4th Grade Class Picnic Reminder

This is basically a repeat of the letter from the back of your Class Picnic permission slip, and just serves as a reminder of the date, time, and potluck plans.

Please make note of the details. If you, yourself, are not planning to attend, but your child is, please send in your potluck item with your child.

Date: Tuesday, June 16th

Time/Place: We'll leave campus right after recess, around 10:10, arriving at Lover's Point about 10:30.

What to bring / send along with your child:

If your child's number is:
1-5: Fruit for 12
5-9: Side Dish (salad, vegetable dish, pasta, sushi, etc.) for 12
10-16: Main Dish for 8
17-20: Drinks for 15
22-25: Snack Item for 15

Please ask your kids to bring balls, flying toys, etc. WE PLAN TO NOT GET WET.

Hope this makes sense. Please email me with any questions or suggestions.

Thanks and hope to see you there,

Karen Monahan

MBARI Field Trip Reminder (5/22/2009)

Dear Parents,

Just a reminder of our field trip tomorrow to MBARI in Moss Landing.
Students may wear free dress. They need to wear layers as it is often cold there.
Everyone needs to bring a lunch and drink. We will be eating on the beach so the less waste in the lunches, the better.

Thank you,

Mary

Monterey Bay Aquarium Free today (5/20)

I've been meaning to make sure you all know that the aquarium is free today to Monterey County residents. It might be a nice way to spend some of the afternoon if you have the time on this early release day.

On each 20th of the month until October 20th, the aquarium is free to Monterey County residents as a gift to the community to celebrate their 20th anniversary.

Note: I still need field trip forms from Kareem, Cy, Ariana and Tanner for Friday's trip to MBARI.

Lastly, thanks to those watchful parents who have caught my typo on group C's spelling words. "neckace" should be "necklace". Sorry about the mistake.

All the best,
Mary Welsh

USGS Field trip tomorrow is on

Hello everyone,

The field trip tomorrow to the USGS Open House will take place. Thank you to drivers Glenn Harrell, Claudia Paul, Leann Ruffin, Theresa Curatalo, Barbara Okamura and Debra Istenes for making it happen.

We will leave school as soon as possible in the morning. Please try to get your child to school on time so we don't leave anyone behind. Drivers, please meet at the classroom to pick up the students in your car. It is approximately a 1.5 hour drive each way. Students are not allowed to have electronics of any kind.

Students will need to wear their uniforms, bring a lunch and water/drink (zero waste is best), a hat to wear is o.k. I am not sure of the weather in Menlo Park tomorrow but I expect it to be warmer than Seaside.

There will be many learning activities the students will do. Among them are: Gold panning, Make your own earthquake, Microfossils, Sea Otter Research, Plate Tectonics Puzzle, Dress like a Marine Geologist and many more. I think it will be a fun, exploratory day.

Best wishes and thanks again to the drivers,

Mary Welsh

Friday's Field Trip (5/15/2009)

Dear Parents,

We just had a cancellation from a driver for the trip on Friday and we do not have enough seats to transport everyone to USGS in Menlo Park. We are 3 seats short. It would be tough for me to drive for this one as we need to drop the students off in one location and move the cars to park in the parking areas. If you can help, please let me know asap.

Thank you,
Mary

Exciting Addition to our Apple Store Trip... Earth

We have a great opportunity to use our pizza money on Wednesday to see the film "Earth" at the Del Monte Center. Attached and headed your way by kid mail is a notice of this change - no need to return it, as we already have your permission slips.



PLEASE be sure to pack a sack lunch for your child on Wednesday, as we will not be at school for school lunch.

We will return to school at 2:30, not 12:30 as originally planned.

SPECIAL NOTE: Parents who are planning to drive for the field trip: Does this timing work for you? Is there anyone who will not be able to drive? I don't have my list with me at this time. Please let me know.

You can also drop the kids off and come back at the end of the movie if that works better.

Thanks!
Mary

Parent Update - 4/25/2009 (Migration Video)♦

Hi, families,

I will not be at school on Monday, April 27th. The students will have a substitute, Mr. Josh Statton. I will be back on Tuesday.

Ms. Arnow and I have been trying to work out some of the kinks with loading the migration videos onto imovie to edit. We have run into a technical wrinkle we didn't anticipate from both of our first conversations with Laurel, our contact at the Apple store. The DVD files are not importable into iMovie, though she had thought they might be. As it turns out, iMovie only supports MPEG-4, DV, and .mov file formats. Anyway, there are a few options here.

