Summer is here! (So to speak:)

School is done for another year.It has been a great year and I really applaud all of our children;  the Portland Musical was phenomenal!  It was the best elementary performance that I have ever seen!
I am really sad to be leaving this school and all the wonderful kids and parents, but I am really looking forward to being in a place where it is not raining near as much.  I will keep my blog going throughout the summer to keep people informed about what is happening with me (if you want:).  Have a great summer!!!
Jerry Morgan

Famous People Sightings

Today we did our speechs for the famous people we have been researching.  The kids have done fabulous, and we had a ton of great costumes for the speeches.  You can see below, all of the great figures from history that visited our classroom today.

 

Anne Sullivan and Hellen Keller

                                 Christopher Columbus

                                        Gustave Eiffel

                                John Glen and Buzz Aldrin

                                     Johnny Appleseed

                                     Lewis and Clark

                             Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

                        Francis Pettygrove and Asa Lovejoy

                                     Neil Armstrong

                               Orville and Wilbur Wright

                                   Rosa Parks

                                      Sacagawea

                                      Thomas Jefferson

                                    Vincent Van Gogh

                                             Walt Disney

                                    Winston Churchill

Camp-Learned-a-lot

Camp has started here at school.  There are several fun activities that are planned.  One thing kids love is to receive camp mail.  There will be a "Mail Box" in the office that you could drop mail off.  Our address is 3 Morgan Rd, Beaverton, Or 97007.  If you choose you can also email letters to me and I will see that they are delivered (this works great for extended family to be able to send mail also).  The kids have some great tye-dye shirts!  We sing songs in the morning out in front of the school (under the back cover if it is raining), so if you drop your kids off and would like to stick around and listen, you are more than welcome.
The kids will be doing their famous person speeches this Wednesday and Thursday.  They should have some sort of costume or prop.  Most of them have ideas or have started/finished their costumes.  Any help you can provide at home for that would be wonderful.  Thank you for all of your support and encouragement!
Mr. Morgan

REMINDERS

Our field trip is Tuesday, May 29.  Buses will leave school at 9:00.  Please make sure your child is at school on time, appropriately dressed and has a lunch in his or her backpack.  Students will be carrying their own lunches.  After the tour, we'll be meeting at Pioneer Square for lunch just after noon.  (Our tour ends around noon and then we'll need to walk over there.)

Students should start bringing in their costumes for their biography speeches so they can be ready to present when they are ready.  I don't expect students to go out and buy things.  Be creative; use what you have or borrow from others.  For example, Kristin is making a hat and bow tie out of paper to be George Washington.  Sam is borrowing baseball equipment so he can be Jackie Robinson.

Bring in your white t-shirt for Camp next week.  I have some extras in various sizes but the class decided the fairest thing to do was to ask everyone to bring one and if someone forgets or if the family isn't able to get one, we'd cover it.  We will be tying the shirts on Thursday.

Mr. Parker's Bring Your Family to Music day for our class is Monday, June 4, from 11:10 – 11:55 in the cafeteria.

Our fabulous Portland musical is on Tuesday, June 12, at 1:45.  Your children are so talented and adorable.

HELP NEEDED

We have two announcements here, so please read carefully :)



Sexton Mountain will host a BOOK SWAP for all students in the building on June 7th and June 8th from 8 to 8:30.
Prior to that date, kids will be able to bring in books for the swap before school May 29th to June 7th.

I am looking for two to three parents to cover one AM shift for the dates of May 29th to June 8th.

If you are available one of those dates, please contact Susan Rehm at bsrehm@comcast.net.
Please let me know if you have a specific date in mind or can be placed on any open slot.

Thank you,
Susan

And...

One of our traditions is to tie dye a T-shirt. If your child wishes to participate, he or she will need to bring a pre-washed, white T-shirt to school by Tuesday,May 29th  An old adult-sized one with designs on it is fine too. We are trying to coordinate an all-school tie-dye event on June 1st, but need volunteers (any length of time helps) to make it happen. Let me know if you’re available ASAP. Also, if you would be willing to donate tie-dye kits or an extra t-shirts for those students or classes that might need them, please send them to school with your child.

