Wrapping up the year

Dear Families,

As we approach the end of the school year, it is easy to lose track of important dates and events. Here is a quick summary of the important dates/events to keep in mind.

Wednesday, June 4: All-School tie-dye event (shirts are due by Tuesday, June 2nd), help needed.
Thursday, June 5th: Portland Musical Performance 2:00-3:00 (starts promptly at 2:15)
Friday, June 6th: Field Day (dress appropriately, bring water and sunscreen) also "Hat Day"
Monday, June 9th: Field trip to downtown Portland (volunteers have been contacted) bring sack lunch
Wednesday, June 10th: Class Picnic (families can meet outside our classroom on the grass at 11:45)
Thursday, June 11th: Last day of school

Hope some of this information helps for planning out your next couple weeks.

-Mr. Pfaff

Lice

Dear Families:

This is to notify you that there has been a case of head lice reported in our pod.  Head lice can be a recurring problem among school children and are not considered a health hazard, as they do not spread disease and/or illness. Head lice are a common frustration, however, the mass screening of all students in a classroom and/or school does not control the spread of head lice. Rather, the spread of head lice can be minimized with routine inspection for live head lice and nits by parents and treatment of those students found with live head lice. Head lice can spread from person to person by having head-to-head contact. Having head lice is not associated with age, sex, race, social class or hygiene.  Please consider checking your child when they return home from school today.  The following information will help you control the problem of head lice in your home.   

Our best chance for preventing the spread of lice is to have everyone’s participation in detecting head lice. Please check your child’s hair routinely.

Symptoms of head lice are:

1. Itching of the scalp may be present.

2. Rash and tiny bite marks on the neck and scalp, especially evident around the nape of the neck and behind the ears.

3. Presence of nits (eggs), tiny, smooth, oval eggs which can vary in color from white to yellowish-white to dark brown, they are glued firmly at an angle to the side of the hair shaft or the louse itself. The nits stick to the hair shaft and must be pulled off with a lice comb or fingernails. They cannot be flicked off like dandruff or washed away.

If live lice or nits (eggs) are found please notify the school and follow the instructions below:

1. TREAT THE HAIR. Consult with your health care provider for recommended treatments. You may request information from the school nurse about suggestions for hair treatments as well. Many different brands of lice killing shampoos are available; some are harsher and not as effective as others. Comb and pick lice and nits twice per day for two weeks even if it appears to be getting better. The only cure for lice is the removal of all lice and nits from the head.

2. TREAT THE ENVIRONMENT. Wash bedding, towels and affected clothing, vacuum carpets, furniture, car seats, Remove toys, pillows, stuffed animals that cannot be laundered for a period of 10 days. Pesticide sprays are not recommended, they can be a health hazard.

Before returning to school the following procedure should be followed:

1. Student treated with recommended shampoo or treatment used as directed.

2. Primary students need to cleared through the health room before they can return to class. Secondary students must also be cleared through the health room before returning to class.

I hope that this awareness and information helps eliminate the spread of lice to more families.  Thanks for your support and attention to this matter.

-Brian Pfaff

Help Needed

Dear Families,

This Thursday, April 24th we are scheduled for Art Literacy. The project this month is very involved, and requires a lot of adult support. We need at least 3 more adults who would be willing to help out with this unique art activity between 9:00-10:30. Janice Jensen is teaching the lesson and will be in the Art Lit portable setting up as early as 9:00. Please send me an email (brian_pfaff@beaverton.k12.or.us) if you are interested and available, for any period of time, to help out on Thursday. If you have not yet volunteered in our school, you will need to undergo a quick background check prior to Thursday. The volunteer page (with background check info) can be found on the Beaverton School District home page after pulling down the "Community" tab and clicking on volunteer. Thank you so much for the support.

-Brian Pfaff

Weather Report Project

Extreme Weather Presentation Project:

I have chosen ____________________________ as the topic of my Extreme Weather Presentation Project.

Research:

Using books/articles from the classroom and library, along with the following websites, complete your research on the severe weather of your choice. At school we will be working on completing a thoughtful beginning (introduction) and ending (conclusion) to support the research gathered. You may also do research at home.

Here are a couple good websites you may want to check out:

www.weatherwizkids.com

www.skydiary.com/kids/

www.teacher.scholastic.com/activities/wwatch

www.ready.gov/kids

www.theweatherchannelkids.com/weather-ed/weather-encyclopedia

www.scijinks.com

www.nssl.noaa.gov/primer

Project:

Using the graphic organizer (previous homework) to organize the information you gathered during your research, summarize your learning in a report. This report will serve as your oral presentation. Students will present their project to the class, sharing the information in a clear confident manner. For the second part of the project, you will need to find a way to showcase your weather in an interesting and visual way. Ideas include:

Create a slideshow/PowerPoint/imovie

Create a poster, display board or collage

Make a model/ demonstration (needs to include a poster)

Create a safety brochure for people who might be affected by your severe weather

Visual Criteria:

Needs to include a title for your weather

Needs to include at least 4 headings or sub-headings

Needs to include any 3 or more of the following: pictures, photographs, illustrations, or diagrams

Needs to include at least 1 caption

Needs to demonstrate an efficient and organized use of space, while being visually pleasing

Needs to connect closely to presentation facts, while enhancing the information for the audience in a visual way

Projects will be due in class Monday, April 14^th. Presentation dates and times will be assigned, beginning Monday and continuing throughout the week (ending on Friday, April 18^th).    

Testing Next Week

Dear Families,

Starting next Monday and Tuesday(4/7-8), we will be starting the reading portion of the OAKS test. Our testing window is from 9:30-10:25 on both days, and will continue at the same time the following week on April 17th-18th. I will be encouraging students to pace themselves, reiterating the point that we have many weeks upon which to complete both tests. Slow and steady is our mantra. I hope that all our students get a great nights sleep and a good breakfast to help set us up for success. I appreciate your support at  home and encourage you to take a look at all the features of the OAKS test by going to the website http://www.oaks.k12.or.us/portal/ and clicking on "Students" and then "Practice Tests" to begin. If you have any additional concerns about the testing environment, format, or schedule, please don't hesitate to contact me or share with me during our conference. Thanks, and have a great weekend!

-Brian Pfaff

Spelling List - Corrections

Dear Families,

I apologize that the weekly spelling word list is not always accurate. This week there are a couple changes to the list of words you will download and print for Lesson #20. Here are some of the changes you will need to make as you begin practicing for our Friday spelling test:

1) You will find the word theatre on the Spelling Tic-Tac-Toe list, but we will be spelling the word theater instead. (no-theatre yes- theater)
2) There are five words missing from the spelling word list on the Vocabulary Lesson #20 pdf: multicolored, inform, northern, different, and theater (those words are on the Tic-Tac-Toe list).

Sorry for the inconvenience.

-Mr. Pfaff

Volunteer Help Needed

Volunteers,

On Thursday January 30th, our class has an Art Lit lesson that requires some additional helping hands. Help is needed throughout the lesson which is scheduled from 9:00-10:30, but would require some additional help setting up or cleaning up (15 min. before and/or after) if you are available. It will take place in the Art Lit portable, and Janice Jensen is organizing the materials and presentation. The lesson focuses on Claude Monet, and the class is really excited (I am too). Please let me know if you would be willing to help out with this exciting art lesson.  If you have never volunteered before, you will need to complete a quick background check found on the Beaverton School District website. It takes two days to process, so make sure you complete it by the 27th. Thank you. 

Brian Pfaff