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".