May / June KODIAK News 2016
Wallace & Priscilla Stevenson Intermediate School
Dear Families,
The PTO Silent Auction was a huge success thanks for all your effort and participation. It's wonderful to see how supportive the White Salmon Valley community is! A huge thanks to the WSVSD K-8 PTO for all the work that went into putting this event on.
May and June are an exciting time of the year classrooms are busy kicking off end of the year projects. They are packed with a lot of activities and field trips that students participate in. make sure to keep an eye out for flyers and information coming home during this time!
As always, thanks for the support! Go Kodiaks!
Columba Jones
Principal
Student Happenings
4th Grade
Fourth grade is working to prepare for our Poetry Night/ Recorder Concert coming up on May 24th from 6:00-7:00. Students will be writing their own poetry and creating a book to share with parents that evening. To create the book, we'll be discussing figurative language and how poets use different techniques to write more powerfully. We're looking at poems written by famous poets to identify examples of figurative language. Students are also busy in music, rehearsing for the concert. We hope to see you all there!
Our big field trip to Fort Vancouver is also coming up. This ties in perfectly to our work in social studies about Washington state history. We spend all day at the fort, watching live reenactments, interacting with the actors, and exploring the grounds. It's fun to experience history coming alive!
5th Grade
In science we just finished the Science MSP and gave it our all. 5th grades and 8th graders are the only ones that test this year. We are proud to show what we know. We are still working on living systems. We are describing feeding relationships in food webs involving producers (plants and algae), consumers, and decomposers. To investigate the role of decomposers, We set up a redworm habitat with organic matter. We will observe the action of the redworms for 8 weeks and analyze the result of their activity at the end of the unit.
In math we will be taking the Smarter Balanced Math Assessment the week of May 9-13. We are currently working on multiplication of fractions by whole numbers and fractions. We will then move on to modeling division of a fraction by whole number and whole number by a fraction.
In writing and social studies, fifth grade students are completing the Classroom Based Assessment, which is an essay project that will culminate with a five paragraph essay with citations for the research used to find evidence for the essay. Next week, May 9 - 13, fifth graders with take the Smarter Balanced Language Arts assessment in their homeroom classes. We will end the month reading about some American Revolutionary War historical fiction stories in our Journeys curriculum. This reading coincides with learning about what led to the American Revolutionary War, and the war itself.
6th Grade
The sixth grade students did a wonderful job creating paragraphs based on the seven cultural universals we have been studying and how they apply to their lives. They also worked very hard on researching and preparing a presentation on how those same cultural universals applied to an ancient civilization. Next week, will be taking the Smarter Balanced Assessment. They will also enjoy artistic and educational enrichment experiences in the afternoon. The following week, they will be binding their paragraphs into a Me Picture Book and presenting their research projects.
In science students are learning about levers and pulleys. This unit provides opportunities for students to build and experiment with lever and pulley systems while learning about mechanical advantage, force, and effort. During the week of May 16-20, students will be attending Outdoor School. Thank you for your help in returning permission slips and covering the cost of attendance!
In math, geometry has been the focus for the past few weeks. Students should now be able to calculate the volume and surface area of rectangular and triangular prisms. Next week students will not have math homework because of Smarter Balanced testing, but the schedule will return to normal on May 9th.
Physical Education
It is with great pleasure that we announce the 22nd Annual 5th & 6th Track Meet. The WPSIS PE Staff will host this year’s track meet June 1, 2016 at Bruin’s Stadium with track and field events from 10:30 to 3:00. This year’s event is monumental as 4th Grade is invited to, not only attend, but to compete as well.
Each student is expected to compete in two individual events. In addition, students may choose to compete in a relay during the meet, or the mile run which will be held earlier due to time constraints. Ribbons for 1st-8th place and participation will be awarded within a week following the meet and delivered to homeroom teachers.
Parents are invited to attend and cheer on the competitors. A letter outlining the schedule and events will be given to students from PE to take home. Tentative track meet schedule is as follows:
4th Grade:*10:30-12:00
5th & 6th Grade:
*12:30-3:00
Hope to see you at this year’s 22nd running of the meet.
Lori Owen and Jeffrey Lindstrom
WPSIS PE Teachers
Office Reminders
Visitors and Volunteers
Please remember to stop in at the WPSIS office and pick up a visitor's badge when coming in.
Absences
Regular attendance has a direct correlation to a student's success at school. See the link below for some helpful tips!
Please keep in mind, if your student must be absent, the WPSIS office will need a note within 48hrs explaining the reason for their absence.
Upcoming Dates
May
6th -WPSIS ASB Variety Show
12th -Fourth grade Fort Vancouver Field trip & Spring Band Concert
- 16th-20th: Sixth grade Outdoor School
24th- Fourth grade Poetry/ Music
30th: No-School Memorial Day
- 1st- 4th-6th grade Track Meet
- 15th-Last day of School 12:05 Release
Wallace & Priscilla Stevenson Intermediate School
Email: columba.jones@whitesalmonschools.org
Website: wsvis.wsvsd.org
Location: 480 NW Loop Rd, White Salmon, WA, United States
Phone: 509-493-4028