Happy Holidays!

Thanks to all of your contributions for the holiday potluck today. It was a wonderful celebration and feast!

Students were busy making decorations and snowflakes this morning, and working in art. This afternoon we enjoyed a rousing game of Wells Fargo in the beautiful weather, and each person shared something they will do for another person over the holiday.

The students brought home copies of their Fort Ross historical fiction writing. The students who typed their revision have a Google document file (and is why some have odd formatting). The student files are located on a Gmail account (Strawberryfiles@gmail.com password: strawberry1310). See the "documents" section of the email account.

No homework over the break, but students should continue reading 30 minutes a day, and are encouraged to look for situations at home that require math.

May you all enjoy a peaceful and meaningful holiday with your families!

Art projects & Ranchos

Reminders:

Tomorrow from 11:45-1:00 p.m. you are invited to join us for the class family potluck in the Strawberry Creek classroom. Please sign up emailing room parent Clare Woakes to let her know what you're bringing, so we have everything covered. Also, hot lunch people will get their hot lunch as part of the buffet. Please bring, by last name: A - G Main Dish, H - M Drinks, N - Z Dessert. Thanks!

Homework:

4th Grade Math: No homework. Blue group students have been asked to show someone at home the multiplication we have been doing.

5th Grade Math: No homework, but see fifth grade math letter for unit that begins in January

Reading log due tomorrow.

4th grade Math: 

The blue group spent more time today breaking apart multiplication problems and utilizing their knowledge of powers of 10 to do mental multiplication of larger numbers. After the break we will explore other algorithms to perform multiplication before moving into division.

In the purple group, all the students took a short assessment of their ability to break big arrays into smaller ones and write these as equations to solve multiplication problems. Some students played Small Array/Big Array, while others finished up work on the Paper Pool project, coming up with rules for the pockets the ball falls into or the number of hits. 

Cultural Studies - This week we wrapped up our study of ranchos in California. After viewing short videos about the time period the students worked through a few chapters of information seeking definitions to relevant vocabulary, drawing trade maps, writing written reflections and finishing with creating a "diseño," or map. In the 1830's and 40's Mexico gave land grants to Mexican settlers in California. Part of the process was that the settler drew a map (diseño) of the territory they wished to be awarded showing the property and how it would be used. 

Art Project:  Students made collages, using found images to create faces.

Holiday family lunch potluck Friday

Reminders:

• Tonight at 6:00 p.m. your student is performing in the TBS Holiday concert at Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda in Berkeley. We look forward to seeing all of you!
• Friday from 11:45-1:00 p.m. you are invited to join us for the class family potluck in the Strawberry Creek classroom. Please sign up emailing room parent Clare Woakes to let her know what you're bringing, so we have everything covered. Also, hot lunch people will get their hot lunch as part of the buffet. Please bring, by last name: A - G Main Dish, H - M Drinks, N - Z Dessert. Thanks!

Homework:
No homework tonight except 30 minutes of reading.
Fourth graders in the purple group should give parents their letter.

Fourth grade math:
Most students in the blue and purple groups have been working on breaking multiplication arrays into smaller arrays, to make it easier to find the answer to multiplication problems with bigger numbers. In the purple periwinkle group, students working on the Paper pool project used google spreadsheets to look at their data to find patterns and formulate rules.

Holiday concert tomorrow night, 6:00-8:00 p.m.

Reminders:

• Tomorrow (Wednesday) night at 6:00 p.m. your student is performing in the TBS Holiday concert at Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda in Berkeley. We look forward to seeing all of you!
• Friday from 11:45-1:00 p.m. you are invited to join us for the class family potluck in the Strawberry Creek classroom. Please sign up emailing room parent Clare Woakes to let her know what you're bringing, so we have everything covered. Also, hot lunch people will get their hot lunch as part of the buffet. Please bring, by last name: A - G Main Dish, H - M Drinks, N - Z Dessert. Thanks!

Homework:
Fifth grade math homework, due tomorrow
In the packet, downloadable on yesterday's blog (sorry that last night's homework was absent).

