Weekly Reminders: March 2012

Monday, March 26, 2012

Conference Week Reminders: 3/26-3/30

Rockhopper Weekly Reminders

March 26-30

Mark Your Calendars:

Monday, March 26 - Friday, March 30: Early Dismissal 12:30 pm all week
Monday, March 26 - Wednesday, March 28: Scholastic Book Fair 12:30-2:00pm
Friday, March 30 - 5th grade Bedroom Projects are due
Thursday, April 5 - Field Trip to see the play “Ben Franklin”
Thursday, April 5 - Final Geography Test
Monday, April 9 - Spring Recess Begins
Monday, April 23 - School Resumes

Curriculum Flash!

Language Arts:

This week we are moving along with our work with Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. We will be testing our comprehension of the story through specific responses to each chapter, and our class discussions will focus on increasing our cultural awareness of Sadako’s family life and the circumstances of her illness.

Math

4th grade: We are working on statistics and graphing this week, and our classes have completed data collection to use for single and double bar graph creation and statistical analysis of data (mean, median, mode, and range.) We’ll even question each other about graphical data- what can you learn from this graph? Since the survey topic was our classroom’s personal characteristics, our interest level is high! By the end of the week, we will begin work on coordinate graphing principles and applications.

5th grade: This week we begin our unit on statistics and data collection. We started today by collecting data on the amount of raisins in individual sized boxes. We’ll sort, organize, and interpret our data this week. We’ll review statistical vocabulary terms such as sample size, median, mode, mean, variance, frequency tables and outlier. We’ll also look at different methods of displaying data for interpretation and the specific vocabulary that accompanies different displays. Students will also have a chance to practice some of their statistical skills online throughout the week.

Science:

In Rooms 20 & 21, we will use our two morning sessions this week to get some initial planning and research done on our Water Planet tech projects. We’ll focus on looking for good online information for us as elementary school students, and we’ll talk more about our presentation approach for the finished product.

Social Studies:

Students have received their new and final set of states for the year! The geography test will be given on Thursday, April 5 and will include all 50 states. It should be great fun to see how many states and capitals they have learned - we know many students will be going for the “perfect score”! Also this week, students’ Explorer Tests will be returned and sent home for parent signatures. Please take a moment to review the test with your child. Many students did exceptionally well!

Name that State!

This state was an independent nation from 1836 to 1845.
More wool comes from this state than any other state in the country.
This state's official mammal is the armadillo.
This state is the second-largest state in the United States.
President George W. Bush was governor of this state before he was elected president

Which state is it?

Monday, March 19, 2012

March 20-23 Conference Week Reminders

Rockhopper Weekly Reminders

March 20-23

Mark Your Calendars:

Tuesday, March 20- Thursday, March 22: Oral Presentations Rooms 20, 21
Wednesday, March 21: 5th grade math placement test #1 for middle school
Thursday, March 22- Friday March 30: Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences
Thursday, March 22 - Friday March 30: Early Dismissal 12:30 pm every day
Thursday, March 22 - Scholastic Book Fair Begins
Friday, March 30 - 5th grade Bedroom Projects are due
Thursday, April 5 - Field Trip to see the play: Ben Franklin
Thursday, April 5 - Final Geography Test
Monday, April 9 - Spring Recess Begins

Curriculum Flash!

Language Arts:

This week we are spending the majority of our time doing our oral presentations of our favorite books from our Reading Contracts. We are looking for strong voices, expressive body language, and clear summations of the book or section of the book we’ve chosen to talk about. We will continue moving along with our work with Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. We will be working hard to capture the spirit of Japan as we proceed through this moving tale of a young girl in post-World War Two Japan and her life in the aftermath of the atomic bomb.

Math

4th grade: Perimeter Park has been completed, and this project will allows us as teachers to see if our students understand customary and metric units of measurement and the calculation of perimeter. We’ll begin statistics and graphing this week, and our classes will be doing data collection, single and double bar graph creation, and statistical analysis of data (mean, median, mode, and range.) We’ll even question each other about graphical data- what can you learn from this graph? It should be an entertaining and educational week!

5th grade: (20)
Students will continue to practice estimation and double digit division this week. We will review capacity and equivalent measurements. Students’ decimal tests will be returned for correction and parent signature. Please take a moment to review them with your child.

