PreK-6 BSP - drop off at the Monarch Room
K-6 ASP will take place in the Music Room
Thank you for your flexibility!
This website was designed so that we can share what's happening in our classroom with the Willowwind community. As you explore our site, you can find information about our curriculum, read about special events and learning that is taking place, download pictures, view cool projects, and even watch our class movies. We hope that by visiting our classroom website, you will get a better idea of what we do each day. Enjoy your journey!
Our annual Scholastic Book Fair begins this Thursday, February 2 and runs each school day through February 10. The Book Fair will take place in the Gathering Space. As a result, please note the changes to before and after school program for these days.
PreK-6 BSP - drop off at the Monarch Room K-6 ASP will take place in the Music Room Thank you for your flexibility!
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Welcome to my very favorite time of year - SCIENCE FAIR! The Wolves will be exploring a science question of their choosing in great depth as we embark upon our next extended-learning project. Students will follow the scientific process (research, question, hypothesize, experiment, analyze, conclude, present) to create a project for the Willowwind Science Fair, which will take place at our school-wide Spring Learning Showcase on Thursday, March 9. The final project includes an extensive poster board and oral presentation. The Wolves and I reviewed past projects and shared memories of great work from prior years to build an understanding of the end point for this exciting project. We're pretty pumped up! Sixth grade students will be eligible to take their projects to the State Science and Technology Fair of Iowa on Friday, March 31. I strongly encourage each sixth grade student to participate in the SSTFI; it is a wonderful opportunity to present work to a wider audience. I will provide further information about this exciting opportunity as our projects develop. Students have had time in class to research potential topics, and many have selected the topic they'd like to explore. Depending upon the topic chosen, students may require support from families to complete experiments at home or to provide supplies. I'll stay in touch as students develop their projects. By the end of this week, I will have the opportunity to assist most of the Wolves in developing their question, hypothesis, materials list, and procedure for their experiment. Please look for either an e-mail or a list to come home. I work hard with students to keep their supply budget in the $25 or under range, and to use any supplies I have available (particularly specialized science tools). If this is over-budget for any student, please don't hesitate to contact me. I find it is very helpful to students (and their parents!) to have a list of successive due dates. This helps students to divide the project into manageable pieces and stay on track to finish on time. Here is the list of due dates for this year's Science Fair: Please note that these are suggested due dates. The only FIRM dates are March 3, 7, and 9. Experience has taught me that some students are successful working out of order; some need to stick firmly to the schedule. It is all somewhat dependent on your child's chosen topic, the length of their experimental phase, and, most importantly, their work style.
My goal is to set up experiments that will take place at school by Tuesday, February 7 to run through Thursday, February 16*. Please plan to have supplies ready to send by February 6. If your child's experiment takes up a large amount of space, the best course of action will be to set it up at home. I will be in touch if this is the case. *This is a recommended end-date. Some experiments will take a bit longer. This is okay, as long as all data is collected by February 28 and your child knows they can manage the crunch of putting it all together at the end! Thank you so much for your support at home of our exciting science work! As always, I welcome your questions and feedback. Scientifically, Rachel Valentine's Day is right around the corner and Willowwind friends are excited to celebrate in a number of ways including another beloved Willowwind tradition - the Secret Valentine Exchange.
This week, students will "draw" a slip that will determine who they will deliver secret Valentine gifts and clues to ONLY ON Friday, February 10 and Monday, February 13. Between now and February 10th, students will use classroom time to make handmade gifts to deliver to their recipient’s mail sleeve during our Secret Valentine fun. Along with these schoolmade gift they will also deliver a clue that hints to their identity. This year, all gifts and clues will be made at school. Here is where your help is needed! On Tuesday, February 14th, we will have a Secret Valentine Reveal where students will reveal their identity and will also learn who has secretly delivered their schoolmade gifts & clues. To prepare for this reveal, your child will need to bring one gift - a book no greater in value than $5. This book does not need to be brand new and can be gifted from your own home library if it is in like new condition. Please note that 100% participation is required in this school wide tradition. Books should not be gift wrapped to conserve waste; however, a nice message written inside the book is encouraged. Our own Book Fair (running Thursday, February 2nd - Friday, February 10th) is an excellent place to find books for your child's Secret Valentine. In addition, The Haunted Bookshop in downtown Iowa City has reasonable prices, a good selection, and is locally owned. If you have questions or concerns about providing a book for our Secret Valentine Reveal on Tuesday, the 14th, please ask your classroom teacher. Thank you for participating in this beloved Willowwind tradition! |
Rachel DeMaris5/6 Teacher Archives
May 2017
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