Kent Park Pictures

Photos from our trip to Kent Park have been added to our website.  Please click here to check them out!

Creek Clean Up: This Friday

The students will be headed back to Ralston Creek this Friday morning to participate in a clean-up of the area surrounding Court Hill Park.  We'll be leaving the building at 8:30am so please have students to school a few minutes early.  As always, students should wear clothes and shoes that can get muddy :)  Students should also bring a change of clothes and shoes as we will back at school for the afternoon.  

Details for Documentary Night

Wolf students will be premiering their documentary on May 24th.  All Wolf students will need to be back at school to set-up and serve dinner by 4:45pm.  Wolf students do not need to pay for the show; they will however, need to pay for dinner if they would like to eat here.  Please let me know if you have any questions about that evening's events.  

Out in the Field

Wolf documentarians spent the day collecting footage for AQUAlity. Students visited locations throughout the surrounding areas including the Iowa City landfill, North Liberty Recreation Center, the sewage treatment plant, Kent Park, and many more! Many thanks to our drivers, Joni and Carol, for driving students all over town! Don't forget to buy your tickets for this exciting event!

Out in the Field

Wolf documentarians spent the day collecting footage for AQUAlity. Students visited locations throughout the surrounding areas including the Iowa City landfill, North Liberty Recreation Center, the sewage treatment plant, Kent Park, and many more! Many thanks to our drivers, Joni and Carol, for driving students all over town! Don't forget to buy your tickets for this exciting event!

Kids' Rag Order Forms: Due this Friday

Just a reminder that Kids' Rag Order forms along with payment are due this Friday. Forms are available at Amber's desk or can be downloaded here.

Kids' Rag Order Forms: Due this Friday

Just a reminder that Kids' Rag Order forms along with payment are due this Friday. Forms are available at Amber's desk.

Field Day: Tomorrow

The Wolf documentarians will spend tomorrow out in the field getting "b-roll" shots for AQUAlity, their documentary about water quality.  Be sure to ask a Wolf what b-roll is if you're not sure.  We will be leaving first thing in the morning so please have your child at school by 8:30am.  Also, students should wear clothes that can get dirty.  

Bike to School Day: Wednesday!

International Bike to School Day is Wednesday May 9.  Participants can bike from home or meet on the west side of the First Ave. HyVee by 8:20 to bike to school on the path.  HyVee will donate fruit for participants to enjoy.  Please email Christine, christinek@willowwind.org, with questions.

AQUAlity: Coming to a Willowwind Near You!

Tickets will go on sale for the Wolves' documentary, AQUAlity, tomorrow.  The students have been working incredibly hard on this culminating project and are so excited to share their work with their family and friends.  Please talk to your child about potential extended family and friends that they may like to invite.  Please be sure to buy by May 23rd.  

National History Day Contest: State Competition!

Congratulations again to our National History Day Contest state competitors!  Both Halle and Emma traveled to Des Moines yesterday and competed against middle schoolers from around the state.  We are incredibly proud of their work!

Documentary script writing

Now that the students have completed transcribing all of those interviews - close to 5 and half hours of video!!! - they have begun pouring over the transcripts and looking for the perfect sound bites.  Once they've found all of the sound bites that they need, they will create documentary scripts that outline both audio and video for each and every second of the film.  I'm tired just thinking about it!

Working with Experts: Documentary Film Maker, David Gould

David Gould, a professor at the University of Iowa, has made several documentary films including Two Sides of the Moon in which he interviews the Dalai Lama!  David visited our class today and spoke to the students about his work and how he creates his films.  Our student documentarians were full of questions and were able to use the time to begin thinking about how they would like to piece together their own story about water quality.  He talked about his love for documentary filmmaking and its ability to make people think about their actions.  One Wolf student commented that you can do that best when the audience can connect to the subject matter and have some control over the problem or issue.  The students all had huge smiles on their faces, thinking about the possible effect of their own film: AQUAlity.  

Newsletter Updated

Please check out our newsletter link for May's edition of the newsletter.

Birthday Celebration: Schedule of Events

To kick May off right, we will have a busy week here at Willowwind. Please see the schedule of events for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Read carefully as friends will need special clothing and there will be some schedule changes.

Wednesday, May 2nd - Planting Day

• Friends have worked so hard to research, measure, fundraise and plan for their Prairie Restoration, and on Wednesday it all comes together. We will planting in the afternoon from 12:45 to the end of the day.
• We will be outside planting and painting so be sure that your child has clothes and shoes that can get muddy and stained. They will also want to dress in layers on this day to accommodate temperature. 
• If your child is going to ASP please send them in with a change of clothes, socks and shoes. 
• We will end the Planting Day with an all natural fruit popsicle to celebrate our planting success. 