Science:

In Rooms 20 & 21, we saw some amazing Keynote presentations on the elements of our choice this past week. The creative pieces that students prepared to introduce their element were in many cases the highlight of the presentation! We introduced our electronic version of the Rockhopper “Science Fair” activity we’ve conducted in the past, and students learning their team members and topics to be presented. This week we only have a single day to continue of initial preparation for this project, so we’ll focus on understanding what a good online information is for us as elementary school students, and we’ll talk more about initial research and planning with our teams.

Social Studies:

Students have received their new and final set of states for the year! The geography test will be given on Thursday, April 5 and will include all 50 states. It should be great fun to see how many states and capitals they have learned - we know many students will be going for the “perfect score”! Also this week, students’ Explorer Tests will be returned and sent home for parent signatures. Please take a moment to review the test with your child. Many students did exceptionally well!

Name that State!

The flag of this state was designed by a 13-year-old boy.
This state has 6,640 miles of coastline, more than all other states combined.
William A. Egan was this state's first governor.
This state does not border any other state.
The United States purchased this state from Russia.
Which state is it?

Monday, March 12, 2012

March 12-16 Weekly Reminders

Rockhopper Weekly Reminders

March 12 - March 16

Mark Your Calendars:

Wednesday, March 14th: Explorers Unit Exam
Monday, March 19: Learning Day- no school for students
Tuesday, March 20: Oral Presentations begin- check your schedule!
Thursday, March 22: Conferences start- 12:30pm dismissal begins ( and continues through Friday, 3/30)

Spring Conferences and Technology Showcase

Parent-Teacher Conferences are coming up this month, beginning on Thursday, March 22 and running through Friday, March 30. This year’s conferences will feature a “Technology Showcase” in grades 2-5. In addition to the normal 20 minute meeting between parents, teachers, and students, there will be an additional 20 minute time slot which students will facilitate with their parents either in our computer lab, or in another designated spot on campus where our laptop carts will be set up. Students will showcase all of their awesome technology works in progress, projects that they have completed, as well as demonstrate their skills in using various applications. This technology showcase time slot is flexible, and can either occur before or after the scheduled parent-teacher conference appointment in the classroom (or before or after a siblings conference as well). We hope you enjoy checking out the great strides our techy penguins have been making!

Outdoor School:

We will continue to leave this information regarding cost and forms in the reminders until we have all forms back and filled out completely:

a. The cost for Outdoor School is $310 and the check should be made out to Portal School along with the forms by March 8th.
b. Here is an explanation of what we require with the yellow form:
(copied from an email from the director of Outdoor School)
This form is two sided and we require each student to have SECTION I completed by the parent. We only require SECTION II to be completed by the physician if the student takes prescription medications or if the parent would like their child to have access to the over the counter medications listed on the form. The important thing to note is, in the case of over the counter medication, if a physician does not complete and sign SECTION II then we do not have authorization to administer over the counter medications to that student (this is new this year in order to be in compliance with ed code). If a parent would like their child to have the ability to receive over the counter medication listed while at outdoor science school then they must obtain a physician's signature for SECTION II. There are a few items listed on the form (rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, Bactine, Vaseline, sunblock, saline eye wash, etc) that are not considered medications. We list these items so that parents are aware of everything that we have in stock in our health office and have the opportunity to indicate if they prefer their child NOT to be given those treatments (in a first aid situation, for example).

Portal Enrichment Program = P.E.P.

Spring Break is coming- we will have no classes during the weeks of April 9-13 and April 16-20 at Portal. What we DO have for those of you who are in town and looking for a good way to spend your days is the Portal Enrichment Program- this is a program of fun and interesting classes for K-5 students taught by members of the Portal staff during our break. Electronic registration forms are available for you to sign up for either week (or both) that P.E.P. is offered at our school- see our last Portal Press for more information!

Mrs. Dominguez Needs Half-Gallon Carton Donations for Science:

If you have any empty and cleaned-out half gallon cartons (orange juice, milk...) Rooms 19 and 24 in Rockhopper Village would love to have one per child by this Friday. We can help them out if we have these paper cartons at home, so bring one in!

Remember Our Chabot Field Trip?

