January 26th 

A Slideshow For A 2024-2025 Elective

I was writing a website article, that I don’t even remember if it got passed by Ms. Pritchard and I had an idea for a model train elective. I have it all written out in a slideshow. I worked on it in map testing and at home. The opening slide (after the cover slide) went like this:

“This is an elective about model trains. In this class we will learn how to take care of, operate, and build a model railroad. Kalman and ChatGPT have already scheduled the day. ChatGPT was only for refining the lesson plan but the basics were from Kalman. The complete plan is in slide 3. To learn how to service the trains, we will watch a video from SMT Mainline and have help from Adam because he has experience. We will have to take good care of everything in this elective especially because the trains and scenery aren’t ours, they are Kalman and Adam’s things. If you get frustrated, don’t take it out on the trains.

This is a collaborative project, so remember you’re in a universe, not your solar system. If Kalman or Adam warns you about something, don’t think of it as a failure; think of it as a learning experience. Also, if you get warned, stop what you’re doing immediately.

 Next was the lesson plan. I took a crude and rudimentary lesson plan and then ran it through ChatGPT 3.5 to refine it. The original lesson plan is at the bottom of the lesson plan. The lesson plan went like this:

Lesson Plan

Second Day: Layout Building and Model Running

• Full day dedicated to building the railway layout.

• Regular voting sessions (every ten minutes) to decide when to pause layout building and start testing the model trains on the growing track.

Extended Sessions (For Electives of 4, 5, or 6 Weeks)

• 4-Week Elective: Repeat the second day's activities for the last two days with regular voting sessions.

• 5-Week Elective: Extend the layout building and model running activities for the last three days, incorporating regular voting sessions.

• 6-Week Elective: Continue the layout building and model running for the last four days with frequent voting breaks.

Final Day: Culmination and Cleanup

• First 30 Minutes:

  • Participants finish personal projects or explore specific interests related to trains.

• Last 30 Minutes:

  • Group cleanup, with the option for a final voting session to decide on any last-minute activities.

Last 5-10 minutes will always be cleanup time

First Day: Introduction to Railway Operations

• Morning Session [20-35 minutes]:

  • Learn fundamental principles of servicing and maintaining trains.

  • Understand safety protocols for laying down tracks.

  • Learning the controls

• Afternoon Session [last 30-15 minutes]:

  • Hands-on practice in servicing and caring for trains.

  • Practical application of safe track laying techniques.

Testing Phase: Throughout the First Day

• Conduct brief voting sessions every ten minutes to decide when to test the trains on the laid tracks. This adds an element of engagement and decision-making.

This plan was refined with ChatGPT 3.5. The prompt (and the original lesson plan) was:  The first day: learn how to service and take good care of Adam’s trains and learn how to lay down the track safely. After we lay down enough track, then we test the trains. Second day: we keep building the layout and running the models. If there is a 4 week elective, then we do the second 2 days the same as the second day labeled above. If it’s 5 weeks, we do the second 3 days. If it’s 6 weeks (i really hope so) then we do the second 4 days. The last day should be 30 minutes of finishing what you want to do with the trains and then 30 minutes of cleanup.

I even budgeted it and am going to a store to finish budgeting it. Not only did I budget it, but I also had already planned the layout too.

I even used ChatGPT and a website called Kittl to make some images for the cover slide. I took the excruciatingly painful (not really, just a long time (; ) time to get a gif from a YouTube video to put into the slideshow. After all of this, I hope it isn’t all for nothing, meaning we get the elective.

-Kalman presented nicely

MAP Testing

By Hudson and Riley 

This week we are doing MAP testing. There are multiple different types: language, reading, and math. In it we get ‘encourage mints’, which are encouragements that are mints. These mints are encouraging hence the name encourage mints. There are four different types. These types are red swirl mints, green swirl mints, lifesaver mints, and solid mints. The mints are cinda-minty.

The first test is the laguage test, which is writing, grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Riley when I say punctuation, I'm talking to you. Next is the math test. It goes from simple addition and subtraction to negative numbers, using pi, and multiplying whilst finding the square root of 50. After you finish those two tests, you are done for the day. So you get a bit of a break to read, anyway. The next day it's back to the tests. The next test and the one that is probably the most fun but takes the most time is reading. It involves language arts, reading comprehension, finding the main idea, and vocabulary.

