Performance Tonight

Strawberry Performance of Learning itinerary:
6:00 - 6:30   Potluck at Strawberry Classroom (sign up to contribute on the class wiki)
6:30 - 6:45   Actors final run through & set up rehearsal in the Depot (no audience please)
6:45 - 7:30   Performance
7:30 - 8:00   Slide show and 5th grade tributes
8:00 - 8:30   Clean up

Drivers still needed:  For 6/5 field trip to the gold country.  We need at least one more driver.

Permission slip will be available tonight to sign!

Performance & Step Up Day Tomorrow!

Step Up Day:  Tomorrow morning from 9:00-10:00 is step up day.  The 5th graders will visit the 6th grade while we have 3rd grade visitors in Strawberry.

Strawberry Performance of Learning itinerary:
6:00 - 6:30   Potluck at Strawberry Classroom (sign up to contribute on the class wiki)
6:30 - 6:45   Actors final run through & set up rehearsal in the Depot (no audience please)
6:45 - 7:30   Performance
7:30 - 8:00   Slide show and 5th grade tributes
8:00 - 8:30   Clean up

Drivers still needed:  For 6/5 field trip to the gold country.  We need at least one more driver.



Homework
4th Grade Math:  Finish your survey question.
5th Grade Math:  No homework.

Practice your lines!!
 Full Script: performance script if you need a copy of yours scroll through the scenes.
Reading (20 minutes):  Book Club book

Guinea Pigs:  We have a few weeks still available for care over the summer.  Please check the Volunteer site.  Also, it would be helpful to have a few more bags of litter for the summer.  Thanks.

Upcoming Events: 

Save the Date:  May 29, 6:00-8:30pm, Performance of Learning & 5th Grade Tribute in the classroom and Depot.

Field Trips

• Thursday, June 5 (7:45-4:30)  Marshall Gold Discovery State Park, Coloma CA
• June 5 we are headed to Gold Country!  We have an early departure of 7:45am and a late return of 4:30pm (traffic depending).  We will need drivers.  It is a long drive, but a fun trip.  We will explore and tour the town, visit the museum and Sutter's MIll, followed by panning for gold in the South Fork of the American River.

Sailing on the Bay

Practice your lines!!
 Full Script: performance script if you need a copy of yours scroll through the scenes.


Guinea Pigs:  We have a few weeks still available for care over the summer.  Please check the Volunteer site.  Also, it would be helpful to have a few more bags of litter for the summer.  Thanks.

Upcoming Events: 

Save the Date:  May 29, 6:00-8:30pm, Performance of Learning & 5th Grade Tribute in the classroom and Depot.

Field Trips

• Thursday, June 5 (7:45-4:30)  Marshall Gold Discovery State Park, Coloma CA
• June 5 we are headed to Gold Country!  We have an early departure of 7:45am and a late return of 4:30pm (traffic depending).  We will need drivers.  It is a long drive, but a fun trip.  We will explore and tour the town, visit the museum and Sutter's MIll, followed by panning for gold in the South Fork of the American River.

Sailing Photos:

Have a great weekend!

Sailing Away

News for Tomorrow's Field Trip: 
May 23 (8:30-3:00)  Sailing on Bay and nautical skills workshop. We will depart by 8:40, and our program ends at 2:30.  We will return immediately after, and hope to be on campus no later than 3:00.
Clothing:  The students need to wear layers, with an outer jacket!!!  A warm hat is a good idea.  It will be breezy/windy and cold on the bay.  Colder than you might expect, so come prepared.
Also bring: Lunch, snack, water bottle & pack to keep everything in.
Apply Sunscreen
Eat a good breakfast - full stomachs have more success on the boat


Homework

4th Grade Math:  No new homework

5th Grade Math:   No new homework

Writing: Strawberry Who (was due today)  Each student has been assigned 7 classmates to write a poetic line about.  They have their sheets and names.

Reading (20 minutes):  Book Club book

Script:  Full performance script if you need a copy of yours scroll through the scenes.


