in a group act, please submit your applications together, stapled.  Try-outs will be held, Wednesday, March 21st from 3:15-5:00. So grab your friends, dust of those dance shoes, tune your instrument, or warm up your singing voice and join in the fun! Try-out and rehearsals will be in the cafeteria! Finally, the talent show could not happen without the help of our parents! If you are available to help, please drop me an email, or stop by and let me know! I promise it is easy! I will absolutely need one parent to greet students as they arrive and get them signed in, as I won't be able to be there until a few minutes after 3:00!
If you have questions, please contact Sarah Kohn@ skohn@pps.net

Lewis Drama Production presents…
WRITTEN IN STONE
THREE SHORT WORKS

- OR -

THREE STORIES IN WHICH
STONES ARE CARVED, BOILED,
CLIMBED OVER, SHIMMIED
AROUND, DESPISED, LOVED
DREAMED ABOUT, AND
LISTENED TO

Ticket Prices:

Adult: $5

Children under 12: $2

March 15th @ 6:30 pm

March 16th @ 6:30 pm

March 17th Saturday Matinee @ 3:00 pm

Follow the link below to purchase tickets.  Seating limited to 175 seats per production.

https://pps.schoolpay.com/parent/mip/Mc62

**Please Note: Online ticket sales close 3 hours before curtain time

We want all that wish to see the production to attend.  Please see Tracy in the school office if the cost of show tickets would present a financial hardship.

Music and Tech Notes from Mr. J
There are some big changes this week to the before and after school music classes. There will be no 5th grade Band either Tuesday 3/14, or Thursday 3/16. Also there will be no 3rd Grade Recorder Club before school on Thursday 3/16. Finally, Boomin’ Beats will not meet after school Friday 3/17. “Why?”, you might ask. Well, the Lewis school play is in production week starting Monday. This means I’m in production week too, as I’m heading up the play’s orchestra. If you have time, please come out to see the great work these Lewis 4th and 5th graders are doing. They will give 3 performances. Thursday 3/16 and Friday 3/17 at 6:30PM. And a final show on Saturday 3/18 at 3:00 PM. You can get tickets online through School Pay. Hope to see you there. Here is the link- https://pps.schoolpay.com/parent/mip/Mc62


Pre Garden Fair Plant Sale
Order forms are went home last week for our pre-order plant sale.  Plant orders are due on March 20.  View plant selection at www.newleafgreenhouse.com.
 

Lost and Found & Clothes Closet
Please check the lost and found, there are a lot of jackets hanging up right now.  We also could use some help taking lost jackets down to the rack and hanging them up each week.  If you can help us out, please see Tracy or Kathleen in the office.  Lewis also keeps an assortment of clothes in a closet for kids who need a change of clothes.  If you can help us with organizing that closet, we could use your help.
 

Donations to the Oregon Food Bank will continue to be collected on Drama Production Nights this week!
Lewis is once again hosting Project Second Wind, the Oregon Food Bank’s annual food and fund drive.  Please consider bringing a donation of food or funds (checks made payable to The Oregon Food Bank) to the collection box on production night.
 

Staff Appreciation Dessert Extravaganza
The PTA is changing up staff appreciation this year. Rather than one intense week of celebration, we're celebrating on days throughout the year.
Thursday, March 22nd is the dessert extravaganza, when we shower the staff with love through chocolate (and other sweet treats). Bring in a dessert for the staff to enjoy throughout the day. Please include a note with any common food allergens in your treat.  Thanks!  Ellen

Come join the Lewis PTA Board!
PTA Board elections are coming up April 10th and we are looking for a few good people who want to support and guide the great programs our PTA sponsors.  From funding arts and technology in the classrooms to fun community events, this is a wonderful way to make a difference for all the kids at Lewis!

In particular we are looking for a PTA President or two CoPresidents, a Fundraising CoCoordinator and a CoTreasurer, although all positions are open to those interested.  For more information about Board position descriptions and frequently asked questions, please go to the PTA website at

https://www.lewispta.org/current-leadership for the FAQs and to

https://www.lewispta.org/nominations-for-leadership for the position descriptions.

If you are interested in nominating yourself or someone else, please contact Derica Waller at Dericawaller@gmail.com or come to the March 13th General PTA Meeting.  We'd love to see you there!

SCREENAGERS DOCUMENTARY -GROWING UP IN THE DIGITAL AGE
Thursday, March 15th - 7pm Sellwood Middle School Gym

The Sellwood Middle School PTA is very excited to bring the movie Screenagers to our community. SCREENAGERS is an award-winning documentary that probes into the vulnerable corners of family life and depicts messy struggles, over social media, video games, academics and internet addiction. Through surprising insights from authors and brain scientists solutions emerge on how we can empower kids to best navigate the digital world.

The cost to attend will be $5 per adult and FREE for children. Please pass this along to any family and friends that you think would be interested. We are inviting the whole community to join us.

To purchase tickets or learn more about the movie please follow this link:  https://impactflow.com/event/presented-by-sellwood-middle-school-pta-6902

Spring Spanish Classes- 
Spring term Spanish begins April 4th.  K-1st Grade classes are held in the mornings before school on Wednesdays and Fridays,  2-5th grade classes are held after school on Tuesdays.  More information available in flyers found in the office literature rack.

Meriwether Lewis Elementary School Classroom Notes

News and information from our classrooms...
March 14, 2018

Notes from Ms. Allen – Kindergarten

Happy Wednesday! Today we had our March for Peace & Kindness; It was absolutely beautiful and powerful. I have lots of pictures in case you were not able to attend.

Literacy: Reading and writing workshops are going well, it is has been nice seeing the kindergartners grow so much academically.

Science: I forgot to mention that the Tree Lady visited our classroom on March 1st.  Your child participated in a Talk About Trees program and made paper.  Everyone should have brought home their very own handcrafted paper. We are in the beginning stages of working on our Animal research project. This has been very exciting for all of us. It has been fun seeing your child do their own research. Please ask your child what animal are they researching.

Math:  We will continue working on a variety of math skills. During calendar for the month of March, we will continue to identify pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters by name and worth. We will also describe and extend simple growing patterns, and identify ordinal positions through the 31st. 

Reminders: On April the 20th we will be going to the Very Hungry Caterpillar show. We sent home permission slips last Friday, please return them back at your earliest convenience.  Also, please continue to send your child to school with a full water bottle from home each day. Don’t forget that spring break is the week of March the 26th.

Notes from Ms. Kennedy - Kindergarten

Thank you to all the dedicated volunteers and participants who made Saturday’s school auction such a success! There are so many components that go into making this type of event possible. The teachers and students at Lewis truly benefit from your efforts, and we are grateful for the tremendous support.

Last Friday, we finished up two weeks of bear study. The final booklets were filled with charming drawings of eight kinds of bears! The final page was reserved for writing and illustrating a new bit of information learned during our unit. One thing that really stuck is that a polar bear can stand 11 feet tall, while the sun bear is only the size of a large dog.

In Literacy, March Reading Partners have been sharing new sets of books. In individual book tubs, students now have a higher level of reading material. It is so exciting to listen to conversations about books, and hear them helping one another to figure out tricky words. When your child stumbles over a word and reads it incorrectly, one question to ask is, “Does that make sense?” Reading has to make sense. I am just amazed at the amount of independent reading that is going on in Room 4. Confidence is booming and the excitement is contagious!

On Monday and Tuesday, students at Lewis created personal signs for today’s school-wide walk. We talked about what the ideas of peace and love mean to each of us. Then we made our signs to be bold and easy to understand during a march. After a whole-school assembly this morning, we paired up with our Reading Buddies and walked around Lewis. I have been at Lewis since 2001, and there has never been an experience like this before. It will be a powerful moment for all.

Later in the afternoon, we once again met in the cafeteria for a school performance of the annual drama production. We have quite a few kindergarteners with a flair for the dramatic, so I expect to be seeing them on stage in several years!

Weekly photos posted https://mskennedyroom4.blogspot.com/ Thank you one and all!
 

Notes from Teacher Leslie - Kindergarten

In Reading Workshop this week we went book shopping.  The students filled their book tubs with just right books in preparation for a new reading unit.  Our new reading unit is called, Becoming Avid Readers. The goal of this unit is for the students to continue developing their interest and enthusiasm for reading so that reading becomes a lifelong love that extends beyond our school walls.  Yesterday we began by exploring the question, “What is an avid reader?”. Avid readers read a lot, find places everywhere to read, keep stacks of books waiting and more! Right away I saw students diving into their new books with some barely even looking up when I rang the bell to clean! It is so fun to see their excitement about reading grow! 

In Writing Workshop I have noticed students writing more and more.  I love seeing how excited they are to get their Writing Folders out and continue a story they were working on the day before.  Students are allowed to use the student stapler to put together books they’ve created. We are working on reading our work and putting the pages in the correct order before stapling pages together.  Our classroom is filled with creative authors!

In math we are working on coin value.  Both our calendar pieces and math games are centered around learning the coin names and values.  As an extra challenge can your student begin to add coins together?

Yesterday we made signs for our March for Peace & Kindness.  It was heartwarming to see the messages and symbols they chose to add to their signs.

Reminder:  Field trip form went home on Monday.  Our field trip isn’t until April 20th, but please try to return the forms and money ASAP.  We only have tickets for 5 parents per class so I took the first 5 to turn in their form.

Notes from Teacher Dana -- 1st Grade

We had so much fun celebrating Read Across America day last week. The kids have really become so independent at Readers Workshop. We also got to spend time with our buddy class and get to hear their presentations about weather. Wednesday is our march for Peace and Kindness. It was so much fun making our signs and really thinking about what makes a kind and peaceful community.  We are also getting an opportunity see a short of the Lewis School play. We are really looking forward to seeing the production and seeing some of our buddies and siblings in the play.
This week we are finishing up our unit about the Work of Water. We are so excited... Peyton's dad is coming to do a presentation/lesson on bridges as the culmination of the unit. We will get to build bridges with toothpicks. Stay tuned on the blog for photos.
In math we are starting a unit with a focus on Penguins. There will be many fun math activities based around penguins. We will be making folders to hold all of the work we will be doing. We will be creating our own tape measures and passports for our adventures.

Notes from Mrs. Logue - 1st Grade

I am surprised to see it is already the middle of March 2018! Signs of Spring are beginning to find their way through the chilly mornings and up through the soil. Among the welcomed signs are pussy willow buds, bulbs blooming, primroses and Chester, our classroom guinea pig, now able to go outside to nibble on the sweet green grass with our help during recess. Our art focus this week is capturing some of our favorite things on large black canvases with boarders like those seen in the art of local author Nancy Coffelt’s book, Dogs in Space and Tar Beach Author, Faith Ringgold. We are starting our "Pebbles, Sand and Silt" science unit and our new math unit on penguins, (lots of measurement!). We will “travel" together to the Antarctica, and other penguin friendly places, learning about the penguins that inhabit it with mock passports, poems and data to inform our studies. In writing workshop we continue creating different adventures for our characters in a series and in reading, focus is on series written by different authors. Thank you for all the non- perishable food items you are able to donate to help with the food drive and thank you to our volunteers for your consistency and kindness:) Also, for your continued support on reading daily with your child! It is so apparent and a huge factor in the progress I see daily in the classroom.

Notes from Mrs. Jamesbarry - 1st Grade

On Wednesday we will be participating in the all school Lewis March for Peace and Kindness. To support this movement we have been reading books about friendship. We have been talking about the importance of kindness and understanding that everyone has something in common with others on which we can build friendships. On Tuesday we made signs with our favorite words of kindness to hold during our march. We are all looking forward to being a part of this historic day!

As for the rest of our week:

We are wrapping up our realistic fiction units in reading and writing this week. We will be putting the finishing touches on our favorite stories this week and sharing them with our Buddy class on Friday. The class has written some super fun stories and they are excited to share.

In reading we continue our work looking for fortunes, lessons, morals, and messages in our stories. We are sharing the lessons we find with others by putting fortunes into books to be found by others. It’ always a special treat to find one!

In math, we are starting a new unit called Penguins: Measuring, Sorting, Computation, and More. We will be learning about several kinds of penguins through comparing and contrasting, measuring, and lots of new math games.

Finally, our new science unit Pebbles, Sand, Silt has been a big hit. We have been looking closely at rocks through hand lenses, describing rock, and looking at what happens when we rub them together.  Cheers! Ms. Sarah


Notes from Ms. Murphy - 2nd Grade

We have come a long way together since I came back three weeks ago!  The students are becoming masters at our classroom routines, procedures and jobs.  Please remember to empty out folders every evening and then return them in the morning.  Please follow our class on Twitter! @MurphyRoom5

Writing:  We are very busy working hard on our nonfiction writing unit.  Last week we started using very descriptive words to help the audience picture what we are trying to teach them by using adjectives and comparisons.  This week we are focusing on editing and fixing misspelled words. Students are encouraged to reread their work and circle words that they are not sure about. Then they will use a variety of strategies to find the spelling!  One of our tools is called “Have-A-Go”. This encourages students to use a variety of spelling strategies and vowel combinations. Please ask your child what “Have-A-Go” is! Feel free to request a “Have-A-Go” to use at home too if it sounds appealing.  We are also correcting flipped letters. PLEASE encourage this at home too!

