Ocean currents

Reminders:
Tomorrow we are going to the Oakland Museum of California as part of our study of the Gold Rush. Students will need to bring a bag lunch, snack, water bottle, good walking shoes or boots, rain jackets. If bringing a backpack, empty it out so it is small and light.

Homework:
Writing Homework: Due by Monday, 1/23

Fourth grade math homework, due Friday
Purple Group Homework:

Option 1: Plum, Unit 3, pages 44-46

Option 2: Periwinkle handout
Blue Group Homework: Play the multiplication game we learned last week, The Dice Game. Bring in the completed score sheet Friday.

Fifth grade math homework:

Part 2, 3, 4

Fourth grade math

Purple Group: Today's question was "How can we represent a multiplication number with pictures?" Students in the purple group finished making "multiple towers" and represented situations with sketches of multiplication with multiples of 10, to see why the strategy "adding zero to the end" works.

Blue Group: The blue group learned a division game today called "Leftovers." In the game the students learned to write division problems with remainders. We also began work identifying when to use multiplication or division to solve a problem.

Ocean currents

Students met with their small group from last week to debrief one of the 3 experiments they did with water (hot, cold, salty, and/or not salty). They illustrated posters with the big idea, sketch of the experiment and observations, and how the density of cold vs. hot, or salty vs. fresh water causes water to move and create currents in the ocean. Then each group presented their findings to the class.

We found out that Spanish explorers followed a current of fresh water far out in the Atlantic Ocean to the mouth of the Amazon river, and South America, because fresh water floats above salty water. We also found out that upwelling is caused near our coast when cold, dense water rises and warm water sinks when it bumps against the continental shelf.

Why is Martin Luther King, Jr. important?

Reminders:

• Thursday, Jan. 19 we are going to the Oakland Museum of California as part of our study of the Gold Rush. Students will need to bring a bag lunch, snack, water bottle, good walking shoes or boots, rain jackets and a backpack.
  

Homework:

Fourth grade math homework, due tomorrow
Blue group homework: Complete two pages of division packet #2. Bring packet to school tomorrow.

Purple group:

Practice multiplication facts for 10 minutes using cards, Math Magician Multi, or one of the following games: Pumpkin Multiples, Snowball Fight, or Patty's Paints (these 3 games can be used to practice 12's).

Option 1: Plum, Unit 3, pages 39-40

Option 2: Periwinkle, Arrays with Cans handout

Fifth grade math homework:
Part 1, 2, 3, 4

Why is Martin Luther King, Jr. important?
In morning and afternoon circles, we discussed Dr. King's work to end segregation and unfair laws against African Americans. Students shared what they knew of his work, and we watched a short video about his life as a young man and how he led boycotts and non-violent protests. Ask your student at home why MLK was important.

Fifth grade math
5th grade mathematicians learned how to find common denominators today, and they used them to compare fractions such as 7/8 and 5/6. This skill will take some practice, but will prove invaluable as we move into adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators.

Fourth grade math
Blue Group: Today the blue group learned a card game called MADS, in which on their turn the player compares number cards and determines what operation (Multiplication, Addition, Division & Subtraction) can be used to match with a card in their own hand. Following the game we continued working on division skills.

Purple Group: Students in the purple group started making "multiple towers" as a way to think about multiplying double digit numbers, making vertical lists going up of multiples of numbers. We also did another five minute multiplication fact practice, to see if student's accuracy and speed with facts has improved.

Happy MLK Day

Reminders:

• No school or childcare available this Friday, Jan. 13, for Report Writing Day or Monday, Jan. 16 for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. See you on Tuesday, Jan. 17!
  
• Please sign and return the permission slip your student brought home for the field trip to the Oakland Museum of California on Thursday, January 19 from 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.

Homework:
No new homework over the 4-day break, but students should read 30 minutes a day.

Fourth grade math homework:
Students are encouraged to complete unfinished work, and practice multiplication facts. See past blogs for links to online games.
4th Grade Blue Group: Play the dice game at least once over the break.

Developing empathy
We began class today with an activity designed to help students see others' points of view. Students chose between four animals that they would most like to be: eagles, turtles, lions, or chameleons. They discussed why they liked being that animal, and why they wouldn't want to be the other animals, then presented that to the class. We talked about the advantages of having different kinds of people in a community.

This was extended by role plays in our all school assembly, depicting common situations at our school, and how the words and actions of students can be hurtful to others. Since one part of our mission is to develop generous hearts, bringing up issues like this and discussing them as a community are important.

Science: The students are continuing to work on their ocean research projects. Today they began writing the first of several short essays about their topic. Hoping to demystify the word "essay," and encourage the same energy students have in researching to go into reporting about it, the essays are about a half page in length with emphasis on catching the reader's attention, and sharing what factual information that has interested the researcher.

