New Photos Added!

Lunch + Recess Radio - Coming soon - Our first in-studio, live broadcast! 

Content Rotations: Students from 125 are back in homeroom for our science content. We are diving into Modeling Matter: The Chemistry of Food. In the role of food scientists, students work to identify a potentially hazardous food dye in a food coloring mixture, then to create a good-tasting and visually appealing salad dressing. They engage in hands-on investigations and use physical and digital models to gather evidence about mixtures at the observable scale and at the scale of molecules. They develop visual models and write explanations about mixtures, including whether they are likely to change or remain stable.

Language Arts - We are halfway through The Thief of Always, by Clive Barker. Our latest task is writing a "exploded moment" story about an invented character interacting with Harvey at the Holiday House.

Math - 5th Decimal Place Value, 4th Start of Unit 3 - Lesson 13 - Using Multiplication to Convert Units of Measure 

Ask your kiddo about

• Does "dissolve" mean "disappear?"

• What happend with Ghost and the Defenders

• Our latest trip to Kenton Library.

New Tasks

1. After break, we spend a good deal of time reviewing schoolwide and classroom expectations. Please support these efforts by reminding your kiddo:
   Electronics at school - off and out of sight. This includes smart phones and watches.
   Toys need to stay at home - a lot of our kiddos got fun stuff over break. Make sure those items are not coing to class. 

Old Tasks

1. Help your kiddo manage their blue kid-mail folder, which comes home every Friday and should come back to school on Monday. If you are having any trouble with the turnaround time, let me know and you can send it back later in the week.  I am missing a lot of folders - check with your kiddo about getting it emptied and returned.

If you are able to donate any healthy snacks for the whole class, these donations are always GREATLY appreciated! Thank you to the folks who have already sent some along!!!

New Photos Added!

Lunch + Recess Radio - Thanks to all our families who participated in this lates episode! Our second show aired on Tuesday and it was tons of fun to listen to! I will leave this episode in rotation as a rerun until we get another one ready. That means... if you missed, you can catch it again Tuesday, Dec. 23! I'll send a reminder.  

Content Rotations: Students from 125 are back in homeroom for our science content. We are diving into Modeling Matter: The Chemistry of Food. In the role of food scientists, students work to identify a potentially hazardous food dye in a food coloring mixture, then to create a good-tasting and visually appealing salad dressing. They engage in hands-on investigations and use physical and digital models to gather evidence about mixtures at the observable scale and at the scale of molecules. They develop visual models and write explanations about mixtures, including whether they are likely to change or remain stable.

Language Arts - Fantasy and Wordplay- we wrapped up our unit on conflict and culture and have moved into a new novel: The Thief of Always, by Clive Barker. Using this novel, we are exploring elements of story including mood, plot, setting and author's craft.  

Math - 5th Decimal Place Value, 4th Start of Unit 3 - Lesson 12 - Multiplying single digits by multiple digits. 

Ask your kiddo about

• Hood's Holiday House.

• Separating dye through chromatography.

• Our latest trip to Kenton Library.

Old Tasks

1. Help your kiddo manage their blue kid-mail folder, which comes home every Friday and should come back to school on Monday. If you are having any trouble with the turnaround time, let me know and you can send it back later in the week.  I am missing a lot of folders - check with your kiddo about getting it emptied and returned.

If you are able to donate any healthy snacks for the whole class, these donations are always GREATLY appreciated! Thank you to the folks who have already sent some along!!!

New Photos Added!

Lunch + Recess Radio - Our first show aired last week and it was a great success! Thanks to all the folks who listened in and sent a comment. It was such a blast to hear our kids on the airwaves and to get such a cool, ecclectic mix of music and jokes. I will leave this episode in rotation as a rerun until we get another one ready. Thatmeans... if you missed it last week, you can catch it again next Tuesday! I'll send a reminder.  

Content Rotations: Students from 125 are headed over to work with Mr. Parker for Social Studies  for health until Winter Break.

Language Arts - Culture and Conflict - We are nearly done with "The Birchbark House," by Louise Erdrich.It's a wonderfully evocative story about the life of an Ojibwe family on a tiny island in Lake Superior told from the perspective of Omakayas, a 7-year-old child. We have been exploring how an author might choose names for characters that reveals something about who they are. Ask your kiddo about the names: Neewo, Nokomis, Old Tallow and Angelina. But especially Big Pinch. We are also working on writing an analysis of how she has changed from the beginning to the end of the story. 

Math - 5th Decimal Place Value, 4th Start of Unit 2 - Lesson 8 - Factors and Multiples along with Prime and Composite numbers. 

Ask your kiddo about

• Omakayas the visitor.

• The age of exploration

• Our first trip to Kenton Library tomorrow.

Old Tasks

1. Help your kiddo manage their blue kid-mail folder, which comes home every Thursday and should come back to school on Friday. If you are having any trouble with the turnaround time, let me know and you can send it back on Monday. 

Toys at School

Fourth and Fifth Graders need to limit the items they bring to school. Toys and stuffies are lots of fun, but tend to get in the way in class and end up causing conflict. 

