Newsletter: Week 36 of 37

The last full week of school!

June 2 - 6, 2014

   Thank you to all of the volunteers who have stepped up to help with the last two field trips! This is the last week to turn in any missing work, so parents and students please be expecting an email from me later today notifying you that I have updated grades online. There is a lot to do this week, so please be communicative if you have questions. 
   Other big news... I finished the 5th Grade Happy Music Video! Wednesday morning will be the Happy Video Premiere, to all of the 5th graders. Later that day it will be available on my YouTube channel to friends, families, and anyone else that wants to see it! 
   Also, please make sure to scroll down to the bottom of my newsletter to see how you can help me improve as a teacher. I would really appreciate your feedback by completing my survey. Thank you. Only 6.5 days of school left... Make it a great week, everyone!

Upcoming Events

• June 04 - Field Trip: Junior Rose Parade (11:30-3:00pm)
• June 09 - Field Trip: Tigard Bowl & Pizza Caboose (10:15-1:00pm)
• June 10 - Last day of school! (11:30am dismissal)
• June 10 - All School Family Picnic (12-3pm)
• June 13 - Report Cards emailed
• [more] - click to view calendar

Curriculum and Exams

• Bible - Review of Old Testament from Genesis to Samuel | We will be viewing The Bible (TV miniseries) in class this week (from the beginning to the story of Samuel), discussing similarities/differences from what we studied in class this year. Please let me know if you have questions/concerns about the content of the film.
• Math - Chapter 8 (cont.) | Chapter 8 Test Friday
• Science - Plants Unit (cont.) | Green packet due Tuesday | Plant Cell due Wednesday | Unit Test Wednesday
• Social Studies [Mrs. Proulx] - Review Geography (cont.)
• Reading - The Cay (cont.) | The Cay Project due Thursday
• Writing - Poetry Unit (cont.) | Creative Writing Project due Wednesday (updated details below)
• Spelling - No spelling unit this week
• Grammar - Punctuation Unit (cont.) | Punctuation Test Friday

Creative Writing Project

After writing so many book reports and research projects, I wanted to make sure my students had an opportunity to get creative with one final writing assignment. I presented these instructions to the students, and I hope they have fun with it. It will be due on June 4th, and I will only give them a limited amount of time to work on it in class.

• Grading criteria for the Creative Writing Project (50 total points)
• Must be at least a page long (or equivalent length if in alternate format such as skit, video, children's book, etc.) (10 points)
• Must begin with "One day, I was walking down the road, and I saw..." (10 points)
• Must be creative (20 points)
• Must be well organized, good grammar/spelling/etc., double-spaced if typed, neat, etc. (10 points)
  (Note: Although I want each student to double-check their grammar and spelling, I did not give them sufficient time in class devoted to proofreading, so I will not grade their grammar/spelling or formatting mistakes. The purpose of this project is to be CREATIVE)

Surprise Field Trip: Junior Rose Parade

We get an awesome opportunity to support the West Hills marching band in this year's Junior Rose Parade! It'll be coming up before we know it, on June 4th from 11:30-3:00pm. Students need to dress in good walking shoes, please try to wear a RED shirt, and bring a lunch to take on the field trip. Let me know if you have additional questions.

Field Trip: Tigard Bowl & Pizza Caboose

Our end-of-the-year field trip will take place on June 9th from 10:15-1:00pm. Student need to wear/bring socks to use with the bowling shoes. Lunch will be provided at Pizza Caboose. Let me know if you have additional questions.

Survey to help Mr. Riedl become a better teacher

I am continually learning and growing as a teacher, and I appreciate any specific feedback you can give me at the end of the year. I feel like this was a wonderful year, although I have many thoughts in my head about ways I can improve in the future. Over the summer, I plan to work on improving my planning/teaching of curriculum, getting more organized, adding more parent/student resources to my website, among other things. Please CLICK HERE to give me feedback by taking a quick survey. Thank you so much for helping me be a better teacher in the years to come!

Person of the Week

Emiliano Duran!

Other School-wide Events

Visit the News & Events page to learn more about other school-wide events at West Hills Christian School. Please subscribe to stay updated. Thanks so much!

Teacher Contact

Mr. Riedl | www.riedlteach.com | 503-609-0109 | aaron.riedl@whcs.org
Mrs. Proulx | visit her website | 503-977-5488 | sylvia.proulx@whcs.org