Thursday, May 3rd - Spring Concert from 2:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

• Please join our friends as they perform songs and music that they have been working on with David.
• At 2:00 students will go to music class as they prepare for their performance.
• Your child will be dismissed at 3:00 p.m. after the concert. If you are not here to pick them up at that time, they will join ASP.
• If you AND your child will not be attending the concert, please let me know so that I can communicate this with David. Also, if you are picking your child up at regular dismissal time (2:00 p.m.) please meet them at the classroom door. 

**ADULTS Please come to our innovative education speaker at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday night. This event is FREE and open to the public. 

Friday, May 4th, V.I.P. Day

Please invite a special someone to come be apart of our school for the afternoon (this includes parents, neighbors, a special babysitter etc.).

The schedule is below:

11:45 p.m. to 12:45 

 Lunch and Recess with our V.I.P. Friends. Have you ordered Grey Wolves' Diner - it's a taco bar!

12:45 to 1:00 

V.I.P. Welcome

1:00 to 2:00 

Prairie Presentations in the Gathering Space upstairs. 

Listen, watch and learn how the K-6 Willowwind Friends researched, measured and planned for their Willowwind Prairie Restoration. Join in the fun as we conclude the presentations with a Sing Along favorite that ties it altogether. 

2:00 to 3:15

Classroom Time: share work from the year with V.I.P.s

Saturday, May 5, 2012 - Willowwind 40th Anniversary Picnic

• 11:00 Silent Auction
• 12:00 Potluck Lunch (did you sign up with Amber for a dish to share?)
• 1:00 All School Group Discussion with Alumni Friends

Burrowing Owls' Food Drive

The Burrowing Owl class focused on learning about Iowa City this year. We learned about some of the ways people in our own community, as well as others, become activists to assist those in need. One way is to establish food pantries for those who need assistance feeding their families. We talked about the fact that children are not too young to help and decided that we wanted to collect food for the River Community Church food pantry. Between May 1 and May 7 families are invited to bring in food for a spaghetti dinner. This would include spaghetti pasta, spaghetti sauce, canned fruit, and canned vegetables. If you choose to participate, please leave the the food in the boxes you find in the front entry to the school. Thanks for your support.

The Burrowing Owl Class

VIP Day: Friday, May 4th!

As a part of Willowwind's 40th Birthday Celebration, Willowwind will hold its annual VIP day next Friday, May 4th. VIP Day is a time for your child to invite someone special to spend time with them at school.

VIP Day will occur from 11:45 - 3:15.

Brainstorm with your child a special person they may like to share part of our school day with. Your child's VIP may be a grandparent, aunt, uncle, family friend, neighbor, babysitter….the list is endless. In the coming week, please let me know who your child's VIP will be.

VIP Day's Tentative Schedule11:45 - 12:45 - Lunch / Recess
Your child's VIP can start their afternoon at Willowwind with a special lunch with your child. Students always look forward to a meal for them and their VIP from the Grey Wolves' Diner. The Diner's VIP Day meal will be a Taco Bar. Each meal costs $7. Order a meal for your child and VIP by visiting the Grey Wolves' Diner table in the front entry way.  All orders must be placed by Thursday, May 3rd. Please note, unlimited punches and Tuesday and Thursday punches cannot be used toward VIP Day meals.

12:45 - 1:00 - VIP Day Welcoming

1:00 and Beyond - Prairie Presentations
At 1:00, Willowwind classes will take time to share with our VIPs our year long prairie study. Students are excited to present information, participate in a school wide group reading, and sing one of our favorite prairie sing along songs. After our prairie presentations, students will have a chance to share student work with their VIP.

Please let me know who your child would like to invite for Friday, May 4th's VIP Day. 

From the Interview to Transcription

Conducting the interview

An incredibly important part of the documentary process is creating transcripts of all of the interviews that the students have conducted.  By having a clear understanding of what was said, who said it, and when, student documentarians will be able to efficiently edit film.  Instead of spending hours searching through videos for the exact line wanted, students will be able to quickly read over transcripts and go directly to the clip that they need to help tell their story.  The transcription process also allows students to thoroughly process what was said by interviewee.

Transcribing the interview

The Willowwind Documentarians are on the Move!

