Holiday Party: SUCCESS!

Here is an attachment for the lyrics to the songs that the students have been practicing in music. Kim asks that everyone practice a couple times over the break to get ready for our winter sing along!
Music Lyrics

We had a wonderful time today decorating cookies, making homemade pesto, pasta sauce, salads, and candles. Here are some pictures from our day.

We hope you have the happiest of holidays and have a safe and restful break! We'll see you in 2013!!!

The US Constitution and Sug Cookies

Homework:
There is no math homework for 4th or 5th grade.

Reminders:
Please bring in the item that you have signed up for on the Wiki for our party tomorrow!

And . . . If you did not bring in your appreciation notes today, PLEASE (PLEASE!) BRING THEM TOMORROW!

Tomorrow is the final day of Secret Santa. Please bring in your last gift (value $5-$10) for your Secret Santa recipient.  If you missed one of the other two days, please also deliver that gift as well.

Cultural Studies:  We started off our day with our Colonial Times and Revolution assessment. The purpose of this assessment was to allow every student to show us what they have learned about the colonists, the events that led to the revolution, and the importance of the revolution in American history.  We concluded our day with a first look at the US Constitution and more specifically the Bill of Rights.  The Constitution was compared to a cookbook for creating the US government.  We read the first ten amendments and then made note of later amendments, specifically XIII (end of slavery in 1865) and XIX (women's suffrage in 1920) to connect the Declaration of Independence's statement of "all men are created equal," to the reality of how that idea manifested in our country.

After all of our school "business" was taken care of we moved on to cookie making! We made the dough for our sugar cookies so that they will be all ready to roll out and bake tomorrow. We're looking forward to a day of festivities and celebration tomorrow. Please don't forget to send in the items that you and your child have signed up for!

Wednesday December 19th

 Homework:
4th Grade Math: No homework
5th Grade Math: Packet page

Other Homework:
We will be having an assessment on our studies of the colonies and the American Revolution. Students have brought home classwork to look over and some readings to review the information. The readings are also linked here:
Britain Taxes the Colonists
Fighting the War

End of year Appreciation Cards due Tomorrow -  We are encouraging the students to write about 5 a day, so they are not writing them all at the last minute.  In class today we had students model appreciations, and gave examples of how they are coming up with ideas: making brainstorm lists, thinking about an activity when they were grouped with classmates etc.  We have been practicing how to give appreciations to people that we do not interact with as much or feel that we know that well, so hopefully this has helped everyone come up with some genuine appreciations!

Strawberry Secret Santas:  We will continue our exchange of homemade Secret Santa gifts tomorrow. Students should have something simple that can be made at home (a card, picture, etc.). Friday will be reserved for the gifts that are between $5-$10.

Update:
Class Holiday Party, Friday, December 21:  While we look forward to a family event later in the year, this party is for the students.  Parents are not expected to attend.

Declaration of Independence:  Today we launched into the founding of the United States of America with a look at the Declaration of Independence followed by a brainstorm of what laws might the colonists have generated to develop a governing law (Constitution).

 Homework:
4th Grade Math: Division page from class. Please work on 5-10 problems at home.
5th Grade Math: Packet page


Strawberry Secret Santas:  Tomorrow is our first day to exchange homemade Secret Santa gifts. Students should have something simple that can be made at home (a card, picture, etc.). Friday will be reserved for the gifts that are between $5-$10.

End of year Appreciation Cards due Thursday -  We are encouraging the students to write about 5 a day, so they are not writing them all at the last minute.  In class today we had students model appreciations, and gave examples of how they are coming up with ideas: making brainstorm lists, thinking about an activity when they were grouped with classmates etc.  We have been practicing how to give appreciations to people that we do not interact with as much or feel that we know that well, so hopefully this has helped everyone come up with some genuine appreciations!

Update:
Class Holiday Party, Friday, December 21:  While we look forward to a family event later in the year, this party is for the students.  Parents are not expected to attend.


Math Club students were engaged in a lot of different activities:  using coordinate graphs to make gingerbread houses, a lollipop number puzzle, a December 25 number game, a sidewalk patterns problem, and some holiday math puzzles and problems. During lunch, we watched the rest of the Vi Hart video, the Gauss Christmath Special, and learned about a cool addition trick Gauss made famous and triangular numbers. Ask your math club student to amaze friends and family by adding up all the numbers from 1 to any other number this holiday season.

