Busy, busy weeks ahead!

Welcome back students! These next five weeks are going to be very exciting and challenging and new for us. For starters, we are going to get ready for the WASL coming up just after spring break. We'll be doing that by familiarizing ourselves with the kinds of questions that will appear-- especially on the science WASL.

On Wednesday night, I look forward to seeing parents and teachers for the math and science assessment night here at Maple. It starts at 6:30 and will go for about an hour. Ms. Litvack, Ms. Koeller, and I have prepared a presentation about the math curriculum that we are using here at school, and about the science WASL the kids will be taking in April.

Also this week we'll be starting on our Family Life and Sexual Health unit. We'll be starting this week by talking about the importance of the unit, Family, and Self Esteem. On Friday, students will have a test on addition and subtraction of positive and negative numbers. We'll have a pre-test on Thursday and homework throughout the week on the subject.

Next week we have TWO field trips and our first Global Reading Challenge. Wow. Come on Monday the 3rd at 9am to see the kids perform and hopefully win the school-wide challenge. On Tuesday the 4th we have a field trip to the Children's Theater to watch "One Hundred Dresses", and on Friday the 7th: we'll be going to Benaroya Hall for a concert performed by the Seattle Symphony.

Have a GREAT Mid-Winter Break!!

Hey boys and girls!! I hope that you have a super fun and safe week off. I've had fun already-- I got to go snow-shoeing yesterday up at Snoqualmie Pass. It rocked!!! Also, I took advantage of the SUNNY weather we had this past weekend to get out in the garden.

I know some of you are hanging out at home and some are on Oregon the coast and some are elsewhere with family in Washington. Hope that you're having a great time doing whatever you're doing.

Don't forget to work on the packets I gave you, and read those Global Reading books. I strongly encourage folks to re-read books too. There should be an expert of each of the books on each team. We'll only have one week before the first school challenge when you get back.

That's all for now F3. I'll write again before I see you on Monday the 25th.

Cheers!!!!

We'll Be Making the MOST of the Week Before Break

We'll be starting to work on the 50 state (and DC) challenge this week.

Another break? Already? Really? Yes, we will not be together next week, the 18th through the 22nd. I hope everyone has a ton of fun with their families and friends.... But I will also be offering students some extra credit work to do during the break.

Since we will be in the middle of a math unit, I'll provide some extra homework for kids who want to get exponentially ahead :). Also, I'll be providing some reading assignments to take home to start getting ready for the upcoming WASL. I encourage students to work about 30 to 60 minutes a day on this extra work. Of course Global Readers will have a whole week to read and reread the ten books they will be quizzed on starting just a week after we get back from break.

What's up for this week ahead? In science we'll be continuing to change one variable at a time to try to make our go-carts run a little farther, and learn how to write up an experiment including the materials, procedure, prediction, results and conclusion. We'll be continuing our study of the past (explorers) and present (counting delegates) in social studies.

Also in social studies, we were just invited by a class in New Iberia, Louisiana to join them in the 50 state challenge. Funny enough, I actually biked through New Iberia on my bicycle trip last year, so I'm excited to join this challenge. The first challenge we have is to find classes to write to in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

On Thursday the 14th, we'll have a Valentine's Party in F Pod at 2 pm. On Monday the kids will organize who will bring what for the party. Last week we made some Valentine cards for a good friend of the class :). I encourage students to make Valentines for each other and not leave anyone out.

It's time again to write to Paul, and that will be your homework on Monday night. Since we sent him a package last time, we'll just be writing letters this time. He sent us pictures and a letter last week which you can check out just below this posting. Thanks Paul!

Upcoming Field Trips, a New Math Unit, and a letter from Paul

Thanks Paul for sending us pictures!!

This week we have our first of many upcoming field trips. I wish that I could take all of the kids, but unfortunately the field trip is only for our Global Readers. The author of Half and Half will be speaking at the Downtown Seattle Public Library at 10:30 am on Tuesday. Ms. Lloyd and I will be taking all of the fourth and fifth grade Global Readers and we will be back in time for lunch.

We have a ton of field trips coming up in March (well, I think four is a ton, anyway). The kids and I are really looking forward to all of them. Thanks to all the parents for signing all of the many field trip permission slips that have been coming your way.

