We're Going to Camp!

Check this out! We will be sending this video along with Paul's care package.

In other news, we're going to camp in just a couple of days!!! Wahoo! It should be a TON of fun. We'll be having classes in marine life, reptiles, completing rope classes, and canoing. YAY! Make sure to get to school in time with everything in tow for camp. Don't forget your sleeping bag.


An important note: Make sure NOT to bring any electronics including cell phones and ipods. I know this may be difficult, but the truth is that in a case of emergency, parents can call Camp Seymour, and teachers can definitely contact parents. A few days without a phone will work out just fine--no worries.

We have just had an AMAZING week at school. I was joined in teaching by Erin and Jill, two pre-service teachers in school at Seattle University. Erin and Jill will be certified by the end of the school year. In the meantime, they will be spending two more weeks with us-- one week in November (during conferences) and one week in December. I will be contacting some of you to ask your permission for having one of these teachers sit in on your parent/teacher conference.

Other news: Podcasts of family stories will start appearing on the website after camp, big thanks to Maxie's mom for gathering all the first aid materials and putting them together for us this week! Now each student will have their very own first aid kit. Thanks! Also, make sure that anything you would like to send to Paul for his next care package should be brought in by Tuesday, October 30.

Classroom Visits by Authors and Scientists, Upcoming Podcasts, and our Veteran's Day Project

We will be recording our Family Project essays and publishing with podcasts in the next few weeks!

This week was full of fun in F3. All of F pod got together on Monday morning to hear again from Tom (from the Marine Science Afloat Program) to follow up on what we learned about the Puget Sound Watershed while we were sailing in early October. Kids came up with fantastic ideas of what they could do to help Puget Sound stay clean. One of the ideas is to clean up after your dog. (In fact, we learned that the very best way to handle dog poop is to put it in the toilet so that it will go through sewage treatment.)

The next day (Tuesday), kids in F pod heard from published author Nathan Kumar Scott. He read from his book Mangoes and Bananas, and shared some fascinating facts about what it means to be published.

Nearly all the students completed typing their family project this week. Thanks to all parents for helping out with getting the information available. I have been enjoying reading all of the projects. This coming week, students will be able to polish up their essay and their map and family tree pages, and work on their podcasts. That's right! Students will be broadcasting their family project with an audio recording. Only first names will be used. Each week, I will make several of them available to listen through the website. For all you public radio listeners out there, this will be a mini Storycorps project. If you have any concerns or questions regarding the podcasts, please contact me. More information and our first podcast will be coming next week!

Our Veteran's Day Project has gotten the go ahead from the Maple staff and from Paul so we're going ahead with it! We are going to involve all of Maple School by asking students and staff to bring in enough care package items for ALL of Paul's unit (175 Marines) to receive a package in time for the holidays. Many folks outside of Maple are also being asked to help out. Veteran's Day is November 11th. Please encourage your friends and family to bring in any items to Maple the week of Parent Conferences, November 13th. We will be sending the care packages out before Thanksgiving.

Lastly: Camp is coming up in about a week and a half!! Bring in those permission slips and the funds!

A Phone Call from Iraq and an Upcoming Family Project Due Date

An example of a family tree. I will show students many options this week.

So how cool is this: Lcpl. Paul Craddick called us at 1:05pm on Wednesday, October 10th. It was SO GREAT! We all gathered around the phone and listen to Paul tell us what he's been up to--for about 25 minutes! What did we hear? First off, he and all the Marines in his unit are safe and sound. Also, he has seen a lot of the remnants of the war so far on his missions. He told us that many of the buildings he passes have bullet holes in them. But the most amazing part of the phone call was when Paul responded to each of our letters. He thanked one student for drawing an American flag on her letter and answered several questions one by one. It made each student feel pretty special. Thanks Paul!

The big due date this week is for the Family Project. All students should have had their interviews completed by Monday. The rough draft of their essay should be written by Monday the 15th. This week, students will do the map page and the family tree page of their project in class. I encourage students to bring in a special photograph to have scanned into the computer to go into their final project. By this Friday, October 19th, all students will have their essays typed and on the student drive at Maple. Any work typed at home should be sent to school on a floppy disk, a jump drive, or in an attachment sent by email to me at mrventura@seattleschoools.org.