Students interview Craig L. Just at the Water Treatment Plant

From the East Side Recycling Center to the Iowa City Water Treatment Plant, Willowwind documentarians are interviewing water quality experts and collecting footage of water projects throughout the Iowa City area.  I've had the pleasure of accompanying the student groups on two of these interviews and WOW!  The students are approaching this project with not only professionalism, but a high level of knowledge that allows that them to understand complex water quality issues such as bioindicators, nitrogen runoff, and dead zones.  Thank you so much to those of you that have driven or will be driving the students to interviews.  Your help is very much appreciated!

Update on Field Days

After further discussion with the students, we've decided to push back our field days to May 9th and 11th so that we can spend more time editing interviews and deciding what shots we need on our field days.  If you can drive on either of these days, please let me know.  Thanks! 

Field Days

The Wolves will spend next week interviewing experts from around the country.  Whether chatting with a  member of the Iowa Environmental Council via Skype or rushing out to North Liberty to interview leaders of a water clean-up effort, the students are truly getting the chance to be documentarians.  As we finish up our interviews, students will work together to use this footage to put together a cohesive story-line.  Part of this story-line will include water quality testing at various locations and footage of sites throughout the Iowa City area.  We'll therefore be spending Monday, April 30th and Wednesday, May 2nd out in the field, collecting this footage.  Students should dress in quick-drying clothes those days as we will be getting muddy!  We may need drivers for these trips so I will keep you posted as the students firm up their itineraries.  

Interviews: Drivers Still Needed!

The Wolf documentarians are still in need of transportation for next week's interviews (especially Monday and Tuesday).  If you have any time to spare on either of these days, please sign up on our transportation spreadsheet.  We really appreciate the help!

Interviewing Experts

The Wolves have begun contacting water quality experts around Iowa City and setting up interviews for our documentary.  We are in need of drivers to help take students to and from interviews.  Each interview will take approximately 20 to 30 minutes.  Please see this interview sheet to sign-up to drive a child to and from an interview.  More interviews will be added tomorrow so please check back frequently over the next week.  Any help is much appreciated!

Bike Rodeo!

Students who have a working cycle should bring them to school this Friday April 20.  Bicycles, tricycles, and bikes with training wheels are all acceptable.  Helmets are required!  We will be having a bike rodeo during Movement class.  Representatives from the Iowa Bike Coalition are coming to help us.  We will be in the parking lot, so please consider this if you will be driving to school in the morning.  Feel free to drop off your children as usual, but please do not leave your car in the parking lot from 9:00-12:00.  We do some bike maintenance, biking skills, and safety activities.  Bikes can be left at the bike rack in the parking lot or up near the front door.  If you don't have a bike, don't worry.  We will be able to share.  If you don't have a helmet, please let me know.

Thank you,

Christine Kaldenberg

Relay for Life

Dear Willowwind Families,

We are kicking of a Relay for Life fundraiser this week.  We are asking each family to support this service learning project by talking with your children at home about the American Cancer Society.  As a fun was to raise awareness and funds, we will have a series of Silly Fridays.  Students will be asked to bring a minimum donation of one dollar in order to participate.  To conclude the fundraiser, we will celebrate with a Relay Recess at Mercer Park on the last day of school.  Please see the schedule below for more information about Silly Fridays.  

 April 20  Crazy Day: Come dressed in crazy hair and crazy clothes.

 May 11  Character Day: Dress as your favorite character from a book.

 May 18  International Day: Bring or wear an item from another country.

*May 25  Mustache Day: Wear a mustache or mustache related clothing.

*The Burrowing Owls will have Mustache Day on Thursday May 24 since they have a field trip on Friday the 25th.

Thank you,

Christine Kaldenberg

Eagle Bluff Reflections - Monday at 12:10pm

The Wolves will be making a short presentation to the K-4 on their trip to Eagle Bluff this Monday at 12:10pm in the Group Discussion space.  The students will be discussing classes that they took, what they learned, and challenges that they faced.  Feel free to join us to hear more about their exciting trip!

Help Needed with Sod Removal for Prairie Restoration

The K-6 students are in the final stages of preparing the site for our prairie restoration!  We are in need of several volunteers that could help with a few different components of the sod removal process.  The sod will be removed on the upcoming parent work day, April 21st, from 9-12pm.  Please email me if you can help with any of the following:

Pick up sod remover - ACE Hardware in Coralville at 8:30am

Sod removal - using gas powered sod remover (need a few volunteers)

Help carry sod to truck(s) - need several volunteers

Remove sod from Willowwind grounds - will need a truck for this, welcome to plant in your own yard!