[DEVELOPER'S NOTE: If you own a PC, you can easily convert DVD videos to MP4 using the following open source software http://www.planetdvb.net/staxrip/ ]

One, if you have the interview still stored on a cassette, please send in the cassette on Monday. I can download it using the school camera at home on Tuesday night. That is our best option of all. Please mark the cassette clearly with your name/child's name so I can keep them straight and get them back to you.

Two, if not, and if you can send in the camera itself, I can still download it at home. If the camera is a flipster, and if it is okay to send it to school and to the Apple store (on Wednesday), we can download it directly there.

Three, if all else fails, the kids will still have a great experience learning to use the movie editing tools at the Apple store. We may not be able to edit our interviews at school, since we've had a lot of technical difficulties in the tech lab recently, but the kids will understand better what they can do with movie images on a computer.

The interview component of the project will be graded based on the raw video if we are unable to do the editing. The basis of their grade is the quality of the questions and the way they are able to shape the story from the interview.

Hope this makes sense; contact me if not.

The Apple Store trip will be on Wednesday. We have plenty of drivers, actually more than are needed. You all are so awesome! If any of the drivers need to do something else on Wednesday, please let me know (not everyone, please!).

Homework will be the usual for reading and spelling this week.
Math will be Study Links 9.5 (Monday), 9.6 (Tuesday), ? Wednesday depending on our field trip timing. Thursday will be 9.7 if we don't get to it on Wed.

Handwriting will be pages 69 Monday, 72 Tuesday, 73 Wednesday and 74 Thursday.

Many thanks,

Mary

Parent Update - 4/20/2009

I hope everyone had a great weekend and were able to enjoy some of this beautiful and very warm weather. It's supposed to stay hot for the next couple of days so please make sure your child has a water bottle at school this week.

We attended a great Math Festival on Friday in the Multiuse room put on by the Lawrence Hall of Science with the help of teacher, Nikki Madden. We all enjoyed doing math in many different forms and explorations. Thanks to the parents in many grades that volunteered and to Nikki Madden for making it happen.

We have several things going on this week. Wed., Earth Day, we will have an early dismissal day. Students get out of school at 11:30am. Please make sure you pick them up on time or make arrangements for after school care. There will be an Earth Day assembly at 9:00 am in the Multiuse room.

On Thursday, we will be heading to the Monterey Symphony performance in Salinas in the morning with the other 4th grade and the fifth grade classes. Thank you to all of you who have volunteered to drive. We are in good shape with the amount of seats for students. We will be leaving school promptly at 8:30 so please make sure your child is on time. Uniforms are required.

For those of you that have begun your filming for the migration project, I hope it has gone well. The filming will need to be completed by next Monday, April 27th. If you have the filming already completed, your child can bring it to school early.

Next week, on Wed., April 29th, we will be going to the Apple Store at the Del Monte Center to work on learning how to edit our films. I will have field trip forms for this tomorrow. We will just be there for 1 hour (11:00 - 12:00) and will need drivers. We have one more field trip in the works. It is on Friday, May 15th to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) in Menlo Park.
They will be holding an open house for schools on that day.

There will be free dress this Friday.

On Saturday, April 25th, the Just Run 3K race for kids (and adults) will be held beginning at 8:00 am. It starts on Wave Street in Cannery Row between Irving and Prescott Streets. I will be at the starting line and hope we can get as many 4th graders as possible there. Unfortunately, I will have to leave just after the start because I have a class to attend at the Monterey Bay Aquarium beginning around 8. Mr. Robby the P.E. teacher will be there and will run with our group. Here is a link to the website.

http://www.justrun.org/Just_Kids_Races_Series.htm

You can sign-up ahead of time. Students are only $5. and adults $20. All runners receive a t-shirt, a medallion and snacks. There is also a prize drawing at the end of the race. It's a ton of fun and a great way to exercise together.

Homework this week:

Monday
Math: Study Links 9.2
Spelling: Sort and write words
Reading: 20 minutes and record in planner
Handwriting: pg. 65

Tuesday
Math: Study Links 9.3
Spelling: Sort and write words
Reading: 20 minutes and record in planner
Handwriting: pg. 66

Wednesday
Do something positive for the Earth!
Math: 9.4
Spelling: Sort and write words
Handwriting: pg. 67

Thursday
Math: To be announced (field trip in morning) Spelling; Study for test
Reading: 20 minutes and record in planner
Handwriting: pg. 68

Enjoy your week,
Mary Welsh

Parent Update - 4/12/2009

Dear Parents and families,

Spring seems to be upon us now with these wonderful green hills and the lupine and poppies making themselves known. I trust you all had a nice weekend and for those who celebrate Passover or Easter, a special weekend of gatherings, good food, egg hunts and such. For those who attended or helped at the ISM Gala, thank you for your support. I hope you had a wonderful time. A previous commitment I had did not allow me to attend this year but I've enjoyed attending in years past. I'm sure it was a big success and I hope our class art project brought in some needed funds.

