For our final product, students presented to the SELS PTC, requesting funds to provide two interpretive signs for our school. Information on the signs would include the chosen nonfiction narratives students vote as exemplars within our Crew, as well as the scientific drawing and taxonomy of the species.

Questions to Ask Your Child:
What did you learn about the behavioral adaptations of your Sierra Nevada Species?
What about the physical adaptations of your species?
What was the most difficult piece to your nonfiction narrative?
What was the most difficult piece to your scientific drawing?
Why are scientific drawings so important?
What are some of the criteria that scientific drawings should include?

Crew News
Celebration of Learning was a huge success! Students worked so hard to get their work turned in on time and made sure the craftsmanship was of high quality. Our final product was a nonfiction narrative about a native bill or gill. We would like to highlight a few sentences from those amazing writing pieces:

“Dawn, just before sunrise. The ski, painted with dark navy grey colors, illuminates a desolate tree on which Red Tailed Hawk alights, silently observing it all.” -Marion Snideman, 5th grade

“….Drip, drip, drip, The last rain droplets from a recent spell of stormy weather fall to the ground through the sturdy pine tree branches. Cool breezes send their refreshing whiffs through the forest as blue, gold, and pink sunset fades away into black darkness.” -Keira Scott, 5th grade

“It is midnight in Silver King Creek, and the clouds vigorous breath causes the moonlit water to swirl female Paiute Cutthroat Trout believes a storm is on the way, so she checks on her eggs.” -Maeve Kristian, 4th grade

“The frigid evening wind ruffles the female Clark’s Nutcracker’s wings as she soars side by side with her mate looking for the perfect spacious branch in a conifer to hold their young.” -Kaya Hainsworth, 4th grade

“It is a hawkish morning, in a conifer forest that bridges all the way to the amethyst mountains. Male White Headed Woodpecker is going to find insects while female White Headed Woodpecker guards the nest and its offspring inhabitants.” -Ayden Davern, 4th grade

“The dewy morning slowly arises as the sun begins to peek up from behind the high and mighty Sierra Nevada Mountains. The air was brisk and the sky a foggy grey. Reflecting off Silver King Creek, the sun wakes Paiute Cutthroat Trout from its rest.” -Sarvinoz Hasanova, 4th Grade

“Darkness fades to dawn. The eternal squall of Mountain Chickadee echoes off the monstrous alpine trees. “Chick-a-dee!” Her song welcomes the first light of spring. Mountain Chickadee’s hatchlings emerge for their first taste of the breeze; their song warning the prey of the Sierra.” -Riley Omar, 5th grade

“The rocky banks rush by while Golden Trout is sucked into a calm, small backwater. Golden Trout passes underneath a gathering of water striders, then expertly swirls around and cleaves through the mob. Catching many of the insects in his mouth, Golden Trout sluices the water out through his gills midway through his small leap.” -Kellen Gallagher, 5th Grade

Bridges 4th Grade Math: We completed our year with a geometry unit. The 4th graders were excited to work on their math project called Design a Town Map. This project highlighted their geometry skills as they had to have specific quadrilaterals, angles, and lines incorporated into their town map. They also worked on double digit multiplication. I would encourage all math students to keep up their math skills this summer by continuing their quick math multiplication and division skills, using fractions, and doing some addition and subtraction problems with carrying and borrowing. It as been a successful 4th grade math year and I have truly loved working with this math crew!

Bridges 5th Grade Math: Students wrapped up their knowledge of multiplying and dividing of decimals, Unit 7 this past week. Hooray for all of their hard work with the Bridges Math Program this year!

Our 5th Grade Community Service Project was an overwhelming success! Students presented their proposals to their peers, pitching their ideas for a sustainable structure that would help a chosen community in need. For this project, students were expected to create a budget with precise calculations, aerial architectural sketches, a model, and a proposal.

ELA: Students completed their Newbery Challenge masterpieces this past week, and assembled their folders for Celebration of Learning. Students wrote Book Reviews on their title of choice, and demonstrated proficiency in responding to literature. Students also worked diligently on completing their Book Club matchbook summaries as another example of RTL.

Special Brisbin Crew Parent Shout Out:
We would like to thank our Wonderful Wednesday Volunteers!
Shauna Ronzone is a rockstar Brisbin Crew Volunteer who never misses a Wednesday to help out in the classroom! Thank you, Shauna for volunteering your time and extra help- you are so appreciated!

Kerri Flaherty has been our Wednesday Akers Crew Volunteer for the past four years! I will miss your help and smiling face! I truly appreciate your commitment to volunteering in our crew! Thank you!

