Week of 2/23 Newsletter

Hello!

We have another busy week ahead of us!

FIELD TRIPS

>Our field trip to the Santa Cruz Symphony is on Monday from 10-1:00. Thank you in advance to all of the parents who will be driving and chaperoning. We look forward to this enriching experience!
>In your child's Monday Folder, you will find a permission slip to our upcoming field trip to the Tech Museum on March 10. Please sign and return it by Tuesday, March 4. You can send your fee directly to the office. If you'd like to drive, please complete the form on the Field Trip Information page on this site.

SCIENCE FAIR

>This week your child should be analyzing the collected data from his/her experiment and writing the summary report. I will be happy to allow students time during class to type the report if they would like. Just let me know if you'd like your child to have the time and I'll make it happen.
>Projects and reports are due on Tuesday, March 3. Students will be presenting their projects to a classmate for a video assignment.

WHAT WE'RE LEARNING

>MATH: The entire class is focusing on Collecting and Analyzing Data. Students are expected to find the mean, median, mode and range (video below) of specific data sets as well as organize data into a variety of different graphs and models (line plots, line plots, and bar graphs).

>SCIENCE: 4th Graders are working with circuits and making motors run with D-cell batteries. 

>ELA: We are continuing to work with the Young Writer's Project, focused on writing with figurative language and sensory details using a variety of sentence types. We will learn about different forms of poetry as well.

>SOCIAL SCIENCES: Students are learning about important historical figures who participated in the American Revolution.

HW CLUB

>I'm sorry, but we will NOT be having Homework Club this week. We will resume the following week on Thursday, March 5.

Thank you, as always, for all of the tremendous support both in class and at home. Our students are very lucky to have such amazing parents/families! If you have any questions, please email me at rhonig@mountaines.org.

Take care,

Mrs. Honig

    Finding mean, median and mode: Here we give you a set of numbers and then ask you to find the mean, median, and mode. It's your first opportunity to practice with us!

Week of 2/17 Newsletter

Greetings!

Wow! What a beautiful three-day weekend! I hope everyone had a nice one! Amanda Connors, thank you VERY much for organizing the fabulous Valentine's Day party. Thank you to all parents for volunteering your time and tasty snacks! We had a great time.

We have a busy next couple of weeks so please check out below the important dates and events.

Tuesday, 2/17: Student Council Speeches and Spring Election begin at 8:45AM. Mountain School is lucky enough to have a new Student Council Staff Member in charge: Shauna Sutton!

Tuesday, 2/17: Musician Visitor from the Santa Cruz Symphony. at 1:30PM, we will have a small assembly introducing the 4th & 5th grade students to the symphony and what to expect for our upcoming field trip.

Wednesday, 2/18: Young Writer's Project continues. Our class has really enjoyed the feedback and assistance received by the wonderful volunteers. The writing that is being produced in our classroom is absolutely amazing! Everyone is looking forward to the final product and what we'll be learning along the way.

Thursday, 2/19: Homework Club 2:50-3:30PM.

Friday, 2/20: "Dress Like Your Favorite Book Character" Day. As the Read-a-thon comes to a close, please help your child choose a literary character to come dressed as on Friday. We will also celebrate with popsicles. Hopefully, your child has been gathering sponsors and reading on a daily basis.

Monday, 2/23: Field Trip to Santa Cruz Symphony. We will leave at 10:30AM and bring our sack lunches to eat after the performance. If you volunteered to drive, THANK YOU, and please be sure you have completed the form online here if you haven't already.

Thank you, as always, for your support both in class and at home. We are incredibly lucky to have such amazing families! If you have any questions or concerns, please email me at rhonig@mountainesd.org.

Best,
Mrs. Honig

Week of 2/10 Newsletter

Hello 4th and 5th Grade Families,

I hope you had a safe and happy three-day weekend! We have a lot to celebrate and to look forward to in the coming weeks.

To begin, the launch of the Young Writer's Project last week was amazing! Our Writing Project Assistants (WPAs) are fantastic and so excited to begin working with the students. We are lucky enough to have 4 different volunteers who will be in our classroom on Wednesdays and Fridays to meet with students about their writing. The first writing activity resulted in some of the most creative, beautiful writing I have seen all year! Please take a moment to ask your child about his/her experience so far.

Student Council Spring Elections are a week from today! If your child is interested in running for an office, please be sure he/she has turned in the paperwork (due 2/10). I will go over speeches with the candidates on Friday. The SPCA Donations will be accepted through Friday so if you have any items to donate, please drop them by the office. Additionally, Student Council is lucky enough to begin working with Shauna Sutton this Spring! She is very excited to take on the program an work with the students.

We have a field Trip to the Santa Cruz Symphony scheduled for Monday, 3/23. Permission slips go home on 2/10 and are due 2/13. If you are interested and available to drive/chaperone, please complete the form on our Field Trip Link.

The Mountain School Read-a-thon is well under way. Your child should be collecting sponsors and reading daily. There will be an assembly with a published author this Friday.

Friday, at 1PM, we will exchange Valentines with some snacks (thank you Amanda Connors for coordinating!). If your child plans to bring valentines, please be sure he/she has one for EVERY student. Please also remember to comply with the Mountain School Wellness Policy and leave the sweets at home.

Your child should begin gathering data for his/her science fair project. We will meet next week about progress. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to email me.

Finally, Homework Club will be this Wednesday at 12:35-1:15 and Thursday, 2:50-3:30.

Thank you, as always, for your support at home and in class. We truly appreciate it!

Best,
Mrs. Honig

Week of 2/2 Newsletter

Dear Families,

We have some very exciting projects beginning this week! 

Science Fair:
Hopefully your child has begun to work on his/her science fair project: gathering materials, finalizing plans for the experiments. I am available after school this Thursday to meet with anyone who may have questions about their project, please just email me to let me know you plan to come. If your child would like to submit his/her project to the County Science Fair (3/7) the deadline for registration is Friday, February 13. 

Young Writers Project:
We will be launching the Young Writers Project this Wednesday with a brief introduction at 10:30 AM, Wednesday morning. Then we will meet our Writing Project Assistants (WPAs) who will be with our class on Wednesdays and Fridays for the upcoming 6 weeks. Our project will revolve around Social and Environmental Justice topics and we will learn to write poetry. The completed selections will be published in an anthology with the other small schools' 4th-6th graders. Mrs. Dudley and I are VERY excited about this opportunity!

Upcoming Holidays/Events:

• No School for Lincoln's Birthday on Monday, February 9
• No School for Presidents' Day on Monday, February 16
• Read-A-Thon: Please look for the Read-a-thon packets in the Monday Folders. Here is more information from the Parents' Club: It's time to start the 2015 Readathon!  The students will receive their Readathon packets on Monday, Feb. 2, and will try to find sponsors that first week.  The goal for each student is to raise $100.  The Readathon will run for 12 days (Feb. 9-20), and the students will read for 15-30 minutes daily depending on their grade level.  The final week will be Feb. 23-27, when they will collect their pledges and turn them in.  We are working on having a local author come to do an assembly on Feb.13, and we will celebrate the end of the Readathon with popsicles and a "Dress as your favorite book character day" on the 20th.  Thank you in advance for your participation in this fundraiser.  Mountain School kids are incredibly lucky to art, music and drama, and it is all funded by fundraisers like this one! 
• Student Council Spring Elections: Packets will go home on February 10, with 4th-6th Graders interested in running for an office for the Spring. Elections and speeches will be held Tuesday, February 17 at 11:00AM.

Thank you for your continued support both at home and in our classroom. Please email me with questions at rhonig@mountainesd.org.

Best,
Mrs. Honig