Here is another site, discovered by Aaron:

http://www.californiamissions.com/cahistory/index.html


Here is the Mission Website:


CA Mission Internet Trail
http://www.escusd.k12.ca.us/mission_trail/MissionTrail.html

Thanks to all our parent chaperones for making our Mission trip outstanding! We couldn't have done it without you!!!!

NEWS FROM 17
PALO VERDE ELEMENTARY 4TH GRADE ROOM 17
PAULA WATSON AND YASMIN SHIROLE JANUARY 20, 2009

NEW STUDENTS
Room 17 has three new members! Lauren joined our class in late autumn from the East Bay, Aaron has returned to Palo Verde from a semester
in Florence, Italy, and Carmen comes to us from Mexico City. All are delightful, and we welcome them and their families! Jeffrey will be leaving
our class at the end of the month to return to New Zealand, where his dad lives. We wish Jeffrey well.

MISSION FIELD TRIP
Our Mission field trip is coming up next week. On Thursday, January 29th, the whole 4th grade will be visiting Mission San Juan Bautista, about
an hour south of school. San Juan Bautista offers a wonderful window onto life in Early California, including a well-preserved mission
compound as well as buildings from the Rancho Period and Early Statehood. Thanks in advance to the parents who have volunteered to drive
and chaperone this excursion. Paperwork will be coming home for drivers in your child’s Friday Folder.

MATH PILOT – PHASE 1 COMPLETE
We have completed two units of Everyday Mathematics, our University of Chicago math pilot. Students were introduced to a variety of alternative
algorithms for both multiplication and division. When asked to evaluate the program, most students said they would like to use these materials,
although they were not fans of the daily homework. If you have any thoughts you would like to share regarding these materials, please send me
an e-mail. Our second round of piloting will begin next week. We will use this interim week to introduce the standard algorithm for long
division.

LITERATURE
Students recently finished an independent unit on the books of author Judy Blume, but this time, we are reading together as a group. Our class
has begun the novel, Stone Fox, which tells the story of Little Willy, a ten year-old boy who tries to save his family’s farm and help his
grandfather recover from depression with the help of his beloved dog, Searchlight. We have been noting the author’s wonderful use of short
sentences for emphasis, and his intentional disregard for some basic rules of English grammar (sentences begun with the dreaded “But” or
“And”, and fragments, lacking a predicate!). The story ends with an exciting dogsled race, and presents an unexpected finish. Our pace is slow,
allowing us to really explore the author’s style and language, and to clarify points of historical detail (horse-drawn plows and signing for credit
at the general store). Our next title will be a much lighter one, the charming story of Babe, the Gallant Pig. You may be familiar with this one,
from the wonderful film version. The book is every bit as lovely (and humorous).

THE MISSION PERIOD
Our social studies focus is on California’s Mission Period. The children are engaged in activities that ask them to consider the historical
situations from various perspectives (natives, padres, soldiers). This tragic chapter in California’s history is complex and fascinating, and we are
striving to present a balanced examination of the events. With a solid background in the rationale and development of the mission movement,
next week children will be assigned one of the 21 missions on which to become our classroom expert. Each student will research and write a
report about the mission, write a creative essay called “My Day at the Mission” in the voice of either a padre or neophyte, label a map
highlighting the mission and nearby points of interest, and create two pieces of original art. Students will not be required to make Mission
Models (collective sigh of relief ☺), but are welcome to share models if they/you are interested in putting one together at home (kits, I believe,
are available from Michaels and on-line).

ELECTRICITY
Students have continued their study of electricity, exploring how the number of winds of wire affects the strength of magnetism in an
electromagnet. They explored series and parallel circuits, building and then representing their constructions in schematic diagrams.


GRAMMAR, SPELLING, AND VOCABULARY
We are working on properly following the grammatical rules associated with dialogue. Room 17’s young writers are working to indent for each
new speaker, open quotation marks when the direct quote begins, and close them when the speaker finishes. End punctuation must be inside
the marks. While homework sheets have students practicing these skills in isolation, work in class includes addressing dialogue in context. For
example, last week students wrote an imagined conversation between two characters from Stone Fox. Thank you for continuing to work with
your student on preparing for the weekly spelling and biweekly vocabulary quizzes. We really see the improvement in their written work.