We had fun doing some Gold Rush activities on Friday afternoon. Hopefully, everyone learned who were the ones that made money during the gold rush and know who Levi Strauss and Mr. Ghiradelli are and how they were able to get some of the gold.

This week should be a "regular" week.

The migration interview questions are due Monday. The students did most of the work in class but were to check with their parents to see how their questions looked. They need to be written neatly or typed to turn in. I do not have much of a count of video cameras yet. Please let me know( if you haven't already) if you have a camera you know will work for the project.

We will have the math assessment for unit 8 on Wednesday as we have one more lesson in Unit 8 for Monday and a day to review beforehand. I will be sending the hard copy of the review home tomorrow and am including it at the end of this note as some folks were not able to open it.

The students will get new spelling words on Monday. The test will be Friday as usual.

Everyone chose new books for the book clubs on Friday and so we are off on a new round of book club activities and seminars. Check with your child to make sure they are keeping up on their reading, roles and word studies for book club. They can certainly read their book club book for their nightly reading time.

On Friday, I sent home the permission slip for the Monterey Symphony trip for next Thursday, April 23rd. Please fill it out and return the form this week. We will need drivers for the 1/2 day trip. We will leave school around 8:30 and I assume we will return by lunch time. The field trip is a no cost trip (except for the drivers).

Homework this week:

Monday
Math; Study Links 8.8
Spelling: Sort and write words
Reading: 20 minutes and record in planner
Handwriting: pg. 60

Tuesday
Math; Study for test
Spelling: Sort and write words
Reading: 20 minutes and record in planner
Handwriting: pg. 62

Wednesday
Math; Parents read parent letter for unit 9.
Spelling: Sort and write words
Reading: 20 minutes and record in planner
Handwriting: pg. 63

Thursday
Math; Study Links 9.1
Spelling: Study for test
Reading: 20 minutes and record in planner
Handwriting: pg. 64

-------------------------------

Math Study Guide - Unit 8


1. Find the perimeter of a polygon.
2. Find the area of a polygon drawn on a grid.
3. Draw a rectangle with a given area and perimeter.
4. Solve number stories involving area.
5. Add and subtract fractions.
6. Predict the outcomes of a spinner experiment.
7. Express the probability of a block-drawing event as a fraction.
8. Use formulas to find the area of a rectangle, parallelogram, and triangle.
9. Use a scale to draw rectangles with given dimensions.


Have a great week,

Mary

Math Study Guide Plus

Thank you to our wonderful parents who chaperoned our field trip to Colton Hall and the Monterey Library. We were very lucky with the weather and had some new experiences for some like riding the city bus and getting one's first library card. The docent at Colton Hall was great and very informative, we also learned a lot about the resources at the Monterey Public Library. Those of you with Monterey Library cards can use them to tap into their numerous online resources such as World Book online, the library catalog, and even have some books read to you called "Tumblebooks". We also visited the "California Room" at the library which might be a good resource for the migration project or next year when the 5th graders work on History Day projects.

I would like to get a count of how many families have video cameras that can be used for the migration interview project. We will need to get the films on a DVD or "thumbdrive" to bring to the Apple Store - April 29th. Some digital still cameras have video capability. You might want to check that out if you have one. You can just email me your response on the cameras. I know there are several people that do not have a video camera so maybe we can work on a way to do this together.

I am attaching the study guide for the math unit we are studying now. One family suggested I get it to you all at the beginning of the unit which is a great idea so you can know what to focus on. I apologize for forgetting to do that until now. It looks like our test for Unit 8 will be on Monday. I hope this gives you a little time to look things over with your child.

Thanks all,
Mary Welsh

Report cards, field trip

Dear Parents,

Report cards were sent home today with your student. They are in an ISM envelope and should arrive to you sealed.

The students were also given the migration project information today. I am attaching another copy here for you just in case. Please let me know if you have any questions. This is the first time the 4th grade has tried a project like this so there are bound to be some ups and downs with figuring it out. Your feedback is helpful.