Guinea Pigs:  We have a few weeks still available for care over the summer.  Please check the Volunteer site.  Also, it would be helpful to have a few more bags of litter for the summer.  Thanks.

Upcoming Events: 

Save the Date:  May 29, 6:00-8:30pm, Performance of Learning & 5th Grade Tribute in the classroom and Depot.

Field Trips

• Thursday, June 5 (7:45-4:30)  Marshall Gold Discovery State Park, Coloma CA
• June 5 we are headed to Gold Country!  We have an early departure of 7:45am and a late return of 4:30pm (traffic depending).  We will need drivers.  It is a long drive, but a fun trip.  We will explore and tour the town, visit the museum and Sutter's MIll, followed by panning for gold in the South Fork of the American River.

Info for Friday's Trip

Guinea Pigs:  We have a few weeks still available for care over the summer.  Please check the Volunteer site.  Also, it would be helpful to have a few more bags of litter for the summer.  Thanks.

Homework

4th Grade Math:  No new homework

5th Grade Math:   20 minutes, Show Me One Half

Writing: Strawberry Who (Due Thursday)  Each student has been assigned 7 classmates to write a poetic line about.  They have their sheets and names.

Reading (20 minutes):  Book Club book

News for Friday's Field Trip: May 23 (8:30-3:00)  Sailing on Bay and nautical skills workshop. We will depart by 8:40, and our program ends at 2:30.  We will return immediately after, and hope to be on campus no later than 3:00.
Clothing:  The students need to wear layers, with an outer jacket!!!  A warm hat is a good idea.  It will be breezy/windy and cold on the bay.  Colder than you might expect, so come prepared.
Also bring: Lunch, snack, water bottle & pack to keep everything in.

Upcoming Events: 

Save the Date:  May 29, 6:00-8:30pm, Performance of Learning & 5th Grade Tribute in the classroom and Depot.

Field Trips

• Thursday, June 5 (7:45-4:30)  Marshall Gold Discovery State Park, Coloma CA
• June 5 we are headed to Gold Country!  We have an early departure of 7:45am and a late return of 4:30pm (traffic depending).  We will need drivers.  It is a long drive, but a fun trip.  We will explore and tour the town, visit the museum and Sutter's MIll, followed by panning for gold in the South Fork of the American River.

Today in Strawberry: More energy and invention exploration with our catapults, and rehearsals for next week's production on Thursday night.

Scripts Finished and Parts Assigned

Guinea Pigs:  We have a few weeks still available for care over the summer.  Please check the Volunteer site.  Also, it would be helpful to have a few more bags of litter for the summer.  Thanks.

Homework

4th Grade Math:  No new homework, but some students may need to complete their  Graphing and Decimal review page from last night.  
Optional Challenge: Diggin' Dinos
 Also optional: Extra practice for Multiplication Facts: (Factor BINGO boards,  Factor BINGO rules)
Currently in math class:  We are looking at data samples and creating graphs.  This week is a focus on temperatures on historical record dating back to the 1800s for San Francisco.  The students are creating a dual line graph to compare record highs to record lows for each month.  

5th Grade Math:   20 minutes, Show Me One Half

Writing: Strawberry Who (Due Thursday)  Each student has been assigned 7 classmates to write a poetic line about.  They have their sheets and names.

Reading (20 minutes):  Book Club book

Sailing Program Waiver:  Please fill out and sign both sides of the waiver.

Upcoming Events: 

Save the Date:  May 29, 6:00-8:30pm, Performance of Learning & 5th Grade Tribute in the classroom and Depot.

Field Trips

• Friday, May 23 (8:45-3:00)  Sailing on Bay and nautical skills workshop.
• Thursday, June 5 (7:45-4:30)  Marshall Gold Discovery State Park, Coloma CA
• June 5 we are headed to Gold Country!  We have an early departure of 7:45am and a late return of 4:30pm (traffic depending).  We will need drivers.  It is a long drive, but a fun trip.  We will explore and tour the town, visit the museum and Sutter's MIll, followed by panning for gold in the South Fork of the American River.

