In Performing Arts, we have been working on learning our songs and practicing our other acts. Many of the kids already have lines memorized, which has made rehearsals this week so much easier! Thanks to all your hard work. Many costumes have also arrived! Thanks for bringing them in ahead of time. It’s very important that kids continue to read through their scripts and songs over the break. Costumes and lines are due back at school tomorrow, Thursday 11/20.

If you’d like to help make some setting and prop materials needed for the show, join us after school on Thursday December 4th! 

Winter Performance 2025 | Information for Families

In Humanities, Blue Bay has been continuing with our unit on Ancient Egypt. Students have picked topics to take a deeper dive into for a research project. Help students prepare for the spelling test on Friday by reminding them to complete their vocabulary list #9 activity page on Thursday at home.

Most of the students in the class are getting involved in the Oregon Battle of the Books this year, and parent leaders are organizing a time and date for the first meeting. Books have arrived at the school and will be available to check out from the library hopefully by Friday so students can bring their first book home over Thanksgiving Break. These books are difficult to come by at local libraries (lots of holds), so the best way to get a hold of them is through the school library or buying copies online or from Paulina Springs Bookstore.

In Math, Blue Bay has continued to focus on fractions. Students have a fraction packet in their homework folders that they are working through at their own pace. They should chip away at it at home but are also given class time to work. There are instructions/methods that go along with each type of operation, and students stop at different places in the packet depending on their grade level. Spending time on this packet will help them prepare for their test coming up on Friday. Students that have not been here much this week will have time through Thanksgiving Break to complete the packet before they take the test.

In Buddy Time this week, students painted wooden emblems of Black Butte and Bull Trout (thank you Sheldon Prescher!) and the Blue Bay students glued magnets onto the back. These place-based magnets will be sold at the Winter Bazaar on December 5th and 6th. In addition, Blue Bay students are making soap this week and infusing local herbs (thank you Emma Prescher!) to also be sold at the Winter Bazaar. Proceeds from these school-made crafts will be used to donate a box of school supplies to a school in need in Malawi, Africa.

We have continued our work as meteorologists and students are loving going outside to record the weather. We started recording the temperature too.

In literacy we learned digraph ck is yet another way to spell the /k/ sound.

In math we are working on using what we know about 10 to add onto bigger numbers.

Games and activities to try at home

• Math: See if students can add numbers 5,6,7,8,9 to make a ten.
  • Example: 8+5 = 10+3 so it is 13 or 6+8 = 10+4 so it is 14
• Literacy: Ask students where they will see digraph ck and look for examples of it in your reading at home.

We have had a significant number of students out sick or complaining of not feeling well this week at BBS. We are also hearing reports of a lot of sickness spreading in the community. Please make sure your child is feeling well enough for school this week. We are planning to prepare and share a meal of Stone Soup on Friday and we don’t want this fun event to ruin anyone’s Thanksgiving break. It would be wise for everyone to play it safe this week and stay home if we are feeling sick to keep the community well. Thanks.

In Field Study class we are wrapping up our Geology unit this week. Students have been studying for their unit test and we are taking the test today (Wednesday) and Friday. We don’t have many Field Study classes in December but we do plan to learn more about AI including what it is and its pros and cons. This has been a big topic of conversation for the students this year so we want to take some time to learn about it and explore some of its impacts. I would encourage families to discuss AI at home as well. This new technology is expected to be a big part of our kids’ lives in school going forward.

In P.E. class we are getting close to the end of our fall season. The weather is getting colder so it was time this week to get out the hockey sticks and play some street hockey on the basketball court. We will continue with this sport the rest of the week.

After break we will begin to transition indoors for P.E./Health class and start with our health studies which will last most of winter. We will return to outdoor P.E. in the spring.

The first week of December we will have a guest teacher, Rachel Visser, from the Kid’s Center in Bend. She has come out the last two years and will do a lesson on digital safety and how to stay safe online and with technology. Rachel always does a great job tackling these important topics in a kid friendly way. I encourage folks to chat with your kid that week about what they learned and about the importance of being safe with all our technology uses.