The kids are going to be reviewing a lot of data this week as part of science and math. We will be doing a class research project in to how we have done in the six unit tests that we've had in math so far this school year. Have we improved as a class since the beginning of the year? How has the range in test scores changed over time?

Students have started to study the exploration age in the 1400's in social studies. Concurrent with studying the 1400's, students in F3 are also following politics. We'll be counting up all the delegates for both the on February 6th after the big Super Tuesday (February 5).

Parents, please look in your child's backpack on Monday for a letter from me regarding FLASH.

Have a great week ahead. Cheers!

PS: Check out the latest letter from Paul!!

Unit 6 Math Test, More Fun with Go-Carts and a New Addition to F3

Good job Julia! She won honorable mention in the Neighborhood Appreciation Day Student Art Project. Congrats!!

Hello everyone. Hope you are enjoying your three-day weekend. This last week, students in F3 opened up a very cool package from Paul: a folded American flag that had been flown at Paul's base in Iraq. So great. Thanks Karen for bringing that by! Through a true democratic process in F3, students decided that we would unfold the flag, hang it in the classroom, and then have Paul fold it back up when he gets back. Hope he won't mind :)

Students are working hard on getting familiar with fractions in anticipation of the unit six math test on Wednesday. Kids need to know how to add and subtract fractions with different denominators, put fractions in order from least to greatest, deal with improper fractions and mixed numbers, and know how to turn fractions into percentages.

We've been having a fantastic time with go-carts. The kids went from making free-wheeling go-carts to ones that are self-propelled. No one has quite figured that one at yet... looking forward to the week ahead.

With all the excitement in politics lately, students will start keeping track of the delegate count for both the republican and democratic nominees for president as part of social studies. This Tuesday and especially next Tuesday are pretty big days for the nominees.

We had a great conversation about being safe while on-line this past Friday. We will have more discussions about on-line safety as the year goes on. Among the kids' concerns is cyber-bullying. We talked at length about what it is, and we'll be talking more about what to do if it every happens to them in the weeks ahead. Remember that there are lots of really great reasons why your should protect yourself on line.

Celebrate MLK Day Tomorrow, January 21! See you at Maple on Tuesday

Thanks for the flag, Paul!!!

I hope to see some students tomorrow out and about in Seattle to celebrate the legacy of Dr. King. In the morning at Franklin High School, workshops will be followed by a rally and then a march at the 26th annual Let Freedom Ring celebration.

At the Seattle Center, performances will be happening all day at the Center Stage. At 2pm, the speech that we read at the assembly, "Our God is Marching On", will be read aloud for everyone at the Seattle Center. Other performances will be happening at the Center House all day long from 10-5pm.

Coming up this week, on Tuesday Karen Craddick will be coming in to bring us a package from Paul! How exciting! She'll be coming in at 10:30. I hope that kids will be willing to read aloud some of their letters to Paul. As you can see, Paul sent us a letter just a few days ago. I think it's pretty amazing that his gift to us was carried around in his vehicle for a couple of missions in Iraq. That's pretty amazing.

Also this week, students will be starting on the third part of our science unit, Models and Designs: making go-carts. Don't get too excited: we won't be driving these cars, just making them go across F-Pod. It should be a ton of fun.

Remember that there is no school next Monday, January 28th; it is the day between semesters.

Cheers!

MLK Assembly coming up on Friday!!

Dr. King leading marchers from Selma to Montgomery
Greetings everyone! Hope everyone has had a good 2008 so far. F3 has been busy in the classroom working on a number of projects. In science, students made physical models in their black box activity. For math students are moving on from decimals and percentages to making various kinds of graphs and doing data analysis. I was very happy with the results of last week's unit math test. If you would like your child to get extra help in math, you are welcome to bring them at 8:15 on Thursday mornings for our math breakfast club.

To celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy, students read and reread Dr. King's Our God is Marching On speech, delivered on March 25, 1965 in Montgomery on the capitol steps-- just after King led thousands of marchers from Selma to Montgomery for the passage of the Voting Rights Act.

F3 students will be reading from the last part of that speech for the assembly here at Maple at 2pm on Friday. I hope that you can make it as our kids educate the school about the meaning behind that speech and the significance of that year and of Bloody Sunday.