Today in Strawberry:  We assigned parts for our script and had our first read through.  The movies are completed and we are on our way to being ready for the Thursday, May 29th showcase of learning event.  

Kinetic Energy

We can still use a driver for the Gold Country field trip - see the class wiki.  

Guinea Pigs:  We have a few weeks still available for care over the summer.  Please check the Volunteer site.  Also, it would be helpful to have a few more bags of litter for the summer.  Thanks.

Homework

4th Grade Math: Graphing and Decimal review page.  Option 2: Diggin' Dinos, challenge problems.
 Also optional: Extra practice for Multiplication Facts: (Factor BINGO boards,  Factor BINGO rules)

5th Grade Math:   20 minutes, Show Me One Half

Writing: Continue Who Poem homework

Reading (20 minutes):  Book Club book

Sailing Program Waiver:  Please fill out and sign both sides of the waiver.

Upcoming Events: 

Save the Date:  May 29, 6:00-8:30pm, Performance of Learning & 5th Grade Tribute in the classroom and Depot.

Field Trips

• Friday, May 23 (8:45-3:00)  Sailing on Bay and nautical skills workshop.
• Thursday, June 5 (7:45-4:30)  Marshall Gold Discovery State Park, Coloma CA
• June 5 we are headed to Gold Country!  We have an early departure of 7:45am and a late return of 4:30pm (traffic depending).  We will need drivers.  It is a long drive, but a fun trip.  We will explore and tour the town, visit the museum and Sutter's MIll, followed by panning for gold in the South Fork of the American River.

Today in Strawberry:  A highlight today was building mini-catapults as part of our energy and invention unit.  Students will go through several trials for accuracy, distance, and tension to determine how to adapt the design of the catapult for expected results.

Iris demonstrating the measuring process.

The windy weather sent us inside for accuracy testing.

The books just mark the space to shoot from.  

The catapult is made from wood, nails, rubber bands, duct tape and kraft stick.

Ready, aim . . .

Drivers needed and guinea Pigs Reminder

We can still use a driver or two for the Gold Country field trip.  

Guinea Pigs:  We have a few weeks still available for care over the summer.  Please check the Volunteer site.  Also, it would be helpful to have a few more bags of litter for the summer.  Thanks.

Homework

4th Grade Math: No assigned homework.  Optional: Extra practice for Multiplication Facts: (Factor BINGO boards,  Factor BINGO rules)

5th Grade Math:   Two pages in packet.

Reading (20 minutes):  Book Club book

Sailing Program Waiver: Sent home last week, this waiver covers the activities we will be participating in on May 23 sailing on the bay and nautical workshops.  Please fill out and sign both sides of the waiver.

Upcoming Events: 

Save the Date:  May 29, 6:00-8:30pm, Performance of Learning & 5th Grade Tribute in the classroom and Depot.

Field Trips

• Friday, May 23 (8:45-3:00)  Sailing on Bay and nautical skills workshop.
• Thursday, June 5 (7:45-4:30)  Marshall Gold Discovery State Park, Coloma CA
• June 5 we are headed to Gold Country!  We have an early departure of 7:45am and a late return of 4:30pm (traffic depending).  We will need drivers.  It is a long drive, but a fun trip.  We will explore and tour the town, visit the museum and Sutter's MIll, followed by panning for gold in the South Fork of the American River.

More Trash Art

Homework

4th Grade Math: Graphing problems due tomorrow.
Optional Extra practice for Multiplication Facts: (Factor BINGO boards,  Factor BINGO rules)

5th Grade Math:   Two pages in packet.

Reading (20 minutes):  Book Club book

Sailing Program Waiver: Sent home last week, this waiver covers the activities we will be participating in on May 23 sailing on the bay and nautical workshops.  Please fill out and sign both sides of the waiver.

Upcoming Events: 

Save the Date:  May 29, 6:00-8:30pm, Performance of Learning & 5th Grade Tribute in the classroom and Depot.