Expedition: Bills and Gills
Case Study One was a success! The students commendably created two main projects, which highlighted their new knowledge. First, with a partner, they researched a biome, and then created a slideshow, which concluded with a presentation. These slideshows will be on display for Celebration of Learning. The second project was to create a game that emphasized the Sierra Nevada Biome food chains and pyramids of our native plants and animals. They fashioned high quality food chain/pyramid games such as a card game of war, cup pyramid and memory games. Craftsmanship of work was demonstrated as well as understanding of our case study.

We move into our second case study this week with the arrival of our Lahontan Cutthroat Trout Eggs. We kicked off this case study with a Science Talk Protocol using an overall guiding question, “What makes a fish, a fish?” While the students shared their observations about fish in general, they had a lot of questions about fish. I look forward to the students becoming Ichthyologists as they study all about the world of fish, their ecosystems, life cycles, food chains and adaptations. We will specifically learn about our local Sierra Nevada Fish.

Questions to ask:
What observations have you made about the lifecycle of the Lahontan Cutthroat trout?
How and why is the tank set up in the classroom?
How long will it take for an egg to hatch?
Can you identify and name all the parts of a trout’s life cycle?
What is an alevin?
What is a fry?
What is the difference between a structural and behavioral adaption?
What are some structural adaptations of Lahontan Cutthroat Trout?
What are some behavioral adaptations of Lahontan Cutthroat Trout?
What is the food web of the Lahontan Cutthroat Trout??

ELA:
April is national poetry month and we are excited to participate within our ELA time. Our crew began this with mastering figurative language and will now analyze how figurative language can be inserted into poems to reflect sound, meaning and feelings. We will create a variety of poems that connect with our expedition, Bills and Gills. Book clubs have been going strong with both crews as they begin to finish books, write reviews and create a matchbook folder. Our books revolve and tie into our expedition. The mature discussions and reflections that occur after each chapter are animated and all inclusive.

We are excited to introduce the second annual Newbery Literary Crew Challenge. This is an excellent way to introduce students to amazing books. They are working hard to gain as many points as possible by the end of the school year. Newbery chapter books are worth three points, honor books are two points and picture Caldecott Medal books are one point. This challenge has sparked a new found excitement for reading in our crew!

Math:
4th Grade: The students are wrapping up unit four (addition, subtraction and measurement) with an upcoming post assessment. I feel that they have good comprehension on standard algorithms for both addition and subtraction. Our next unit will be a unit on Geometry exploration. Students will be analyzing shapes and how they relate to each other through symmetry and congruence. Students will also be building their fluency in measuring angles, classifying shapes, and working with grids. Please make sure to review their homework with them on a regular basis to check in with current learning. The students will begin a build your own town project where they will practice all their new geometry skill while creating their towns.

5th Grade: Students completed their 4th grade Post Assessment, and are moving on to working the multiplying and dividing fractions in Unit 5. In Unit 5, students extend their understandings of multiplication and division to working with fractions. During the first module, students review and extend skills and concepts first introduced in Grade 4 to solidify their understandings of whole number-by-fraction multiplication. In Modules 2 and 3, they use rectangular arrays to model and solve fraction-by-fraction multiplication problems. Module 4 features an introduction to division of whole numbers by unit fractions, and unit fractions by whole numbers. There is a strong emphasis throughout the unit on sense-making and understanding, as students tackle material that is conceptually challenging.

Also, students have been assigned a Community Building project in which they research and design an 800 square foot structure for a community in need. They are extremely excited about this endeavor, and are working to complete all of the components.

Spring brings a busy fieldwork calendar and I would like to thank parents in advance for your help and volunteer hours. Without your dedication, we could not immerse the students into these hands on activities! Thank you!

How is all life supported? What does the sun do to help create systems of life, and what are the systems in which animals and plants have adapted that support ecosystems’ health? Students participate in two case studies in this expedition. The first, titled “Forces of Nature” examines growth and development of organisms, interdependent relationships in ecosystems, cycles of matter and energy transfer, ecosystem dynamics, and form and pattern in nature. Students will design Google Slides presentations on biomes of the earth, learn to nature journal from expert John Muir Laws, create diagrams of energy transfer and cycling, write an informational piece on ecosystem dynamics. Our second case study, titled “ Whooo’s Out There? From Molecules to Organisms- Structures and Processes,” Students will focus on flora and fauna of the Sierra Nevada, with a specific focus on the Great Horned Owl and Lahontan Cutthroat Trout. Students continue drafts of their owl and trout drawings, and participate in service learning projects that will later be revealed (hint: we will work on beautifying our campus! Think interpretive trail!). Working as Ornithologists and Ichthyologists, students will examine habitats, traits, life cycles, conservation, and relevance of local bird and fish species. Students will dissect owl pellets, learn about dichotomous keys and identification of macroinvertebrates in local streams, and write opinion and narrative pieces regarding these topics.