Fourth grade math homework, due tomorrow
Blue group:
1. Finish cutting out the multiplication fact cards (pages 1-2, pages 3-6).
2. Label the back of each card with the answer.
3. Practice the cards (use the instructions) to separate them into two piles (fast and slow or don't know).
4. Write a hint on the front of the card for ones you need to practice.
5. Keep the cards in your envelope and place inside your RED folder.

Purple group:
Option 1 (plum): Continue making & practicing multiplication cards from Monday (see instructions from the blue group above); complete Tickets for the Play, Unit 3, page 6
Option 2 (periwinkle): Round & estimate with 100s and 10s

Hopes for the New Year Homework (assigned yesterday) is due tomorrow.

Fifth grade math

Fifth graders played a game of staircase to begin the day, a game in which the teacher rolls a ten-sided die ten times. Students place each digit that is rolled on the staircase in order to get the biggest possible number, smallest possible number, or closest to a number the teacher names. They practice reading their large numbers in front of the class. Then they practiced mental subtraction of large numbers and some division word problems.

Fourth grade math
In both groups, we did a warm up with Quick Images of dots in different arrays. Students shared math equations and how they saw the dots grouped.
Purple group: One part of the purple group continued work on breaking arrays into smaller parts to solve multiplication word problems. The other used a computer applet of the Paper Pool game to test systematically different dimensions to figure out rules for which pocket the ball goes in, and how many hits occur, looking for patterns and number relationships.
Blue Group: Our main focus today was to practice the multiplication facts from 1-9. In class the students tried a sheet of 50 problems in 5 minutes (sent home with the homework tonight). Our goal will be to increase the number of facts students can do in the 5 minutes by daily practice at school, and at home! The fact cards will be kept in the student binders for use nightly. The cards are also linked in the homework posting if you want to make a set to keep at home. Knowing the basic facts makes our work with multiplication and division more approachable.

Californios and Ranchos: Before the Gold Rush, California was part of Mexico. We recently learned about Mexico gaining independence from Spain, and the transition from a focus on Missions to ranching. During this brief period (1821-1846) Fort Ross was up an running, and Mexican citizens were acquiring large plots of land in California to develop ranching. John Sutter (of Sutter's Fort and Sutter's Mill fame) was from Switzerland, became a citizen of Mexico and acquired quite a bit of land in California. It is an interesting moment in time to consider especially given that evidence of Mexico is all around us in the many Spanish names for streets, cities, bodies of water . . .

Concert Rehearsal

This morning Cerrito and Strawberry came together to rehearse for the Holiday Winter Concert on Wednesday night (see below).

Reminders:

• Your students will be performing at the Winter Holiday Concert this Wednesday December 14, 6:00-8:00 p.m. at Northbrae Community Church. We expect all children to attend, so please let us know ASAP if your child cannot attend. Parents are encouraged to bring cookies for the celebration if you can, and students are asked to dress in “festive holiday attire”--something colorful, slightly or fully formal, and fun.
• Please join us for our Holiday Family Potluck at lunch on Friday, Dec 16. Please bring a dish to share at 11:45 a.m. to the classroom; we will eat together from 12:15 to 1:00 p.m. in Strawberry Creek.

Strawberry Creek Homework:

Fifth Grade Math homework
This week's homework is in two parts:

Part 2

Part 1

Fourth grade math homework, due tomorrow
All students--Give your parents their letter (download here).
Blue Group Math homework
Purple group
Option 1 (plum): Multiplication cards, instructions & Unit 3, page 4
Option 2 (periwinkle): Estimating products

Hopes assignment: Due Wednesday, 12/14

At the beginning of the year, we wrote our hopes for the school year. Similarly, the holidays celebrated by many families during the winter, and the turning of the calendar to a new year, are often used as opportunities to think about what lay ahead. Take a moment this evening to contemplate (think about) your hopes. Write at least one sentence about each category below describing your hope. For example, write one sentence for your hope about Friendship, one sentence for Family etc.

Write at least one hope each for:

1. Your Family

2. Your Friendships

3. Yourself in school

4. Yourself out of school

5. Other – (world, people, nature, animals . . .)

Take your time to write neatly and clearly.

Proof Read for Capitals, Punctuation and Spelling. Have someone help you check.