If you are able to donate any healthy snacks for the whole class, these donations are always GREATLY appreciated! Thank you to the folks who have already sent some along!!!

Peninsula Elementary Weekly Newsletter Oct. 3

New Photos Added!

Content Rotations: Students from 125 are headed over to work with Franki for health until 10/24.

Language Arts - Culture and Conflict - We have been reading "The Birchbark House," by Louise Erdrich for the past week. It's a wonderfully evocative story about the life of an Ojibwe family on a tiny island in Lake Superior told from the perspective of Omakayas, a 7-year-old child.

Math - 5th Decimal Place Value, 4th Start of Unit 2 - Using multiplication and division to solve problems

Ask your kiddo about

• Omakayas and the bear cubs

• What is a pancreas?

• KFFP Radio!

Old Tasks

1. Help your kiddo manage their blue kid-mail folder, which comes home every Thursday and should come back to school on Friday. If you are having any trouble with the turnaround time, let me know and you can send it back on Monday. 

Toys at School

Fourth and Fifth Graders need to limit the items they bring to school. Toys and stuffies are lots of fun, but tend to get in the way in class and end up causing conflict. 

If you are able to donate any healthy snacks for the whole class, these donations are always GREATLY appreciated! Thank you to the folks who have already sent some along!!!

Peninsula Elementary Weekly Newsletter

New Photos Added!

Content Rotations: Students from 125 are headed over to work with Franki for health for the next 4 weeks.

Language Arts - Culture and Conflict - We are exploring the role of storytelling for the Nez Perce. We have explored two interesting tales: Coyote and the Monster and 

Math - 5th Complex volume formulas and multiplication, 4th End of Unit 1 - Rounding, Place Value, Addition, Subtraction

Ask your kiddo about

• Health with Franki

• Safety Patrol

• Is there a way out of "The City of Ember?"

Old Tasks

1. Help your kiddo manage their blue kid-mail folder, which comes home every Thursday and should come back to school on Friday. If you are having any trouble with the turnaround time, let me know and you can send it back on Monday. 

Toys at School

Fourth and Fifth Graders need to limit the items they bring to school. Toys and stuffies are lots of fun, but tend to get in the way in class and end up causing conflict. 

If you are able to donate any healthy snacks for the whole class, these donations are always GREATLY appreciated! Thank you to the folks who have already sent some along!!!

New Photos Added!

We just had our first school climate assembly. Every month on our early release day we will hold a short, all-school assembly in the cafetorium. 

Invocation/Greeting

Awards based on the current school value focus

Staff vs. Students Challenge

It was a wonderful way to get together as a community and celebrate together.

Ms. Carranza came in for another counseling lesson. This time the focus was Attendance!

Science - Patterns of Earth & Sky - We conducted a cool and surprising investigation. We set up a scale model of the earth 1.5mm and sun 15cm. The earth was 10 meters away from the sun. Guess how far away the star Sirius would have to be? Ask your kiddo.

Language Arts - Culture and Conflict - We have started looking at the homeland of the Niimipuu (Nez Perce) and will be exploring the connction between culture and homeland. 

Math - 5th Area and Volume, 4th Place Value rounding

Ask your kiddo about

• Lee Godie and our new hallway artwork

• What is the latest in The City of Ember

• Who is your new 1st grade buddy?

Old Tasks

1. Help your kiddo manage their blue kid-mail folder, which comes home every Thursday and should come back to school on Friday. If you are having any trouble with the turnaround time, let me know and you can send it back on Monday. 

Snack at School

Keep sending your child to school with a healthy snack.  Great snack options include: fruits or veggies, animal crackers, pretzels, granola bars or trail mix.  Please label snack containers with your student’s name. Students may eat their snack during morning recess. Avoid chips and candy.  

If you are able to donate any healthy snacks for the whole class, these donations are always GREATLY appreciated! Thank you to the folks who have already sent some along!!!

New Photos Added!

Two weeks in and we are already switching things up! Everything has been awesome in room 125 so far. So awesome, in fact, that we have decided to invite some new folks to join us. In a last minute pivot, we decided to departmentalize our iReady lessons, whech means that all the fifth graders head over to Mr. Parker in 123 during math and all his fourth graders join us in 125. We find that it allows us to give attention to one lesson at a time, rather than trying to switch back and forth between two groups. 

Ms. Carranza came in for another counseling lesson. This time the focus was Attendance! We ran a simulation to 

Science - Patterns of Earth & Sky - We are answering the questions: how big is big? how far is far? Exploring the scale of our solar system and galaxy

Language Arts - Culture and Conflict - Looking at the first encounters of American settlers as they moved west of the Missouri River in the mid 1800s and the impact on tribal nations.

Math - 5th Area and Volume, 4th Place Value and comparing numbers

Ask your kiddo about

• The mysterious artifact we are exploring in science

• Basquiat

• Throwback Thursday Singalong

New Tasks

1. Help your kiddo manage their blue kid-mail folder, which comes home every Thursday and should come back to school on Friday. If you are having any trouble with the turnaround time, let me know and you can send it back on Monday. 

