Silverwood Barn

Katie & Jasmine bake with Miss Nancy & Miss Tracy

2010-06-06T15:19:00.000-07:00

Katie and Jasmine joined Miss Nancy & Miss Tracy on Sunday, June 6, 2010 for a day of baking and lunch. For this auction item the girls each received a cooking basket complete with utensils, recipe cards, hot pads and a cookbook. From the cookbook the girls picked what they wanted to prepare for lunch and 2 different cookie recipes they wanted to make. We had a wonderful morning filled with laughter and yummy food! Hope you enjoy the pictures!

"Spinning and Rolling" along in Science!

2010-04-30T06:23:00.000-07:00

These past few weeks the primary children have started to put things to motion, while keeping in mind the lessons learned about balance. They have enjoyed discovering with their "spinners" and "twirlers" that in order for something to spin in a balanced fashion the mass needs to be centered and it has to rotate fast. This past week they have created rolling systems with a straw as the axle and different sized disks as the wheels. The children were challenged to find a design that would create a "wobbly roller" and a design that could "turn a corner". The students had a lot of fun with these challenges and all discovered that the size of the wheels effected the rotational motion more than weight or mass. Hope you enjoy the pictures! Miss Tracy

Seattle Dream Date with Miss Nancy & Miss Tracy

2010-04-18T09:48:00.000-07:00

What can you balance?

2010-04-14T19:17:00.000-07:00

The Barn has been a buzz these past two weeks since starting our final Physical Science unit of the year, entitled "Balance & Motion". The first module has introduced the term "balance" and has explained that finding a stable position is considered balanced. The kids have also been introduced to the word "counter balance" and how positioning weight or adding weight can help achieve a stable or balanced position. Each day a new balance challenge is posed that they must test at least five times before reporting their findings. The students are encouraged to achieve balance without any weight, then add one clothespin, then two clothespins for counter weights. The challenge experiments so far have been: balancing a cardboard crayfish on it's nose, tail or claws; balancing an arch and a triangle in as many exploratory positions they could find then following a science sheet to test positions the company showed and compare findings; & balance a cardboard pencil and then a real pencil using a wire. By the end of the week the students had come to realize that if they positioned their weights below the point of balance the more stable the shape would become. We will finish out this week with making a mobile, that will become a science work during Integrated Studies. The next few weeks we will begin discussing motion, so be on the look-out for an update! Miss Tracy

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

2010-03-09T19:07:00.000-08:00

On March 2ND it was a very exciting day in the Barn! It was second grade's "Move-up Day", the 100Th day of school and Dr. Seuss' 106Th birthday! While the second graders were busy learning what life would be in third grade, the first graders were having their own special celebration. They started out the afternoon with a guest appearance from the "Cat in the Hat"! (Poor "Horton the Elephant" was home with a cold, so couldn't join in the fun.) The children listened to a story from Dr. Seuss entitled My Many Colored Days and then created a class version of the same book. Each child created his/her own "Cat in the Hat" and had fun answering trivia questions and puzzles from favorite Seuss stories. The afternoon concluded with birthday treats in honor of Dr. Seuss followed by a video of one of his classic stories. It was great fun to celebrate a favorite author on this afternoon!

Book Club

2010-01-28T06:04:00.000-08:00

Thank you for all the wonderful support and sharing that went on this month with our first book club on the theme "Friendship & Reaching out to Others". The children did a wonderful job retelling the stories of the week, sharing a journal reflection on the theme of the story and all their ideas of what they felt was funny, compelling, a reminder of events in own lives, etc...We will take a break from book club this February to participate in a Story Path curriculum on Africa and in March we will investigate "Balance & Motion" in our next physical science kit. So... we hope to pick up book club again in mid-April and May. Thanks again for your support! Miss Tracy

Bake Sale for Haiti

2010-01-28T06:00:00.000-08:00

Hannah & Inga have brought a proposal to the primary classroom o how we might help the people of Haiti. They would like to hold a donation bake sale at the "Sweet Heart Swirl" on February 20th from 6:00-8:00 p.m. in the Commons. Please bring a baked or store bought treat to the dance and some loose change to support this wonderful cause! In the following week after the dance Inga & Hannah will report back to us on how much money was raised and where the families placed the donation. Thanks to all for your generosity!

Elves Workshop

2010-01-28T05:53:00.000-08:00

I big thank you again to Molly Mansker-Stoker for organizing this year's very successful "Elves Workshop"! The Barn was a buzz with fun activities and all the parents that came up to assist Miss Molly in this wonderful adventure! We hope your families all had a restful holiday!

