First Week of May?

Dear Families,
I just returned from the garden faire. It was as fantastic as ever and rumor has it that several room 24 students got 'splashed' at the splash station. I stuck to bird houses myself!

Thanks to all of you that were able to attend and/or lead a circle at last Friday's Web of Inclusion lunch. For anyone else that's interested, the next one will be held May 16th at noon!

Our Horse Hill Broom pull with Marin County Open Space is this Thursday. Fortunately, the forecast is calling for temperatures in the 60's. Fingers crossed it stays that way! Thanks to Jim Welte for volunteering to join us! We will wash up afterward as best we can, but a good long shower at home is always a good idea! Greg Reza, our designated Ranger, tries his best to choose a spot free of poison oak, but you just never know! Long pants or leggings are a good idea for protection. Greg brings water for us and I will bring some snacks. Think of us Thursday morning toiling on the hill!

Thursday, May 2nd, is Kiddo! Donation Day. Thanks to the financial support from Kiddo! all third grade children have PE, Art, Music, a Library aide, a classroom aide, and poetry. Kiddo! also funds teacher grants (I received a grant for our 'Building Connection through Art'/Pathway Project currently underway) and our district-wide instructional technology coach as well as District-wide Global Studies instructor.

On May 2nd, we will be wearing our red, black, and/or yellow to represent Kiddo! As teachers, we are grateful beyond words for your support of Kiddo! Please donate to Kiddo! to the extent possible for your family on Donation Day so we can offer your kids the same great education for the 2019-2020 school year. Thanks in advance for your participation!
That's it for now!
Carrie

Exploring with Magnets, part of our Force and Motion unit, thanks to Edna PTA for supplying the materials!

A Blast from the Past!

Dear Room 24 Families,

Welcome back to school, our final trimester together! 

Over the break I met an Edna neighbor, Janis Bosenko, who shared the above picture with me. Janis was one of the original grass roots organizers focused on saving Horse Hill. The above is part of the original push to garner awareness city-wide. Mil Valley students of the day helped in the campaign, as you can see! Every store and restaurant in town had one on display with an empty pickle jar to collect money sitting close by, or so I've been told! Pretty cool!

I will send home permission slips for our Horse Hill Broom Pull happening on May 2. Technically it is a walking field trip and doesn't require the permission slip, HOWEVER I send it home anyway. On this day we give back to our local open space under the supervision of Open Space ranger, Greg Reza, a.k.a. Gorilla Greg (if you've ever done outdoor ed with kids, you will understand the 'nature inspired' moniker). We work with heavy tools to pull out the broom and come in close proximity to poison oak, both of which require some adult supervision. Hopefully some of you can join us in our effort. This is really why I am sending home the form....I need you!

Our study of our Edna/Alto neighborhood continues. This Thursday Mike Moyle from the Portugese Cultural Center in Sausalito will come and talk about the Tunnel Dairy, the Alto Dairy, and the Wye Dairy, all within a stone's throw from Edna. Each of them were where they were due to the proximity to the train, which ran on the multi-purpose path behind Edna. Weather permitting we will try to walk up there on Tuesday and try to imagine the differences. From about 1830-1950, almost 90% of dairies in southern Marin were operated by Portugese immigrants from the Azores Islands. They wound up here after following the whaling ships, and then following each other in a chain migration. Mike is an amazing asset to our studies! I've learned a ton from him. He is a history enthusiast to be sure.

Our third grade science rotation finished the week before break. Each third grade class is now focused on our physical science unit, Force and Motion. It is big time fun--we build, experiment, rebuild, and experiment as we develop our own ideas about the obstacles and energy required to get something to MOVE. Some of this will be done with our kindergarten buddies, too. 

We continue our study of nonfiction text by reading and writing about the main idea and supporting details, with a little bit of cause and effect thrown in for good measure! Believe me, this is easier said than done!

In math we are working with fractions--comparing fractions, placing fractions on a number line, and justifying our work with equations and words.

Please take a peek at our important dates. There are a few fun things coming up on the Edna campus!

Thanks for everything.

Carrie