Our field trip to Colton Hall and the library via the MST bus is tomorrow. Please send your child to school with a lunch and drink, a backpack and a book to read on the bus. They will need to wear their regular uniform. Thank you to the parents who will be joining us as chaperones. I think we will all be learning a lot.

Our class art project is on display in the office along with some of the other class works of art. Stop by and check them out. They are all quite fun to see.

All the best,
Mary Welsh

Parent Letter - 2/26/2009

Dear Parents,

We will be going on our field trip to the Seaside Dunes on Friday morning. It is a free dress day and students will need to dress appropriately for working on the beach. I am not sure of the weather, today's trip for Ms. Arnow's class had perfect weather. Maybe we can get lucky too. Rain will cancel the trip.

I do need to make a correction. I had thought we would be eating our lunches on the beach but we will actually be back at school by lunch time. If your child will be getting the hot pizza lunch that day, there is no need to send them with a sack lunch. I apologize for any confusion.

On Monday, March 2nd, we will be celebrated Dr. Suess' birthday along with the rest of the school. If your child tells you they aren't going to get dressed and go to school that day, you can tell them that's just fine. Everyone is coming to school in their pajamas! Shoes will be needed outside. Slippers are o.k. in the classroom. Robes are a good thing to wear too. If your child chooses not to wear pajamas on Monday, they will need to come to school in the full uniform. We'll be reading some of Dr. Suess' books and enjoying his accomplishments.

Thank you to those who have sent money in for the gala basket. Every little bit helps. If you write a check, it's easiest if you write them to "Christine Colon" who is organizing the basket.

Thank you,
Mary Welsh

Parent Letter - 2/23/2009

I hope the weekend was a relaxing one for all of you. They sure go fast, don’t they?
I had the opportunity to see and hear some of our ISM students play in the orchestra at the Sunset Center on Sunday. I have to admit, I was there for personal reasons as I have two sons and my husband playing with the Youth Music Orchestra and the Orchestra in the Schools groups. But, even so, it was a wonderful experience to see all these fine young players coming together and making a wonderful sound. Our own Alexander Myers was easily visible in the horn section on his trumpet and fifth grader, Jonathan Vu was the concert master for the youth orchestra. It was a great performance.

This week, we have our field trip to the Seaside Dunes for planting our little seedlings to help restore some of the dune areas. It looks like we do have enough drivers now. Thank you to all who have stepped up to volunteer. Let’s hope the rain stays in the clouds while we are out there. As far as I know, we will go rain or shine but I will let you all know if something changes.
There are a few students who do not have their permission slip in yet. Please send those in tomorrow.

We are still collecting money for the class gala basket. We actually have only received two donations so far. Camille’s mom, Christine, will be putting together the basket for us with the theme of “Spa Relaxation”. If you can contribute to the basket with actual items or if you can donate $10 toward the basket contents, I have an envelope in the classroom for the collection.

Next week, on March 3rd, fourth graders will be taking the writing portion of the Star Test.
Please make sure your child arrives to school on time and, as always, eats a good breakfast. I believe the test lasts about one hour.

This week is fairly straightforward. We will continue with our fraction work in math. All of the spelling groups have homophones this week. The students will need to focus on the meanings of the words as well as the spelling. Please check with your child to make sure they are staying on course with their book club roles and word studies. Everyone is doing much better with the book clubs this time around and I assume will keep getting better with practice.

Project Alert! We are starting a group project on ocean food webs. Much of the work will be done in class though you will need to support your child at home to find a picture of their animal and help find some information about them. The description of the project will go home today. The project due date is Friday, March 6th. I am looking for frozen juice can lids for the project if you can save them and send them in. (If you have a can opener that opens cans without the sharp edge, those lids would work too.) We will also need one trifold board or other large cardboard (5 total) for the groups.

Save the Date:
Ms. Arnow and I are putting together a family discovery evening for the 4th grade. There is a small gift for each family that attends. Please join us if you are able.
When: Tuesday, March 10th – Coast Discovery Night
Where: ISM Multiuse Room
Time: 6:30pm – 8:00 pm
What: 4th grade families learning about our coast and students showing their projects to their families

Homework this week:

Monday:
Math: Study Links 7.7
Spelling: Sort and write words
Reading: 20 minutes
Handwriting: Page 34

Tuesday
Math: Study Links 7.8
Spelling: Sort and write words
Reading: 20 minutes
Handwriting: Page 35

Wednesday:
Math: Study Links 7.9
Spelling: Sort and write words
Reading: 20 minutes
Handwriting: Page 36

Thursday
Math: Study Links 7.10
Spelling: Sort and write words
Reading: 20 minutes
Handwriting: Page 37

Best wishes,

Ms. Mary Welsh

Parent Letter - 2/13/2009

Dear Parents,

This is just a reminder that Box Tops are due tomorrow. If you have some collected, please send them in if you can. I know we already won the prize once but, we are hoping for a double header!

