Dear Families,
The field trip to the bank was a great success! The highlight and I'm hoping your children shared this with you was our trip into the bank vault where students had the opportunity to hold $50,000.00. All hands were up wanting a turn! The bank also gave each student a piggybank with a dollar in quarters to begin saving. I thought that was very generous! In our "Money Class" this week, students learned how to keep track of inventory in our school store, how to write a check, and keep track of deposits and expenditures in a transaction register. You might consider letting them write checks for your bills as they all seemed to quickly understand the steps!
As you know, the students (3rd-8th) also had their first school dance last week. We had a volunteer DJ who did a superb job in bringing current, student chosen music to our ears! I bought 144 balloons for decoration and to have on the dance floor. The balloons were blown-up by the students that morning and ended up being an ice-breaker for the students. They played with them instead of dancing for a good part of the dance. However at one point, they were all in a circle having a dance-off! Refreshments were served during the dance. All money raised was donated to the student store account.
In history, we continue to read about "Taxation without Representation" which was the impetus for the colonist to rebel against England prior to the Revolutionery War. We recently read about Samual Adams and his part in the war. We also found out that he was originally a brewer of rootbeer. Yesterday, we spent time in the Kroc Center kitchen preparing the ingredients to bottle our own rootbeer. I hope its good! I'm planning on rootbeer floats for Friday after lunch!
Mark your calendar for Saturday, April 26th. I would like to rally my home-room students and parents to join me at "Servapalooza", a service festival and parade of wishes. "Servapalooza" will feature hands-on service projects by 50 community organizations, a Parade of Wishes for youth groups, youth performers, raffles, silent auction, food vendors, and much more. There will be Service Stations where students can volunteer in over 50 fun hands-on projects protecting the environment, caring for youth, servicing the hungry and homeless,and improving health. Registration starts at noon and events after. I will keep you posted as we get closer. Innovations Academy would also like to donate money to this organization. We have a goal of $500.00. If you are interested in making a donation of any amount, please bring it to my classroom and I will get it into the proper hands.
As always, please feel free to contact me through my email or stop by the classroom.
That's it for now,
Kim
Arriving at Smith Ranch
Arriving at Smith Ranch!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
LOTS OF NEWS!!!
Dear Families,
On Monday any of your children who are in my "Money" class will have the opportunity to go on a field trip to a bank (The Union Bank in Lemon Grove). They will get a tour of the bank and even be able to go inside the vault and hold $100.00 bills. We leave the school at 12:40pm and return by 2:15pm. We need parent drivers!
I have made a couple changes for the school dance which is scheduled for Wednesday, March 18th. The tickets have been repriced at $2.00. Refreshments will include pizza, water, juice, and soda. Pizza slices will sell for $1.00 and drinks for $0.50.The 3-5th graders will have the MPR room to themselves for the first hour only (1-2pm). The 6-8th graders will have the second hour (2-3pm). We will have a DJ for both groups. All of these students have had the opportunity to offer their music choices to the DJ. However, only appropriate music will be played! I hope all your children can come.
In history, your children are learning about the Revolutionary War. One of the activities is for student partners to write a Revolutionary newspaper. Students have chosen their headline event article, a historical figure to write a biography about, and will be writing an editorial from the patriot or loyalist point of view. (They are also interested in debating from these two points of view. My idea is for them to debate publicly and be dressed in costume from that time period. I'll keep you posted!) We have talked about the role of the newspaper during this historic time period and its impact on the Revolution taking place. Students had the opportunity to view a brief video clip showing the printing process at that time and I want to tie in a trip (if possible) to the San Diego Union so students can talk to a writer, hopefully an editor, and see a contemporary printing process.
In science, students are engaging in experiments and learning about Scientific Method. These classes are being taught by Jeremy. As I see more of his project, I will share more information with you.
I think that's it for now. As always, please feel free to email me with any of your concerns or questions.
Kim
On Monday any of your children who are in my "Money" class will have the opportunity to go on a field trip to a bank (The Union Bank in Lemon Grove). They will get a tour of the bank and even be able to go inside the vault and hold $100.00 bills. We leave the school at 12:40pm and return by 2:15pm. We need parent drivers!
I have made a couple changes for the school dance which is scheduled for Wednesday, March 18th. The tickets have been repriced at $2.00. Refreshments will include pizza, water, juice, and soda. Pizza slices will sell for $1.00 and drinks for $0.50.The 3-5th graders will have the MPR room to themselves for the first hour only (1-2pm). The 6-8th graders will have the second hour (2-3pm). We will have a DJ for both groups. All of these students have had the opportunity to offer their music choices to the DJ. However, only appropriate music will be played! I hope all your children can come.
In history, your children are learning about the Revolutionary War. One of the activities is for student partners to write a Revolutionary newspaper. Students have chosen their headline event article, a historical figure to write a biography about, and will be writing an editorial from the patriot or loyalist point of view. (They are also interested in debating from these two points of view. My idea is for them to debate publicly and be dressed in costume from that time period. I'll keep you posted!) We have talked about the role of the newspaper during this historic time period and its impact on the Revolution taking place. Students had the opportunity to view a brief video clip showing the printing process at that time and I want to tie in a trip (if possible) to the San Diego Union so students can talk to a writer, hopefully an editor, and see a contemporary printing process.
In science, students are engaging in experiments and learning about Scientific Method. These classes are being taught by Jeremy. As I see more of his project, I will share more information with you.
I think that's it for now. As always, please feel free to email me with any of your concerns or questions.
