Pollinators!

Bees, bats, and butterflies, oh my! (And humming birds, and moths, and...)

It's that time of year when kindergarten has already planted their garden and is waiting for spring to sprinkle it's magic. While we watch our plants grow we start to question how plants make more plants, and why all that yellow stuff is on our parent's car.

After our garden has been planted, we paint huge flowers to decorate the halls (working those gross motor skills). It gets our brains thinking, "How to flowers make more flowers?"

Then we check out a ton of books a read them with friends to see what we can learn. Look at the great work, reading, and cooperation that is going on!

After a short share and learn lesson about pollen we look at some books to see what helps to move pollen.

Then we looked at MORE books, specifically books about pollinators.

Finally we got to create our own pollinator out of painted paper and glue. Look at the concentration going on!

We even put up speech bubbles to make sure other kids walking by could glean some of our newfound knowledge. 

Stop by kindergarten to see what more we could teach you!

Pictures?

Hello everyone!

There is an end of the year project we are working on in kindergarten, and we need your help. An excellent 8th grade student is collecting pictures of us for a surprise. If you have taken any pictures of the class while on a field trip or in the classroom we would really appreciate it if you could send it our way. Do any of you have any pictures you've been saving?

Thanks so much!

Isn't 20 minutes of reading a night a lot?

There can be a lot of funny looks whenever twenty minutes of reading a night is mentioned. Most kindergarten students certainly won't be able to read for a solid twenty minutes at a time, nor should they before they are ready. As adults however, we should be reading to them for a minimum of twenty minutes a day. It imparts on them a love of reading when we read to them with love. When we share stories we enjoy we are teaching them about a whole world of language locked up in symbols on a page. Twenty minutes a day teaches important vocabulary and sets up a kindergartener for academic success. Imagine twenty minutes taken away from your time with your child a day... that would be hard on your heart wouldn't it? That small amount of time spent reading with your child will have a large impact upon them.

Story telling and yoga with young kids

Kids need to move. They also love stories. Combining the two can help their recall and focus. Yesterday and today during our quiet time we have been doing story yoga. We are watching Cosmic Kids Yoga Adventure and doing yoga poses to advance the story. The kids listen and follow the directions for a few minutes. Then we pause and discuss characters, cause and effect, author's purpose, and what we can learn from the story. Kindergarten LOVED the Star Wars adventure. We turned off the lights and followed along. The storyline for it is a tad difficult for kindergarden comprehension, but this group loves Star Wars so much we tired our best. Her other stories are fantastic for this grade level. The is also some great vocabulary to be gleaned from the videos as well.


If you'd like to check it out, here is a link to the Star Wars yoga video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEPxPkQY6V8

April 16th-20th confusion

Hello Folks,

The first week back from break always takes everyone time to get back into the routine. Are you feeling the transition? I know the kids and I are waking up our brains for school again. With all the information going out I wanted to clarify that April 16th through April 20th there will be no school. The 16th is a teacher work day, and the 17th and 20th are conference days without students. This is different from the Scappoose School District which I believe is causing some confusion. I know this is two weeks away but I thought you all might appreciate the heads up just in case you are relying on the Scappoose School District calendar. 

If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know. Thanks again to everyone for sending back the permission slips and the conference forms.

Cheers!

Join us for our Poetry Slam on April 14!

From the 6th grade team:

Hello 6th grade families and SIA Community Members!

Did you know that April is National Poetry Month?? Come help us celebrate at SIA's fourth annual Poetry Slam on Tuesday, April 14 at 1 pm with Ms. Shannon's 3rd grade class. The event will be held in the gym, and we'd love to have you join us! All 6th graders will be sharing poetry that they have written, and 3rd graders will be sharing poetry as well. We will also be serving tea and light snacks. Ms. Ferris would love a few volunteers to help distribute the refreshments, so please let her know if you're available. 

On behalf of the sixth grade, we hope to see you there! 

Sincerely,

Ms. Ferris's 6th Grade Language Arts Class

Sauvie Island Academy

April Fools!

Mrs. Sipp brought brown "Es" for quiet time today...

April Fools!

Check backpacks

Sauvie Island Academy 14445 NW Charlton Rd Portland, OR 97231 503-621-3426 503-621-3384 (fax) info@sauvieislandacademy.org www.sauvieislandacademy.org

Parent/Teacher Conferences are scheduled for Friday, April 17 and Monday, April 20. Check your student's backpack for the form with their scheduled time. Please return the bottom portion of the form to the school as soon as possible. Upper grades will have a drop in format on 4/17 from 8am-4pm and 4/20 from 10am-6pm.

Copyright © 2015 Sauvie Island Academy, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you are on the Sauvie Island Academy newsletter list. Our mailing address is: Sauvie Island Academy 14445 NW Charlton Rd Portland, OR  97231 Add us to your address book

Small groups with Mr. Nick

Dear Parents and Guardians,

I am contacting you because you have shown interest in having your son or daughter participate in a support and skill building group.

With that I've attached a permission slip that talks a little bit more about the group itself. If you wouldn't' mind, please take a look and return the permission slip to me by April 13th.

Thank You,
Mr. Nick



If you are interested in having your child participate, please email me so I can send you the permission slip either in your child's backpack or in an email.
Thanks so much!