Homework
4th Grade Math: Division and multiplication word problems.
5th Grade Math: Packet
Cultural Studies: 15 minutes working on Lewis & Clark profile packet. See below for a hint if your child is stuck.
Field Trip Permission for January 29 to S.F. MoMA - due signed on Friday.
Winter Sing: Tomorrow night is the winter sing. Please see the handout coming home today (that had originally intended to be sent home last week - so ignore the title declaring the sing is next week.)
4th Grade Math: The 4th grade began our geometry unit today by making a Tangrams set from from a 4" x 4" square of paper. There are 7 pieces made in total, and it is tricky figuring out how to put it back together into a square again. We are using Tangrams to discuss and become familiar with geometry terms.
Today in Strawberry: We began our day discussing an Impressionist painting and contrasting it to a Surrealist painting. We discussed color choices, topic or theme and style. During writing the students continued working on narrative stories about moments in time. We began with a share of a story Jeff is working on about a childhood injury for a different look at how to write a narrative. This afternoon we continued in our read aloud journey with Sacagawea, and were finally introduced to Lewis and Clark and other members of the party. Our follow-up work in Cultural Studies (coming home tonight) was to read more about the Corps of Discovery, and identify traits of the members of the team, both positive and negative (gifts and challenges). For example, York has the trait of being strong, a hard worker and popular with the Native tribes because he stood out for being the only African American they had ever seen. York's challenge (negative trait) is that he is a slave owned by Clark. We don't know if he chose to be there, and he is not being paid.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Today we focused attention on the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In the morning we watched the state video for Alabama, which has a section about the Civil Rights movement and Dr. King. During Cultural Studies we read "Martin's Big Words," watched a short biography and watched/listened to the portion of Dr. King's speech at the march on Washington known as, "I have a dream." The students were then asked to consider, if Dr. King were still alive today at the age of 84, what might be part of his "dream" today? We will be using this conversation to help guide us in our focus for service learning opportunities.
At class meeting today the students participated in a lesson about our "Inner Critic & Inner Coach." In this activity the students consider how our own thinking can be our harshest critic, and how important our inner coach can be to inspire us to try. Photos below of students acting out both rolls.
Have a wonderful long weekend. We will see you on Tuesday.
At class meeting today the students participated in a lesson about our "Inner Critic & Inner Coach." In this activity the students consider how our own thinking can be our harshest critic, and how important our inner coach can be to inspire us to try. Photos below of students acting out both rolls.
Have a wonderful long weekend. We will see you on Tuesday.
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| Our inner critics and coaches come to life! |
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| Who will you listen to? Critic or coach? |
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Buddy Day!
Homework:
4th Grade Math: Finish classwork estimation sheet
5th Grade Math: Math packet page
Wordly Wise: Students should be working on catching up through lesson 8 by next week. Please work on Wordly Wise for 15-20 minutes tonight to reach this goal.
State Map: Fill in the states with the correct abbreviations.
Please take note of the following dates:
No School Friday, January 18th-- Teacher Report Writing Day
No School Monday, January 21st-- Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Upcoming Field Trip Dates: Here are dates to put on your calendar - please note the April 11 late return. Also, more details will be emailed soon about the overnight in June. Driving trips will be placed on the wiki very soon as well. If you would like to be a chaperone for the non-driving trips on 1/29 or 4/11, please contact Jeff directly.
Tuesday, January 29, S.F. MoMA (8:30-3:00, BART)
Date TBD soon - Hike and activities based on Lewis & Clark (likely the 1st week of Feb. , drivers needed)
Thursday, February 14 (Valentine's Day), Tree Planting with EBMUD (8:30 - 2:00, drivers needed)
Thursday, April 11, Amtrak to Sac. Train Museum (8:30-5:00) pick up at 5:00pm at the Berkeley Train Station, or back on campus at 5:30pm.
Thursday-Friday, June 6-7, Overnight in the Sierra Nevada at the Clair Tappan Lodge near Donner Pass (a rustic Sierra Club lodge). Driver/chaperones will be needed - more details coming soon.
Writer's Workshop: Today we focused on putting our thoughts onto paper in a stream of consciousness type style. After listening to an excerpt from The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, students used various types of word and memory associations to write continuously for 10 minutes. Using the words "birthday" and "pizza" we ended up with associations from Hawaii, Christmas, slime, carnivals, and broken fingers! It was definitely and interesting and creative writing activity!
Buddy Day: We helped out our younger buddies with measuring today! Using unifix cubes, buddy pairs measured various parts of their body.
4th Grade Math: Finish classwork estimation sheet
5th Grade Math: Math packet page
Wordly Wise: Students should be working on catching up through lesson 8 by next week. Please work on Wordly Wise for 15-20 minutes tonight to reach this goal.
State Map: Fill in the states with the correct abbreviations.
Please take note of the following dates:
No School Friday, January 18th-- Teacher Report Writing Day
No School Monday, January 21st-- Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Upcoming Field Trip Dates: Here are dates to put on your calendar - please note the April 11 late return. Also, more details will be emailed soon about the overnight in June. Driving trips will be placed on the wiki very soon as well. If you would like to be a chaperone for the non-driving trips on 1/29 or 4/11, please contact Jeff directly.