Field Trips

• Friday, May 23 (8:45-3:00)  Sailing on Bay and nautical skills workshop.
• Thursday, June 5 (7:45-4:30)  Marshall Gold Discovery State Park, Coloma CA
• New Field Trip:  On June 5 we are headed to Gold Country!  We have an early departure of 7:45am and a late return of 4:30pm (traffic depending).  We will need drivers.  It is a long drive, but a fun trip.  We will explore and tour the town, visit the museum and Sutter's MIll, followed by panning for gold in the South Fork of the American River.

Seagull made from bay trash.

Trash Art!

Homework

4th Grade Math: The Wheel Shop:  Please attempt at least two problems.
Optional Extra practice for Multiplication Facts: (Factor BINGO boards,  Factor BINGO rules)

5th Grade Math:   Two pages in packet.

Water-thon design:  Finish your design on 8.5" x 11" size paper.  Designs are due on Wednesday.

Reading (20 minutes):  Book Club book

Sailing Program Waiver: Sent home last week, this waiver covers the activities we will be participating in on May 23 sailing on the bay and nautical workshops.  Please fill out and sign both sides of the waiver.

Upcoming Events: 

Save the Date:  May 29, 6:00-8:30pm, Performance of Learning & 5th Grade Tribute in the classroom and Depot.

Field Trips

• Friday, May 23 (8:45-3:00)  Sailing on Bay and nautical skills workshop.
• Thursday, June 5 (7:45-4:30)  Marshall Gold Discovery State Park, Coloma CA
• New Field Trip:  On June 5 we are headed to Gold Country!  We have an early departure of 7:45am and a late return of 4:30pm (traffic depending).  We will need drivers.  It is a long drive, but a fun trip.  We will explore and tour the town, visit the museum and Sutter's MIll, followed by panning for gold in the South Fork of the American River.

Today in Strawberry:  Editing films on I-Movie, letter writing to Governor Brown, and turning trash into art.  Yesterday students sorted our bay trash collected on our last visit into green buckets by color or type.  Today, working in small groups our artists created trash art with a message:

These posters will join us with our previous posters for the Waterthon.  

Filming Day

Homework

4th Grade Math: Factor Bingo (Factor BINGO boards,  Factor BINGO rules)

5th Grade Math:  Finish Stock Appetizers and 2 pages in packet.

Water-thon design:  Finish your design on 8.5" x 11" size paper.  Designs are due on Wednesday.

Reading (20 minutes):  Book Club book

Sailing Program Waiver: Sent home last week, this waiver covers the activities we will be participating in on May 23 sailing on the bay and nautical workshops.  Please fill out and sign both sides of the waiver.

Upcoming Events: 

Save the Date:  May 29, 6:00-8:30pm, Performance of Learning & 5th Grade Tribute in the classroom and Depot.

Field Trips

• Friday, May 23 (8:45-3:00)  Sailing on Bay and nautical skills workshop.
• Thursday, June 5 (7:45-4:30)  Marshall Gold Discovery State Park, Coloma CA
• New Field Trip:  On June 5 we are headed to Gold Country!  We have an early departure of 7:45am and a late return of 4:30pm (traffic depending).  We will need drivers.  It is a long drive, but a fun trip.  We will explore and tour the town, visit the museum and Sutter's MIll, followed by panning for gold in the South Fork of the American River.

Today in Strawberry: We dedicated the day to completing the filming of the historical scenes of social movements.  The kids are now editing their video.  Today's scenes involved all of the class.  

Staging the extras and explaining the scene.

Filming the Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta protest scene.

A classic scene from the Free Speech protests in Berkeley, reenacted on Jeff's "police" car.

Sailing Program Waiver: Sent home yesterday, this waiver covers the activities we will be participating in on May 23 sailing on the bay and nautical workshops.  Please fill out and sign both sides of the waiver.

Upcoming Events: 

Save the Date:  May 29, 6:00-8:30pm, Performance of Learning & 5th Grade Tribute in the classroom and Depot.

Field Trips

• Friday, May 23 (8:45-3:00)  Sailing on Bay and nautical skills workshop.
• Thursday, June 5 (7:45-4:30)  Marshall Gold Discovery State Park, Coloma CA
• New Field Trip:  On June 5 we are headed to Gold Country!  We have an early departure of 7:45am and a late return of 4:30pm (traffic depending).  We will need drivers.  It is a long drive, but a fun trip.  We will explore and tour the town, visit the museum and Sutter's MIll, followed by panning for gold in the South Fork of the American River.