Questions to Ask Your Child:
How do animals’ body structures help them grow, survive, and reproduce?
How are all the parts of an ecosystem dependent on one another?
What is an ecosystem?
What kinds of energy exist in an ecosystem?
Who is John Muir Laws? What does he do for a living?
What are some of the key components to nature sketching
What is an Ornothologist? An Ickthyologist?
What are concepts in nature mapping?
Who is Rachel Carson? What did she do in the world of conservation?

Crew News
5th Math:
Students use units of computer memory—bytes, kilobytes, megabytes, and gigabytes—to explore conversions within a given system of measurement, and then extend the strategies they develop to making metric conversions. Students also continue their work adding and subtracting decimals in a vertical format and solving story problems that involve decimal amounts. In Unit 4, students return to the study of multiplication and division strategies, including the standard multiplication algorithm. In the first two modules, students investigate a number of strategies that capitalize on their estimation and mental math skills and help them continue to develop strong number sense. These include strategies that leverage the relationship between multiplication and division; the fact that 5 is half of 10; the relationships between fractions, decimals, and whole numbers; and the process of doubling and halving. In Module 3, the teacher formally introduces the standard multiplication algorithm after reviewing the area model and partial products. Module 4 reinforces the connection between multiplication and division, using the area model and ratio tables to help students develop a degree of comfort with long division.

4th Math: The 4th graders are finishing up the unit on fractions and decimals. Look for the assessment next week and test coming home to sign the following week. The next unit will focus on place value to 1,000,000, multi-digit addition/subtraction strategies, rounding, and place value to the millions. Students will use what they know about place value to investigate strategies as well as use standard algorithms. This is a true number sense unit and finding the best strategy to fluently add and subtract numbers.

*Make sure to sign planners every night. Front Row practice will be applauded at home and will be used when applicable at school.

ELA:
In book club, students are reading various books related to our new expedition. We have had a fun time learning which new award-winning contenders will fit into our studies! Students fill out a daily reading log, follow a specific focus of study for the week, and then turn in their work on Fridays. They plan out their week and discuss topics as well on Fridays. Our Writer’s Workshop block is focusing on Non Fiction Narratives and Non Fiction Teaching Books (5th Grade). Specifically studying reading and writing for information, students practice summarizing, comparing and contrasting, and other non fiction text styles. We also complete on demand writing assignments after learning and exploring different text styles.

Character:
The Brisbin Crew and Akers Crews have begun learning about our current design principle “The Having of Wonderful Ideas,” and recently completed an amazing Electric Inventors expedition with teacher Brooke Landis (thanks, Brooke!). Students developed incredible inventions that they cannot wait to show you at Celebration of Learning. Ask them about it their games! Students also continue to work together in games day on Thursdays, and collaboration during Morning Meeting and Debrief sessions. Each Crew is also reading text based on Scientists (Rachel Carson!) who, with their amazing and wonderful ideas, helped save the world in the name of conservation.

ELA:
Our one school day, Friday (January 6th) we spent the day doing a week’s worth of lessons for our annual Letters about Literature Contest. It was an exciting day of writing as the students showed perseverance to write for a long period or periods of time. The letters have been mailed and we made the contest postmarked deadline! Letters About Literature is a reading and writing contest for students in grades 4-12. Students are asked to read a book and write to the author (living or dead) about how the book affected them personally. Letters are judged on state and national levels. Tens of thousands of students from across the country enter Letters About Literature each year. Next comes the fun part, waiting to hear responses from either the contest or the individual authors!

ELA and Expedition:
Based on our successful Socratic Seminar and Simulation, the students will write an opinion piece from their side based on research Their piece will be based on their fictional character and with the guiding question: Was the Revolutionary War necessary or unnecessary for America to gain Independence?

Expedition:
Brooke Landis will start a mini case study called: Electric Inventors. This connects to our Ben Franklin case study from Rebels and Redcoats and is a suitable way to lead into our spring science expedition. We will explore Ben Franklin, electricity, energy and engineering. She will be in twice a week for the month of January to work with our crew. On the other days, we will wrap up our third case study, Power of Words. The students will learn about about the Three Charters of Freedom with using these learning targets: (1) I can describe the people and events involved in the creation and implementation of the Declaration of Independence. (2) I can analyze the historical significance of early documents and how they relate to the 1st Amendment. (3) I can articulate the reasons why the early citizens chose democracy.

