The Franklin Academy

PALS Update!

Hello Franklin Families!

- Franklin Family Ice Skating Event--see attached flyer

- Pizza lunch returning in January but we need drivers!

First, pick up at 10:30 am and second pick up at 11:30. This can be one person earning 2 hours or two people earning 1 hour each. Please reach out if you can help deliver pizza from Pizza Time to school. pals@thefranklin.academy

- Mark your calendars for a Franklin Family movie matinee on January 8th!

More details coming soon!

Thanks much

Sara/ Nneka

Toy Drive at Franklin Academy!!

Accepting any NEW and UNWRAPPED donated toys.

Please place any donated toys in the labelled bins outside of Robin Hall and Markell Hall or hand to the folks at drop off.

Monday December 6th to Friday December 10th.

All donations will be given to Whatcom County Toys for Tots nonprofit organization, helping provide support for local families in need.

This toy drive is sponsored by the Chapel Service Guild at Franklin Academy.

Please contact Cate Webb with questions: kinyounc@hotmail.com

Out-of-State Thanksgiving Travel

Fully Vaccinated

Fully vaccinated, asymptomatic students and staff do not need to participate in screening testing after out-of-state travel.

Not Fully or Not Vaccinated

Testing will be twice weekly during a 7 day period after travel for unvaccinated asymptomatic students with parent permission. If you’re traveling out-of-state for the holiday and need testing, please fill out our Student Consent Form if you haven’t done so already. We will be testing twice weekly with 3 days between tests (a minimum of 48 hours), for 7 days (not including the weekend).

Testing Timeline for After Thanksgiving

First Test: Monday, November 29th
Second Test: Thursday, December 2nd
As long as student remains symptom free, no additional testing will be required

We would also like to know how many of our families are planning on traveling out of state. Please fill out our Thanksgiving Travel Form. This will help us determine if we need to set up alternative testing procedures Monday (11/29) and Thursday (12/2) morning.

Tentative Alternative Testing Procedure

Depending on the number of students needing testing, we may not be able to test everyone before school starts during our usual time (07:30-08:30). Here is our alternative plan:

Preschool Students - sign up for morning testing using our Appointment Form
K-8th Grade Students - Students unable to get an appointment will go to class as normal. We will pull the remaining students needing testing from class.
Any student with symptoms of COVID-19 will need to obtain negative COVID test results before entering the building. Results from testing that did not occur at school can be forwarded to myself or Rachel/Dawn.

Best,

Teresa

Teresa Hubbell, BSN, RN

Girls Basketball Update!

Coach Fox Shared this:

The Franklin Girls Basketball team played their second game on Tuesday afternoon vs the Horizon Hornets. Our girls showed tremendous improvement and came out with a 42-15 Victory! Chloe B. was the leading scorer, with Aubrey B., Harjas G. and Adelle O. adding to the total. The team played aggressive defense and worked hard to shut down Horizons offense. It was a great display of teamwork on both ends of the court!

Parent Teacher Conferences

We are so GRATEFUL to our dedicated teachers and the extra time they invest into quality parent-teacher conferences! It's an excellent opportunity for in-person conversations about students' academic progress and growth based on classroom observations/assessments and to be informed about students' strengths, needs, behaviors, and learning styles.

Mrs. Brewin's First Grade Class Update!

Mrs. Brewin Shared this:

"What a week! Here's what we were up to:

-in reading comprehension, we read the book Crickwing by Janell Cannon. We discussed the problem and solution, the author's message, and made a list of many of the wonderful vivid verbs in the story.

-in phonics we started learning about words that end with silent e to make a long vowel sound, such as cape. We call this "Bossy E" and it's one of the jobs of silent e. We worked with table groups to make Bossy E words using letter cards (pictures attached).

-in math we wrapped up our unit on addition and subtraction strategies and word problems for numbers up to 20. Next up we'll play review games and then start a unit on graphing and data.

-in social studies we read and discussed the book This is How We Do it that describes a day in the life of real students and their families from seven different countries. We also learned a little about some of the words pilgrims would have used. Ask your student if they remember any of the words!

-in science we did an experiment combining baking soda (solid) and vinegar (liquid) to see how it creates a gas. The chemical reaction created carbon dioxide that blew up a balloon.

-this week in writing all the students finished up their personal narratives. Next I will bind them into little books. I can't wait for you to see them! Today we also wrote poems about what we are thankful for."

Mrs. Rail's Kindergarten Class Update!

