Post date: Sep 20, 2015 11:9:57 PM
Dear Room 25 Families,
Another beautiful weekend, eh? I could only slightly sense the approach of fall, but that is probably just because we went apple picking at Swanton Ranch this morning and now the kitchen has morphed into a full-on pie factory! If these turn out well, I'm thinking that it would be a really fun thing to do in class sometime soon!
This newsletter will be a bit shorter than the others, and I'm leaving off many of the links, because they are already on the daily schedule and I'm under a bit of a time crunch this evening.
Looking Back and Ahead:
Science: The theme for the week was measurement. The kids learned the 5 advantages of the metric system (ask 'em!) as well as how to use/read a triple-beam balance, graduated cylinder, and thermometer. The concept of significant digits (a.k.a. the "ish" factor) seems to make sense to most. The kids also spent some time discerning proper lab behavior and practices. Tomorrow I will introduce them to the even more mathy practice of dimensional analysis and they will also embark on the first steps of their Fall science experiments.
Social Studies: The Constitution intensive is going well. The kids copied over the preamble and created for themselves a familiar-language translation of it. I've asked them to have a 5 minute discussion with you about the purpose and meaning of that important "We the people" opening paragraph to the constitution and how it set the tone and direction for government. I also had the kids to an "each-one-teach-one" about a specific spread in the Kids Discover magazine called "How America Works", and that seemed to go very well too. They might be able to show you their notes, if they brought them home for the weekend. Lastly, we've been watching 15 minute portions of Peter Segal's "Constitution USA" series, which I find to be an excellent and extremely informative way to bring many aspects of the Constitution close to home and understandable.
English: The "Me as a Reader" essays should be done soon and I'm eager to read the kids' thoughts. Let me take a tangent here to explain something about due date for multiple-day assignments like this one. Instead of giving a due date for the final product, which many kids often translate to a "put it off until the night before" date, I set due dates for the components that make up the project rather than just the final product only. For this essay, there was a due date for the pre-write (last Tuesday 9/15), a due date for the draft (Friday 9/18), a due date for the edits (Wednesday 9/23), and then a due date for the final (Friday 9/25). The goal is to emphasize that writing is a multi-step process rather than a final-copy product.
A Few Other Things:
1. Powerschool underwent a big system revision a little while ago, and so parents will need to go through the process of making new login names. Kim should be sending out an email explaining the steps. In the mean time, I'll send home printouts for each of the three subjects tomorrow. Whether or not your family invests in assignment scores and overall grades is, of course, up to you; I just want to do my part to make the information available to you and the kids.
2. The Walkabout needs 2 more moms to come as drivers/chaperones and we are 11 seats shy. Let me know if you need more information, or take a journey through the firehose of information on the Cal Coast Walkabout page of my site. The kids will be getting into docent groups soon and learning all there is to know (almost) about the environments, history, attractions, and beauty of the coast from Santa Cruz to Marin.
3. Parent lessons/activities that the class has experience have been excellent (really, fantastic stuff!) and there are more to come this week: drums, physical therapy therapy, party ideas, car safety, and TBD content from Roxy Manning and Blake Wiggins.
Got A Minute to Reply?: please let me know how the nightly assignment sheet check-ins are going with you and your kid.
Upcoming Events:
September 24 (Thursday): Room 25 to Ropes Course -- please get your kid to school by 8:15 this day
September 24 (Thursday) Parent 101 at Westgate Church (7 to 9)
September 28 (Monday): Selective & Parent Workshifts start
September 30 (Wednesday): Student Council Elections
October 16 (Friday): Teacher Learning Day (no school for kids)
October 17 (Saturday): Fall Festival
October 26-30: Fall conferences
November 11: Veteran's Day (no school)
November 16 to 18: Cal Coast Walkabout
November 23-27: Thanksgiving Break
December 4 (Friday): Middle School Dance
December 18 (Friday): Early dismissal
December 21 - January 10: Winter Holiday