We are not quite ready yet to send out our package to Paul. Kids are almost done with their letters, but we need to send treats as well. Please bring in treats by the end of this week so that we can send out the package on Friday.

Hope you had a GREAT break!! Looking forward to seeing you!

Read any GREAT books lately??

Hey everyone!! Hope you had a GREAT and safe winter break and enjoyed lots of time with your friends and family. Thanks again to the kids who kept in touch during the break. It's always good to hear from you guys.

Coming up this week: On Wednesday we will get a visit from Wes Fisk, who is a violinist with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. This will be in preparation for a field trip to the Benaroya Hall later this school year. We will have a unit 12 math test on Wednesday as well.

If you haven't already checked out the amazing letters to each of you from Paul, you really should. They're pretty great, and I bet you're excited to write him back. We'll be doing that this week for sure.

Hope you like the new look to the blog. In addition to a nice little makeover, a few links have been added for your on-line pleasure. First off is Study Island. Anyone with internet access at home should check out Study Island a few times a week and try some problems. They are directly correlated to the WASL-- so they'll be excellent practice for when we take the test in April. Just like with the Everyday Math games, I can check out how you've been doing with Study Island.

Lastly, thanks to Danny, Jonathan and Sarah's Moms for coming in on Gingerbread house making day. And thanks also for all fantastic gifts y'all gave me for the holidays. You are such a fantastic class.

Cheers!

Winter Break Update and Letters from Paul!!

Check this out!!! We each got a letter from Paul on Christmas. What a great gift. Thanks Paul!

Hope everyone is doing well. I took a plane from Miami to Maryland today. What a great time in Miami. It was nice to get so much sun and heat. Also, since Miami is farther south than Seattle, there were far more hours of daylight. Ok, I'll stop bragging.

Thanks to Danny, Kevin and Benny for being in touch since our last day before break last week. I hope everyone is having a ton of fun over break. Don't forget to read lots . I'm now in the middle of Dave at Night, having just finished When Tia Lola Came to (Visit) Stay and A Single Shard. So nice to have so much time to read. Ahhhh.

Over the next few days I look forward to meeting a brand new baby named Dana, and spend a ton of time with my Mom and Dad. I might even go to one of my favorite places: Chesapeake Beach. More later :)

Cheers!

Have a FANTASTIC break!

Look at our future architects. You kids ROCK!

Happy holidays and greetings from Miami, Florida. I got here yesterday morning and so far I am having a great time with family. My Aunt Margie and Uncle Frank are great hosts, and it has been lovely to hang out with them and my Mom and Dad. My parents will take off tomorrow to go back to Maryland, and on the 27th I'll head up there as well. But for right now I'll enjoy temperatures in the 70's and remember the sun block.

Hope you guys are having a great break. I've been reading A Single Shard. My plan is to read as many of the Global Reading Challenge books as I can while on break. After finishing this book I'll move on to When Tia Lola Came to Stay. I am also reading a book about jazz, which makes me wish I could listen to jazz.
Ok boys and girls, keep e mailing and writing comments. It's been great to hear from you. Also-- check out our AWESOME graham cracker creations above!

Cheers!!!!

A Fun-Smelling F3, Astronomy, and...it's Almost Winter Break!!

Here's a very cool shot of a lunar eclipse. F3 students have been learning all about astronomy for the last week.

Wahoo! It's almost time to take a break from school, but for the next five days, we're going to have a TON of fun and do a lot of learning in F3.

Last week kids took a good look at Astronomy, learning about the phases of the moon and movement of the sun in the sky. Early this week, students will review last week's lessons, compare planets, and learn a bit about constellations. There will be an astronomy quiz
on Wednesday.

Also this week students will design plans regarding their graham cracker creations which they will make on Thursday. Kids will be drawing views of their designs from several directions, and I expect that the finished product on Thursday will reflect their design. Please please please bring in any candy or all shapes and sizes by Tuesday.

Over the break, I hope that kids read at least one of the Global Reading Challenge books and keep copious notes on the book chapter by chapter. Also, I will give some fun math activities for kids to work on if they wish over winter break. I will write a few messages during the break, and I encourage all kids to keep in touch wither by writing comments or by e mail.