Drop off sod remover - ACE Hardware in Coralville (once sod removal is complete)

Any help is much appreciated!

Newsletter Updated

Please check out this link to find out more about what the Wolves have been up to lately.

Newsletter Updated

Please check out this link to find out more about what the Wolves have been up to lately.

Class Trip

What a trip! Rock climbing, the high ropes course, karst geology, and Seed Savers were just a few of the highlights. Be sure to check out the entire album of photos from the trip under the photos tab or by clicking here. Remember, you can download any photo by selecting the image, then right-clicking on the open image, and finally choosing download. Also, a huge thank you to Timothy for volunteering his entire week by serving as a chaperone for the trip. I honestly could not have done it without him!

Class Trip

What a trip! Rock climbing, the high ropes course, karst geology, and Seed Savers were just a few of the highlights. Be sure to check out the entire album of photos from the trip under the photos tab or by clicking here. Remember, you can download any photo by selecting the image, then right-clicking on the open image, and finally choosing download. Also, a huge thank you to Timothy for volunteering his entire week by serving as a chaperone for the trip. I honestly could not have done it without him!

Requests and Upcoming Dates

Save the Date: Wolves' Dinner and Documentary

The Wolves have begun work on their final project, a documentary about water issues in Iowa City. Please save the date of Thursday, May 24th from 5:30 - 7:30pm for the showing as well as a dinner. Further details will follow in the upcoming weeks.

National History Day Contest

The Wolf class will be headed to Des Moines on Monday, May 7th to support Halle and Emma at the state National History Day Contest. Please email me if you are available to drive.

Have Breakfast at Willowwind this Friday: Burrowing Owl Cafe

Please support the annual Burrowing Owl Cafe this Friday from 7:45 - 9am. The students are fundraising for their upcoming class trip. Drinks will cost $.50 and baked goods will range from $.50 to $1. Hope to see you there! If you can't make it yourself, feel free to send your child with money.

Garden Needs

Christine and the students have been working incredibly hard to get the garden ready for planting. She's looking for a family that has access to a pick-up truck to head to the Iowa City landfill to pick up some free compost and mulch. If you can help out, please email her at christinek@willowwind.org.

Spanish Lunch

Danielle is looking for a Spanish blanket/sarape/beach towel for our outdoor Spanish lunch group. If you have one that the group could borrow, please email her at daniellee@willowwind.org.

Girls Soccer

Amanda, who has volunteered for quite some time in the Burrowing Owl class, has a few spots left on her 5th/6th grade girls soccer team. Please check out this flyer for more information.

Open House

Willowwind will be hosting an open house for prospective families this Saturday from 10:30 - 12:30pm. If you know of any families that may be interested in checking out our great programming, please ask them to join us!

Reminder: No school on April 27th

Just a reminder that there is no school on Friday, April 27th.

40th Birthday Events: May 3rd - 5th

Willowwind's 40th birthday is just around the corner! Please mark your calendars for these exciting events:

Thursday, May 3
2:30 p.m. Music Concert (Willowwind PK-6)
7 p.m. 40th Anniversary Lecture - Rick Ackerly (author of The Genius in Children) Learning, Mistakes and Failure:  Crafting New Myths for Successful Kids and Better Schools 
Friday, May 4
10:45 a.m.VIP day starts for Preschool students
11:45 a.m. VIP day starts for K-6 students
Saturday, May 5
11 a.m. Silent Auction
12 p.m. Willowwind Picnic for friends, families and alumni
1 p.m. Alumni Group Discussion

Requests and Upcoming Dates

Save the Date: Wolves' Dinner and Documentary

The Wolves have begun work on their final project, a documentary about water issues in Iowa City. Please save the date of Thursday, May 24th from 5:30 - 7:30pm for the showing as well as a dinner. Further details will follow in the upcoming weeks.

National History Day Contest

The Wolf class will be headed to Des Moines on Monday, May 7th to support Halle and Emma at the state National History Day Contest. Please email me if you are available to drive.

Have Breakfast at Willowwind this Friday: Burrowing Owl Cafe

Please support the annual Burrowing Owl Cafe this Friday from 7:45 - 9am. The students are fundraising for their upcoming class trip. Drinks will cost $.50 and baked goods will range from $.50 to $1. Hope to see you there! If you can't make it yourself, feel free to send your child with money.

Garden Needs

Christine and the students have been working incredibly hard to get the garden ready for planting. She's looking for a family that has access to a pick-up truck to head to the Iowa City landfill to pick up some free compost and mulch. If you can help out, please email her at christinek@willowwind.org.