SPECTRA ART
Students have really been enjoying their Spectra lessons with artist/teacher Carla. Carla visits our class every second Wednesday, and has
engaged the children in creating sculptures in the style of Italian artist Giacometti, composing nature pictures, and drawing motif pictures based
on classic Mexican and African designs. Our classroom is a veritable art gallery, and you are welcome to come for a viewing any time!

ADDRESS AND PHONE NUMBER
Students have been asked to learn their address and home phone number. Please support your child in committing to memory this important
information.




NEWS FROM 17
PALO VERDE ELEMENTARY 4TH GRADE ROOM 17
PAULA WATSON AND YASMIN SHIROLE 10/18/2008

MATH
Our math focus this week was on the essential skills of place value and rounding. Students used open number lines to determine if numbers
should be rounded up or down, to various place values. The skill of rounding is very developmental, and not all 4th graders are ready for it.
Rounding will be covered again next year, and should become clear to most students by then. It is at that point that mastery is expected.
Rounding becomes the basis for estimation, another essential skill in arithmetic.

Next week we will move into our study of multiplying multi-digit numbers by one digit numbers, looking first at multiplying by 10, 100, and
1,000, focusing again on the importance of place value in our number system. Most of our examples will use digits from 0 – 5, which as factors,
most students have mastered. Eventually, of course, the children will need to know all the facts to be able to multiply any pair of numbers, so
please do continue your daily fact practice.

DIARY OF A …
Students began a fun writing project based on the picture book, Diary of a Worm, a charming story told by a worm, through his own “diary
entries”. Each child has chosen an animal, gathered information about that animal in a character web, and will now use the facts to create a
humorous poster of journal entries in the voice of the animal.

ART
After just two lessons with our Spectra teacher, students have created beautiful paintings inspired by artist Marc Chagall’s “Eye and the Village”.
Our classroom art project this week will focus on the work of living artist, Wayne Thiebaut. Students will make everyday classroom items the
basis for multli-media compositions using the pop art techniques of this California master.

SCIENCE

Electricity: Students today worked on Lighting a bulb. Students were given wire, D-cell and a bulb and they explored ways to make the bulb light
up.
Students learned about a circuit and the components that make up a circuit.

Environments: The isopods and darkling beetles were introduced into the terrariums. Students discussed at length about the components of an
ecosystem. They learned
that it is made up of living and non living things. As a class we discussed pollination and seed dispersal. Students watched a short science video
on each of these topics.

TECHNOLOGY ROTATION

From Mr. Winslow:

The MapMaker projects sent home this week received low scores, in all
three of the classes. So please do not worry about your child’s
score. There were many factors that played into this grading system.
The average score was 17/24.

The reason I chose to grade this assignment this way was due to the
fact we repeatedly discussed the expectations based on the Rubric for
this assignment. The rubric was very clear, however many children
had not used a rubric before.

The exposure students have had to technology is very diverse. Some
have trouble clicking and dragging, while others are ready to explore
detailed menu options. Thus, some students accomplished a lot during
our 4-hour project, while others needed a lot of my one-on-one support
and completed less of the assignment.

This week we needed to move on to our new PowerPoint lessons.

Students will manage their time more efficiently, use the new skills learned in the last 5 weeks, and explore PowerPoint with an
emphasis on CA Regions.

Contact Mr. Winslow directly with any concerns.

CREATIVE WRITING ROTATION

This week with Ms Naqvi, students started organizing their ideas for their own Native American Myths.


DEPARTURE
One of our students, Sin Hyoung, will be leaving Palo Verde for another school. Monday will be his last day as a member of Room 17, and we
wish him well in his new class. We will have a small celebration in his honor on Monday.

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NEWS FROM 17
PALO VERDE ELEMENTARY 4TH GRADE ROOM 17
PAULA WATSON AND YASMIN SHIROLE 10/03/08

THANK YOU!
Thanks to the parent volunteers who accompanied our class as we visited the Cantor Art Center. Students enjoyed seeing “real” examples by the
artists we have been studying. Many chose Magritte’s “The Art of Conversation” as their favorite piece, while many were “surprised” by the
sculpture of “David” on the second floor! Ask your child about his favorite, and let your young art historian go to town!

Thanks also to the parents who attended Tuesday’s Basic Facts Meeting. Student fact fluency is starting to improve already! For those unable to
attend the meeting, an information packet is included in today’s Friday Folder. There are strategies, games, and on-line resources offered.
Please contact Paula with any questions or concerns.