Homework for Parents (From last week): 

2. Help keep your kiddo working on our social emotional home connection activities. Here is a link to all of them in case you miss one. 

Snack at School

Keep sending your child to school with a healthy snack.  Great snack options include: fruits or veggies, animal crackers, pretzels, granola bars or trail mix.  Please label snack containers with your student’s name. Students may eat their snack during morning recess. Avoid chips and candy.  

If you are able to donate any healthy snacks for the whole class, these donations are always GREATLY appreciated! Thank you to the folks who have already sent some along!!!

New Photos Added! including some bonus zoo pics from last weekend - baby elephant included!

Two weeks in and we are already switching things up! Everything has been awesome in room 125 so far. So awesome, in fact, that we have decided to invite some new folks to join us. In a last minute pivot, we decided to departmentalize our iReady lessons, whech means that all the fifth graders head over to Mr. Parker in 123 during math and all his fourth graders join us in 125. We find that it allows us to give attention to one lesson at a time, rather than trying to switch back and forth between two groups. 

Our first counseling lesson with Ms. Carranza is on Thursday morning and we can wait to get into some great conversations about decision making, big feelings, and building lasting friendships. 

Thi jumping into some new units

Science - Patterns of Earth & Sky

Language Arts - Culture and Conflict

Math - 5th Area and Volume, 4th Place Value

Ask your kiddo about

• Dr. Xargle

• The great math class swap of 2025

• Lewis and Clark and the Louisiana Purchase

New Tasks

1. Help your kiddo manage their blue kid-mail folder, which comes home every Thursday and should come back to school on Friday. If you are having any trouble with the turnaround time, let me know and you can send it back on Monday. 

Homework for Parents (From last week): 

2. Fill out the PPS Volunteer Form so you will be approved for volunteering well in advance of any field trips. 

3. Send or email a favorite family photo.  

Snack at School

Keep sending your child to school with a healthy snack.  Great snack options include: fruits or veggies, animal crackers, pretzels, granola bars or trail mix.  Please label snack containers with your student’s name. Students may eat their snack during morning recess. Avoid chips and candy.  

If you are able to donate any healthy snacks for the whole class, these donations are always GREATLY appreciated! 

New Photos Added!

We just wrapped up our first week together and have been having a great time getting to know eachother. It's a new experience, working in a mixed-age classroom, but the kids have demonstrated their resiliance and flexability and are rapidly adapting to the new arrangements. 

It's been hot in 125, but I suppose the early release Friday makes up for it. 

So far we have visited all of our specials and learned and practiced a bunch of our classroom and school procedures. 

This week are jumping into some new units

Science - Patterns of Earth & Sky

Language Arts - Culture and Conflict

Math - Area and Volume

Ask your kiddo about

• decorating writing journals

• seating arrangements

• what does a scientist look like?

New Tasks

1. Help your kiddo manage their blue kid-mail folder, which comes home every Thursday and should come back to school on Friday. If you are having any trouble with the turnaround time, let me know and you can send it back on Monday. 

Homework for Parents (From last week): 

2. Read the Parent Info page.

3. Go Home Plans: Fill out this Google Form to let us know how you student will get home at the end of the school day.  

4. Fill out the PPS Volunteer Form so you will be approved for volunteering well in advance of any field trips. 

5. Send or email a favorite family photo.  

Snack at School

Keep sending your child to school with a healthy snack.  Great snack options include: fruits or veggies, animal crackers, pretzels, granola bars or trail mix.  Please label snack containers with your student’s name. Students may eat their snack during morning recess. Avoid chips and candy.  

If you are able to donate any healthy snacks for the whole class, these donations are always GREATLY appreciated! 

The Room 125 Grade Website will be updated regularly and will function as a weekly newsletter.  Expect a ParentSquare message letting you know when it is updated.  You might consider downloading the ParentSquare App and bookmarking this site.

Homework for Parents: 

1. Read the Parent Info page.

2. Go Home Plans: Fill out this Google Form to let us know how you student will get home at the end of the school day.  

3. Fill out the PPS Volunteer Form so you will be approved for volunteering well in advance of any field trips. 

4. Send or email a favorite family photo.  

Fifth-Grade Student Homework: 

• Read daily: 20 - 30 minutes, but adjust for your child and schedule

• Weekly SEL home connection activities

• Talk about school with your family. What is going well. What has been challenging.

Other Options:

• Typing Practice (TypingPal is a great web based app)

• Family Games

• Occasional math sheets from workbook.  Any unfinished problems can be used as extra practice at home.  

I may send home unfinished work or project based work on occasion, but in general students will not have specific worksheets or assignments to complete at home.  I will communicate any changes to this policy if needed. 

Snack at School

You are welcome to send your child to school with a healthy snack.  Great snack options include: fruits or veggies, animal crackers, pretzels, granola bars or trail mix.  Please label snack containers with your student’s name. Students may eat their snack during morning recess. Avoid chips and candy.  

If you are able to donate any healthy snacks for the whole class, these donations are always GREATLY appreciated!