August 25, 2014

Dear Parents,

Welcome to our first official, full week in Older Kids. We had a wonderful first few days with your children and are so excited to have each one of them in our classes! Each Monday you will receive an email version of our newsletter as well as be able to view it on the Rivendell Web page. This letter will highlight our upcoming units of study, activities, field trip information and homework. We will also attach the recitations if one has been assigned. Please take the time to read through these and as always, contact us with any questions or concerns.

Reading and Writing:

This year the students will be keeping an interactive notebook that focuses on literacy. We will be using this as a place to write down new information, gather ideas and write our thoughts. This week we will revisit the Six Traits of Writing and focus on  identifying main idea and sequence in the novels each student is reading. In addition we will begin our list of books we are reading and organize them by genre.

Topic:

We will begin our topic on Oceans this week as well. This is great unit to start the year with and will involve many hands on activities and allow the kids to explore and research in depth. We will begin building our background knowledge of the ocean, introduce specific  terms and give the students an overview of what we seek to know and understand. Their recitation will be assigned next week.

Vocabulary and Spelling:

The students will be receiving their vocabulary and spelling in the next few weeks and we will explain this in depth at Back to School Night.

Upcoming Events:

* We hope to see you at the Family Potluck on Thursday evening

* No School on Monday, September 1st

* Back to School Night on September 4th

Homework:

We will ease into the homework schedule this week. The students can expect homework Monday – Thursday and it will include nightly reading, vocabulary, spelling and math workbook pages. There will also be recitations that are topic related. This week includes:

* Read novels nightly – 30  minutes

* Study multiplication and division facts – 15 minutes each night

* All About Me poster due next Tuesday  ( should reflect best effort! )

* Read, sign and return laptop agreement

Have a wonderful week!

Karen, Megan and Jessica

Please make sure you also read the newsletter below!IMG_1636

Dear Parents,

Welcome back to Rivendell! We are thrilled that you have chosen Rivendell as a partner in educating your children. It is such an honor to be with your kids every day.

In older kids we teach to the whole child with an emphasis on academic rigor. We aim to develop mastery in literacy and mathematics. Being able to read, write, listen and speak are the foundations on which we build our curriculum. We encourage our students to see the beauty in how an author paints a picture with words and to embrace the fantastic puzzle that is mathematics. Encouraging creativity and complex thinking are fundamental to our approach whether in the study of the Central and South America or during a hands-on science experiment our students observe, organize, compare, question and discuss.

We believe that knowledge and understanding are acquired through active exploration. Children in our classrooms do not just sit and listen to the teacher but are actively engaged in discussion, investigation, and questioning. Our curriculum is designed around exploring big ideas and questions. Students are constantly making connections between what they are learning and real-world applications and relevance while increasing their self awareness at multiple levels.

Our first topic work unit this year is oceans. We’ll investigate the important features of the ocean biome including currents, salinity, waves, and tides. We’ll also take a close look at ocean exploration and how does human action impact the ocean environment.

This year we are layering an overarching concept of “exploration” over our curriculum in order to increase the depth and complexity of our teaching. For example, as we study the ocean, we’ll look at the qualities and traits of ocean explorers, learn about famous ocean explorations, and research how ocean exploration has changed. In math, we might relate our concept of exploration to story problems and how students can explore different ways to get to the same answer. We hope you will reinforce the ‘exploration’ concept at home and how it relates to your family.

A sense of community is fundamental to Rivendell and good communication is crucial. If you have any concerns or questions please contact us via email. We are also available to talk from 8-8:30 am and are happy to set up a meeting at your request. Our emails are karen@rivendell-school.org, megan@rivendell-school.org and jessica@rivendell-school.org.

Our first day was fantastic and we’re excited about the year ahead! We will spend the rest of the week continuing to get to know each other, creating norms and rules for our rooms and starting to introduce each subject. Please have your student bring in their math workbook if it’s still at home. Every Monday morning, we will post our news and homework menu on our website http://testsite.rivendell-school.org/olderkids/.

Please check out some pictures of our first day on our website.

Here’s to a terrific year!

Megan, Karen, and Jessica

May 5, 2014

Dear Parents,

Happy Cinco De Mayo! We have a very busy few weeks ahead of us as we wind down the year. Thank you for coming to the spring program. We are so proud of our students and our fifth graders did a wonderful job speaking and singing!

