Our Donors Choose Proposal Was FUNDED!

Look what happens when you go on the Internet asking for free stuff! I sent in a proposal to DonorsChoose.org over the summer and it was COMPLETELY FUNDED just today! That's $1200 worth of slides and 16 Leica microscopes for Room 11! Yay for us! WOO!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS from Room 11

HOMEWORK for December 10

Homework for December 10- December 14

1) Spelling Skills

2) Daily Language Review

3) Daily Academic Vocabulary

4) Daily Paragraph Editing

5) Daily Handwriting Practice

6) Daily Word Problems

7) Daily Geography

8) Daily Math Practice
a. Do NOT do Monday #4 and #5
b. Do NOT do Tuesday #1 and #4
c. Do NOT do Wednesday #1 and #2
d. Do NOT do Thursday #1 and #4

9) Reading Log (You do not need to do the weekend)

The AIDS Quilt Comes to Sutro Elementary

The AIDS Quilt arrived at Sutro last week, and the kids had a moment or two to appreciate the work, effort, and love that went into making each square. The part of the quilt that came to our school took up one full wall in Ms. Lau's Room 9 classroom, and gave the kids a small example of the enormous completed quilt that exists.

The students then wrote essays on what kind of impression the quilt made on them. Many made a statement about how AIDS should not scare people away from being friends with the sick. Others relayed their honest fear of contracting a disease such as HIV or AIDS, no matter how small the chances are. It was a truly illuminating experience...one that showed just how much the kids have grown since first arriving at Sutro years ago in Kindergarten. What an amazing class of students.

The AIDS Quilt
by Carmen Lin

On December 6, 2007, my class went to see the AIDS Quilt in Room 9. It was a very big quilt that had pictures of people who died from AIDS. On the quilt were objects that those people used or liked, their portraits, the dates of when they were born or died, etc.

I feel sad for those people because they were loved by their family members and they miss them a lot. Those people died from AIDS, a disease. AIDS kill your white blood cells and you get sick all the time. It's a tragedy that they died from AIDS.

A lot of people are scared of AIDS because they think you can catch it very easily. The only way to get AIDS is blood-to-blood contact. Since so may people fear AIDS, they stay away from people with AIDS, which will make that person very lonely.

If I was friends with someone who has AIDS, I would still be their friend even if other people didn't want to be that person's friend. I'd just have to be careful when that person was bleeding so that I wouldn't catch AIDS, too.

The Golden Compass Field Trip

The movie was a big success! The kids absolutely loved it. Although it was far more violent than I remember movies being when I was ten, the kids nowadays seem more mature. They weren't fazed by it in the least, which may be good AND bad!

But all in all, a very successful trip! Unfortunately, we only scored a Laidlaw bus on the way to the theater. On the way back, we were forced to take MUNI, which is never a comfortable ride with 33 kids. Everyone behaved wonderfully, however, and I commend them all on a job well done. Kudos to you, students!

Friday's Field Trip to The Van Ness 1000 Theaters!

Just a reminder that we will be seeing THE GOLDEN COMPASS on Friday! The movie begins at 10:50 a.m., and I have already purchased the tickets for the kids, so we are all set. Ms. Van Doren and I will be escorting the class.

Unfortunately, I have not heard back from Laidlaw about getting a bus ride over there, so I think we may have to MUNI it to the theater and back to school again.

However, considering we always get compliments on how well our class behaves every where we go, I have no worries about taking the Room 11 students anywhere in the city!

If you are coming with us to see the movie, please let me know! Thank you.

HOMEWORK for December 3

Homework for December 3-December 10

1) Spelling List

a. Do NOT do spelling dictation

2) Daily Language Review

3) Daily Academic Vocabulary

a. defend, viewpoint, position, perspective

4) Daily Paragraph Editing

a. Fable, “Maui and the Sun”

5) Daily Handwriting Practice

6) Daily Word Problems

7) Daily Geography

a. Mountains and Deserts of the U.S.

8) Tic Tac Math

a. Solve ALL problems

9) Daily Math Practice

a. Do not do Monday problems #2, 4

b. Do not do Tuesday problems #1, 4

c. Do not do Wednesday problem #2, 4

d. Do not do Thursday problem # 1

10) Reading Log

a. Choose a book and read every day. Log your ideas.

