Monday, October 26

Buddies counted seeds from the pumpkins they carved on Friday. They used 100s grids to organize themselves, and we’ll of course be making a batch of delicious snacks – one savory and one sweet.

We did our first of many shoreline cleanups this morning at the Berkeley Marina. The students were highly engaged and enthusiastic. What a beautiful place and how unfortunate to see so much trash.

Homework:

No math

Writing: Google Classroom –IOBD Perspective

Reading: Next Island of the Blue Dolphins assignment due Wednesday. If you are falling behind, consider the audiobook!

Field trip tomorrow to Mission Sonoma. Please pack a lunch and raincoat!

Tuesday

Math: nada

Cultural Studies: finish the reading and questions on the missions

Reading: Island of the Blue Dolphins, chapters 10 to 14 plus Active Reader job due tomorrow

Spelling: Tuesday classwork

Wednesday 

Math: 4th grade fraction packet; 5th grade first three pages of packet

Reading: next IOBD assignment due Monday – get started now!

Thursday

The students have been working extensively on developing perspective this week, especially related to Native Californians, explorers, fur traders, and missionaries. Students rewrote passages from Island of the Blue Dolphins from different perspectives. Here’s an impressive example from a fourth grader:

Russian perspective:

We had been sailing for days, in dreary weather, storms, and some of my men had gotten seasick. When I saw land, I felt like crying out, but I held my stance. (Well, I almost shouted with joy) With my long beard flying out in the wind, my fists on my hips, I hoped I looked strong. As we (my men and I) got closer to the island I saw men on the beach. Odd, they were. Different clothes, just… different.

“I am Captain Orlov,” I boom as we stare at the… indians? “We came for otter. And I was going to get it.” One indian man in particular walked to me.

“My name is Chief Chowig,” The man says. I smile. This man seemed harmless. I quickly explain why we’re here. He asks what we’ll give him in return. Weird, I think. This isn’t his island.

Math: 5th graders ought to finish their math packets to hand in tomorrow; 4th graders have no math

Reading: Next IOBD assignment due Monday

Spelling: Finish your packet for the week and practice on Quizlet