We need drivers!

Reminders:
We need drivers for Monday's field trip to the Marine Mammal Center and Rodeo Beach! We currently have drivers for only 8 students, and will be unable to go unless more parents volunteer. Please let us know if you can drive and chaperone that day.

Homework:
Island of the Blue Dolphins homework (started in class today).

Fourth grade math homework, due tomorrow
Purple group:
Option 1 JUMP subtraction handout
Option 2 Subtraction patterns

4^th grade Blue Group homework: Addition packet - Each student has an individualized goal in their packet. The star on the page means this is a page they are working on for homework. Some students have “skip” written on top, to skip a page to move ahead to a starred page. Some students have an arrow for a “goal” to get to. Please watch your time.

Fifth grade math homework
Worksheet in packet labeled Wednesday hw - download part 1, part 2

Fourth grade math
In the purple group, we started class with a survey of how many different languages students could say "Hello" in. The range was 5 and the median was 6 languages! Then we continued work in two separate groups. One group looked at data from two basketball players and stated opinions based on facts in the data. The other group practiced addition with regrouping (borrowing), and subtraction with regrouping.

Science: Planet, Ocean, and Land

Students spent time creating mini-books demonstrating facts they have learned about planet ocean.

Please Drive on Monday's Field Trip

We need drivers for Monday's field trip to the Marine Mammal Center and Rodeo Beach! We currently have drivers for only 8 students, and will be unable to go unless more parents volunteer. Please let us know if you can drive and chaperone that day.

Reminders:

• Please sign and return the permission slip for the Marine Mammal Center field trip. Your child brought home a copy (or you can also download it here).

Homework:

Fourth grade math homework, due tomorrow
If you are not finished after 30 minutes, please stop and have your parents write a note.
4th grade Purple Group
Option 1: JUMP NS4.13 & 15, Regrouping & Addition
Option 2: JUMP PDM5.11-12, Primary & secondary data, Samples & surveys (answer on sheet, not notebook)

4th grade Blue Group:
Complete at least two more pages of the packet from class (and/or finish the packet).

Fifth grade math homework
1. Give your parents their Parent Letter for Unit 3

2. Worksheet in packet labeled Tuesday hw - download part 1, part 2

Reading log
Please record your 30 minutes of reading in your log.

4th Grade Math

Today the math groups shifted based on the subtraction assessment students completed. In the purple group, students shared their survey data and conclusions with classmates in a gallery walk, asking questions and making comments. Students with strong subtraction skills continued data analysis work by looking at WNBA players' points per game, and analyzing the data. They should complete option 2 homework. Those students needing a little more practice with regrouping worked with base 10 blocks to practice making groups of tens from ones. They should complete the option 1 JUMP packet for homework.

The blue group reviewed place value in numbers up to the hundred thousands. This is in preparation for our work with base ten blocks as we review and solidify knowledge of addition and dive into subtraction with regrouping (also known as “borrowing”).

5th grade math

5th graders continued work on their 10,000s charts today, finding numbers all over the grid and labeling them. They created equations and solved for questions like, "What number is 12 rows below 1,257?"

Science
Today we started our unit studying the world's oceans. Students cut apples into pieces to represent the fraction of the earth that is ocean (~3/4) vs. land (~1/4), habitable (1/8) vs. inhabitable (1/8), farmable (1/32), has fresh water (3/10,000), is productive coastal zones (1/16), or is a region of upwelling, with a large concentration of ocean life (3/4000). Students also made pie charts to represent this, underlying that most of our planet is covered by ocean, but only a small fraction supports large concentrations of life.

Figurative Language

Reminders:

• Please sign and return the permission slip for the Marine Mammal Center field trip. Your child brought home a copy(or you can also download it here). We need drivers! Please let us know if you can drive and chaperone that day.
• Save the date for the Winter Holiday Concert our class will be performing in on Wednesday, December 14, 6:00-8:00 pm at the Northbrae Community Church.
  

