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.