I sent home yet another field trip form with your child today. This is for our last trip to the Seaside dunes for our restoration work. The trip is on Friday, Feb. 27th. It will be from 8:30 until about noon. There is no cost for the trip. We will need (I know I'm always asking) driver/chaperones for the trip. It's a great excuse to go to the beach and you will know you are doing your part for education and the environment. You'll just have a lot of company!

Thanks everyone. Have a very happy Valentine's Day and 3-day weekend. Don't forget to say happy 200th birthday to Abraham Lincoln!
I'll see your child on Tuesday, the 17th.

Sincerely,
Mary Cunningham-Welsh

Parent Letter - 1/28/2009

Dear Parents.

There are a few things I wanted you to know about that I didn't mention in the last update.

Yesterday, I sent home "Red and Green Hands" certificates with all of the students. We have really been trying to work on decreasing interruptions in class. When a student interrupts or blurts out when either I or another person is talking, they get a red hand and put their name and date on it. If they are attentive listeners and raise their hand to speak, they get a green hand at the end of the week. Some of the students may have brought home several red hands attached to the notice. What we are hoping for, is for the students to decrease these interruptions as a whole and as individuals. I am keeping track of their improvements here at school. We hope to have all green hands going home eventually. I am also hoping to only have
to do this for a few weeks until everyone gets the idea. It helps that they know you will be seeing these and signing the note. So, if your child didn't show you their red/green hand slip, please ask them for it, sign it and return it to school tomorrow. Thanks!

The students brought home two things in their homework folders today. One is the study list of 100 words for the County Spelling Bee. The written test for this will be next Tuesday, Feb. 3rd. I will not send home a regular spelling list next week so everyone can concentrate on the one list. The top 10 students from each of the 4th and 5th grade classes in the written test will compete in the ISM spelling bee in the morning of Feb. 18th. The top two or three students from that competition will be invited to the county spelling bee.

The other note brought home today is for an Coastal Art and Poetry contest our class would like to make entries to. The students have been working on their poems in class and we are planning to have them ready by the due date - January 31 st - this Saturday. Some are also trying to create an art piece for this contest. Some students may not want to send their pieces in and that is o.k. They will still be graded on the poem for writing class.

Thanks to all that have sent in their permission slips for the Feb. 4th field trip to the beach and tidepools. If you haven't sent it in yet, please do so as soon as possible. Thank you to those of you who have volunteered to drive and chaperone. I will be in touch with all of you on the details of our plan as we get a little closer to the date.

Thank you all,
Mary Welsh

Successful Monterey Bay Aquarium Field Trip

Dear Grade 4 Families,

We had a very nice day today at the Monterey Bay Aquarium and I am happy to report that all of the students did very well. Our Discovery Lab lesson was very informative and engaging. All of the students were able to observe and feed some of the animals and we were able to look first hand at some of the adaptations for these animals in their habitats.

We spent the rest of the time in the aquarium as scientists looking closely at some of the habitats to better understand the living and non-living parts of a habitat and their interactions.

The students also were able to meet an aquarium staff member to find out more about their job and what they do there. I can't wait to hear who everyone met and what they learned. I think all of our groups also got a chance to go "behind the scenes" at the aquarium to see some part that the public usually doesn't get to. I hope all in all it was a valuable learning experience for all.

This trip could not have taken place at all without the help of our wonderful parents who drove the children safely to and from the aquarium and guided and helped the students along all day.

So please, when you see Debra Istenes, Merilee Kolpacsyk, Barbara Okamura, Ming Chiann Chou, Sonia Perez, and Corynne Brown, thank them for their wonderful and kind help today.

Thank you all from the whole class!

Book Orders: I didn't submit the book order on Tuesday and had a couple more orders come in.
If you would still like to order a book from the last book club order, I have extended the order to next Monday, January 26th. You can send in your order with your child or order online.

Best wishes to you all,
Mary Welsh

Parent Update - 1/4/2009

Dear Parents,

Happy New Year to all of you! I hope you all had a wonderful break and were able to enjoy the holidays with family and friends.