Math

Fifth grade math: 5th graders are finishing up their short unit on subtracting large numbers and place value this week. They played a much more difficult variation of the game Close to 100 called Close to 7500. I tell the students that it is mostly a matter of finding seven-thousand four hundred ninety ten. In other words, it requires that you use a more advanced understanding of place value to add large numbers instead of an algorithm.

Fourth grade math:

Some students switched groups again today based on their performance on the pre-assessment, to begin our new unit called Multiplication Towers and Division Stories.

The blue group (reconfigured slightly from last week based on the recent multiplication pre-assessment) revisited multiplication today. We practiced skip counting to find facts and breaking multiplication problems into chunks to solve mentally.

In the purple group, students answered as many multiplication problems as they could in 5 minutes as a warm up, since we will be working on mastering automaticity with multiplication facts through 12. Then the students in the periwinkle subgroup, who have already mastered double-digit multiplication, worked on the Paper Pool project, in which they looked for patterns in the bouncing of a pool ball on different dimension grids. Students in the plum subgroup highlighted multiplication facts they are still memorizing on their 5 minute warm up, which they will use for homework tonight. Then we looked at breaking apart numbers in double-digit multiplication problems to make arrays, and students worked on solving a 12 x 14 word problem using this approach.

One Grain of Rice:
At the end of the day today we read the mathematical picture book, "One Grain of Rice," by Demi. If your child asks you for an allowance of one penny, doubled the next, and doubled again the next week and so on for 30 weeks, then you may want to read this book before you agree.

Musical Instruments & Upcoming Holiday Concert

Reminders:

• Your students will be performing at the Winter Holiday Concert this Wednesday December 14, 6:00-8:00 p.m. at Northbrae Community Church. We expect all children to attend, so please let us know ASAP if your child cannot attend. Parents are encouraged to bring cookies for the celebration if you can, and students are asked to dress in “festive holiday attire”--something colorful, slightly or fully formal, and fun.
• Please join us for our Holiday Family Potluck at lunch on Friday, Dec 16. Please bring a dish to share at 11:45 a.m. to the classroom; we will eat together from 12:15 to 1:00 p.m. in Strawberry Creek.
• Our buddies in the K/1 Laurel Creek class are collecting pennies for the Friends of Oakley charity. The Sweet Briar Creek class is collecting toiletries and gently used books for the Women and Children's Daytime Drop-In Center shelter. And the Temescal Creek class is collecting non-perishable, nutritious foods for the Alameda County Food Bank. Please talk to your child and consider bringing donations to one of these good causes by Thursday, Dec. 15!

No homework this weekend.





Musical instruments
The Cerrito and Strawberry Creek fourth and fifth grade classrooms enjoyed a presentation about musical instruments, as an introduction to a program they will be participating in for nine weeks from January 10 through March 14. Paul Dresher and his colleagues shared different kinds of hand-made instruments with the students this morning, like the mbira (thumb piano), drums, and other percussion instruments; wind instruments; and stringed instruments.

We also learned some science about how instruments work: ask your student to tell you more.


Fourth grade math
All the fourth graders played games together today, revisiting games we've played earlier this year, and building skills in computation and understanding of place value and probability.


Buddies
We read the book Weslanders with our K/1 buddies, about a boy who invents his own world. Then students worked together to invent earth-friendly vehicles.

Class potluck & giving opportunities

Reminders:

• Your students will be performing at the Winter Holiday Concert this Wednesday December 14, 6:00-8:00 p.m. at Northbrae Community Church. We expect all childred to attend, so please let us know ASAP if your child cannot attend. Parents are encouraged to bring cookies for the celebration if you can, and students are asked to dress in “festive holiday attire”--something colorful, slightly or fully formal, and fun.
• Please join us for our Holiday Family Potluck at lunch on Friday, Dec 16. Please bring a dish to share at 11:45 a.m. to the classroom; we will eat together from 12:15 to 1:00 p.m. in Strawberry Creek.
• Our buddies in the K/1 Laurel Creek class are collecting pennies for the Friends of Oakley charity. The Sweet Briar Creek class is collecting toiletries and gently used books for the Women and Children's Daytime Drop-In Center shelter. And the Temescal Creek class is collecting non-perishable, nutritious foods for the Alameda County Food Bank. Please talk to your child and consider donating to one of these good causes!
  

