Grandparent’s and Special Friend’s Day

is May 11, 2007  - Save the Date!

Plans are being made for the first Journeys School Grandparent’s and Special Friend’s Day! This special day is scheduled for Friday, May 11, 2007. This is a wonderful opportunity for grandparents, great-grandparents, and special friends to visit children in school, participate in learning activities, share their knowledge, enjoy lunch with the school leadership, and see Journeys School “in action.” Your child’s grandparents will be mailed an invitation to the address that was given to us by you on your child’s application. If there has been any status or address change, or if you did not give us the grandparent address and would like to do so, please let us know as soon as possible. Please let us know of any great-grandparents or special friends you would like to invite. You can contact Julie Steele (307-733-3729 x1222) or e-mail julie.steele@journeysschool.org with the name and address. Details of the program to follow. Save the date!

Parent Coffee on Wednesday, 8:15 - 9:00 am

Please join parent council representatives and Nate in the Welcome Center to discuss the school or to just socialize! Everyone is welcome.

2007-08 School Year Calendar

The calendar for next school year has been finalized and is available on our website or through this link to the calendar.

Re-enrollment Deposits Due by April 20

Deposits are due by April 20 to hold your child's spot for the 2007/08 school year. As demand for our program grows, it is important that you place the deposit on time. Unreserved spots may be released to new applicants. The deposit is $1,000 for grades K-12 and $500 for PreK. This deposit is deducted from the total tuition.

April Lunch Menu 

Friday, April 6th: Pizza Lunch with fruit and dessert!

Trimester Reports Published Today

Trimester reports are available on the parent resource page of our website (www.journeysschool.org) . If you have forgotten your login information, or if you need a hard copy of your child's report, please contact Rhonda at ext. 1221.

Phone System Reminder

To save yourself a bit of time when calling teachers, you can use the direct dial number of 733-1327 which lets you enter an extension number rather than going through Rhonda to be transferred or waiting through the recorded message if she is not at her desk . For any "end-of-day" messages, please do call Rhonda at 733-3729 as teachers do not always have time during the day to check voicemail or email.

April After School Calendar

Click here to view the entire April Calendar.

Monday, April 2nd: Nature Walk with Bari

Tuesday, April 3rd: Swimming at the Rec. Center

Wednesday, April 4th: Visit the Mad Dog Campus

Thursday, April 5th: Make Carrot Cupcakes

Naming a Yellowstone Wolf

Teton Science Schools’ Wildlife Expeditions and the Rusty Parrot have joined forces to sponsor a Yellowstone wolf collar for the winter 2007/08 season. We get to name the wolf and are offering that naming opportunity to Jackson Hole area elementary students (K-5). The student with the winning name entry will get a ‘hands on’ classroom wolf presentation from a Wildlife Expeditions Biologist (Kevin Taylor). Check out the press release for more information or if you have any questions please call extension 2202.

Youth Philanthropy Workshop Series
Thursdays May 3-17, 2007

3:00-5:00 pm, Jackson Hole High School Commons

Click here to view complete flyer.

Soccer Season Begins!

View flyers about spring soccer programs for ages 4 and up. Deadlines for forms are as early as this Friday, April 6th!

Grassroot Soccer for ages 4-8.

Jackson Hole Youth Soccer.

Teton County Library Activity

10 April, Tuesday Spring Break Craft: Pop-up Creations.

1:30-2:30 p.m. Kids, ages 7 to 11, design pop-up cards for friends and family. To jump start ideas and fun, librarians share incredible pop-up books from the collection. Registration required, begins Mar. 26. Cost: Free. Location: Ordway Auditorium. Contact: Youth Services 733-2164 ext. 103.

Spring Break!

Spring Break is from Monday April 9th until Friday April 20th.  School will resume on Monday April 23rd.  Enjoy the break!

The next issue of the Basecamp News will be Monday April 30th.

Support the Journeys School Annual Fund by Ordering Journeys School Organic Coffee.
Online: www.FreshOrganicCoffee.com/journeys.html or call (307) 733-8046

Pre-Kindergarten

Announcements

Thanks

Thank you to Joann Honigman for donating the ultimate electric pencil sharper and facilitating and providing materials for a fun speckled frog project.

Thank you Janet Munro for volunteering her time to lead a group of children in making Stone Soup!  

Super Hands-to-Work

Come help us with a spring cleaning before our spring break.

Thursday, April 5th from 1:30-3:00 all cleaning supplies will be provided.

Learning Team Meetings

Thank you for taking your time to attend learning team meetings. This time is valued by teachers to aid in communication of learning and directly answers questions about your child’s school experience.

