School • Community • Student • Parent

LEARNING CONNECTIONS

July 22, 2019 Summer Newsletter

T a h o m a S c h o o l D i s t r i c t N o . 4 0 9

Space Station Recreation Science Workshop

Registration begins July 30, 10am. Tuesday, August 13, 2019 (10:30AM – 11:30AM). Maple Valley Library.

Ages 7 to 12, ages 4 to 6 with adult. Construction in space is no easy task and it takes lots of planning. Discover

how to design and build several scale models of space stations.

The Story of the Stars Puppet Show

Tuesday, July 30, 2019 (2:30PM – 3:15PM). Covington Library. Family program, all ages welcome. Presented by

Tears of Joy Theatre. Do you know how the night stars got their names? Learn about Roman and Greek myths

and the stories about constellations like Hydra, Leo, Perseus and Andromeda.

The Blast-Off Show

Tuesday, July 30, 2019 (3:00PM – 4:00PM). Enumclaw Library. All ages welcome. Presented by Mikey Mike the

Rad Scientist. Travel to the edge of the universe to discover a special element with the power to bend space and

time and possibly cause trouble on Earth!

Targeting Summer Learning Loss

Keep skills sharp over the summer!

IN THE COMMUNITY

Clip, paste and write about your family adventures A family vacation is a perfect opportunity to create a trip scrapbook

that will be a lasting souvenir of family adventures. Collect postcards,

brochures and menus from restaurants. Encourage your child to write

descriptions of the places you visited and tell stories of your families

escapades, or suggest a scrapbook on your child’s favorite sports

team, or a chronicle of the year in school. The scrapbook might

contain photos with captions, newspaper clippings or school

mementos.

If there are objects that won’t tuck into a book, consider

alternative ways to preserve the collection, such as a

shadow box that can hang on the wall. Here are some

theme ideas:

Exploring the Great Outdoors

A Visit to …

My World Travels (real or imaginary!)

What I learned this summer

Backseat Adventures

Camp Life

My Family, Friends, and/or Pet

My Team’s Spectacular Summer

Summer Is ...

Summer Science Fun!

Have some fun in the sun with the

physics of shadows. Ask your child to

look at his/her shadow at different times

of day to show the connection between

the sun's position in the sky and the

length of the shadow. Use chalk on a

sidewalk or a stick in the sand to trace

the shadow to see how it shrinks and

grows with time. Have your child

measure and chart shadow length and

explain when it is shortest and why.

Great Resources!

Shadow Puppet Space Race Craft Workshop

Tuesday, July 30, 2019 (6:00PM – 7:00PM). Kent

Library. Ages 8 and older. Design and make your own

shadow puppet spacecraft using a variety of

materials, then race your vehicle through a galactic

obstacle course!

Summer Sounds & Cinema

Friday, August 2, 2019. (7:00PM -

11:00PM). Sunset Park, in

Auburn. 7:00 PM - The Marlin

James Band (wide variety country

favs). Dusk - Ralph Breaks the

Internet (PG)

Space Odyssey Exhibit

Saturday, August 3, 2019

(11:00AM – 2:00PM). Auburn Library. Presented by

Pacific Science Center Science on Wheels. Ages 5

and older. It’s not magic, it is physics! Learn how

sound waves travel, ways to use filters and lenses to

change images and about amazing phenomena from

magnetism to magnification.

Mary Olson Farm Open Hours

Saturday and Sunday, August 3, 4, 10, 11, 17, 24, 25,

2019 (12:00p.m.–5:00p.m.) Mary Olson Farm, 28728

Green River Road SE in Auburn. The Farmhouse is

open to tour each day from 1 - 4pm. Take your family

on a trip back in time to the Mary Olson Farm. Kids

will love meeting our cow, chickens, and mini donkeys

and going on a tour of the Olson’s farmhouse. Pack a

picnic and spend the day enjoying one of the best-

preserved farms in King County! Free admission

during regular open hours. To help us maintain this

wonderful property, a suggested donation of $5 per

adult and $2 per child is greatly appreciated.

Ukulele Jam

Saturday, August 3, 2019 (3:00PM – 4:00PM).

Sammamish Library. Ages 8 to 108. Ages 8 to 12 with

adult. No younger siblings please. Learn and play

songs together on the ukulele! BYOU, bring your own

ukulele, and just show up. The first 15 minutes will be

basics for people new to the instrument, then we'll

begin playing songs the remainder of the time. Sheet

music will be provided. If you need a loaner

instrument, register online one month in advance. If

registration is "full" there are no more loaners

available that month.

