Thursday, May 22, 2008
School Picnic!
Tomorrow is the Sutro School Picnic at Mt. Lake Park! Families are welcome to join the students and staff for this all day event. The festivities begin early, with a leisurely stroll to Mt. Lake Park, which is conveniently located just down the street from the school. After some frolicking in the grass and group games for the kids, there will be a hot dog feast for all the students to enjoy. Our day will end on the lower playground at Sutro with a raffle and celebration. We hope to see you there!
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Go to the DeYoung Museum!
Our pictures are UP at the DeYoung Museum "Young at Art" exhibit! Three of our photos were chosen...Victorio's wonderful picture of the jellies, Kyle's fabulous photo of the playground, and Claire's amazing shot of the kelp forest. Along with one art piece from Ms. Ling's 2nd grade class, we made a great showing at the DeYoung. Visit this weekend and see them for yourself!
Thursday, May 15, 2008
The Hottest Day of the Year?
Although the sun is 150 million km from the Earth, you wouldn't know it by the heat we felt today in school.
Today, the temperatures hit the mid-80's, and the kids were feeling the heat. We took a break from work and sat in the dark with the windows wide open to watch a little Harry Potter. After a strenuous session of P.E., the students were exhausted and over-heated, and deserving of a cool treat...ice cream sandwiches!
Tomorrow promises to be just a tad bit cooler, although you should still wear shorts and tank tops to school tomorrow. It's going to be another hot one! Stay cool, students! And remember...there is a quiz tomorrow on The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, chapters 5, 6, 7, and 8.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Letting Go...
Not a bad day of school, if you ask me!
The Poetry Project
With testing finally behind us, we can finally concentrate on the more creative aspect of fifth grade writing...POETRY!
With some hesitancy, the students have stepped into the very diverse and somewhat challenging world of poetry writing.
We began slowly with Haiku, which is a poem that consists of lines that are written according to a specific syllabic rhythm. This is a very structured method of writing poetry. Its origins are Japanese, and is a very easy introduction for novices, as the poems do not use rhyme. There are three lines of five, seven and five syllables each. The poem usually talk about some aspect of nature, although we have explored other types of Haiku as well.
A Couplet, Triplet, and Quatrain are types of poems that require rhyming in different forms. Perhaps the most popular type of poetry used, the couplet has stanzas made up of two lines which rhyme with each other. A Triplet poem has the same idea, except with three rhyming lines instead of two. A Quatrain poem has four lines in a stanza, of which the second and fourth lines rhyme with each other and have a similar syllable structure.
This week, we began writing a Cinquain poem. This is another unique type of poetry style. As the name suggests, it is made up of five lines. The first line is just one word, which is often the title of the poem. The second line has two words which describe the first line. The third line has three words, and is mostly the action part of the poem. The fourth line is four words describing the feelings. And the fifth line, again, has just one word which is the title of the poem and a synonym.
Yesterday, we discovered something called a Diamond Cinquain, which is a Cinquain written in the shape of a diamond. This will segway nicely into today's poetry, which will be a Shape Poem...a topic which will be written in a particular shape.
Keep your eyes open for more poetry as the year comes to a close!
With some hesitancy, the students have stepped into the very diverse and somewhat challenging world of poetry writing.
We began slowly with Haiku, which is a poem that consists of lines that are written according to a specific syllabic rhythm. This is a very structured method of writing poetry. Its origins are Japanese, and is a very easy introduction for novices, as the poems do not use rhyme. There are three lines of five, seven and five syllables each. The poem usually talk about some aspect of nature, although we have explored other types of Haiku as well.
A Couplet, Triplet, and Quatrain are types of poems that require rhyming in different forms. Perhaps the most popular type of poetry used, the couplet has stanzas made up of two lines which rhyme with each other. A Triplet poem has the same idea, except with three rhyming lines instead of two. A Quatrain poem has four lines in a stanza, of which the second and fourth lines rhyme with each other and have a similar syllable structure.
This week, we began writing a Cinquain poem. This is another unique type of poetry style. As the name suggests, it is made up of five lines. The first line is just one word, which is often the title of the poem. The second line has two words which describe the first line. The third line has three words, and is mostly the action part of the poem. The fourth line is four words describing the feelings. And the fifth line, again, has just one word which is the title of the poem and a synonym.
Yesterday, we discovered something called a Diamond Cinquain, which is a Cinquain written in the shape of a diamond. This will segway nicely into today's poetry, which will be a Shape Poem...a topic which will be written in a particular shape.
Keep your eyes open for more poetry as the year comes to a close!
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
CineMark Summer Movie Clubhouse!
If you're interested in movies this summer, look no further! CineMark is offering the SUMMER MOVIE CLUBHOUSE! Ten shows for $5.00, if purchased in advance, or $1.00 at the door. They're showing ten movies this summer at the CineArts Empire Theatre in West Portal, beginning on June 17th with that classic musical, Annie. Ant Bully is another selection that might interest the students more.
Check out the other listings and get yourself to the theater this summer! I hear they have air conditioning!
