Rivendell Older Kids

The Older Kids present…JOUST!

An article by student reporter, Asa:

Friday is the best day of the school week…A perfect day for a musical!  The Older Kids’ musical, “Joust!”, will be viewed for the second time this week.  Today’s production will be for the parents and teachers, but the school already saw it on Wednesday.  ” Joust” is a story about a time when a kingdom had no king.  So the village people had a sword-stabbed stone placed in the town square.  Whomever could pull the stone out would become the king.  Through some discussion and song, and don’t forget, boomwackers, the king and story are revealed!

 

Stone Soup by Fi

Today we made soup from a stone, fancy that! With the stone we added celery, carrots,chicken broth and onions. Deanne Rickey, a former Rivendell parent, taught us how to handle knives. She also taught us how to make the soup, and that if you touch  a crock pot while it is on-it hurts! The soup was fantabulous, and it was soooo fun to make.

See you later, Kid reporter Fi

News from a kid reporter on Election Day!

Today is Election Day. We had our own Election today at school. The Younger Kids voted to do a fundraiser for either the Wolf Sanctuary or the Raptor Center. The Middle Kids voted for the best book character among the Big Bad Wolf, the Lorax and  Harry Potter. The Older kids had a real life voting experience. We filled out  ballots and then we got to cast our votes. Our candidates were Mitt Romney and Barack Obama. It was a great experience.

Signing off Kid Reporter, Lena

Today has been amazing!!! We voted Yay! The Older Kids got to vote twice. One vote was between the raptors and the wolves, the wolves won, so we will be donating to the Wolf Sanctuary.Then we voted for President between Obama and Romney. A few minutes later…. Obama won! Well, I guess that is the end of my report.

Bye, Kid Reporter Fei

Election Day Tomorrow November 6th!

Tomorrow is Election Day in the United States of America where citizens are lucky enough to have the right to vote. Rivendell students have been enjoying walking through the democratic/election process. 

The Younger Kids are voting between two candidates: the raptor and the wolf. Here is Seth’s class explaining to Older Kids why they should vote for the wolves.

Then Middle Kids are voting among three book characters: Harry Potter, the Lorax, and the Big Bad Wolf.

And last but certainly not least, the Older Kids will be choosing between Mitt Romney and President Obama. Do not forget to vote tomorrow!

 

 

OLDER KIDS’ NEWS November 5th

OLDER KIDS’ NEWS

November 5th-9th


The knights and damsels are preparing for their grand display; tumbling jesters, singing ladies and fellows, and colorful boomwackers are filling the air as the Older Kids make final adjustments to ready themselves for their musical, “Joust”. They will perform their show for the school this Wednesday and for the parents this Friday, November 9th at 12:00 in the Rivendell Commons.  Please join us for this delightful musical!

We have been discussing and trying to digest the democratic process in class. Students have been working on an essay that demonstrates their knowledge of an important issue in this election, the two candidates’ views of this issue, and their persuasive argument for their own personal opinion. We also explored the electoral college and three branches of government.
This Tuesday, on Election Day, we will participate in the school wide vote between the wolf and the eagle, the younger kids’ chosen candidates for their “election”.
The younger kids classroom are campaigning for their chosen animals and will have set up an “official” voting booth for all students to participate in. Older kids will, in addition, be anonymously voting for their chosen presidential candidate.  No matter whom you favor in the election, participation in free elections is an exciting and worthwhile process to expose our 4th and 5th graders to.

Next Friday, November 16, we will be taking a field trip to the new Discovery Science Museum. We will be spending the majority of the day there and the students will need to pack a sack lunch. We will be taking the city bus for our transportation.

There has been a case of lice reported in the school.  Elizabeth Carol, Mato’s mom, recommends California Baby Tea Tree and Lavender baby wash and shampoo. Apparently, lice do not like tea tree or lavender.

Although we have been blessed by unseasonably warm weather, winter is bound to show its face soon.  Please bring appropriate clothes to school for the weather. Keeping a sweater or sweatshirt on your hook at school is never a bad idea. Kudos to this group of Older Kids who, overall, have kept the back coat area much tidier than in years past. As weather changes and the holidays approach, let’s keep active in taking responsibility for our own belongings.
Halloween behind us, elections and musicals in front of us; this promises to be another exciting week!

Michele, Inta, Jane, and Ashley

 

Homework


Monday:
• Vocabulary cards for Lesson 5; Due Wednesday
• Read

Tuesday:
• Purple Math: Work in your book for 20 minutes, beginning with corrections
• Practice Lines and gather all props and costume pieces for the school performance tomorrow.
• Read

Wednesday:
• Work on your Underland Project. Take the orange Underland project sheet and begin answering questions.
• Read

Thursday:

• Practice lines and gather all props and costume pieces for the performance for your parents tomorrow.

IMPORTANT:Costume Note for Musical from Tina

 Older Kids Parents – 
 
We have our Older Kids Musical, Joust!, coming up on November 7th (for the school) and 9th (for the parents at Noon). I would like the kids to begin assembling and bringing in their costumes as soon as possible. We won’t have a dress rehearsal until Tuesday the 6th, but I like to make sure everything’s in place before then.  There are basically two costumes for the show, just ask your child what part they play to know which costume to prepare. 
 
COSTUMES:
 
Knight (also messenger, jester and french soldier) – dark colored pants, big white/light button up shirt, something for a sash or belt. The knights will need to put their swords into the sash, so it must be tight around their waist.