When signing in to our MAP test we first have to close all our tabs and restart our computer just to make it ready. And we put in ‘test.mapnewa.org’ into the web brower,  then we put in the session name, which is bird. Did you expect us to tell you? This is classified! Then we put in the session password 9415. Sorry, it's also classified. 

Fitness: 

Here Come the Gators 

By Dylan

Fitness is run by Mr. Keenan, as you probably already knew or guessed. Fitness is our weekly exercise routine. Today I will talk about the new game that we are playing in Fitness called ‘Here Come the Gators’. So far this game is very popular. It's pretty simple: the Frogs, which are a big group of people, have to cross the swamp and not get eaten by the Gators. The Frogs usually get about a 4 to 5 seconds head start because they're hopping much slower than the Gators are swimming (running). There are also lily pads which are just hula hoops. They're placed around the pond and if you get inside of a lily pad/hula hoop you are safe from the Gators. But you have to stay there until the next round. And every round after the first the Frogs get less of a head start. When you get caught by the Gators you get sent to Froggy Heaven to watch your Froggy brethren get eaten alive. And finally, there are three rounds for the people on lily pads to get off the lily pads and survive. 

The Library

By Madelyn

At Bridges Middle School, we have a library. We are very lucky to have it; some schools do not have one. Our library relies on volunteers to keep it organized and we are very grateful for the volunteers. There are a lot of new books to organize and it is lots of fun reading all the new and old books. There are all kinds of donations as well. You can borrow up to three books at a time. There is also no due date for the books. There are a lot of different books. Every other week we pick out new books. Not all the students go up because they are still reading their books. In conclusion, I think the library is a fun place to be at!

This is Madelyn signing out.

Auction Art with Mrs. Pritchard 

(It's Really Electives)

 By Abby

Everybody knows what an auction is, right? An auction is where you give away goods to make money and people try to outbid other people. Or at least that's my guess. Anyways we have to make art for an auction. Ms. Pritchard said she gave me the information early since she wanted me to sign up due to my doodling on my math worksheets. We have to draw a Flamingo and a Raven and we have to carve out bridges. Not the Bridges logo but regular bridges. The block that we carve out of is linoleum block. The carving tool is a sort of like a mini “U” and you can choose how wide, thin, or thick you want it to be. But you don't want to like stab though the block so you want to just point it inward sorta of. And you always want to have it pointed away from you. Also, your fingers can't be in its path, otherwise it might get a little bloody. 

I bet it sort of feels like a paper cut, except this cut would be a lot deeper and the blood would come out a lot faster. That is why we have medical kits. I have a medical kit and Adam has a medical kit. Except his medical kit is a lot bigger than mine and it has the stuff that you need to be certified for, which Adam is not. 

And one of the upstairs kids has to draw a raven for the auction because one of the students is drawing a flamingo. A raven is what we call the upstairs becuse we voted to call the upstairs kids Ravens near the beginning of the school year. Once we're done carving the linoleum blocks, they're a thin rectangle, which is the shape we had to use to make a bridge. Then we will put the bridge around the ginormous drawing of a flamingo. I think Pendleton is drawing the flamingo. I do not know who is drawing the Raven but I know for sure that the person drawing the Raven for the auction art is an upstairs student (Raven). 

We have to carve a lot of bridges with the linoleum block, which reminds me of a giant eraser. The differences are that they have the same color except one is much thicker and usually used for writing and drawing when you make a mistake. The linoleum block is thinner and it's kind of bendable like an eraser.

The Froggies

By Nelson

Hi today we are talking about a fitness game called Here Come The Gators. The rules are simple. All you have to do is hop across the parking lot to get to froggy paradise. But here's the catch: there are alligators that are trying to eat you. You might think this is kind of unfair. You have to hop and the alligators can run well. There's another catch: there's lily pads scattered across the parking lot. When you hop in one the alligators can't get you. There are a couple rules about this. Like you can't have over three Froggies in one lily pad or else it'll sink. And if it sinks the frogs on that pad are pretty much dead because the alligators are usually pretty hungry. And there's one more thing, if you get eaten by a gator you go to froggy heaven just for that round and then you're back in the game. It's really fun but the only downside is we can only do it outdoors and at this time of year it's not always workable to go outside. I think everybody enjoys it. I thank Mr. Keenan for letting us play this game.