Questions to ask your child:
What are the three documents that make up the Charters of Freedom?
Name some of the Founding Fathers of the different charters and what did they contribute.
What forms of energy are present when a light bulb lights up?
What is energy?
How is energy transferred?

Math:
4th- This crew will take an assessment as soon as we have consecutive days in the class and can review the concepts learned in December. Then they will move on to Unit 3 which will cover fractions in depth using clocks, egg cartons, and rulers to demonstrate the many ways fractions can be presented with the use of everyday items. We will continue hitting fluency of 1 through 12 multiplication facts hard for the rest of the year. Please practice with your child these facts, as it is hard to build upon math concepts without a strong base. Most kids have the easy ones; it is time to hit those hard 6,7,8 and 9 facts until fast memorization is met.

5th – We will be in Unit 3 as well. The students will analyze concepts related to place value, from reading, writing, and comparing decimals to rounding and examining the decimal patterns of multiplying and dividing numbers by 10. Students use their place value understandings to convert within a measurement system, and they use both whole number strategies and place value understanding to add and subtract decimals to hundredths. Division is the focus of Module 4, in which students model, solve, and pose long division problems. Students are excited to launch the in-school project “100,000 Dollar Bedroom.” Student will receive the project proposal and criteria, and create deadlines for themselves to meet their learning targets. Please do not expect students to work on this project at home- this is strictly in school work, and students may take home only if they choose to work on it there.

Our final project for our second case study was a Socratic Seminar. The students engaged in rich discourse, answering the question “How and why did the colonists identify with the various opinions dictating how early America should be run?” The learning targets for the seminar were: (1) I can participate in a Socratic Seminar that analyzes the position of colonists in early America. (2) I can defend my position as a Patriot, Loyalist, or Naturalist in a Socratic Seminar Fishbowl, and work with my partner to develop strong arguments.

Students were assessed on a rubric individually by their peers and teacher. Overall, the arguments were intelligent, thoughtful, and energetic!

Our final product for our expedition is a George Washington Minuet, complete with public speaking and information from the Revolutionary time period. Students will be in full costume and excited to present!

Questions to Ask Your Child:
Describe the artist’s style who painted the portraits at the Museum of Art, Boston.
What did you learn from your Minuteman Skype?
What side did you identify with while you were in character during your Socratic Seminar? What were some of your arguments? What did you learn?
How did you do on your On Demand Write following the Socratic Seminar? What did you argue since it was a persuasive piece?

Crew News
Celebration of Learning: We loved sharing our final product performance at Celebration of Learning!

Bridges 4th Grade Math: Students will be kicking off Unit 3 when we return from break by studying equivalent fractions. Unit 3 utilizes a variety of tools to model, read, write, compare, order, compose and decompose fractions and decimals.

Bridges 5th Grade Math: Students kick off Unit 3 when we arrive back from school in January. In this unit, students study skills and concepts related to place value, from reading, writing, and comparing decimals to rounding and examining the decimal patterns of multiplying and dividing numbers by 10. Students use their place value understandings to convert within a measurement system, and they use both whole number strategies and place value understanding to add and subtract decimals to hundredths. Division is the focus of Module 4, in which students model, solve, and pose long division problems.

ELA:
Reading – We finished Chains! Please hold tight for information on our Book Talk in January. Next, students will continue conferencing with me and practicing reading strategies. We will start another anchor text in February.

Grammar / Conventions / Spelling – We continue to work on our Daily Oral Language, Hard and Fast rules for punctuation/grammar, and spelling rules. The Brisbin Crew is kicking off the second spelling rule: vowel- consonant-e. We will have Friday assessments that alternate between Language Study and Spelling. Please see your child’s planner for spelling word practice and assessment calendaring. *Our schedule has been off due to final product practice and preparation for the Socratic Seminar.

Writing – Students took an opinion / persuasive on demand write based on their ideas on the American Revolution. Looking at our rubric, we isolated one piece of the criteria and focused on the construction of the piece, making sure the three paragraph piece had a developed claim and evidence to support it. Overall the students’ scores were fantastic!

Students have also been responding to their reading of our anchor text Chains in their active reading response journal.

Harvest of the Month – Thank you to Jenna Shropshire and Yvette Durant-Bender for sharing their culinary genius with our crew – this month we tasted sweet potatoes!