Homework:

Fourth grade math homework, due tomorrow
Purple group:
1. Finish Unit 2, pages 20-21 (download here) if you did not finish in class.
2. Complete Unit 2, pages 23-24 (download here), using factor rainbows to find all the factors.
Blue Group math homework.

Fifth grade math homework
1. Give your parents their Parent Letter for Unit 3

2. Worksheet in packet labeled Monday hw (which is actually the third page in the packet) - download part 1, part 2

Figurative Language writing homework: Simile, metaphor and personification.

Fourth grade math
Both groups took a short assessment today on subtraction, as we will be working on reviewing subtraction skills with students who need it this week. In the purple group, today's question was: How can we compare and make conclusions based on data? Fourth graders put the finishing touches on the graphs comparing two different groups, and completed pages 20-21 making conclusions about their data.

In the blue group the 4^th graders practiced skip counting as a group by 2’s, 3’s, 5’s and 100’s. We added on and subtracted from for our patterns, dipping into negative numbers as the pattern continued below zero. The students had time to work on their ongoing fraction activity packet, “Show Me One Half.” For this activity the students use Cuisineaire Rods (fraction sticks) to explore patterns with fractions. We discussed the numerator and denominator, and how to determine what one whole is when comparing fractions with unlike denominators.

Fifth grade math

I handed fifth graders a giant blank grid in math class, and tasked them with not only determining the total number of square units (10,000), but also with labeling the grid so tomorrow they will be able to efficiently find any number I give them between one and 10,000. It is the first activity in our unit on large numbers, which includes reading and writing large numbers, addition and subtraction of large numbers, estimation, etc.

Writing Workshop: A main focus this morning was figurative language. We looked at poems that use simile, metaphor and personification. After each poem, the students practiced writing one of the figurative language techniques exemplified by the poem. We looked at “Ode to Enchanted Light,” by Pablo Neruda, “Fog,” by Carl Sandburg, and “Who Has Seen the Wind,” by Christina Georgina Rosetti. Tonight’s homework is a review of this lesson, and a chance to go further exploring this technique.

Fort Ross Photo Extravaganza!

Many thanks to the parents who have shared their photos from different aspects of the Fort Ross trip.  Clare Woakes accompanied us as class photographer, and Sophie Gullung as an officer of the Hunters, while Kathleen Schwallie captured moments from the dress rehearsal, departure, and return.

Please click below to see their wonderful photos:

• Fort Ross Trip--Clare Woakes
• Fort Ross Trip--Sophie Gullung
• Fort Ross Return--Kathleen Schwallie
• Fort Ross Departure--Kathleen Schwallie
• Fort Ross Dress Rehearsal--Kathleen Schwallie
• Fort Ross Dress Rehearsal--Clare Woakes
• Fort Ross Trip--Sima

Gratitude

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Field trip:
We have scheduled our trip with the Cerrito Creek class to the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito and Rodeo Beach for Monday, December 5 from 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. We will take a class and tour, then lunch and do a beach clean up and hike.

Please download and sign the permission slip (which you can download here) and return it as soon as possible. We need drivers! Please let us know if you can drive and chaperone that day.
Reminders:

• No school or child care Wednesday, Nov. 23 through Friday, Nov. 25 for the Thanksgiving holiday
• Save the date for the Winter Holiday Concert our class will be performing in on Wednesday, December 14, 6:00-8:00 pm at the Northbrae Community Church.

No Homework over the Thanksgiving Break.

Gratitude:
This morning students created Gratitude Journals in morning circle, and started writing things they are grateful for. We will be coming back to these periodically through out the year. Research shows that kids who routinely reflect on people and things they are grateful for are happier than those who don't.

In the afternoon, we continued the theme of gratitude by making garlands with paper leaves on which children wrote the names of people, pets, and things they are glad for in their lives. Hopefully some of these garlands will find their way to your holiday tables this week!

Academically, students in fourth grade math continued work on graphing data (in the purple group based on their surveys of students at our school) and interpreting graphs. Fifth grade mathematicians have been working on three-dimensional geometry. Writers continued editing drafts of their Fort Ross historical fiction on the computers, and we are almost done with the book Island of the Blue Dolphins.