If Erin is your child's advisor, then your Learning Team Meeting will be first or second week following our spring break.

Volunteer

The April volunteer and the Journey calendars are posted in the parent zone. Sign up directly on the calendar if you’d like to join us for a day.

ECO FAIR VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY

If you and your child would like to volunteer during the Eco fair on Saturday, April 28th from 10:30-3:30, please contact Anna at anna.mccamy@journeysschool.org.

Activities open for volunteering include working the lemonade stand, making seed ornaments, operating the fishing booth, and participating in the puppet theatre.

Anyone Have an Old Blender?

After spring break we are hoping start making recycled paper.  We are looking for an old blender for this activity. If you have one that you would like to donate to the Pre-K that would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you.

Curricular Updates

Teetering Towers in the Block Area

The block area has become a popular spot for children to explore weight, balance, and spatial ordering. Some students used a measuring tape to measure the height and width while others explored the various simple machines in their construction. Check out the photographs posted in the block area to see examples of their construction.

Making Fairy Wings and Props that Aid Our Imaginations

Children spread out across tables and floors to paint their very own fairy wings. Students used watercolor paints to created elaborate designs. These wings were laminated last week and children were able to wear them around the room. Having fairy wings that flap and soar will enhance the dramatic play area and inspire more fairies to come alive. We are engaging and exercising our imaginations. Having a well developed imagination is closely linked with the ability to think creatively and adapt to different situations throughout life.

The Spirit of Peter Pan Soars from Theater to Classroom...

Anticipation for the inaugural performance of Peter Pan was widespread through the Journeys School last week.  In our classroom the excitement for Peter Pan was evident in the murals that were being painted in the studio. The scenes included Tinkerbelle, Wendy, Peter Pan, and of course, a menacing pirate ship! During Focused Exploration last week the boys joined forces and worked individually to paint large and menacing pirate ships!  The artists were Zander (individual pirate ship), and Ellison, Gavin, and Warren (These three children collaborated on a full length pirate ship). 

Announcements
Thank You

This week we would like to thank Caroline Labbe’ and Dana Nagel for helping in the classroom and Libby Hall for a monumental cleaning effort!

We would also like to thank Jean Jorgensen, K-2 grandparent and volunteer extraordinaire, for coming in on a regular basis to assist with the second grade capstone project.

All of our volunteers provide a reminder of what a community effort education can be!

Spring Break!

The K-2 staff wishes all families a restful and safe spring break. We look forward to seeing everyone back on April 23rd, unless you have notified us of an extended vacation. Hopefully, when we come back snow pants will be a distant memory.

Save the Date!

The second graders will have a book release party on Thursday, May 3 at the Teton Literacy Program for their book Our Journey to the Mysterious Island. The event will take place between 4 and 7 pm. Stay tuned for the exact performance time. This is a fun event that showcases group book projects from many different first and second grade classrooms in the valley.

Curricular Updates

What a Character!

The Marmots chose Ramona Quimby to be their character for our Reading and Writing Workshop character study. Our read aloud book is Ramona Quimby, Age 8. I don’t know if the kids laugh out loud more or if I do while I am reading about the crazy antics of the feisty Ramona. After I read a chapter of the book, we sit down and discuss who Ramona is. Students circle adjectives from a list that describe her personality. They also work on worksheets where they have to describe Ramona’s likes, dislikes, feelings and family. Each student is also filling out worksheets that describe him or her as a character. Each child will write a character sketch of him/herself as the culminating celebration project. They will read a sketch of another student and the rest of the class will have to guess who it is. Marmots continue their word study work, most recently focused on the “oa” and various “oo” words and sounds. Their new handwriting journals have been a huge hit and in just two weeks, I have seen BIG improvements in their handwriting. The Munching Marmots are a great bunch of kids to work with!

Learning about Lewis and Clark is Fun

Last week kicked off our studies of Westward Exploration and Expansion. We began our new theme unit by introducing students to the great explorers Lewis and Clark. Students participated in a guided adventure of an interactive learning website about Lewis and Clark. They also designed and built their own river, navigated their way through a water cycle obstacle course, and participated in an overcrowding simulation. Next week, we will journey to the Snake River to test out our boats, discuss the science behind navigating rivers, and begin our study of Lewis and Clark’s journaling skills. Students will bring their own journal and find one natural item that they would like to thoroughly document, and share with their peers. We are all looking forward to an exciting theme learning experience this spring!

