Jesus Sosa, Oaxacan woodcarver, joined us in the art studio today to share his craft.

We joined forces with our Blackberry buddies to clean storm drains this afternoon that feed Strawberry Creek and are responsible for a lot of the trash we end up cleaning up down at the marina.

Monday

Our second rainy arrival of the year, 5th grade step-up day, the final Island of the Blue Dolphins reading group discussion, Oaxacan woodcarver Jesús Sosa–it was a full day indeed. Here’s the homework:

Math:

• 4th grade factor packet, pages 1 and 2
• 5th graders are to build multiple towers on the sheet provided for you for 10, 11, 13, 15, 18, and 21. If you were not here, that’s confusing, I admit. What it means is to write the first twenty multiples of each of those numbers as a vertical tower. The one for ten would have a ten at the bottom and go all the way to 200. I’ll post the rest of the packet tomorrow after we have our first math class of the week.

Spelling: work in your packet

Read/Write: Do the Google Classroom assignment on Island of the Blue Dolphins. You are to find a passage in the book that shows how Karana was feeling and explain how O’Dell conveyed her emotion without telling the reader exactly what it was.

 Tuesday

A student presented this afternoon on her shoreline cleanup in Sweden. She shared slides of an art project she completed with the trash. We will pick up more trash on Thursday and start brainstorming how we could use it for an art project of our own.

Math

• 4th graders have a factor packet they should continue to work on
• 5th graders have a packet and a specific page or pages to do circled in green pen by the teachers. Here’s a download of the whole packet. Long division later this week!

Science: We dropped an ice cube in rubbing alcohol this afternoon to model how denser substances sink beneath less dense substances. Students will draw and write tonight on their observations (condensation, the cup felt colder at the bottom, etc.), 1/2 to 1 page, single-spaced.

Reading: 20+ minutes

Wednesday

Math

• 4th graders are finishing up their factor packet or working on Khan Academy
• 5th graders are working on the two division cluster problem pages or Khan Academy as well (I’ve assigned division-related exercises)

Reading: 20 minutes

Wordly Wise: 2-3 pages

Practice typing, 20 minutes max

Thursday

Trash cleanup today! We cleaned up all the way down to the Shoreline, picked up a huge trashbag full of detritis on the shoreline, then hiked back to school. Sometimes, when you do good, you are rewarded by the gods: this student scored a million-dollar bill! Never mind the religious dogma on the back.

Beautifying a scenic place

A big science experiment this afternoon on the how temperature and salinity create currents in the ocean.

This experiment demonstrates polar and tropical currents. Vivid!

Our trash data thus far. This data helps the Shorebird Nature Center get funding to continue this education and service.

Salinity currents.

Temperature currents.

Math: 4th and 5th graders are working on Khan tonight

Science: What causes currents in the ocean? Write about our experiments today and what you learned about ocean currents! It should be 1-2 pages in your science notebook, all said and done.

Read 20+ minutes and record how many pages you read this week on your planner. Read like crazy! You can do it!