NVA Gives A "Hoot"

Happy 2019 from North Valley Academy!

Two weeks into the new year and although students have been back to school since January 2nd, I am positively sure that many wish they were still enjoying winter break!

Upper Elementary English classes are in full swing with new units and my excitement is racing as we dig into some amazing stories of courage, survival, and standing up for what is right.

Sixth grade is beginning a unit on the novel A Long Walk to Water, by Linda Sue Park.  “Two young people...two stories.  One country: Sudan.”  This novel explores the theme of survival and courage - “The human spirit is capable of the impossible when faced with the unthinkable.”  Students will be collaborating in their Social Studies class on several aspects pertaining to this novel such as the civil war of Southern Sudan, water-borne illnesses and clean drinking water, and cultural differences among others.

Fifth grade began a study of the novel Hoot, by Carl Hiaasen - This book is a total “HOOT!”   Students will love Hiaasen’s sense of humor and purpose.  A fun, engaging story about young kids standing up for what is right; bullying and protecting a group of burrowing owls from destruction.  This novel teaches that “sometimes (in life) you’re going to be faced with situations where the line isn’t clear between what’s right and what’s wrong.  Your heart will tell you to do one thing and your brain will tell you to do something different.  In the end, all that’s left is to look at both sides and go with your best judgment.”  Students will be collaborating in Science class on discussions raised in the novel, such as burrowing owls, owl habitats and the effects of industrial growth, endangered species, and ecology.

In a collaborative effort on this novel (Hoot), Mrs. Klamm’s sophomore art class spent a day with my fifth grade English class teaching us how to draw burrowing owls with chalk and oil pastels.  Please enjoy the photos below, we have some amazing, budding artists at NVA!

  

  

  

Also, please enjoy some of the owl drawings from our high school students who participated:

2018 has passed, 2019 is ready for NVA.

“‘I wear the chain I forged in life,’ replied the Ghost.  ‘I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on with my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it.  Is it’s pattern strange to you?...Or would you know,’ pursued the Ghost, ‘the weight and length of the strong coil you bear yourself?  It was full as heavy and as long as this seven Christmas Eves ago.  You have labored on it since.  It is a ponderous chain!” - A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens

North Valley Academy wishes you and your families a warm and joyous Christmas season!  Go look at Christmas lights, play games, sing Christmas carols...but most of all, spend quality time together and enjoy your families!  As 5th grade English is studying A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, I am reminded solemnly of the fact that children learn a tremendous amount from those in their sphere of influence.  The old adage of “Do and I say, not as I do,” rings in our ears but is unrealistic.  Children learn to value the things we value by watching what we allow to control our lives.  Like old Jacob Marley and Ebenezer Scrooge in this classic Dickens novel, we forge our own chains out of the things we allow to shape our days, things that many times hold us back from being our best self, things our children see and learn from, eventually forging their own chains.  In a symbolism activity we did, students anonymously added to our classroom chain things that hold back either themselves, or someone they love, from being the best, joy-filled person they can be.  Can I just say, Wow!  Children are so observant and understand more than we sometimes give them credit for.  Some of the items on our chain include:  fear, jealousy, smoking, video games, cell phones, social media, addictions to shopping, vaping, stress, selfishness, drinking too much alcohol, always working, being a workaholic and missing out on all the fun in life, and my mom works so hard she isn’t herself.  The top three responses had something to do with addiction to alcohol/smoking, working too much, and electronic devices.  Friends, colleagues, and parents, in the Spirit of Christmas, let us remember that love and family are so very much more important than all these other things!  Like Ebenezer Scrooge, let us endeavor to change our perspectives and lead by example, showing our children what really matters most!





Mrs. Stephenson’s English classes are all about reading!! 

Thank you to the Idaho Lottery for providing our classroom with books to support our Battle of the Books program this year!!  Your support of reading and our school is appreciated!!

Earlier in November, in the spirit of giving and in celebration of National Young Readers Week, Mrs. Stephenson’s 5th grade English class spent time in Mr. William’s 2nd grade classroom.  For this service project, each 5th grader was paired with a second grade student to buddy read for an hour.  Our students read Diary of Greg Heffley’s Best Friend, by Jeff Kinney, and after reading together, 5th grade presented a copy of the book to each 2nd grade student to keep.





Mrs. Stephenson’s 6th grade English has been studying Greek Mythology and is just finishing reading The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan.  Students have been learning to compare informational texts about mythology with this literary work based on common themes.  We are also studying how the hero of this novel follows, like many other stories, “The Hero’s Journey.”  Students have worked hard on making connections between texts and learning to write literary analysis! 




From all of us at North Valley Academy, have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!  We’ll see you back in January!