Hello Everyone,

Thank you to all of our parent volunteers and chaperones on the Cabrillo field trip last Friday. It was a nice experience, and we appreciate Beth, Shalisa, Courtney, Tana and Emily.

**Announcements: Assessments are this week in writing, reading and math. Please be sure your child is well rested and present. Thank you in advance.

Important dates:
Report Cards go home: Monday March 18th
Sea Odyssey Field Trip: Tuesday March 19 from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m.
Spring Break: April 1st - April 5th
Elkhorn Slough Field Trip in mid April--more info to follow


**Sea Odyssey field trip--Tuesday March 19 from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. 
Departure from school is at 7:45; return to school by 12:00 for recess and lunch.

Food: Please make sure your child has eaten before starting the program. During the three hours that our group is scheduled, there is no time to break for snacks. 

Clothing: Please be sure your child dresses comfortably and brings a warm jacket (hat and gloves on colder days). It is usually cold on the ocean, even on sunny days, so be prepared and wear layers. Life vests will be provided. You may want to bring sunscreen and sunglasses.

Shoes: Soft-soled, non-skid shoes are required! Dress shoes, platforms, sandals, high heels or slick soled shoes are not allowed. They are unsafe and you will be asked to remove them. Please wear sneakers or other practical shoes.

Location: We are located at 2222 East Cliff Drive, Suite 222, Santa Cruz, CA 95062. The education center is located on the top floor of the O’Neill building in the Santa Cruz Yacht Harbor, right next door to the Crow’s Nest restaurant.

Weather: The program takes place rain or shine and can be modified to accommodate all weather conditions. With the spring we have had, please be sure your child is prepared with a rain jacket and hood.

Typing Club

Typing practice!! typingclub.com

We will be typing in class each week.  Please let me know if computer access is a problem.

Curriculum Updates: January

ELA: Lucy Calkins, The Witch of Blackbird Pond

SC Symphony: daily musical compositions are introduced and enjoyed every morning.

Mindfulness: best practices in mindfulness are being incorporated in our classroom this year.

Harmony: best practices school-wide curriculum for building a strong social-emotional community within our classrooms.

AR Reading: Accelerated Reader continues to be an important part of our reading program.  Students are reading appropriate AR books found through the AR book find link and then quizzing on them within 24 hours of finishing their book.  It is critical to support your child in book selection (most books are in our school and classroom libraries) and to remind them to read, read, read whenever the opportunity arises--in the car, while waiting for an appt., to and from school, before bed time, on a Sunday in your jammies, etc.  These books should travel to and from the classroom in a daily fashion for classroom DEAR (drop everything and read) sessions as well as nightly reading homework and beyond.  Students have a goal of 14.5 points for the second trimester.  Each book has a certain amount of points it is worth.  This information is listed with reading level and appropriateness (grade school, middle school, high school, for example).  Points per book range from 3 to 5, generally, with longer books being worth more points.  On average, this is going to mean your child is reading anywhere from 3-5 books a Trimester. That said, help your child select books that are on their reading level (their latest DRA2 level), and have high interest for them.  This will allow them to accomplish reading books from start to finish successfully.

    

Math: 4th grade decimals. 5th grade perimeter and area. Please check your child's planner for specific page numbers. We will continue to review these concepts. POM solving and presentations (problem of the month) continue. Silicon Valley Math Initiative (SVMI) MARS tasks continue all year.

**Keep Practicing: times tables should be rehearsed and memorized. 

Science: Foss module "Energy." This includes magnets, electricity, and circuits.

Social Studies: Events leading up to the Revolutionary War.

Writing: summary, narrative and informational essays.

Grammar: Study of various grammar: prepositions, nouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives and adjective clauses. Shades of meaning vocabulary, capitalization, quotation marks, citing evidence within texts.  Figurative language: simile, personification, hyperbole, alliteration, onomatopoeia, metaphor, homophones.

Warmly,

Mrs. Young