Kim
Monday, March 2, 2009
New Student Store to Open Soon!!
Greetings I.A. Families,
I want to thank everyone who so generously donated used books, CDs, and other items to our sale last Thursday. For the students and myself, it was a great success. We earned a little over $260.00 and enough to start ordering some items for our students store (KIDS, Inc. - students in my Money class picked the name). Today, students had the opportunity to begin a discussion about jobs in the store, hours of operation, scheduling students at the store, and had a chance to do some comparison shopping, and calculating of profits. Whew! Our next fundraiser as mentioned in a previous BLOG will be a school dance. There has been a change regarding the school dance for primary grades. After careful consideration, and talking with the lower grade teachers, I have decided that for March, we will only have the upper grade (3-8) dance on March 18th. Tickets will go on sale on Tuesday, March 10 (we postponed sales just a bit). Tickets have also been re-priced at $1.00 each, per my discussion with the students in my Money class. Profits, again will be allocated for the puchase of stock for the store. We are planning a refreshment stand at the dance. Any donations of juice boxes, water bottles, or snack bags would be greatly appreciated!
We also sold the original art work quilt at the book sale. Innovations Academy purchased it and it is on display in my room! The money we earned from the quilt will finally give us a chance to do some microfinancing in developing countries - our goal from the beginning of the year. Additionally, the "Stupendous Solar System Cookbook" was on sale at a price of $12.50 (the cost of color printing and binding). This cookbook was an offshoot of students learning about the solar system and later creating a scale model with fruits and vegetables on the field at the Kroc Center. I will be turning in the original student cookbook for printing this week, so if you are interested, please contact me immediately.
As we wrap up the solar system lessons and fun, we are next turning to history and exploring the Revolutionary War. Students will be asked to created a newspaper with a story about an important event during the war, a biography of an important historical figure from that time period, and finally an editorial from a loyalist and a patriot. Students will also have the opportunity to propose a project of their own regarding this important time in history. We have about four weeks for this project!
Regarding those long lost animal reports. Your children will have them back soon for final revisions. I must apologize as once we got into the report cards, they took a back seat and we have yet to completely finish them - but we will. I would also still like to get a field trip to an animal shelter of some kind or another.
All of I.A.'s fourth graders will be completing a writing assessment on Tuesday, March 3rd. We practiced for it today in Language Arts and I believe they have a good idea how to approach the writing prompt (how to plan, perhaps use a graphic organizer, and how to structure their writing, etc...).
Don't forget the field trip on Thursday, March 5th to the San Diego Museum of Art where your children will learn California and U.S. History through the presentation of art. I've been looking forward to this field trip since the beginning of the year when I first read about the program.
As you can see, life is full and enriching for your children. If you have any questions or concerns, as always, please contact me via email.
Sincerely,
Kim
I want to thank everyone who so generously donated used books, CDs, and other items to our sale last Thursday. For the students and myself, it was a great success. We earned a little over $260.00 and enough to start ordering some items for our students store (KIDS, Inc. - students in my Money class picked the name). Today, students had the opportunity to begin a discussion about jobs in the store, hours of operation, scheduling students at the store, and had a chance to do some comparison shopping, and calculating of profits. Whew! Our next fundraiser as mentioned in a previous BLOG will be a school dance. There has been a change regarding the school dance for primary grades. After careful consideration, and talking with the lower grade teachers, I have decided that for March, we will only have the upper grade (3-8) dance on March 18th. Tickets will go on sale on Tuesday, March 10 (we postponed sales just a bit). Tickets have also been re-priced at $1.00 each, per my discussion with the students in my Money class. Profits, again will be allocated for the puchase of stock for the store. We are planning a refreshment stand at the dance. Any donations of juice boxes, water bottles, or snack bags would be greatly appreciated!
We also sold the original art work quilt at the book sale. Innovations Academy purchased it and it is on display in my room! The money we earned from the quilt will finally give us a chance to do some microfinancing in developing countries - our goal from the beginning of the year. Additionally, the "Stupendous Solar System Cookbook" was on sale at a price of $12.50 (the cost of color printing and binding). This cookbook was an offshoot of students learning about the solar system and later creating a scale model with fruits and vegetables on the field at the Kroc Center. I will be turning in the original student cookbook for printing this week, so if you are interested, please contact me immediately.
As we wrap up the solar system lessons and fun, we are next turning to history and exploring the Revolutionary War. Students will be asked to created a newspaper with a story about an important event during the war, a biography of an important historical figure from that time period, and finally an editorial from a loyalist and a patriot. Students will also have the opportunity to propose a project of their own regarding this important time in history. We have about four weeks for this project!
Regarding those long lost animal reports. Your children will have them back soon for final revisions. I must apologize as once we got into the report cards, they took a back seat and we have yet to completely finish them - but we will. I would also still like to get a field trip to an animal shelter of some kind or another.
All of I.A.'s fourth graders will be completing a writing assessment on Tuesday, March 3rd. We practiced for it today in Language Arts and I believe they have a good idea how to approach the writing prompt (how to plan, perhaps use a graphic organizer, and how to structure their writing, etc...).
Don't forget the field trip on Thursday, March 5th to the San Diego Museum of Art where your children will learn California and U.S. History through the presentation of art. I've been looking forward to this field trip since the beginning of the year when I first read about the program.
As you can see, life is full and enriching for your children. If you have any questions or concerns, as always, please contact me via email.
Sincerely,
Kim
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