If you were a chaperone on our field trip to Chabot Space and Science Center AND you took some great kid photos while you were there, we would love to have some additional photos of our two classes for the Memory Book folks to use. Submit any photos you have by e-mail, CD-R, or flash drive- we’ll do the rest. Thanks!

Curriculum Flash!

Language Arts:

This week we are beginning our work with our last core literature book of the year- Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. We will be working hard to capture the spirit of Japan as we proceed through this moving tale of a young girl in post-World War Two Japan and her life in the aftermath of the atomic bomb. As always, we continue to develop our grammatical skills (subject-verb agreement) and our ability to respond to nonfiction literature (Time for Kids.)

Math

4th grade: We are working on our “Perimeter Park” project to start the week. This project requires creativity and precision to be successful, in addition to accurate measurement and calculation skills. Additional work on the project will be done by students as part of this week’s homework. Perimeter Park allows us all to apply our understanding of customary and metric units of measurement, which is the topic of this week’s math curriculum. We’ll cover units of length, as well as capacity and weight, in our exploration of the two measurement systems currently in use in the United States and around the world.

5th grade: (20) • Design a Bedroom Project: We have assigned students a "Design a Bedroom" project that they are responsible for finishing at home. This is a project that addresses multiple standards in mathematics, language arts and promotes art and creativity. Directions on procedures and expectations, as well as the rubric, colored construction paper, and graph paper have also been given to the students. You will need to provide a box, a poster board, and pieces of fabric cut out from old clothes that can be used as window coverings and elsewhere in the room. A box that usually gets recycled in the copying machine area of any office is sufficient for the project. Since this is all about your child's creativity, please do not buy ready made furniture pieces from stores. This project is due on March 30th.

In class, students have completed all operations using decimals and have learned long division. The test on Chapter 14 on Tuesday will provide us with information about the areas where students have achieved mastery of these concepts.

Next Thursday is the first math placement test for the fifth graders. Students should take the test confidently in the strands we have learned so far. They may review the geometry concepts they have learned in fourth grade to familiarize themselves with the vocabulary. It is important that students are not stressed over this test since this is a placement test, and will be used only to place students in the appropriate math classes. There will be many more placement tests in middle school.

Science:

In Rooms 20 & 21, we are enjoying seeing our Keynote presentations on the elements of our choice. It’s especially fun to watch the creative pieces that students prepared to introduce their element! Presentations continue through Thursday in the classroom. We will also be introducing our electronic version of the Rockhopper “Science Fair” activity we’ve conducted in the past. This year’s version will be a technological presentation on one of a variety of topics related to the 3rd trimester science unit entitled “Water Planet.” You’re sure to hear more about this as the week goes on!

Social Studies:

Students will be taking the “Explorers” unit exam this Wednesday, March 14th. Students should continue to review all notes, reread relevant chapters, and utilize all of their resources to prepare for the upcoming test. We played Jeopardy in class to test our knowledge and understanding of the material- it was a BLAST! This Friday, we will learn about the Pacific states!

Name that State!

This state became a state on Valentine's Day.
This state is the top producer of copper in the United States.
The palo verde, which is Spanish for "green stick," is this state's official state tree.
This state is home to Grand Canyon National Park.
Which state is it?

Monday, March 5, 2012

Our Reminders for Mar. 5-9

Rockhopper Weekly Reminders

March 5 - March 9

Mark Your Calendars:

Tuesday, March 6th: 4th grade STAR Writing test and 5th grade CUSD Persuasive Writing Task
Thursday, March 8th: Outdoor School forms due!
Thursday, March 8th: Conference slips go home

Friday, March 9th: Reading Contracts due!
Friday, March 9th: End of 2nd trimester
Wednesday, March 14th: Explorers Unit Exam

*Spring Conferences and Technology Showcase

Parent-Teacher Conferences are coming up this month, beginning on Thursday, March 22 and running through Friday, March 30. This year’s conferences will feature a “Technology Showcase” in grades 2-5. In addition to the normal 20
minute meeting between parents, teachers, and students, there will be an additional 20 minute time slot which students will facilitate with their parents either in our computer lab, or in another designated spot on campus where our laptop carts will be set up. Students will showcase all of their awesome technology works in progress, projects that they have completed, as well as demonstrate their skills in using various applications. This technology showcase time slot is flexible, and can either occur before or after the scheduled parent-teacher conference appointment in the classroom (or before or after a siblings conference as well). We hope you enjoy checking out the great strides our techy penguins have been making!