Gold Rush Simulation Game: We are well into the Gold Rush simulation and even began a round of "mining." Students prepare for mining by taking notes about Gold Rush related topics. They earn gold for completing the notes and other assignments. During a mining round, questions about the topics studied are asked (in a game show format). Questions are sourced from all areas of our California study this year, as well as the current Gold Rush information. The game has it hardships for the players, and we discussed our slogan today of, "The Gold Rush was not fair." While a game for us, we are discussing our essential question of "What happens when different cultures meet," in context of the inequity of people's experiences during the Gold Rush (pre-Civil War in the U.S.).

Fourth grade math
Due to today's assembly, we had only 20 minutes for math class today. Students in the purple group completed an assessment of their ability, given a double-digit division equation, to create a story problem and solve it.

Blue Group: We used our short math class to continue work in progress. The students are assigned the multiplication math game they learned in class this week to play at least once over the break. It is simple to play and uses regular dice. The students have a paper copy.

Science experiments & musical instruments

Reminders:

• Some students are planning a Valentine's Day Community Lunch with Caroline's mom Kathleen.  If your child is involved, you will be hearing from Kathleen soon, asking you to provide food on Tuesday, Feb. 14. The rest of the students will plan meals in March or May.
• We have a new schedule, which you can download here, due to the musical instrument program.
• No school or childcare available this Friday, Jan. 13, for Report Writing Day.
• Please sign and return the permission slip your student brought home for the field trip to the Oakland Museum of California on Thursday, January 19 from 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.

Homework:
30 minutes of reading on the reading log students brought home Monday (see Monday's blog to download).

Pioneers in California chapter and questions. Responses are to be written in complete sentences, with special attention to capitals, spelling (words from text especially) and punctuation. This activity was started in class.

Fifth grade math homework, due tomorrow
Download homework on yesterday's blog.

Fourth grade math homework, due tomorrow
Purple group:
Spend 20 minutes practicing 2 or 3 challenging multiplication fact families, using their student-made multiplication cards, Math Magician Multi, or one of the following games: Pumpkin Multiples, Snowball Fight, or Patty's Paints (these 3 games can be used to practice 12's)

Blue Group: No math homework, but practice multiplication facts (see above).

Science

As part of our study of the oceans, students did some experiments yesterday and today in groups of 4, testing whether temperature or saltiness would affect the density of water.

Student scientists collaborate to compare different temperature waters

Green-colored salty water sinks

Red colored warmer water floats above blue colored cold water

Cooperation is key when doing group science experiments

Musical Instruments

Many students brought home musical instruments they made this week as part of the music project.  The students are so engaged while working purposefully with the tools to create.

4th Grade Math

Blue Group: Today and yesterday the blue group worked in class on an assessment covering addition, subtraction and multiplication, including multi-step word problems. Today we also played a multiplication game with dice that can be played at home to practice multiplication facts and addition or subtraction computation. Some students began the next part of our study with division, practicing to break items into sets, and skip count to solve division problems. Homework was not assigned but all students are encouraged to practice multiplication facts.

In the purple group, we started with a mixed problem warm up. We learned that 1 cup = 1/2 pint, so there are 2 pints in a quart. Our question of the day was "How can we solve double-digit division problems mentally?" Students practiced looking at problems like 318 ÷ 7 as 7 times what would equal 318, without going over? After sharing strategies, we played an array game where students had to find missing factors for facts up through the 12s.

Fifth grade math
5th graders played a computer game to practice converting decimals to fractions and vice versa. They placed fractions on a percent number line on a worksheet. Math closed with a movement activity. Students bounced around three balloons – one with fractions, one with decimals, one with percents – and when the music stopped, they had to name the equivalents from each balloon.

New Musical instrument program begins

Reminders:

• We have a new schedule, which you can download here, due to the musical instrument program.
• No school or childcare available this Friday, Jan. 13, for Report Writing Day.
• Please sign and return the permission slip your student brought home for the field trip to the Oakland Museum of California on Thursday, January 19 from 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.

Homework:
30 minutes of reading on the reading log students brought home yesterday

Fourth grade math homework, due tomorrow
Purple group:
Option 1 (plum): Unit 3, pages 27-28, Unit 3, pages 30-31
Option 2 (periwinkle): Unit 3, pages 30-31, JUMP Packet 4

Fifth grade math homework, due tomorrow
Here's the homework for the next two nights. Tonight's homework is erroneously labeled "Thursday class," and is two pages in length.

Blue group:
Blue Group Homework

Today students began their first class with the Dresher musical instrument program. After a quick introduction, they chose a simple practice instrument to make, using tools--either percussion, wind, and string instruments. They will finish these tomorrow, then next week will begin the design process.

Fourth grade math
Students in the purple group started with quick images, writing equations for collections of dots, then continued work on division story problems with and without remainders.

Fifth grade math

Students worked today to find percents of a number. We began by using number sense: what's 100% of 200? Then 50% must be half of that, 25% is half of that, etc. We went so far as to practice changing the percentage to a decimal and multiplying with the algorithm to find trickier percentages, like what is 17% of 37.5? That last part will take some more practice tomorrow!