Play-ful Learning

After weeks of preparation our second grade class was ready to perform their play this week!
I had seen the project develop: students creating backgrounds for the play, discussing ideas and writing the script. Frau Wester put ideas from a German language development workshop into practice by giving students the opportunity to develop the story themselves. They made it their own
and the outcome was fantastic! Not only did students have fun preparing for the play but they impressed all of us with their ability to perform so fluently. I hope to be able to post the video and pictures here soon.
By creating a learning opportunity that was meaningful and student-centered our second grade class developed a deeper understanding about the German language.
Well done second grade!

Portland Adventures

Our 3rd grade students are working hard on their Portland unit.
They are learning about various landmarks of Portland and Portland's history. Landmarks range from the Benson Bubblers, to Powell's bookstore and the world's smallest park.
Students are enjoying researching and writing about their landmarks. The students practice writing full paragraphs in proper form and Mrs. Prince does a great job helping them to put it all together. Once the research and writing is done, students will integrate previously learned mapping skills by locating and marking the landmarks on a Portland map.  They will discuss site locations and best walking routes before wrapping up this exciting unit with an opportunity to explore downtown Portland on a "treasure hunt" field trip. I can't wait to hear all about it!
If you have a moment, stop by the 3rd grade board to check out the fantastic job they’re doing!”

Together we can do it!

This teacher appreciation week is all about our teachers and the amazing things they do here at GSP every day.
At GSP we are fortunate enough to have a team that is willing and able to discover its hidden talents and put them to good use. During Frau Weinhardt's visit this week (she is our German educational consultant) we started analyzing our Peer Review findings - which we will share with the GSP community this coming week- and met in small groups to learn more about how to effectively work in quality circles for the purpose of school development. This is a new professional facet of being a teacher for many of us, but as a team we have made a commitment to continue to develop and grow these skills so that we can become better teachers and GSP can become the school we all dream of.
We are also fortunate enough to be surrounded by families that care just as much and we surely appreciate the wonderful surprises brought our way this week! Thank you!
We can only do this together, but together we can do it!

Book resources

If you are like me, you are always on the search for a good book - for yourself and your children.
This can become increasingly difficult as their interests develop. Our well stocked GSP library is a good place to start and luckily our students get to go there each week during class. One of the skills they are practicing there is how to choose a good book for their reading level. Besides being interesting, the reading level needs to be challenging enough but not too hard. Especially with a second language it can be a good strategy to read a book in German that your student read in English before, this can help them expanding their vocabulary and follow even a more complex story line. We have many popular series available in both languages.
If your child rereads his/her favorite book over and over again, do not despair!
There are many websites with lists of award winning books, but the following is one of my favorite for English books because it has suggestions from Oregon students. ORCA.
For German books the following link can be a good start: Goethe Institut
And if your child is stuck with Diary of the Wimpy Kid and Captain Underpants, maybe the following can change things up a bit. I believe there aren't many children's books out there written by a mathematician. This book can start conversations about how the author creates a story line, but also about how your choices lead to consequences, or you can just enjoy the quirky story together with your child! It is the winning book in the upper elementary category from ORCA this year and I promise it will change the way you order your ice cream forever! Here is the link to the book. Meanwhile
And if you like Mystery stories, I invite you to read through our 5th grade mystery stories on display next to the English room.

GSP Science Fair Night

Dear GSP families,
I saw many of you at our Science Fair Night this week.
What a fun evening for students and families! I hope you got to explore the activities and had some time to look at our student- and classroom projects. They all did an amazing job!




Here are some things I learned Wednesday night:

• where the dirtiest place is located in school (and hopefully we can do something about it!) 
• how to make paper at home
• how many seeds you will find in a pear, strawberry and lemon
• why I should wear a helmet when riding my bike 
• how a whale stays warm
• which letters are the most common in German and English books
• the consistency of cornstarch is somewhat unpredictable 
• and many more things!

I hope you enjoyed the evening as much as I did and learned something, too.
I would like to thank all of you for encouraging our students to work so hard and our volunteers who organized the event, but also were fearless enough to lead an activity
station.
We couldn't have done it without you!

Trees!

Our 4th grade class received a special surprise last week.
Through the generous donation of one of our alumni families, they were able to participate in the fourth grade foresters program. To celebrate Arbor day in April this program donates trees to participating 4th grade classes throughout the United States.
Our students were excited to receive their tree seedlings and shared their planting ideas with the class. A few extra seedlings will be planted here at school during our spring clean up this Saturday.

For more information about the program, please follow the link:
Fourth Grade Foresters USA
A special thank you to our alumni mom Liane Nishimura!

NW Science Expo

During spring break I had the opportunity to participate in the NW Science Expo at Portland State University  http://www.nwse.org

This event gives middle school students and a few grade school students an opportunity to showcase their science projects. Many middle schools throughout the region send a handful of projects, selected by their science fair committee.

The 400 projects on display were quite amazing and ranged from engineering an automated dog feeder to research into new cancer treatments. These kids came a long way from your typical volcano project!

What impressed me most was the attention to detail and the professional way of displaying findings. Most Nobel Prizes these days are not awarded to individuals, but teams that explore together and the majority of projects here were partner projects, too.

While academic knowledge in the subject area is necessary for a successful project, presentation skills and attention to detail are just as critical for success.

The NW Science Expo showcased many projects and young scientists that proved to have all of these abilities.

While our GSP students did not win an award, they experienced what it means to present a project in front of a bigger crowd and surely got inspired by the talent present!

Our own GSP science fair is just around the corner and I can't wait to see the projects our students create!