We finished the day by celebrating Gwen's birthday with cupcakes!

Best wishes to all of you for a very meaningful and restful holiday with family and friends.

Surrealism in the Classroom

Reminders:

• No school or child care Wednesday, Nov. 23 through Friday, Nov. 25 for the Thanksgiving holiday.
• Save the date for the Winter Holiday Concert our class will be performing in on Wednesday, December 14, 6:00-8:00 pm, Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda, Berkeley.

Homework:
Spelling homework due tomorrow.

Fourth grade math due tomorrow.
Blue Group Homework: Revisiting Pictographs
Purple Group Homework:
1. Finish the Peanut count sheet and Interesting plot sheet if you did not complete these in class.
2. Please choose one of these options:

• Option 1: Factor practice sheet
• Option 2: Calculate sheet (you may use a calculator, but explain your thinking)

Fifth grade math due tomorrow.
Write about which shape box would be best for shipping the product - long and skinny, cubical, etc. Why?


Art Appreciation
This morning Strawberry students contemplated a painting by Salvador Dali, "The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory." Students recorded notes about what they could "see," what the painting made them "think," and what it made them "wonder" about. We will find opportunities to view other artists, works by poets and more.

Math
4th Grade Blue Group: In class the blue group students are creating double bar graphs. They began by analyzing the appropriate scale to use to represent the data provided. This became increasingly challenging as the data set grew in size and did not fit a uniform pattern in each category. Tomorrow we we share graphs, and determine which scales chosen successfully represent the data.
Blue Group Homework: Revisiting Pictographs

4th Grade Purple Group: Today's question: How can we collect and keep track of data from 2 groups to answer a question? Students started collecting data from fourth graders and in some cases Kindergartners and first graders using the questions they settled on Thursday. They also completed work in the activity books graphing and interpreting graphs, and some continued fraction work with Show Me One Half. See homework above.

5th Grade Math: Fifth graders drew rectangular prisms that could fit 12 of another rectangular prism. They had constructed prisms with grid paper last week, and this led to today's question of how one would ship a given number of smaller boxes in a larger box. For tonight's homework, they will write about which shape box would be best for shipping the product - long and skinny, cubical, etc. Why?

Social Rules--What's Happening?
From Kate Klaire

In Sweet Briar Creek, Strawberry Creek, and Cerrito Creek we are thinking about the big stuff of friendships and what it’s like to make new friends. This is poignant as we have been inviting a few new friends into our TBS community. Conversations have been insightful and generative. Here are some of the big ideas and thoughts about what to try with new friends - Remember who I am, Feel out the situation, Introduce myself, Old friends introduce you to someone you think they might like, Noticing common interests or something you like and going over to meet them, Be helpful, Be myself, and, If I keep trust with my friends, we will be able to do more things together. These are a few conversation starters you can have with your child about friendships. It is great to have you participating from home, so we can build common language and social skills with our kids.

1812-2011 & Friday Buddies

1812 to 2011

Wow! What an experience. We traveled back to the 19th century, lived by candle light, cooked by wood fires, "slept" in drafty redwood buildings, took long walks to necessities such as water (carrying buckets to and from) and used primitive privies. Ahh, but we all wished we could stay longer. Then, we were thrust back into the 21st century as if all else was for naught!

Fort Ross is indelible. I hope your time traveler(s) has shared his or her experiences and stories with you, and showed you their historical account in their handmade journal. Just know that seeing a raccoon at night, a whale at dawn, a wooden cemetery cross, or a blast from a cannon symbolize a much greater adventure of walking into the past and living a day and a half in the surreal territory of time displacement.

A tremendous amount of thanks go to our adult chaperones and helpers. For the support we received before the trip in the form of cutting fabric, threading needles, baking pies, donating supplies and materials and ideas, to being in the classroom to help students, and those who were able to be officer/chaperones we are immensely grateful.

