The Under the Sea Reading Incentive Program is coming!!!

Mark your calendars and get your stack of books ready! 

Our Under the Sea Reading Incentive Program begins on March 2.  Ms. Cindy has already created the best bulletin board ever. Thanks Ms. Cindy!

We have partnered with Eisenschmidt Pool in St. Helens to provide a pool party on April 4 from 2:30pm-4:30pm to celebrate our achievements. Students will be awarded a fun "Under the Sea" themed gift for returning their weekly reading trackers. Every student that participates will also be awarded a certificate for free admission for one adult and one child to the Portland Aquarium. These trackers will go home on Monday, March 2.

Info from Mrs. Fisher for 3-5 OBOB teams

Dear Parents,

Our school is excited to have 10 teams participating in our local Battle of the Books trivia challenge! Our 3rd through 5th graders have been reading lots and meeting with their teams to get ready for this event. The battles are happening the first 2 weeks in February during the lunch hour in the library. Each team will battle 2 different days. A battle is 16 questions. The team with the most total points after 2 battles will advance to the regional level of competition, which takes place on a Saturday morning in March. We will announce our school's winning team on Friday afternoon, February 13th.

What you can be doing now to help your child is reviewing the list of books and their authors. The first 8 questions are called "in which book." It might ask, in which book does a character strap on fake footprints? The team has 15 seconds to whisper together and answer, Sasquatch by Roland Smith. It's perfectly fine if a student has only read a few books, because they can all memorize the title and author list and be a great help to their team!  During our first local battles, we will have students take turns answering the question as their team spokesperson.  You can also be reading these books with your child! Read to them, take turns reading, listen to the books in an audio format, and enjoy the stories! There are practice questions for the students to review to help remember the details of the  stories. 

Our goals for the Battle of the Books include fostering a love of reading, widening the circle of books that students read, and fostering teamwork. We appreciate your help in reinforcing these aspects of the reading program with your child.

The schedule for the battles is posted at school. Ask your child what two days his or her team is battling and tell your child that you are proud of him or her for being part of this event! Thank you for encouraging and supporting the love of. Reading.

Truly,

Nancy Fisher

Oregon Battle of the Books helper

Check out this Drive2Life Contest open to grades 6-12

2015 Drive2Life Student PSA Contest

Open to Students in Grades 6–12

Students in grades 6–12 can help promote pedestrian safety by entering the 2015 Drive2Life Contest.

Contest Topic: Help prevent distracted walking

How to Enter

To enter, each participating student must create a storyboard or written script for a 30-second public service announcement (PSA) to help prevent distracted walking.

One Grand Prize winner will win $1,000 and a trip to NYC to have his or her PSA filmed professionally. Plus, the winner and PSA video will be featured on Teen Kids News and in select Scholastic magazines! See the Prizes section below for more details.

Click here for complete details on the contest and how to enter:

• Contest Entry Form
• Official Rules

Contest Overview

• Entries must be storyboards or written scripts that illustrate the PSA topic—preventing distracted walking—and should be 30 seconds in length.
• Videos will not be accepted.
• Individual entries only—no group entries are permitted.
• Each entry must have a completed and signed contest entry form securely attached to it. Download the entry form above. (Note: You may want to print and complete the teacher portion of the form before copying the entry form for students.)
• Online submissions are not permitted.
• Entries with completed entry forms must be mailed to: Drive2Life Contest, Scholastic Inc., 557 Broadway, Office 519, New York, NY 10012.

Contest Deadline

Entries must be postmarked by February 10, 2015, and received by February 24, 2015.

Judging Criteria

Entries will be judged on the following criteria:

1. Originality and creativity (30 points) (Is the PSA unique and creative?)
2. PSA concept (30 points) (Does the PSA clearly and accurately address the contest topic—preventing distracted walking? Are the message and concept effective?)
3. Clarity of message (30 points) (Is the idea communicated clearly? Is the PSA well organized?)
4. Quality of writing (10 points) (Does the PSA reflect proper spelling and grammar?)

Prizes

The Grand Prize winner receives $1,000 and a trip to New York City, where a professional film crew will transform the student’s vision into a 30-second commercial! Four runners-up (two from grades 6–8 and two from grades 9–12) each will receive $500.

The teacher of each student winner will receive a classroom subscription to a relevant Scholastic magazine (30 student editions and one teacher’s guide) for the 2015–2016 school year.

See Official Rules for details. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited.

Winners' List

For a list of winners (available after April 1, 2015), send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: Drive2Life Winners’ List, Scholastic Inc., 557 Broadway, Office 519, New York, NY 10012.

Computer programming...yah, we do that!

Our 8th grade class wrote over 1,900 lines of code yesterday during their Technology Enrichment class.  Using Code.org's Intro to Computer Programming course, each student worked their way up through the first few levels.  In June, we will calculate which Enrichment class (6,7, or 8) wrote the most lines of code during their quarter of Tech Class and we will celebrate with a treat. 







Don't have a student in my Tech class?  You can still join in the coding fun!  Use this link (http://studio.code.org/join/GPZKTP)to sign your student up for the Intro to Computer Programming Course.  It is entertaining and easy to do with video introductions to each new step.  The characters. like Angry Birds or PvZ Zombies keep kids engaged. 

Hour of Code Week 12/8-12/14 - "Don't just consume things, create things."- President Obama

This is one of the coolest weeks of the year!  What?!?!?  You haven't heard of the Hour of Code Week?  Well, let me tell you all about it. 

Launched in 2013, Code.org® is a non-profit dedicated to expanding participation in computer science by making it available in more schools, and increasing participation by women and underrepresented students of color. Our vision is that every student in every school should have the opportunity to learn computer science. We believe computer science and computer programming should be part of the core curriculum in education, alongside other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses, such as biology, physics, chemistry and algebra. (code.org/about)

There are so many awesome and fun activities to help your child (or you) learn the basics of coding. Check out the site below for walk-throughs and more!
Khan Academy
Code.org
Hopscotch App
LightBot App
More apps

Another reason I love my job!

As I sit at the orthodontist while my son gets his braces taken off, my inbox is inundated with work stuff. First an email from Darla with links to an awesome reading campaign going on throughout the state, quickly followed by Sarah's amazing resource for finding great leveled books. How annoying... right? I mean, I took the day off! NO WAY! I love that I work in a place where everyone shares and watches out for those around them. Where teachers mentor others and meet together to find the best outcome for every student. Where links and articles are shared and someone steps in during their lunch so you can take a bathroom break. Where someone will give up their spot at a conference so another can attend. Where everyone wants everyone else to have successes and moments they reflect on that make them smile. I am so thankful for every one of these people that exemplify the qualities I am trying to teach my own children.

Read and enter for your chance to win a POSTER!!

Our Win a Poster reading incentive is going on now until December 19. The rules are simple, read a book, get a ticket, enter to win the poster of your choice.  Of course, if you read to your student that counts!  Students can receive their tickets during their library time or recess.