This week, we will start right where we left off. Students who have not yet presented their Earth and People project/report will be present them starting Monday. I hope to get through all of them by Tuesday so we can move on to our new unit on Coastal Ecosystems.

Book Clubs will continue with the same books the students have been working on. Math will continue in Unit 5. We will have an assessment for Unit 5 on Tuesday (1/13) of next week. Spelling will pick up again this week. Some students have changed spelling groups after our assessment before we left for winter break. Most everyone is improving in their spelling quite well.

I may have to be out for Jury Duty this Wednesday. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I will be canceled.

We are planning a field trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium on Thursday, January 22nd. There is "no cost" for the aquarium but I am asking for $2.00 to pay for parking to help the chaperones with the parking fees. I will have the permission slips out to you before the end of the week. I am also hoping to arrange a tidepooling and beach study day on Wed. February 4th. This will also be a "no cost" field trip.

Due to the financial situation at ISM, we have been asked not to have overnight field trips at this time. We had been trying to arrange a Gold Rush study field trip and had also looked into a overnight possibility for studying the ocean and ecosystems but, have had to reverse those efforts. So, at this point and most likely for the rest of the year, there will not be overnight field trips or ones that cost much money.

Homework will be:
Math - Monday Study Links 5.8, Tuesday 5.9, Wed. 5.10, Thursday 5.11
Spelling - sort and work with words (I may add something to this during the week)
Reading - Read 20 minutes (make sure you are keeping up with your book club reading)


Best wishes to all of you,
Mary Welsh

Reminders

Dear Parents,

I want to thank all of the parents who helped transport and support our class today with our trip to the Gateway Center in Pacific Grove. Thank you to Barbara Okamura who set up the visit for us and helped with every aspect of the trip. Thanks to Ming-Chainn Chou, Kathleen Hill, Liza Linsao, Theresa Curatalo, Claudia Paul, Barbara Okamura and Anna Johnson for driving and helping out.
Though it was a short visit, it was very good for everyone, I believe. I am so proud of all of the students for their good behavior, great singing and reading. They were also so kind to the clients of the center. The homemade cards and ornaments were well-received and everyone loved the treats you all provided and the students passed out. All in all, it was a very heart warming experience.

Two other notes:
Tomorrow is the Winter performance. You've already been sent a note from the ISM office. Our 4th grade classes are trying to dress in white tops and dark bottoms. Do what you can with that. I'm not so picky but, clean and no holes in the clothes are a good start. Some of the students said they didn't have white tops and dark pants/skirt. The school uniform could also suffice. I should be in the classroom by 6:00. You can drop your child off anytime after 6. Pick up at the end of the program.

On Thursday (it's a huge performance week for us), our class is hosting the 4th and 5th grade assembly. If you have time to stop by at about 2:40ish, you might catch our skit called "The Baker's Dozen" or singing the Winter Solstice song. The students have been working hard on preparing the skit and song. Please join us if you can.

After that, I will leave you all alone for a while!!! Whew!! Enjoy the break and have a festive and
relaxing holiday.

Best wishes,

Mary Welsh

Parent Letter - 12/11/2008

Dear Parents,

I have not received any negative responses to the Secret Santa idea so, we will go ahead with it and choose names tomorrow. A possible place to buy a small gift for the last day is at the Book Fair.

The Earth's surface and People project description is available for download (pdf). Some of the sheets might not have made it home because we are doing most of the work in class. Your child will need support at home to finish the paragraphs. I am asking for five paragraphs. There can more, of course. I have pulled together some resources for the students to use but most of them will also need a trip to the library for another reference. I realize the students are also working on a Spanish project. I don't intend for this one to be daunting. Just a way to wrap up the unit and show understanding. Let me know if you have any questions.

The field trip forms for the Gateway Center visit next Tuesday went home today. Please return them as soon as possible to help me organize the trip. Thanks for your support with this.

The Lost and Found baskets in the library are overflowing. Check for the missing items before they head to Goodwill.

Lastly, thank you to all who have been able to contribute to the ISM Foundation fund drive. Every bit helps keep the programing we have worked so hard to build. The response has been great though we still have more to go. There will be donuts and people to collect your money Thursday and Friday in front of the school.

I promise no more updates at least for another day or so!!

With appreciation,
Mary Welsh

Parent Letter - 12/9/2008

Dear Parents,

Here is an update to the weekly update:

We are planning to visit the Gateway Center for developmentally disabled adults next Tuesday morning. Our plan is to leave school right after recess at 10:10 am. We would arrive at the Gateway Center in Pacific Grove at approximately 10:30 am. We will to sing one or two songs, present the residents with homemade ornaments and holiday cards the students make. We will also bring a few food items to either share or leave for them. We will load the cars to come back to school at 11:15 and should arrive back by 11:30 or so. I will send permission slips home tomorrow.