Taming of the Shrew

Sunday, August 4 (5:00 pm). Lake Wilderness Park in

the Natural Amphitheatre. Written by William

Shakespeare between 1590 and 1592, William tells a

story of the headstrong, Katherina, who becomes the

unwilling participant in a relationship with Petruchio,

who is determined to "tame" Katherina with his

various psychological torments. The antics ensue

with the battle of wits and obstinance that will have

you laughing and waiting to see who will be most

persistent.

Sun S'mores

Monday, August 5, 2019 (12:00PM – 1:30PM). Fall

City Library. Entering grades 5-8. Harness the power

of the sun to cook your favorite camping snack!

Construct a solar oven and learn how solar ovens are

used to humanity’s benefit around the globe.

DIY 3D Rockets

Tuesday, August 6, 2019 (1:00PM – 2:00PM). Renton

Library. Make your very own 3D rocket using our

3Doodler pens. Grades 3-12. Space is limited, first

come first served.

Space Rocks Painting Workshop

Tuesday, August 6, 2019 (3:00PM – 4:00PM). Kent

Library. Age 8 to adult. Design your own

interplanetary rock or rock shaped alien! Inspiration,

painting supplies, how-to's and engineering are

provided. Rocks for painting will be available, but

limited – feel free to bring your own rock.

Bubble Powered Rockets

Registration begins August 6, 10am. Monday,

August 19, 2019 (2:30PM – 3:30PM). Maple Valley

Library. Ages 8 to 12. Your challenge, should you

choose to accept it, is to build your own rocket using

paper and fizzing tablets. Once we all have our

rockets ready to fly we'll see whose goes the highest!

Low Sensory Evenings

Aug 7, 2019 (5:30 pm - 7:30 pm) KidsQuest

Children's Museum, Bellevue. Low Sensory Evenings

are a special time just for kids with sensory

sensitivities to visit the museum. We’re limiting

attendance and turning down the ambient noise and

light to provide an even more inviting place to explore,

play, and learn. These evenings are especially

appropriate for children with autism and/or Sensory

Processing Disorder, but Low Sensory Evenings are

open to children with any type of special need and

their families. Free. Pre-registration required.

Tickets are limited to keep noise levels low.

Space-A-Cade

Thursday, August 8, 2019 (7:00PM – 8:00PM).

Issaquah Library. Family program, all ages welcome.

Presented by Rocky Mountain Puppets. Lenny’s

spaceship has crashed on Earth and he needs help to

get home. His ship is powered by knowledge. Can

you learn and read enough to help Lenny return to his

planet?

Here’s a family friendly way to encourage your child’s interest in math and explore math as a family. Math challenge activities provide stimulating problems that are fun to do together and help children appreciate math. There are 80 challenges available to select from, and the website provides everything you will need to support success, including hints and strategies to get started. No matter what your own experiences are with math, you can be a positive influence on your child.

Here’s a hint for getting started

Here’s two different sample solutions

Extending Your Thinking

This week our focus is:

• Increase overall vocabulary• Use context clues to figure out the meaning of unknown words

The more vocabulary words children know, the better they are able to understand what they’re reading. To help your child develop a strong vocabulary: 1. Play with new rich words in daily 

conversations. Don’t just ask “what made you so sad?” Ask: “What made you so blue, depressed, dejected, unhappy, sorrowful, mournful, gloomy. 

2. Encourage your child to read on his own –he’ll encounter and learn more words 

3. Read with your child – talk about new words and practice using context clues to figure out the meaning of difficult vocabulary. 

Word Mapping – have your child choose 2‐4 words from a current book they are reading and map the words 

Dictionary.com is a useful site 

Context Clues Activities Don’t Touch That Dictionary! Think and Guess Exercises 

Amazing Anagrams –make your own puzzles to solve

http://www.vocabulary.co.il/

http://www.playkidsgames.com/vocabularyGames.htm

http://www.fekids.com/kln/games/wordjungle/wordjungle.html

Don’t

Touch That Dictionary!

Choose 2-4 difficult vocabulary words

from your child’s independent reading

book. Ask your child to guess the meaning

of the unknown word using the words

and sentences surrounding it.

Example: The river was full of noxious

materials such as cleaning agents from

factories and pesticides from the nearby

farms. Ask, “What do you think noxious

means?” “ What clues did you use?”

Think and Guess - Vocabulary Exercises

1. Many birds fly south for the winter, looking

for balmier weather. Balmy weather is

_____________ and pleasant.

high

warm

cold

stormy

2. New York is the most populous city in the

United States, with about seven million people in

it. The more ________________ a place has, the

more populous it is.

time

money

people

weather

3. The stories told about sea monsters were

fictitious, not true. Fictitious stories are

__________________.

facts

untrue

boring

long

4. Snakes have no arms or legs, but they get

along very well without limbs. Limbs are used for

moving or for ___________ things.

holding

seeing

chewing

buying

5. The beaver seals the cracks in the dam so that

the water cannot leak out. To seal a crack is to

______________ it tightly.

close

crack

wet

squeeze

6. Raccoons are nocturnal animals, active at

night. Nocturnal creatures are not active during

the ____________________.