After snack this morning we spent some time on Wordly Wise in hopes to catch up to Lesson 8 before winter break. We switched off working in the book and playing word games on the Wordly Wise website. Feel free to check out the website and play games at home to reinforce the learning that is going on in class!

Some of the book clubs met today and the other clubs will meet tomorrow.

During cultural studies students read more in depth about the Revolutionary War. Our chapter explored who formed the Continental Army and how they defeated the British. We also had a chance to look at different depictions of some of the events that led up to the war as well as some drawings showing the battles at Bunker Hill, Lexington, and Yorktown.

Homework:
4th Grade Math: Long Division page (classwork in progress) - complete at least 5 more problems - students should have the division help page to refer to.
5th Grade Math: Packet page

Other Homework:
Book club assignment. We will start meeting tomorrow so please be caught up with your reading goal and have started your job. 

Strawberry Secret Santas:  One of the activities the students chose to do next week is known as "Secret Santa."  Not all students chose to participate.  Participants received their secret person last Friday, on a blue piece of paper with details about the persons' interests and game guidelines.   The basics:  The 3 days of secret gift giving begin on Wednesday.  The first two gifts are handmade or "token" items.  The 3rd gift for Friday may be purchased and within a $5-$10 value range. 

End of year Appreciation Cards due date extended to Thursday -  We are encouraging the students to write about 5 a day, so they are not writing them all at the last minute.  In class today we had students model appreciations, and gave examples of how they are coming up with ideas: making brainstorm lists, thinking about an activity when they were grouped with classmates etc.  We will practice appreciations more next week as well.

Update:
Class Holiday Party, Friday, December 21:  While we look forward to a family event later in the year, this party is for the students.  Parents are not expected to attend.

Please check the Wiki for our classroom Holiday Party signups! The students will be preparing lunch and decorating cookies along with other crafts and games on Friday, 12/21.  Each student is asked to contribute and item to the meal or cookie baking.
Sign ups for different items will be on the class wiki with the amounts that are needed. If there are any questions please don't hesitate to ask! **Drinks have been added to the Wiki.
Also, if you're bringing FLOUR, SUGAR, EGGS, or BUTTER, please bring to TBS no later than TOMORROW, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18th. We're using it to make the cookies on Thursday and want to make sure we have the ingredients on time!

Today we explored the different viewpoints of the colonists during the Revolutionary War. Students had to decide if they were going to choose to be a patriot or a loyalist. After a short reading about the different sides, students wrote their thoughts and arguments for each side in their writing journal. We heard wonderful arguments for each side-- fear of punishment from England, standing up for freedom, defending rights and the new government, and obeying the King. 

Happy Friday!

Our deepest condolences, thoughts, and prayers go out to the families and children of Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.



Strawberry Secret Santas:  One of the activities the students chose to do next week is known as "Secret Santa."  Not all students chose to participate.  Participants received their secret person today, on a blue piece of paper with details about the persons' interests and game guidelines.   The basics:  The 3 days of secret gift giving begin on Wednesday.  The first two gifts are handmade or "token" items.  The 3rd gift for Friday may be purchased and within a $5-$10 value range. 

End of year Appreciation Cards due date extended to Thursday -  We are encouraging the students to write about 5 a day, so they are not writing them all at the last minute.  In class today we had students model appreciations, and gave examples of how they are coming up with ideas: making brainstorm lists, thinking about an activity when they were grouped with classmates etc.  We will practice appreciations more next week as well.

Update:
Class Holiday Party, Friday, December 21:  While we look forward to a family event later in the year, this party is for the students.  Parents are not expected to attend.

Please check the Wiki for our classroom Holiday Party signups! The students will be preparing lunch and decorating cookies along with other crafts and games on Friday, 12/21.  Each student is asked to contribute and item to the meal or cookie baking.
Sign ups for different items will be on the class wiki with the amounts that are needed. If there are any questions please don't hesitate to ask! **Drinks have been added to the Wiki.
Also, if you're bringing FLOUR, SUGAR, EGGS, or BUTTER, please bring to TBS no later that TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18th. We're using it to make the cookies on Thursday and want to make sure we have the ingredients on time!

Cerritoberry: We started off our morning with a lively CerritoBerry meeting continuing our word game from last week.

4th Grade Math:  We are plugging away at using the long division algorithm.  There are so many steps, and yes, you do them again after you subtract and bring down!

In cultural studies we reviewed the colony reading from last night and shared our answers to questions about the Intolerable Acts and the pre-revolution tensions that arose in early America. The students were then divided into five different groups and were assigned a script that exemplified one of the many conflicts colonists had with England.

