ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL

Pulling Together801 E. Arctic Ave. Palmer, AK 99645Call us at 907-746-2358 or Fax us at 907-746-2368 or visit us at www.matsuk12.us/acc

1. Calendar

2. job Corner

3. Classroom News K-2

4. Classroom News 3 & 4

5. Classroom News 5

6. Notes from K-5 Labs

7. Classroom News 6 & 7

8. Classroom News 8

April 19, 2013

World Fair Coming Our Way!! Beginning Monday, April 29th, our classes begin transforming their classrooms into their focus topics!

• K-Happy Birthday America • 1-Animal Habitat • 2-Insects • 3-Greek gods & goddesses • 4-Revolutionary War • 5-Alaska the Great-land• 6- Bringing to life 6th grade

literature • 7 -Roaring 20’s • 8 -China

! Rooms should be complete and ready by noon on Thursday, May 2nd. Beginning at 12:30, our own students tour each other's classrooms in an organized manner. Then, beginning at 2:45 p.m., our classrooms are open to the public for touring and judging. Classrooms are open until 5:00 p.m. and then we dismantle, clean up, and vacuum! All students stay until the end.

Date Time Field Trips and More

April 26 6th, 7th & 8th to AJT

April 22 1:00 Science Fair

April 22-26 5th - 8th grade MAP testing

April 24 12n Taekwondo Testing

May 2 World Fair

May 3 1:00 Make up Snow Day/Early Release

May 6-9 7th grade to Seldovia

May 7 6:30 8th grade graduation

May 9 8:45 H2Oasis, all school

May 10 11:30 School Picnic

May 13-15 Exit Interviews

Job Corner Get your hours now!

1 Parents are needed to help with each of the upcoming events. See calendar. Contact the office.

A giant gold star goes out to

Cassandra Espinoza for taking on a giant copying/laminating/folder job that NO ONE ELSE would do for TWO YEARS. A big

thank you from Mrs. Tompkins!

“On time” Winners for the week ending April 19th:

Kaitlyn Johnson, Casey Clark, Tyler Moore, Kacela Halfacre, Grant Wood, David Moore, Phoenyx Collier, Lucas Santana, Shannon Foley

Subway sandwiches provided on Wednesday!

$50 Gas Card winners are:Parents of Braden Imperato

ATTENTION: Parent HoursPlease be sure to update your card with all the hours you have worked at our school. ALL HOURS MUST BE COMPLETED THIS YEAR BY JUNE 15TH.

Elementary Basketball Clinic Our very own Mr. Olson will be coaching an after

school basketball clinic for our elementary students on these days. Just come to any or all in your grade group

after school to learn and have fun! Kindergarten, First, and Second grades

Will be on Tuesdays only on the following days;

April 23rd from 3:00 to 4:00April 30th from 3:00 to 4:00

Third, Fourth, and Fifth gradesWill be on Thursdays only on the following days;

April 25th from 3:00 to 4:00May 2nd from 3:00 to 4:00

All students must be picked up promptly, thank you.

Palmer Arts Council is celebrating poetry month by offering adults and students opportunities to get involved and become published.

1. Students are invited to recite or read poetry at a Poetry Month recital at the Palmer Library this Sunday. Alaska Poet Laureate Nora Marks Dauenhauer will be our featured guest. It's an all ages event starting at 3:00; an informal reception will follow.

2. Poetry in Public Places Artifacts -They are creating table tents with local art and poems. Adults and students can send photos of art work and/or poems to artsubmission@thepalmerartscouncil.org.

After School Activities in Mrs. B’s Room

This is a reminder that next week will be the final week of Lego Robotics and Knitting in Mrs. B’s room. It has been a pleasure working with this great group of students and I look forward to next fall when we get to begin again!

H2Oasis 1. Permission slips went home this

week2. You must bring your student to school Thursday, May 9th, in the morning.They will get their wristband from their teacher here at the school. (All Siblings, Parents and non Academy students that will go in the water will pay at H20asis at the desk.)3. We need drivers. 4. Permission Slips Due by April 26.

