Weekly Update Wednesday, September 29, 2010

 Upcoming Events

Tuesday October 5th Field trip~
Seattle Children's Theater~ "The Borrowers" 

                              

Thursday, October 14th and Friday October 15th- No School
Teacher  In-Service Days 
    

October 27th-30th (Wed.-Sat.) Annual Seabury Scholastic Book Fair!

Wednesday, October 27th Annual All School Halloween Costume Parade 1:30ish

Thursday, October 28th and Fri. October 29th No School    
Parent-Teacher Conferences

Sunday, October 31st~Halloween

Here's What's Going On In

the Beacons' World!

      First and foremost, we'd like to thank all of the parents who were able to attend last Thursday's Curriculum Night. We had an excellent turnout. This week we've put up even more work on the walls to showcase your Beacon's progress. So the next time you are at school, please feel free to stop by and take a look!

Reading: Students in both the Charlotte's Web and Mr. Popper's Penguin reading groups are hard at work in their reading logs. We are up to Chapter 5 in Charlotte's Web and Chapter 6 in Mr. Popper's Penguin.Students have been writing chapter summaries and looking up tough vocabulary words. We are very impressed with the caliber of dictionary skills your Beacon is developing! Everyone is very eager to share his/her insights about which vocabulary word definition is correct for the sentences in these classic tales.Last Friday I invited Ms. Head's Explorers' class  to "Buddy Read" with the Beacons. Each Beacon had an Explorer to read to and each Explorer read to a Beacon. This is what Seabury is all about! It was a magical time with younger and older students sharing a love of reading! Please view the photos in the posting below and see if you can spot your Beacon as a "Reading Buddy".

Math: Both math groups are hard at work! We are pleased with how much your Beacon is learning in our accelerated Math Connects program.

Science: Students selected their animals on Monday and we will continue researching these amazing animals next week.

Social Studies: Students are working on mastering the continents, bodies of water, the right and left hemispheres along with the northern and southern hemispheres. The class learned the "Continent Rap" last week. They Rocked!

Spelling: Based on the class' pretest, all students have the days of the week and the months of the year as their spelling words for this week. Spelling groups will have different words next week.

Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor,
summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them
~ S. Horwitz

Here's to another great week with your Beacon!

Betsy and Tiffany

Will you be my Reading Buddy?

The Beacons and the Explorers make terrific

 Reading Buddies!

 

                                                                            

It's All Happening At The Zoo!

 




Woodland Park Zoo Evening Field Trip

Beacons and Navigators

September 2010

 

      Even though our evening field trip last week to the Woodland Park Zoo was very rainy, very wet and very dark, your Beacon had a wonderful time! They have not stopped talking about it all week! Here are a few of the entries from their journals about the field trip:

At the zoo I saw a giraffe. Then I saw an elephant, a Komodo Dragon, a bat, cockroaches and a King Cobra. It was so fun!!~M.M.

My class went to the zoo. I had fun. We saw different insects. We saw a giraffe. We saw elephants and we learned about animals. We also got to touch a snake. It was pretty fun. ~C.S.

I went to the zoo. We saw a hippo  but I couldn't really see him. But I was happy because there was a giraffe and we saw a Komodo Dragon. But we  saw an elephant and we had pizza for dinner. I had fun. ~Y.S.

We saw some animals at the zoo. We saw a Komodo Dragon! We saw a giraffe! It was huge. We went in and the zoo person brought out a good snake and I got to touch it. It felt smooth and a little wet. The zoo person told us that it eats bad snakes. We went outside again and heard a frog! We went inside and she brought a lizard. We got to touch it! ~R.M.

It was so good when we were in the classroom because we could not get wet. I really like to go to the zoo especially at night. I think that we were the only ones who have gone at night to this specific zoo with the Komodo Dragons. I love the Komodo Dragons!~B.H.

At the zoo it was really foggy and rainy. We saw the Komodo Dragon, lizards, snakes and bugs. We saw wild animals like lions, giraffes, wild dogs, snow leopards and elephants. I had fun!~Z.M.

At the zoo we saw a giraffe. We saw an elephant.~K.E.