Have a safe and wonderful weekend.

4th Grade Math: No math homework due to Cerrito field trip.
5th Grade Math: No math homework due to Cerrito field trip

Other homework:
Cultural Studies reading and questions, due TOMORROW.

End of year Appreciation Cards - Today the students are coming home with an envelope of appreciation cards.  Each student will write an appreciation for each classmate.  There is a list of names in the envelope.  It is a lot to do, but worth the effort to take time and think about classmates and how everyone contributes to our class community.  The cards are "due" by next Tuesday (a soft deadline that can be extended), allowing students to work on a handful each day. 

Update:
Holiday Party, Friday, December 21:  Please check the Wiki for our classroom Holiday Party signups! The students will be preparing lunch and decorating cookies along with other crafts and games on Friday, 12/21.  Each student is asked to contribute and item to the meal or cookie baking.
Sign ups for different items will be on the class wiki with the amounts that are needed. If there are any questions please don't hesitate to ask! **Drinks have been added to the Wiki.
Also, if you're bringing FLOUR, SUGAR, or BUTTER, please bring to TBS no later that TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18th. We're using it to make the cookies on Thursday and want to make sure we have the ingredients on time!

We used our normal math time this morning to finish up some science work and push forward with Wordly Wise. The goal is to get to Lesson 8 by the end of next week, so we'll continue to work on it in class throughout the next week. We watched a state video on Virginia (very connected to our Cultural Studies focus) and on Ohio.

During our class meeting students brought up the unfairness they have been feeling about the taxes. Being the strict governing bodies we are, we prohibited them from discussing the taxes and meeting with one another to talk about the unfairness. Many students were up in arms about this new law.

Cultural Studies unveiled the hidden meaning behind all the classroom taxes. We explained to students that the purpose of this simulation was to allow them to feel how the colonists felt during their struggle for independence from the English Parliament. Many students made the connection and felt the same way that the colonists felt. In fact, ideas such as revolting, boycotting, and protesting were all brought up about our own classroom taxes. It was great to see the students understanding the colonists' point of view. We dove deeper into the Sugar Act, Stamp Act, and Townshend Duties with a reading from our social studies text. The same text is used for homework this evening. We wrapped up cultural studies with a Boston Tea Party episode from the animated series "Liberty's Kids".

4th Grade Math: No math homework due to Cerrito field trip.
5th Grade Math: No math homework due to Cerrito field trip

Other homework:
Work on Wordly Wise
End of year Appreciation Cards - Today the students are coming home with an envelope of appreciation cards.  Each student will write an appreciation for each classmate.  There is a list of names in the envelope.  It is a lot to do, but worth the effort to take time and think about classmates and how everyone contributes to our class community.  The cards are "due" by next Tuesday (a soft deadline that can be extended), allowing students to work on a handful each day. 

Update:
Holiday Party, Friday, December 21:  Please check the Wiki for our classroom Holiday Party signups! The students will be preparing lunch and decorating cookies along with other crafts and games on Friday, 12/21.  Each student is asked to contribute and item to the meal or cookie baking.
Sign ups for different items will be on the class wiki with the amounts that are needed. If there are any questions please don't hesitate to ask!

Strawberry Creek was full of emotions as new taxes were imposed on the students throughout the day. First thing in the morning, students were told they needed to pay a "door tax" of $50. Then they were forced to pay a "chair tax" of $50, a "table tax" of $50, and the already imposed "material tax" of $150. Emotions have ranged from anger, frustration, confusion, and suspicion. Many have talked about how the colonist must have felt and why they were so angry. Could they be catching on to something....?

In math today we continued our work in long division. We practiced the different steps and talked about remainders. We'll focus on long division until are mathematicians are professional dividers!

During our half class period students worked to show their knowledge of circuits, electromagnetism, coils, and electricity. They built their own circuits with the goal of spinning a compass needled and answered some questions about electricity and magnetism.

Some of our book clubs met and discussed their historical fiction books, while other continued reading and working on their book club jobs.

We played our handcrafted board games with our buddies today and the end of the day brought a special visitor! Chelsea, Lila Rose's mom, brought in their new addition to their family, Autumn Melody. Chelsea was fantastic enough to answer the kids' questions about babies, birth, and caring for a new human! We're looking forward to seeing Autumn grow and getting a first hand glimpse of a growing person.