Cerritoberry meeting: This Friday morning as part of our Cerritoberry time we watched the movie short, "The Story of Broke," which is the next in the series of "The Story of Stuff." The link for this is: "http://www.storyofstuff.org/movies-all/story-of-broke/"
The movie short helps to explain the context for what the current "Occupy" movement has been about, yet is not specifically about Occupy. After watching the movie there was a student led discussion.

Otter math: Math on Friday was a Strawberry class event, with students partnered to work on mathematical problems related to sea otter information. From determining population growth to diving depth, the problems require multiple operations and constructive thinking to unravel. While it is not homework, please enjoy as you wish: Otter Math worksheet.

Buddies: Strawberry students selected books from the school library to read to their buddies. Each student also shared a "comic strip" they are working on about their Fort Ross experience. In the comic strips students are elaborating on real experiences, such as cannon firings that go astray.

Sea Otter Games

Today we completed our Otter Quiz Show. Last week the students studied information about the sea otter, sea urchins, the kelp forest and the relationship of this ecosystem to people. In a quiz show format the students worked in cooperative teams to answer questions related to the information studied. The class did a terrific job, supported one another and worked together.

To tie together our study of otters and Fort Ross, we went outside to play another sea otter hunting simulation game. The game dramatizes the impact unregulated hunters can have on a population of otters. After 2 or 3 rounds the otter reproduction rate was unable to keep up with the hunting rate. The population plummeted to zero otters by the end of round four.

Back in the classroom we debriefed the game. Students came up with ways to improve the "rules" of play. Next, we filled in a graph based on real information collected by the clerks of the Russian American Company in the 1800s tracking the otter harvests in the Bodega Bay and San Francisco Bay regions. Not surprisingly, the otter population diminishes in a similar pattern to the simulation game.

Homework:
Fort Ross crossword puzzle and Reading Log - Students should work on the puzzle for at least 15 minutes. They are not expected to complete the puzzle tonight. We will pick it up in class again to work on more.

Fourth grade math:
The purple group's question of the day was: How can we make a survey to find out an amount of something? Pairs of students worked together to come up with survey questions that would measure the amount of something, and that they could ask of two different groups to compare them. Students came up with questions like:

• How many different kinds of classes do you take after school or on weekends?
• How many people did you ride to school with you today?
• How many kids under 18 live with you?

Students will be collecting data for these surveys next week, since Cerrito has their feast tomorrow.

Fourth grade math homework:
Purple group should complete Unit 2, pages 15-16, which you can download here. Calculate mode, median, range, range above median, or range below median to make conclusions. Due Monday, 11/21.

4th grade Blue Group: Today we continued to work on making bar graphs and determining the scale to use to represent data on a graph successfully. Homework page due tomorrow: Double Bar Graphs

5th graders finished their 3D models of rectangular prisms, calculating surface area and volume. They worked on their problems of the week, as well, which are due tomorrow.

Math homework and reading tonight

Reminders: Please return your student's white portfolio from conferences!

Homework:

Fourth grade math:

• The purple group should finish working on both pages of the JUMP math handout, which you can download here. Bar graphs should be completed on graph paper.
• The blue group has no homework tonight--they will continue work on the handout in class tomorrow.

Fifth grade math homework is the Problem of the Week, which is due Friday.

Please read for 30 minutes and keep track of the title of the book, for the reading log you will receive tomorrow.

Math:

Both fourth grade math groups took a second look at their bar graph work from last week, and made corrections to it. Now we are discussing how to choose the best scale for a bar graph, especially in double bar graphs. Sima was out this morning, so students in the purple group had a substitute teacher.

Fifth graders built rectangular prism replicas of boxes that held classroom supplies. They calculated surface area, volume, and drew the 3D objects. Tomorrow, they will find the dimensions of a larger box in which to ship twelve of their smaller boxes.

Memorable Journey Back in Time

Fort Ross Slideshow

Excellent weather and good spirits helped make our trip back in time to the 1800's and life at Colony Ross a great success! Many thanks in particular to the parents who traveled with us--we could not have been artisans, cooks, gardeners, hunters, or militia without their thoughtful organizing of activities for the past several weeks and their attentive mentoring for the past two days. Ask your student about Night Watch, the beach, hikes to the cemetery and beach, the amazing feasts, mail call, the Russian fairy tale, the talks about trading, dancing the troika, or firing of the cannons. What a rich experience we all shared!