Math Homework

This week's math homework is now ready to download.  There will be  no writing homework this week because we have so many things going on right now.  Have a good weekend.

Culture Fair Volunteers

We invite you to participate in the Culture Fair on May 22^nd from about 8:30 – 12:30. (A more firm schedule will be out soon). Please consider participating. Here is some information that may help you.

What is culture? Culture is…

“the behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group.”

"that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by humans as members of society." 

“a powerful human tool for survival, but it is a fragile phenomenon.  It is constantly changing and easily lost because it exists only in our minds.  Our written languages, governments, buildings, and other man-made things are merely the products of culture.  They are not culture in themselves.”

Why is a culture fair important?

“It is important because it honors different traditions that have become a part of our country. When we celebrate cultural heritage it gives us a view of what other cultures are like. When we learn about other cultures, and our own, we understand the world and ourselves better.”

“It is important because we live in a global economy and to be successful we have to see beyond our own traditions and biases and be able to appreciate and work with people who are different from us.”

“It is important because it helps us better see our own strengths and flaws and teaches tolerance of diversity.”

What to include in your display/presentation?

Displays can be as simple or complex as you like. They can be made with tri-fold boards like those used for science fair projects if you wish. If you have another idea, that is great too. We want to make this easy for you, so follow your instincts. We’ll be grateful for whatever you can do.

Displays can include maps and/or photos of the region, pictures of famous people from there, history, samples of money, items made in the country, traditional clothing worn by the people, and other things that highlight what the people may enjoy such as art, music, games, toys, books, sports, food, etc. (Food items may only be served to students if they are store bought and packaged safely. These rules exist to prevent food poisoning in our students.) You may also want to include information about the religions practiced, the holidays celebrated, and some of the cultural norms of you country. It would be interesting to look at how much of that still influences you and/or how these things are expressed the same and differently in America.

It has been said that a person is blind to his/her own culture. In other words, because it feels “normal” to you, you don’t always notice and appreciate what is unique and interesting to others. Do not sell your culture short. Do not think that because your family has been in America a long time, you have no culture. Do not think this culture fair is only to celebrate non-European cultures. We want to see cultures from every continent. This could be an opportunity to learn more about where your ancestors came from. This is also an opportunity to explore the different parts of the United States. For instance, if you grew up in the South or on the East Coast and notice cultural differences from Oregon, you could create a display about that.

There really are no wrong or right answers. The important thing to remember is that this is a CELEBRATION of DIVERSITY. You can just stand near your display and answer questions or you can do a brief presentation. Hands on things are always great for kids. Last year chopsticks and toys that the kids could use were a hit. Quick crafts were popular too. The kids like to be able to touch, hear, smell, and taste things along with looking at things, so if you can share anything to engage the senses, that is great.

Please consider sharing your culture at our culture fair.

• If you are interested, please email Mrs. Goei at:  susan_goei@beaverton.k12.or.us 2) If you are not staying for the presentation we need your displays by Thursday afternoon. If you are staying for the presentation you should just get to school on the 22nd with your things at 8:00.

Homework

This week's homework is posted and ready for download.  The writing is a piece that you will need to assist with.  We are working on research for an in-class writing prompt about family traditions.  I have spoken with everyone about the term "tradition" and what it entails.  Please help your child come up with a good family tradition that has enough information that they will be able to write about it.  There is a packet with this same information in everyones homework folders.  There is also a packet that went home talking about an "ABC" day event that we will be doing for the last 26 days of school.  Please get the packet from your child and take a look:)
Thank you.

New Lit Project

We are starting a new lit project, but this one will be a little different from previous ones.  This will be mostly done in class.  They all have picked a famous person from history and they will be doing research and writing a speech about that person.  They will be doing a lot of the research at home, and then bring the information to school to do the writing.  This will be a scored speech so it is important that it is their work.  Some will be working with a partner (such as two kids doing Lewis and Clark), but it will still be scored individually.  This will require plenty of practice at home and they will need to dress as their person when giving the speech.  You are more than welcome to help the get a costume together, as well as helping them find information about their person.  To the right, I have attached a document that lists all of the kids as well as the people they have chosen to write about. 

