OUR MUSIC VIDEO is still online if you click HERE.
OUR FIRST SNOWFALL caught us all off guard. Please make sure your child is prepared for the cold weather. Students should have appropriate winter gear such as a warm coat and boots. Students may participate on the snow hill IF they are wearing a winter coat, boots, gloves/mittens, AND snow pants. Parents should check the link to Spring Lake weather from the PARENT section of the school web site. Unless the wind chill is below zero, students will be expected to go outside for recess.
OUR THANKSGIVING FEAST is this Wednesday. Hot lunch students will enjoy turkey and trimmings. Students are asked to bring a canned vegetable or canned fruit for the food drive.
THE PTA will be meeting this Thursday, November 20, at 6:30 p.m. in the Media Center. Superintendent Keith Konarska will be visiting Lake Hills during this meeting of the Northshore PTA.
OUR FOOD DRIVE concludes this Friday. Fifth grade students are encouraged to bring canned vegetables and canned fruit. Our classroom box is only half full.
FUND RAISER money for Snow Camp must be in before December 2. If possible, please return the money in the form of $10 and $20 bills or a check payable to Lake Hills School.
THE CLASS CHRISTMAS POTLUCK will be at the Chittenden Home in Spring Lake on Thursday evening, December 11, from 6:15 to 8:00 p.m. Students will need to bring a dish to pass and wear "Sunday best" clothing to the event. Instead of a gift exchange, we are going to donate money to International Aid to help purchase one or more HydrAid BioSand Water Filters. Visit the HydrAid site for more information about these life-saving filters.
OUR MUSIC VIDEO continues to receive much attention. Click HERE to view the eInstruction finalists. Winners will announced on December 3. We want to thank Grand Haven Area Public Schools and even Grand Valley State University for classes who viewed our video project. It is still available online in the Learnin' Up blog post. We still think it's THE BEST.
MOVIE NIGHT this Friday from 6:30 to 8:30 at Lake Hills.
SCROLL DOWN to view our class calendar.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Thursday, November 13, 2008
FIRST TRIMESTER COMING TO A CLOSE
OUR WRITERS' CELEBRATION gave each student an opportunity to read their selected writing and to hear others "publish" their first project. From stage lights to beginning the "show" with the NFL theme music, we all enjoyed the celebration.
OLIVIA PULASKI walked away from our first Compliment Party with a net worth of $5,156 after a successful game of Monopoly with her team. Other team champions included Jaslynn Castaneda, Drew Strainer, Nathaniel Hentschel, Tasha Jablonski, and Zachery Greenert.
TIMELINE PROJECTS for first trimester are due tomorrow. Students have been using software to develop a timeline of early exploration to North America.
THE FIRST TRIMESTER ends next Friday, November 21. Report cards will be sent home on December 4. Students will receive new job and team assignments for the second trimester period.
CHOCOLATE BARS for our Snow Camp fundraiser will arrive in a few days. If your child chose to participate, they will have until December 2 to sell their World's Famous Chocolate candy bars and return their money to school. Camp balances and all tuition is due by December 9.
OUR CHRISTMAS PARTY (students only) will be held at the Chittenden Home, 16432 Brown Lane, Spring Lake, on Thursday evening, December 11. The potluck dinner will begin at 6:15 p.m. and conclude at 8:00 p.m. Students will need to wear "dress clothes" for this special event. More information will be provided after Thanksgiving.
SEVERAL NEW SITES were recently added to the STUDENT section of our school web site. Check out these links that are also available from www.mylakehills.org/students.php.
Tangram Puzzles
Practice your geometry savvy with this classic 7-piece puzzle.
Monteray Bay Aquarium
This field guide featuring aquatic habitats also includes information about amphibians, birds, fishes, invertebrates, and more.
National Geographic Animals
Amphibians, birds, bugs, fish, invertebrates, and mammals are all here.
SCROLL DOWN to the bottom of our blog for our classroom Google calendar. Click on any event for further details.
OLIVIA PULASKI walked away from our first Compliment Party with a net worth of $5,156 after a successful game of Monopoly with her team. Other team champions included Jaslynn Castaneda, Drew Strainer, Nathaniel Hentschel, Tasha Jablonski, and Zachery Greenert.
TIMELINE PROJECTS for first trimester are due tomorrow. Students have been using software to develop a timeline of early exploration to North America.
THE FIRST TRIMESTER ends next Friday, November 21. Report cards will be sent home on December 4. Students will receive new job and team assignments for the second trimester period.
CHOCOLATE BARS for our Snow Camp fundraiser will arrive in a few days. If your child chose to participate, they will have until December 2 to sell their World's Famous Chocolate candy bars and return their money to school. Camp balances and all tuition is due by December 9.
OUR CHRISTMAS PARTY (students only) will be held at the Chittenden Home, 16432 Brown Lane, Spring Lake, on Thursday evening, December 11. The potluck dinner will begin at 6:15 p.m. and conclude at 8:00 p.m. Students will need to wear "dress clothes" for this special event. More information will be provided after Thanksgiving.
SEVERAL NEW SITES were recently added to the STUDENT section of our school web site. Check out these links that are also available from www.mylakehills.org/students.php.
Tangram Puzzles
Practice your geometry savvy with this classic 7-piece puzzle.
Monteray Bay Aquarium
This field guide featuring aquatic habitats also includes information about amphibians, birds, fishes, invertebrates, and more.
National Geographic Animals
Amphibians, birds, bugs, fish, invertebrates, and mammals are all here.