Set Your Alarm Clocks! Be at TBS at 7:30am.

Thank you (in advance) for supporting this trip and making sure your Fort Ross-time-period-dressed child is at TBS by 7:30am tomorrow. Our journey takes us back to 1812 and the technology of the time period. When the sun goes down we have only candle light. Our EARLY departure from the 21st century allows us more time with the SUN when we need it.

With electricity today we take for granted that the sun never really goes down. At Colony Ross, we will see the sunset at about 5:00 over the Pacific, and are left with about 30 minutes of dusk to wrap up dinner before darkness sets in. This can be a beautiful experience. In fact, last year many of us saw the infamous "green flash" just as the sun fell below the sea.

The weather looks fantastic! Cold at night, but most likely no rain. The students will still bring a rain coat in the car (they do not need to be concerned with lugging it around). Day packs will never be "carried around" but are within reach all day.

For students and chaperones, please don't forget:
WATER BOTTLE - filled with water!
A bag snack and lunch for Monday (please avoid lunch boxes, plastic-ware etc. if possible - no microwaves around 1812).
Sunscreen (I am so thankful we can say this) - please administer to face in the morning.

Re-check your packing list for the DAY PACK and see you in the morning.

Do svidaniya! (duh svee-dah-nee-ye),

Fort Ross Plans for Monday

The entire class is super excited about our upcoming trip to Fort Ross! Here are instructions for Monday morning.

1. Please arrive at 7:30 a.m. with students in costume with their packed Day Pack (see packing list) and jacket.
2. Meet in front parking lot - we are not going to classroom.
3. Students should check in with a teacher, sign in, and get their Fort Ross parcel bag.
4. Drivers should park near the entrance to the school.

Please call if you are running late--we can't promise we can wait for you (we have to get on the road for the long trip), but it would helpful to know that you are on your way and perhaps we can meet up.

Below are the Driving Groups.

Fourth Grade Math
We learned the essential points of bar graphs as a whole group today, including the importance of choosing the right scale. Students made a human bar graph by choosing their favorite fruits, and practiced making graphs on paper.

No homework this weekend.

Driving Groups

Clare Woakes
Jesse
Calista
Anne
(Sophie, Anne's mother)

Keith Morris
Anika
Aya
Selihome
Sophia

Eric Craypo
Max
Isaac
Riley

David Hoffman
Mia
Meg
(Claire, Meg's mother)

Cathy MacNeal
Charlotte
Vivian
Nora
Gwen
(Elizabeth, Nora's mother)

Gregoire Jacquet
Milo
Luka
(Stephen, teacher)

Don Cornejo
Hannah
Amelia
Caroline

Beth Trachtenberg
Sam
Tyrrell
Shunyata
Ethan
(Tanya, Ethan's mother)

Bring Packed Overnight Bags for Fort Ross - Tomorrow!

The packing list went home again with the students. Please be sure to bring packed bags to school tomorrow morning (Friday) at 8:30 a.m.!

Fourth grade math:
Fourth graders in the purple group finished work with Venn diagrams and learned how to make pictographs with appropriate scales. The blue group worked on Venn diagrams today, and Show Me One Half.

Fourth grade math homework:
Purple group: two pages of Revisiting Pictographs
Blue group: no homework

Fifth grade math homework:
Tonight's homework is in This week's packet.

Otters, Journal Writing & Math

Fort Ross Packing Reminder: Packed overnight bags (sleeping bags and pads) are due at TBS on Friday! Here is the packing list again.

Homework:
4th Grade Math Homework for blue group.
4th grade purple group homework: Finish Range & Median handout and the first 2 pages of the JUMP packet
5th grade math homework: Note that tonight's homework is misleadingly labeled "Monday hw." This week's packet.