Currently, students are realizing the implications of the Stamp Act, in which they must pay for stamps to place on each assignment/ paper they turn in. They are also charged one pound for internet usage, as I am sure King George would have required back in the late 1700’s. Next week students will be taxed on much more as we get into the various acts imposed upon early Americans. Students are really enjoying this simulation!

We kick off our new writing assignment this week, as students have finished their Three Colonial Regions informational piece. Also, we continue to practice our George Washington Minuets, and are beginning to piece together our final product performance with song, dance, and lines! Head’s up that our performance will be at the Truckee High School Gym on Celebration of Learning evening…. more info soon!

Questions to Ask Your Child:
What was the Boston Massacre? Was it a massacre at all?
Who was Crispus Attucks and why was his fate in the Boston Massacre so ironic?
When did Paul Revere make his midnight ride? What are the details leading up to the ride?
Where did the first Continental Congress meet? How was John Adams elected to represent the colonists at the Continental Congress?
Why did King George impose acts and taxes on the colonists? What were they?

Crew News
Goal Setting Conferences: Thank you to all students and parents for attending our Goal Setting Conferences! I am so impressed with the conversations that were shared between families at the meeting. Be sure to post those goals in a place where your child can see them regularly.

Bridges 4th Grade Math: The students successfully completed Unit one and we are covering a mini unit on measurement. They will explore linear measurement, mass, weight, and liquid volume and review definitions and units of measurement for each category. We will then go into a unit where we will build the great wall of base ten and use base ten pieces to investigate base ten value patterns. We will use strategies to explore multi digit multiplication. We will also make generalizations about multiplying with 100, 1,000, and 10,000. We will continue to solve multiplication problems with arrays as well as practice the standard algorithm.

Bridges 5th Grade Math: 5th grade students are currently working on adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators. With the underlying theme of fluency with equivalence, students learn that there are two models to understand equal fractions: clocks, and money. Students should understand that fractions can have many meanings: ¼ can equal a quarter, 15 minutes, half of ½, 25%, etc. Denominators that are factors of 100 or 60 will aide students in choosing the right model for the problem (clocks or money). Denominators that are NOT factors or 100 or 60 are presented in two different models. The first of these models is a double number line, presented in the context of a running track. The second is the ratio table, which students have already encountered in third and fourth grade, as well as in the previous unit. We are also exploring multiplying whole numbers by fractions and the connection between division and fractions.

ELA:
Reading – Book Clubs are centered around the amazing novel by Laurie Halse Anderson, Chains. Students are so intrigued by the content of this book that we cannot get them to put it down! Students are responding to their reading in their Active Reading Response Journals, and will produce a Book Review when the book is complete. We will also have a Book Talk celebration at the completion of the book, where students can bring in healthy baked goods to share as they chat about events that happened in the book. Talking points will include the plot, character motives, themes, etc.

Grammar / Conventions / Spelling – We continue to work on our Daily Oral Language, Hard and Fast rules for punctuation/grammar, and spelling rules. The Brisbin Crew is kicking off the first spelling rule – closed syllable rule. We will have Friday assessments that alternate between Language Study and Spelling. Please see your child’s planner for spelling word practice and assessment calendaring.

Writing – Writer’s Workshop is in full swing! Students are writing about small moments, learning about the ideas writing trait, and how to narrow down the focus of their pieces. We are practicing the art of peer critique by filling out post-its during revision, and learning that the more we write, the more we feel comfortable getting our ideas out. Students always follow the structured hamburger paragraph for organization and drafting, then word process the final draft for completion. Our new creative writing project is a Time Capsule Personal Narrative. Ask your child about it!

Harvest of the Month- Thank you to Jenna Shropshire and Yvette Durant-Bender for sharing her culinary genius with our crew – this month we tasted pears!

SELS News
This month our school hosted a Site Seminar for EL Education. It was very successful, and we really are impressed with our students’ overall behavior and enthusiasm. What an honor to be chosen to host!

As we close up our first case study, the students are assimilating all they learned about the thirteen colonies and the three colonial regions. They now know interesting facts as to who and why colonies were founded, what kind of land/resources/trade occurred, and religious and political background of the thirteen colonies. They are in the process of creating a five paragraph informational pieces. This is a big assignment and they are putting forth great effort to complete it. The above explains how we embed our ELA into our expedition through writing, reading and poetry. This informative piece includes structures of the standards such as: write an informative text to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly, introduce a topic clearly and group related information in paragraphs and sections and use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic. In addition, the students made inferences about colonial life supported by details from a text and determinations about the meaning of content words or phrases in an informational text in a close read of colonial times inventory.