Sky Ranch:

We are leaving for Sky Ranch on Monday morning and many of you have not turned in permission forms and medical release forms. These are extremely important and must be in before we leave. Please turn them into Leslie in the front office. Please remember to pack wisely. We need the kids to be prepared for all sorts of weather.

Topic:

Insects are on our agenda this week. We have finished painting and diagramming the parts of a grasshopper. We will be learning about the different ways insects adapt to their surroundings. Our ants arrived and we have placed them into their new habitat. We will be observing them all week in an observation journal.  The kids will also have time this week to choose an insect and research it in depth. This will be part of their homework.

Reading and Novel Studies:

The students are wrapping up their final book responses and finishing up their small group novels. Please remember to send your child with novels and books to Sky Ranch as there will be time for independent reading.

Portfolios:

We are in the last stages of our portfolio production and they are turning out beautifully. As mentioned earlier, kids are free to bring in stickers, pictures etc. that they would like to add but please do so in the next few days.

EPIC:

The Older Kids will be taking a fun field trip to EPIC on May 20th. This is a fun way to celebrate the end of the year. They will have the chance to swim and ice skate. A permission slip will be coming home this week with more information. The cost will be $5.50 and this will include admission for skating and swimming. We will be asking the kids to bring a sack lunch which we will eat there. We will be gone from 9:30 – 2:00 on that Tuesday.

Fun Run:

All pledge sheets are due today but we know that some of the kids left them at home. Please send them in as soon as possible. Our Fun Run will be this Friday and it should be terrific. Remember to send them  in appropriate “running” gear, sunscreen and bring a water bottle.

Homework

Monday

• Vocabulary sections A- E  Unit 11 are due Friday ( there is no test)
• Read independent novel for 30 minutes
• bring pledge forms in and Sky Ranch forms

Tuesday

• Work on Vocabulary sections
• Read novel study book ( see planner for assigned chapters)
• Insect research sheet

Wednesday

• Vocabulary
• Purple math 2-3 pages minimum
• Read
• Insect sheet due Thursday

Thursday

• German homework
• Vocabulary A-E due Friday
• Insect research sheet due today
• Read

Have a wonderful week! We are looking forward to next week at Sky Ranch.
OK team

                                                          April 14, 2014

Dear Parents,

Thank you for coming to conferences. It was so nice to connect with all of you and to talk about  your wonderful children!

We have a short week but it is quite packed. There are some important dates in this letter so please be sure to take note of them.

Writing: We are continuing our unit on Poetry and hope to be able to share our poems this Thursday with each other as well as the visiting middle kids. We would like to bind the books so please make sure your child has an illustrated cover by Wednesday at the very latest. We encourage you to remind them to check their “pink” sheet that describes what must be included in their books. In addition to poems, they will need a paragraph about themselves, , table of contents and a guest author page. They can also include a photo of themselves if they choose and any illustrations. Their poetry is amazing and we hope you enjoy their thoughtful and imaginative work.

Topic: We our continuing our study of Dinosaurs this week. Last week, we learned about the Mesozoic Era and the three eras that primary make up this time period: Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous. The kids researched each era and focused on the dinosaurs that lived during each period. We discussed the reasons why dinosaurs evolved and how that thread of change continues today. This week we will be learning about the different theories behind the dinosaurs’ extinction.

Reading: The classes are beginning their small literature circles this week. Each class is divided into small groups of 2-3 students. They will be reading and discussing their novels as a small group. We will be mixing up the books and students so they have an opportunity to read a variety of novels and share ideas with as many peers as possible.

Science Fair: Congratulations to our District Science Fair Participants! They did an amazing job and represented Rivendell incredibly well. Bryce, Nathan, Emma, Leah, and Victoria were all able to attend and we congratulate their hard work and effort!

Important Dates:

April 17th – Promotion Day (Middle kids will be visiting OK)

April 17th – Poetry Share in class

April 24 – Health Education Meeting for 5th graders ( they will be separate) 6:00-7:00 pm

April 24 – 7:30 am Parent Meeting about Sky Ranch

April 24- Visit from author Adam Sidwell at 2:30

Week of April 28- May 1st Iowa Testing

We will have testing each morning beginning at 8:30. Please make sure your child gets plenty of sleep the night before and a hearty breakfast. Also, please arrive promptly as we’ll get started right at 8:30am.