First Grade Math Update

2009-12-01T20:34:00.000-08:00

First grade students have worked hard this Fall to learn strategies for solving addition and subtraction facts through 10. We are now adding a piece to our curriculum to work on memory and speed in recalling facts. Two or three times a week your student will participate in 4 minute timed drills on fact recall. These "timings" will follow addition and subtraction patterns and the results will come home in Take-home folders. A "pass" is considered to be only one problem incorrect. If a student doesn't pass a quiz, please use that sheet as a study guide because the "timing" will be retaken at the next opportunity.

Here are the speed strategies the children are being taught:
1. Solve math problems by row or column, but don't skip around.
2. If you make a mistake, cross it out and write the new answer, don't erase.
3. If you get stuck on a problem, circle it and keep going.
4. If you finish your sheet before the timer goes off, check over your work and
rework any circled items.

Thanks for your support! Miss Tracy & Miss Brenda

November Reading Calendars are due!

2009-11-19T19:24:00.000-08:00

November reading calendars will be due on Monday, November 30th and the December calendars will also go out on that date. Please read, read, read, over the Thanksgiving holiday! Miss Tracy

"Kids Who Care" is a huge success!

2009-11-19T19:01:00.001-08:00

To date, our kids have donated 228 items to Central Kitsap's Food Bank since late September. We will deliver our last 108 items this Monday before Thanksgiving. Our next goal is 50 items by the winter break. Thank you for supporting our community!

Science Update

2009-11-15T19:41:00.001-08:00

The students and I had a wonderful experience this Fall learning about Air and Weather. These past few weeks we have talked about meteorologist's tools used to communicate about weather and we have created and explored with many wind instruments. On Friday, November 20th the students will complete science with a quiz and after reviewing their folders, I will send all this information home on the 30th. Thanks for your support during this science unit. The kids really enjoyed it and I looked forward to our next directed Science unit later this year! Miss Tracy

Halloween with Miss Nancy & Miss Tracy

2009-11-01T12:56:00.000-08:00

Last year at Silverwood's auction in March, Miss Nancy(Fancy Nancy) & Miss Tracy(Miss Matched) offered up a Halloween adventure as a dream date. Jacquie and Todd Daykin won the event for their second grade daughter Katelyn. Katelyn was allowed to bring 2 other guests. She chose Madeline, another second grader from Silverwood, and a soccer pal named Brady. We had a wonderful evening! We picked the girls up at 4:30 and went to the haunted walk put on by the neighborhood of 3 of our families, the Stewart's, Paulson's and Ritscher's. From there we went to a new little diner in downtown Bremerton for dinner and back to Miss Nancy's home in Dockside for an evening of "Trick or Treating"! We hope you enjoy the pictures from the evening and be on the look out for what this year's dream date will be at the auction in March!

Silverwood's Halloween Fun!

2009-10-31T07:24:00.000-07:00

Let's hear it for the Navy Band!

2009-10-28T19:58:00.000-07:00

Today was quite a treat for Silverwood! The navy band was here to perform in honor of the upcoming Veteran's Day holiday. Miss Carol did a wonderful job educating the students in the different musical instruments being played. Silverwood students that are part of girl & boy scout troops led us all in the pledge of allegiance before the concert began. Katelyn, Aidan, Jake & Jack were part of this color guard. The music was lively and the kids couldn't wait to guess what selection would be played next. Our very own Mariko and Riley even got to conduct the band! Hope you enjoy the photos!

November Reading Calendars

2009-10-28T19:46:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe that we are at the end of the month already! October calendars are due beginning Oct. 30th. New November calendars will also go out that day. Here are a few of our fabulous second grade readers, Jack and Jake! Thank you parents for supporting reading at home!

How's your contract going?

2009-10-22T21:36:00.000-07:00

This is the question being asked of the primary students daily in the Barn during Integrated Studies. The children are working very hard with the new reporting standards in place, so be on the look out for this week's contract grades on Friday and give your child a pat on the back for all his/her effort this week! Our curricular focus these past weeks have been in the following areas:
* Social Studies/Science: Time lines, calendar and Solar System
* Literacy: Rhyming words, Sequencing sentences and stories, phonetic manipulation activities
* Personal Development: Vincent Van Gogh works
* Math: Graphs, Estimations, Story Problems, Patterns, Measuring and Computation skills
We're beginning to trade out some "works", so be on the look out for new activities coming home and our next update!