Tuesday, January 29, S.F. MoMA (8:30-3:00, BART)
Date TBD soon - Hike and activities based on Lewis & Clark (likely the 1st week of Feb. , drivers needed)
Thursday, February 14 (Valentine's Day), Tree Planting with EBMUD (8:30 - 2:00, drivers needed)
Thursday, April 11, Amtrak to Sac. Train Museum (8:30-5:00) pick up at 5:00pm at the Berkeley Train Station, or back on campus at 5:30pm.
Thursday-Friday, June 6-7, Overnight in the Sierra Nevada at the Clair Tappan Lodge near Donner Pass (a rustic Sierra Club lodge). Driver/chaperones will be needed - more details coming soon.
Writer's Workshop: Today we focused on putting our thoughts onto paper in a stream of consciousness type style. After listening to an excerpt from The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, students used various types of word and memory associations to write continuously for 10 minutes. Using the words "birthday" and "pizza" we ended up with associations from Hawaii, Christmas, slime, carnivals, and broken fingers! It was definitely and interesting and creative writing activity!
Buddy Day: We helped out our younger buddies with measuring today! Using unifix cubes, buddy pairs measured various parts of their body.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Homework:
4th Grade Math: Option 1 Multiplication Practice or Option 2 Extended Multiplication
5th Grade Math: Math Packet
Wordly Wise: Next week we will begin reviewing lesson 7 and 8 of Wordly Wise. Some students are working on catching up, so please spend 15-20 minutes working on lesson 6, 7, or 8 in order to catch up.
Math Club: Our focus in Math Club was on geometry today. Students used tangram puzzles to do the Tangram Polygon Super Challenge, making 5 different polygons from 1-7 tangram shapes. They also did different levels of the Polly Gone problem, building the biggest pen possible from 40 cubes, or figuring out the area of polygons and creating different parallelograms from them. Other students spent time figuring out an Alphametrics problem (substituting letters for numbers) to do some algebraic thinking in our Math Club Puzzles. No math club next Tuesday because Sima will be out for Professional Development.
Science Opportunities for Girls 5th-8th Grade: ...a great science/mentoring STEM event for grade 5-8 girls, held at Cal. The event is called "Expanding Your Horizons." It's a hands-on event for girls grades 5 - 8 about the sciences, led by "engaging, inspiring female researchers." It will be held on Saturday March 2nd, but the times have not yet been posted.
Book Clubs: Our last three book clubs finished up their presentations today. We saw scenes from Sarah Bishop, Under the Blood Red Sun, and My Heart is on the Ground.
Cultural Studies: Today we began our study of Lewis and Clark and the westward expansion of the United States. We learned about Thomas Jefferson's secret message and his quest for knowledge of nature and the Native American people. We'll continue to focus on Lewis and Clark for the next couple of months.
4th Grade Math: Option 1 Multiplication Practice or Option 2 Extended Multiplication
5th Grade Math: Math Packet
Wordly Wise: Next week we will begin reviewing lesson 7 and 8 of Wordly Wise. Some students are working on catching up, so please spend 15-20 minutes working on lesson 6, 7, or 8 in order to catch up.
Math Club: Our focus in Math Club was on geometry today. Students used tangram puzzles to do the Tangram Polygon Super Challenge, making 5 different polygons from 1-7 tangram shapes. They also did different levels of the Polly Gone problem, building the biggest pen possible from 40 cubes, or figuring out the area of polygons and creating different parallelograms from them. Other students spent time figuring out an Alphametrics problem (substituting letters for numbers) to do some algebraic thinking in our Math Club Puzzles. No math club next Tuesday because Sima will be out for Professional Development.
Science Opportunities for Girls 5th-8th Grade: ...a great science/mentoring STEM event for grade 5-8 girls, held at Cal. The event is called "Expanding Your Horizons." It's a hands-on event for girls grades 5 - 8 about the sciences, led by "engaging, inspiring female researchers." It will be held on Saturday March 2nd, but the times have not yet been posted.
Book Clubs: Our last three book clubs finished up their presentations today. We saw scenes from Sarah Bishop, Under the Blood Red Sun, and My Heart is on the Ground.
Cultural Studies: Today we began our study of Lewis and Clark and the westward expansion of the United States. We learned about Thomas Jefferson's secret message and his quest for knowledge of nature and the Native American people. We'll continue to focus on Lewis and Clark for the next couple of months.
Monday, January 14, 2013
Assembly Success
4th Grade Math Homework: Talk It Over activity & practice your multiplication fact cards (use the table on the backside of the sheet if you do not have your cards).
5th Grade Math Homework: Weekly packet.
Words Their Way: Some students have work from class to complete for word study.
Reminder: No school on Friday, January18 or Monday, January 21.
Showcase of Learning Assembly
Circuits demonstration!
Writing workshop: Moments in Time
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