Spanish with Elise and Kjera

In K-2 Spanish we have enjoyed reading a variety of books, including El Mitone (‘The Mitten’), Forastero en el Bosque (‘Stranger in the Woods’), and Ricitos de Oro y Los Tres Osos (‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’). Building off of the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, we learned about opposite words (contrarios or opuestos). Students each created their own ‘Diario de Contrarios’ (Opposites Journal), in which they wrote and illustrated opposite vocabulary in both English and Spanish. Recently, we have begun to talk about la mariposa monarca (the Monarch Butterfly). We have been discussing vocabulary relating to the life cycle of the butterfly as well as reading about the region in Mexico where Monarchs spend the winter before migrating north to the United States and Canada. Students are currently working on mini 'libros de la mariposa' (butterfly books), in which they have been writing and drawing in both English and Spanish about the stages in the life cycle of the butterfly. We have also learned a song new song, Las Mariposas. Keep your eyes open for migrating Monarchs. Vuelan!

Name that Wolf!

During focused exploration this week, K-2 students will have the opportunity to submit their own suggestions as to what to name a Yellowstone wolf; one who is fortunate enough to be sponsored by Teton Science Schools’ Wildlife Expeditions and the Rusty Parrot Lodge for the winter 2007/08 season. The student with the winning name entry will get a ‘hands on’ classroom wolf presentation from Wildlife Expeditions’ Biologist, Kevin Taylor. Ask your child what he/she thinks it should be!

Jumping Into Spring

The K-2 students have shown a concentrated interest in jumping rope at recess now that the snow has melted. Jumping rope is a great way to get exercise, practice large motor skills and sing rhyming songs. If you have a jump rope at home you could dust off, now might be a great time to encourage more of this useful play.

Announcements

ERB Testing

ERB testing will take place this week! The tests will be administered on Monday through Thursday mornings. Friday will be a make-up day. To help your child feel prepared for the ERB testing, please encourage him/her to get a good night’s sleep and eat a substantial breakfast before each day of testing.

Winter Trimester Reports
Winter Trimester reports were issued electronically last Friday, March 30. If you have difficulties accessing your child’s report, please contact Rhonda in the office at extension 1221. Please direct questions about the content of your child’s report to the appropriate faculty member.

Spring Journey Meeting
Parents, please mark your calendars for an information meeting about our Spring Journeys. The meeting will take place on the evening of Tuesday, April 24, from 5:00-6:00 p.m. At this meeting, details of both the fifth grade Capstone Journey to Salish Sea Expeditions and the third and fourth grade journey to Pinedale will be discussed.

Grades 3-5 Learning Team Meetings
Grades 3-5 Learning Team Meetings will take place from Monday, April 30 through Friday, May 11. Learning Team Meetings will occur after school from 3:15-4:00 and 4:15-5:00 p.m. Learning Team Meeting sign-up sheets were posted in the Grades 3-5 classroom today. To sign up for a meeting, please stop by the classroom or contact your child’s advisor.

Thank You
Thank you to Rhonda Watson, Kelzang Wangchuk and Bobbi Reyes for covering Sydney’s reading and writing class while she was absent last week.

Curricular Updates

Building Bookshelves in Math Class
Last week, hammers, nails, screws, drills, and measuring tape became math supplies in Laura’s fifth grade math class. Students used concepts learned in units 7, 8 and 9 of the Everyday Mathematics curriculum to design and build bookshelves. Students added, subtracted and multiplied mixed numbers and fractions to determine the perimeter and area of their bookshelves. In addition, students calculated the amount of paint needed to cover the surface area of their bookshelves. Blueprints were drafted individually and in small groups, precise measurements were taken, the quantity of wood needed was calculated, and finally, bookshelves were built. Four well-crafted, student-made bookshelves are now in use in the elementary school building. Please come admire your child’s hard work and craftsmanship!

Art
In art we have been learning about the different pathways that artists take to find their own style. Recently we studied French artist Henri Matisse who traveled all around the world on his personal pathway, and created art in many different ways to represent where he had been. Matisse liked to paint portraits, so we learned how to draw the human face. Each of us painted a portrait on top of a collage. We learned that drawing faces is tricky! Did you know that when you draw a face you should draw your eyes halfway down your head? We didn’t believe it either, so we measured each others’ heads and found that it was true. In addition to painting portraits, Matisse’s work had lots of colors, designs, and patterns. We tried to add bright colors and designs to our work in the manner of Matisse. At the end of his artistic pathway, Matisse stopped painting portraits and made cut-out collages instead. He said he was “drawing with scissors.” We drew with scissors like Matisse to make a collage of positive and negative shapes in the background of our portrait. All of the layers of our final pieces represent parts of Henri Matisse’s pathway as an artist. We added our own style as we moved along our pathways as artists.

