09-26-17 GBH Newsletter

Important Events (Always defer to the parent calendar on our website, if you notice a discrepancy.)

• Next Early Releases: October 16th and October 30th.
• No School: October 13th  
• Wednesday, October 18th-Picture Day
• Thursday, October 19th- Open House/Parent Ed Night - Look for more details, we are hoping for 100% attendance, because we want to update families on some new routines and be able to say hello.
• Monday, October 23rd- Pumpkin Patch Field Trip
• Monday, October 30th- Historical Halloween (please look for more details soon)

Reminders:

• The weekly reflection letter, should be signed by a parent  and returned each week by Thursday.
• Historical Halloween is around the corner- start discussing with your child someone who might be interesting and inspiring to study and present on.

Requests:

• All students in the GBH Room are expected to have their own Library Card that they can use to request books and check out books from the Silverton Library.  This is an important part of being able to follow passions and take ownership of our learning.  Please work with your child to find their card, or get a new card.  Also, please make sure they have paid their fines so they can use the card.  If this is a problem- please reach out to Matt and Josie- so we can figure out a plan to support your child together.

Weekly Update:

We have now heard the first great story, The Coming of the Universe, and the second great story, The Coming of Life. These stories sow the seeds for our geography and biology work.  They allow us to see with gratitude  that everything in the universe has important work to do.  Also, all life has worked to meet its needs, and as each plant and animal does that- they lead to the adaptation of other animals- we are all linked together.   Many students have chosen to work with Nicole to preserve their understanding of the stories by creating artwork that captures certain parts of the story.  Some of the artwork was really striking!

This week we will be completing our first learning journal.  Students will be reflecting on their progress towards our goals, and their level of success in balancing freedom and responsibility.  Please plan on making the time next Tuesday evening to look through their first completed learning journal, and to discuss what they got done, and didn’t get done.  These are opportunities to help the students identify patterns and choices that have helped them, and find ones that are getting in the way of their concentration.  This week, you can ask your child how their progress is going on their learning journal map.        

Last week and this week, students are working to explain the difference between follow up work and projects.  While they are doing that, the room is full of a great variety of both.  For follow up, some students have really gotten into solving ratios, and our fourth years are working hard on memorizing all their math facts.  In history, the students have worked to explore the fundamental human needs- and have some great insights.  All the students have had the opportunity to do a science “command card” which is like an experiment/ demonstration of an important science concept.   
Finally, the projects are looking great!  We have students planning a fundraiser to support those hurt by the hurricanes.  Others are learning to code and writing computer programs. We have students studying interior design and learning to use software to support it.  We have students researching animals.  Other groups are writing comic books, animal research reports, and narrative stories.  We also have groups of students researching, designing, and building things for our class animals.      

Gratitude Corner:

• Thank you to all of the families who have returned all their forms!  We are nearly at 100%!
• Thank you to Nate’s mom for volunteering to come in and help with our auction project.