“Taxation without representation is tyranny”
These words are usually attributed to James Otis, a leader in the independence movement in Boston as trouble rose with England in the 1760s and 1770s. They spread far and wide in the colonies as calls for independence grew louder.

Our second case study titled “The Boston Tea Party” will be about the many Acts and Laws that were imposed on the colonist and their reactions/consequences. We will create a class chant about the Sugar, Navigation, Quartering, Townshend and Stamp Act. We plan to scour our reading resources about the Revolutionary War and each student will chose an article that appeals to them. Then we will create our own Found Poems from these readings. This process is a great way to perform a Getting the Gist protocol to understand the complex text that we read. A key individual that we will focus on is Paul Revere and that he is most famous for alerting the Colonial militia to the approach of British forces before the battles of Lexington and Concord, as dramatized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem, “Paul Revere’s Ride”. The students have danced weekly and have a few colonial minuets memorized. We are hard at work getting our final product together for celebration of learning.

Math
4th graders are coming up on their first big assessment as they finish unit one. They have a great grasp on multiplies, factors, composite and prime numbers. We will close unit one with a mini unit about making comparisons with measurement such as height, weight, liquids and distances. Then in unit two, the students will continue to build multiplicative reasoning as they work with multi-digit multiplication and beginning division. We will learn with building arrays and ratio tables. The students will create the great wall of base ten as they investigate place value patterns.

5th graders are currently wrapping up their first unit of study on multiplication strategies. By understanding the doubling and halving, 5 is half of 10, partial products, and over strategies, students can decipher which strategy is most appropriate for them to use in different situations. Students can apply this knowledge of strategies to their fluency with volume. In this rst unit, students use the study of volume to review and extend a host of skills and concepts related to multiplication. We have taken a deep look at the associative and commutative properties of multiplication as students use expressions with parentheses to represent different rectangular prism. Over the course of the unit, students are introduced to four WorkPlace games to build multiplicative thinking—a key component for success with division and fractions throughout the rest of the year. Make sure to review the anchor chart with your child and ask them to explain to you how to use each one! Our Problem of the Week this past week really stumped our students and caused them to use their grappling skills. Students should put you to the test- give it a try!

Goal Setting Conferences
Our goal setting conferences are just around the corner. The students have their packet to fill out with their parents. Please sit down with your child and go over the brainstorming packet and set some goals. It is most helpful to come to goal setting conferences with goals already in mind! One of the most powerful learning tools for children is modeling. This year, we are asking our parents to become goal setting models and set their own parent support goal during our goal setting conferences. Please consider a goal that will support your child in the academic or character realm. It can, but does not need to be, directly linked to your child’s goals. We just ask that it be an attainable goal that your child can see you actively working towards.

Thanks again to all our wonderful parents!
Happy Fall,
Julie and Lynn

Description:
What are the uses and abuses of power that people demonstrate? How did people at the forefront in establishing a democratic nation go about their business of the day to day, back in the day? Students in the Brisbin Crew are embarking on a study of the establishment of the United States via the inception of it all: The American Revolutionary War. Case Study 1: Colony Vs. King springboards off of the initial break from Britain and King George’s rule, students explore the human desire for independence through efforts made by our founding American mothers and fathers, by analyzing and making inferences through complex text of primary documents. Students will learn the geography of each established colony, as well as the colonial regions of early America. By learning about the behaviors and characteristics of the populations of each region, students will understand the risks that the Rebels took to create a new life for themselves, as well as the choices they faced.

Questions to Ask Your Child:
Who are and what is the difference between the Redcoats and Rebels?
Who is King George and why did the British decide to leave to start a new life?
Sing the 13 Colonies song!
Why is Ben Franklin such an important leader in our studies of the American Revolution?
Why are you reading Ben and Me as the kick off to your Redcoats and Rebels expedition?
Describe the 4 Mystery primary documents you analyzed. What were they, and why are they important?
Who was John Allan, and why was he important in your studies?
What would you do if you were faced with the issues the British faced when under King George’s rule?

Crew News
Math:
Both 4th and 5th Math Crews have been launching Unit 1 of Bridges. In week one and two, students learn how to be student mathematicians by discussing and reflecting on how math is integrated into their daily lives. The 4th graders will work on methods and models for multiplication and division, learn about composite and prime numbers, build arrays for multiplication and division problems and use perseverance to solve math problems. They are trying to beat their own time in daily mad minutes as well as use a spiral math practice sheet, which covers many standards, then on Fridays, have a short quiz over what was covered on the daily pages. We will also get the students set up of Front Row to take a math assessment and start practicing at their own math levels.