If anyone can spare a couple hours out of their Tuesday morning to drive, it would be most appreciated. We will need 24 seat belted seats and you need to have been finger printed and a copy of your car insurance left at the ISM office. Please let me know if you can help.

The students have one more writing project to complete by next Wednesday. It is on how a geologic event on Earth affects or has affected people. We are working on them in class as much as we can. You can support your child on this by helping them find information on their topic. They can use one internet site. They can use the online encyclopedia from the Monterey Library as another reference. They need to have 3 references in all. The result should be a 5 paragraph essay due December 17th. They will present their topic and paper in class.

I am thinking of having a "Secret Santa" sort of gift giving for the class. Though we have not talked about it as a class, Ms. Bene gave me an idea for making it fairly simple. The students would all choose a secret gift recipient from the class. Next week on Wed., Thursday and Friday we would give the gifts.

• Wednesday's gift would be a small treat.
• Thursday's gift would be something homemade.
• Friday's gift would be something under $5.

If this seems o.k. with everyone, we'll go ahead and choose names. I will try to have a couple of extra things in the class if anyone forgets their gift.

Best wishes,
Mary Welsh

Conference List and Field Trip Reminder

I have sent the latest conference times Master List via email. Please check your time and let me know if just if it is a problem for you. I look forward to meeting with all of you.

Tomorrow (Thursday, Nov 6) is our field trip to the Monterey State Parks. Students need to wear their uniforms, bring a lunch, (low-zero waste please), water and a hat. We will return to school sometime between 2:15-2:30pm. Please be on time to pick your student up as conferences will be starting soon after our arrival. Lisa Wichel-Loomis has set up after-school care if you need it. Please contact her.

The Big Sur "Just Run" event for kids is this Saturday (Nov 8) starting near the Monterey Custom House Plaza. Please see the flyer sent home with your child. It's a fun event and kids can participate for $5. (Adults $10.) Mr. Robby will be there to run with as many students as possible. I will be there to either run or cheer you on.

Thanks everyone!
Mary Welsh

Permission Slips, Money and Drivers Needed

Dear Parents,

Our upcoming field trips are in jeopardy of being canceled. We do not have all of the permission slips, money or drivers to make the trips happen. Please send in your child's forms and money by Tuesday, Oct. 28th.

If you can drive on either trip, please let me know asap. We need 12 more spaces for the Wednesday trip this week and 15 spaces are needed for next Thursday's trip. I know it is a lot to ask of you but, I hope you will be able to join us and learn about the history of California on the trip too.

Does it sound like I'm begging yet?

[Names of students and the forms and funds needed was sent via email.]

Thank you for all of your support!

Mary Welsh

Thursday's Field Trip Information

Just a quick note to update you all on Thursday's field trip to Seaside Beach to explore and restore the sand dunes.

First, thank you for being so prompt at returning the permission slips. We've had a great response and just have a few more to collect. Go team!

We had a nice presentation today by the woman who will be leading the trip. We learned about the fragile habitat of the dunes and what we will be doing to help restore some of the areas which have been damaged.

For the field trip students may wear "free dress". (This is different from what I mentioned in the letter sent home.) This is an outdoor field experience so all students should wear long pants and comfortable closed-toe shoes. We will be getting sandy and dirty so, fashion is not to be a concern with dress. Definitely no high heels or skirts!

Students should also wear:

• a short-sleeve shirt and a sweatshirt over it
• a hat
• sunscreen applied at home in the morning

Bring a backpack with:

• a water bottle
• a snack (we were asked to be careful about wrappers that might blow away) - fruit is a great choice.

We will load the cars to depart at 9:00 am and return around noon or a little before. Pick-up time will be the usual 3:20.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you,
Mary Welsh

Dates of Upcoming Field Trips

Hi, all,

Apologies for all the confusion.

Our upcoming field trips are:

Thursday, October 23 (Welsh) and Tues. 28 (Arnow) to Seaside Dunes (Dune geology and ecology)

Wednesday, October 29 to San Juan Bautista State Historic Park (Mission history and hands-on program)

Thursday, November 6 to Monterey State Historic Park (Rancho history hands-on program) (This is a conference day and an early dismissal day -- we will return about 2:30 p.m. but school lets out at 11:30)

Best,

Laura

Another Change of Plans

Dear families,

After much thought and discussion, we've come up with a plan that may help us salvage our trip to the Rancho program at the Monterey Historic State Park. It involves some stretching by us as teachers and also by you as families. Here is our proposal -- please let us know no later than noon tomorrow if this poses a problem for you or your family.

