Protecting yourself from germs...

Many students were interested in how flu and other illnesses spread. This video offers a quick explanation, and is included with a link from the CDC on how to stay healthy.

Online Resources for Recent Classroom Topics

This video channel Because of Them We Can, includes profiles of African-American luminaries like Mae Jemison, W.E.B. DuBois, and Maya Angelou. Check out all the videos!

If you want to extend your learning from last week's presentations, look up different landmark cases in the Supreme Court.

Or, you can listen to live radio stations from around the world.

This link leads you to poetry collected for children from the Academy of American Poets. Find a poem you like and memorize it!

In honor of Black History Month, look at photographs of unpublished Black History and learn about some of the residents from the Rondo neighborhood, near where GRS is today, with the Rondo Oral History Project. If you would like to add quotes to our quote archive, please do. 

Want to know what microbes affect your body? Explore the Microbiome simulator (only works on Safari and Firefox): 

In the coming weeks, we will be learning about microbes in the context of the evolution of life on earth. Test your knowledge with the NOVA Evolution Lab game.

This website can help you further your knowledge of climate change and what you can do about it. If you are interested in figuring out how much carbon dioxide your lifestyle emits, use a carbon footprint calculator like one of these:

• Carbon Calculator: http://www.ei.lehigh.edu/learners/cc/carboncalc.html
• International Student Carbon Footprint Challenge: http://web.stanford.edu/group/inquiry2insight/cgi-bin/i2sea-r3a/i2s.php?page=calculate

The EPA website's topics on climate change are not functioning reliably, but this website used to be very helpful if it is working.

Shingobee February Update

Dear Shingobee Families,

As we anticipate next week's long weekend, we wanted to give you an update on what Shingobee students have been doing recently. We are concluding our persuasive writing and climate change studies with projects raising awareness on issues students feel passionate about. Students composed letters to local representatives on topics ranging from animal rights and the drafting age to texting and driving. They also created posters to inform others about how global warming will impact different species. On Tuesday, we will be visited by several students from A1 to learn about how GRS' urban farm is a step to mitigate climate change in our local community. 

Some upcoming events:

• Tuesday, February 13, 3:15-4:00pm is the next Critter Cash Committee Sale! It will be held in the Adolescent building in the dining room. If you would like to attend, we ask that you please pick your child up as usual and walk them over to the other building. Students are invited to make crafts and/or bake treats at home to donate to our sale; we ask that they include ingredients of the treat. Participation is optional and proceeds from the sale will be shared among all of the UE classrooms. Our students and pets thank you for your generosity and support!

• On Wednesday, February 14th, we will be celebrating kindness in our community. We ask that students share the community gifts they made for homework on this day. No other cards or gifts are needed.

This month, we are beginning every day by reflecting on a quote from an African-American change agent. We are also starting an exploration of poetry--students will be posting some of their work on our blog, so keep an eye out! Last week, we experimented with techniques to create found poems with homemade "magnetic" poetry and "blackout" texts. On Friday, we shared poems with Little Elk River class, who are just beginning their own poetry study. 

Finally, if you are interested in visiting Shingobee to talk about your life and/or work, we have many open slots for our Storytelling/Job Talk series on Friday afternoons from 12:15-1:00pm. Please sign up using this link!

Warmly,

Alaina and Amanda

Homework 2/13/18

We will be posting electronic copies of homework assignments on the blog in case your child has any outstanding essays. Here is the assignment for this week:

Upper Elementary Homework

Due 2/13/18 - Community Appreciation

While many people celebrate Valentine’s Day this week, in Upper Elementary, we’re celebrating the strong community we’ve built.  Instead of buying premade cards for others, each person will make a gift for the community to share.  You will make a card, poem, piece of visual art, textile art, or other beautiful object to share and present it to your community.  Feel free to use some of the techniques we have learned from our poetry study to help you out!

Questions to Consider: (Feel free to discuss these with a friend or adult)

1. What do you appreciate about Great River School as a whole school?  Think about annual events, key experiences, end of the year activities, and opportunities for freedom and responsibility for students here.
2. What is important to you about being in Upper Elementary?  This might be freedoms you experience, our key experience, our time at the park, our animals, lessons or projects you enjoy, or committees you in which you have participated. 
3. What is special about your Shingobee classroom community?  What unique traditions and experiences do you appreciate?  What do your guides and classmates do to support you, challenge you, or fill you with wonder?
4. What do you offer to your community?  How do you work to support others? What work do you have to offer others?  What work helps you feel part of our community?

Requirements:

1. Your community appreciation must be a physical thing, something that can be displayed in your classroom.
2. You must have a short explanation that accompanies your work - you must explain what you made, why you chose to make it, and how it represents the things you appreciate about Great River School, Upper El, and your classroom community.
3. Your work must be, to the best of your ability, beautiful.