Third and Fourth Grade Recycling Project
For the last few weeks, students in grades 3 and 4 have been learning about recycling in Jackson Hole through classes, project work, and a journey. Two weeks ago, we made journals out of recycled cardboard to record our learning, met with Emilie Lewis, education director for the Jackson Community Recycling Center, and visited the recycling center. Last week, students had the opportunity to practice interviewing skills by conducting interviews with six Jackson community members who answered more of our recycling questions. Thank you to Karen Jerger, Ellen Fales, and Dave Farrin for coming to our classroom to be interviewed and to Heather Overholser, Paul Maddox, and Dean Miller for making time to be interviewed over the phone. Students now are transitioning into building large 2 by 4 foot frame displays that will share our learning with the community. These frames will be displayed at the EcoFair on Saturday, April 28 and at the Rec. Center in town.

Announcements
Congratulations, Taylor Watson, for winning First Place (for the second year in a row!) in the Youth Photography Contest, sponsored by the Teton County Parks and Recreation Department! Her photograph of two trumpeter swans taking off from the ponds by the Elk Refuge Visitor Center is stunning!

Congratulations, Hayden Shea, for being selected to play ice hockey for Team Wyoming. Hayden will be traveling all over the West playing for this team!

Bravo Peter Pan Thespians! Your performances were fabulous!
Much applause to our talented middle school students!

Students sing at the Hootenanny
Our music elective group members want to show off the songs they have learned with Anne and Pete Sibley, local (and national) bluegrass musicians, by performing at the Hootenanny on Monday, April 2. This will be an opportunity for us to practice for the public, as well as to allow the community to see our talents! The Hootenanny open-mike has been a Jackson Hole tradition for years. Come see local musicians and support your singers!

Details:

• Drop off your child at the outside entrance of the Snow King Ice Rink at 6:15pm so the group can warm up for the performance. Please make sure your child is prompt.
• Singers should wear appropriate clothing with a neat and clean appearance.
• The performance will be in a banquet room adjacent to the ice rink.
• Admission is $3.00. Entry is free for performers.
• The Hootenanny begins at 7:00pm with a set break at 8:00pm. We will perform during the first set. Singers may leave at the conclusion of the first set (and be taken home or picked up at the same drop off point at that time).
• The Hootenanny has a concert atmosphere and audience members should be respectful of all performers. Do not talk or leave in the middle of a set.

If you have any questions, please call Margot at 733-3729, ex 1112. Thank you again for supporting your children and this community event.

5th and 8th graders visit different levels
Over the last few weeks, current 5th and 8th grade students have been visiting their “new” school levels, beginning Fall 2007. The middle school has enjoyed the energy and wide-eyes of the 5th grade students, as our 8th grade students have visited the upper school for a day.

Thank you

Thanks to Tina for helping us incorporate the 5th grade students into our program. Also a big thank you to Kjera who (with some help from the upper school students) has developed the 8th grade orientation program, which, in addition to day-long visits, includes the 8th grade students in weekly daily practices, focused on different aspects of the upper school. All of these programs help the students and teachers with the transition into new levels.

Thank you also to Kristen Gilbert for creating the Romeo and Juliet DVD. We appreciate your dedication to documenting the hard work of our students!

Curricular Update

Level 1 Math
Level 1 math continues to investigate the concepts of area and perimeter. Recently students explored the relationship between area of a rectangle and area of a triangle. Soon we will deriving formulas for finding areas and perimeters of parallelograms and circles. Unlike in more traditional math programs, the Connected Mathematics approach to these topics requires students to understand why the formulas for area and perimeter work rather than just apply formulas to find an answer. Ask your child to explain where these formulas come from.

Level 1a Math

Students in Math 1a have been busy learning about properties of fractions, and the steps involved in adding fractions. These steps include fining the lowest common denominator and calculating equivalent fractions. In addition, we have continued to review the conversion of fractions into decimals and percents. Students are currently examining how fractions and percents can be compared through the use of pie charts and circle graphs

Level 2 Math
Last week, level 2 math finished our investigation of linear equations. Students learned to solve a linear function of the form y =mx + b using tables, graphs, and equations, find the slope and the y-intercept of a linear equation and the meaning of each, write a linear equation with the slope and y-intercept and find a solution common to two linear equations by graphing or creating tables. This week we begin a new unit entitled, Filling and Wrapping. Students will explore three-dimensional measurement such as volume and surface area of various solids and volume and surface area relationships. Specific skills will focus on conceptualizing volume as a measure of filling an object, developing the concept of volumes for prisms and cylinders as stacking layers of unit cubes to fill the object and conceptualizing surface area as a measure of wrapping an object.