Make sure to sign planners every night. 5th grade students are learning about multiplication through factor pairs 1-100 and multiplicative relationships. In Unit 1, an exploration of volume serves as a bridge between fourth and 5th grade. Working with volume provides the context in which students review and extend skills and concepts from fourth grade, while introducing skills and concepts that are central to this year’s studies. In this unit, students are exposed many strategies for multiplication. In repeating these strategies through spiraling throughout the year student will become proficient in volume concepts. Each Friday, students will take a short quiz on their learning, as well as participate in reteaching groups throughout the week. Front Row practice will be applauded at home and will be used when applicable at school. Math Night for 5th grade is on September 27 from 5:30-6:30.

ELA:
In book club, students are reading our kick off text Ben and Me, and creating on-demand Responses to Literature. All students are being assessed for reading via the DRA, and will conference with me to learn specific strategies to grow their reading skills. We will also work on specific strategies during our Reader’s Workshops twice a week. For our first official long-term write, students will learn complete Case Study 1 with a Historical Narrative on Colonial Times. In the interim, we will practice the mechanics of hamburger paragraphs; the importance of developing solid topic sentences, supporting ideas, and concluding sentences, as well as grammar and spelling. We develop all of our great writing ideas through solid brainstorm sessions, research, collaboration….and fun!

Character:
The Brisbin Crew has been learning the ins and out of classroom procedures in the first weeks of school. We are learning how to document our successes and goals through the HOW’s tracker. Currently we are working on HOW’s tracking as a Crew through documenting progress on our daily crew clip chart, and then documenting our progress on our tracking sheets. Students participated in a stone ceremony to set our strengths and goals for the year and collected our intentions in a jar that lives in our classroom. Our crew is amazing and works so well together already! Our fall fieldwork will provide an opportunity for even more Crew building at Independence Lake, where we will work together in teams to complete tasks in a simulation based on our expedition. We will also participate in equine studies- health, care, and sport- to build community and crew through re-enacting how the colonial peoples completed daily tasks with their VIP family members- their horses!

SELS News
Mark your Calendars with September Dates (and refer to our website for future months, here):
September 9: Community Meeting @ 9:15
September 20: Picture Day
September 14: Minimum Day (released at 1pm)
September 23: All School Dance

Highlights
Thank you so much to the students for coming in, ready to learn every day! Your enthusiasm is very contagious and I really appreciate your efforts!

And thank you so much to the parents who have come in to help out in the classroom already – the work night was so successful for both our Crew Room and our campus. Thanks also to all of the parents who have signed up to help both at school and at home.

After a nice holiday break, we are back and raring to go!  Our first week was spent getting back into the swing of things, and setting goals and focus for the end of the semester and a new expedition.  Here is what is going on in the Brisbin Crew right now.

Sierra Scientists, Go With The Flow!

Students are in the thick of their BBK for our new expedition.  Our first labs were to create a scientist drawing, then hold a DAST (Draw a Scientist Test) workshop to collect data.  Our results were quite interesting!  We then began reviewing the steps in the scientific method by participating in a somewhat famous “Peanut Butter and Jelly Lab.” Students wrote in paragraph form the steps needed to make a PB&J sandwich, and then I took some examples and followed them to the letter.  The students found that their sandwiches were turning out quite….interesting based on their notes.  This is where we talk about the importance of detail in procedure documentation in science.  Finally, we have set up our science lab books to document our learning.  Next up, learning about matter in a series of inquiry labs, then onto chemistry (mostly of water), river studies, and how water shapes land (geologic studies), and finally human impacts.  If you know of any experts that could enhance our curriculum, please contact me!  We are always looking for professionals in the field of study we are working in to show students what “real life” looks like!

Math:

Students in both grades are wrapping up chapter 2 in the Bridges curriculum.  Also, Mrs. Akers and I have really been working hard in delivering extra attention to the standard algorithms.  5th graders have been working really hard on learning double by triple digit multiplication, and have multiple quizzes.  Once every student masters this, we will move into long division.  It is our goal to have 100% of 5th grade students mastering borrowing, carrying, multi-digit multiplication, and long division before they hit 6th grade.  We can do it!  As far as Bridges goes, students are learning how to produce ratio tables and double number lines when dealing with fractions.  Difficult concepts, but the students are practicing their grappling skills as they work through these ideas every day.  Their assessment will be at the end of this week or early next.