We had a field trip to the zoo. We saw giraffes, snakes, a bird, two wild dogs and a gecko. I love the zoo.~M.E.

When I went to the zoo we heard lots of noises. We didn't really get to see any animals because it was at night. We heard birds and stuff like that. But we did get to see a few animals like a giraffe and bats and a Komodo Dragon and baby turtles and cockroaches. Oh, and don't forget the pizza! How could I forget the pizza? A lot of people were there. My mom got to come too. She doesn't really go on field trips with me. My dad is usually the one who takes me.~O.M.

I like the Komodo Dragon. I think it's cool. It lives in the island of Komodo in Indonesia. I like its claws. I love the Komodo Dragon.~R.S.

On the field trip we saw a giraffe, the poison dart frog, the bats, the Komodo Dragons, some snakes and some lizards. I loved it!~M.T.

Curriculum Night

This Thursday,

September 23rd, 

6:30 pm

is

Curriculum Night !

Please plan to be in the Beacons' classroom at

 7:00 pm

for Mrs. Price and Mrs. Gellert will have

a 15 minute presentation.

Then at 7:15

parents are to meet in the multi-purpose room for refreshments.

7:30 until 8:00

Mrs. Wollum 

Here's the information for Curriculum Night that Ms. Joslyn sent in a previous e-mail to all parents:

COME SEE OUR CLASSROOMS AND FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE CLASSROOM CURRICULUM. NOTE: This is not a time to conference with the teachers. Parent/teacher conferences are in October or can be arranged with your child’s teacher at another time.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2010‐ALL GRADES AT LOWER CAMPUS

6:30pm‐MEET IN THE CLASSROOMS. MIDDLE SCHOOLERS MEET IN LIBRARY.

7:15pm‐MEET AND MINGLE IN MULTIPURPOSE ROOM‐

REFRESHMENTS PROVIDED BY PBC

7:30pm‐PRESENTATION ON SEABURY CURRICULUM IN MULTIPURPOSE ROOM. LEARN ABOUT THE NEW ART CURRICULUM AND MEET THE SPECIALISTS.

NO CHILDCARE PROVIDED FOR CURRICULUM NIGHT



Recipes for Success

My Recipe for Success

1,000 cups of Teamwork

1 cup Responsibility

100 cups of Kindness

2,000 teaspoons Safety

3,000,000 quarts of Creativity

500 cups of Happiness

Mix together

Serves 15

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My Recipe for Success

                                     100 cups of Hard Work

1/4 pint Integrity

1/3 gallon Respect

1/2 tablespoons Listen

100 quarts Safety

Mix together

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My Recipe for Success

100 pints of Hard Work

12 teaspoons Listening

2 gallons Safety

1 quart Kindness

4 1/3 tablespoons Happiness

Mix well
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My Recipe for Success

100 cups of good Hard Work

172 lunches

10 gallons of Integrity, Responsibility and Kindness

1 gallon of Following Instructions

5 gallons of Awesomeness and Fun

1,000 gallons of Us

Mix it together

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My Recipe for Success

172 cups of Hard Work

1,000 cups of Fun

18 pints of Listening

100% Teamwork

1 cup Happiness

Blend the Hard Work and Fun

After an hour add everything else

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My Recipe for Success

1,000 gallons of Listening and Hard Work

1 cup of Teamwork

1,000 gallons of Fun

2 cups of Respect

100 pints of Kindness

1,000,000 gallons of Lunch

Mix well

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My Recipe for Success

1000 gallons Respect

24 cups of Fun

2000 cups Hard Work

100 cups Team Work

400 cups Kindness

Mix together

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My Recipe for Success

172 Lunches

1/2 pint Teamwork

2 gallons Fun

2 cups Safety

1,009 gallons hard work

Mix in good

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My Recipe for Success

2 quarts Kindness

2 cups Teamwork

1 cup Integrity

3 cups Kindness

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 My Recipe for Success

100 cups of Respect

344 cups Recess

1/4 quart Responsibility

1/3 pint Integrity

2/2 cup of Fun

Mix well

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My Recipe for Success

34 cups Respect

344 cups Recess

77 gallons of Fun

1/2 cup Free Choice

9 teaspoons of Work

35 gallons of Math Games

Mix well

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My Recipe for Success

1 million gallons of Fun

1 million gallons of Integrity

1 million gallons of Safety

1 million gallons of Respect

Blend well then mix well

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My Recipe for Success

100 cups of Hard Work

200 cups of Kisses

2 teaspoons of Happiness

100 gallons of Funnies

1/4 pint Respect

Mix together well

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Week in Review September 15, 2010