Mrs. Rail Shared this:

"This week we talked a lot of Native Americans and the first Thanksgiving. We talked about several Native American Traditions and Legends. We read The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush by Tomie DePaola and created a beautiful art project. We learned about the Wampanoag - the Native Americans that were there when the Pilgrims landed in Massachusetts. We learned about the Three Sisters (corn, beans, and squash) and how important they were to the Native Americans and then the Pilgrims. Then we started talking about the Pilgrim's journey and their difficult first year in America. We will be continuing on with this next week as well including learning about Turkeys and talking about what we are thankful for. "

A Note from Chaplain Aaron - Leaves of Gratitude

Chaplain Aaron Shared this:

"After having a discussion about what gratitude is, students were asked to write what they were thankful for in the leaf given to them. The leaves were prepared by Christy and the Chapel Guild. I'm grateful for the work she did to allow this great activity to continue this year. Now the leaves are brightening up the chapel in Markell Hall and the entrance in Robin Hall.:

Mrs. Ho's Class Had a Visit from Mr. Gooey!

"Mr. Gooey the Scientist came to our classroom on Friday. The children love science with Mr. Gooey especially when it is a hands-on experiment. Friday's experiment was: "How to blow-up a balloon using vinegar and baking soda". The science behind this experiment is the chemical reaction between the base (baking soda) and the acid (vinegar). When the two ingredients mix together the balloon baking soda experiment gets its lift! The gas produced from the two ingredients is carbon dioxide or CO2. Carbon dioxide is the same gas that is produced by the human lungs and is a biproduct of our respiratory system. We breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide. The students adore science with Mr. Gooey, especially when it's a hands-on experiment!

Mrs. Owen's Early Kindergarten Class Update!

Mrs. Owen Shared this:

"A turkey is a funny bird, his head goes wobble, wobble and all he knows is just one word and that is gobble, gobble! We "gobbled up" turkey week with lots of fun turkey activities. Here's what we've been up to:

-Letter Tt, how it looks, writes, sounds, and signs

-Strutted around the school quietly looking for Letter Tt, objects, and words

-Recited the Poem "Five Little Turkeys" see if your kiddo can retell it to you

-All About Number 3, tallies, base ten, and number lines

-Turkey Shape Review, counted turkey feathers, counted by tens, and counted by rote

-Labeled Turkey Anatomy for understanding

-Since we have been learning about different species of birds, I thought it would be cool to talk a little about feathers, so we performed The Feather Experiment. We each picked a colorful feather, placed the bottom of the quill into a straw, and then made our own wind by blowing into the straw. We tested out different things like: short straws, long straws, small feathers, big feathers, fluffy feathers, non-fluffy feathers. We discovered that shorter straws send feathers much further than longer straws.

-Turkey Baster Feather Relay, First we tried just puffing the feathers back and forth across the table to focus on our fine motor skills. Then we turned it into a relay as kids played against each other. Skill areas addressed: Fine motor skills, grasp, strength, gross motor skills, coordination, motor control, visual motor integration, cooperation, and good sportsmanship. And, SO MUCH FUN!!

-We enjoyed painting turkey feathers, stamped handprint feathers with ink, fingerprinted turkey placemats, and made some really fun turkey puppets.

-Got Funky with Tommy the Turkey, Jack Hartmann Dance and Song"

Mrs. Killian's Preschool Class Update!

Mrs. Killian Shared this:

"Our plan for this week was to learn about Thanksgiving and what we are thankful for. The week took a unique turn when we were forced to close early on Monday due to weather. Thank you for your willingness to drop everything and come pick up your kids. We are thankful that everyone made it home safely. It is often during challenging times that we realize how much we have to be thankful for.

Literacy
Our letter of the week was letter J. We met Jerry the Jellyfish during phonics. In class we made letters with blocks and practice writing them. The preschoolers are becoming very skilled at writing letters.

On Friday we created letters using wiki sticks, which are bendable, wax strips. Learning to write letters using materials that are hands-on are very effective.

Preschoolers love listening to stories, and it is an important part of their literacy development. We have a cassette player in class, and one of our favorite activities is listening to books on tape.

Gross Motor

Preschoolers like to move, and learn while moving. This week we learned many turkey movements, like waddle, gobble, and moving our wings.

Math

We played a game called Stuff the Turkey on Wednesday. We learned the many ways we use various shapes to create hexagons.

Our class is very skilled at counting to 10, and recognizing these numbers, but 11 to 20 can be challenging to learn and recognize. On Thursday we build Thanksgiving towers using unifix cubes.

Science

Cranberries are an important part of a Thanksgiving dinner, and are grown here in Washington. We learned about how cranberries grow and are processed. On Friday we created structures using cranberries and toothpicks."

Mrs. Samuel's Joke of the Week

What kind of weather does a turkey like?
Fowl weather.

AMAZON SMILE

If you shop at Amazon.com, this is a great opportunity to raise money for Franklin Academy. Sign up at Amazon Smile and 0.5% of your purchase price will go towards the FA Annual Fund. Here’s how:

1. Go to Amazon Smile

2. In the “pick your own charitable organization” box type in Franklin Preschool

3. Click on the Bellingham Franklin Academy (may still be listed under St. Paul’s Episcopal School through the summer)

4. Very Important! Please make sure whenever you shop on Amazon you go to the Amazon Smile webpage. If you shop on Amazon.com we won’t receive the donation.