ELA:

We are finishing up our Letters About Literature submissions, and will postmark them tomorrow afternoon.  Students chose a book they connected with recently, and wrote a letter to the author following a book review format.  Encouraging students to use specific structures when describing the experience of reading the book (i.e., synthesizing, NOT summarizing), students have had the opportunity to go deeper in their understanding of how the book really affected them.

Next up we will do an multi- lesson on-demand writers workshop that is based on the ideas and word choice writing trait.  Following that, students will write a narrative.

In grammar, students have been working on different types of pronouns.  We are also on the 3rd syllabic spelling rule “Double Vowels -ai, and -ay.”  Their next list will be given to them this week.  Also, students will be working daily on correcting sentences (Daily Oral Language), and figurative language study.

As usual, student should be reading good fit books.  I conference with students regularly to track their progress and check in with the titles they are choosing.  We have voracious readers in the Brisbin Crew!  Our book club is still working on “The Ballad of Lucy Whipple,” and we plan to finish that in the next few weeks.

Character:

We continue to track our Habits of Work by writing a goal each Monday to set the tone for the week.  Then we check in on Wednesdays and reflect on Fridays.  We are also trying to do more work reflecting in our portfolios.  Also, we continue to work in Second Step curriculum- this week we talked about empathy by learning about our monthly design principle: Diversity and Inclusion.

Dates to remember:

• No all-school minimum days in January
• Monday, January 11- Board Meeting
• Monday, January 18- MLK Day, no school

Great to see all of my students smiley faces last Monday- they are my buddies, and I missed them!  I am really looking forward to an amazing 2016!

Proudly,

Julie Brisbin

Students have been exploring how Californians used technology to obtain gold in more efficient ways through many different mining practices.  These mining techniques each made impacts on the land as well as California’s economy, and students have gone on fieldwork to mines and met experts who have taught them about these practices.  Seeing working mines in action, students also have met teams members who have shared with them their specific jobs; at Teichert Mine we met the Mine Manager, Biologist, Geologist, Mining Engineer, and Equipment Operator.

In wrapping up our case study brochure project, students also finished their anchor text By The Great Horn Spoon by Sid Fleischman.  To accompany their comprehensive brochure, students wrote and peer reviewed their first Letter Essay on the text.  They are learning to develop a claim not only on the content they are learning in expeditions, but also honing in on their opinion writing skills in letter writing!  We also created an interactive map for the brochure project in which students labeled major mining areas, landmarks, travel routes, and development in California

Our final product is a silent film based on Charlie Chaplin’s “Gold Rush” movie.  The Brisbin and Akers crews both are over the moon with this product and are having a ball getting their scenes together. Mrs. Akers and I are enjoying watching them write, produce, and act in their very own production, while they incorporate expedition content into their final product. Please work with your child to develop their costumes, and they are more than welcome to bring in props to make their film fantastic!

Our writing practice has focused on developing ideas.  We have taken small moments and learned to explode them into larger pieces of writing.  This writing trait is essential to master as we become flourishing writers.  As usual, we continue to work on organization of our writing through careful construction of our pieces by taking each piece step by step through the brainstorm, graphic organizer, peer review and edit, and drafting process.  We write every day, and we love it!

In math, 5th graders are learning about fractions with uncommon denominators, and how to add and subtract them.  Mrs. Akers attended an interesting Master Class in which the facilitator spoke of the efficacy of centers and group- based work.  Through conversation with Mrs. Akers, I was inspired to change up the way we “do” math daily, and the kids are very excited about the new format.  Currently we have kids rotating through focused content-based math centers, learning one on one with me in one of them, the standard algorithm in others, and playing focused math games as well.  Alongside their daily practice, students are in the middle of their semester long project titled the “Million Dollar Bedroom Project.”  They are learning time management and chipping away at long projects through this assignment.

Students continue to track their Habits of Work in an effort to boost their academic potential.  We are a busy, bustling, productive learning environment as we work to get all of our assignments in for Celebration of Learning.

Thank you SO much to our drivers from our fieldwork to Teichert Mine, and to our wonderful Harvest of the Month Volunteer, Jenna!

Dates to Remember:

Celebration of Learning – Thursday, December 17, 6:30-8:00.  This is one of my favorite events of the year.  Please come to celebrate all of the hard work your child has put in this semester!

Friday electives are in full force!  The kids love their Fridays- if you would like to volunteer to teach an elective, we would love to have you! This session ends December 17th.

Pajama Day is Friday, December 18th.  Students may wear appropriate pj’s to school.

See you back at school!

Julie