Homework:

Fourth grade math homework, due tomorrow
Purple group
Option 1: complete your JUMP math packet PDM4.16-18 from class
Option 2: work for 15 minutes on the more challenging JUMP math packet PDM4 19-21
Blue group: No homework tonight.

Fifth grade math homework due tomorrow: see packet from Tuesday's blog.

Read 30 minutes and record it in the Reading Log from Tuesday.

Fourth grade math:
Today the blue group completed their data analysis unit assessments. The purple group continued their work with probability by analyzing the number of outcomes in different situations, and when the chances were even (1 out of 2) that a particular outcome would occur.

Fort Ross Assembly Success!

Homework:
Ocean letter homework (assigned yesterday) is due tomorrow.

4th grade math homework, due tomorrow

• Blue Group homework subtraction page.
• Purple group: Explain why the sum 7 is the most frequent sum, on the back of today's handout. Bonus (optional): explain the fraction of the time we expect to roll a 7. Those who were finishing their assessment do not have homework.
  

5th Grade homework--see yesterday's blog for packet.

Fort Ross Assembly: The students did a terrific job at the all school assembly sharing about their Fort Ross experience. Thank you for all the help at home getting costumes and props ready for the presentation.

Math:

5th graders had a quick math period after a joyful assembly in the Depot. They took notes on three different ways to subtract, and practiced these skills on a worksheet. They will continue their practice for homework on the worksheet labeled Wednesday homework. Download the packet on yesterday's blog.

Math was short today because of an all school assembly. The purple group played a new game with two dice, "Which Number Wins?", making predictions about which sum would be most frequent and then testing it out. Other students had time to complete their end of unit assessment.

Writing with computers: We have been using our computers this year for writing projects and other work. The computers are a great tool, but we have run into computer sharing issues that have made for complications. Today we began using a Google account for the class. It is basically an email site that we are utilizing the "Google Documents" section. There will be more to come about how this is being used, and how to access it to work on projects.

Fort Ross Assembly and Service Learning Class Rep.

Homework
Science homework: Ocean letter writing assignment and reading log. Students write ONE letter to us (their teachers) about their interests about the ocean. The letter is due on Thursday. Just one letter, not three, but the letter needs to be proof read and signed off by an adult.

Fourth grade math homework, due tomorrow
Purple group, Multi-step word problems
Option 1
Option 2
4th grade Blue Group homework: The students have subtraction classwork in their binder to work on tonight, or the "nine digits challenge" if they finished with the classwork and began this in class.
5th Grade Math: 5th grade packet

Fort Ross Assembly Presentation Homework

Tomorrow (Wednesday) at 9:00 a.m. the Strawberry Students will be making a presentation to the school about Fort Ross.We would like the students to bring (or wear) their Fort Ross costume to school to wear at the assembly. This can include bringing the parcel bags & journal made in class, and items made in their groups:

· Militia: sashes

· Artisans: boxes, benches

· Hunters: hunting poles

· Gardeners: baskets

· Cooks: aprons

Service Learning Council Representative: The new student council is forming this week with one representative from each class. After hearing from the four individuals interested in joining this council from our class, the Strawberry students voted by secret ballot. Sam Trachtenberg was elected as our representative, however, congratulations go to all four students (Nora, Anne, Calista and Sam) for stepping forward, making a brief speech, and participating in this electoral process. The votes were close!

Fort Ross revisited: In preparation for making a presentation at the school assembly tomorrow, we reflected on our experience at Fort Ross. In a whirlwind session, the students reformed their role groups, collected ideas, discussed options and prepared their presentations by rehearsing and presenting to the class. Each role group will share about the purpose of their group toi the Ross Colony, and highlights from the experience on the trip.

4th Grade Math: Today the blue group revisited subtraction with regrouping, and took a pre-assessment for our next unit on multiplication and division.

The purple group learned a new game, Two-dice Sums, to think about probability--the chances that something will happen. Students placed 11 pennies on a game board with the numbers 2-12, recorded where they put the pennies, then rolled two dice. If they had a penny on the sum, they could remove the penny. The first person to remove all their pennies won, and kids recorded how many rolls it took to clear their pennies. Students also finished their assessments from the data analysis unit, and took a pre-assessment for our upcoming unit on multiplication of large numbers and division.