Math: All 6 of out Math Work Places are out and the students are busy working on completing all of them.  We have learned what area means and using a variety of tools to measure area; such as triangles, squares and other shapes.  Later this week we will learn more about the different types of triangles and how to describe them using mathematical language.

Reading:  Students have worked hard on organizing our class library and are learning how to keep it organized and where books go when they are done.  Our library consists of leveled books, books of various genres and many chapter book series. Please reach out to me if you would like ideas for reading at home or would like to know what particular books your child is reading independently. 

Science:  Last week our focus was the water cycle.  We learned key vocabulary such as; evaporation, precipitation, condensation and water vapor.  The students each made a diagram of the water cycle and then shared it with our kindergarten buddies.  This week we have started talking about wind and the Beaufordt Scale and how to categorize wind. We will then talk about various types of clouds and end our study on different types of Wild Weather.

Notes from Ms. Leake- 2^nd Grade

These past weeks we have been working on the Study of shapes.  Exploring Shapes and Number is a unit on geometry.  Children are using geoblocks, pattern blocks, and geoboards to investigate 2-and 3- dimensional shapes, symmetry, fractions, and area.  First, we looked at the attributes of geoblocks. We sorted the blocks into rectangular prisms, triangular prisms, cubes, and pyramids.  We described shapes by their characteristics and properties when we talked about their faces, edges, and corners or vertices. Students had a chance to combine blocks to create a larger shape. They discovered there were over 20 ways to combine blocks to make the "R" shaped rectangular prism. They also learned there were only 1-2 ways to make some of the triangular prisms.  We used pattern blocks to talk about the area of a shape. We saw that there are 6 triangles in a hexagon shape, 3 triangles in a trapezoid shape, and 2 triangles in a parallelogram.  When we created a picture using a variety of shapes, we all had a consistent way to talk about the area of the shape by figuring out how many triangles were in the shape.

In Art, we learned about the work of Paul Cezanne. We read his biography and talked about how he was famous for his 'still life' compositions.  Last week, we worked with parent Gina to draw our still life shapes. This week, we learned how to add value to our art using oil pastels. Gina showed us how to add white to one side for the light source and black to the opposite side. Then she showed us how to fill in the middle with a red, blue, or green pastel before blending that color across both the white and black. Next week, we will use what we learned about value to color our still lives.

Meriwether Lewis Elementary School Weekly Newsletter               
March 8, 2018              

Upcoming Dates:

Mar 7-  Coffee Talk with Emily 845am
Mar 10- Lewis PTA Lucky Luau
Mar 13- Connect to Kindergarten 530pm
             PTA   Meeting 630pm
Mar 14- Lewis Dines Out- Laurelwood Public House
Mar 15 & 16- Drama Production, 630pm
Mar 17- Drama Production 3pm
Mar 21- Late Start- Lewis 

Message from Ms. Glasgow

Hello Lewis families. This week, I have three invitations to offer you:

Classified Appreciation: This week is Classified and Non-Represented Appreciation Week. This is a time set aside in the busy year to give appreciation to our secretaries, classroom assistants and paraprofessionals, custodians, transportation workers, and nutrition service workers. I invite you to join me in stopping to acknowledge the many amazing classified employees who love, support, and care for our students every day!

PTA Auction: This Saturday evening, our PTA is hosting its first (in a long time) auction--The Lucky Luau & Silent Auction. Tickets can be purchased on-line. I invite you to join us in a night of fun and celebration in support of Lewis students!

March for Peace and Kindness: As many of you know, March 14 has been highlighted as a day for students and educators across the nation to honor the lives lost in Parkland, Florida, on Feb. 14. Our staff--like staffs across the country--has come together to plan a developmentally-appropriate community event to join in the national movement. On March 14, we will be holding a community-wide March for Peace and Kindness. Prior to March 14, students will be talking about peace, kindness, and personal hopes for our school and the world. They will be making signs reflecting their hopes to be used in our march. Primary classrooms will keep a focus on broad themes of community, inclusion, and kindness. Upper grade classrooms may bring in age-appropriate information about Parkland, Florida, and the tragedies inspiring this movement. On March 14, students will come together for a morning assembly in which upper grade students will share their hopes and we will join together in song. Then, at 10:00 am, students will walk with their buddy classes out of the building and join in a community march around the school. I invite families to join us on our march at 10:00 am. If you'd like to join the march, you can meet your child's class near the basketball courts as they exit the building and head out around the school. Students and adults are encouraged to wear their Lewis t-shirts/Run for the Arts t-shirts to demonstrate solidarity as a community. We hope you’ll come be a part of the movement!!

Lewis Lucky Luau

Tickets are on sale now! Tickets are $10 each or 2 for $15 if purchased in advance. The Moose Lodge has a maximum capacity of 100 people so don't wait to buy your tickets or you may miss out. Visit https://www.lewispta.org/copy-of-lucky-luau-2018 to purchase yours today! Tracy also has tickets available for sale in the office. Each ticket includes snacks, soft beverages, and your first raffle ticket. We have an amazing assortment of silent auction items including summer camps, event tickets, home services, restaurant gift cards and more. Don't miss this chance for an adults-only night out with friends in support of our favorite school!

"As of 3/7/18, there are only 40 tickets remaining for this event! Please buy yours today if you plan to join us!"

We are also still looking for volunteers to help with this event. Click here to learn more and sign up for a shift! http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0a4cafa72ca3ff2-thelewis

March Milk Carton Recyclers Needed-

www.SignUpGenius.com/go/30E094CACAB28A31-march2

BottleDrop collected 31 bags of recyclable containers last week, which made over $150 for Lewis PTA! Thanks to Sue who jumped in to bring a car full to drop off when we filled the first 2 cars, we made it all in one trip.  This program has made over $800 since we started in the fall and it’s picking up speed. Grab a blue bag in the office, add ALL drink containers that are marked with OR $10c Deposit, mix glass, plastic and cans in one bag, and bring these to Lewis on the first Thursday of every month. The recycling team very much appreciates when the bags are dry and properly filled with beverage containers only!

Check out BottleDropCenters.com for a list of everything with Oregon deposit. You can also drop off your blue bags yourself at any Bottle Drop location, including one just 2 miles from Lewis at Linwood & King in Milwaukie. 

Lewis Drama Production presents…

WRITTEN IN STONE
THREE SHORT WORKS
- OR -
THREE STORIES IN WHICH
STONES ARE CARVED, BOILED,
CLIMBED OVER, SHIMMIED
AROUND, DESPISED, LOVED
DREAMED ABOUT, AND
LISTENED TO
Ticket Prices:
Adult: $5
Children under 12: $2

March 15th @ 6:30 pm

March 16th @ 6:30 pm

March 17th Saturday Matinee @ 3:00 pm

Follow the link below to purchase tickets.  Seating limited to 175 seats per production.

https://pps.schoolpay.com/parent/mip/Mc62

** ONLINE TICKET SALES WILL CLOSE 3 HOURS BEFORE EACH CURTAIN TIME 

We want all that wish to see the production to attend.  Please see Tracy in the school office if the cost of show tickets would present a financial hardship.

Pre-Garden Fair Plant Sale
Order forms are going home this week for our pre-order plant sale.  Plant orders are due on March 20.  View plant selection at www.newleafgreenhouse.com.

Lost and Found & Clothes Closet
Please check the lost and found, there are a lot of jackets hanging up right now.  We also could use some help taking lost jackets down to the rack and hanging them up each week.  If you can help us out, please see Tracy or Kathleen in the office.  Lewis also keeps an assortment of clothes in a closet for kids who need a change of clothes.  If you can help us with organizing that closet, we could use your help.

Spoon and Fork Drive
We need your extra, random forks and spoons for our students at lunch time.
If you have any, please drop them off in the box in the school office. Thank you!

Donations to the Oregon Food Bank are being collected at the school from March 5th – 9th AND on production nights

Lewis is once again hosting Project Second Wind, the Oregon Food Bank’s annual food and fund drive.  Please consider bringing a donation of food or funds (checks made payable to The Oregon Food Bank) to the collection box on production night.

Please consider donating healthy, low fat and low sugar products from this list of most wanted foods.
·         canned meats (i.e., tuna, chicken, salmon)
·         canned and boxed meals (i.e., soup, chili, stew,  macaroni and cheese)
·         peanut butter and other nut butters
·         canned or dried beans and peas (i.e., black, pinto, lentils)
·         pasta, rice, and cereal
·         canned fruits and vegetables
·         100 percent fruit or vegetable juice (canned, plastic or boxed)
·         cooking oil
·         shelf stable milk

Please no glass, unlabeled, perishable, homemade, or open items, and no soda.
Fund donations checks made out to Oregon Food Bank will also be collected in the school's office.

Connect to Kindergarten

We have rescheduled our Connect to Kindergarten event that was cancelled on February 20th due to poor weather conditions. The new date is:

Tuesday, March 13th at 5:30 pm

After this event, our monthly PTA Meeting will start at 6:30 and you are welcome to stay for that.
After the informational kindergarten meeting, tours of our school will be provided.

Please note that your attendance at our Connect to Kindergarten is not mandatory to enroll your child for the 2018-2019 school year.  Registration packets are available in our school office.  Office hours are 8:00am – 4:30pm.

Childcare will NOT be available during the Connect to Kindergarten event, but children are welcome.  If you would like to stay for the PTA Meeting, there will be free childcare provided.

Please contact the school office if you have any questions.  Thank you

Come join the Lewis PTA Board!

PTA Board elections are coming up April 10th and we are looking for a few good people who want to support and guide the great programs our PTA sponsors.  From funding arts and technology in the classrooms to fun community events, this is a wonderful way to make a difference for all the kids at Lewis!

In particular we are looking for a PTA President or two CoPresidents, a Fundraising CoCoordinator and a CoTreasurer, although all positions are open to those interested.  For more information about Board position descriptions and frequently asked questions, please go to the PTA website at

https://www.lewispta.org/current-leadership for the FAQs and to

https://www.lewispta.org/nominations-for-leadership for the position descriptions.

If you are interested in nominating yourself or someone else, please contact Derica Waller at Dericawaller@gmail.com or come to the March 13th General PTA Meeting.  We'd love to see you there!

See's Candy - Easter chocolate orders due March 12

See's Easter chocolate sale!  There are FIVE styles available for either $5 or $6 each.  Lewis earns 20% profit back on all orders!  Please return the attached completed order form with payment to the school office by office close on Monday, March 12 and the orders will be ready for pick up on Thursday, March 22. Questions?  Contact Genevieve Benner at  vivapalmer@yahoo.com
See's Easter Order Form 

BOX TOP COLLECTION UPDATE

If you recall, the classroom that collects the most Box Tops will receive a popcorn party at the end of the year!  The current top three are:  Ms. Dana at 511 (wow!), Ms. Cyndi at 491 (close race!) and Ms. Leake at 357 (just had a big surge!)  Keep your eyes peeled for Box Tops on items you have purchased, clip them and place them in an envelope or baggie with your child's teacher's name on the outside. Bring them to the collection box in the school office. If you like the "official" Box Top collection envelopes or using the Box Top collection sheets, extras are available in the office. Remember, each Box Top is worth 10¢ and they don’t need to be clipped perfectly... just make sure each one has the full label and expiration date.  Expired Box Tops don’t count toward our earnings.  Good luck and keep clipping!  Questions? Contact Box Tops Coordinator Genevieve Benner at vivapalmer@yahoo.com

BottleDrop collected 31 bags of recyclable containers last week, which made over $150 for Lewis PTA! Thanks to Sue who jumped in to bring a car full to drop off when we filled the first 2 cars, we made it all in one trip.  This program has made over $800 since we started in the fall and it’s picking up speed. Grab a blue bag in the office, add ALL drink containers that are marked with OR $10c Deposit, mix glass, plastic and cans in one bag, and bring these to Lewis on the first Thursday of every month. The recycling team very much appreciates when the bags are dry and properly filled with beverage containers only!

Check out BottleDropCenters.com for a list of everything with Oregon deposit. You can also drop off your blue bags yourself at any Bottle Drop location, including one just 2 miles from Lewis at Linwood & King in Milwaukie. 

The Talent Show is coming!

Now is your chance to be a part of this great event. If you want to sign up, you need to pick up a permission slip in the office and have it returned by Thursday, March 15th! Each participant needs to turn in a signed permission slip. This year there are a couple of changes. Participants are welcome to be in one act only! Also, if you are in a group act, please submit your applications together, stapled.  Try-outs will be held, Wednesday, March 21st from 3:15-5:00. So grab your friends, dust of those dance shoes, tune your instrument, or warm up your singing voice and join in the fun! Try-out and rehearsals will be in the cafeteria! Finally, the talent show could not happen without the help of our parents! If you are available to help, please drop me an email, or stop by and let me know! I promise it is easy! I will absolutely need one parent to greet students as they arrive and get them signed in, as I won't be able to be there until a few minutes after 3:00!

