February Field Trip Info

Our next field trip is on February 8th. The plan is to go to Timberline Lodge for an action packed day. Part one of the day will involve a guided tour of Timberline Lodge. Timberline was built as part of the Works Progress Administration. We will at that time be studying the Depression and the New Deal, making this an idea time to talk about CCC and WPA projects in Oregon. Part two of the day will be focused on life long sports and PE. Yes, we'll be skiing. While activity fees will cover student costs, I will need parents to purchase their own rentals and lift pass if they wish to ski while there.

I need the following information from each parent so I can make the correct reservations. Please respond as soon as possible so I can get our paperwork in.

 

1. Are you available to chaperone?

 

1b. Are you comfortable driving?

 

1c. If so, how many students can you take?

2. If yes, are you an experienced skier?

3. If you would like to chaperone, do you need rental skis?

4. Has your child ever been skiing?

5. If yes, do they have their own skis?

6. Is your child an advanced skier or would they still benefit from the group lesson?

7. If your child is an advanced skier, are you comfortable with them going up the main ski lift if they are supervised as a group by a parent that is an advanced skier?

8. Do you have extra ski pants or jackets that you are willing to loan to students that do not have them?

You can email me with these answers or you can send me a note in their planner.

Thank you!

Mrs. Adams

Silent Film Festival

The silent films are beginning to come in, dances are being learned, and decorations are being designed. That can mean only one thing! We are just days away from our silent film festival.

Please mark your calendar and make arrangements to join us on January 31st from 1:00 - 2:30. We will be showing the student made silent films and demonstrating one of the dances from the 1920's. You'll want a video camera and a still camera.

In 7th grade we learn not only about performance, but also about party planning. Today we brainstormed a list of jobs that have to be done in order to pull off our production. They will take care of everything from invitations and room set up to decorations and snacks.

Costumes: We are working on borrowing a set of flapper dresses and suspenders from a local theater group. If that doesn't work, it's easy to put together a costume for little to nothing. Girls can make a flapper dress out of a tanktop and knee length skirt. By rolling up the waist band of the skirt so it's 3 inches above the knee, you get the base for the costume. Adding fringe can be as easy as stapling paper cut into fringe or as difficult as buying a length of fringe and sewing it on. That's it! Boys are even easier. Boys should wear a pair of slacks (school pants would work fine) and a long sleeve button up shirt. Add a fedora (borrow one from someone) and a pair of suspenders and they are ready to go!

Food: We are trying to put together a small menu of healthy finger foods to serve. Students brainstormed a list of possible ideas today and were to go home and talk to their parents about what you  may be able to donate.

If you have any questions, please let me know. We're looking forward to seeing everyone next Thursday.

Valentine's Day

Good evening--I was in the grocery store the other day and realized that Valentine's Day might be on the minds of Cascade students! If you have not done Valentine's Day with CHPCS, or if you would like a refresher, please observe the guidelines below:

• Valentines should be handmade. Start on them now! They can be straight up Valentines, or bookmarks, origami, little books, cartoons, jokes, etc. 
• Students do NOT have to bring Valentines in.
• If students DO bring Valentines in, they need to bring one for every student in the class (we will make a class list in the upcoming days).
• PLEASE NO CANDY! If you would like to include a little something, consider fruit snacks, pencils, trail mix, etc.
• We do NOT have a Valentine's Day party. We will instead have a little fun observing Oregon's birthday, which also happens to be on February 14. 
• In middle school this is very low key. 

Silent Film Details

The Silent Film Festival is coming up quickly. We've been talking in class about everyone's progress and it sounds like most groups are well on their way to amazing films. As they get ready to enter post processing, I wanted to share the assessment criteria so students can double check their work before finalizing.

Assessment Criteria for Silent Film Project

 

 

Main Objective: Students will demonstrate an understanding of the characteristics that separate silent films from  modern films.

Secondary Objectives: Students will demonstrate their understanding of the 1920's. Students will write a story line that contains a beginning, middle, and end. Students will work together in groups using appropriate communication and time management.  

 

 

Criteria:

- Film  must be between 5 and 7 minutes long

- Must be black and white

- Must use a minimum of 3 intertitles

- Storyline must have a beginning, middle, and end

- Must contain a minimum of 10 historical facts from the 20's.

- Must show the theaterical style of silent film (exaggerated facial expression and movements)

- All group members will participate in some manner.

 

Due Date: Films must be turned in to Mrs. Adams on a DVD or CD no later than January 24th.  

 

 





Welcome New Students

7th grade is happy to welcome Megan and Isaiah to our class. They joined us today and made themselves right at home. If you see them in the hall or in carline, please introduce yourself!