Marine Mammal Center Field Trip

Reminder:
This Wednesday, Dec. 7, please have your child come to school with their costume and props from our Fort Ross trip. If they made a box or bench as an artisan, please bring that to school as well.

No homework besides 30 minutes of reading.

Marine Mammal Center Field Trip
We couldn't have been more lucky with the weather for our trip to Marin today. At the Marine Mammal Center (MMC), students learned more about food chains, and in particular the local ocean food chain, acting out how toxins rise through the chain. The educators at the center told us about common ailments of wild marine mammals, like bacterial kidney infections and building up toxins that cause neurological problems, why plastics can be so harmful to them, how the MMC rescues and cares for animals, and what we can do to help. Following lunch and rousing games of Wells Fargo on Rodeo Beach, Cerrito and Strawberry classrooms hiked up the bluffs in the Marin Headlands.

Many, many thanks to our parent chaperones and driversElizabeth Carty, Don Cornejo, Madeleine Dunphy, Tara Jacquet, and Clare Woakes--you made it possible for our students to have a rich and fun learning experience!

Cooperative learning in math & service learning with buddies

Reminders:

• On Monday, please have your student pack a hearty bag lunch, a snack, bottle of water, sunscreen or rain gear (depending on the weather), and backpack, and wear good walking shoes for our field trip to the Marine Mammal Center. There is no hot lunch, so students need a bag lunch.
• This Wednesday, Dec. 7, Strawberry Creek will be performing for the elementary and middle school students at our morning assembly from 9:00-9:30 a.m. Students should bring their Fort Ross costumes to school Wednesday.
  

No homework besides 30 minutes of reading.

Math

Since the Cerrito class was off on a field trip today, groups of 4-5 students in mixed grades solved problems creating geometric figures with toothpicks using clues, in a cooperative learning activity. The problems were challenging, and required knowledge of many important terms in geometry, as well as working together in a small group.

Service Learning

The students have been busy researching different charitable organizations they were interested in supporting this week, including those dealing with hunger (including organizations teaching and providing seeds to plant and maintain victory gardens), animals needing homes, children who need support, conservation, and developing countries. They presented these options to their kindergarten and first grade buddies in Laurel Creek class today, and the group did two rounds of voting to settle on the Monterey Bay Aquarium as the organization they want to help. This ties in so well with the work they have been doing in science, studying the oceans! More information will be coming from the students about how they want to support the aquarium, potentially with bake sales or other money making ventures.

We also discussed a new Service Learning Council that will be meeting with Kate Klaire and Temescal Creek teacher Nancy Nash next week, to share and brainstorm ways students at the school can support others in our community and world. We will be electing a new representative (not the Recess Council representatives) next week, on Tuesday. Students interested in serving should prepare a one-minute speech about why they wish to serve, by Tuesday morning.

We hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Fort Ross Photo Book & Monday Field Trip Preparation

Thank you very much to Elizabeth Carty, Don Cornejo, Madeleine Dunphy, Tara Jacquet, and Clare Woakes who stepped forward to drive and chaperone on Monday for our field trip to the Marine Mammal Center and Rodeo Beach. If Jeff and Sima drive, we should have enough spots for all the students.

Reminder: Please have your student pack a hearty bag lunch, a snack, bottle of water, sunscreen or rain gear (depending on the weather), and backpack on Monday, and wear good walking shoes for our field trip Monday. There is no hot lunch, so students need a bag lunch.

No homework besides 30 minutes of reading.

Fort Ross Photo Book
We are grateful to photographer parent Clare Woakes for accompanying us to Fort Ross and putting together a beautiful book of photos. You can link to the book below:

Strawberry Creek Fort Ross Photo Book

Marine Mammals
What are examples of marine mammals? What makes an animal a mammal? What will we see when we go to the Marine Mammal Center Monday? How far can a polar bear swim? We spoke about these things and more in preparation for our trip, which ties into our study of oceans in science.

Fourth grade math
Students in both groups completed a written survey about their experiences in math this year, to find out if the changes to small groups help their math learning and whether the pace of instruction and activities are working. In the blue group, students continued work in subtraction, and in the purple group, we took an end-of-unit assessment on creating and reading graphs, and interpreting data.