INTERNET HUNT: Read the poem “Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll. Write a two paragraph essay on what the poem means to you.

Search the Internet on facts about Lewis Carroll. Prepare notes for writing your 4 paragraph essay on his life and writing.

FREE DAY at the Asian Art Museum

The Asian Art Museum is FREE for a Community Day on Saturday, December 1st! Don't miss this chance to see the new exhibits at one of the coolest museums in SF! There will be docent tours, Korean drum performances, and storytelling, just to name a few...

HOMEWORK for November 19

Homework for November 19- December 3 (you have TWO weeks for this homework packet…have a great Thanksgiving holiday!)

1) Spelling List

a. Do NOT do spelling dictation

2) Daily Language Review

3) Daily Academic Vocabulary

a. defend, viewpoint, position, perspective

4) Daily Paragraph Editing

a. Personal Narrative, “My Favorite Music”

5) Daily Handwriting Practice

6) Daily Word Problems

7) Daily Geography

a. A Physical Map of Washington

8) Tic Tac Math

a. Solve ALL problems

9) Daily Math Practice

a. Do not do Monday problem #4

b. Do not do Tuesday problems #2, 4

c. Do not do Wednesday problem #2

d. Do not do Thursday problems # 1, 3

10) Margaret Bourke-White

a. Read and complete crossword

11) Reading Log

a. Choose a book and read every day. Log your ideas.

INTERNET HUNT: Read the poem “The Land of Nod” by Robert Louis Stevenson. Write a two paragraph essay on what the poem means to you.

Search the Internet on facts about Robert Louis Stevenson. Prepare notes for writing your 4 paragraph essay on his life and writing.

The field trip yesterday was amazing! The Asian Art Museum is such a gem. If you have a chance to visit with your kids, I would advise it! They loved the art for the different countries. We explored mostly China, Korea, and a little bit of Japan in the galleries, but the kids loved the brush painting lessons the most. They created some fabulous art, which is hanging from our clothesline in the classroom, if you want to see!

The kids did very well on the trip, and behaved their best. MUNI is not easy with 33 kids, but they did amazingly well, considering how crowded and grumpy some of the passengers and drivers were. We have some great kids in Room 11!

Mr. Reed came on our field trip as a chaperone, and we were lucky enough to have him teach a lesson before we left for the bus. He taught the kids all about woodcut art, and showed them his own woodblock prints, which left quite an impression. Then, we had time to make our own "wood" cut art by using styro-foam meat trays from the super market to carve our own Christmas card images. The are just lovely, and will hopefully find their way home to you and your families soon!

If you're curious about our trip, please feel free to take a look at our photos on the web...

HOMEWORK for November 12

Homework for November 12- November 19

1) Spelling List

a. Do NOT do spelling dictation

2) Daily Language Review

3) Daily Academic Vocabulary

a. complicate, complicated, complication, complex

4) Daily Paragraph Editing

a. News Article, “New Baseball Record Set”

5) Daily Handwriting Practice

6) Daily Word Problems

7) Daily Geography

a. The St. Lawrence Seaway

8) Tic Tac Math

9) Daily Math Practice

a. Do not do Monday problem #1

b. Do not do Tuesday problems #3, 4

10) Addition and Subtraction Page

11) Crossword Puzzles

a. Disappearing Frogs

11) Reading Log

a. Choose a book and read every day. Log your ideas.

INTERNET HUNT: Read the poem “Alone” by Maya Angelou. Write a two paragraph essay on what the poem means to you.

Search the Internet on facts about Maya Angelou. Prepare notes for writing your 4 paragraph essay on her life and poetry.

The World According to Sesame Street

I went to the free San Francisco Film Society teacher screening of The World According to Sesame Street at the very cool Bridge Theater on Geary.

If you didn't catch it on PBS when it aired last year, you should Netflix immediately. What a great film, especially for educators, who are given opportunities to teach peace and tolerance in their classrooms on a daily basis. Sesame Street is a far reaching neighborhood, it seems. 120 countries have their own, aculturated versions of the show, including Bangladesh, their most recent addition.

Kosovo was an eye-opening segment. Who would have guessed that politics could figure so prominently in the creation of a much-needed children's program. They could fit the Serbians and the Albanians in the same room, yet they couldn't make the tension dissipate no matter what cause they were all united in fighting for...be it the unification of a nation or something as essential as guaranteeing the future of their children.

