Peninsula School K-8

Welcome to Room 119!

Here's a little about myself:
I have a degree in General Science and Education from Oregon State University, and a MAT from Concordia University
Years teaching: 11
Years with PPS: 9
This is my first year at Peninsula!
My interests outside of school life include anything that takes me outdoors: hiking, backpacking, snowboarding, mountain biking, rafting/kayaking, surfing, playing in State & National Parks, and I hope to never stop exploring the world we live in (and maybe beyond before I die if technology catches up with the movies)! 
I also enjoy volunteering with local environmental organizations such as Environment Oregon and The Portland Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation/Snowrider Project.
Random fun fact about me: I'm climbing and snowboarding the top 40 Cascade peaks as a project with my friends.
Favorite educational moment: I had a second grader that put D.N. at the end of his poetry book.  I was confused by this and when I asked him about it because that wasn't his initials (it was J.M. which sounds a little alike) he replied promptly with rolling eyes, "I can't believe you even asked that Ms. Gary.  It's "da en" of the book."  Meaning THE END!  Ha, ha!

5th Grade at Peninsula so far this year has been a fantastic adventure.  Not only learning two new curriculums, but also getting to know a new and way of doing things has taken up the majority of my time.  I love my new school, the students, amazing staff, and warm friendly families!

We've been really busy this Fall Term 2011 in room 119!
Reading: I teach Language! Intervention Program for Walk to Read and Ms. Anderson is busy teaching the district's Scott Foresman materials.
Math: We've covered basic computation skills, and Units 1-3 of the district's new math curriculum Bridges!  In Unit 1 we did a comprehensive reveiw of things to come this year.  In Unit 2 we learned about Multiplication and Division, and in Unit 3 we studied Geometry!  Students have gotten a idea of how difficult 5th grade Mathematics can be and need to make sure they're practicing their basic math facts on a nightly basis!
Writing: We started 5th grade using the Step Up to Writing graphic organizers and 6-Traits of Writing to practice complete sentences and to review basic paragraphing.  We're now working on Narratives and developing our class writers as authors telling complete stories.  Sentence Fluency and Conventions has been our main focus for 6-trait state scoring rubrics.
Social Studies: We began the year with a All About Me unit where students explored their cultural background, ethnicities, and their past family/relatives history.  We did a research project about a country of their cultural background, created our own family crests, family tree, and collage.
Science: 5th graders kicked off our environmental science studies by exploring the World Forestry Center for our first field trip.  Our studies continue the third week of December with visits from our City of Portland Bureau of Environmental Science teachers where we will learn all about our where Portland's waste water goes to and where we get our water from!  In January we will be visiting Portland's Waste Water Treatment Plant to get some hands-on learning and real life experiences!
Arts: Integrating the Arts across all curriculum areas has been fun.  We've done Art in Social Studies, Mathematics, and we're going on our second field trip to see "A Christmas Story" play the second week of December!