Our return trip to Crater Lake is scheduled for Friday, April 24th. This is a great trip in which hands-on environmental science activities are sandwiched between snowshoeing and sledding (yes, there is snow at Crater Lake!). We need at least six adult volunteers to join us and we need a few sleds like this, or this, but NOT this (sorry, no snowboards either). If you you’d like to chaperone or have a sled you can loan us, please contact me at mack.lewis@district6.org. We’ll need at least one chaperones to drive their own vehicle and carry the sleds. Snowshoes will be provided by the Park Service. This is an extended-day trip. Permissions slips will go home this week. The cost of this trip is $4, which covers transportation expenses. To view a video segment about last year’s trip, click here and fast forward to the 11:20 mark.

Students have started the new Common Core “Smarter Balanced” state test. It will take several weeks to complete and unlike previous state tests, the students have only one opportunity to pass it. Consequently, it’s very important that students maintain excellent attendance and come to school prepared to do their very best.

In class this week we’ll be continuing our science activities dealing with mealworms, taking our Book Clubs in a new direction (homework reading will be from a book of choice), and learning how to write opinion paragraphs. In math we’ll be comparing and ordering fractions. Here’s the math homework: Monday, April 13th; Tuesday, April 14th; Wednesday, April 15th; Thursday, April 16th.

Finally, our Checkbook Project creates a real economy within our classrooms. Many students have created businesses in which they sell products. Please check with your child to make sure he or she isn’t raiding your cupboards without permission. If you’re letting you child bring items from home to sell, note that a classroom dollar is about one-tenth the value of a real dollar. Therefore, if a student buys something at The Dollar Store for a buck, he or she should be selling it for at least $10 in class (and that’s merely covering the cost; a profitable business would expect at least $20). We discuss this at great length in class, but it’s worth further discussion at home. You may even want to consider “charging” your son or daughter some checkbook funds for items taken from home. That way the kids recognize the cost of their raw materials. Thanks.