Writing Homework: Strawberry students are bringing home their historical fiction journal stories again tonight to work on. They are making great progress, and some students are beginning to use the writing rubric to plan revisions. The rubric is the second page.

During science this week we have been studying sea otters. Today, after studying sea otter facts and related information we had our first round of the Otter Quiz Show.

Fourth grade math:
The purple group finished talking about range and median, and what it tells you about the shape of data. Students finished an assessment analyzing the number of cavities in our class and another class, and we began a discussion about classification of data and Venn Diagrams. In class the blue group focused on categorizing data.

Fifth grade math:
We continued our work with 3D geometry, exploring how to double volume of a rectangular prism by doubling one dimension of the figure.

Fort Ross characters join the Russian American Company

Reminders:

• Please send in your student's white portfolio binder and any Unicef Halloween money they collected.
• Look at home to see if your child brought home the Berkeley Public Library books Ranger's Apprentice: The Ruins of Gorlan or The Sister's Grimm: Once Upon a Crime. These books are overdue and we need to return them.
• Packed bags are due this Friday, Nov. 11, and we will be departing for Fort Ross this coming Monday, Nov. 14 at 7:30 a.m.--please be sure to come on time.

Homework:

• Historical Fiction journal or story writing (students are bringing this home each day to work on).
• No math homework tonight.

Fort Ross Presentation

A variety of Native American, Native Alaskan, and Russian characters from the past visited Strawberry Creek classroom this morning to introduce themselves and join the Russian American Company (Settlement Ross). They received their travel permits that allow them entry next Monday morning. Many thanks to the parents who made time in their busy days to hear the presentations. Please share any photos you might have taken.

Students are busily working on their historical fiction pieces about their characters--either narratives or journal entries--and finishing handicrafts like their packet bags and journals. Several students created sticks for the game Staves, which was often played at Colony Ross.

Sea Otters

Students watched a short clip of the David Attenborough Blue Planet video about California sea ottters, sharing what they already knew about these furry creatures and what they wanted to find out. We will be learning more about these animals and their adaptations--they played an important role for the people of Fort Ross, and continue to play important roles in the balance of the ocean kelp forest ecosystem.

Fort Ross Dress Rehearsal tomorrow!

Reminders:

• Fort Ross Dress Rehearsal tomorrow, Tuesday, Nov. 8 from 8:45 to 10:00 a.m. Families are welcome to attend, and please make sure your student comes to school in costume, with a change of clothes if necessary for recess. The students brought home an index card and sheet to prepare for tomorrow (see homework).
  
• Please send in your student's white portfolio binder and any Unicef Halloween money they collected.
• Look at home to see if your child brought home the Berkeley Public Library books Ranger's Apprentice: The Ruins of Gorlan or The Sister's Grimm: Once Upon a Crime. These books are overdue and we need to return them.
  

Homework:

• Dress Rehearsal Presentation practice & Reading log.
• Historical Fiction journal or story writing (students are bringing this home each day to work on). Tonight they should prioritize planning for the presentation tomorrow.
  
• No math homework tonight.
  

Assembly:
Our entire school met in the Depot to hear from the Student Council about their work forging new rules for recess. They will be setting up idea boxes in each classroom so all students can share their ideas with the council. We also sang a song Eve taught the students in music class, about medicine and healing people, sometimes called witches, from the past.

Lice Check:
We were glad to find that none of the students in Strawberry Creek had lice. Please be sure to keep checking your students at home!

Math:
Students had math in Strawberry Creek today, due to the Assembly and Lice Check. We learned two new simple games that only require two or more players, pencil, paper, and dice, and could easily be played at home: Top Sums and Bowl 'em Over. Below are the rules, but you can ask your child to teach you the games.

Top Sums (a place value game)
1. Roll a die.
2. Write the number in one box of an addition problem (an example template can be downloaded here). Once you write it down, you may not change its position!
3. Roll 4 more times and write each number down in one of the boxes.
4. Find the sum (answer).
The person with the biggest sum wins!