Parents: if you haven't done so already, please send back the parent conference notice that I sent home on Wednesday. If you hadn't already signed up for a time to meet in November, I set aside a time to meet with you. If there is a conflict with the time, please call me at Maple.

Lastly: be prepared. Wednesday will be a fun day. :)

The Pledge, Marine Science Afloat, and Laptops

Checking out the sea life on board!

Last week started off on a very high note: students in F3 decided to say the Pledge of Allegiance every day at school at 3:05-- right before they leave for the day. The idea to say the Pledge came after reading Paul's first letter to us and reading that it meant a lot to him that the students said the Pledge the day he left to go to the Middle East.

We went on a FANTASTIC field trip on Wednesday. The only bummer was that a few of us got a little sea sick. But otherwise, we had a great time! We went on the Goodtime II and we were taken from Pier 55 to Alki by Marine Science Afloat. The crux of the trip was learning about watersheds and meet the fabulous creatures of the Puget Sound, and learning what we can do to keep the Puget Sound clean.

As many of you learned on Curriculum Night, fifth graders have access to laptops this year. The students were introduced to the computers on Friday. We'll be using these laptops to type out final copies of writing, to look up information in science and social studies, and to work with some educational programming. We will be using the laptops once or twice a week.

Coming up this week we will start writing the essay portion of the Family Project. All interviews should have been completed by today. We'll be continuing our learning about land and water-- primarily through reading. And in math, we'll continue our unit on estimation.

One last note: please get the camp forms and money orders or checks in this coming week. I am planning for ALL students in F3 to take advantage of this incredible opportunity to spend a few days at Camp Seymour together. Remember, we leave for camp on October 31!

An End to an Exciting and Invigorating 1st Month in F3

Where in the world did your family come from before coming to the United States?
What is your family's story?

Thanks to all students for making this such a great month in F3. The fifth graders have been working hard and are starting on a new project that will take us through to the middle of October. Students will work on their Family Project. (Please click on the link for due dates and other important information. The objective of this project is to gain a initial idea as to how the United States was formed. Later on in the year, we will learn about early US history, but for right now, we are going to learn about what prompted our families to come here to this country. By now your child should have talked to you about this project and by October 8, their interviews should be complete. Interviews must be done with an older member of the family.

I apologize to all parents who I missed seeing on Thursday night. I left Maple that afternoon with the intention of just taking a nap, and ended up staying home both that night and Friday with a cold. I am feeling better now and look forward to seeing all of the students on Monday morning.

As another reminder, please make sure to come to Maple for one more Thursday on October 4th for curriculum night. I look forward to talking with all parents about the curriculum we'll be covering this year, particularly the HIV/AIDS curriculum and the Family Life and Sexual Education unit.

Lastly, please read our latest letter from Lcpl. Paul Craddick. He just arrived in Kuwait this past weekend, and will be heading to Ramadi in Iraq in the next several days. I will talk to the students regarding the Pledge of Allegiance and how often they would like to say it. As a school, we only say the pledge once a week, however the students and I may choose to say it more often in honor of Paul and his fellow Marines.

Prime Time in F3

When your child gets home from school today, please take a look at their unit one math test. I am expecting students to review their tests with you tonight (Monday). We'll be moving onto Unit two in Math which will have a lot to do with estimation to solve problems.

We will be starting our first science unit this week, Land and Water. Students will be learning all about groundwater, erosion, the water cycle, and various landforms. It will be a messy and fun science kit. Please let me know if you can help with the science kit inventory or clean up.

It was so great to meet so many of you this past Thursday at the Annual Multi-Ethnic Family Dinner. Thanks for coming and bringing such amazing food. I can't remember the last time I felt so full. I hope to see you again the next two Thursdays. This week on the 27th we will be meeting in the F Pod to talk about fifth grade camp. At the meeting we'll be answering all of your questions and showing slides of Camp Seymour. I really hope you can make it. I expect every student in F3 to go to camp, as I believe it is truly a highlight of fifth grade. Not only will the kids have a fantastic time with their classmates, they will also have academic learning experiences they could never have in a classroom.