Thank you for your help and support,

Mr. Morgan

Homework

Math and reading homework is now up and ready for download.  The homework is for a two week period.  Since we have conferences next Thursday and Friday, the homework will not be due until the following Friday, May 4th.
Thank you

Background

Today's background is brought to you courtesy of Jimi.  As much as it pains me, this is what he chose.  Somewhere in life something went terribly wrong that a child could grow up liking the Lakers :(
A Very  Sad, Mr. Morgan

Homework

Sorry for the delay in getting our homework up.  The math link is now up to date and the writing homework will be.
Extreme Weather and Natural Disasters Homework #11

Due Friday, April 20, 2012

For homework this week, come up with an artistic representation that demonstrates something you know about earthquakes and/or tsunamis.  This is fairly open-ended so be creative and informative as possible.  Some ideas that the class came up with:

Ø    A model of the Earth and its layers.

Ø    A model showing different ways tectonic plates can move.

Ø    A song or poem with earthquake/tsunami facts.

Ø    A focused skit/puppet show that is relevant and on topic.

Ø    A diorama.

Ø    A mobile.

Have a great weekend!

New Homework

Our new homework is up and ready for download.  We have gone a little lighter as we are getting ready  for state testing.  We will keep things fairly light for the next few weeks.  I would like to add that in preparation for testing, please make sure your child is getting to bed at  a good time each night and getting plenty of sleep.  A good breakfast is a must every morning also.  And don't forget, it is a scientific fact that fish is a good brain food and supports healthy brain activity :)
Mr. Morgan

Background

This weeks background is thanks to Badru.  I'm not sure why he would want the Bobcats, but hey, he won the drawing so we've got Bobcats :)

Big News

     Welcome back from spring break, I hope everyone had a fantastic time.  I spent my spring break over in the Tri-Cities, Washington.  I was visiting some family, but more importantly, I was visiting elementary schools.  I have let my class know, my family and I have decided to move this summer.  We have had enough of the rain and weather here so we are off to a drier climate.  I met with some incredibly wonderful principals and I am really optimistic of finding a teaching position before I leave Sexton Mountain at the end of the school year.  I just wanted to take a moment and thank all of my kids and families.  You have made me feel very welcome and made this school a home :)
     I am still  looking for answers to our trivia questions, so make sure you are talking to our staff and see what you can learn. (see previous post for questions).  I'll add a new internet question for ya.

When and where was the most deadly earthquake in history?

Trivia questions

I have two more facts about two different staff members at the school.  See if you can figure out who they are.  Remember, you must talk with them and get additional details to add to your comment.

1).  This person got to sit in the Bleacher Seats at the 2002 Oscars and watched all the Hollywood stars arrive for the big show...event of a lifetime!!

2).  This person can ride a unicycle while eating ice cream!

When you find the answers, post a comment to this post.  Remember, you must have details and don't forget to put your name on the comment also.

Homework

New math and writing homework is up.  Harry has won five Morgan Bucks for guessing it was Mrs. Contreras who had participated in a hostage training with the fire department.  Still looking for and answer to our drought question :)

Trivia Question

Let's add another internet based trivia question.  During droughts, most animals and fish die from lack of water.  There is one critter that does not and you would most definitely think it would (as it lives in water).  What is the critter and how does it survive?
For the question about hostage training, why don't you talk to someone in the office :)))

Homework

The new writing and math homework is up and ready for download.  I have also posted the new lit project which is due in 2 weeks.  The trivia questions are really stumping everyone.  I gave them the answer to one of them.  Becky Douvris was the one to walk a marathon in Alaska.  Now they just need to find the other one :)

Trivia

So far, we have no correct answers to the question.  These questions REQUIRE you to talk to different staff members around the school to find out the answer.  As I said, you MUST have additional details from that person to list with your answer.  No random guesses.  You must find the person and get more information from them and put that information into your comment.  If you do not do that, you will not be correct (even if you happen to guess the right person).  YOU MUST TALK TO THE PERSON AND GET DETAILS!!!