Monday, May 12, 2008
HOMEWORK for May 12
HOMEWORK for May 12 to
1. Word Search
2. Daily Language Review
3. Daily Academic Vocabulary
4. Daily Paragraph Editing
5. Daily Handwriting Practice
6. Daily Word Problems
7. Daily Math Practice
8. Daily Geography
9. Tic Tac Math
10. Crossword
11. Reading Log
12. POETRY: Create five triplet poems. They can either be one large poem or five smaller poems.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Life in the Undergrowth
The cocoons are still closed, but the students are watching them carefully and waiting patiently for their butterflies to emerge! Meanwhile, between strenuous testing, we have been watching a fascinating DVD series called Life in the Undergrowth. If you get a chance, check it out!
Monday, May 5, 2008
HOMEWORK for May 5
HOMEWORK for May 5 to
1. Word Search
2. Daily Language Review
3. Daily Academic Vocabulary
a. represent, representative, symbolize, symbol, symbolic
4. Daily Paragraph Editing
a. Science Article: Roving the Red Planet
5. Daily Handwriting Practice
6. Daily Word Problems
7. Daily Math Practice
8. Daily Geography
a. A Tourist Map:
9. Tic Tac Math
10. Crossword
a. Totem Poles
11. Reading Log
12. Essay: What do you think 5th grade will teach you? What do you think you will experience in 6th grade? Write FOUR paragraphs. Explain and elaborate.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
The Caterpillar Condo
A record 38 caterpillars are now comfortably resting inside cocoons! Unfortunately, we had one casualty. But all of the others survived! Amazing!The kids have been having a blast checking up on their charges. They take care of them so well, and watch over them like hovering mother hens. Steve, who has adopted the majority of the l
eftover caterpillars (seven of them!) has earned the name "Papa Steve." He has kept a careful eye on all of his little ones, and takes great pride in the fact that all of them have managed to stay alive during this trying time.Things the kids have noticed: "blood" or pigment that is basically what the caterpillar has not needed during it's transformation and formation of the wings. Also noticed: "poop" and "spider web things" which is basically...well, exactly that. The silk the caterpillars have spun does indeed look just like spider webs!
We are all hoping they come out to say hello soon. And when we do eventually welcome our newly transformed butterflies, we will need carnation petals and apples. They also like watermelon, apparently...just like the Room 11 students!
Monday, April 28, 2008
LANGUAGE ARTS TESTING BEGINS TOMORROW!
The informal rules of any kind of testing are easy and clear:
1. Go to bed EARLY. Get lots of sleep so you will be well rested for the test in the morning.
2. Eat a HEALTHY BREAKFAST so you won't be hungry during testing. Eat some brain food!
3. Come to school ON TIME. If you are late, you will be locked out of the room. You will be spending a long time waiting in the office.
4. Pay close attention to WHAT THE QUESTION IS ASKING and solve. Do not rush to answer without completely reading what they are asking.
5. DO NOT RUSH through your test, but DO NOT BE A TURTLE and use all your time on one question. You need to pace yourself.
6. DOUBLE CHECK YOUR ANSWERS. Put check marks next to the ones you aren't sure of and return to try it again after you are done with the questions you know.
7. Drink water. BRING A WATER BOTTLE. You need to stay hydrated throughout your test so you don't become tired.
8. DO NOT PANIC. If you are in Room 11, YOU ARE READY. You know everything on this test. You just need to apply your knowledge and put it to good use!
9. I BELIEVE IN YOU. You will do a fabulous job! I HAVE CONFIDENCE AND SO SHOULD YOU!
10. GOOD LUCK! And I will see you all in the morning...ON TIME!
HOMEWORK for April 28
HOMEWORK for April 28 to May 5, 2008
1. Word Search
2. Daily Language Review
3. Daily Academic Vocabulary
a. represent, representative, symbolize, symbol, symbolic
4. Daily Paragraph Editing
a. History: “The Pull of the Pole”
5. Daily Handwriting Practice
6. Daily Word Problems
7. Daily Math Practice
8. Daily Geography
a. Sharing the Colorado River
9. Tic Tac Math
10. Crossword
a. The Tin Lizzy
11. Reading Log
12. Essay: You have already written about what you will miss about Sutro School. Now write a six paragraph essay on why you will miss ROOM 11. What are some of the things you will miss most about your class? Your classroom? Your grade? Be specific and write from the heart.
1. Word Search
2. Daily Language Review
3. Daily Academic Vocabulary
a. represent, representative, symbolize, symbol, symbolic
4. Daily Paragraph Editing
a. History: “The Pull of the Pole”
5. Daily Handwriting Practice
6. Daily Word Problems
7. Daily Math Practice
8. Daily Geography
a. Sharing the Colorado River
9. Tic Tac Math
10. Crossword
a. The Tin Lizzy
11. Reading Log
12. Essay: You have already written about what you will miss about Sutro School. Now write a six paragraph essay on why you will miss ROOM 11. What are some of the things you will miss most about your class? Your classroom? Your grade? Be specific and write from the heart.
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