Spanish Lunch

Danielle is looking for a Spanish blanket/sarape/beach towel for our outdoor Spanish lunch group. If you have one that the group could borrow, please email her at daniellee@willowwind.org.

Girls Soccer

Amanda, who has volunteered for quite some time in the Burrowing Owl class, has a few spots left on her 5th/6th grade girls soccer team. Please check out this flyer for more information.

Open House

Willowwind will be hosting an open house for prospective families this Saturday from 10:30 - 12:30pm. If you know of any families that may be interested in checking out our great programming, please ask them to join us!

Reminder: No school on April 27th

Just a reminder that there is no school on Friday, April 27th.

40th Birthday Events: May 3rd - 5th

Willowwind's 40th birthday is just around the corner! Please mark your calendars for these exciting events:

Thursday, May 3
2:30 p.m. Music Concert (Willowwind PK-6)
7 p.m. 40th Anniversary Lecture - Rick Ackerly (author of The Genius in Children) Learning, Mistakes and Failure:  Crafting New Myths for Successful Kids and Better Schools 
Friday, May 4
10:45 a.m.VIP day starts for Preschool students
11:45 a.m. VIP day starts for K-6 students
Saturday, May 5
11 a.m. Silent Auction
12 p.m. Willowwind Picnic for friends, families and alumni
1 p.m. Alumni Group Discussion

Eagle Bluff - Day 3

Oh, what a day!  After a breakfast, the Wolves headed to Wildlife Ecology where they learned about what can effect the population of different animals.  They explored different habitats included bat houses and a snake hibernation pit!  

In the afternoon, students honed their orienteering skills by participating in competitive orienteering.  This class is normally designed for high school students but because of the Wolves' prior experience with compasses, they were able to catch on extremely quickly to the new material.  Their knowledge of topographical maps was especially helpful as they used compasses and maps to navigate through an intricate course.

Planning routes with topographical maps

Working together to find their bearing point

Orienteering was followed by a special surprise visit to the Eagle Bluff costume shop! 

So many choices!

Yes, I'm wearing a green jumpsuit!

Once we had dinner and were out of our costumes, we took a short hike to the high ropes course.  I was incredibly proud of each student for setting a personal goal and reaching far beyond that goal.  Every student finished the course!

Crossing over the cargo net

Coming down the zip line

We ended our final evening with reflections about our goals, acknowledgements for the work of others, and... 

Hope everyone had a wonderful week!  The students are extremely excited to see you all tomorrow!  Just a reminder, we will be arriving at Willowwind at approximately 6pm.  See you soon!

Eagle Bluff - Day 2

The Wolves began their day bright and early at 6:30am with some morning yoga.  We then headed off to breakfast where a few friends helped the kitchen staff with clean up.

Kitchen party

Our hearty breakfast helped us power up for a morning of rock climbing and archery.

Almost there!

Watch out for that one!

Students spent the afternoon learning about bio-indicators, collecting organisms at the pond, and studying their samples in the lab.  This class will serve as a great pre-cursor to biological assessments that we will do at the creek when we get back.  

What'd you catch?

Classifying organisms

Getting a closer look

In the evening, students had the opportunity to see several raptors including an owl and a hawk.

Demonstrating raptor adaptations (all in the name of science, of course)

Wait a second, you're not a raptor - you're a turkey vulture!

We ended our evening with a night hike and some hot chocolate along the way.  Can't wait to see what tomorrow holds!

Eagle Bluff - Day 1

Swinging over a "lava pit"

The Wolf Pack eagerly pulled up to Eagle Bluff right in time for lunch.  We tossed our belongings in our room and then discussed the food waste program.  The students decided to set their goal and 0 lbs of food waste for our entire trip!  Two meals down and 0 lbs of food waste so far so we're off to a great start!

After lunch, we headed out to group challenges.  We worked on building trust, communication, problem solving skills, and cooperation.  Check out some of the fun games we played:

The Human Knot

Blindfold walking

After group challenges we did some reflective writing about our role as community members.  We then headed off to dinner for a scrumptious plate of spaghetti and meatballs!  Our night ended with a naturalist program on constellations and smores by the campfire.  What an amazing first day!  Off to bed now so we can wake bright and early for rock climbing and archery!

Taking on the role of Artemis in a legend about the constellation of Orion

State Science Fair

Overhead view of 6th and 7th grade projects

From projects on spice inhibitors to jet propulsion, we saw it all!  Non-competing students spent the morning taking notes on 6th and 7th grade projects.  We then all headed out for a lunch and some gelato - even scientists need a sweet fix!

