AUGUST 30, 2007

THURSDAY...Aside from working hard and getting a ton of math and reading done today, we had a special visitor today. Mr. Reed, an artist and an educator, came in to talk about animation and the invention of the thaumatrope, one of the very first instruments of animation. The kids were fascinated, especially with the lecture Mr. Reed gave on how Pixar animation actually works and just how long it takes to make one of those amazing movies.

You need to know a lot of math to make animation at Pixar. For instance, a Pixar movie is approximately 90 minutes long. A minute is sixty seconds long. One second of Pixar movie is made up of 24 frames. Each frame takes 6 hours of computer time to render. In conclusion , that is a LOT OF WORK!

You would think this would deter many people from wanting to work at Pixar, but the kids all busily chattered away about getting employed there. I think it was the mentioning of the breakfast cereal bar and video arcade that did it.

There was a morning assembly after recess to officially welcome the kids back to school. Mr. Poon and Mr. Wong both reminded the kids about the rules of the playground, four square, kickball, and the obvious rule about not bringing toys from home to school. Ms. Lau also took the opportunity to explain our composting rules, and complimented the kids on a job well done in lowering the amount of waste Sutro puts out every year. Good job, students! Kudos to you!

Tomorrow...more Bridge to Terabithia. Also, we start talking about my personal favorite subject in science...THE SOLAR SYSTEM! See you tomorrow!

The First Day of Fifth Grade

Congratulations to the Room 11 students for completing their first day of 5th grade! Everyone did a fabulous job with their work, and put forth a great effort in everything they did. Kudos to you, students!
The first day of school is always a little confusing, even if you've been in school for a while. Schedules are off, assignments can be somewhat bewildering, and people are still trying to get their bearings. Including teachers!
Thankfully, things move along quickly, and everything will soon be second nature. Thank you for your patience while we get the year going.
Hopefully, your kids have turned in their information packets and homework to you so you can look everything over and fill out the necessary paperwork. Please return it to school this week, or as soon as possible, so we can get everything processed. Thank you!
We will be covering Harcourt Math chapter one this week, which will begin with focusing on millions and billions. The concept is a tricky one, especially when related in word problems. Math homework does not reflect this concept, but be assured it is being covered in the class.
More to come tomorrow...the week has just begun! See you on Tuesday, students...and great job!

FREE TUTORING at 826 Valencia

There's a great store on Valencia Street called 826 Valencia. When you first step foot into this great little place, you'll see pirate gear...that's right...it's a pirate supply store. I've yet to see a real pirate peruse the aisles here, and believe me, I've looked. But I think any place that sells lard from a big ol' barrel has to be genuine.

But if you look a little deeper at 826 Valencia, you'll see there's a humongous back room, usually packed with students, sitting quietly with their books...and their TUTORS. That's right, folks. FREE TUTORING beginning at grade one.

You really can't beat the price. FREE. And not only do they offer kids' help, but if you check out their extensive events calendar, you'll see they have writing seminars for all ages, storytelling, internships for those kids who want to be a part of the solution, and special guests from time to time. In addition, they have a chance to apply for a scholarship for college, in case you were thinking ahead for your 5th grader.

In short, it's a gem of a store, and one you won't want to miss out on!

Check it out, if you want to keep your kid up to date with his/her work...it's a fun place to learn!

Oh, and they also have a Teacher of the Month prize of $1500 so they can spend it on their fabulous class...just in case you were wondering...(cough, cough)

Here are the teams for this year's class...take note of who is going to be your team mate for the year!

RED TEAM

Bengu
Jacob
Cole
Jessie
Hanna
Jun Wan
Qinglin


PURPLE TEAM

Kyle
Stephanie
Karen
Jeffrey
Eric
Jalille
Irene

BLUE TEAM

Emily
Herman
Jamie
Kurtis
Melanie
Terrence


YELLOW TEAM

Robert
Darren
Victorio
Carmen
Jonathan
Steve
Shan Shan


GREEN TEAM

Norman
Alexander
Claire
Joseph
Celina
Angela