SCIENCE
Magnetism and Electricity:
Students have been investigating magnetism, and have begun to work with electricity. Last week their work centered on detecting Magnetic
Fields:
Students explored ways to detect the magnetic force.
First they made a compass to detect Earth's magnetic field.
They found several ways to detect magnetic fields and to make them visible, using things such as compasses and iron filings.
This week they investigated static electricity with “hair raising” results!

Environments:
The critters have arrived! There was much excitement in Room 17 with the early arrival of our living organisms: isopods and darkling beetles.
Mrs. Shirole led the class on Thursday afternoon through a detailed observation of these newest members of our class. Using hand lenses, the
children detected similarities and differences between the two creatures. On Friday they conducted an experiment to determine which of the
organisms prefers a humid environment.

TECHNOLOGY ROTATION
Students worked with Mr. Winslow to complete their map projects using Microsoft Word. Utilizing a grid, they drew shapes, used clip art and
basic shapes, and then colored them in. Map legends were included.

POETRY ROTATION
In Ms Naqvi’s class, students completed the illustration of their original poems and began a unit on Native American legends. Eventually, they
will write original stories following the legend format.

SCHEDULE
Yasmin will teach our class on Tuesday while Paula participates in the District Math Material Adoption Committee.

There is no class on Thursday for the “Local Holiday”, and no class on Friday for Staff Development.

Enjoy the long weekend, with NO HOMEWORK! (Please continue working daily on Basic Fact memorization, though! ☺)


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NEWS FROM 17
PALO VERDE ELEMENTARY 4TH GRADE ROOM 17
PAULA WATSON AND YASMIN SHIROLE 9/28/08

****Basic Math Fact Parent Information Night this Tuesday, September 30, at 6:30 p.. in Room 17****

FIELD TRIP
Our first trip of the year will be this Thursday when we will visit the Cantor Center for the Visual Arts on the Stanford campus. The special
exhibit we will tour offers a unique opportunity to see works by some of the world’s greatest artists right here in Palo Alto. These include
Matisse, O’Keeffe, Picasso, Guaguin, Monet, and others we have or will be studying this year. A permission slip was sent home with students on
Friday. Please be sure your child wears comfortable shoes and brings a bag lunch, as we will be picnicking in the Sculpture Garden after touring
the galleries. Thank you in advance to those of you who have volunteered to drive and chaperone.

ERB
Students seemed to embrace the topic for the ERB Writing Assessment last week. The prompt asked them to write a story about what would
happen after they received a map and a note reading, “Good Luck”. We will share the essays with you during Fall Conferences, and you can
expect to receive the score directly from the testing service sometime later.

SPELLING
As you know, correct spelling is an essential part of good writing. Our spelling program will begin this week. On Mondays, students will be given
a pre-test of 10 – 15 words to spell. The words will all share a common spelling pattern. (For example, vowel, consonant, vowel, or words that
have the “er” sound.) If any of the pre-test words are misspelled, the student will take a follow-up post-test on the following Friday. If no
words are missed on the pre-test, no post-test will be required. Preparation for the post-test can include work in the spelling book and/or oral
and written practice quizzing. All preparation will be done at home. Students will be provided with a spelling practice book to be kept at home.
Work in the book is optional, and there is no requirement to turn in the book.


ISLAND
Room 17 became the Island of the Blue Dolphins for a dramatic re-enactment of Chapter 4. Students enjoyed taking on the roles of Karana,
Chief Chowig, Captain Orlov, and all the others! There was cannon fire, rock throwing, and screaming as the Aleut hunters left the island,
leaving death and despair. Author Scott O’Dell is such a master of descriptive writing, that it was actually quite easy to stage the scene by simply
following his words. As Karana will soon be alone on the island, it was fun to get up from our seats, and ham it up a bit!

COORDINATE GRAPHING
We have finished our unit on Statistics. Last week we focused on coordinate graphing (x,y) and introduced linear equations. Be assured this was
just an introduction, and that students are not expected to have mastered writing and interpreting equations. A packet of student pages from
this unit will be coming home. You will notice that not all the pages are written on, and some are incomplete. This is because much of the work
students produced is recorded in their math journals.

Our next unit in math will focus on multiplication and division of larger numbers with multiple strategies. Mastery of the basic math facts will
make it much easier for students to use these new mathematical ideas so, please continue to work at home on memorization with your child.