Damsel (also french lady) – longer skirt of any kind and a solid color shirt, *or* a long dress, optional apron or sash. 
 
We also need a few prop items if you have them and don’t mind loaning them out. Please put your name on masking tape on the item if you lend it to us. 
 
PROPS:
 
Stick horses (or stick animals of any kind)
Toy swords (of the medieval shape, broadsword I think is what they’re called)
Jester hats
Wizard hat
 
Please have your student bring a grocery sack with their name on it and their costume pieces (with name on them) inside. They will keep these on their hook until the performance. They can bring prop pieces to the music room and I’ll keep track of them. 
 
Thanks so much for your help!

Letter to Parents on Revising and Editing

October 29, 2012

Dear Parents,

 

Like education, writing is a process. At Rivendell we focus on the process, on the how, on the thinking and the doing. Writing is also a craft that will enable your child to demonstrate his/her thinking, learning, intellect and hard work throughout his/her life. In order to better serve our students we would like to involve our parents in their child’s writing process. We also try to continuously improve our homework, we do not want our homework to be busy work, but substantive work, so we believe spending 10 mins. with your child observing where they are in the writing process, and recommending improvements will be invaluable to both of you.


Today and tomorrow our students will write an expository essay on an issue from the upcoming election. We have modeled what the elements are of a good expository paragraph. We start pre-writing with a t-chart for expository writing. Then our students construct a good topic sentence, support statements and details, finishing with a concluding statement.


They will be in process on Tuesday night, so wherever they are in their writing, we would like you to help them revise their work. We use our 6 plus 1 traits of writing to revise. We are including the chart below. The traits are: organization, sentence fluency, word choice, presentation, voice, conventions and ideas. You may also edit for spelling and punctuation.  We will include editing marks to use with your child. Feel free to use a colored pen and cross out, rewrite, or add appropriate words or changes to your child’s writing.  Do this with your child, explaining your reasons as you go; asking them if they see any other areas that need revision.  This does not need to be a lengthy process.  This is meant to simply reinforce the need for revising our work.


Please let us know how this process works. We have done this before, and we have had good luck with it.


Thanks,
Jane, Ashley, Inta and Michele

Older Kids’ News October 29th

Older Kids’ Newsletter

October 29th-November 2nd


A big thank you to all the parents who attended our annual Fun Fest. There were ghouls, goblins, knights, and characters from books; the costumes were as creative and interesting as our gang here at Rivendell. Pizza rolls oozed, cupcakes brought smiles and the cake walk excited our kids into Fun Fest ecstasy.This evening is a traditional event for Rivendell School and the kids love running around the school playing games and having fun.

This week Older Kids will focus on the upcoming election. We will watch a kid friendly video on the different issues and compare the two candidates’ views. Our students will then write an expository essay examining both sides of one key issue concluding with their own opinion on the issue. We will also spend time discussing the role of the president and the long, hard road to winning the job.The elusive electoral college and the nature of a political party will also be a subject of conversation next week. We will encourage respect for each others’ views and ideas regarding this exciting election.

We will pause on academics on Wednesday to celebrate Halloween with our annual parade and party. Kids can bring their costumes in a labeled bag and we will change at 1:45 for the 2:00 parade. Parents are welcome to join us for afternoon events.

Older Kids are practicing for their upcoming musical.  Please, remind your child to go over his/her lines. Tina has been working diligently with the kids to prepare them for this exciting play. “Joust”, the musical, will be presented to parents on November 9th at 12:00 at Rivendell School.

Enjoy these Indian Summer days,
Ashley, Jane,  Michele and Inta

 

Homework

October 29th-November 2nd


Monday

  • Key Math home. Work on it for at least 20 mins.
  • REAAAAAAADDDDDDDD! remember all you read accumulates in your brain as background knowledge that you then access to make meaning out of what you are currently reading or experiencing. Reading has the highest correlation of any activity to raising the intelligence level of a person. READ!

Tuesday

  • Take your issue expository essay home for your parents to edit. Do not forget instructions on what your teachers want you to do with your parents. Please read aloud what you have written to your parents. Then, sit with them while they make the edits asked for and have them explain why they are doing what they are doing to you. Remember this is an important process.
  • REAAAAAAAAAAADDDDDDDDD!


Wednesday
   Happy Halloween!!

Thursday

  • Study for vocabulary test.
  • Read

Halloween Parade and Party – Wednesday, October 31, 2:00 p.m.
 The Costumes! Costumes should come to school in a marked bag, not worn to school. 

    Please make the costume easy to put on and keep the swords, lances & pokey things at home—they create problems with the excitement of the occasion. 

 We also ask costumes to be in good taste and not involve blood or violence.   Extremely frightening masks are not allowed.             

*  *  Parents are welcome to come and help children dress.  We will start dressing at 1:45 PM.

The Parade! – The costume parade starts at 2:00!  Weather will influence the parade route.
We like parading outside, but if this is not possible we will parade through the school.  The parade will circle several times so you can see all the fun costumes.

The Party! – Classroom parents are being coordinated on the supplies and food needed for the party treats and the fun when the children return to their classes.

https://www.rivendell-school.org/olderkids/176/

***Art Class Reminder***

Students will be using acrylic paints in Art Class this Wednesday, October 24th.  Please make sure that your child comes to school dressed appropriately.