If you have questions, please contact Sarah Kohn@ skohn@pps.net

SCREENAGERS DOCUMENTARY -GROWING UP IN THE DIGITAL AGE

Thursday, March 15th - 7pm Sellwood Middle School Gym

The Sellwood Middle School PTA is very excited to bring the movie Screenagers to our community. SCREENAGERS is an award-winning documentary that probes into the vulnerable corners of family life and depicts messy struggles, over social media, video games, academics and internet addiction. Through surprising insights from authors and brain scientists solutions emerge on how we can empower kids to best navigate the digital world.

The cost to attend will be $5 per adult and FREE for children. Please pass this along to any family and friends that you think would be interested. We are inviting the whole community to join us.

To purchase tickets or learn more about the movie please follow this link:  https://impactflow.com/event/presented-by-sellwood-middle-school-pta-6902

Meriwether Lewis Elementary School

News and information from our classrooms...

March 8, 2018

Notes from Ms. Canales- 2^nd-3^rd Grade

March is off to an exceptional start in room 16!
What are we up to?

Reading: We are continuing Reading to Learn, our nonfiction unit. Students have been working on analyzing the text for the author’s perspective, and then talking back to that perspective.

Writing: We are continuing The Art of Informational Writing. Students have been researching their topics and trying out different structures like cause/effect, pro/con, problem/solution, and compare/contrast  in their writing

Social Studies: Our Portland unit continues. We’ve studied Portland’s boom up to 1900. Soon we'll be learning about Vanport!

Math: 2nd graders are finishing up Unit 4 which focuses on Geometry. Next they will begin Unit 5 which focuses on money and multi-digit addition and subtraction. 3rd graders are focusing on multiplication and division strategies.

Science: We are continuing our Changes unit where we will explore the scientific concepts behind changes we see everyday. We’ve been discussing states of matter and experimenting with different solids and liquids.

Reminders

Sign up to volunteer in room 16! There is a sign up sheet posted by our classroom door.
I’m sending home a daily compliment to one family via email or Remind. Look out for one coming your way!

Notes from Mr. Hansen/Ms. Brenan - 3^nd Grade

In Reading, we continue to work on our Mystery unit.  The kids have been honing their comprehension skills as they power through our large collection of mysteries.  Up to this point, our comprehension work has really focused on understanding the individual mysteries we’re reading: identifying the suspects, clues, and solutions — and trying to solve the mystery BEFORE the detective does! 

This week we started to broaden the work by shifting our focus to the larger genre of mystery.  We read and analyzed a number of shorter mysteries as we set out to test our theories and identify the patterns and common elements that occur across most mystery stories.  The end result was a powerful list of characteristics that will raise the level of our reading.  As kids develop knowledge of how a particular genre works, they sharpen their awareness of the nuances that deepen their understanding of all fiction.  Educator Lucy Calkins puts it best: “Ultimately, the expert mystery reader is an expert reader of fiction itself, which is a goal we want for all students.”

Notes from Mrs. Redmond - 3rd Grade

The kids and I were amazed when we looked at the March calendar this week and realized that we really only have about three months left of school. We have a lot to pack into those three months. We’ve had several talks this week about being almost 4th graders and that I expected to see them doing their best everyday...showing me they were ready. Here is what we are working on:

Social Studies: Our Portland unit is in full swing. One of the favorite activities so far has been the journal writing they have done as if they are a Native American child in the early 1800’s of what is now Portland and then as a pioneer child in the 1850’s. I am very excited to be piloting, with the other third grade teachers, a unit on Vanport, which we will start after we get through “Portland - the Early Years.”

Writing: Students have been working hard to organize their nonfiction pieces, with the help of their peers. They are checking to be sure that each topic sentence is followed by details that support that idea/fact. It has been tough for many of them, but I’m very proud of their perseverance.

Reading: We have shifted our nonfiction focus away from expository texts to that of narrative nonfiction, specifically biographies. Students have really enjoyed reading about different people of notoriety. One student came up at the end of reading last week and said, “Yesterday I had never even heard of this woman, and now she’s someone that really inspires me.” I’m excited to discuss more inspiring women with the group on Thursday (more below.) It’s also has allowed us to talk about how one person, or one small act can have a huge impact. This is a great way for them to see themselves as changemakers.

International Women’s Day is this Thursday and we will be spending the day celebrating women. We will be reading, writing about, and discussing the accomplishments of the famous as well as the unsung heroes. It was a powerful day last year, which the kiddos really enjoyed. Students will be sharing the interviews they did with an important woman in their life and doing a related art project. Thank you for helping them get it in by tomorrow morning.

Wednesday, March 14th: Please be sure to read Ms. Glasgow’s note in today’s newsletter about an all school activity we will be participating in next Wednesday morning. We would love to have families join us if you are able.

Notes from Ms. Elissa – 4th Grade

This week we are wrapping up a math unit, starting a new writing unit, and beginning a second study of a natural disaster topic.

In math, we have completed Unit 3 on fractions and division.  Students will be taking the post-assessment on Wednesday and I am looking forward to seeing their growth.  Next, we will do a mini-unit on conversions before heading into Unit 4 which covers new aspects of geometry and measurement.

In writing, we just launched a new persuasive writing unit.  Students learned to turn a personal opinion statement into a persuasive argument and will work to give evidence and personal stories to back up their claim.

In literacy, our research teams are launching into a comparative study of a different natural disaster topic.  This time around, students are thinking about how their second topic is similar to or different from their first topic and use that as a jumping off point to build greater understanding.

Last week in social studies, we watched a video about Lewis & Clark and the Corps of Discovery.  We took notes on the wide array challenges the Corps faced as they traveled from St. Louis, Missouri to the Pacific Ocean.  Some student takeaways were: "They would have been super strong when they made it back!" and "I can't believe more people didn't die along the way."  This week, our class will learn about the Oregon Trail and the trials and tribulations that arose when traveling with a family across the U.S. in the 1800's.

This week is also Project Second Wind Food and Fund Drive at Lewis.  There is a box outside of our room where you can drop off canned goods and shelf-stable foods.  Please help our school make a difference!

Take care, Ms. Elissa

Notes from Ms. Rotwein - 4th Grade

As we roll into March, we are as busy as ever in Room 22.  Here's what is going on:

Math:  Students will be taking their Unit 3 post-assessment on Wednesday.  They will show their knowledge of different fractions models and how to divide up the remainder in a division story problem.

Reading:  Students completed their research posters about extreme weather and landforms last week.  Their projects are hanging up in the hall outside our classroom, come check them out!    This week, students are working on researching their second topic.

Writing:  On Thursday, students finished their 5-paragraph essay writing samples.  On Monday, we began our new unit on writing a persuasive essay.  We will be practicing writing a strong, persuasive thesis statement.

Social Studies: The last two weeks have been a mini-unit on Westward Expansion.  Students have been watching National Geographic and NPR videos on Lewis and Clark and the Oregon Trail and taking notes about their learning.

Thursday is International Women's Day.  We will spend the day learning about female activists, celebrating women, and talking about gender inequalities that still exist.  We think it is important to both learn about the past and learn about young women who are challenging the status quo today.  Thank you for helping your interview a woman that is important in their life.  Students will be sharing their interviews and doing a related art projects on Thursday as well.  You are welcome to pop in and join us at any time that day!

On Friday, Ms. Elissa and I won't be at school as we have been asked to present the work we have been doing around social studies and social justice to current graduate students at Lewis and Clark Graduate School of Education and Counseling.  We hate being away from our students but are excited about the opportunity to share with new teachers ways to integrate social studies and social justice into their classrooms.

Notes from Mr. Richner- 4^th-5^th Grade

Greetings!  Standardized state testing is on the horizon. These tests, called the Smarter Balanced tests, are very different from the former OAKS tests in their size and scope. A state testing opt-out form (bit.ly/SBAC-OPT-OUT) is available in the Lewis office. If families choose to opt-out of state testing, they must submit this form to the Lewis office before actual testing begins. Lewis plans to schedule tests to begin in late March and run into May. The district states that teachers can neither promote nor discourage participation in state testing; that opting out is a parent decision. However, if you have any questions about the tests, please do not hesitate to ask.

We have had another busy and productive week in room 20. Project Second Wind Food and Fund Drive to benefit Oregon Food Bank continues through Friday. Team 20’s colored pencil and watercolor signs are next to every door in the school to get the word out as are posters that we made with our first grade buddies. Here is more information (bit.ly/PSW-2018), including a list of most wanted foods. I recently read an article titled Five Ways to Help Teens Think Beyond Themselves about helping kids find purpose in their lives and connect to something larger than themselves (bit.ly/team20-purpose). Our food drive, I think, is a good way to model empathy and for us to contribute as a team to our own community. Our Lewis Book Drive for Lewis’s Little Free Library and the Children’s Book Harvest for The Children’s Book Bank had similar functions, as did the Street Roots Vendor Drive that many classrooms throughout our school participated in during December.

Looking ahead, we will celebrate Women’s Day as a fourth and fifth grade on Thursday. Thank you for helping your kid complete their interview with an important woman in their life. We will share these interviews during our celebration and connect them with an art activity. During language workshop, we have been working on persuasive writing and learning to organize an argument. We began reading Wishtree by Katherine Applegate. Several Team 20 kids are in the upcoming school play, Written in Stone. Here’s more information about the production and tickets (bit.ly/written-in-stone). I am looking forward to seeing the Thursday performance.

Please follow us on Twitter @LewisRoom20 and at LewisRoom20.blogspot.com for photos and regular updates!  Mark

Notes from Ms. Speer - 5th Grade

Happy Wednesday! We are only a few weeks away from Spring Break and we are busy trying to complete several new units. We are currently drafting our argument essays in writing and will have those edited and published within the next two weeks. Ask your child about their topic because they all selected and researched interesting subjects. Some of the topics include; self-driving cars, banning the use of tobacco, school uniforms, the production of plastic, and making the school week shorter :)

In math, we are wrapping up our second fraction unit. Students are labeling base ten models with a fraction and then converting the fraction to a decimal or percentage. We are moving into fraction story problems at the end of this week so we can take the end of unit assessment next week.

The kids are excited because they selected a new read aloud novel, The Hatchet. We are doing read aloud every afternoon during art. We currently have two art projects going that will both be displayed at Art Night in May. Students are using watercolors to create a small series of Mandalas and they are beautiful. We are super excited for our newest project...a class quilt. I love to incorporate a sewing project every spring and we are very fortunate to have a master quilter joining us. Make sure you mark Art Night on your calendar because you won’t want to miss our display. Art Night is on Thursday, May 3rd.

Other updates… *Students need to bring their completed Women’s Rights Interview to school tomorrow. *We are hoping to collect all camp tuition by Spring Break so please send that in when you can. Checks should be made out to Lewis Elementary and feel free to use SchoolPay if that’s easier. *Don’t forget to clean out your pantry and pick up a few other canned goods to donate to Oregon Food Bank. We started accepting collections earlier this week.

Notes from Ms. Sarah Kohn - 5th Grade

Happy Wednesday and happy March! We are in a smooth groove in Room 23! Last week we met with our buddies in Room 10 and shared our writing and a bit of reading time. It is always such fun to spend time with our friends! We are continuing to have gardening once a week on Tuesdays. Please make sure your child dresses for the weather, as it is all over the place, and I want them to be comfortable. We are wrapping up our math unit on fractions, decimals and percents. We will have an assessment on that portion at the end of the week and then focus on multiplying and dividing fractions. In writing, students are continuing to work on their opinion pieces. Each student has chosen something they feel strongly about. I am excited to see how they turn out! We started our F.L.A.S.H. unit on Monday. We set our guidelines and discussed topics. Students will be bringing home homework assignments throughout the unit, so please check in with them. This is a wonderful opportunity to have conversations that aren't always easy in a structured way. As camp gets closer, please make arrangements to send in payment. That can be done either with a check, or via SchoolPay. I sent home an information sheet on how to use that service. If you need additional help, please contact Tracy in the office. Thanks for all you do to support what we do here at school and all you do to support your child at home. These are challenging days for your children, with all that has been happening in our country and they are carrying it around each day. Let me know if I can offer you support. I am here for you all.

Notes from Mr. Post - Room 7

Now that it’s nearly spring, we are starting a new Unique Learning unit called “Our Changing Weather”. In this unit, we are learning about the four seasons and different kinds of weather. We are starting by learning about the purpose of rain gauges and how they work. We will also do a round of Vocab Bingo this week to introduce some of the important vocabulary. For Reading, leveled groups will work on Reading A-Z books and literacy packets about weather and climate. For Math, we did some work last week with coordinate grids, and now we are focusing on fractions.

For Writing, students have been working hard on their fairy tales, and now they are typing them up, making final edits, and getting them ready to publish. For Art, students have painted watercolor settings and are making paper puppets of their characters. Then each student will perform a puppet show of their fairy tale. Miss Kathleen has been taking our class out to do gardening on Monday afternoons, and this week they planted cilantro and spinach!

Meriwether Lewis Elementary School
Weekly Newsletter                  
February 21, 2018       

Happy Snow Day Everyone!!!!!