But for me, the most touching and heartbreaking moments of the film were when they showed the South African version of Sesame Street, with their HIV muppet, Kami.

Apparently, for a country like South Africa, which now holds the highest number of known HIV related cases in the world, Kani is a welcome learning tool with which the show can help children understand the very heavy-duty concepts and unpleasant issues of loss, death, and the HIV virus.

However, in the US of A, we trampled the idea of Kani before it even had a chance to explain the benefits of educating a huge mass of children who have no means of understanding a sickness that is sweeping through their country.

The show at the Bridge ended with a very sparse Q and A with the director of the George Lucas Educational Foundation, Milton Chen, and the man who was the soul of Gonzo on the Muppets, Dave Golez. Needless to say, I never got my answer to the question; what exactly IS Gonzo?! Ant-eater is my best first guess...an ant-eater that loves chickens and rats. Go figure!

FREE DAY AT THE SF MUSEUMS!

Hi everyone! And thank you all for some wonderful parent/teacher conferences. It was a pleasure discussing how terrific your children are. I love talking about how great my students are. Teachers get bragging rights, too!

Please remember...Saturday is FREE DAY at all the museums in San Francisco, including SF Moma, Zeum, Cartoon Art Museum, The DeYoung, Academy of Sciences, The Asian Art Museum, and The Legion of Honor...take advantage of this amazing offer if you can!

Also, MONDAY IS A HOLIDAY! NO SCHOOL!

And Tuesday is our fabulous field trip to the Asian Art Museum, where the kids will learn about Chinese brush painting in addition to seeing all of the amazing artifacts during our docent-led tour. Bring a bag lunch, kids!

As for curriculum, we are zooming in math, and are currently on Chapter 8, which includes:

Unit 1: Reasonable scale
Unit 2: Bar graphs and double-bar graphs
Unit 3: Ordered pairs and graphing
Unit 4: Line graphs
Unit 5: Histograms
Unit 6: And choosing the appropriate graph to represent your data.

We have learned up to unit 4, and will be continuing units 5 and 6 on Wednesday. The Chapter 8 test will be on Friday.

HOMEWORK for November 5

Homework for November 5- November 12

1) Spelling List

a. Do NOT do spelling dictation

2) Daily Language Review

3) Daily Academic Vocabulary

a. refer, reference

4) Daily Paragraph Editing

a. Directions: “How to Build a Sand Castle”

5) Daily Handwriting Practice

6) Daily Word Problems

7) Daily Geography

a. Picturing the World

8) Tic Tac Math

9) Daily Math Practice

a. Do not do Monday problems #1, 3, 4, 5

b. Do not do Tuesday problems #1, 3, 5

c. Do not do Wednesday problem #1

d. Do not do Thursday problem #4

10) Problem Solving

11) Crossword Puzzles

a. The White House

12) Reading Log

a. Choose a book and read every day. Log your ideas.

INTERNET HUNT: Search for the planet Venus. Research the planet, take notes, and prepare for Wednesday computer lab where you will write a 4 paragraph essay.

What's Up?

Sorry for the delay in posting, parents and students! This past week has been crazy with conferences and report cards, and finding time to log on to the Internet has been a challenge!

Ms. Van Doren has been coming on Fridays for nearly a month now, and hopefully you've all been able to get to know her better. She has told me how much she has enjoyed getting to know all of you better, and how she has been having a great time in class. In fact, she will be attending your field trip to see Seussical on Monday with you. Have a great time, and please behave while on the trip! It's important to remember where you are going...a theater...shhhh....

We have finally finished up Chapter 7, which focused on range, mean, median, and mode. There is no easy way to remember the four terms and what they mean, other than studying hard and practicing. The kids did a great job with the practice problems, however, and seem to have the gist of it. Good job, students. It was a hard chapter, and you conquered it!

Now that we've finished several chapters in Harcourt Math, the students have learned a huge amount of new vocabulary and mathematical terminology that they will have to retain. It is advisable that they study these terms as much as possible, as it will all be present on the test at the end of the year.

Oh, and homework is due on Monday. The students have been told to keep all of their completed homeworks as reference. All of their geography work in those worksheets will help them study later on, and it is helpful to keep all their work.

See you soon, students! And have a great time on the field trip on Monday!