May 1, 2017

Good Morning!

We are enjoying spring in Turquesa! Have you had a chance to see our new pollinator garden? The students have been helping to build retaining walls and moving soil. Soon, we be planting apple trees, blueberry bushes and native plants as well as seeding the grass path. Very soon, we'll be able to enjoy our new garden along with the bumble bees and birds!

In other news, we are in the middle of our ancient Greek history projects. Each student has chosen a person - either historical or mythology - from ancient Greece and is writing a biography. It is remarkable to watch the level of expertise, comfort and mastery over the process of researching. Students began writing their drafts last week; others will begin this week. This project culminates on May 19 with each child in costume, giving a speech as their subject. The costume will be created at home in the coming weeks. We'll provide more information soon about that process.

In science, we have had a fantastic time with our physic sciences this year and are excited to turn our attention to life sciences. This began last week with a lesson about evolution and Charles Darwin, and will quickly proceed to in-depth explorations of plants and animals. In a recent class meeting, we asked the students to tell us about their life sciences preferences and whether botany or zoology is more intriguing. The vast majority of children talked about how they wanted to do both! So we are going to be doing two science lessons a week for the rest of the school year. Children can opt-in to one lesson or both.

This week we'll be having our third FLASH lesson. So far, we've introduced the curriculum, set ground rules, and had the lesson on families. One of the aspects of FLASH that is always so wonderful is the gradual entry into topics that are more intense. We are building our understanding of sexual health in a step-by-step way. On the afternoons of June 5 and June 6, we have a special guest i nstructor named Crystal Sharp joining us to lead two 90-minute sessions about puberty. Please put this on your calendar so that your child will definitely be at school.

The children have decided to add a going-out to this month's schedule. It's a trip to see Midsummer Night's Dream by the Seattle Shakespeare Company! Every child in the class has decided to join the going out. We are going to produce our own musical version of the play next year, and lots of kids want to experience it first-hand in Shakespeare's language while they have the chance. More details will be coming to you soon about this trip. Since it's a going out, a committee of students is managing the communications and logistics for the trip.

A couple of dates for your calendar:
May 25 - Beach Day at Golden Gardens Park in Seattle
June 2 - Island Night (6th Year Exit Projects)
June 8 - Upper Elementary Greco-Roman Feast at Beaver Lake Lodge

Thanks,
Ms. Nicole & Ms. Alyx

P.S. Turquesa had a great opportunity to go to Aegis assisted living center last week. Students helped plant strawberries, read books to the residents, do puzzles with them, and we had the opportunity to participate in a musical activity where they played bells together. 

P.P.S. UW Engineering Discovery Days rocked! It was huge and we learned so much about all forms of Engineering and physics.