Today in Strawberry:  This morning we had a special guest visit.  Carmen Scott, from the office staff, who is also a documentary film maker.  She led the class in a conversation about the subject of her documentary about African American students in schools in Mississippi.  She discussed Brown vs. the Board of Education in 1954, and engaged the students in reading an article about one of the students in her documentary, and the inequity still existing in schools in Mississippi today.  It was an engaging and informative conversation, and great to connect to a film maker during our current project.

Filming has Begun!

Homework

4th Grade Math:  (Due Friday) The students assembled a packet today making choices among different levels of mathematics.  Each student should have 4 sheets: Instructions for Factor BINGO, a Factor BINGO board page, one long division page and one fraction page.  
Option 1 Division 
Option 2 Division
Option 1 Fractions 
Option 2 Fractions
Factor BINGO boards
Factor BINGO rules
Factor BINGO is a great way to practice multiplication facts, and the kids like it!  Linked  are BINGO boards for facts from the 3s to 12s.  

5th Grade Math:  POW due Friday

Costume & Props:  The students made a list of items they will need for their costume to bring from home for their scenes.  Bring in the items by tomorrow so we are ready to film!

Reading 20 minutes:  Historical Fiction book club books!  (don't forget to record your reading in the planner)  

Upcoming Events: 

Save the Date:  May 29, 6:00-8:30pm, Performance of Learning & 5th Grade Tribute in the classroom and Depot.

Field Trips

• Friday, May 23 (8:45-3:00)  Sailing on Bay and nautical skills workshop.
• Thursday, June 5 (7:45-4:30)  Marshall Gold Discovery State Park, Coloma CA
• New Field Trip:  On June 5 we are headed to Gold Country!  We have an early departure of 7:45am and a late return of 4:30pm (traffic depending).  We will need drivers.  It is a long drive, but a fun trip.  We will explore and tour the town, visit the museum and Sutter's MIll, followed by panning for gold in the South Fork of the American River.

Today in Strawberry: We began filming scenes today for the short movies about social movements.  We also had an extended day working on our project for the school auction.  the students have created silk screen designs about our service work, and are printing them onto canvas shopping bags that will be part of the silent auction at the Wrap Party.

There is certainly an end of the year buzz as the projects take over the classroom.  

Great Trip Today

Homework

4th Grade Math:  (Due Friday) The students assembled a packet today making choices among different levels of mathematics.  Each student should have 4 sheets: Instructions for Factor BINGO, a Factor BINGO board page, one long division page and one fraction page.  
Option 1 Division 
Option 2 Division
Option 1 Fractions 
Option 2 Fractions
Factor BINGO boards
Factor BINGO rules
Factor BINGO is a great way to practice multiplication facts, and the kids like it!  Linked  are BINGO boards for facts from the 3s to 12s.  

5th Grade Math:  POW due Friday

Costume & Props:  The students made a list of items they will need for their costume to bring from home for their scenes.  Bring in the items by tomorrow so we are ready to film!

Reading 20 minutes:  Historical Fiction book club books!  (don't forget to record your reading in the planner)  

Upcoming Events: 

Save the Date:  May 29, 6:00-8:30pm, Performance of Learning & 5th Grade Tribute in the classroom and Depot.

Field Trips

• Friday, May 23 (8:45-3:00)  Sailing on Bay and nautical skills workshop.
• Thursday, June 5 (7:45-4:30)  Marshall Gold Discovery State Park, Coloma CA
• New Field Trip:  On June 5 we are headed to Gold Country!  We have an early departure of 7:45am and a late return of 4:30pm (traffic depending).  We will need drivers.  It is a long drive, but a fun trip.  We will explore and tour the town, visit the museum and Sutter's MIll, followed by panning for gold in the South Fork of the American River.