Field Trip Follow Up

Thank you to our parent volunteers that joined us on Friday. We had a very impactful day and learned much about our world. If you haven't already, I encourage you to discuss the day with your student and ask them what was most meaningful to them.

Field Trip Reminder and Schedule Update

We're only about a day away from our field trip. Students should arrive in uniform at 7:45 with a healthy lunch. Due to a slight change of schedule, we will be leaving school right at 8:00. Our first stop will be Camp Withycombe for a tour and lesson. We will leave Camp Withycombe at 10:00 to arrive at Medical Teams International for an 11:00 tour. We should be headed back to school between 12:30 and 12:45. Lunch will be when we get back to school.  In the afternoon we will finish the Jazz documentary we began today.

So far I have 3 wonderful volunteers! Thank you to Mrs. Moutos, Mrs. Marshall, and Mr. Jones.

New Novel

Today we started our next novel study. Over the next few weeks we will be reading Jack London's Call of the Wild. This short story will be read together and discussed each day in class.

An online copy can be found at http://london.sonoma.edu/Writings/CallOfTheWild/.

You can find an audio version of it at http://librivox.org/call-of-the-wild-by-jack-london/

Conference Correction

I goofed! If you've already read the previous post about conferences, please accept my apology for miscommunicating. I looked at last year's information instead of this year. Student led conferences will be from 12:00 - 3:00 on February 1st.

Please mark your calendar and plan to join us on February 1st!

Spelling Bee

Scripps Spelling Bee 2013! CHPCS will be participating in the Scripps National Spelling Bee again this year! Classroom bees are the week of January 28-31 and the all-school bee will be on February 4. Students in grades 1-8 will participate. What to do now?

• Help your Falcon study the list of 100 words brought home; these are the words the in-class bees will start with.
• Visit www.spellingbee.com or stop by Mr. C's classroom for more study tools, hints, a look at the official rules, etc.

How do you spell excellence? C-H-P-C-S!

Happy 2013

Welcome back and Happy New Year!

2013 is in full swing and we're as busy as ever. Read on for information about this week's field trip, FACTS class, conferences, and the silent film festival.

First, I'd like to welcome Natalie to our class. If you see her in the hallway, please introduce yourself and welcome her to the Cascade family.

This Friday is our January field trip. Students will need to be at school at 8:00 in their regular uniform with a healthy lunch. We have a bus reserved, which will take us to Medical Teams International for an 11:00 appointment and then on to Camp Withycombe at 2:00. We will be back at school in time for carline. If you would like to join us, please let me know as soon as possible.

The Real. Life. Exhibit at Medical Teams International is a very powerful way for students to discover what is happening in the world around them. We will be focusing on what we can do to make a change in the world in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday.

The REAL. LIFE. Exhibit is a walk-through, multi-sensory exhibit that allows people to experience what REAL. LIFE. is like for children affected by disaster, conflict and poverty.

Tigard Exhibit visitors step into eight places where the volunteers of Medical Teams International serve with our local in-country partners:

• A medical triage clinic at the New Orleans Convention Center after Hurricane Katrina.
• A room with a 25-foot tsunami wave, along with stories and drawings made by children who survived the tsunami.
• A Ugandan camp for people displaced by a terrorist group that abducts children and forces them into their “army.”
• A Haitian earthquake site and a tent camp where homeless Haitians are living.
• A Mozambiquan village compound where HIV and AIDS has ravaged the community.
• A Mexico garbage dump, where people live and scavenge for their livelihood.
• A Guatemalan community where children die from easily preventable illnesses.
• A burn unit in a Moldovan children’s hospital.

Portland REAL. LIFE. Exhibit visitors experience not only the real need but also the REAL. HOPE. that Medical Teams International provides. They see the “before” and “after” scenes of places that have been transformed by the volunteers of Medical Teams International.

FACTS Class: FACTS class was scheduled for this coming Saturday. Due to scheduling conflicts with Northwest Family Services, it will need to be rescheduled for the future.

Conferences: Student led conferences will be on January 26th. Student led conferences are an opportunity for your child to sit down with you and review their current progress and set goals. This typically takes aproximately 20 minutes. I will then join you for about 10 minutes to share their report card and MAP scores. This is the time to celebrate your teen's success. This is the time to make goals to improve areas of concern. This is the time to recieve MAP scores and your child's report card. This is the time to check in with the specialists about participation in those classes. It is not the time for in depth discussions with me. If you have concerns, I'm more than happy to schedule a seperate time for us to sit down and talk through those.  The classroom will open from 9:00 - 12:00 and 1:00 - 4:00.