Upcoming Dates:

Feb 23- Lonesome Teacher Trio Dance 630pm
Mar 1- Bottle Drop pick up- 845am
Mar 2- Walk and Roll

Message from Ms. Glasgow
Hello families. Thank you for scrambling to get your students on time in response to this week's Early Release. I know how challenging it can be to make unexpected schedule changes. Your partnership allowed students and staff to get home safely. Hopefully, the weather will even out this week so we can continue on with everything else as scheduled. I am, in particular, looking forward to my first "Lonesome Teacher Trio Dance" this Friday night--another special Lewis tradition. Hope to see you there!
Emily

Lonesome Teacher Trio Dance
Friday, February 23, 6:30-8pm
Proceeds from the dance go toward bus transportation for the fifth grade science camp. Support a Lewis tradition and have a great time all in one evening.
Admission is a suggested donation of $2/person or $5/family. Pizza and other refreshments will be available for purchase.
Community events are run by volunteers. We need your help to make the event a success--volunteer for a short shift during the evening.
To sign up go to http://bit.ly/2BJixMe
For more information visit https://www.lewispta.org/lonesome-trio-dance-2018

PTA Community Events Survey
The PTA is beginning to plan community events for the 2018-19 school year and we need your help! As your PTA, one of our main goals is connecting Lewis community members to create a welcoming and thriving environment for all children. We want to make sure the events we plan are fun, relevant, and accessible to all.
This survey should take you 10 minutes or less to complete and we'll be sure to share the results in an upcoming newsletter. All responses are confidential. Please respond to the survey by February 27.

Take the survey at https://goo.gl/forms/8UZDAnem6gTq1sMv2

Project Second Wind, the Oregon Food Bank’s annual food and fund drive, will come to Lewis the week of March 5th through March 9th.
Each classroom will have a collection box. Fourth and fifth grade students will empty these boxes each day to record and box up each classroom’s collected food items. Please join Lewis and the Oregon Food Bank to provide a “second wind” of hunger relief after the holidays in our community.

Please consider donating healthy, low fat and low sugar products from this list of most wanted foods.
·         canned meats (i.e., tuna, chicken, salmon)
·         canned and boxed meals (i.e., soup, chili, stew, macaroni and cheese)
·         peanut butter and other nut butters
·         canned or dried beans and peas (i.e., black, pinto, lentils)
·         pasta, rice, and cereal
·         canned fruits and vegetables
·         100 percent fruit or vegetable juice (canned, plastic or boxed)
·         cooking oil
·         shelf stable milk
Please no glass, unlabeled, perishable, homemade, or open items, and no soda.
Fund donations checks made out to Oregon Food Bank will also be collected in the school's office.

Lewis Lucky Luau
Tickets are on sale now! Tickets are $10 each or 2 for $15 if purchased in advance. The Moose Lodge has a maximum capacity of 100 people so don't wait to buy your tickets or you may miss out. Visit https://www.lewispta.org/copy-of-lucky-luau-2018 to purchase yours today! Tracy also has tickets available for sale in the office. Each ticket includes snacks, soft beverages, and your first raffle ticket. We have an amazing assortment of silent auction items including summer camps, event tickets, home services, restaurant gift cards and more. Don't miss this chance for an adults-only night out with friends in support of our favorite school!

We are also still looking for volunteers to help with this event. Click here to learn more and sign up for a shift! http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0a4cafa72ca3ff2-thelewis

2018 Smarter Balancing Testing:
If families choose to opt-out of state testing, they must submit this form to Kathleen in the office before actual testing begins. Forms are available in the office.  Please be aware that you must mark on the form each test that you want to opt-out of.  The district states that teachers can neither promote nor discourage participation in state testing; that opting out is a parent decision. However, if you have any questions about the tests, please do not hesitate to ask your child’s teacher.  Testing will begin in March.

Spring Youth Basketball
Registration is open now until February 22nd!  Calling all interested boys grades 3-8th, space is limited!  Please visit Cleveland Basketball for details and registration here:  www.cleveland-warriors.com

Girls on the Run
Registration is Open for the Girls on the Run Team at Lewis Elementary
We're thrilled to share that Lewis Elementary will have a Girls on the Run team this spring. Girls on the Run inspires girls to recognize their inner strength and celebrate what makes them one of a kind. Trained coaches lead small teams through our research-based curricula which includes dynamic discussions, activities and running games.
Over the course of the ten-week program, girls in 3rd-5th grade develop essential skills to help them navigate their worlds and establish a lifetime appreciation for health and fitness. The program culminates with girls positively impacting their communities through a service project and being physically and emotionally prepared to complete a celebratory 5K event.
Practice Days:
Mondays and Wednesdays from  3:15PM - 4:45PM
Where: Lewis Elementary
Season Dates: March 5th - May 21st
Registration is limited to 15 participants.  Learn more and register:
www.girlsontherunpdx.org/Program-Registration
Questions? Email mckenzie.miller@girlsontherun.org

Meriwether Lewis Classroom Notes
News and Information from our classrooms                    
February 21, 2018

Notes from Ms. Canales - 2nd / 3rd Grade
February continues to be a fantastic month in room 16!
What are we up to?

Reading: We are continuing Reading to Learn, our nonfiction unit. Students are learning how to rev up their mind for nonfiction reading and how to summarize what they’ve read.

Writing: We are continuing The Art of Informational Writing. Students are writing about topics they are experts on. We will be transferring what we’ve learned about nonfiction reading into our writing.

Social Studies: Our Portland unit continues. We’ve learned about the early history of Portland before it was founded. Students created a journal entry from the perspective of a Native American child in 1850. Next we will be discussing the founding of Portland and the Portland Penny.

Math: 2nd graders continue Unit 4. Unit 4 is focused on geometry skills (while still practicing computation and number sense everyday). 3rd graders are finishing up their geometry unit and moving to the next unit, which will focus on multiplication and division strategies.

Science: We’ve begun our Changes unit where we will explore the scientific concepts behind changes we see everyday (like ice melting). We will dig into the states and properties of matter in this unit.
Reminders:
-Thank you for a wonderful Friendship Party on February 14!

-Sign up to volunteer in room 16! There is a sign up sheet posted by our classroom door.

Notes from Ms. Redmond - 3rd Grade
I hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend...and the extra two hours yesterday afternoon and this morning. Hopefully, we’ll be back
to normal tomorrow. This is what we’re up to:
Math: Students have been working with different multiplication strategies to solve multiplication and division story problems. Moving forward they will write some of their own for their classmates to solve.
Reading: Readers have been devouring their nonfiction texts. They have had some great conversations with their partners about the different topics they are reading and I have learned a ton from conferring with them during their reading. Knowing that they are responsible for teaching what they’ve read to someone else has made them read differently. It has caused them to think more critically about what they are reading and how they are responding to the text.
Writing: Our authors are continuing to add what they already know to their expository pieces. We will also start doing some additional research to help fill in gaps they have, which are important to teach their audience. Much to their pleasure, sub days have allowed for some creative free writing sessions as well.
Science: Students are really enjoying our new unit on Changes. Coming up, we will be experimenting with mixing and separating solids, as well as liquids.
Social Studies: We will be starting our unit on Portland later this week.
Reminders: With the colder weather, please make sure students are coming to school dressed warmly with plenty of layers.  
As always, thanks for all of the support you provide your amazing kiddos and me.

Notes from Mr. Hansen / Ms. Brenan – 3rd Grade
Hi all, Thanks for rolling with us on this shifting weather.  We took advantage of the excitement about snow to do some scientific observations outside.  I put some black paper outside so that it would be nice and cold.  When the kids got back from music, I showed them how to use a jeweler's loupe to examine things up close.  We went outside with our winter gear, loupes and cold paper to try to catch some snowflakes. They were so serious about trying to zoom in and see the tiny hexagonal spokes.  After, we warmed up with a video about how flakes form and their fascinating emergent properties.  

In Math we are wading into the fun world of multiplication with bigger numbers.  We've dipped our toes into the world of fractions and are eager to go deeper.  I am still sending homework on a regular basis but the exact day may vary slightly so that I can make sure the kids have had some experience before they bring it home.  Know that I am always flexible on when homework returns: it is homework so do the work in a way that makes sense for your home!  Best, and thanks for your great kids.  - Mark

Notes from Ms. Elissa – 4th Grade
So much for that early spring that was predicted... The snow sure is pretty, though.
This week in literacy, students are crafting a poster presentation with their natural disaster research groups to share the information they have learned.  They have worked hard to improve their nonfiction reading, summarizing, and synthesizing skills as they research.
In writing, students are completing a writing work sample as an assessment on how they are progressing on their 5-paragraph essay writing skills.  They chose a topic, completed an outline, and are working to write out their essay to show off their talents as a writer.  
In math we are taking another look at division and how it relates to fractions.  This week, we are figuring out how to solve division with a remainder.  Students will look at the different ways a remainder can be handled in different situations.  13 cookies divided between 4 people looks very different than 13 people divided into 4 groups.
We are continuing our studies of the history of the Klamath River Basin.  How water in the basin should be used is a long and ongoing conversation between Native People, ecological groups, farmers, ranchers, and others.  Students are working in pairs to research specific events related to the use of water in the basin, creating a timeline marker, and will share their research with the class.
Stay warm out there!
Ms. Elissa

Notes from Mr. Richner - 4th/5th Grade
Greetings!  What a wintery week we are having! On Tuesday, we took some time to enjoy the snow as a team. I hope everyone enjoyed some snow time at home, too. My own kids loved being pulled through the snow on a sled. This whole snow thing is still pretty new for them. One of them, gazing out at the dark morning sky last Saturday, remarked, “It raining pretty hard.” When I explained that it was snow, they were so happy! All in all, the kids have done an excellent job settling into routines lately and, to no one’s surprise, it turned out to be a very busy and productive week!
We are continuing our learning about salmon, people, and dams in the Pacific Northwest with a look at the restoration of the Elwha River using some resources from Olympic National Park. We are finishing up reply letters to our pen pals and doing some peer conferencing. During Reed Science, we are learning how an object’s mass affects its relationship to gravity and completed an air resistance design challenge. During our language workshop, we are working with some strategies for approaching nonfiction and working with how we orient ourselves to more complex nonfiction. To celebrate Valentine’s Day, we made mailboxes and delivered mail. We met up with our buddies in Mrs. Logue’s first grade. We are designing signs for Oregon Food Bank’s Project Second Wind Food and Fund Drive, which begins at Lewis on March 5th. More info: bit.ly/PSW-2018. Fifth graders will begin FLASH, a family life and sexual health unit, in a couple of weeks, joining either Ms. Natalie or Ms. Sarah’s class. A green flyer went home today with more details. Last, but not least, thank you for your help with returning Science Camp forms. I am looking forward to camp!
Please follow us on Twitter @LewisRoom20 and at LewisRoom20.blogspot.com for photos and regular updates!
Mark

Notes from Ms. Rotwein - 4th Grade
Hope you had a nice three-day weekend and you are staying warm in this cold weather! Here's what we are up to:
Math:  Students are learning about dividing up the remainder in a division story problem.  For example, if each friend gets two cookies and there is one cookie leftover, how would the remaining cookie be divided up by three friends?  How would that be different if it was one dollar instead of one cookie?
Reading:  Last week, students finished research on their first weather topic.  They are currently making posters to share their learning.  Next week, they will begin research on topic number two.
Writing:  Students are currently working on a writing sample to see how well they can organize and write a five-paragraph essay without teacher support.  The homework outlines are really improving, thank you for supporting your kids in that area!
Social Studies: Students have been discussing and debating why different invested parties have different opinions on how water should be used in the Klamath Basin. We watched some news clips about the fight for water rights in that region, and students are currently reading and summarizing the series of events that took place in that region.  They will turn their research into timeline markers and present them to the class next week.
Science:  Reed Science began up again two weeks ago.  Students will be learning about different forms of energy.
Please make sure you are sending your child to school in a coat and warm layers!  We try to get outside as much as possible to get the wiggles out so we can focus on learning when we are in the classroom.  Thanks!

Notes from Ms. Speer - 5th Grade
I thought Spring was just around the corner!? Until then, bundle up and enjoy the snow! I want to thank all of you for being patient during our early release yesterday. It’s important that we follow procedures when checking out students on days like that. This reminds me-- it’s also very important that you enter the building through the door nearest the office during school hours. I know it’s tempting to knock on the door closest to your location but it’s unsafe for children to let people in the building. It’s also important that you check-in at the office and wear your badge in a visible location. Once again, this is for our safety. Thank you for being understanding and cooperative.
A quick update on our content areas…Math- We continue our work with fractions. We are learning how to convert a mixed number into an improper fraction and a improper fraction into a mixed number. Next up is adding and subtracting these mixed numbers. Reading- we are exploring and unpacking the features of nonfiction texts (getting them ready for middle school). Writing- Students are currently brainstorming topics for a persuasive writing piece. Science- Reed College Science started back up so that put our Microworlds unit on hold until next week.
Reminders-- Camp forms were due Tuesday so please send those in ASAP if you missed the deadline. --Look for a letter introducing our FLASH health unit that will begin the beginning of March. --I’m still missing a few report card envelopes so don’t forget to send those in. Hope you have a wonderful week and stay warm!!