Taking a much needed break!

After lunch, we went back to the fair and spent the afternoon discussing projects with presenters and even seeing a seminar powerpoint presentation.  

Talking with presenters

Non-presenters then headed back to Iowa City while our participants, Adam, Halle, and Emma, continued to await judging.  

Standing post

Congratulations to all of our presenters for their incredible work!  It was not easy to create this project while also completing a history fair presentation!  Congrats to Halle for receiving an award for Excellence in Women in Science.  Congrats also to both Halle and Emma for their respective 11th and 5th place finishes in the 6th grade physical science category.  

Water Quality Testing

Determining transparency

The Wolves spent Wednesday afternoon back at Ralston Creek performing their first round of chemical and physical water quality assessments.  Timothy joined us for the day and helped students perform their tests.  The students began with physical assessments in which they measured the width of the stream, calculated stream velocity using a tennis ball, and determining water transparency.

Measuring stream width

Chemical assessments included using tests for nitrogen, phosphorus, dissolved oxygen, chloride, and pH levels.  Tests unfortunately showed that the creek had a pH level between 8 and 9 (be sure to ask a Wolf what that means)!  We'll continue to monitor the stream and see if this trend continues.

Collecting samples for chemical assessments

Back in the Water!

The Wolves spent Wednesday afternoon splashing around in the familiar waters of Ralston Creek.  Oh how we missed our muddy Wednesdays!  On this first trip, students worked in teams to create habitat assessments of the area.  Using math and science skills, they determined the length of riparian zones, number of microhabitats, types of stream banks at the stream transect and stream reach, and much, much more!  We're now moving on to discussing parameters for water quality including nitrogen, phosphorus, dissolved oxygen, and pH tests.  If the weather continues to stay warm, we'll spend Wednesday afternoon collecting water samples so that we begin testing water quality at the creek.  

Trip to State Science Fair is ON!

A big thank you to both Gretchen and Kim for making our trip to the State Science Fair this Friday possible!  As a reminder, we will be leaving school at 8am on Friday morning.  The students will return at approximately 5pm.  The competition runs for two days so while I will be riding out with the students, Gretchen will bring the students back that evening so that I do not have to drive back and forth between Ames (thanks again Gretchen!).  We will be going out to eat on Friday.  Please send your child on the trip with $10 - $12.  If you would prefer for them to eat a sack lunch, please just pack it as normal.  Also, even if you are sending your child with money for lunch, please send along a few snacks for the long drive.  Thanks and please let me know if you have any questions.

Regional National History Day Contest

On Friday of spring break, three of our students went back to work a little early by spending the day participating in the regional National History Day contest. Both junior and senior high students came to the Old Capital Museum to compete in several different categories including websites, performances, historical papers, exhibits, and documentaries. Our sixth graders presented their work to a panel of judges and competed against sixth through eighth graders from the surrounding areas. Only one student from each category was chosen to represent our area at the state competition in Des Moines in May. I am extremely excited to announce that two of our students, Halle and Emma, were chosen to present at the state competition in their respective categories. Please join in me in congratulating all of our students that participated in the fair on their hard work and dedication to this project!

History Fair Student Work

What an amazing night! From the Cottontails reminding of us "all we need" to the Wolves entertaining us with their engaging performances and informative websites, it was definitely a night to remember. Watching these performances reminded me of the amazing foundation that the K-4 teachers build before sending their students to the Wolf classroom - our work would NOT be possible without this incredible base.

I only wish that we had enough time to allow families the opportunity to see all of the students' work. Unfortunately, with the time constraints of the evening and the length of our performances, this was not possible (I would have had you here all night!). If you'd like to get a closer look at the students work or see the work of a child that you missed, please visit the History Fair tab under Student Work. Under this tab, you'll find links to student websites as well as short clips of performances.

Trip to State Science Fair

On Friday, March 30th, three of our sixth graders will be participating in the Iowa State Science Fair in Ames, Iowa. This is a great opportunity for the rest of the class to support their peers and get a preview of the work that many of them will be doing as sixth graders next year. Because of the length of the drive, we will need to leave school by 8am and will not return to school until 5pm. We are in need of drivers for that day. Please let me know as soon as possible if you can drive and how many students your car can hold. Thanks in advance for your help!

History Fair, Just a Little Over a Week Away!

