Week 25

Weekly Greetings!

As I promised last week, I have pictures from the Native Youth Olympic competition in Tok last Monday.  It was a really fun event, and all but one student attended. Thank you for getting your child to the school for the early departure that morning! I tried to get photos of everyone participating, but the students were split into a boys and girls competition area and sometimes there were students from Northway competing at the same time in each group. Here are a few of the best shots from the three areas the students competed in. The first event was the Knee Jump.

 The second event was the Eskimo Stick Pull.

 The last event was the Seal Hop.

 Our students did really well, and took home a number of awards! Terrence placed 2nd in the Knee Jump and 3rd in the Eskimo Stick Pull in the boy's competition.

 Marion placed 2nd in the Eskimo Stick Pull for the girl's competition.

 Seth took home a 2nd place for the boy's Eskimo Stick Pull and a 3rd place for the Seal Hop.

 Talise won a 1st place in the girl's Seal Hoop, and two other awards for 3rd place in the Eskimo Stick Pull and Knee Jump.

Cadence also got a 3rd in the Seal Hop, but in all the hurry at the end to get in snow gear and on the highway back to Northway, somehow I missed snapping her picture....The1st and 2nd grade students are very enthusiastic now about the games and even practice on their own during some of our recesses.

On Monday, it will be our 100th day of school this year and we are going to celebrate! Most of the day will be spent doing special activities surrounding the number 100. I sent a note home on Friday about some of the activities we will be doing.

 Also, there will be no school next Friday for teacher in-servicing, so we will have a simple Valentine party on Thursday, February 12,  in the afternoon. If you can send in a special treat, it would be greatly appreciated. I also sent a class list home on Friday, if students want to exchange Valentine cards. I will have pictures from the special activities in my next blog.

Hopefully, the weather will warm up later in the week so that we can go out to use the snowshoes again.

Enjoy your week!

Kind Regards,

Julie Brown

Week 24

Weekly Greetings!

There is always a lot happening in our classroom each week. We are still working with the Solids and Liquids Science Unit and will be investigation the properties of liquids this week. Last week, the students find which objects were attracted to a magnet. They were surprised by some of the findings.

I had hoped that if the weather was warm enough, we would go out again on the snowshoes but the cold temperatures remained all week. So just for fun, we had a make believe snowball fight using crumpled paper. After we cleaned up the mess, the students wrote about the activity and drew a picture to go along with what they had written.

On Friday, the students were involved in another "Instant Challenge" with students from other places in the state. They had limited materials and had to build a tower in 30 minutes. Each small group came up with some interesting designs.

I will have pictures next week of the NYO completion that the students take part in on Monday, February 2.

Have a great week!

Kind Regards,
Julie Brown

Week 23

Weekly Greetings!

Last week, the students that had all their winter gear at school got to try out the new snowshoes purchased for the school. It took a little time to learn how to put them on, but it should be easier next time. Below is a picture just after we all got the snowshoes secured.

The kids really had fun breaking trail behind the teacher housing, and some students were even running in the snowshoes once they got a feel for them.

Hopefully, if it is not too cold this week, we will go out again and explore further into the wooded area.

We also had show and tell on Friday. Attendance was a bit low last week due to a variety of issues, but the students always are so excited to share and hear what others have to share.

With Parent/Teacher conference on Monday, we will have a short but full week. A week from Monday, on February 2, the 1st and 2nd grade will be attending the NYO competition in Tok. Kindergarten will not be required to attend school that day, so please keep your Kindergarten child home when the others are on this trip. It will be a very early departure from Northway for the 1st and 2nd graders because the competition starts at 8:30am. Sherri Demit and Dena Paul will leave the school with the van and students from the village at 6:45am. They will pick up students at the store that live on the highway at 7:00am. Please give your child breakfast before dropping them off at one of the two departure locations. I will meet the group on Tok. All the scheduled events will end at 3:30pm, so the group should be back in Northway sometime after 5:00pm. This is a very special event, and I am excited to see how the students will do in the competition. I will send a reminder home on Friday this week also.