Cheers!!

Preparing for Gingerbread House Day, Research in Science, and Starting Global Reading Books!

Get ready for Gingerbread House Making Day by checking out the incredible creations at the Seattle Sheraton at 6th and Union downtown. I wish I could take the kids myself! Get inspired by going yourselves-- bring the whole family to Union and 6th to the Seattle Sheraton. It's well worth a trip-- try to make it there before the big day on December 20th.

Our Astronomy unit will be starting this week. Students will be learning about the patterns in astronomy as well as basic facts about the sun, earth, and moon.

We finally received our Global Reading Books last week and the kids have been reading away, taking copious notes after each chapter to become as familiar as they can. About two-thirds of the kids in F3 are taking part in the Global Reading Challenge. They have set up their own schedules with their reading partner to ensure that they finish their first book by December 20. Please ensure that your child has a nice quiet place to read in the evenings. I expect kids participating in Global Reading Challenge to read an additional two books during the December break. GRC kids will read all ten books before mid-March, when the competition begins.

In the afternoon of the 20th, we will be making our own Gingerbread creations. This will be an art and math project that I hope parents can join us for-- I will need many adults to help between 11:00 and 2:30 pm. By Monday, December 17th, please bring in something to share with the class for the Gingerbread House Making Day. Graham crackers will be provided!

Thanks as always for your support!

Report Cards Coming Out This Week

Already the first trimester is over. It feels like the trimester has gone by so quickly. The kids have a lot to celebrate, and also have much to work on. Unit four math tests were taken just before the end of the trimester on Friday, and the result was a mixed bag. Your child will take home their test on Monday for you to look over it and sign.

If your student did not do well on the last math test-- that is-- your child received less than 75% on the test-- I invite you to bring them in early to school on Thursdays for help in math. We started last Thursday, and the students who did come seemed to benefit just in that thirty minutes of individualized attention. Please call me at school or write me a note if you would like your child to come on Thursday mornings at 8:30 for the math breakfast club.

You should know that Paul and his comrades got early holiday presents last week when our care packages arrived. What a success! We were on channel five news last week but unfortunately I have not secured a copy of the news segment. We were also mentioned in the Seattle School District Employee Newsletter.

Coming up this week, we will be finishing our Land and Water science unit. Next in science, students will be doing research on a earth/space, physical, or biological science topic of their choice to study for the next two weeks. I will work with students on finding appropriate articles on line and in books at the library.

Your child should have brought back paperwork regarding a study involving Maple's fifth grade students and researchers at the University of Washington. This study benefits teachers and students immensely, particularly in the spring, when students learn about the structure of a cell in the Microworlds unit.

Lastly, check out Global Reading Challenge books made public this week. About two-thirds of the students in F3 are participating in the Global Reading Challenge. They will be expecting to complete one novel before the December break, and two novels during the break. There are ten books in all that each team wil be required to read prior to mid-March.

Lastly, Erin and Jill will be with us for one more week this week. We look forward to having them in the class! Cheers!!

What a Success! Now it's back to work :)

Wow! What a tremendous success last Monday was in F3! With the help of volunteers, students in F3 were able to pack up 175 care packages. Karen Craddick took all these packages to the Georgetown Post Office, and all of the packages are now off to Ramadi. Good job F3! Read our latest letter from Paul! He's getting excited for all those care packages and asked us to write back with some specific information-- we'll have to work on that this week :)

Right now I'm in Boston again visiting my grandmother and Aunt Lorraine. My parents came up from Maryland too, so I've gotten to have a great time for Thanksgiving. I hope that all F3 families also had a great Thanksgiving.

Coming up this week, we're going to be working hard in math in anticipation of the end of the trimester which is this coming Friday. We will be completing our unit on division. Please make sure that your child is doing his or her math homework and checking over the work every night. A unit four math test on division will be on Friday.

We'll also be finishing up a major project: our camp brochures. Students will be bringing home a brochure they have been working on about their experience at Camp Seymour. Students will need to design the cover of their brochure at home. This will be due on Wednesday.

Getting ready for Monday, and... It was LOVELY to meet all of the Parents!