Thanks for reading, bye!

Fitness is so fun. We just learned a new game. It's Froggys And alligators. How you play is there a Froggies and there are two alligators so, and they're these hula hoops, and lily pads can hold three people at a time for people and the who will sing first hula hoop that you get into the who you have to stand for that round there are three rounds to each game, and Froggy has polluted their land space until they have to move to the other land space I'm going to tag by the F it a Fitness is fun alligators who else the Froggy's go to froggy Heaven which is not as good as the froggy Paradise. My opinion is that this game is really fun. I can interview a couple of people to tell you their opinion. I'll do that now. What is your opinion on Froggy's and Alligator Fun? It's fun you should try it sometime 

Scarlet signing out bye.

Bridges Writing: Letters of Gratitude

By Ben

If you are reading this, chances are you live in Portland or at least in Oregon. And if you do live in Portland, the chances are you have heard of the recent snowstorm. You probably have experienced it too! The few of you who know about this calamity and been in it know how bad it was and how you struggled to be warm and healthy with all the cold. The snow was hard for everyone one, one way or another, but it was especially punishing for the workers and doctors that help everyone in the ice and snow. This week at Bridges we appreciate these few who have to work in the winter to help everyone be safe in their homes. To show our gratefulness, we are writing letters of gratitude. When we are writing these letters, we are writing to the places that manage all things; examples include P.G.E., O.H.S.U., firefighters, and shelters. We use the IEW process to write our letter, meaning first we analyze the place/company we are going to write to, then we make a written draft of the letter, last we type it in a document and then we are done. These letters are a great way to show thanks to the people that kept us safe.

The MURDEROUS TORTURE of map testing

by Austin

Map testing happened AGAIN, and it was PAIN AND DESPAIR. Just writing the title and first sentence had a bunch of spelling mistakes. I'm brain-dead from map testing. For those who don't know what map testing is, take a really long and hard math test, a really long and hard reading test, a really long and hard language arts test, combine them, make the questions random, and have a required score that you have to reach or you have to retake it. All that with 150 painstakingly horrible questions (not horrible as in garbage, the OTHER horrible). And that's not the worst part. Because until you're done you can't take part in ANY FUN CLASSES (besides lunch, recess, and all the classes after). In fact, on Wednesday, I just barely got 1 sentence in. I’m done writing now. I need rest.

I.E.W

By:Theo the writer 

I.e.w is a skill we practice in writing class. I.E.W stands for Institute for Excellence in Writing. We write in our own words to rewrite articles like Australia. You can also do research and add that research into the writing. 

The I.E.W process is 

1.highlight three words in each sentence 

2.write down all the words below the article

3.write your 1st draft

4.show the teacher 1st draft

5.write your final draft   

The reason we highlight three words in each sentence is because we are picking the most important words. The 1st draft is where we put those words on paper (or screen), and you have to double-space. I think that this is a very important step in the I.E.W process. Showing your draft to a teacher is the part where you get feedback from the teacher. The teacher writes in the double-spaced part of the writing. Now, the time has come for the final draft. You write the 1st draft but with your feedback. Does this seem pretty hard? Well, if you think so, then just hear this next part. You have to finish 5 before conferences but I don't think it was too bad.

Tune in again someday

ART!

By Mati

In ART we are making a polka dot project. We take a canvas and paint it but we leave some blank spaces. We can either glue colored paper or paint or build up on the empty spaces. Another project is to make stained glass. We take wax paper and make a row of clumps of paint. Then put dots of paint in the middle of the clump of paint. Then we take a flat circular object and mix the paint in a circular motion. We wait for it to dry. Then we take a piece of colored paper then cut out a frame. Next, take the wax paper and tape it to the back of the frame. Make sure the wax paper fits! 

This is Mati saying, Bye!        

