Is it spring yet? It’s been hard to tell with our recent snow, but spring has arrived. We have just recently finished our Oregon Trail unit and as a culmination, we went on a field trip to Fort Vancouver. A great time was had by all. Click on the ‘Events Captured with Photos’ tab to see some pictures of our trip. I want to thank the parents that volunteered their time to chaperon for our field trip. We have two more field trips planned for this year, one in May and one in June. Check our calendar of events tab for dates. The students have been working on measurement in math, learning about different forms of poetry, writing persuasive essays, learning about citizenship and marine life, and reading, reading, reading. This month we will be hosting a guest artist in our school. Her name is Diana Ryan and she will be working with all of our classes throughout April thanks to a generous grant from the Art Center of Corvallis. I can’t wait to see the beautiful art that our students will create. We have had a great March and look forward to an even better April.
Thank you for making the world a better place,
Mr. Nazarian
Our 4th graders have had a wonderful February. They have continued to better understand fractions and decimals as well as work on three dimensional shapes. The students continue to impress me with their progress as writers. I love to hear their voices and personalities come through in their writing. Please check out some samples of their writing in the ‘student writing’ tab to the right. Our students have traveled back in time this month and have transformed themselves into Oregon Trail pioneers. We have embarked on an adventure of a lifetime! The students got into wagon families and chose their role (mother, father, kid, uncle, etc.) and created a persona for themselves. They wrote bios for their new selves describing who they are and how they feel about this trip into a new land. We left Independence, Missouri in 1844 and have had many unexpected events and mishaps along the trail as we stopped at 20 different landmarks that we have been learning about. The pioneers have been documenting their travels in their Oregon Trail journals each day. I absolutely love hearing what they write about their adventure from their 19th century perspective. Make sure to check out our ‘events captured by photos’ tab to the right and take a look at the 3-D portraits that the kids created of their Oregon Trail personas. I’m looking forward to a spectacular spring with the kids.
Thank you for making the world a better place,
Mr. Nazarian
We enjoyed a busy and fun December together in room 16. We are reading riveting literature and having great discussions about the stories. The kids are continuing to fine tune their writing skills and publishing amazing pieces. The students are continuing to receive and send letters to their pen pals at Takena Elementary. In math, we have been working with fractions, which has been a lot of fun. In Art, the students created beautiful art using tempura paint and colored paper on pizza boxes. Their art represents how they believe they can make the world better. Their captivating artwork is currently on display at American Dream Pizza on 2nd street in downtown Corvallis. In science, the students have been learning about different forms of energy, both renewable and non-renewable. They designed their own blades for wind turbines, using different variables to test out which design would generate the most electricity. The students also engineered and built cars powered by solar panels. They have begun thinking about useful inventions that they can create for our 4th grade invention convention which will be held on January 20th. In social studies, we learned about the Corps of Discovery and the students put together a terrific performance highlighting events of the journey. They did a wonderful job. The week before the break, we learned about different traditions that are celebrated by different cultures around the world. One of the highlights for the kids was building their own gingerbread houses. I have enjoyed so much spending 2011 with the kids and look forward to a phenomenal 2012. Please click on the links to the right to see what we have been doing. Especially interesting are the Corps of Discovery performances and the ‘Events Captured With Photos’ links. Thank you for making the world a better place.
Sincerely,
Max Nazarian
What a magical first two months of school we have had. The students of room 16 are working hard and having a lot of fun. They have been crafting their skills as writers and creating powerful writing pieces that can be enjoyed by clicking on the students’ writing work link to the right. The students have been mastering many different strategies to solve for larger multiplication and division problems. They have been reading up a storm and learning a tremendous amount of new vocabulary to incorporate into their everyday language and writing. We have also been having a blast learning about Lewis and Clark and their Corps of Discovery. In science, they have been working with heat energy and the different states of matter. I am so enjoying working with these students. They are all hard workers whom bring a positive and fun attitude.
Thank you for making the world a better place.