4th Grade Math: Division and multiplication sheet
5th Grade Math: Math Packet

Other homework:
Finish Book Club jobs.

Update:
Holiday Party, Friday, December 21:  Please check the Wiki for our classroom Holiday Party signups! The students will be preparing lunch and decorating cookies along with other crafts and games on Friday, 12/21.  Each student is asked to contribute and item to the meal or cookie baking.
Going home with your child today is a letter about our holiday party next week, Friday 12/21. It lists the different ingredients we will be needing for our pasta and salad bar. Sign ups for different items will be on the class wiki with the amounts that are needed. If there are any questions please don't hesitate to ask!

In math club students mostly concentrated on a problem based on the popular carol, "The 12 Days of Christmas."  You can download the problem here--it reflects U.S. costs for 2012 for the various gifts in the song.  We were surprised by the cost and the number of total gifts!  A few people worked on puzzles, and students learned a couple of interesting math magic tricks involving the magic numbers 143 and 429. We ended by watching the first half of Vi Hart's "The Gauss Christmath Special."

4th Grade Math:  In math class we focused on adding more tools to our math toolbox by teaching the long division algorithm.  As a whole class, we went step by step through a problem and identified the right time to do each operation. Step 1= divide, Step 2= multiply, Step 3= subtract, Step 4= check, Step 5= bring down. We'll continue to work on multiple strategies to solve division.

Word study began with a test on the current sort for each group and catching up in Wordly Wise. Our goal is to be finished with Lesson 8 by winter break.


Science was full of inventing and discovering! After reading about Samuel Morse and the telegraph invention, students worked together to build their own telegraph and send coded messages to one another.

As part of the classroom currency simulation, we imposed our "Materials Tax" for Strawberry Creek. Over the past few days the students have had the chance to earn money for completing different tasks throughout the day-- going to math class, working during word study, finishing jobs, lining up, etc.

4th Grade Math: For homework tonight students are completing a page from their in class work about division, or have taken home Option 1 or Option 2 assignments. 
5th Grade Math - see Cerrito's blog
Word Study homework:  Create a word search with 10-15 words from your sort.  Do not solve the sort - you will exchange it in class with another student tomorrow.

Classroom Currency Simulation:  Your child may come home today talking about earning fake money in school, and that they are earning this money toward recess time.  And, it is so that in Strawberry Creek today we began a classroom currency activity.  This is a "simulation" designed to fit with our Cultural Studies curriculum.  You will probably hear more about it from your child tomorrow, and especially on Wednesday when the simulation has reached the intended goal.  Please note that this activity is not a behavioral or conditional reward system.  If you have any questions please let us know. 

Happy Friday!

Science Homework:  Electricity in Our Lives activity sheet to complete at home.  The sheet is due no later than MONDAY.


In CerritoBerry this morning we learned a new word game, similar to the board game Balderdash. Groups worked together to come up with a definition of a completely unknown word (words like flyspeck and cudbear). The other groups vote for the definition that they think is the closest to the real definition. The group with the most votes win. It was very interesting to see the definitions that came up to such unfamiliar words.


Math focused on multiplication (through the widely popular game, SKUNK) and division. After working for a little bit, we had a chance to play some math-related games!


Word study focused on our Words Their Way sort of the week through a BINGO game with small groups. We spent some time writing paragraphs based on our topics brainstorm earlier in the week.


Academic Flex started with a class meeting about activities that we can do during out last day of school before break. Many ideas were shared, some including making decorations, no "work', movies, Secret Santa, extra math (!), and a holiday show and tell. We'll put together all these ideas and come up with an awesome agenda for our holiday party!

Exploratorium Field Trip Success!

Homework:
4th Grade Math: Factor Packet is DUE tomorrow

Science Homework:  Electricity in Our Lives activity sheet to complete at home.  The sheet is due no later than MONDAY.

Our field trip to The Exploratorium today was awesome! Everyone dove into the electricity and magnetism exhibits right away! We were able to build our own series and parallel circuits, generate power with our feet, and explore magnetism in ways that are not possible in the classroom.

After completing the science tasks that were given, everyone had a chance to explore some other exhibits for a bit. We ate lunch outside and played some games before re-entering the museum. We explored sound, a cow's eyeball, optical illusions, and exhibits that challenged our minds and way of thinking. Overall it was a wonderful day! Thank you so much to our parent chaperones/drivers!

If this is unsettling, read the sign below!

A cow's eyeball!

Exposing the eyeball!