Upcoming Events:

This Friday, September 17th

Evening Field Trip to the Woodland Park Zoo


Picture Day
This Friday, September 17th

Curriculum Night
Thursday evening, September 23rd
time to be announced

Hunger Walk
Sunday, October 3rd
1 pm Registration
2pm Walk Starts
Fort Steilacoom Park

This is an optional family activity,

 not a school field trip

October:

No School-Teacher Inservice 

Thursday, Oct. 14th

Friday, Oct. 15th

Here's What's Happening in

the Beacons' World

Reading: Our Beacons are very excited about their new reading groups. Students are reading either  Charlotte's Web  or Mr. Popper's Penguins. Both of these classics are in keeping with our integrated curriculum of the study of animals in science, the continents in Social Studies, reading comprehension and listening comprehension, not to mention the vocabulary and critical thinking questions. Lots of great discussions are going on in our reading groups.

Math: Last Wednesday students were divided into two groups: the "Math Magicians" and the "Math Magicals". Both groups independently came up with their respective names  and the names so closely resemble each other that Mrs. Price and I will have to be on our toes to call each group their correct names! Whew! Both groups are in an accelerated math program and are working very hard. We are proud of our Math Magicians and Math Magicals!

Writing: Many Beacons have completed the "Peer Editing" phase on their first writing paper. Some are all ready for the final phase, that of "Publishing".
      This past week we also worked on dialog by writing a conversation between "Koko" the gorilla and "All Ball", her beloved tail-less kitten. We worked on commas and quotation marks. After their final dialog editing, students made finger puppets of Koko and Ball and presented their "conversation" to the class. They really outdid themselves!

Science: Students continued their study of animal vertebrates this week by learning the 5 subgroups of vertebrae.(check with your Beacon to see if  he/she can tell you that they are: mammals, birds, fish, amphibians, and reptiles). Students learned the subgroups and categorized certain animals by their respective characteristics. Our Beacons were very excited to share their ideas!

Social Studies: Last week, in preparation of  the themes for Charlotte's Web and Mr. Popper's Penguins that of animal intelligence, empathy, emotion and communication, we watched the National Geographic documentary of "Koko" . If you haven't seen it, you simply must! Students learned sign language and how animals "talk" with words without "saying" words. In literature, animals "talk" in the language in which the book is written. I was very impressed at the empathy your Beacon expressed towards Koko and her precious best friend, the tail-less All Ball. Joy and sadness, happiness and friendship, life and death, many of the universal themes of literature were found in watching this marvelous animal. Very profound. If you haven't heard from your Beacon about Koko, please ask and you'll be guaranteed a mouthful!

Koko's Kitten

Technology: Friday marked our first "Computer Lab" experience. Students were introduced to computer protocol. I had them pull up the Koko website which is kid friendly. We learned about "thumbnail" photos and how to navigate side bars. One item that was on the Koko video which the students were stunned about were the paintings that Koko and her surrogate "brother" Michael created. I've included one below. Beacons selected a "postcard" of their favorite painting and I'll be e-mailing those to them from the secure website. So be looking forward to receiving those. Please feel free to visit this website with your child or at your leisure. http://www.koko.org/

An animal's eyes have the power to speak a great language."  Martin Buber

Looking forward to another great week with your Beacon,

Betsy and Tiffany

Weekly Update Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Upcoming Events

 September 17th, School Picture Day

Friday,September 17th 

Seattle Woodland Park Zoo

6:00p.m.-10:00 pm

Here's what's new

  in the

Beacons' World !