Notes from Ms. Sarah Kohn - 5th Grade
What a crazy week! Your kids were champs yesterday with all the adjustments to the schedule. I am happy to say that despite all the white stuff, we got some good work done! Last week we had a fun celebration of friendship. Thank you for sending in items for our party! In writing, we are working on persuasive opinion pieces! We are beginning the unit by using chocolate milk at school as a sample for learning many important writing strategies. In math, we have focused a lot on fraction work. We have learned how to find equivalent fractions and are now converting fractions into decimals. We will also be learning how to convert from fractions into percents and decimals into percents, as well! Finally, we still have coming multiplying and dividing fractions! Those are all concepts you can check in with your child about. In reading, we continue to explore non-fiction texts. We are learning strategies for tackling more complex text features; which include vocabulary and main idea. Camp forms were due on Tuesday. A big thank-you to all who turned in their signed form! If you haven't yet gotten that back, please do so right away. Payment can come in now, or later. If you like, you can send in a check, or use Schoolpay. Ask Tracy if you need help with that! This Friday is a fun-filled Lewis tradition that will also help with camp transportation costs. The Lonesome Teacher Trio is performing for a lively Lewis Family Dance! I hope you can make it to this event. You have such lovely children and I feel so lucky to be their teacher! Please let me know if you have any questions, concerns, or any wonderful stories to share!

Notes from Mr. Post - Room 7
Our current unit is “Cultures influence Communities”. In this unit, we are learning about different cultures and how they come together to form communities, states, and nations. We started off the unit with a round of Vocab Bingo to introduce some of the important vocabulary. For Reading, leveled groups are working on their Reading A-Z books and literacy packets about different cultures around the world. They are also reading and listening to fairy tales and folktales.  For Math, we are wrapping up our multiplication and division unit, and now we are working on money skills, time, and coordinate grids. The work with coordinate grids helps students with map-reading skills.

For Writing, students have been using graphic organizers to plan out retellings of their favorite fairy tale or folktale stories. The organizer helps with important elements like good characters and bad characters, setting, problem, solution, and magic. Next they will draft their own versions of these tales and illustrate them as well. For Science last week, we made color wheels, then predicted what they would look like while spinning. Students did an extension the next day, where they made different designs of color wheels and made more predictions. For Art, students are making paper lanterns for Chinese New Year. They also made Valentine cards for their families, which are currently on display in the glass case for the month of February.  We also did some fun activities on Valentine’s Day, including making graphs with candy hearts, reading romantic fairy tales, playing “musical hearts”, and of course exchanging Valentine cards. On Tuesday before the early release, everyone enjoyed going out and playing in the snow during recess!

Meriwether Lewis Elementary School Weekly Letter               

February 14, 2018         

Upcoming Dates:
Feb 19- Presidents’ Day- No School
Feb 20- Connect to Kindergarten 630pm
Feb 21- Late Start- Crazy Hair Day
Feb 23- Lonesome Teacher Trio Dance 630pm

Message from Ms. Glasgow

Happy Valentine's Day to you all!  While, as my son reminded me this week, this is not a "real holiday" to most, it is always a nice day to step back and give appreciation to those we love and care for in our community. One person I want to give public appreciation to this week is Mrs. O'Dea. She has been covering Mrs. Murphy's maternity leave in 2nd grade since the beginning of the school year. Since Mrs. Murphy will be returning to us next week, this will be Mrs. O'Dea's last week in Room 5. Mrs. O'Dea has put in countless hours to plan and care for our 2nd graders this year--please join me in sending her off with love and appreciation! And, of course, a warm welcome back to Mrs. Murphy!! On another note, I wanted to share that--given some other pressing agenda items--our workshop on talking with your children about race got cut short at last night's PTA meeting. So, we will be re-visiting this topic in greater detail at next month's meeting (March 13). If you are a family raising a student of color, you should also be looking for a mailing inviting you to a families of color listening session in early March. I am excited about these upcoming opportunities to bring families into the staff's ongoing dialogue about issues of race and equity in our school community.

Lewis Lucky Luau

Tickets are on sale now! Tickets are $10 each or 2 for $15 if purchased in advance. The Moose Lodge has a maximum capacity of 100 people so don't wait to buy your tickets or you may miss out. Visit https://www.lewispta.org/copy-of-lucky-luau-2018 to purchase yours today! Tracy also has tickets available for sale in the office. Each ticket includes snacks, soft beverages, and your first raffle ticket. We have an amazing assortment of silent auction items including summer camps, event tickets, home services, restaurant gift cards and more. Don't miss this chance for an adults-only night out with friends in support of our favorite school!

We are also still looking for volunteers to help with this event. Click here to learn more and sign up for a shift! http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0a4cafa72ca3ff2-thelewis

PTA Community Events Survey

The PTA is beginning to plan community events for the 2018-19 school year and we need your help! As your PTA, one of our main goals is connecting Lewis community members to create a welcoming and thriving environment for all children. We want to make sure the events we plan are fun, relevant, and accessible to all.

This survey should take you 10 minutes or less to complete and we'll be sure to share the results in an upcoming newsletter. All responses are confidential. Please respond to the survey by February 27.

Take the survey at https://goo.gl/forms/8UZDAnem6gTq1sMv2

Lonesome Teacher Trio Dance

Friday, February 23, 6:30-8pm

Proceeds from the dance go toward bus transportation for the fifth grade science camp. Support a Lewis tradition and have a great time all in one evening.
Admission is a suggested donation of $2/person or $5/family. Pizza and other refreshments will be available for purchase.
Community events are run by volunteers. Help make the event a success by volunteering for a short shift during the evening. To sign up go to http://bit.ly/2BJixMe

For more information visit https://www.lewispta.org/lonesome-trio-dance-

2018 Smarter Balancing Testing:

If families choose to opt-out of state testing, they must submit this form to Kathleen in the office before actual testing begins. Forms are available in the office.  Please be aware that you must mark on the form each test that you want to opt-out of.  The district states that teachers can neither promote nor discourage participation in state testing; that opting out is a parent decision. However, if you have any questions about the tests, please do not hesitate to ask your child’s teacher.  Testing will begin in March.

Connect  to Kindergarten

It seems kind of early, but registration for the 2018-2019 School Year will begin soon.
If you have an incoming kinder, it would be very helpful if you could let us know by emailing Tracy (tgiordano@pps.net) with their name and date of birth.
Also, if you have neighbors with incoming kinders, could you please share with them that our Connect to Kindergarten is coming up?

Tuesday, February 20th at 6:30 pm

Childcare is NOT provided, but children are welcome.  After the informational meeting, tours will be provided.
Registration packets will be available at our Connect to Kindergarten events, and in the school office after February 9th..
Please contact the school office if you have any questions.
Thank you

Spring Youth Basketball

Registration is open now until February 22nd!  Calling all interested boys grades 3-8th, space is limited!  Please visit Cleveland Basketball for details and registration here:  www.cleveland-warriors.com

Girls on the Run

Registration is Open for the Girls on the Run Team at Lewis Elementary
We're thrilled to share that Lewis Elementary will have a Girls on the Run team this spring. Girls on the Run inspires​ girls to recognize their inner strength and celebrate what makes them one of a kind. Trained coaches lead small teams through our research-based curricula which includes dynamic discussions, activities and running games.

Over the course of the ten-week program, girls in 3rd-5th grade develop essential skills to help them navigate their worlds and establish a lifetime appreciation for health and fitness. The program culminates with girls positively impacting their communities through a service project and being physically and emotionally prepared to complete a celebratory 5K event.

Practice Days:

Mondays and Wednesdays from  3:15PM - 4:45PM
Where: Lewis Elementary
Season Dates: March 5th - May 21st

Registration is limited to 15 participants.  Learn more and register: ​

www.girlsontherunpdx.org/Program-Registration

Questions? Email mckenzie.miller@girlsontherun.org​

Lewis Elementary School Classroom Notes

News and information from our classrooms...

February 14, 2018

Notes from Ms. Allen - Kindergarten

Today we celebrated Valentine’s Day by having a friendship party. Thank you all for bringing in snacks last week, and thank you for coming today to help with our party. We had some of the snacks for Valentine’s Day and saved some for the 100th Day of school celebration.

Language Arts: This week we will start a unit in reading workshop called Tackling More Challenging Books. This unit will focus on teaching students how to make sense of complex patterns in their books. In writing workshop we our working on making our writing more clear: writing in sentences and rereading our work as we write.

Math: We will continue working on a variety of math skills. For our calendar pattern this month we are looking at 3D shapes. The 3D shapes we are focusing on are sphere, cone, cylinder, and cube.

Upcoming Events: We will be celebrating the 100th day of school next week on Feb. 22nd.

Reminders: Please sign and return your child’s report card envelope. Also, please continue to send your child with a full water bottle from home each day because the nearest drinking fountain is out of order and the kids have a long way to go to the next closest fountain.

Notes from Ms. Kennedy - Kindergarten

By the time you are reading this, we will have celebrated our much-anticipated Valentine’s Day party! We spent several artistic sessions in the beginning of the week decorating collection boxes for our goodies. Between the vast quantities of stickers and personal flourishes, it was a memorable experience! Thanks so much to the families who were willing and able to contribute treats and/or assistance in the classroom. You are greatly appreciated!

This Friday marks the beginning of the Chinese New Year. We will be reading about many traditions and inventions from China. 2018 is the Year of the Dog, so you might get a few requests to visit the local animal shelter. At least sounds better than adopting next year’s animal: the pig!

Please continue to have your child read the Morning Message to you, a friend, a sibling, a spouse, a partner, a friendly neighbor… The more chances your child gets to read the same thing over and over, the more confidence they will gain. If anyone would like recommendations for books that are just right for your child, I am happy to share their levels with you. For the majority of kindergarten students in Room 4, you can’t go wrong with Level B and C books. These books can be read independently. Look for simple repeating words throughout the book and a surprise last page.

Next Monday February 19th there is no school. It is a national holiday to honor Presidents’ Day. In one week, on Wednesday, we have a Late Start. The first bell rings at 10:40, giving plenty of time to prep for Crazy Hair Day. That will be a fun day for portraits! Then, to top even that celebration, Thursday February 22nd marks Day 100 in Kindergarten! Can you believe it? WOW. I am speaking at a conference for two days, and will miss this milestone. Sad face. Perhaps there is a family member out there who would like to use my camera and document parts of the day? Please contact me if interested. Children will be rotating through all three kindergarten classes, creating items to celebrate this marvelous achievement.

Weekly photos posted https://mskennedyroom4.blogspot.com/ Thank you one and all!

Notes from Teacher Leslie - Kindergarten

Hi Families!  Here’s what’s new in Room 2:

Last week we filled our book tubs with new books.  The excitement around the room was contagious!  It was great to see students choosing books that were just right for them.  We have been asking ourselves two questions to check our reading:  Does it make sense? Does it sound right?  We have also been practicing talking about our books with our reading partners. 

In the last few weeks we have been practicing with different forms of writing.  We created riddles, wrote letters, and even practiced some nonfiction writing about penguins.  I am happy to see students remembering lowercase letters and punctuation in their writing!

In math we introduced a new game called Count and Compare Unifix Cubes.  Students are practicing counting with groups of 10’s and 1’s in this game.  We are also practicing identifying 3-dimensional shapes with our February calendar and taking a closer look at coins. 

I am looking forward to celebrating Friendship with our students for Valentine’s Day.  We decorated boxes for our Valentine cards yesterday.  I am also looking forward to our 100th day of Kindergarten!  It is a big day in Kindergarten where we celebrate all we’ve learned in our first 100 days of school.  Our 100th day of Kindergarten is next Thursday (February 22nd).  There will be all sorts of fun 100 day activities on that day.

Notes from Teacher Dana -- 1st Grade

We are having so much fun with our new literacy units.

In Writer's workshop we are totally immersed in writing realistic fiction series. I am encouraging them to invent a fictional character/s that will appear in multiple stories. We are working on creating problems and solutions, and having our characters go on lots of adventures. We will collect them all an put them in a box like a real book series. If you have any empty cereal boxes at home, please save them and send them to school over the next few weeks.

In Reader's Workshop last week we packed our imaginary suitcase and filled it with all of our reading strategies to go on lots of reading adventures. We have been focusing on comprehension strategies and also really honing in our predicting skills. We are also learning to synthesize the text, and rereading to think about how the different parts connect.  Reading and writing are very complex processes that take so many skills coming together all at the same time. Learning to read and write are incredibly empowering acts for 1st graders.

Last week we began our unit about how water shapes the earth’s surface. Our first lesson was called, “If you floated down a river, where would you end up?” We learned how water flows from high to low, and how many rivers start up in mountains or hilly areas, and ultimately flow out towards the sea.

You can encourage your child’s curiosity at home! If you know where your nearest stream or creek is, plan a trip to go visit it! If you’re not sure, look on a map. Once you get there, ask your child if they can figure out which direction it's flowing. Use a map to see if you can figure out where the water's headed.

I want to again thank all of  you parents for being such a supportive community. We truly have a unique school that nurtures all learners. It takes a village.