Science is Fun!

2009-10-22T21:09:00.000-07:00

Have your first and second graders been whisking through the house trying to release things in air or create air themselves to move objects? If so, then they are continuing their learning from our newest science unit on air and weather! This week's lessons have been on exploring air. The kids have learned that air is a form of matter, that it takes up space and that it can move things. They have been busy seeing how air can interact with feathers, straws and balloons. They also completed experiments that involved finding out how bubbles are made and how air can fill something to capacity and create pressure to push objects around, or to help them float like in the case of a parachute. We're loving science and can't wait until next week!

Primary have "Kids Who Care!"

2009-10-22T20:55:00.000-07:00

This week Miss Nancy delivered 119 items to the Central Kitsap Food Bank. The second grade math students estimated the weight in pounds this morning in math class and Molly Hickam gave the closest estimated guess of 84 pounds. The true weight of our donations was 97 pounds! We appreciate all the caring and service our first and second graders are doing. Keep up the great work! Our next goal is 100 donations by winter break!

Garden Chores from Miss Sarah!

2009-10-14T19:45:00.000-07:00

Silverwood Garden Chores

10/13 – 10/19

If you have some extra time before carpool or would like to volunteer on short notice, we have some jobs for you:)

*Know anyone with red wiggler worms or some extra hay?

Let me know...

Four Beds Outside Greenhouses

l They're weed free but need some good sifting-know anyone with a little extra energy? Send em' out! Screens are located in the garden shed and root chunks/ weed remnants can be put in the wheelbarrows to be composted later

Other Beds near Parking lot

l Weed!

l Pick any carrots that seem to be ready (and enjoy!)

l Harvest the corn stalks and put aside so we can use them for decoration this autumn. Check with Seniors to see if they want to use for Halloween Walk.

l You can weed the perennial beds closest to the parking lot but leave the perennials there. I believe there are a bunch of herbs, flowers, blueberry and raspberry bushes that would be great to see come to life again.

→ Weeds that are pulled out can be piled next to the existing yard waste bin, near the shed, to be composted at a later time.

Thanks for all your Help!

Book Fair is coming!

2009-10-14T08:19:00.000-07:00

Next week is the Scholastic Book Fair at Silverwood and there are many fun activities planned for this week. On Tuesday your children will get to go for a preview of the books available for family shopping. On Friday your child will get to invite someone to lunch also. In your child's take home folders today (Wednesday), will be Book Fair information and the invitation to fill out for someone to come to lunch. Hope you'll take advantage of this wonderful opportunity to get books at cost and come up to Silverwood and shop! Thanks for your support!

First Grade Math Students

2009-09-30T19:12:00.000-07:00

Please turn in your child's Intensive Math Workbook before Wednesday, October 7th with Topic 1 completed and signed off by you. I will be sending out the books again on Wednesday, October 7th, with Topic 2 as the new assignment. I'm hoping the conference holidays will provide many days of math opportunities for your children.

Also, don't forget about the "Counting Challenges" your children can be working on from the note sent out earlier in September. Every spare second we have, I'm asking the first graders, "Who's ready to take the Counting Challenge today?" Many have already counted by 1's to 25, & 10's to 100. This can be a fun and easy way to practice a little math in the car on your way to and from Silverwood! Thanks for your support and enjoy your Math time together! Miss Tracy

Yoga Fridays!

2009-09-30T15:45:00.000-07:00

We are so sorry, but at curriculum night, we forgot to mention that we will be having Yoga every Friday! We are so fortunate to have Miss Kat as our Yoga instructor at Silverwood! She is the mother of Nolan(1st) & Tristan(4th). Thank you Miss Kat!

Reading Calendars Due October 1st!

2009-09-28T20:11:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! Just a little reminder that Reading Calendars are due Thursday October 1st. This month your child will receive a coupon from Papa Murphy's for a pizza. Pizza Hut's support will start in October.
Your new Reading Calendars for October will go out on that day also. October calendars will be due on Monday, November 2nd.

Fun & Friends: The First Two Weeks of School!

2009-09-23T20:00:00.000-07:00

Coming in from lunch and getting ready to learn and have fun.

Just hanging around.

Playing in the play field with new friends!

Welcome to the Primary Program at Silverwood School!

2009-09-03T14:29:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our new blog! We are new to this and are learning daily:) Our plan is to share exciting happenings in the classroom, and communicate with you weekly.