It's been a very exciting, educational and busy first week of the new school year. The first three days of school last week were filled in part with learning the perfunctory "rules" of the school. Starting first thing last Wednesday morning, we had a special all school Gathering. Mrs. Wollum explained all the important "Playground Safety Rules" and students were taken outside and shown precisely how to use the equipment and how to stay safe. Your Beacon was an attentive listener. We were especially proud of our Beacons as school was dismissed this week for they all remembered the safety procedures for car "pick up". After the long Labor Day weekend, the Beacons arrived at school yesterday well rested and ready to work! All the Beacons are settling into the routine of the new school year by working hard and having a smile on their face.

Math: We have had a week of math assessments. We will be completing our math assessments at the end of this week and then we will begin our 2 math groups. Both groups will be working at an accelerated math level. Also this week, students have had a wonderful time learning interactive and educational math games. Please ask your Beacon about the two new ones they've learned since school began.

Reading:  Our Reading assessments are continuing as well. We will begin our Reading groups on Monday. We have also spent time this week reading poems about school.

Language Arts: This week we started writing poems and learning that not all poems have to rhyme. (This was a shocking revelation to some students!) Beacons also wrote a fantasy story about their summers. In addition, each Beacon has  written a recipe cards for success! Throughout this past week we have reviewed nouns and verbs, worked on our Daily Oral Language editing skills, written in our journals and have had a vocabulary word of the day everyday since school began last Wednesday. "Embark","novice","bolt", "cease","procrastinate" and "apprentice" are just a few of the vocabulary words your Beacon would love to share with you.

Science: These Beacons sure love learning about animals! We have launched into the study of vertebrates this week and everyone is very excited!

Social Studies: We have begun our first trimester's unit of study on Explorers by learning about the 7 continents and the 7 oceans. We are also leaning how to spell them correctly. Be sure to ask your Beacon about the "ant" that carried a rubber tree plant across "Ant"arctica! Students are making maps of the land masses and bodies of water. Look our world, here we come!

"Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself."

~John Dewey

We're off to a great start

to an amazing school year!

Looking forward to another exciting week with your Beacon,
Betsy and Tiffany

Beacons' Homework Policy

I  LOVE  HOMEWORK!!

We want to take this opportunity to explain our homework policy to help avoid any confusion and to make our expectations clear.


Homework should never take more than 20 minutes per subject per night. Most homework assignments will take between 5-10 minutes. Many will be started in class so we will know if there are questions on the assignment. In addition, our goal is that students not have more than two 20 minute homework assignments per night. Our policy is to keep homework minimal and meaningful.


Here's why:


Most recent studies have shown that homework that is overly elaborate and/or repetitive is detrimental, and in many cases squashes, the student’s love of learning and interest in the subject matter. This is especially true for gifted students. Specifically, studies have shown that any gains in achievement that homework may facilitate are undone if the student spends more than 1 hour per night on homework. Therefore, we assign two subjects per night for 20 minutes each. Thus, a maximum total of 40 minutes per night, Monday-Thursday. We rarely, if ever, give homework over the weekend.


The exception to weekend homework would be any long-term, ongoing projects, such as Science projects, book reports etc. which may or may not be included in the weekend or nightly assignments.


If your child is struggling or has confusion with a particular assignment, please let us know! Students often do not volunteer that they had trouble with the homework assignment. Therefore, if the assignment comes back completed and looking good, with no note from you, we can only assume all was well. If your Beacon is having difficulty with an assignment, please just draw a line on the homework paper after 20 minutes and initial it. There is no need to feel that the assignment "has to be completed no matter how long it takes." That is why drawing the 20 minute line and initialing it helps keep the communication between home and school strong and helps us help your child even more.


Our expectation is that your child consistently turn in his or her homework which is completed to the best of his or her ability within the honest effort of the 20 minute time frame. If your family has activities coming up on a particular night that you believe will preclude homework, then we need to hear it directly from you, the parent, preferably sooner rather than later. If something unexpected comes up and your child doesn't get a chance to do his or her homework, please send us an email or write us a note. Either way, we need to hear it from you.


One of our goals is to help build "Beacon Responsibility". Turning in the homework on time is an excellent life skill and a wonderful way in which a 2nd grader can develop responsibility.


We hope that this clears up any questions you might have about what homework will be like this year. If you have further questions, please let us know.


Here's to another great week in Beacons' World!


Betsy and Tiffany

1st Day of School, Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Welcome to our Beacons' classroom!