Notes from Mrs. Logue - 1st Grade

This week is full of new opportunities for learning about the world around us with Friendship day, (Valentine’s day), President’s Day next Monday, the start of  Asian Lunar New Year celebrations 2018 beginning this Friday, our 100th day of school and our new Math- measurement unit starting this week.  We enjoyed an awesome art lesson on Monday and made Valentine boxes Tuesday for holding the friendship notes your child created for their classmates. Whether "store bought" or homemade, Valentine cards bring joy to the giver and receiver! We also made a  "friendship salad" out of the fruits you donated, (not to mention the delicious toppings too:).  We gathered together on the rug and I brought a big mixing spoon and pot over. Families had donated a variety of fruits and each fruit added to our giant mixing pot was symbolic of the positive attributes of friendship we share in our classroom. I told the students that the mixing pot was like our classroom. The pears are the good help and friendship inside and outside of the classroom. We added mandarin oranges that represent the hard work and best efforts in all we do. The pineapple added; sharing and taking turns. Peaches are the kind, sweet words being said in our classroom, like please and thank you! Peaches represent words of encouragement, like "You can do it!." As we mixed the fruit I added a can of fruit cocktail representing the happiness we feel when we are in school together. The children "ooed and awed" and we talked about the yummy Friendship Salad we were concocting and how good it will taste. I then brought out very old and bruised banana and started to try and peel it. The students called for me to stop, "Don’t put that rotten banana into our salad, it will ruin it!" I told them they were right, this rotten banana might cause trouble in our happy classroom. It represents name calling, not sharing and being mean, etc. We decided not to put the rotten banana in our Friendship Salad! This was a great opportunity to talk about why we all try our best to be kind to one another and the importance of treating others the way you would want to be treated and also having good manners. It was very sweet to see several students with their arms around each other’s shoulders and commenting so kindly. Thanks so much to the parents for helping make the Friendship celebration go smoothly and also to families who donated to our Friendship Salad.
Students are practicing writing realistic fiction stories and beginning to explore rocks, silt, sand and soil during science time.
Next Monday, Feb. 20th is President’s Day and later this week we will be learning more about two Presidents in particular, Washington and Lincoln. Remember, no school Monday the 20th.
Keep up with us daily on twitter@AnneAbuckley
Photos and more; mrslogue.wordpress.com
Email: abuckley@pps.net

Notes from Mrs. Jamesbarry - 1st Grade

Happy Valentine’s Day! We had our friendship celebration this afternoon - exchanging cards and sharing Friendship Fruit Salad. We mixed together the different fruits - each fruit a symbol of part of our first grade experience - friendship, good manners, kindness, hard work, sharing, and happiness. We had a great time reading all of our valentines and spend time smiling and giggling.

The 100th day of school is just around the corner. We will be celebrating it this Friday, Feb. 16th by creating100-Eyed Monsters. It’s my favorite art project of the year. Look for it in the hallway next week!

We continue to read and write realistic fiction. We are working to identify the problem and solution, and noticing things about our characters as we read. In writing, we are working on making our beginnings and endings just right, including a problem and solution, and including proper punctuation and capitalization, of course. We will be working on writing from 9:30 - 10:20 for the rest of the year. I would love to have some classroom volunteers in to help out during this time. Let me know of you are available to help!

In math, we are wrapping up our work on equations and will be moving our focus to time and measurement for a few weeks. This is always a fun hands on unit. Finally, we will be starting our science unit Rocks, Sand, and Soil next week. Kids love rocks and often have collections. We will be sharing these midway through the unit. So if your child doesn’t currently collect rocks, they can be on the look out for some cool ones now!

Cheers! Ms. Sarah

Notes from Ms. O’Dea - 2nd Grade

As in cultures that celebrate the Lunar New Year, this week also marks the end Ms. O’Dea’s time with Room 5 and the beginning of Mrs. Murphy’s.

It’s been a great journey working with and getting to know all the children in Room 5. Each and every one of them is a good human being and have their own set of skills and gifts they bring to our community, and eventually to the world. I also want to give thanks to the families and Lewis community for their nurturing and support so that these children can grow and blossom and shine.

Sincerely, Ms. O’Dea

Notes from Ms. Leake- 2^nd Grade

This week we continue on our journey exploring nonfiction.  In writing, we are finishing our first book. Our most recent mini lesson focused on squeezing extra information out of our brains to add to each page. As a class, we previewed student books and talked about next steps. Some students worked on adding headings and a table of contents, others worked on adding more information to their topic sentences. After writing yesterday, students met with their writing partners. Each student gave a compliment and asked for clarification or shared advice. Student comments were very specific and helpful.

In our Nonfiction Reading, our lesson this week focused on thinking and rethinking about how information is connected across books.  We looked at Tiger Turf in Laura Marsh's book, Tigers,  and did some good sharing about how tigers mark their territories.  Then we read a page in Amazing Animals: Tigers that talked about the different sounds that tigers make. We wondered how the information fit together.  We couldn't see the connection until we looked at the caption that went with the picture. It read:  Tigers roar to warn others to stay out of their territory. After the lesson, students had a chance to practice comparing information from two of their books.  First they chose a topic and found information in both books using the table of contents and the index.  Then they compared information from both books and shared what they learned with their partners. 

We are learning about our first element in weather: air. We read a book that taught us that air is all around us. We learned that you can prove that air is everywhere. Your child can help you prove this at home with a bowl of water, a cup and a napkin.  We also learned that air is heavier than you think.  The air in a classroom weighs about 75 pounds!!  Up next, we are going to make an instrument to measure wind and track wind for a few days.

Meriwether Lewis Elementary School  
Weekly Newsletter               
February 7, 2018          

Upcoming Dates:
Feb 9-  Connect to Kindergarten 930am
Feb 13- PTA Meeting 630pm
Feb 19- Presidents’ Day- No School
Feb 20- Connect to Kindergarten 630pm
Feb 21- Late Start- Crazy Hair Day
Feb 23- Lonesome Teacher Trio Dance 630pm

Message from Ms. Glasgow

Hello. I hope you all have been enjoying the spring-like weather this week! It has been wonderful to watch everyone getting out to play! As you know, February is Black History Month. Across the building, classes have been studying black history and discussing issues of race and social justice. To loop families into the conversation, I will be leading a mini-workshop on talking about race with your children at the PTA meeting next Tuesday (2/13) @ 6:30 pm. If you are not able to make this meeting, or would like some pre-reading, here is one quick article that lays some foundation for the importance of talking about race with children and suggested strategies for doing so. As a principal and as a mom, I look forward to starting to engage in conversation about this important topic with some of you next week. I hope this will be the beginning of a more extended dialogue.

Lewis Lucky Luau

We are looking for help with this fun event! Volunteers are needed at the auction on Saturday, March 10th, and during the week leading up to it. Click here to learn more and sign up for a shift: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0a4cafa72ca3ff2-thelewis
https://www.lewispta.org/lucky-luau-2018

Vote for Lewis at the Advantis Credit Union grand opening!

​Advantis Credit Union is holding a grand opening celebration on February 9th and 10th at the new location on Woodstock. As part of the grand opening, they're going to be awarding a few small grants to local organizations and schools, including the Lewis PTA.

Help Lewis by visiting Advantis on Woodstock and voting for the Lewis PTA. Voting will kick off at the grand opening on February 9th and continue until 1,000 total votes have been cast. Each in-branch vote (including children) will equal $5.00 for Lewis.

Funds raised through the PTA are put back into the Lewis community to support all Lewis students. Want to learn more? Join the conversation about what we do for our community by coming to a PTA meeting. We meet the second Tuesday of the month at 6:30 in the Lewis library (free childcare provided). Can’t attend a meeting? Connect with us--

lewispta.org
facebook.com/ptalewis/
lewiselementaryptaor@gmail.com

Lonesome Teacher Trio Dance

Friday, February 23, 6:30-8pm

Proceeds from the dance go toward bus transportation for the fifth grade science camp. Support a Lewis tradition and have a great time all in one evening.

Admission is a suggested donation of $2/person or $5/family. Pizza and other refreshments will be available for purchase.

Community events are run by volunteers. Help make the event a success by volunteering for a short shift during the evening. To sign up go to http://bit.ly/2BJixMe

For more information visit https://www.lewispta.org/lonesome-trio-dance-2018

Rummage Sale/Garden Fair Update

The PTA recently learned from a PPS administrative directive that we are prohibited from hosting our annual rummage sale on-site at the school. This means, sadly, we must cancel the event.

If you've been accumulating unwanted items in your garage to donate to the sale, please consider reaching out to some of the organizations we've partnered with in the past to see if they can use your new or gently used, good quality items:

Transition Projects: https://www.tprojects.org/donate/items/

Dress for Success: https://oregon.dressforsuccess.org/get-involved/donate/

Portland Council PTA Clothing Center: http://www.portlandcouncilpta.org/clothing-center.html

And you should still save the date for the Garden Fair on 4/21 - order forms and more information will both be available soon! 

TAG Testing Update:

We have just been informed by the PPS TAG Office that they have changed the Lewis testing dates.  They will now be assessing students on Monday, February 12th and Thursday, February 15th.  We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. 

Smarter Balancing Testing:

If families choose to opt-out of state testing, they must submit this form to Kathleen in the office before actual testing begins. Forms are available in the office. Please be aware that you must mark on the form each test that you want to opt-out of.  The district states that teachers can neither promote nor discourage participation in state testing; that opting out is a parent decision. However, if you have any questions about the tests, please do not hesitate to ask your child’s teacher.  Testing will begin in March.

LGBTQ Resources for Students, Families, and School Staff

https://www.pps.net/Page/2488

Connect  to Kindergarten

It seems kind of early, but registration for the 2018-2019 School Year will begin soon.
If you have an incoming kinder, it would be very helpful if you could let us know by emailing Tracy (tgiordano@pps.net) with their name and date of birth.
Also, if you have neighbors with incoming kinders, could you please share with them that our Connect to Kindergarten is coming up?

Friday, February 9th at 9:30 am
Tuesday, February 20th at 6:30 pm

Childcare is NOT provided, but children are welcome.  After the informational meeting, tours will be provided.
Registration packets will be available at our Connect to Kindergarten events, and in the school office after February 9th..
Please contact the school office if you have any questions.
Thank you

Notes from Ms. Canales- 2^nd-3^rd Grade

February is off to an amazing start in room 16!
What are we up to?

Reading: We’ve kicked of Reading to Learn, our nonfiction unit. Students are searching for main idea and supporting details as they read nonfiction.

Writing: Our Opinion/Persuasive unit has concluded! Each student has a published piece in the hallway! Come check them out. We are moving into The Art of Informational Writing. Students are writing about topics they are experts on. We will be transferring what we’ve learned about nonfiction reading into our writing!

Social Studies: Our Portland unit continues. We will be learning about Portland’s early history and founding, and students will be journaling through the lens of being a child in different time periods in historic Portland.

Math: 2nd graders just finished up their third unit. They are now moving on to 2nd grade geometry skills (while still practicing computation and number sense every day). 3rd graders are finishing up their geometry unit and moving to the next unit, which will focus on multiplication and division strategies.

Science: We’ve begun our Changes unit where we will explore the scientific concepts behind changes we see every day (like ice melting). We will dig into the states and properties of matter in this unit.

Reminders
February 14: We will have a Friendship Party. Students can bring Valentines and candy (to be shared with you at home later). I’m posting more info on this as well as a class list on the blog!

Sign up to volunteer in room 16! There is a signup sheet posted by our classroom door.

Notes from Mr. Hansen/Ms. Brenan - 3^nd Grade

In reading we recently started a new unit, Mystery: Foundational Skills in Disguise. As the kids read self-selected mysteries, they deepen and hone a variety of strategies that are an important part of close, thoughtful reading.  For example, when readers work to identify clues in their mysteries, they read closely and
infer as they wonder, “What could this detail suggest?”  Similarly, readers dig deep as they think about the suspects in a story and consider each character’s traits and motivation. Mysteries offer a great opportunity to practice higher-level comprehension strategies at home as well.  I encourage you to read a mystery with your child.  Our local libraries offer a wide variety of mysteries or, if you prefer, your child is welcome to borrow one of our classroom titles.

Finally, we will honor our friendships with a small celebration on Wednesday, February 14, 2:00-3:00.  If you’re interested in donating a bag of popcorn (pre-popped, please), mandarin oranges, apple juice or napkins, a sign-up has been posted outside of our classroom.  Cards are optional, but if your child would like to bring cards to share please be sure that there is one for every student in the class.  A class list was sent home with your child earlier this week.  Please let us know if you didn’t receive it our need an additional copy.  -- Jill

Notes from Mrs. Redmond - 3rd Grade

It’s hard to believe that we are already through the first two quarters of the school year. Report cards were sent home with students on Monday. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to me. Overall, I am so happy with the growth students have made this year and to have such eager and enthusiastic learners with whom to spend my days. Here is what your learners are working on...lots of new units!