Sincerely,
Max Nazarian
This has been such a fun, energetic, and positive first week of school. Starting off with our open house, it was wonderful to meet many of our parents and students who got a sneak peek of room 16. I look forward to getting to know the families better throughout the year. I am overwhelmed with how many parents are willing to volunteer. This is evidence of the involvement and support that you provide for your children.
The first week of school with the students has been a genuine pleasure for me. We have such a nice group of individuals in our class. They are bright, caring, responsible, and gifted kids. We spent the first week getting to know each other, learning procedures, and testing out our academic skills after a long summer. We have gotten started with math, written and published writing about a summer memory, made scientific observations, learned about the northeastern region of our country, worked on reading strategies, enjoyed music with Mrs. DeYoung, spent time in the library and computer lab with Mrs. Baker, and created art with our own photographs. It has been a busy and fun week. I am looking forward to a remarkable year with the students of room 16. Check this website often and always feel free to contact me with any questions, comments, or concerns. Thank you for making the world a better place.
Sincerely,
Max Nazarian
We have been busy the last couple weeks. The students have been working diligently on their science inquiry projects which will lead to the culmination at the school science fair that will be held on this Wednesday, May 25th, from 10am to 6pm. Please come join us and see what the kids have learned through the scientific process.
Our class learned about wind turbines and how they generate electricity. Partners were charged with the task of designing and constructing blades for their wind turbine models. Each group chose one variable (length, shape, number of blades, etc.) and ran at least three trials altering that variable for each trial to see which design would generate the most electricity. They used a digital multimeter to measure the voltage and amperage. Then they multiplied the volts and amps to calculate the power generated in each trial. Check out the slide show of some of our wind turbines in the page in the right column.
Our fourth graders had their last field trip of the year on May 4th. We went to OSU for Discovery Days! This was a great event where the students explored different science exhibits and learned through observing various experiments. We then walked through campus to the OSU greenhouse where we took a tour of the greenhouse, learned about how horticulturists manipulate a plant’s environment to optimize growth, and received small plants to take home. Our fifth graders just went on their field trip to Starker Forest. It was a beautiful, sunny day for an adventure in the woods. We went for a hike, studied observations that we made about our surroundings, learned about plants and what they need to survive, looked at animal tracks, ate trail mix, listened to birds, and had a great time in nature. The fifth graders have one more field trip coming up on June 1st. Let me know if you are interested in chaperoning. Here’s to a great rest of the year.
Thank you for making the world a better place,
Max Nazarian
Spring is here, and the students have been having fun while working hard in room 16. April was an exciting month that saw all of our 4th and 5th graders learning about ecosystems, food webs, and interdependency among living organisms. Each class also studied a specific biome in depth. Our class learned all about the Amazon Rainforest. During the unit, students from each class had the opportunity to work with artist Cheryl French on large murals of their biome. Their murals turned out absolutely beautiful and are currently on display at the Corvallis Art Center. The exhibit with our students’ murals will be on display for the month of May. At the end of the exhibit, they will be permanently displayed in the hallways at Liberty. Thanks again to Corvallis Art Center for the generous grant to make this possible. Check our ‘Rainforest Mural’ link in the right column. As a culmination to our biome unit, all five of our intermediate classes gathered and got into small groups with a representative from each world biome and taught each other about what they had learned. It was a truly special experience. The students have been focusing on the scientific method and are preparing for their individual science inquiry projects which will be displayed for the school science fair on May 25th. All projects are due on May 24th or before. We have been working on the design process at school but the experiment, data collection, and presentation work will be done at home. Let me know if you have any questions about the project. The fourth graders had a great field trip the other week to historic downtown Albany where we visited the Albany Regional Museum, the Monteith House, and went on a walking tour of downtown. The kids had a great time and we got some good exercise on our way back to school. Thanks to all of our parent chaperons. We have one more fourth grade field trip coming up and two fifth grade field trips. Check our calendar of events link and contact me with any questions or if you know you would like to chaperon. Here’s to a great May!
Thanks for making the world a better place.