May 1st – Spring Program from 6-8 pm at Rocky Mountain High School

May 9th – Fun Run

Homework

Tuesday:

• Vocabulary A-D Lesson 10 due Friday

• Read independent novels

• Complete Poetry cover and finish up remainder of poetry book

• 5th grade speeches due by Thursday

Wednesday:

• Work on Vocabulary Lesson 10 A-D

• Purple Math ( 2 pages minimum)

• Poetry Book is due

• Bring in bar of Soap for Science tomorrow (conducting an experiment on bases) it need not be “new”

Thursday:

• Finish Vocabulary

• German or Spanish

• Read Independent Novels

• 5th grade speeches due

Have a great week and please be sure to note the dates above. We will be sending various additional notes regarding testing, Sky Ranch and Health Education. Please keep a look out for them.

Karen, Jessica and Megan

Dear Parents,

It’s going to be another busy week…so here we go!

 Please remember to sign up for Parent/Teacher Conferences held on April 11 and April 14.

We have an authors visit from Lindsay Eland on Wednesday, April 9. She will have two books for purchase on that day: Summer of Sundays $18.24 and Scones and Sensibility $7.50

We are continuing to work on poetry this week and writing a collection of poems to publish. We have decided to postpone our Poetry Slam until Thursday, April 17th to give the kids more time to write poems.

*Note to 5th grade parents: Please continue to help your child with their 5th grade speech. Mary is hoping to meet with some of them this week if they are finished early. We would like for them to have their rough drafts ready by April 17th as Mary would like to meet with them to make any revisions before the program.

German: Please bring two blown out eggs to school no later than Wednesday, April 8.

The District Science Fair will be held at Boltz Middle School with public viewing from 1:30 to 2:30 on Saturday, April 12. The awards ceremony will begin at 2:30.  Please come and join us as 5 of our students were selected to present this year.

LOVE & LOGIC:

Don’t forget that two Rivendell Parents, Jason and Victoria Clarke, are leading a 2-hour introductory session for Love & Logic for Rivendell Parents.

When: Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Where: Rivendell School – 1800 East Prospect Rd.

Homework:

Monday

• Read (Jessica’s Class: My Side of the Mountain)

• Work on Poetry Books- There is a pink sheet that is going home with your child today with the book requirements. This will be a lengthy project so the majority of our homework this week will be writing poems

Tuesday

• Write one to two poems for book

• Work on cover

Wednesday

• Poetry Book

• Purple Math book 2-3  pages minimum

• Read

Thursday

• Write more Poetry!

• German Homework

We had a great time at the Museum of Natural History last week and wanted to thank our volunteers again for taking their time to accompany us!

                                                                                              March 3, 2014

Dear Parents,

March has arrived and our year feels as though it is picking up speed! We have many things to go over so please read on.

In literacy this week we will begin learning about using schedules and maps effectively and reading graphs and charts. The kids have been reading articles and writing non-fiction summaries.  We will be practicing this all week.

We have begun our new topic on solids, liquids and gases. We will be examining the different properties of these forms of matter and be conducting a variety of experiments that highlight their unique characteristics.

Our Science Fair begins on March 10th. The students will need to bring their boards in and set them up on the tables in the commons area. Research is due on Friday March 7th. This is to make sure that students are on target and ready to go. Please encourage your child to put forth their very best effort. We have invited judges to evaluate their projects and we want them to be proud of their work and performance.

Our Novel Study groups have changed and Karen and Megan’s class is now reading The Cay  and Jessica’s class is reading My Side of the Mountain. We will be reading both in and out of class and chapters will sometimes be assigned as homework.

Tonight is the middle school meeting regarding testing. This Evite went out to parents of fifth graders only. Hope to see you there!

Friday will be the German Fasching Celebration in the Commons area at the end of the day.

Our annual auction fundraising event is quickly approaching. Be sure to purchase your tickets for this Spring Soiree on Saturday, April 5th from 6:00-9:30 at the Fort Collins Country Club. Tickets go on sale today, March 3rd! It will be a wonderful time with many silent and live auction items. All of the proceeds will be used to make Rivendell safer for our school community.

Homework

Monday:

Read individual novels

Work on Science Fair Board

Tuesday:

Science Fair Board

Read independent novels

Wednesday:

Purple math 2-3 pages

Science Fair

Read the assigned chapter in novel study

Thursday:

Science Research is due tomorrow and your Board should be under construction

Have a wonderful week!

Karen, Jessica, Megan