Week 20 Classroom News

Hello Families,

Read on for news and updates.

Whole School:

• Welcome to new student Scout! Scout is new 5th grader who joined BBS on Monday.
• Feb. 13th Community Meeting at 5:00pm: Bond Update
• Valentines Day: BBS is not having a Valentine’s Day party, but students will have time to exchange valentine cards at the end of the day. If your student is bringing cards, please make sure they include one for every student, OR one for every kid in their specific class: K-3 grades or 4-8 grades. See class roster attached to email.
• Community in Winter VIDEO now available! Click on this Vimeo link and enter password to BBSfilms.
• Pictured above is local author Matthew Wolf who did an author talk with the older students during quiet study.

From Ms. Steele: ssteele@blackbutte.k12.or.us

• Bebop (2nd/3rd) Math: Bebop is really doing so well on their multiplication.  They are taking their learning seriously and want to get stronger and stronger.  We are also working on division and yesterday did a very involved problem that took the entire class period.  I kept hearing things like “this is so fun!”
• Hodag (4th-8th) Math: Hodag math is rolling along.  One group is learning about slope and how to write slope equations and graph using the slope.  One group is diving deep into solving equations.   And one group continues to explore decimals.  
• Health Class: Health class is going well. 
  • The younger students have been studying the heart and were able to take turns being a red blood cell, the rhythm section or valves in the heart.  We also learned to take our pulse.
  • The older students are going to present their body system on Thursday.  The slide shows look pretty good, hopefully everyone can practice it one more time.  There are a lot of confusing words to learn and pronounce.

From Ms. Kassie: kdemarsh@blackbutte.k12.or.us

• K/1 Math class:  Kindergarten students have been learning the difference between flat and solid shapes, and diving into some of the properties of each. Students are enjoying playing with shapes and seeing what other shapes they can make when put together. First grade students are wrapping up a major unit with adding and subtracting into 20. 
• K-3 Science: In our Invisible Forces unit we have been experimenting with magnets and understanding their different properties. Students have loved exploring what they can do and are thinking about real world uses for magnets. Ask them about their new vocabulary words (properties, attract, and repel).

From Mr. B: ebarrons@blackbutte.k12.or.us

• Mr. B’s K/1 Literacy: This crew is working on a Valentines book. They wrote funny and endearing messages on drawn hearts, like “U R Awesome”, “I like your smile” and “Huzzah!” They also got a great start with K/1 News. Ask your K/1 about the plan for this new Wednesday edition!
• Mr. B’s Bebop Literacy: Bebop literacy has started a deep thinking/writing engagement with questions such as, Which is faster – Gossip or A Race Horse? and Which is more dishonest – Quicksand or A Bank Robber?
  They too, are starting a new Wednesday segment titled Bebop News. They are eager to start reporting!
• Mr. B’s Art Literacy class: Both classes dabbled in painting! All grades are working on brushstroke technique and how a paint brush allows for different visual rhythms than a pencil. Check out the examples below!

From Mr. Sharp: dsharp@blackbutte.k12.or.us

It has been a busy week in the Hodag class. One of the big updates is that we added a new student to the group this week. We are now up to 13 students in our class and we are excited to have some new energy in the room.

• Humanities class: We have been learning about the Oregon Trail and the founding of Oregon. We have had some interesting conversations around why people would take such a risky journey and move to Oregon. We thought about if our family would make a move like that and how big of a change it would be. This might be an interesting conversation to have at home and think about what generation your family first came to Oregon.
  • Today, we began our mid-year iReady assessment in reading. I will be prepared to share our progress at conferences next month. 
• Field Studies: In Field Study class we had a lively debate on Monday about who is to blame for climate change. The students had fun arguing and blaming each other for the harm caused to the planet. In the end we had a hard time blaming one country or group of people, most students decided there was plenty of blame to go around. 
• Yearbook Class: Ms. Sharp taught yearbook class today and the students finished the layout.