Reading: Students are doing a great job pulling out the main ideas and supporting details in their nonfiction reading. We’ve spent a good deal of time pausing after reading chunks of text and thinking about what the section is mostly about and what the details to support that idea are. They organize their thoughts using boxes (main idea) and bullets (supporting details.) Ask them to show you how it works.

Writing: Persuasive pieces are finished and going up in the hallway this week. Now it’s on to some nonfiction writing as well. Yesterday we talked about subjects in which we are experts. Each student got to verbally teach a group of peers about one of those topics. Today we wrote fast and furiously, filling pages with everything the writers knows about the topic.

Math: Sarah & Miranda, our Reed College mathematicians visited yesterday. Hopefully, your student shared with you the logic puzzles they brought in. Finally, it’s time for Multiplication!!! Students have been building arrays as a way to talk about multiplication. Under Ms. Connolly’s direction, they constructed a (rather large) multiplication and division chart, which will hang in the classroom as a reference. They had great noticings as we looked for different patterns.

Science: We started our new science unit today. The unit focuses on various states of matter and the different changes that occur in matter. There is much anticipation around the “chemical reaction” experiments we will be conducting.

Art: Calling all sewers. We will be starting a project very soon that involves stitching. Please let me know you have any expertise in this area and would be interested in coming in to help.

Reminders:
February 14th - Friendship Party (look for a note coming home today)
February 19th - No School
February 21st - Late Start & Crazy Hair Day
February 23rd - Lonesome Teacher Trio Dance

Notes from Ms. Elissa – 4th Grade

February, here we come!  As we roll into the second half of the year, we are working on tightening up routines, pushing ourselves to our full potential, and being better all around.

Students are revising and publishing their five paragraph essays this week.  Soon, they will complete a work sample on a different topic which will allow me to assess their individual progress on writing in paragraph format. 

We are getting deeper into our study of nonfiction reading strategies.  This week, students are participating in a "summary boot camp" where they are learning to pick out an author's main idea and supporting details from a text and rewrite it in their own words.

In math, we are continuing our work with fractions.  Students will begin investigating improper fractions and learn some visual strategies for how to convert them into a mixed number.  We will also look at adding and subtracting fractions.

Last week, students worked in research teams to learn about a specific moment in Native American history.  Each team made a timeline marker to teach others about their topic.  You can take a look at what we have covered so far on our giant timeline in the hallway outside Room 24.  We will continue to add to our timeline for the rest of the year as we learn more about Oregon's history.

Report cards were sent home with your child on Monday.  Please review the report card, sign the envelope, and have your child bring the signed envelope back to school.  Please email me with any questions or concerns: edingus@pps.net

We will be decorating "mailboxes" and exchanging valentines next Wednesday.  If you have an empty shoe box/cereal box or two lying around, please send them in next week.  See the letter I sent home on Monday for more info as well as a list of student names.
Take care, Ms. Elissa

Notes from Ms. Rotwein - 4th Grade

Here’s the news from Room 22:

Math:  We have been working on a variety of different models to represent fractions.  So far, students have learned: ruler fractions, egg-carton fractions, and clock fractions.  This week, students are learning how to convert between improper fractions and mixed numbers.

Reading:  We are deep into our non-fiction unit.  Students have been practicing identifying the features of non-fiction texts, using text structures to take notes, writing about the main idea, summarizing, and identifying the types of non-fiction texts.  Next week, they will begin a research project on a weather topic.

Writing:  Students are working on final drafts of their choice essays.  They will do a formal writing sample next week to see if they are able to structure a five-paragraph essay on their own after all the practice we have done.

Social Studies: Last week, students presented timeline markers on landmarks in Indigenous history.  We are now zooming in on the Klamath Region of Oregon.  On Friday, students will be taking on roles of invested parties in the fight for water rights in that region.  These roles will include: Tribal members and leaders, farmers, ranchers, government officials, salmon, and suckerfish.

Important Announcements:  Thank you for supporting students in the outlining homework that was sent home last week.  We will continue to alternate writing homework and math homework each week up to Spring Break.

We will be having our Valentine’s Party next Wednesday afternoon.  I have sent home information about Valentine’s.  Thank you to those that have signed up to bring treats, we have a few more open spots for people to sign-up to bring apples and juice to our party.

Report cards were sent home on Monday.  Please return the signed envelopes by next Monday, February 12th.  Thanks!

Notes from Mr. Richner- 4^th-5^th Grade

Greetings!

Team 20 has had another very productive and busy week. Our art residency with Nancy Judd of Recycle Runway concluded. Kids shared their upcycled fashions through a museum tour, read their group’s artist statement, and had a go with some creative dramatics to reflect on the lifecycle of clothing. Finished pieces and artist statements are on our blog (bit.ly/RecFashions).

We are continuing to learn about Native American history. We connected to last fall’s salmon study by learning about how the construction of dams impacted salmon and the spiritual, cultural, and economic way of life for Native Americans living near Celilo Falls and elsewhere along the Columbia River. We were treated to a film screening of United by Water with director/filmmaker, Derrick LaMere. The film tells the story of five tribes returning to the Kettle Falls area where they had traditionally gathered to fish prior to the construction of the Grand Coulee Dam 75 years ago.

During Language Workshop, kids are truckin’ along on reply letters to our pen pals in Madison, Wisconsin, editing and revising letters in partner and with me. Our Black History biographies are completed and are on display as a Black History timeline in the hallway.

Looking ahead, we will celebrate Valentine’s Day in the classroom on Wednesday, February 14th. As was mentioned in last week’s pink flyer, we will make Valentine “mail boxes.” Paper, ribbon, markers and other art supplies will be on hand, and if kids wanted to bring a shoebox, cereal box, or other “construction aids,” they certainly may. Please be sure to include Patrice, a new student in our room, on your Valentine’s list.

Please continue to send kids with a water bottle from home each day. We have one drinking fountain that is shared by the five classrooms at our end of the building. I want kids to have access to water throughout the day and a water bottle is a big help.

Last, but not least, report cards went home this past Monday. Please sign and return your kid’s report card envelope by the following Monday.

Please follow us on Twitter @LewisRoom20 and at LewisRoom20.blogspot.com for photos and regular updates!
Mark

Notes from Ms. Speer - 5th Grade

Spring is in the air! It’s hard to believe this school year is halfway over. Before you know it, we’ll be sending these sweet fifth graders off to middle school. We have a lot to squeeze in before the year end! Next week is Valentine’s Day and we are planning to celebrate on Wednesday afternoon. I sent home a copy of our class list so students can make their valentines. Please remind your kiddos to triple check the class list to make sure all students are included and names are spelled correctly. Students will need to decorate a v-day box at home and bring it to school on Wednesday. See the blog for more detail. We posted a party supply list outside of our room so please sign up to bring something. If you are interested in sending supplies but can’t make it in to sign up, just send me an email.

Other updates and reminders--

*If you have not filled out the survey regarding Science Camp tuition, please visit our blog  http://lewisroom21.blogspot.com/

*We just began a new garden rotation with Ms. Kathleen on Tuesdays so please make sure your kiddos are dressed appropriately on those days

*Make sure report card envelopes are signed and returned by Friday

*Don’t forget to sign up to bring something for our Valentine’s Day Celebration. Thank you in advance!

*Stop by and check out our Black History Timeline

Notes from Ms. Sarah Kohn - 5th Grade

Happy February everyone! With every passing month I am reminded of how quickly the year is passing and how far we have come in our learning! We are at the beginning of a new quarter. I hope you received your child's report card. Those came home Monday. Please keep the report card, sign the envelope, then send that envelope back to school, so I know you received it. Also, I will reuse that envelope next term for next quarter's report card. Thank you! We finished our art residency with Nancy Judd last week. Students enjoyed creating clothing and accessories using recycled and natural materials. Look for their finished designs on Twitter! In reading this week, we are working on Non-Fiction. We are seeing that our texts have become more complex and we need to use different strategies to understand our reading and persevere when the main idea is not always obvious! In math, we are beginning to work on multiplying and dividing fractions. If your child received a "N", or "B" on their last math assessment, (which came home yesterday) they are welcome to practice and re-take. My goal is that all students have a firm understanding of all concepts. We are finishing up our reports on Black History. All of the 5th grade classes have taken part in this  and those will be displayed on a time-line in the hall! There are so many wonderful folks who have made great contributions that we want to celebrate! Reed College Science starts up again this week. We are excited to welcome them back for another term! We also started a garden rotation with Kathleen this week. Students will get a chance to work in the garden each Tuesday for the next month, or so. Next Wednesday is Valentine's Day. Our class will have a celebration in the afternoon. I sent home a class list if your child would like to bring in cards. Please ensure there is one for each student on the list. Outside the classroom is a sign-up for treats for our celebration. Please stop by, or drop me an email if you are able to provide something off the list. Remember, we can only do store-bought items! I adore your children and love working with them each day!

Notes from Mr. Post - Room 7

Last week we wrapped up our unit “Keeping My Body Healthy” with a review of the various body systems, and their functions. This week students are using “fitness tracker” sheets to keep track of how much exercise they get during recesses and PE classes. For Reading, students are finishing their Reading A-Z books and packets about the body.  For Writing, students finished passages about “What’s your favorite way to exercise?”  and they are presenting them to their classmates this week. These passages and illustrations are on display outside our classroom door. For Math, we are working on using various strategies for multiplication and division, including skip-counting, repeated addition, and arrays. 

For Art, we did the fourth and final session of our Recycled City project with teaching artist, Nancy Judd. We rolled out butcher paper on our green carpet to make a map of the lots, roads, parks, railroad tracks and river. Students placed their buildings on their lots, then drew more details on the map, like yards and street lines. We did a time-lapse video of this final session, which we will present on Art Night along with more images of this Art and communities project. Our next unit is called “Cultures influence Communities”. In this unit, we will learn about different cultures and how they come together to form communities, states, and nations.

Meriwether Lewis Elementary School Weekly Letter

January 31, 2018

Upcoming Dates:

Feb 1-  Bottle Drop Pick Up 845am
Feb 2-  Walk & Roll
Feb 6-  Lewis Dines Out- Reverend’s BBQ
Feb 7-  Coffee Talk with Emily 845am
Feb 9-  Connect to Kindergarten 930am

Message from Ms. Glasgow 
Hello families. This week, I enjoyed watching our artist-in-residence Nancy Judd complete her upcycled projects with 3rd and 5th grade. Thank you for all of the recycled objects you sent in to support these creative endeavors! As you know, our teachers had a planning day on Monday to work on your children's 2nd quarter report cards. Our plan is to send the completed cards home next Monday. We hope that your child's report card will provide detailed information about how your child is currently performing at school--I know that the teachers have been diligent and thoughtful about their completion. If you have any follow-up questions after reviewing your child's report card, please feel free to contact his/her teacher for clarification or more information. As partners in this work, it's important that we're all on the same page about how kids are faring in their educational journeys.

Thank you everyone from the Lewis Staff!
Thank you for the wonderful lunch on Monday during Teacher Planning Day.  We all enjoyed the food and the lovely tables.  Dishes are in the office if you need to pick
yours up.

School Site Council Vision Survey:
Thank you to the 26 parents/guardians who took time to complete the short survey sent out in last week's newsletter. The School Site Council's intent in distributing this survey is to gather family feedback on the school vision and mission statements that we are working to update/revise. We wanted to send the survey out one more time to see if we can engage more of you in this conversation. We promise the survey is short--only 3 questions! You can access the survey here. Thanks in advance for your time and thoughts!
 

LGBTQ Resources for Students, Families, and School Staff
https://www.pps.net/Page/2488

Lewis Dines Out Reverends BBQ

7712 SE 13th Ave
February 6th 
ALL DAY SALES
10% goes to the Proposed Class Project Funds and other important PTA items!
Dine In, Take Out (3rd party delivery does NOT count)
Be sure to thank Reverend's for their support!
www.reverendsbbq.com

Learn more at lewispta.org

Report cards will be mailed home on Monday Feb. 5

Keep Lewis Healthy

Please remember that if your child has a fever, they may not return to school until they are fever free for 24 hrs.  If your child is vomiting or has diarrhea, they must be symptom free for 24 hrs. as well before returning to school.

The Art Fundraiser was a great success!!

And YOU CAN KEEP ORDERING!  
The SilverGraphics Online Shop is still open and you can SAVE 20% on all orders placed by Valentine’s Day!
You can even UPLOAD NEW ART after you access our online shop.

https://www.lewispta.org/2017-art-fundraiser
 

Talented & Gifted Assessments

The TAG Assessments will be taking place at Lewis School on Wednesday, February 7th and Thursday, February 8th.  If you have nominated your child for TAG, please make sure she/he is on time and at school on those days.  If you have questions, please email-
Abby Rotwein, Lewis TAG Facilitator, at arotwein@pps.net.

Connect  to Kindergarten

It seems kind of early, but registration for the 2018-2019 School Year will begin soon.
If you have an incoming kinder, it would be very helpful if you could let us know by emailing Tracy (tgiordano@pps.net) with their name and date of birth.
Also, if you have neighbors with incoming kinders, could you please share with them that our Connect to Kindergarten is coming up?
Friday, February 9th at 9:30 am
Tuesday, February 20th at 6:30 pm
Childcare is NOT provided, but children are welcome.  After the informational meeting, tours will be provided.
Registration packets will be available at our Connect to Kindergarten events, and in the school office after February 9th..
Please contact the school office if you have any questions.  Thank you

Lewis Auction Volunteers Needed!