Next Thursday, October 4, come back again for curriculum night. I'll be talking to parents about what we will be doing this year in F3. I hope you can make it. There will be cookies :).

This week students will start working on their Family Project. I will be helping students come up with questions to ask their family members about early family history. This week we'll also start gathering materials for making our own first aid kits. I'll be asking all students to chip in by bringing in one of the materials on the list in bulk-- such as band aids or gauze. We'll be putting the first aid kits together early next week.

Sweeter than Apples and Honey

Here are pictures from Paul's first visit!

The class continues to be a joy to be in. Last week, students in F3 had a fantastic time learning all about prime and composite numbers, writing often in their communication notebooks, and best of all, meeting LCPL Paul Craddick and his wife Karen on Tuesday, September 11th.

Paul came in to F3 to talk about his future deployment to Iraq starting on September 28th. The students loved meeting Paul and asking many questions about his fears and goals about Iraq. He gave students a list of his favorite foods and candies, which we will be using in order to send Paul packages throughout his seven-month deployment. Already the students have written Paul a first round of letters which we'll be sending to his base in North Carolina so that he gets them before he leaves.

Paul told us that his job will be to protect rebuilding supplies being driven across Iraq. He will be the driver of the convoy while four other Marines will be protecting their vehicle and the trucks they are traveling with from IEDs.

In other news, as you have noticed on the class calendar, the next three Thursdays look pretty busy. I'm sorry about the timing of all these meetings, but I guess we'll have them all over with by the beginning of October! This Thursday I look forward to meeting all of you at the Multi-Ethnic Family Dinner Night which starts at 6 pm. Next Thursday we'll see each other again for a meeting about fifth grade camp. And on Thursday October 4th, we'll have curriculum night-- I promise cookies to all parents who come to this one. :)

A Fantastic First Week!

Hey everyone! What a great first week we had in F3! Students and I got acquainted over discussions about desired superhero powers, writing in communication notebooks, making a class quilt, and some tough math lessons.. I am so happy to be at Maple and I am thrilled to be the teacher of this wonderful batch of students.

I just wanted to write a quick note to tell parents and remind students about a very exciting visit that will happen this week in our classroom on Tuesday, September 11 at 12:30pm. Paul Craddick, a Marine who is about to begin to serve his first tour of duty in Iraq, is coming to F3 to meet our class and talk about his future deployment and answer any questions to kids may have. We will be keeping in touch with Paul during his deployment by way of email and good old letter writing. During the months Paul is gone, we will periodically send care packages to him. I will be asking all students to participate in sending Paul some gifts from home. (We'll be sure to ask him on Tuesday about his favorite kind of candy.)

Also coming up this week is the deadline to get your Scholastic Book Orders in-- that's on Friday. Please also remember to bring in $5.30 to pay for the year-long subscription to Time for Kids.

Thanks to all parents who filled out ALL that paperwork last week. There are still several students however that did not turn in the paperwork for F3. That includes the Internet release form for this website and a parent survey. Please bring these in as soon as you can.

Welcome to the 2007/2008 School Year!

Hello! I am Marcia Ventura, and I will be your child’s fifth grade teacher this year. I have taught in the Seattle School District for eight years and this year I am returning to teaching after an invigorating one-year travel leave. I’m lucky to be here at Maple and very excited to get off to a great start this fall.

Fifth grade is a very exciting year for students. At this moment they are one year from starting middle school, and as such, it is critical that throughout the year, students become academically and socially ready for that transition. Instruction, especially in the areas of reading, writing, and math, will be rigorous to ensure that readiness.

What will students learn this year? In science, they will work with microscopes, learn about erosion and ground water, and even become engineers. In social studies, your child will learn about early US history and the principles this country was founded on. We will also be studying the evolution of the civil rights era of the 1950s and 1960s and the affects that it continues to have in the world today.

As you know, Maple is an open-concept school, and because of that, students will not only have me as their teacher, but they will also learn from Ms. Koeller and Ms. Litvack, the two other fifth grade teachers. The three of us have worked hard in preparation for the start of the school year and will continue to work closely together throughout the year.