We will attend the field trip as originally scheduled, returning to school around 2:30. This means that you will need to pick the kids up at that time, even if you've had to pick up their siblings at 11:30 dismissal. For our part, it means we will have to make up the missing conference time by scheduling conferences after school and/or during our planning periods over a longer period of time instead of only the two scheduled conference days.

Please help us make this opportunity work for your kids! Reply by email or leave a phone message at school if this plan won't be possible for you and your child.

Best wishes,

Laura and Mary

Change to Nov 6th Field Trip to Cooper Molera

Dear 4th Grade Parents,

We have one change to our upcoming field trip schedule. Sadly, the November 6th trip to Cooper Molera adobe conflicts with our student-led conferences. On Thursday, November 6th, there is an early dismissal which doesn't work for our planned day-long trip. Therefore, we had to cancel this trip. The other field trips are still on the calendar. The first of these will be next week for Ms. Welsh's class so, please look for the field trip form coming home on Monday and return it as soon as possible.
Thank you again for all of your support.

Sincerely,
Laura and Mary

Upcoming Field Trip Dates

Hi friends,

We've scheduled several field trips which are coming up very quickly after fall break, and wanted to give you a heads-up electronically so you can put the dates in your calendar. These trips became available only the day before the break. Apologies for the late notice.

For science, we will begin a year-long service learning project with a local dune restoration organization, the Beach Garden Project. Joey Dorrell-Canepa will visit both classrooms on Tuesday, October 21, for an orientation to the program. Ms. Welsh's class will make a morning trip to the dunes to explore and collect seeds on Thursday, October 23, and Ms. Arnow's class will make the same trip the morning of Tuesday, October 28. Joey will return to ISM on the 30th for a propagation workshop at our school site. We will continue to work at the Seaside Beach site throughout the year, and hope to continue this work at the Sand City dunes near our new school site in subsequent years. This field trip gives us a chance to observe dunes up close (wind erosion is one topic we are studying as part of Earth's Changing Surface) as well as to begin our study of coastal ecology and to contribute to environmental stewardship of the coast and ocean.

The site visits on the mornings of the 23rd and 28th are from 9:00 to noon, and for each day we will need about 6 drivers. This program is free of charge.

Meanwhile, we continue to study the human history of California. As part of our investigation of the process of colonization, we will be studying the arrival of the Spanish in California and the development of the mission system. On October 29, both classes will travel to San Juan Bautista to explore the last intact mission plaza in the state. Students will attend a ranger-led introduction to the site, participate in a Mission Game in which they design a mission layout, and visit the historic Mission (an active Catholic church). We will need 12-14 drivers for this all-day trip. Admission fees for the state parks program and the donation to the Mission cost $3.50 per student. (If you can round up to $4 it helps us provide funding for students who can't otherwise afford the field trip.)

Our next field trip is on Thursday, November 6th, all day, for both classes to return to the Monterey Historic State Park for an investigation of rancho period life in California at the Cooper-Molera House. This hands-on program, like the Rumsien program we visited a few weeks ago, helps students understand what it was like to live in Mexican California about 200 years ago. We will need drivers for this program, and the cost is $10 per student, to cover the program fees and downtown parking for our drivers.

Many thanks for all your support of our terrific fourth graders!

Laura and Mary

Fieldtrip and Math Homework

Dear Parents,

My apologies for this late note. The internet was down at school today and I was unable to get this out to all of you.

Just a couple of quick bits of information:

Tomorrow is our field trip to the Monterey State Parks in downtown Monterey for the Native American program. Student need to bring a lunch. They can pack it in a regular lunch box to reduce the amount of waste. There will be some "Native American" snacks provided: nuts, seeds, berries and beef jerky. I am aware there are several students who can not or do not eat these foods. Since we will not have another opportunity to have our own snacks before lunch at 1 pm, please make sure your child has a substantial breakfast.

Math homework: I made a mistake on the parent letter list for math homework tonight. So, if your child is saying they already did 2.8 and need to do 2.9, they are correct. You'll have to field any other excuses for not doing their homework. Sorry for any confusion.

Thanks for all of your support for the classroom in so many different ways!

Mary Welsh