Level 3 Math
Last week level 3 math focused on preparing for this week’s CPT4 Testing. Skills we worked on were: identifying what skills the question is testing; eliminating answers by solving questions backwards; creating a “Go To” list of basic math concepts we have learned the past year; and reminding ourselves that when the test feels like a Goliath, we can become David. This week students will continue our exploration of the three forms of symmetry (translational, reflectional and rotational) as we graph transposed images.

Level 4 Math
Unit five, on fractions, was completed last week. In this unit, we practiced adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing both regular and complex fractions which often had polynomials in their numerator or denominator. “Complex” is certainly an understatement!

Language Arts
We opened the trimester with a review of figurative language and rhetorical devices (similes, metaphors, personification, alliteration, onomatopoeias, neologisms, symbols, etc) and then began our study of The Lorax by Dr. Seuss. This “children’s” book is a superb text for identifying and becoming more familiar with the devices above mentioned. Students have used these devices while writing their own poetry, in preparation for April, Poetry Month. They have also used this text to unravel themes and topics, such as how does the Lorax seek balance, what are the effects of “biggering,” and how can one defend the Once-ler’s position? Ask your student what topic they will write their essay on, and from where the names Thneed, Once-ler, and Lorax come.

Life Skills
Since the ski program ended, when in Life Skills students have focused on concepts of nutrition. Students learned about the updated food pyramid (now includes exercise) and charted their own diet in a 3-day food journal. Students then learned about the six nutrients essential for a healthy diet and created their own example of a balanced meal. After spring break, students will participate in another three-week session addressing issues of drug and alcohol abuse and media pressures on teens.

Announcements

Upper School Parent Meeting

You are invited to attend an upper school program meeting from 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM, Wednesday, April 4 in the lower floor of the upper school building. As we approach our 7th year of existence as a school and our first alumnus graduates from college, it is time to reflect and seek input from the parent community on the successes and challenges in the upper school. The goals of the meeting will be to have an open discussion on the program, to present the results of both the parent survey and student survey, and to discuss any changes to the program for next year.

Spring Journey Update

Planning for the Spring Journey is well underway! The Upper School will be traveling to Boise, Idaho, leaving Monday, May 21 and returning Friday, May 25.  We will explore the spring essential question: How do we change what we observe? by examining Boise's cultural, industrial, and ecological history.  Currently, our itinerary includes visits to Micron, the National Interagency Fire Center, the Raptor Center and a variety of museums.

The cost for the Journey will be $100.

Curricular Updates

Upper School Art

The next time you are in the MUPS building, be sure to look for the results of last trimester's Upper School Art elective!  Of particular note are a variety of paper mache heads of animal or human characters suspended from the upstairs classroom ceiling.  These heads were inspired by a National Geographic article on a Spanish art festival. 

Math 7: Economics 101

The Math 7 class has diverted from calculus for the last three weeks to complete an investigation of the fundamentals of economics. With the objective of understanding how basic economic policy affects individuals, the inquiry began with a brief look at the mathematics of money. Compounding interest, investment, loans (including mortgages) were all modeled using spreadsheet software. The class examined basic supply and demand curves to investigate the effects of surplus and scarcity on price. Once the fundamentals were in place, students researched the Federal Reserve and how the Federal Open Market Committee sets target rates and uses various tools to meet these target interest rates. This connection to the Federal Reserve allowed for a discussion on the current economic status of the United States. For the final project, students have created a website (to be unveiled soon!) that describes the top ten economic indicators for the United States. After spring break, the Advanced US History class will add both social indicators and ecological indicators to present a complete set of metrics that describe the current “state” of the country.

Environmental Chemistry
For the spring trimester, Environmental Chemistry will complete the exploration of metals and the chemistry of mining by completing two labs. The first lab models the chemical process of extracting copper from a mineral and considers the amount of waste entering the environment from mining sites. The second lab explores the formation of alloys by combining copper and zinc to produce brass. After spring break, students will begin an inquiry focusing on petroleum as a versatile resource. The purpose of the inquiry is to introduce organic chemistry and to understand the breaking and making of covalent bonds. Students will explore why hydrocarbons are commonly used as fuel and material for so many of our products. Students will also consider what properties are important when considering alternatives to petroleum. Throughout the inquiry, students will probe social, environmental and technological issues resulting from society’s heavy reliance on petroleum products.

             Look here for an editorial after spring break.

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© 2005, Basecamp News, Journeys School of Teton Science Schools.