We Take our Tests on a Map

By Freddie and Adam

Recently we had our second map test of the year. We Begin our tests with a Simple question. Depending on how you answered and if you were correct, the questions will get harder or easier in order to figure out where you were and give the information to the Teachers.   Though it may be a struggle for some people It is necessary In the long run.In my limited personal experience, I found that it does help and that teachers do really pay attention to it rather than just looking at the scores and saying well, that's good I found it after the test; I was actually assistant with what I needed. 

              Now you may be wondering, " What is the point of map testing?”  The reason we are given map testing on our computers is so the teachers can see what level of reading comprehension and math skills we are at. If the teachers don't know what math level you are at, then they won't know what to give you for work, and if they don't know what to give you for work, you might be stuck with something that you can do In about 5 seconds. or you'll be stuck with something that'll take you an hour to get through one stage of one problem on a 37 Page packet. Overall, map testing is a really important thing for student growth and education. It also helps the teachers do their jobs, not like they weren't doing it well enough already. 

Map testing usually spans from a couple of hours to a couple of days, sometimes going into a week. Usually, you do two tests in one session Of testing then Then, usually, it's lunch class or recess, Which serves as a good break class.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. We hope you like it. thank you 

Credits and stuff

Edited by adam 

Publisher This Pritchard 

Written by Freddy and Adam 

                                                              Freddie notes: Hello, I had a good time writing, but writing is not done because you still have Adam writing. read Adam writing!   Adams notes: Thank you for reading this I hope it helped you understand a little bit about map testing and what we do in the school. Thank you 

Fitness

Here Comes the Gators

1/24/24

By Sam L.

In fitness this week, we played ‘Here Come the Gators’. This game is like a tag game. You have gators or taggers that tag and frogs that hop. There are also hula-hoops that are safe zones. These safe zones can have up to three people in it at a time in it. If over three people are in a hula-hoop it sinks. If it sinks, it is no longer a safe zone. Once you enter a safe zone, you cannot exit it unless it sinks. There are multiple hula-hoops in the play area. There are also three rounds and your goal is to go from the starting point to the end point. You also have a small head start on the gators so you can get to the hula-hoops. If you don't make it to the end zone by the third round you lose automatically. The frogs/people have to hop and keep both feet together while the gators/taggers can run. There can be anywhere from two to four taggers at a time. So far everybody has enjoyed it and we play it a lot. That is all I have in Fitness this week.

Xbox 360 Slim 1439 In A Box

Over winter break, I was in Mexico, and when I get bored, sometimes I like to invent things; this time, it was the XBOX 360 Briefcase. It is now 1-25-2024 and I have made that invention, and it’s at school sitting just a few feet away from me as I'm writing this (11:02 AM).

Today was the sickest prank EVER! My normal time that I leave to get picked up at the carpool is 8:10 AM, this time I left at 8:05 AM. I had to leave early just to get my invention out the door in time. I kept trying to pull it by the yarn that I tied to the front of the briefcase, but it kept breaking, so I tried to push it, then pull it, then pick it up and then finally run with it as my front stabilizer. When I got to the one intersection, I picked it up and felt like the old lady crossing the road in the movies.

When my carpool arrived at its stop I had to pick it up and put it in the trunk of the car with the unnamed carpool parent’s (for its privacy) help. When I finally got to school the mystery parent helped me get it out of the car.

I had planned it so before any classes had started I would open it in front of everybody. When I did, everybody was shocked and amused. There was laughter and cheers from the students and just a sigh-esk tired expression on Ms. Pritchard’s face. After the reality had set in, everybody just started chanting “Kalman!” “Kalman!” “Kalman!” “Kalman!”. I then made and agreement to not open it for the rest of the day.

-The only one crazy enough to bring an XBOX 360 into class

Fitness

By Daniel

During fitness on Monday, we tried a new fitness activity. In it we would hop like frogs while some people are the alligators/taggers. You play the game by hopping and when you land in the lily pads (hula hoops) you cannot leave until around the end. Frogs get three rounds to get to the other side. Usually on the last round the frogs are given a zero second head start. In the second round, they're usually given a 2 second head start. While in the first round, they're usually given a 5 second head start. Something else we learned at Fitness was windmills. How windmills work is you take one arm to your opposite leg all the way down. But unfortunately, that's all I have for now have a fantastic Friday.