Sincerely,
Max Nazarian
What a great month this has been! We had a special visit from OSU international students on the 4th. They shared knowledge about their cultures from Nepal, Switzerland, China, Nigeria, and Peru. The kids learned a lot and really enjoyed making new friends from another country. Our school enjoyed a performance on the 17th by the Tears of Joy Theater. It was a fun and lively performance.
Hopefully your child has been talking about the research that they have been doing on the life story (biography) of an important person of their choosing. They have been learning about their person since the beginning of February. Most of this research should be happening at home, but many of the students are reading books and/or researching online at school as well. Here is the basic outline of what they should know about the person they are learning about:
1. Early life – name, date, place of birth, childhood stories.
2. Education
3. Occupations
4. Family – parents, siblings, spouse, children, etc.
5. Major achievements
6. Fun facts or quotes
The students do NOT need to write a formal report in paragraph form. Instead, they will record all of their important information on note cards. I have note cards that I can provide. I have been conferencing with the kids and most of them already have quite a bit of info written down.
February 28th is the due date for their note cards to be completed. The students will then dress up in appropriate costume and act the part of their person as they share “their life” with the class. It will be less of a ‘report’ about someone else, and more of a “let me tell you about my life” reenactment using the information that they learned from their research. The first round of class presentations will be February 28th, then March 2nd. Kids will be able to sign up for a day to present to the class. Then, on March 4th, all of the students will again get in their costumes and act their parts in the gym for all of the other classes for a ‘wax museum’. Mrs. Pensinger’s class did this last month and Ms. Rider’s class will be doing it next month. So March is a time when room 16 students will be recognized for their learning. The kids are pretty excited about this and so am I. You are more than welcome to come to the class presentations, but you might want to come to the wax museum so you can see all of the students as well. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Something else exciting coming up for us is an artist-in-residence experience. We received a $1000 grant from the Corvallis Art Center to host a professional artist at our school for our intermediate students. Cheryl French, an accomplished local artist, will be working with all of our 4th and 5th graders on an art integration project. As each class focuses learning about a particular earth biome, they will also create a mural of their biome. Our class will be focused on tropical rainforests. All of the classes murals will be temporarily displayed at the Corvallis Art Center and then permanently displayed at Liberty School. Our class will start working with the artist on March 1st. This will be an incredible experience of our children. I can’t wait to see what they create.
Watch our calendar for upcoming field trips for the 4th graders and the 5th graders. They will be going with their afternoon counterparts. I will send email notes home about specifics as the dates approach.
Thank you for everything you do to make the world a better place.
Sincerely,
Max Nazarian
Happy New Year! It is so great to be back in our amazing classroom with our extraordinary students in this exemplary school. I am so fortunate to be a part of this special community. We hit the ground running today and as usual, the kids were eager to read. I just love their enthusiasm for books! We also started writing narratives about our winter break today. This week we will be receiving letters from, and writing back to, our pen pals from North Albany Elementary as well as our Peace Corps pen pal in San Jose, Costa Rica. This month, we will be learning about the classifications of mammals and each student will complete an independent research report on a different Oregon mammal. I can’t wait to see what they learn and share with the class. I am so glad to be back and am looking forward to the joys of this new year with your children. Thank you for sharing them with me.
Sincerely,
Max Nazarian
The last month has been quite a treat. No tricks here. I so enjoyed meeting all of the parents that came to parent-teacher conferences. I was very happy to have so many students join in the discussion about their educational plans and goals. We had a blast on October 30th at Liberty. The whole school gathered in the cafeteria and classes took turns walking across the stage to show off their creative costumes. Thanks to all of the parents that brought goodies for our harvest party. The kids have been writing up a storm in room 16. They have focused on word choice to develop their skills in using colorful, descriptive words to create imagery in their writing. They have written about the pros and cons of different potential careers as well. The students are currently developing persuasive essays based on friendly debates that we had in class. I love to hear their thoughts on different issues. These are really smart kids! The students have continued to inhale books. These kids truly love to read. I will keep you updated on the happenings in our class. Thank you for everything you do to make the world a better place.
Sincerely,
Max Nazarian