CLASSROOM ECONOMY
In an effort to improve our productivity and classroom environment, we have begun an incentive program called “Seventeen Samolians”.
Students earn dollar bills for appropriate behavior and are taxed for inappropriate actions. At the end of the week, accumulated money can be
used to purchase items from our store. The first week of this new program proved to be very motivating.

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NEWS FROM 17
PALO VERDE ELEMENTARY 4TH GRADE ROOM 17
PAULA WATSON AND YASMIN SHIROLE 9/20/08

NEW ROOM 17 WEBSITE
We are pleased to announce the arrival of our new classroom web site!! Check it out at:
http://teacherweb.com/CA/PaloVerdeElementary/Room17PaulaWatsonandYasminShirole

Our plan is to use this site to keep you up-dated on classroom information of all kinds. Also planned is the e-mail distribution of “News From
17”, making for a giant step forward into the world of technology for Room 17! We still need a couple of e-mail addresses from families who
missed Back to School Night, so please send us you contact information as soon as possible.

ARTIST REPORTS
Students have completed their first writing projects. Each student has become “an expert” on one of the world’s great modern artists. The
process included reading a book about the artist, taking notes, writing and editing a first draft, recopying a final draft, and finally producing a
piece of art in the style of the artist. The results are wonderful, and we invite you to come to our classroom to have a look at our “gallery”. The
last step in this process will be oral presentations to the class by each student.

CORE LITERATURE
We will begin our first core literature selection this week. Island of the Blue Dolphins tells the story of Karana, a native Californian, who is left
behind on her island home when everyone else leaves following an encounter with outsiders. The class will work together, reading through the
text as a reader’s theater and discussing the content, context, and vocabulary as we go. Students will keep a journal in the voice of Karana,
responding to a variety of higher order questions. Our work will continue over several weeks. Later this week ask your child about Captain
Orlov and Chief Chowig.

MATH
Last week students collected data about themselves, including such measurements as height, arm span, and left or right eye dominance. Next,
they used the raw data to make a line plot and find the mode and median. They determined a “Typical Room 17” benchmark, and then actually
measured the students who were absent during the initial investigation, comparing them to the “typical”. The work is challenging and will
continue this week, as the concept of arithmetic mean or “average” is introduced.

Additionally, students were assessed on their basic fact fluency. Students are expected to enter fourth grade able to add, subtract, and multiply
50 basic fact equations in three minutes or less. They are given an additional minute to solve 50 division facts. Mastery of these basic facts is
essential for success in the fourth grade math program. The timed fact tests are administered as a means for us to be sure that students have
their “facts at their fingertips”. That is to say, that they can access the answers by rote. This is different from being able to “figure out” the
answer, an important strategy, but not appropriate for this context. All our students can immediately give the answer to 1 + 1, and should be
able to do the same for 6 x 8. As the majority of our class this year needs work on basic fact mastery, we will devote some class time to this
endeavor. To have success, students MUST practice at home as well. If your child is not a member of “The Multiplier and Divider’s Club” (just
ask), he or she should be practicing between 5 and 10 minutes EVERY DAY with flash cards, using the “See it, say it, write it” method introduced
in class. If you do not already have flash cards at home, they can be purchased from local stores such as Walgreens, Longs, bookstores, and
superstores for about $3.00. Teacher supply stores also carry the cards at a higher cost.
Mrs. Watson has some sets available for purchase at $3.00. We will not spend any class time reviewing subtraction facts in class. Members of
the Multiplier and Divider’s Club will be involved with challenge work while the rest of the class works toward fact mastery. Our goal is 100%
membership ASAP! Please contact Paula with any questions regarding basic fact mastery.

CA NATIVE AMERICANS
Our Social Studies program has begun with a look at California’s first inhabitants, the Indians. Last week we reviewed the Ohlone Indians, the
local tribe studied in 3rd grade, and learned about the arrival of the very first peoples in California. This week we will break into groups, and
using our textbooks, will gather information about several other tribes from various parts of the state. We will also listen to Native California
tales read from a book called Back in the Before Time. Eventually, students will realize that while these natives may have had different
dwellings, diets, and languages, they all respected the land, used the natural resources at their disposal, and believed in animal spirits.
Eventually, groups of students will record their findings on a chart and present their findings to the class.

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