Todays' Field Trip:  We had a pleasant day at the Oakland Museum.  We arrived early and split in to 3 groups to tour galleries on our own, then met docents for our History Gallery tour.  Once again the docents were super impressed with the knowledge of Strawberry students, and made several comments to me about enjoying the kids company.  The tour covered all of our topics from this year, and focused on modern California to some degree.  

After the tour we ate lunch then returned for another self guided period in galleries.  Altogether, students made it into the Natural Sciences, History, Art and special galleries with vinyl and "Robot" art - video game/robot/modern art related pieces.

Solar Ovens, Identity & Field Trip Tomorrow!

Please note:  I did not realize that yesterday's blog post did not go through until late last night, so this is the same post as yesterday with some updates and photos from today as well.

Field Trip tomorrow: Oakland Museum history gallery tour.  Depart 9:00, and return by 3:15.  Please bring a snack, lunch, water bottle and walking shoes!  We are traveling by BART.

Homework

4th Grade Math:  The students assembled a packet today making choices among different levels of mathematics.  Each student should have 4 sheets: Instructions for Factor BINGO, a Factor BINGO board page, one long division page and one fraction page.  Tomorrow in class we will work on the assignments too, so keep the pages in your binder!
Option 1 Division 
Option 2 Division
Option 1 Fractions 
Option 2 Fractions
Factor BINGO boards
Factor BINGO rules
Factor BINGO is a great way to practice multiplication facts, and the kids like it!  Linked  are BINGO boards for facts from the 3s to 12s.  

5th Grade Math:  POW due Friday

Costume & Props:  The students made a list of items they will need for their costume to bring from home for their scenes.  Bring in the items by tomorrow so we are ready to film!

Reading 20 minutes:  Historical Fiction book club books!  (don't forget to record your reading in the planner)  

Upcoming Events: 
Field Trip, Wednesday, May 7 (8:45-3:15)  Oakland Museum History Gallery

Save the Date:  May 29, 6:00-8:30pm, Performance of Learning & 5th Grade Tribute in the classroom and Depot.

Field Trips

• Wednesday, May 7 (8:45-3:15)  Oakland Museum History Gallery
• Friday, May 23 (8:45-3:00)  Sailing on Bay and nautical skills workshop.
• Thursday, June 5 (7:45-4:30)  Marshall Gold Discovery State Park, Coloma CA
• New Field Trip:  On June 5 we are headed to Gold Country!  We have an early departure of 7:45am and a late return of 4:30pm (traffic depending).  We will need drivers.  It is a long drive, but a fun trip.  We will explore and tour the town, visit the museum and Sutter's MIll, followed by panning for gold in the South Fork of the American River.

Yesterday and Today in Strawberry:  In the morning yesterday special guests, Kate Klaire and Norman Johnson visited Strawberry to involve the students in a lesson on identity. The students were led in an activity to explore their own identity, then use a Venn diagram to compare with a partner, followed by comparing to another partnership, and lastly as a class.  Kate and Norman will return tomorrow to begin the next step.  Their lessons parallel our focus on identity in the historical fiction books we are currently reading, and in broad way connect to the performance project where social identity is pivotal.

Solar Ovens:  Continuing our focus on Energy, and our use of magnifying glasses to harness the energy of the sun, on Friday the students embarked on building solar ovens from scratch.  The goal is to work through the design challenge of how to make an oven that will harness the energy from the sun.  On Monday the groups completed their first design, and today (Tuesday) they baked a cookie.

On Friday, after sharing design ideas, the teams began assembling their ovens from scratch.

Going from drawing concept to reality.

Today they continued their efforts using foil to reflect light and black paper to absorb heat.

Each design is unique.

Testing the oven.  Students placed thermometers inside to see how effective their design is.

Today: A lonely ball of cookie dough at 8:30am.  The sun had not yet reached the ovens.

Solar ovens and the control cookie on a plate in the sun.

The students checked on the cookies throughout the day, and adjusted the position of their ovens.

The ovens reached upwards of 200º Fahrenheit.  

Though not as cooked as the cookies we placed in the electric oven, they were crispy on the top!