Honor Choir! The music echoing in my mind from last night's honor concert, brings a smile to may face!  I am so proud and excited to have been a part of the amazing concert the 4th and 5th grade honor band and choir students in the Borough performed last night. After a full day rehearsal, these students came together and put on a performance that I know, I will never forget.  From the music of Pocahontas and The Incredible's  to the haunting Danny Boy, the exotic, Jambo Bwana,  and the cream of the night-the band and choir performed a stirring rendition of America the Beautiful that brought the audience to tears.  It could not have happened without the support of the schools, teachers, and parents of these talented kids.  Our own Academy students, need to be recognized for their hard work and talent.  From the fourth grade: Jadyn, Collier,  Roma Leuthold, Justice Panamarioff, Delaina Pugh, Lexie Standeford, Garrett Streit. From the fifth grade: Samuel Anderson, Ilse Spiropoulos, Kaj Taylor, and Auror Till.  Thank you to Nick, Kat, Starr, and Felicia for helping to drive, chaperon  herd, and generally  keep the many students safe and accounted for! :)  Thank you to all the parents of our Academy participants for allowing time in getting your child to rehearsals, support in practice, and encouragement!  I look forward to future Honor festivals for our Academy students!  

Amber AndersonAcademy Music

ClassRoom News K-2

Kindergarten NotesThis week we heard many

birthday stories. This led right into our community-service project. We will be creating birthday boxes for homeless families. Everyone has already selected what they will bring. Please send those items by Tuesday, April 23. Thank you for all you do.

In math we are reviewing money.Our class could use a few more

paper plates and hand sanitizer to finish up the year.

Have a wonderful weekend!Ronni Berg

First Grade

FactsOff to Seward Sealife Center for the overnight program.

Second Grade News! Off to Seward Sealife Center for the overnight program.

News from Mrs. Liebing’s Room We had a busy week leading up to the field trip. We did our Book Shares the first three days in reading this week. I always enjoy hearing the students talk about the books they read, and I hope it gave some other students ideas about books or types of books they might want to read. The book share note pages that students did will be in their portfolios at the end of the year. On Thursday we did some preparation for the Seward Sea Life Center trip. We brainstormed both our prior knowledge and things we hoped to experience or learn about on the trip. !! In math we finished Chapter 11. Over the summer it will be important for your students to practice multiple digit addition and subtraction, along with their math facts. Many of them are having some trouble remembering all the steps when they switch from one type of problem to another. It just takes practice, but if they don’t practice all summer many people will lose ground and start out behind next fall. Next up are multiplication and division. We don’t have much class time left, but we will work on learning the basic concepts and practicing some simple problems.! Next week we will have a poem recitation on Wednesday, and our last spelling test and homework packet will be due next Friday.! Enjoy the weekend,! Mrs. Liebing

ClassRoom News 3 & 4

Benbow Buzz! Language Arts – What would you do if you were expected to live your life in a manner that seemed boring and you wanted to go out and explore the world? Then how would you feel if your efforts to explore left you shipwrecked on an island desperately searching for food, shelter and companionship? This is what we explored this week as we read Robinson Crusoe. We divided the class into six groups, and each group read two chapters. Then all of the groups reported back to the class to form a complete picture of the struggles and triumphs throughout the story. We also reviewed identifying complete sentences and parts of speech. ! Math-We continued working with adding and subtracting fraction with unlike denominators this week, and mixed in some geometry to release the tension created by finding common denominators. Please provide plenty of time for your child to practice multiplication facts at home as we will continue to do timed tests daily throughout the rest of the year. ! Have a great weekend and, as always, feel free to contact me with any comments or concerns! cherie.benbow@matsuk12.us

Third Grade News! Third grade had a fun week. During reading we began looking at the original 13 Colonies. We discussed the three regions the colonies are divided into and their climate. We also focused on Virginia and the start of tobacco as a cash crop. Next week we will discuss more of the New England colonies and the Dutch control of early New York.! Our focus is Geometry during math. We have an ongoing vocabulary list as we play the 4 triangle game. Ask your son or daughter how many polygons you can make using 4 triangles. We are also creating rotating designs using rotations and symmetry. This is a hands-on, in class assignment. We do not have homework for this unit. Both of these lessons will continue for next week.! We made $294.00 on our class bake sale. Thank you for supporting and eating the items.! Mrs. Weetman