The History Fair is just over a week away and the Wolves are busy making last minute preparations for this exciting event. A few reminders:

• Treats
• Please sign up on our treats sign-up sheet to bring in a treat to share with the Willowwind community.
• Because of the size of the event, we need treats, a drink, napkins, and cups to serve 175 - please therefore include on the sign-up sheet how much of an item you will be bringing.
• We are still in need of a volunteer to coordinate set-up, service, and clean-up for the treats; please email me if interested

• RSVP via email by this Friday
• Please include how many family and friends will be joining us so that we can plan out space accordingly.

• Schedule
• Please have your child back at school and ready to present (i.e. dressed in costume for performances or in business casual for websites) by 3:30pm on Thursday, March 8th.

• Pizza on the day of the event
• Judging will take place from 3:30 - 5:30pm. Since your child will not be with a judge for the entire time, we will have a room set up with pizza so that students can eat and relax while they're waiting their turn.
• If you would like your child to have pizza, please send $4 to school by next Monday, the 5th of March

• Presentation Boards
• Every student will be asked to make a process board that depicts the work that they did to come to their final product.
• If you would like to purchase a board from me (I have enough boards for every student), please send them to school with $3.50 by Thursday, March 1st.
• You are also welcome to purchase your own board. If you do, please email me so that I can give you the dimensions of our boards (I'd like all of the boards to be the same size); please also have these boards at school by Thursday of this week so we can begin work.

Thanks and please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Can't wait to see it all come together!

Literature Circle with Janet is Back!

After a short break, our 6th graders have returned to their weekly discussions of Little Women with board member, Janet Freeman. These conversations give the students the opportunity to really dig deeply into the text and make important inferences about characters and plot development. I especially enjoyed hearing one student dissect the character of Laurie and his relationship with Jo.

Author's Cocoa

What a wonderful event! The students had the opportunity to present their writing to the Willowwind community. While reading personal work in front of a large audience can be extremely daunting, our students preserved through their fears and all did a beautiful job of reciting their work and helping their younger partners do the same. Check out the photos tab for more pictures of the event.

Thank you to all families that made donations including the Codds, Rice-Terrys, and Aults as well as a special thanks to Inara for helping with serving the wonderful treats!

Newsletter has been updated

Check out the newsletter tab for the March edition of the newsletter.

Conferences

Wolf families,

Conferences are just around the corner. Please take a moment to add your name to the Conference Sign-Up. Conferences are scheduled for February 28th and the evening of March 1st. Unfortunately, I will be headed to New York City on the 1st (after school) to present at a conference. I will therefore be holding conferences on the evening of February 22nd (in addition to the 28th). I hope these dates do not inconvenience anyone. If none of these times work for you, please email me and we can schedule another time. Thanks for your understanding,

Shanti

Author's Cocoa

Author's Cocoa will take place from 1-3pm on Friday, February 24th. Students from K-6 classes will have the opportunity to read a selection of their written work from the year to the Willowwind community. This is a great chance for students to practice their presentation skills and proudly present some of their work. We'll also have cocoa and a small treat after the readings. Hope to see you there!

Details for Our Community and Beyond Night (History Fair)

Wolf families,

As Our Community and Beyond night (History Fair) approaches, I wanted to send out some details that will help you and your child prepare for this exciting evening.  This is quite a bit of information but it's a pretty intense day and the more prepared we can be, the better!  I will resend some of these details as the fair gets closer but wanted you to have it ahead of time.  Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions.  I truly want this to be the best experience possible for the students.  

RSVP

We will be using several different spaces in the school building that night and it would be helpful to have an idea of how many people will be attending.  Please let me know by Friday, February 24th how many family members will be joining us for that evening's events (including siblings, grandparents, friends of the family, etc.).

Timeline 

The students and I have worked together to come up with this timeline.  Students will be completing the bulk of this work at school but I thought it may be helpful for families to know what we're doing when so that you can help your child stay on track.

• Monday, February 13th: Outline due
• Monday, Feb 13th - Friday, Feb 17th: Working on draft of paragraphs for websites or draft of script
• Tuesday, Feb 21st - Friday, February 24th: Working on revising and editing (paragraphs or script)
• Wednesday, Feb 29th - Friday, March 2nd: Working on visual (for performance, costume, props, backdrop; for website, actual website design)
• Monday, March 5th - Thursday, March 8th: Practice, practice, practice!

