Hello Families,

Silly pictures are surely the most fun to pose for! This photo and all other images are now available for preview and download at this link: E.P. Anderson Photography | Black Butte School Please see the email sent on Monday for details on ordering prints.

The PTO-hosted Annual Family Camp Out is this weekend! Please see Koli’s email for all the details on food, what to bring, and directions. I will be traveling Sept 23-Oct 2 and sorry to miss this fun event! I look forward to seeing you all when I return; please reach out to Delaney or Jane for assistance while I’m away.

Read on for news & announcements.

All School - Dates & Reminders

SEPT 24 | THURS: OBOB Meeting, 3:15-4:15pm
SEPT 25 | FRI: Field Trip: Black Butte Hike High Desert Museum
SEPT 26 | SAT: Family Campout at Jack Creek
OCT 2 | FRI: Field Trip: Sahalie Falls
OCT 9 | FRI: Field Trip: Oregon Badlands
OCT 13 | TUES: BBSD Board Meeting, 3:30
OCT 16 | FRI: NO SCHOOL – Teacher Work Day
OCT 20 | TUES: PTO Meeting, 3:15pm
OCT 22 | THURS: OBOB Meeting 3:15-4:15pm
FULL CALENDAR HERE

Update from Mr. Sharp

Principal Message

We are cruising through week 3 and the school year is off to a great start. Despite our first wave of sickness already upon us, spirits are still high and we are seeing great effort in the classrooms. We have begun beginning of the year assessments and are developing baseline data and goals for our students this month. We have spent a lot of time this past month setting up routines and establishing expectations. The students seem to be settling into these routines and helping our days run smoothly. We have seen some great leadership from some of our veterans this year as they set the tone of Respect, Responsibility, and Perseverance for our younger students to follow.

We had a great first field trip last Friday as we explored our local forest. Students got to learn more about some of our local plants and animals, play some games, and we even finished with some fort building near the local sled hill. Hopefully you already saw my email that we have postponed the Black Butte hike due to inclement weather and are pivoting to a trip to the High Desert Museum this week. One advantage of a tiny school is our ability to be flexible and adapt to changing conditions. We appreciate your flexibility as well.

A note on food: We know that not having a school meal program puts an extra burden on families and we appreciate the extra time this takes to prepare food. Some of our kids are reporting being hungry during the day even after eating their food. Others have reported not having time to eat breakfast in the morning. Please help support your child in starting the day with a hearty breakfast, and packing extra food to get through the day. Without enough fuel, our brains just don’t work as well, and hunger creates extra barriers to our students’ learning.

Update from Ms. Sharp

Performing Arts

In performing arts this week we explored how we show our emotions in our bodies, facial expressions, and gestures.

OBOB

Kids in grades 3-6 are welcome to join us for our first Oregon Battle of the Books (OBOB) meeting September 24th at 3:15-4:15.

Participating in OBOB is an incredible way to foster kids’ love of reading! OBOB is a statewide voluntary reading motivation and comprehension program sponsored by the Oregon Association of School Libraries in conjunction with a Library Services and Technology Act grant. OBOB’s mission is to encourage and recognize students who enjoy reading, to broaden reading interests, to increase reading comprehension, promote academic excellence, and to promote cooperative learning and teamwork among students.

This year our OBOB teams will comprise students in grades 3-5. Sixth graders can participate as assistant coaches. Ms. Tammy and I will be the team coaches. We already have the fifteen OBOB books in our library and ready for kids to read! (Thanks Molly and Liz!)

Please note that OBOB at BBS is an above-and-beyond extension of the curriculum. It is supported by both BBS and the Jefferson County Library. All meetings and some tournaments take place outside of the regular school day.

To participate in OBOB, students must be willing to go above and beyond their classroom work by committing to reading at least four of the OBOB books and attending all meeting sessions and tournaments.

Our kick-off OBOB meeting will be on Thursday September 24th 3:15-4:15.

Fall term OBOB meetings: Thursdays 3:15-4:15pm

Sept 24
Oct 22
Nov 19
Dec 17

Winter Term OBOB meetings: Thursdays 3:15-4:15, January – early March

There are three tournaments that OBOB students may participate in:

Friday February 19: Jefferson County Cup at the Madras Performing Arts Center (this is a “friendly” tournament and meant as a practice tournament. Scores do not count toward regional or state competitions).
Saturday March 6: OBOB Regional Tournament – Hugh Hartmen Bilingual School, Redmond
Saturday April 17: OBOB State Tournament – Chemeketa Community College, Salem (we will participate only if we qualify by winning the regional tournament).

Please reach out with any questions about OBOB! jsharp@blackbutte.k12.or.us

Update from Mr. Sump

Blue Bay

Friday was a super fun field trip in our local Metolius Basin, hiking upriver from the school and learning about ecosystems, food webs, and just developing a sense of place. Our forest ecology studies continue in science class this week as we dive deeper into trophic levels/energy flow, as well as survival strategies, relationships, and adaptations of specific species.

In Humanities class, the Blue Bay classroom’s third week is off to a running start. Students are learning 25 new vocabulary words this week and will take a spelling test on Thursday. They have a vocabulary worksheet assignment for homework today that references these words. In class, students have been working on grammar and spelling strategies, as well as learning and practicing alphabetization and dictionary skills. Also this is our second week studying the Byzantine Empire.

Math class is going well as students review fundamental concepts for the year. Students have a homework assignment with some simple long multiplication and division problems to review skills they have learned in previous years. The assignment is due on Thursday. Next week, students will take their district assessments in Reading and Math, which will provide some baseline data for generally how each student is doing in those two core subject areas.

Update from Ms. Kassie

Rose Hips

Literacy

Playing with sounds, Reading basic closed syllable words, Digraphs
Ask about: a sound animal they learned about and/or what a closed syllable is

Math

Length and height, addition and subtraction with 10, doubles +1
- 2nd grade homework due Thursday
Ask: Is math about the right answer?

Science

We are working on classifying living vs nonliving things.
Ask: What is the criteria for something to be living?

Update from Mr. B

Green Ridge

Literacy: Students are starting a first draft of their own ‘heart map’, practicing the consonant doubling rule with syllables (ask them to read ‘bugle’ and ‘buggle’ – why the difference?), beginning a writer’s notebook, and cursive!

Math: Green Ridge is knee deep in ways to order and group multiplication [ask your student which equation 4 x (3 x 2) or (4 x 3) x 2 they’d prefer to solve and why], analog time-telling, and completing i-Ready’s Inform Math assessment to help them set mathematical goals for the fall.

Science/Social Studies: Students are finishing up their ‘community’ graphic organizer and exploring what ‘astronomical autumnal equinox’ means by way of diagrams, globe work, and the path of the sun.

Green Ridge Classroom Topic Reminder!

(dice roll…) #1

Absences