ClassRoom News from 5th

The Real Report *ART for a CAUSE-Please go to RUSTY’S to check out your child’s llama statue and vote with your pennies for your favorite. With your help we can raise “loot for llamas” and help a family in Bolivia thrive.! *WORLD’S FAIR-Thank you to everyone who was able to make our meeting. We have a great start, but we are going to need many parent volunteers to clean-up and lots of supplies. We can’t do it without you, please sign up in the office to come help.! Japan day-was a huge success-Thank you Wasilla HighScience Fair-April 22nd-please bring your project TO SCIENCE LAB by 8:15 Mercado-May 3rd-we need electric fryers and help making Churros- please let me know if you can help!! LA: This week we finished A Mid Summer Night’s Dream- the student’s really liked dressing up! We then finished up our Japan PPT. and our Noodle-bibs. Japan Day was a fantastic way to end the week!! !! MATH: For math, we explored more geometry. Students used protractors, learned about the properties of triangles and circles by adding terms and drawing to their journals, we worked (played) with a variety of hands on activities ( including measuring hula hoops) and did most of our “exit tickets” (homework) in class.! !! Over the weekend, PLEASE continue to encourage your child to study/practice ALEKS at home- it seems to really help, “grow their pie”.  ! *PS: be sure to always check my website! ! Have a great Weekend!! Mrs. Real

Mr. Olson’s Pack! Language Arts- We are finishing up the school year with our with our writing masterpiece. Our Saint George and the Dragon stories are turing out great with wonderful descriptive writing and beautiful twists to the story ! Math- In math class we are trying to finish the last chapter on fractions and decimals so our students are prepared for next year in middle school. We still have a couple lessons left and we will finish up by worlds fair week.

Reports from our LabsWorld of WritingBy Mrs. Weetman! This week the 1st and 2nd graders were working on riddles while the kindergarten focused on sequencing the Three Billy Goats Gruff.

ExperimentsBy Mrs. TompkinsDissection Week!If you are planning to volunteer for the 4/5 dissections, please let Mrs. Tompkins know ASAP, we are extremely short on help at this point. April 25th-5th grade fetal pigs, parents needed!April 26th-4th grade frogs, parents needed

5th Science Fair, April 22nd- no parent help neededAll display boards and materials should be delivered directly to the science lab by 8 a.m.Parent and student viewing begins at 1:00 pm and ends at 2:20 pm on that day. Please do not enter the lab during judging and interviews.

3-5 Science Labs! Third grade wrapped up their introduction to botany and plant habitats. Fourth grade prepared for their frog dissections with a review of amphibian anatomy. Fifth grade finalized all questions and concerns for their Science Fair, and then reviewed

dissection procedures and mammalian anatomy for their fetal pig dissection.

Español.Spanish Newsby Miss Agoff! Third, fourth and fifth graders are focusing on the country of Bolivia this rotation. We have been working on packets that contain vocabulary, cultural and historical information about this beautiful country. We are also doing some informational reading and “visiting” Bolivia with our Globe Trekker of the month. Third graders and Señorita enjoyed a neat, informative presentation about Spanish sign language. Third graders are working with plural familiar subject pronouns. Fourth graders are learning the basics for conjugating all regular IR verbs. Fifth graders are learning about Bolivia and preparing this year’s Bolivia themed Mercado designed to make a positive impact on our global community. Students are crafting, creating and designing games and activities that will help other students learn about this country and help some of its most disadvantaged citizens.

ComputerBy Mr. OlsonWe are in the middle of each classes world fair projects. 3rd is creating posters of their gods, 4th is making a slideshow of their revolutionary war figure, and fifth grade is finishing their iMovie projects.