Check out pictures of Veteran's Day

Thanks for all the parents who came in to have a conference this past week. It was lovely to meet you, and GREAT to show off your child's work, and talk about how we together can help your child have the best fifth grade year possible.

I am really looking forward to Monday. We'll be making care packages from 9:45 until lunch time. By lunch time, there will be 88 boxes filled with 176 care packages for Paul's unit in Ramadi. Karen, Paul's wife, will be helping us out, and Don Mills of the American Legion Seattle Post #1 will be coming to celebrate the kids' hard work. Each student will get a canvas bag with which they will fill up to brim. From that bag, they will each make seven or eight care packages.

The items for the care packages were brought in from all over Maple as well as from Kimball Elementary School. What a great Beacon Hill effort to support the Marines in Ramadi.

In other news, the next math unit is on division. The unit test will be before the end of the trimester-- December. Overall kids have gotten better at the the math tests and I'm expecting them to do even better on this next test. Students will be making estimates when dividing with decimals, and using more than one way to solve division problems.

Starting next Thursday morning the 29th, I'll be meeting with a group of students for a math breakfast club. I let you know at your know at your conference if I expect to see your child on Thursday mornings. Make sure students are coming to school early enough so that they are ready to do math at 8:30 in F3. Also, I invite parents to bring in muffins or orange juice to share. There will be six students on working with me on Thursday mornings.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I'm thankful that I have such a remarkable F3 family to work with this year. Cheers!

It's a BIG Week Ahead!!

175 Care packages... two packages per box...

Wow! What a big week ahead! First off, I am excited to get to sit down with all parents and guardians of students in F3. We'll have a chance to review your child's work in class, as well as discuss how they can have the most successful fifth grade year possible. Please be on time for conferences as each one is only 20 minutes long.

What else should you expect at the conference? We will each sign a contract regarding student, teacher, and parent responsibilities, You will have time to become familiar with this website, and a website that is connected to the math curriculum used at the school. If your child did not pass one of the WASL tests last year, you will sign a student learning plan. You will have the opportunity to ask any and all questions about the fifth grade curriculum and how your child is doing academically and socially so far in fifth grade. I very much am looking forward to each and every conference.

Also this week is the long awaited Veteran's Day Project. Students at Maple from kindergarten to the other fifth grade classes will be bringing in tons of items over the course of the week. On Monday, November 19, student in F3 will be putting together 175 care packages for all of Paul's unit. Paul's wife Karen will be there to help on Monday, but I would LOVE additional help. So if you can come in anytime between 10 and noon on Monday, I would GREATLY appreciate it.

Lastly, students will be pleased to know that Erin and Jill will be joining us again for another week in F3. They will again be working with small groups, the whole group, as well as tutoring individual students. It's great to have you back, Erin and Jill!

I am writing this message on a Saturday evening here in Boston. I am here visiting my grandmother, Mima, and my Aunt Lorraine. I will be back in Seattle on Tuesday afternoon-- and look forward to seeing the class on Wednesday morning!

P.S. Check out the latest letter from Paul by clicking on the link to the left! He got our care package!

A GREAT time at Camp Seymour and a Busy Week Ahead

We had a GREAT time at Camp Seymour this past week. Students enjoyed classes about reptiles, forest ecology, rock climbing, canoing, and orienteering. Not only did they have FANTASTIC classes, students also enjoyed going on night hikes, warm campfires, cups of hot cocoa, and an AWESOME Halloween-- complete with a very haunted house (actually it was a haunted yurt). It was pretty great to be around the kids as they were experiencing one new thing after another.

I am thankful to most all of the kids who treated each other, the naturalists and teachers with respect. I think that EVERY student learned a lot about the environment, themselves, and cooperating with others. Good job F3.

We got a letter from Paul just a couple of days ago! He recently received our care package. He said that everything arrived okay except for the chocolate-- that melted. We'll have to keep that in mind for next time.

Coming up this week are some public speaking opportunities for the kids to spread the word about the Veteran's Day Project to all of the other classrooms at Maple. Also. students will be working in groups of five to create their own Camp Seymour brochures. Students will be pulled out to create podcasts of their family project. So much going on in F3!

Please respond to the final notices about parent conferences as soon as you get them this week. I am looking forward to our conferences next week.

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. :)