7. The bald eagle is a symbol of our country. It

was chosen because it is bold, strong, and free,

like the United States. Because it is a symbol, it

stands _______________ the United States.

night

day

turn

rain

8. The archer fish shoots a drop of water that

strikes an insect. To strike something is to

___________________ it.

eat

see

drop

hit

9. In the Arctic, it gets colder as you go north. It

is the reverse in the Antarctic. There, it gets

colder as you go south. The reverse is the

_________________________.

cold

same

opposite

truth

10. A bull elephant may weigh six tons. A ton is

2,000 ______________.

feet

miles

pounds

dollars

on for in

behind

Amazing Anagrams for Sentences

What is a sentence anagram? It is a puzzle to solve by making a sentence out of

mixed up words using context clues.

Directions for sentence anagrams:

1. Select a sentence from a book the child is reading. For vocabulary work, be sure

to choose a sentence that has a harder word and some context clues to the meaning

of the word. Start with shorter, simpler sentences and increase the length and

complexity as ability progresses.

2. Write the sentences on long strips of paper or type them on your computer and

cut out the sentence. Use all lower case letters and no punctuation. Cut between

each word, so every word is on its own card. Mix up the cards.

3. Teach your child these strategies while you solve the first anagram:

Find one or more verbs or “doing words” and put them in the center of your

work area. (Is, am, are should be included in this group)

Ask yourself “W” questions, starting with “Who” or “What” is doing that?

Try some word combinations that might work with the verbs.

Ask yourself “Where” or “When” it is happening. This may help you form

some prepositional phrases or short clauses such as “to the store” or “when it

got dark”. Arrange them with the other words in an order that makes sense

and sounds right.

Ask “How” and “Why” it is happening. This will help insert some adverbs

such as “quickly” or some connector words like “because”.

Continue asking “W” questions, think aloud about the book context, and

keep rearranging the words until the sentence is complete.

4. Remix the word cards and ask the child to use the strategies to reassemble the

sentence. Then provide new ones and work on them together. Gradually shift the

responsibility to the child for use of the strategies and completion.

5. Increase the challenge with longer sentences. Time and record how long each

sentence takes to solve. Talk about context clues used. Add capitals and

punctuation. Keep each sentence in an envelope for future use.

This week our focus is:

Fly a Kite: http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/fly_a_kite/

o Represent multiplication as repeated addition, arrays and counting by multiples o Determine products, quotients and missing factors

The multiplication sign (“x” or “*”) can be read as “groups of”. “5 x 4”

can be read as “5 groups of 4”. Give your

child a few multiplication problems and ask them to draw a

picture showing the correct “groups of”.

Draw a picture that shows 7 x 3

Draw a picture that shows 3 x 7

Name _________________________________________________

Sneaking M & Ms

Trent set a bowl of M & Ms on the counter. His brother walked by and took ½ of them! Then his dad ate 17 of them. When Trent came back, there were only 6 M & Ms left. How many M & Ms were in the bowl to start with?

Show your work using words, numbers and/or pictures.

There were ________ M & Ms to start with.

Name _____________________________________________

The multiplication sign can be replaced with the words “groups of”.

“5 x 3” can be read as “5 groups of 3” and a picture might look like this:

Draw a picture to show the following expressions.

3 x 7

2 x 9

9 x 2

6 x 4

4 x 7

5 x 8

Name_________________________________________________ Fill in the blank to make each number sentence true. 1. 5 * 9 = _____ 2. 4 * 6 = _____

3. 6 *_____ = 18 4. _____ * 1 = 7

5. 4 * 8 = _____ 6. _____ * 5 = 15

7. 7 * 3 = _____ 8. 2 * _____ = 18

9. _____ * 7 = 35 10. 9 * _____ = 27

11. 5 * _____ = 40 12. 4 * 4 = _____

13. Write two different fact families below.

_____ * _____ = _____ _____ * _____ = _____

_____ * _____ = _____ _____ * _____ = _____

_____ / _____ = _____ _____ / _____ = _____

_____ / _____ = _____ _____ / _____ = _____

Name ________________________________________________ Write the fact family. __________________________ __________________________ __________________________ __________________________ Fill in the empty frames. Find the rule and complete the tables.

8

72 9

X, ÷

Rule - 8 40

Rule

IN OUT

8 24

5

4

2 6

27

Rule

IN OUT

6 30

8

9

7 35

25