Can You Say Field Trips? OH YEAH!!!!

We have MANY field trips in the works for this Spring.  It may, in fact, be a record number.  With support from grants, educational organizations, and sponsors, we are able to offer these rich and engaging educational opportunities for our 4th grade students.

We will be sending home permission slips this week with the students.  We will also be planning ahead for lunch needs as we need to order any school-made lunches early to help our kitchen staff.  We also need to ask for financial donations for two of our field trips.  Both Fort Vancouver and the Oregon State Capitol Trips are free with educational programs, but we need to provide our own funding for the buses on these two trips.  If you are able to help out with a donation, we greatly appreciate your assistance.

We will need parent chaperones!  We encourage you to consider accompanying us on one or all of our trips.  Sometimes our bus space will be tight, and there may be some trips where we need you to drive behind the bus(es), but we very much need parent help to ensure the oversight and management of the students in these various settings.

Below is a preview for you to see all of the amazing trips coming up.
Thank you for your support and help.

2/26 Charlie Brown (play performance by Glencoe High School)
3/10 Clean Water Festival (University of Portland)
3/11 Portland Youth Philharmonic (Downtown Portland Schnitzer)
3/19 Hagg Lake- releasing hatched baby trout 
3/20 Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, WA
4/9 Oregon Coast- Marine Hatfield Science Center and Tidepools at Yaquina Head
4/15 (Dow/Golay & H/K) and 4/22 (Ramchandar)  Tillamook Forestry Center
4/28 Oregon State Capitol
5/8 Oregon Historical Society
6/3 (Dow/Golay & Ramchandar) and 6/8 (H/K) Tyron Creek Park (near Lewis & Clark College)

The National Championship game created quite a flurry of excitement at Free Orchards.  One of our sixth grade teachers, Mrs. Dessert, held a challenge that the top "dressed" student at each grade level showing the best spirit would earn a new Ducks T-Shirt.  We are proud of our top two 4th grade students.  Congrats to Mason (right) for taking home first place from our 4th grade spirit competition.  We hope you enjoy wearing your new shirt, Mason!

Native American Studies

In reading, we are studying the Native American groups that lived in Oregon before European settlers moved into the area. Students have been placed into small groups to research the homes, environment, and customs of one region, and will present their findings to the whole class.

To help focus their research, we have created a list of resources that we feel would be helpful to fourth graders. Use the links below to learn more about Oregon's diverse Native American groups:

http://www.native-languages.org/oregon.htm - This is a site with many different links to help you learn about Oregon's different tribes. Be sure to read the links carefully to find the information you are searching for.

http://www.nps.gov/para/forteachers/upload/Total-Final-Curriculum.pdf -Information about the Pauite tribe

http://www.bigorrin.org/chinook_kids.htm - Facts about the Chinook Tribe

http://www.bigorrin.org/nez_kids.htm - Facts about the Nez Perce

http://www.usgennet.org/usa/or/county/clackamas/molallas.html - Information about the Molalla tribe in the Willamette Valley

http://www.critfc.org/for-kids-home/for-kids/indians-and-indian-tribes -Website for all the types of Indians – Can choose from Costal, Valley, or Plateau (no desert)

http://www.ducksters.com/history/native_americans.php - Nice simple timeline of American Native Indian History