Week 32

Weekly Greetings!

What beautiful spring days we had last week! Though the snow is melting fast, we were able to get outside on snowshoes a few days to explore trails around the school. I hope we can get out a few more days this week before we lose all the snow.

Last Tuesday, Lorraine Titus was in to work with the students in Upper Tanana Athabascan language development. We are so fortunate that she has been willing to volunteer weekly to work with the students.

 On Friday, we ended our week with the Awards Ceremony to recognize student achievement. The only photo that seemed clear enough to include in this post, is the one with most of the K-2 students receiving homework awards for doing all their 3rd Quarter assignment. The lighting was not as good this time, as we were in a different location so that the Egg Drop competition could follow the awards.

Unfortunately, I had the same problem with capturing photos of the Egg Drop competition...It was a really fun event though, and it was wonderful to see the community turnout! What a fantastic Northway tradition for Easter.

Despite some interruptions with the district LEP testing last week, we were able to complete all the concept goals planned for the week. We also started a new Science unit to learn about Butterflies, and have live caterpillars currently in containers for observations. This week,  the 1st and 2nd grades will also be working on the district Spring Writing Assessment.

I hope you have an awesome week!

Kind Regards,
Julie Brown

Week 31

 Weekly Greetings!

The last week before Spring Break was packed with activities! We started the week off with a whole school day trip to Paradise Hill. All the kids spent the day going up and down the sledding hill, with occasional breaks to eat around the bond fire.

 The next day there were snowshoe races and just about everyone participated. It was a beautiful afternoon, and a fun time for all the students.

 On Wednesday, our class went to Tok for The Battle of the Books competition.  There were two students in the Kindergarten that got exposure to how the competition works. Though they had done well during practices, they got pretty shy when there was a full room of competitors. The same thing happened to last years Kindergarten group, but things were different this year.

 The first grade group learned from last year and knew what to expect. They went into the competition much more confident this year and in the end, they only missed one question.

 They brought home a 1st place trophy to Northway!

 There were two second grade groups from our class this year, since the students that competed last year had enjoyed themselves so much, everyone wanted to attend.  Also, there were more teams from the district this year, and the competition was tough. The group of three students tied for second place and  got 13 out of 16 questions correct. The winning team for second grade only missed one question.

 Thursday, there was a snowman making contest for the school Spring Carnival week. It was a great co-operative learning activity for the whole school!

Also on Thursday afternoon, the K-2 grades were entertained by the Drama class with a spin on the traditional story of The Bremen Town Musicians. Instead of being musicians, the teens were rapping animals in the story.  They did a wonderful job, and the K-2 kids watched intently during the whole play.

 In the end, the group danced and did a rap for us!

 The last day of the Spring Carnival was a game of Capture the Flag out in the school yard. The teams spread out to make four bases to guard, and a number of students were captured when trying to steal the flag of a different team. Despite being a little chilly that morning, the kids ran so much that no one noticed.

 

The Spring Carnival was an excellent way to usher in a week off from school for Spring Break, and I hope everyone returns refreshed and ready for the last nine weeks of school. Some important events coming up are the 3rd quarter awards on Thursday March 24th at 2:00pm, and on Friday at 12:45 pm there will be the annual "Egg Drop" competition in the gym. I will see you all there!

Have a wonderful week!

Kind Regards,

Julie Brown

Week 29

Weekly Greetings!

Wow! This is the last week before Spring Break and it will be packed with fun activities! I hope you have all received the news of each day's events for the school "Spirit  Week".  Look for the separate list with my parent letter. Note that our class will miss the activities on Wednesday, as we will be in Tok for The Battle of the Books competition. Please remember to have your child at school that day by 7:30am so we can be on the road by 7:45am. The kindergarten will start at 9am, then the 1st grade will compete at 11am, and the 2nd grade will start a 1pm. After all of our teams are done, we will celebrate at Fast Eddy's before returning to Northway. We will drop kids off at home around 5pm.

With the beautiful warm weather, the class has been able to enjoy recess outside daily. It has been fun to watch them dig tunnels in snow piles and pretend that they are mining for gold. They have wonderful imaginations, and have been shuffling chunks snow-gold off to other parts of the playground to cache. 

 Not only did Lorraine Titus come in for her weekly language time with the class on Tuesday, but she also had dance practice with all the students traveling to dance in Fairbanks with FNA. Most of the students in K-2 are involved.

 At the end of the day, students that have completed all their work enjoy time to play together. Again, their creativity is free to work!

With access to the room next to us now, students can spread out even more and work together on a computer learning activity.

 On Friday, the school was very quiet with so many students traveling to Tok or Fairbanks. We started the morning off with only 6 kids and after 10am, one more was gone. Since there was such a small group, we had an enrichment day with small group learning games in math.

 A little later that day, Mrs. Lundy was in for her regular bi-weekly meeting and did some social skills activities with the kids concerning ways to deal with bullies. The group made some special glasses to remind them to "stay cool" in their reactions to bullying.

Have a great week and enjoy the Spring Break with your child!

Kind Regards,
Julie Brown