Monday and the week

Sorry all, but a family emergency dragged me away from school this morning all but one hour into the day. I am home and things are looking ok now. Mary Crandall helped the class through the day! Thanks Mary.

I will be assigning bits and pieces of homework this week as we continue our studies of plate tectonics, finish our discussion and work surrounding "Sadako", write some groovy poetry and discover exactly how and why California became a state.

The second week of STAR testing continues Tuesday and Thursday with the math portions. Again, please make sure that students are at school on time each day.

Red Folders went home this afternoon. Please take a moment to complete and resturn the enrollment form for the 2007 - 2008 school year by its due date of May 23rd.

The 4th annual school auction and golf tournament is this Friday. The class is working on a book of poetry to accompany the auction basket that the Eatons and Scotts are preparing. Thanks Eatons and Scotts! If you haven't had the chance to get tickets, it is my understanding that there are seats left. Get 'em while the gettin' is good. Remember, every dollar earned at the auction stays at Rio.


Respectfully, Mr. B

Thursday and counting

I am happy, happy, happy to report that we are officially half way through our STAR testing. We have put langauge arts behind us and will move on to math (gasp) on Tuesday and Thursday of next week.

Friday brings us a rather mellow day. We will be wrapping up our reading of "Sadako" and be working on an art project based on the subject matter.

We will be continuing to work with coordinate graphing while studying math.

Finally, we will be writing some unique poetry to include with our classroom auction basket for next week's dinner.

Good times, Mr. B

Wednesday and oragami

Howdy all, I know that a few of you have expressed a concern over the lack of homework this week. The kids have it, so please don't worry. It's the WWII report. The students really need to take advantage of the testing window for the next two weeks and get their research and writing done. These reports are due on Monday, May 21...no exceptions.

On the subject of WWII...
We are midway through our reading of "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes". Today we looked at the Sadako Peace Memorial in Hiroshima, as well as memorials that have been established elsewhere around the world to honor children lost during wartime. August 6th is set aside in both Japan and California as Sadako Peace Day. Even though we are not in school on August 6th, the class discussed participating in this event by making and sending paper cranes to the Sadako Peace Memorial and Atomic Dome in Hiroshima, Japan. Each paper crane folded is said to bring good luck and health to someone who needs it. While I have a small supply of oragami paper, I would appreciate it greatly if a few parents and students wouldn't mind sending in a packet of oragami paper for this project. (Available at Palace or Beverly's...coupons in the Metro and Weekly.) We will be displaying what we create in the classroom for the remainder of the school year, and then I will mail the completed cranes (with a photo and letter from the class) to Hisoshima in mid-June.

Respectfully, Mr. B

Tuesday and stuff

Ok, our first day of STAR testing was very interesting. The students were, for the most part, very involved and meticulous with their work. Again, testing times will be Tuesday and Thursday mornings, roughly 8:15 - 10:00, for two weeks.

We spent our math time today going over coordinate graphs.

We also continued writing poetry, reading and discussing "Sadako" and working with line graphs as a means of relaying historical data. All good fun.

Students are responsible for completing any work that was not completed in class from either the poetry, Sadako or graphing exercises.

Students can expect a "Yonwood" quiz on Thursday and a "Sadako" quiz on Friday as we wrap the book.

Respectfully, Mr. B