Have an awesome week!

Kind Regards,
Julie Brown

Week 22

Weekly Greetings!


For a variety of reasons, we have not had a full class of 16 students since the addition of another girl just after Thanksgiving. Last week we were finally able to retake the real graph photo of how many boys and girls are in the class, and update the picture graph representing the students in the real graph. There is an even number of 8 boys and 8 girls now in the group, as you can see in the photo to follow.

The class is continuing their understanding of the properties of solid objects with the Solids and Liquids unit in Science. Last week they needed to identify which objects that can roll could move a plastic container the farthest.

They also needed to find out which objects could be blown the farthest with a straw.

Of course the heavier balls moved the plastic container the furthest, and the light objects could be blown the furthest. Furthermore last week,  we completed the Language Arts units for all three class groups so for art they made animal masks. The Kindergarten kids had been reading about animals and their habitats, and the 1st grade theme had been "Kids Having Fun!". The second grade focus had been on being creative both artistically and through writing, so it seemed to tie in nicely for all three themes. Unfortunately a number of students were absent that day, so when they can make a mask we will play a game and then the students can take their creations home. The pictures to follow are of the students starting their masks.

Hopefully the warmer temperatures will hold for this week, as I would like to take the students out to use the new snowshoes recently purchased for the school. Please make sure your child brings snow-pants, jackets, warm boots, hat, gloves, etc. If they do not have the proper clothing, then they will have to stay behind at the school while we are outside.

There will also be "Show and Tell" this week, so please help your child remember the bring something to share on Friday. I will send a reminder home with Thursday night's homework.

Enjoy your week!

Kind Regards,

Julie Brown

Week 21

Weekly Greetings!

Our first week back to school after a two-week break, went really fast. The students seemed happy to be back and ready to learn. We are continuing the Solids and Liquids unit in Science and explored characteristics of solid objects that can roll or stack. The students worked in small groups to sort and categorize, then we made a Venn diagram as a class to agree on which objects could only be stacked, only roll, or that could do both. Here are a few photos of the students sorting the objects.

A few more fun things I snapped pictures of during the busy week are to follow. A friend sent me a small sand box that has been a favorite free time activity in class.

Every other week we have Show and Tell on Friday, and the students love bringing something to share. It is always so interesting to see what they choose to share. We often get toys, or pictures, with students telling stories about those items. This week we even had a huge bear claw that lead to a lot of discussion and questions from everyone.

You can see in the class photo to follow, that the group is always interested in what is being shared on a  Show and Tell day.

This week, we will continue to work with the new Math program in addition to our regular reading materials. I am really proud of all the students for how hard they worked last week in the GoMath program. It is very different, and they all gave a full effort to grasp the new challenge. Also, I am so pleased at how consistent so many of the students are about doing their homework nightly! Thank you for assisting them and installing such a good work ethic in their lives!

Have a warm and wonderful week!

Kind Regards,
Julie Brown

Week 20

Weekly Greetings!

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and ready for a new year full of positive experiences. The last week before Christmas break was full of fun and holiday preparations. Of course, the highlight was the Christmas program and I was really proud of the performances by all the students that participated from all grade levels. Most of our class was there that day and they did an excellent job on their parts singing, playing bells, and doing a dance routine. 

This week we will hopefully fall right back into a rigorous routine, with a lot of new content to cover. One major change this semester will be in the math materials the school is using. Our school and Mentasta have switched to a new program called "GoMath". The material has been specifically created to meet all the new state standards and to take the students deeper into grade level expectations.

I will be sending homework home again nightly through Thursday this week, and I apologize that a few nights were missed the last week of school before break. Though I had prepared papers to be taken home while I was out for two days, some homework was misplaced in my absence. Most of the students have been so responsible in doing their homework nightly since the start of school, that I felt they really earned a little break even though it was not planned.

Also, this Friday there will be "Show and Tell". It is always fun to see what they students bring in to share and they really enjoy talking about the special items they choose to bring. I will send a reminder home with Thursday night's homework.

Have a safe a productive week!

Kind Regards,
Julie Brown