Bowl 'Em Over (number sense & writing numerical expressions game)
1. Roll the die four times and record the numbers.
2. Write equations using the four operations and at least 3 of the numbers to arrive at the numbers from zero to ten. For example, if you rolled 1, 3, 4, and 9, to knock over the 6 pin, you could write the equation 6 = (9-4) + 1.
3. Each correct equation knocks over its pin. You can knock over the 10 pin with an equation that equals 0 or 10.
4. At the end of a round, record how many pins you “knocked over”.
The winner(s) have the highest bowling score.

Current Events & Journal Making

Reminders:

• Please check your child for lice. See the email message from Laura Gorjance about the lice report from our classroom, and please volunteer to help out this Monday if you can.
• No school this Thursday and Friday for parent-teacher conferences.
• Families are welcome to attend our Fort Ross Dress Rehearsal this Tuesday, November 8 from 8:45 a.m.-10:00 a.m. Students will need to bring in their costumes that day and each will be presenting information about their historical character.

No homework for the long weekend.

Current Events:
Stephen led our class in a "See-Think-Wonder" thinking routine this morning to discuss the recent protests and today's strike going on in Oakland. Students shared what they had heard and seen, talked about what they thought it might be about, and asked questions they had--many were very curious and engaged about these issues. We encourage families to talk about these events with their children and share their own views and values about the events going on in our community.

Math:
Fourth grade mathematicians continued their work analyzing data sets based on height. The purple group developed strategies to calculate medians and modes, and what these kinds of statistics tell us. They also started an assessment on our class cavity data. The blue group created graphs to compare the first grade and fourth height data.

Fort Ross Journal Making:
Julianne Hughes, our art teacher, and Madeleine Dunphy, Gwen's mother, came in this morning to help students learn how to bind their own journals for our Fort Ross journey. Jeff showed students how to antique their journals using masking tape and shoe polish to simulate a weathered leather journal. Students dived into the work with gusto, and enthusiastically finished work sewning their Fort Ross bags as well.

Welcome Nora!

Reminders:

• Please check your child for lice. See the email message from Laura Gorjance about the lice report from our classroom, and please volunteer if you can.
• No school this Thursday and Friday for parent-teacher conferences. Please contact Cindy in the office if you are having trouble scheduling your conference.
• Fort Ross costumes are due this Tuesday, November 8 for the Dress Rehearsals.

Homework:

Social Studies: Fort Ross History Homework, Due Wednesday, 11/2

1. Open to the next blank page in your yellow notebook.

2. Title the page, “Fort Ross History.”

3. Use the (red) Fort Ross Environmental Living Program booklet to find the answers to questions:

9 – 23 (yes, questions 9-23)

The questions are next to the reading starting on page, 241.

4. Number and write the answers in your Social Studies notebook on the page you titled, Fort Ross History.

Remember: You may already know the answers. If not, carefully read the paragraph adjacent (next to) the question. The answers are there!

4th Grade Math, Blue Group: Pages 5 & 6 (factors and cavities)

4th Grade Math, Purple Group: Page 6 (cavities) and using a colored pencil, correct your math assessment, and ask an adult to sign the assessment.

5th Grade Math: Write a paragraph about the candy graphs you made today. What was the most popular kind of candy? Least popular? If you were a candy company, what would these results tell you about what you should be making more of next year?

Welcome to Nora and her family!

We began the day with a new student to Strawberry, Nora Galvan-Carty. Nora (5th grade) and her brother Joey (3rd grade) are among a number of students from Windrush who transferred to TBS this week. Nora was in Jeff's class last year at Windrush along with Gwen and Aya. It is exciting to have her join Strawberry Creek and jump right in to getting ready for Fort Ross. A special thanks to Tara, Madeleine and Mandy for their help in the classroom on Monday during the Fort Ross sewing project. Thanks also to Anne H. who threaded about 48 needles in preparation for our work on Monday. The extra support made it a very successful sewing opportunity for the kids and adults.

Check out the 9th Week of School Slideshow to the left for some photos from the Halloween parade, sewing project, and other recent Strawberry Creek activities.