Rubrics

• Please look over the following rubric with your child (performance or website, depending on your child's chosen project):

Rubric, Performance
Rubric, Website

• • the judges will use this rubric to assess your child's work on the day of the fair
• • most of the wording comes directly from the rubrics that judges use at the National History Day Contest 
• • we spent a lot of time in class looking over these rubrics; students should have a good understanding of what each category is asking for but it's always a good idea to revisit this
• • on the day of the fair, judges will award 4 special recognitions including 2 awards for websites and 2 awards for performances (students can only receive one award)
• • every child will also receive an evaluation certificate along with the judges' feedback form

• • • this certificate is totally dependent on the judges' review of each project (i.e. every child could potentially receive a Superior certificate)
• • • students receiving scores mainly in Exceeding Expectations will receive Superior, mainly in Meeting will receive Excellent, and mainly in Approaching will receive Good 
• • • Superior, Excellent, and Good certificates will be handed out after the night concludes (i.e. they will not be publicly announced - this is more for your child to know how they did and get feedback from the judges on their work)

Snacks for Students and Visitors

• on the night of the fair, it would be great if each Wolf family could bring in a snack, treat, or drink to share with the Willowwind community
• if any parent is interested in coordinating this effort, please email me (would really appreciate the help!)

Day of Schedule

• 3:30 - 5:30: Judging

• • Students will need to be back at school and ready to present by 3:30pm 
• • students performing should be dressed in costumes and students presenting websites should plan on dressing up
• • since individual students will not meet with the judges for this entire time, I thought that I could order some pizza and have a room for the students to relax in.  

• • • If you would like your child to have pizza, please send them to school on that Thursday with $5.

• 5:30 - 7:30: Our Community and Beyond presentations by K-6 classes

• 7:30 - 7:45: Snacks 

Misc. Details

• If your child is creating a website: 

• • I will be providing each child with a website address (and domain name) 
• • This address will be valid until the end of the school year.

• • • If you would like your child's website to be up for a longer period of time, you would need to purchase a separate domain name and register with a website host - please let me know no later than Friday, February 17th if you would like to do this so that we can plan accordingly.

Thanks and again, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Grey Wolves' Diner, Grand Opening!

Yesterday, I had the immense honor of watching our students navigate through their grand opening of Grey Wolves' Diner as if they had been doing it for years! The students had spent several days working together to plan out every detail. Student leaders laid out exactly what job each student would be doing, where they should be standing, what to do and who to come to if there was an issue, and even where dishes should be placed when customers finished eating. Their planning definitely paid off! I was astonished not only by the dedication with which each student took on their respective positions, but also by the students' ability to resolve conflict and problem solve without any assistance from a teacher. As one student put it, "Go with the flow no matter what happens - we can talk about it later." What a great opportunity for students to truly take responsibility for their work and put the needs of the group before their own (and eat great food!).

School of the Wild

What an amazing trip! Releasing a rehabilitated eagle back into the wild, building a bird blind, looking for river otters, and finding the remains of an owl were just some of the highlights. Since many of our students have visited School of the Wild multiple times, the staff at SOW truly went out of their way to ensure that this year's trip was something special. Please check out more pictures from the trip under the photos tab.

Life After Willowwind

Life After Willowwind Night
Thursday, February 23, 6:30 p.m.
 
Come join the conversation about the move to junior high! The Transition Night on February 23th is an evening for parents of any kindergarten through sixth grade student who are interested in learning about the transition to junior high school.  Third through sixth grade students are strongly encouraged to attend.  

John Bacon, Principal of City High and Cristina Allgood, counselor at Regina Junior & Senior High to talk about the excitement of this next phase in a child's life as provide tips on how to best prepare for a successful junior and senior high experience.

We will have an alumni panel of recent and older graduates who will talk about their experiences and answer questions.

Newsletter has been updated

Wolf families,

Please check out the newsletter section of our website for new pictures and updates on happenings in the Wolf classroom.

Grey Wolves' Diner!

As I'm sure many of you have heard from the excited buzz the children, the Grey Wolves' Diner will begin serving meals next Thursday, March 9th. Over the last few weeks, students have been busily preparing for this opening. Here are some of the exciting activities students have engaged in while creating this business:

- communicating through telephone and email with the Cottage Bakery and other local businesses about possibility of providing catering
- creating a punch card system for keeping track of meals purchased
- exploring sale price and costs and how this effects profits
- using graphic design software to create advertisements and a menu
- creating a detailed Excel spreadsheet with formulas that tabulate the sales and costs involved with a multitude of options including individual meals, unlimited cards, and 1x a week cards
- teaching other students how to use the spreadsheet
- communicating through email and in-person with families about the opening of the Diner