Star and District Writing Tests:
On Tuesday, March 6th, fourth grade students will be taking the STAR writing test. The three writing genres that they may be tested on are: narrative, summary, or response to literature. We have spent time in class practicing all three of these styles of writing. Wednesday, March 7th will be the make-up day for any students who might be absent on March 6th. Also on March 6th, the fifth grade students will be taking the Cupertino district writing test, which will focus on persuasive writing.

Outdoor School:

In response to the questions we have received so far:
a. The cost for Outdoor School is $310 and the check should be made out to Portal School along with the forms by March 8th.
b. Here is an explanation of what we require with the yellow form:
(copied from an email from the director of Outdoor School)
This form is two sided and we require each student to have SECTION I completed by the parent. We only require SECTION II to be completed by the physician if the student takes prescription medications or if the parent would like their child to have access to the over the counter medications listed on the form. The important thing to note is, in the case of over the counter medication, if a physician does not complete and sign SECTION II then we do not have authorization to administer over the counter medications to that student (this is new this year in order to be in compliance with ed code). If a parent would like their child to have the ability to receive over the counter medication listed while at outdoor science school then they must obtain a physician's signature for SECTION II. There are a few items listed on the form (rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, Bactine, Vaseline, sunblock, saline eye wash, etc) that are not considered medications. We list these items so that parents are aware of everything that we have in stock in our health office and have the opportunity to indicate if they prefer their child NOT to be given those treatments (in a first aid situation, for example).

Curriculum Flash!

Language Arts:

This week we have our STAR Writing test for 4th graders, and our 5th grade district writing assessment on Tuesday. We continue to work on revisions of our finished work for our anthologies, and we’re focused on developing more consistent verb use in our grammar lessons. For those of you who haven’t already heard, our read aloud book with our classes is The Adventures of Hugo Cabret- this has proven to be a popular choice!

Math

4th grade:

We have delved into the realm of geometry this past week, and we’ll continue to broaden our understanding of this area of mathematics in our classes this week. Symmetry, perimeter, area, and complex figures are the main areas of focus. At the end of the week, we will introduce and begin our Perimeter Park project. This project requires creativity and precision to be successful.

5th grade:

• Design a Bedroom Project: We have assigned students a "Design a Bedroom" project that they are responsible for finishing at home. This is a project that addresses multiple standards in mathematics, language arts and promotes art and creativity. Directions on procedures and expectations, as well as the rubric, colored construction paper, and graph paper have also been given to the students. You will need to provide a box, a poster board, and pieces of fabric cut out from old clothes that can be used as window coverings and elsewhere in the room. A box that usually gets recycled in the copying machine area of any office is sufficient for the project. Since this is all about your child's creativity, please do not buy ready made furniture pieces from stores. This project is due on March 30th.

This week, we’ll continue our study of decimals with multiplication, their real life usage, and their connection to fractions. Our new Problem of the Week (given out on Tuesday) will keep us focused on real life application and communicating logic.

Science:

In Rooms 20 & 21, we are finishing our Keynote presentations on the element of our choice. We have definitely been working to go beyond the usual text/photo format. Linking information, audio input, and other “extras” are examples of things you might find in the construction of the students’ presentations. The students are also wrapping up a little creative writing task connected to their element, which they will present orally to the rest of the class. We’ll start presentations in the class on Friday.

Social Studies:

Our students are very excited about finishing the first volume of A History of US; they will get the second volume soon after the exam. To wrap up our unit, we will be learning about Sir Francis Drake and the dramatic defeat of the Spanish Armada. Our Explorers unit exam will be on Wednesday, March 14th. Students should continue to review all notes, re-read relevant chapters, and utilize all of their resources to prepare for the upcoming test. We will play Jeopardy in class next week to review as a class!

Name that State!

Three countries -- France, England, and Spain -- flew their flags over this state at separate times.
Nearly 60 percent of this state is covered by forest.
Coca-Cola was first bottled in this state in 1894.
Cotton is the most important crop in this state.
This state's name is also the name of the largest (by volume) river in the United States.
Which state is it?