April Late Start Lounge

This month we focused on Recycling and Reuse. We started with a recycling relay outside; the students worked as a team to sort different plastics, metals, and other objects into the correct bins - curbside recycling, Farwest Fibers/Recology, and trash/reuse. Once we came back in the classroom they were able to reuse plastics to create squares for the International Plastic Quilt Project. Their quilt squares will be displayed at Rieke next week. For more recycling activities, check out these websites with your child:

Try going to ‘Recycle City’, a website from the EPA
http://www.epa.gov/recyclecity/mainmap.htm

This site has several recycling games and activities for rainy weekends or summer projects:
http://www.accesskent.com/YourGovernment/PublicWorks/pdfs/Reduce-Reuse-Recycle_Activities.pdf

Cut down on your junk mail at
http://www.catalogchoice.org
Have your child find the catalogs that you don’t want and located the customer numbers on the labels to help you opt-out of mailings.

Take the ‘Trash and Climate Change’ challenge
http://www.epa.gov/osw/education/pdfs/k00-001.pdf

Rieke/Wilson Arboretum Photos

Rieke/Wilson Arboretum

Oh the weather outside is frightful
But for trees, it's just delightful
Boots and jackets ready to go
Let it grow, let it grow, let it grow!

Join us tomorrow for the Rieke/Wilson Arboretum planting. We have 15 trees and 400 students who would love your support.

Special thanks to Karl Dawson from Portland Parks & Recreation, Stephanie Pringle and her ecology students from Wilson High School, and Andrea Porter, teachers, and students from Mary Rieke Elementary.

February Late Start Lounge

Today we talked about tracking. The students were able to test their observations skills in the classroom with two game that you can play at home. First, they had a minute to look around the room and then closed their eyes. I asked them questions about the room and they answered by raising their arms to vote on list of answers. We also played an observation/memorization game with plastic farm animals. You can play this at dinner by having one person close their eyes while everyone else remove one object from the table. The object is to list what is missing.

Outside we practiced different tracking techniques. Ask your child to demonstrate the fox walk, weasel walk, scatter vision (good for looking for motion), and the benefits of using both peripheral vision and looking side to side (the playground/fabric game). We also worked on telling stories through tracks. The students had a great time drawing animals tracks on the playground with chalk. Here is a pdf of the animals tracks that we used if you would like to try this at home:

Animals Tracks

Late Start Lounge Photos

Update on Rieke's Green Team

Check out what the Green Team has been busy with this year!

or view the individial slides here

Styrofoam Recycling Drive

The Maplewood and Rieke Green Teams collected 40 cubic yards of styrofoam in 3 hours on Sunday! Big thanks to our volunteers - the students loved smashing the styrofoam to fit it into the bin.

Styrofoam drive photos

January EcoThink Club meeting

Our first EcoThink Late Start Lounge will be Wednesday January 18th. These sessions are designed for students K-5 who are interested in environmental topics. The theme of our first session will be Growing Up Wild. We will be learning about local wild animals and ways to sharpen your senses to track these creatures. The students will them be able to test their new skills in observation games in the classroom and around the school playground and by creating their own animal tracks to tell a story.