ArtBy Mrs. Holler! This week in the art room the Kindergarteners studied Henri Matisse. They created beautiful illustrations of a flower vase and used a variety of lines. The first graders continued their study of habitats. They made a 3D forest habitat with paper. Next week they will be creating an underground study of roots, animal trails, and soils.On Tuesday the 2nd graders worked on their bug sculptures. The majority of the students are finished with them. Mrs. Booth and I are coordinating a time that we can work with the remaining students to help them get completed! Thank you to Mrs. Miller, Mrs. Swartz, and Mrs. Sherman who helped in class this week!

News from the Top, 6th and 7th grades

6th Grade News! Special thanks from sixth grade to Mrs. Gerard for the outstanding Government in Action Juneau trip.  We also appreciate all the parent chaperones for their help in the capital city.  Kids spent the week doing hands-on math, writing poetry for our Friday slam, learning basic biology, and preparing a Juneau slideshow for exit interviews.  Report cards will go home soon!  Check iParent for missing work or assignments that need to be redone.  Students can do work with their teacher before or after school as needed.! Mr. Titus & Mr. Schumacher

News@7! Our week has been spent researching the movers and shakers of the Roaring Twenties.  All students have a particular persona that they are representing from the 1920s.  So, parents please get to the Salvation Army or Bishop's Attic to find what your child needs for World Fair.  They need their costume or outfit.  Also, they are creating their back drop, an area four feet wide by seven feet high.  Talk to your child and have them explain what their vision is for their area in World Fair.  Help them create it.  Parents, the week of World Fair, we could use your help in building our set.  Please contact us about coming in to help.  We need your help!  This is a good way to get your volunteer hours in, parents!! This Friday is the Poetry Slam.  It starts at 12:30 in the Tae Kwon Do room.  You are welcome to come and hear your child share their poem.  The whole middle school is participating in this event.  We have been writing and editing our poems this past week.! Things are taking shape in preparing for our field trip to Seldovia.  Please make sure that the checks for the expenses for this trip and the permission slips have been turned in.  if you want to be a chaperone on this field trip, please get a hold of us soon.! Have a great weekend with your families!! Mr. Bergey & Mr. Reilly

Español Siempre!Senorita Caterina! Sixth graders are moving along. They are almost finished with their introductory textbook and their vocabulary this week is commonly used AR verbs.! Seventh graders are preparing and presenting their conquistador projects. Jina Malone has made extremely funny cameos in quite a few presentations.! Eighth graders are working with the present progressive tense and finding it quite simple. Our travel vocabulary this week is multisyllabic and giving some pronunciation difficulties.

Wright 7th grade math: We worked hard this week on prism surface area and metric conversion. Students will take their final chapter 9 math test next week . Due to the fact that next week is MAP testing and a field trip, and the following week is World Fair, this was our final week in math.  I enjoyed having your students this year! Mrs. Wright

Wright 7th grade ALA: Students are plowing through their second choice book in the dystopian genre. We're having interesting discussions on conformity and identity in class, and on the Moodle forums. This week and next, we'll be working on our final project for this year: their book trailer. Students may build it on either iMovie or Windows Movie Maker, and most of the work will be done outside of class. (If your student hits a wall technology wise, email me OR have them call one of their friends. These guys are pretty tech savvy!) I look forward to seeing their creativity shine! Have a great weekend - Mrs. Wright

8Science with Tompkins! The class finished their study of earthquakes and was assessed on Chapter 2. Next week we will take an assessment on Chapter 1 and do the dogfish shark dissection on Friday morning.

Algebra! Chapter 9 is continuing smoothly. I hope to have it completed by the end of next week as we work around the MAP testing schedule.!

REAL English 1 As luck would have it, the week seemed to vanish in thin air and without rhyme or reason, we found our selves in a pickle. Not wanting to stand on ceremony, but wanting to make a virtue out of necessity, we laughed ourselves into stitches (read/performed the play) on Monday. With little elbow room left in the year we began our last book, House on Mango Street, and project, an autobiography- DUE WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24TH. Monday, May 6th will be the last day to turn in/work on Noodle-Bib and to complete their Portfolios. ! Parting is such sweet sorrow!!! *PS: be sure to always check my ! website! ! Have a great Weekend! Mrs. Real