Hey Lewis parents... The Lewis Lucky Luau auction is coming soon. Mark your calendars for Saturday, March 10th! It's going to be a fabulous event and great date night opportunity. The theme is Hawaiian, as the name suggests, and tickets are $10 per person or $15 per couple if purchased in advance. There will be plenty of food, beverages, and prizes to be had - invite your friends! A  link to buy tickets will be coming soon.

In the meantime, we NEED YOUR HELP to make this event a success! Do you own or work for a business that can donate an auction item, or do you have connections to a business you could ask for a donation? Do you have an hour to send a few emails using a pre-written message asking for donations? If so, contact Genevieve Benner at vivapalmer@yahoo.com. This is our most time-sensitive need, but we also need volunteers to help with publicity, food, decorations, preparing materials the week before the event, and at the event itself. If you can help with any of these projects, please email Kendyl Watts at kendylann3@yahoo.com or sign up on the office windows and we will get in touch with you. Even if you only have an hour or two to spare, we will be very grateful for your help!

PTA Clothes Closet

Monday Feb.12 is Lewis’ day to help at the PTA Clothing Closet.  Please consider giving some time to help provide clothing for PPS children in need.  Marshall Campus 930-130pm.  Sign up at office and/or email Claire-
Clairestar.g@gmail.com
If interested but unable to commit to the full time, please email about options.  We are also collecting clothing to take to the PTA clothing closet- new socks and underwear.
Other clothing in like new condition.  Teens are served as well, so all sizes welcome.  Look for a box in the hall by the office.  Thanks.

Meriwether Lewis Elementary School

Classroom Notes

News and information from our classrooms...                                 

January 31, 2018

Notes from Ms. Allen - Kindergarten

Language Arts: We have started a new unit in reading workshop called Bringing Books to Life. In writing workshop we have been working on how to write true stories, and how to write stories that people can read. Also, we have been working on reading our own writing, and going back to see if our writing makes sense.

Word Study: Our Words Their Way differentiated spelling instructions are going good. The kids are enjoying working independently in small groups. Please continue to help your child practice working on their word ring words.

Math: We our working on a variety of math skills: recognizing and counting quantities between 10 and 30, reading and writing numbers 11-30, exploring counting strategies and more.

Social Studies: Last week learned about Taiko Japanese drumming, next week we will start learning about why we observe and recognize certain days in the month. They will be learning about Chinese New Year, President’s Day, and Black history month. The kindergartens truly enjoyed learning about Dr. King, they were all very intrigued about his life and story.

Upcoming Events: We will have a Valentine’s Day party on Feb.14th @ 2pm. I will send home more details soon. Also, we will be celebrating the 100th day of school next month.

Reminders: Please send your child to school with a full water bottle. Also, we are getting low on class snacks. Many kids enjoy having class snacks available.

Notes from Ms. Kennedy - Kindergarten

Phew! We made it through the long, wet month of January. There are so many different strands of illnesses out in the world right now, we were only able to bust out our morning Happy Dance several times. Here’s hoping for a healthier February!

Your child’s first report card will be coming home soon! There was a remarkable amount of growth over the first half of kindergarten. It was quite rewarding to look over the literacy data and know that those numbers translate into the making of little readers! Please keep reading to your child and have them read to you as well. Going over the daily Morning Message is one great way to build confidence and work on expression.

The writing samples collected each month also show impressive progress. Please encourage your child to draw an idea, label it, and write a few sentences about the action. If you have any questions or comments about the report card, don't hesitate to contact me. It is an honor to be a part of such a developmental year.

Valentine’s Day is on a Wednesday this year, and I would like to invite you to share the love with us. We will be gathering after Math at 2:15 to wipe down tables, dole out cards and sample treats. I will post a sign-up sheet outside Room 4 for helpers, snacks and supplies. Please have your child sign all their Valentine cards and add the name of the recipient. This list will be printed and sent home as well. Cards can be handmade or store-bought.

Kindergarten 2017-18 Class List by First Name

Addie
Alissah
Amara
Amelia
Anja
Avery
Cole
Ethen
Felicity
Finn
Idella
Julien
Malakye
Max
Megan
Miles
MJ
Ms. Kennedy
Olive
Penelope
Rowan
Rudy

Weekly photos posted https://mskennedyroom4.blogspot.com/ Thank you one and all!

Notes from Teacher Leslie - Kindergarten

I’d like to say a quick thank you to all of you for your support both at home and in the classroom.  I’ve seen so much improvement across the board and am grateful for all the support you have given me and your students. 

We had so much fun last week during our Taiko residency with Michelle and Toru.  We explored the art of taiko through hands-on learning and practiced the 3 main principles of Taiko: respect, cooperation and perseverance. We learned about Japanese culture through the exercises Michelle and Toru led us through and the language we used.  It was so fun to see our students express themselves in the performance last Friday! 

We are diving into our new reading unit and loving our more challenging books.  I have been reading individually with students and am so impressed with what strong reading skills they are building.  We will go book shopping soon to allow students to fill their book tubs with more books at their reading level and continue to strengthen our reading stamina. 

In math our games are focused on the numbers 11-19.  We are practicing identifying, writing, building and taking apart these numbers.  Please continue to work on reading and writing these numbers at home! 

Report Cards:  Report cards will be sent home on Monday February 5th.  Due to a technical error, quarter 2 grades were inputted into the Quarter 1 column.  PE and Music grades as well as Comments will be found in the Quarter 2 column.  Please see Quarter 1 for the rest of the grades. 

Valentine’s Day:  In Room 2 we focus on friendship for Valentine’s Day.  We will be celebrating with a Friendship Party on Wednesday (afternoon), February 14th.  I will be sending home a class list with some more information about how we will be celebrating.  There will be a sign up sheet outside our classroom if you would like to donate snacks for our celebration.

Notes from Teacher Dana -- 1st Grade

We had such a great experience with Taiko last week. The kids were very proud to present their learnings to an audience. Thanks for all the work getting donations for Run for the Arts. That made it all possible. We had a great trip to see Pete the Cat. The Oregon Children's Theater did not disappoint. The kids were enthralled! Thank you to the parents who volunteered. We couldn't do the trip without our chaperones! We will be going again in the Spring to see Frog and Toad. Stay tuned.

Report Cards will be coming home next Monday. If you have any questions or concerns at all, please don't hesitate ask. I am very pleased with the growth the kids are making.   We are now officially half way through the school year. It’s hard to believe. I told the kids this week and they were really surprised.

On another note, we are working hard on making our handwriting legible on a consistent basis. I’ve noticed  they all do a fantastic job when we are doing “handwriting” but then forget to use the skills learned in handwriting during writers workshop. Please encourage this at home when writing happens.

Notes from Mrs. Logue - 1st Grade

We had such a great experience with Taiko last week. The kids were very proud to present their learnings to an audience. Thanks for all the work getting donations for Run for the Arts. That made it all possible. We had a great trip to see Pete the Cat. The Oregon Children's Theater did not disappoint. The kids were enthralled! Thank you to the parents who volunteered. We couldn't do the trip without our chaperones! We will be going again in the Spring to see Frog and Toad. Stay tuned.

Report Cards will be coming home next Monday. If you have any questions or concerns at all, please don't hesitate ask. I am very pleased with the growth the kids are making.   We are now officially half way through the school year. Its hard to believe. I told the kids this week and they were really surprised.

On another note, we are working hard on making our handwriting legible on a consistent basis. I’ve noticed they all do a fantastic job when we are doing “handwriting” but then forget to use the skills learned in handwriting during writers workshop. Please encourage this at home when writing happens.

Notes from Mrs. Jamesbarry - 1st Grade

I hope you had a chance to see the Taiko performance in person last Thursday, or on my Twitter feed at https://twitter.com/SJamesbarry. The kids did a fantastic job. It was a wonderful experience and I think they learned a lot about team work, perseverance, and self control. I also hope everyone enjoyed the play. A special thank you to the chaperones, as I know it is a big job. We couldn’t do it without you! I am sorry to have missed the field trip - I heard the play was a lot of fun. I have been out with bronchitis these last few days, and hope to be back on Thursday.

The kids started an art project today that will be hung at the end of the primary hallway throughout the month of February. I will try to get it up as soon as possible. Any helpers are welcome! It will probably be ready to go up on Friday or Monday.

Our new literacy units have us reading and writing fiction. The kids are enjoying reading and writing made up stories.  In writing, our focus is on new craft moves to bring their characters and stories to life. In reading, we are focusing on retelling our stories. This involves remembering key details in order. One doesn’t want to tell everything (known as spilling the beans…) but just enough to give our listeners a good idea of how the story goes. Please have your kiddo retell some of their books at home, or even about their day, or past events. Retelling takes practice - so all hands on deck are welcome!

Finally, math assessments show we need to step up our work in the area of subtraction. We will be spending some more time on it in the coming weeks, as we also forge forward into working with equations and measurement. Cheers! MS. Sarah

Notes from Ms. O’Dea - 2nd Grade

Konnichiwa (a Japanese greeting) from Room 5. We have been learning some Japanese words and principles along with our Taiko (Japanese word meaning drum) lessons. We learned that the three most important principles of being a Taiko drummer are respect, perseverance, and cooperation. It was impressive how well and how much the class was able to learn and then demonstrate at the Taiko performance, all in four short days! Not only that, but the students (in partnerships) created and wrote a ten beat Taiko song on their own. It was a fabulous, engaging workshop and the class did a great job!

Something else new which has been added to our weekly curriculum is Guidance Class with our school counselor, Mrs. Sundberg. The topic we’re working on is titled, Zones of Regulation, identifying strong feelings and tools to deal appropriately with those feelings.  Mid-year is a good time of year to be refreshing and learning some new social skills strategies.

In reading, we continue to “grow” our knowledge on a variety of topics through our collection of leveled nonfiction books. In addition, during Technology the class has been implementing some of the nonfiction text features by creating their own documents, including titles, headings, images with captions and labeling a diagram. Mr. Mark does a fantastic job connecting content through technology!

In Math, we’ve been doing some reviewing and assessments, mostly on word problems, addition & subtraction facts 0-18, solving equations, telling time, measurement, reading graphs and some place value.

This week’s science lesson will be making twirlers and seeing how air resistance works.

Reminder: Check take-home folders for field trip permission slips to OMSI for a weather presentation (our next science unit) on Feb. 14, 10:45-12:45 pm.
Sincerely,  Ms. O’Dea

Notes from Ms. Leake- 2^nd Grade

In reading we continue our nonfiction unit of study. Students are making predictions about words they might encounter in their nonfiction text. It has been fun to see students making predictions about the words or 'lingo' that will be found in their books based on their background knowledge on the topic as well as a quick preview of the front and back cover. 

Our most recent mini lessons focused on tools in the book that can help you with the meaning of new words.  Last week, we focused on captions, text boxes, and the glossaries in books.  We read a book on tigers and emphasized the notion that we may think we know the meaning of the word 'prey' but we need to look for context clues to see how the author uses it. After the mini lesson, students had a chance to practice that skill both with their reading partners and independently.

In Tech class with Mr. Hansen, students have been making Google docs on their favorite things.  During each session, students are showing what they know about nonfiction text features.  On the first page, students worked on making a heading to tell what the page was about.  After writing about their favorite thing, they copied and pasted a picture and wrote a caption to explain what was happening in the picture. Students needed to have one bold word and one word in italics. Then, students learned how to make text boxes and label parts of the object. Up next, students will make a key to explain what is happening on a map.

Please continue to spend 10 minutes a night working on the facts to 10 or 20 sheet with your child.  Your child should keep working on one sheet until he/she can orally complete it in 1 min.

Meriwether Lewis Elementary School Weekly Letter

January 24, 2018      

Upcoming Dates:

Jan 24- Sellwood Middle School Info Night-  Parents and Guardians ONLY 6-715pm
Jan 29- No School, Teacher Planning Day
Feb 2-  Walk & Roll
Feb 6-  Lewis Dines Out- Reverend’s BBQ
Feb 7-  Coffee Talk with Emily 845am
Feb 9-  Connect to Kindergarten 930am

Message from Ms. Glasgow 

This year, our School Site Council is engaging the community in the process of refreshing our school vision and mission. This process is not about creating a new vision and mission for Lewis; rather, it is about ensuring that our stated vision and mission accurately capture the Lewis community as we know it in 2018...and as we hope it will continue to grow in the future. In December, we gathered feedback from every student at Lewis through a guided art reflection process. I brought each class to observe a Lewis mural created in 1962. Students used this mural as a springboard to express their ideas about what is most important about our school community today. Now, we would like to add your ideas to the amazing ones already expressed by our students. We would greatly appreciate it if you would take a few minutes to complete this short survey. The School Site Council will be using the data generated by the students (via the mural activity) and by you (via this survey) to refresh our school vision and mission and--hopefully--to launch the creation of a new community-wide art piece.

5^th Grade Families