WEEK 19...WE'RE BACK!

Class Update
I hope everybody had a memorable winter break together with family and friends. Those three weeks went by pretty fast! I was blessed by your amazing generosity prior to the break. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your wonderful gifts ;>)
Here are a couple specific thank you responses:
-The Bruce family gave us a gift certificate to Cafe Cruz AND free baby sitting!
-The Townsend family and their wonderful holiday bread
-The Moyers gave me a nice coffee mug and tasty chocolate (it's already gone)
-The Ursinos made some tasty celebration cookies.
-The Reyes family gave my family a gift certificate to Gayle's where we had a fantastic lunch together.
-The Felbrugge family gave me some Arbonne products. My wife says I finally smell good!
-The Hildebrands gave me a cozy "Peace is Good" sweatshirt that I donned with my new Ugg boots over the break
-NICOLE wrote me a beautiful poem that I posted on the Rio Writers Blog
-The Manchesters gave me a cool Australian Boomerang that I can use with students who are misbehaving...(just kidding)
-The Calcagno family gave me some chocolate cherries that my kids also enjoyed.
-The Lees and the Jefferys made some amazing toffee that I ate too much of. I swear it was just like the Turkish Delight effect.
-Both Rachels brought in some wonderful cookies and chocolates that were another family treat.

Finally, thank you all for the awesome new digital camera. We used it on our Disneyland Vacation last week and it worked wonderfully. I will use it frequently in class and will continue to post the pictures on the blog.

Well, we will hit the ground running this week. In memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. we will be listening to his "I Have a Dream" speech together. We will discuss this powerful speech and talk about how it applies to our lives. Next, we will respond by writing a five-paragraph essay about our dreams in class. Furthermore, I will be reading a brief portion of his biography. In math we will be reviewing and learning about multiplying double digits,fractions, decimal place value and classifying various quadrilaterals. PLEASE GIVE YOUR CHILD EXTRA SUPPORT IN MATH BECAUSE OF THE LONG BREAK. Next, in Social Studies we will be discovering the California Missions and their impact on the Native Californians. We will be doing an in-class project on the missions. Each student will choose a mission and create a brochure that highlights the key components. Soon we will be going on a field trip to Mission San Juan Bautista on February 5th. We will have a fun scavenger hunt together on this trip, so keep an eye out for the driver sign-ups.

In other news, our class was able to raise $122 for the class charity project. You can go to this website to see the specific program we helped fund in Ghana. http://www.heifer.org/site/c.edJRKQNiFiG/b.2665753/

Our next field trip will be on Friday, January 25th when we go to the UCSC Life Lab to learn about nutrition, how to read labels using math and grow organic food. Here are the drivers that signed up: Michelle M.(3), Kristin J. (4), Jennifer A. (6), Denise (5), Lisa B. (3), Lorna J. (3), Linda F. (4)

Finally, thank you to all of the parents who came out to hear our band at Brittania Arms. I think I counted ten students with their families. Wow!

WEEKLY RIDDLE
Clock Chimes
A clock chimes 5 times in 4 seconds. How many times will it chime in 10 seconds?

WEEKLY QUOTES
"A man who won't die for something is not fit to live."

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

HOMEWORK TUESDAY
Reading - 20/4/1
Math - L90
Spelling - Correct each word in cursive + p. 161-163

HOMEWORK WEDNESDAY
Reading - 20/4/1
Math - L91
Spelling - Correct each word in cursive + p. 161-163
Due Friday
OTHER - Pizza Book Report Due: Friday, February 8th

HOMEWORK THURSDAY
Reading - READ A.R. BOOK FOR 20 MINUTES
Math - L93 evens + Pre-Test
Spelling - Correct each word in cursive + p. 161-163
Due Friday
Other - Study for tests in DLR, Spelling