SCROLL DOWN to the bottom of our blog for our classroom Google calendar. Click on any event for further details.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
COMPLIMENT PARTY
With 10 unsolicited compliments in the record book, we will conduct our first Compliment Party tomorrow, November 6. Students may bring their favorite cereal and bowl for a morning feast. Each student team will also spend some time participating in a game of Monopoly. Congratulations, class, on receiving so many compliments so early in the school year.
WRITERS CELEBRATION
Tomorrow will feature a time of celebration for our writers. Each student will share the piece they recently selected to "publish" during our first Writers Celebration. Each writer will have a chance to "step up to the microphone" and read their selection. All writing project "stacks" are due tomorrow.
STUDENTS TRICK-OR-TREAT FOR UNICEF
Students recently collected donations for UNICEF on Halloween. UNICEF was created with this purpose in mind – to work with others to overcome the obstacles that poverty, violence, disease and discrimination place in a child’s path...believing that we can, together, advance the cause of humanity. Special thanks to Drew Strainer, Nathaniel Hentschel, Ana Saenz, Gaige Hurst, Rubbee Maloley, Lluvia Arevalo, and Elizabeth Tibbe for their efforts coordinated by former Lake Hills' student, Jordan Chusid.
JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT BEGINS
Mr. David Brockmyer, our Junior Achievement consultant, will be meeting with us for five Thursday lessons. Mr. Brockmyer is an businessman with iCap Realty Advisors in Grand Rapids. The purpose of JA is to educate and inspire young people to value free enterprise, business, and economics to improve the quality of their lives. Our focus in fifth grade is on the three forms of business: sole proprietorship, partnerships, and corporations.
GEOMETRY COMING SOON
We just completed our second unit in math and students performed very well with a class average of nearly 90% achievement. We will examine properties of basic plane figures and use tools such as compasses, rulers, and protractors. Our lessons will focus on facts concerning the angles and the elements of triangles, quadrangles, and polygons in general.
FOLKTALES ABOUND
We continue to read various folktales in our Junior Great Books studies. We will begin reading "The Devoted Friend," a folktale by Oscar Wilde. Junior Great Books helps students' reading comprehension in the context of thinking about genuine problems of meaning. Students prepare for a shared inquiry through a "directed notes" activity allowing them to explore the many initerpretive issues in each selection.
CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
So, what really is success? A friend of mine recently shared with me that he admired my "risk to learn" and my approach to continuous improvement. I have to admit that maintaining a learner's attitude has not always been easy; but the payoff is well worth the additional effort. The powerful concept of renewal--personal, professional, spiritual--wasn't something I picked up at Grand Valley State University, however. Maybe it was simply knowing the unappealing alternative to renewal that convinced me that seeking continuous improvement (the Japanese call is Kaizen) is a practical means to successful living.
With 10 unsolicited compliments in the record book, we will conduct our first Compliment Party tomorrow, November 6. Students may bring their favorite cereal and bowl for a morning feast. Each student team will also spend some time participating in a game of Monopoly. Congratulations, class, on receiving so many compliments so early in the school year.
WRITERS CELEBRATION
Tomorrow will feature a time of celebration for our writers. Each student will share the piece they recently selected to "publish" during our first Writers Celebration. Each writer will have a chance to "step up to the microphone" and read their selection. All writing project "stacks" are due tomorrow.
STUDENTS TRICK-OR-TREAT FOR UNICEF
Students recently collected donations for UNICEF on Halloween. UNICEF was created with this purpose in mind – to work with others to overcome the obstacles that poverty, violence, disease and discrimination place in a child’s path...believing that we can, together, advance the cause of humanity. Special thanks to Drew Strainer, Nathaniel Hentschel, Ana Saenz, Gaige Hurst, Rubbee Maloley, Lluvia Arevalo, and Elizabeth Tibbe for their efforts coordinated by former Lake Hills' student, Jordan Chusid.
JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT BEGINS
Mr. David Brockmyer, our Junior Achievement consultant, will be meeting with us for five Thursday lessons. Mr. Brockmyer is an businessman with iCap Realty Advisors in Grand Rapids. The purpose of JA is to educate and inspire young people to value free enterprise, business, and economics to improve the quality of their lives. Our focus in fifth grade is on the three forms of business: sole proprietorship, partnerships, and corporations.
GEOMETRY COMING SOON
We just completed our second unit in math and students performed very well with a class average of nearly 90% achievement. We will examine properties of basic plane figures and use tools such as compasses, rulers, and protractors. Our lessons will focus on facts concerning the angles and the elements of triangles, quadrangles, and polygons in general.
FOLKTALES ABOUND
We continue to read various folktales in our Junior Great Books studies. We will begin reading "The Devoted Friend," a folktale by Oscar Wilde. Junior Great Books helps students' reading comprehension in the context of thinking about genuine problems of meaning. Students prepare for a shared inquiry through a "directed notes" activity allowing them to explore the many initerpretive issues in each selection.
CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
So, what really is success? A friend of mine recently shared with me that he admired my "risk to learn" and my approach to continuous improvement. I have to admit that maintaining a learner's attitude has not always been easy; but the payoff is well worth the additional effort. The powerful concept of renewal--personal, professional, spiritual--wasn't something I picked up at Grand Valley State University, however. Maybe it was simply knowing the unappealing alternative to renewal that convinced me that seeking continuous improvement (the Japanese call is Kaizen) is a practical means to successful living.
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