Dear SMASHing Families,
Thank you for the homemade cards, delicious treats, and holiday money. I continue to be in awe of the thoughtful,generous, warm ways our close community expresses itself.
Micah, Eli, Mitch and I spent the rainy days of Winter Break doing indoor art projects like drawing treasure maps, making curly paper crowns, and creating candy trains. Then we went to Pismo Beach to see the migrating monarch butterflies and the newly birthed elephant seals. I hope your families enjoyed special moments together as well.
There are two important evenings coming up that I hope you will attend.
1) Wednesday, January 19 is the Multicultural Potluck where we will visit with each other and enjoy eating each of our family specialty dishes in the Cafeteria. Be sure to read The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe (children’s picture book edition or full C.S. Lewis chapter book) so
that you can participate in the Student Council book discussion following the pot luck meal.
2) February 16th will be the SMASH screening of Race to Nowhere , a movie that calls for families, educators, and policy makers to challenge current assumptions on how to best prepare the youth of America to become healthy, bright, contributing and leading citizens. Be sure to register for your free ticket, first come first served up to 100 tickets. For all parents and Core 4
students, reserve Free Tickets at: http://rtnsmashschool.eventbrite.com.
As Marni Gittelman beautifully expressed, “Wishing you the tenacity, tools, and capacity to thrive in your own unique way.”
Happy New Year!
Jessica
SMASH PTSA Presents
Parent Ed Night Screening of the critically acclaimed
Race to Nowhere
By Director, Vicki Abeles
Wednesday February 16 at 7:00pm
SMASH/JOHN MUIR CAFETORIUM
Reserve Free Tickets at: http://rtnsmashschool.eventbrite.com
For all parents and Core 4 Students
Race To Nowhere Film Synopsis:
A concerned mother turned filmmaker aims her camera at the high-stakes, high-pressure culture that hasinvaded our schools and our children’s lives. Race to Nowhere points to the silent epidemic in our schools:cheating has become commonplace; students are disengaged; stress-related illness and depression arerampant; and many young people arrive at college and the workplace unprepared and uninspired. Race toNowhere is a call to action for families, educators, and policy makers to challenge current assumptions on how to best prepare the youth of America to become healthy, bright, contributing and leading citizens.
Many thanks to SMASH families who have donated books to our library.
As a result of budget cuts this year, no funds have been allocated to us for the purchase of new books. However, we welcome donations of new or gently used books that your children may have outgrown. Thank you for your continued support.
Claire & Suzanne, Muir/SMASH Library
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Run for your lives! The SMASH
Jog-a-thon is coming Friday, March 4!
Submit a t-shirt design by 1/21 Open to all students. Simply draw your design
(black/white or color) on an 8 ½ by 11 piece of white paper. Include your name on the
back and turn it into the office by January 21.
· Save the date The Jog-a-thon takes place Friday, March 4. Come run with your child
and/or cheer on the rest of the runners.
· Volunteer We need lots of volunteers to help with refreshments, donations, accounting, etc. both before and the day of the event.
· Become a t-shirt sponsor by 1/31. T-shirt sponsors defray the cost of the t-shirts
so that all students get a free Jog-a-thon shirt. Become a Corporate sponsor by donating
$150, $200 or $250 or a SMASHing sponsor by donating $25, $50 or $100. Donations
are tax deductible to the extent allowable by law. As a token of appreciation for your
generous support, your name will adorn the back of the shirt.*
Questions?
Contact Lillie Schlessinger – lillie.schlessinger@transamerica.com
or Darlene Flanders – dflanders@quixo.com
*Please use the form below for making t-shirt donations and return to the office with your cash or check made payable to SMASH PTSA by no later than January 31.
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Sponsorship: Corporate ___$250 ___$200 ___$150
SMASHing ___$100 ___$50 ___$25
Name (as you would like it to appear on the t-shirt):________________________
Child’s name (so we know who you are!):________________________________
Size preference for complimentary t-shirt: ___XXL ___XL ___L ___M ___S (All sizes are adultsizes since all students will already receive a complimentary t-shirt. If you specifically want your complimentary t-shirt to be a child’s size, please note this.)
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SMMUSD Extends Deadline for Financial Oversight Committee Applications
The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District has extended the due date for applications to its Financial Oversight Committee (FOC). All applications are now due by January 28, 2011.
There are currently four vacancies on the FOC. The district is seeking qualified candidates who will bring a depth of business and/or financial expertise to the committee.
The application form is attached is also available through the Superintendent’s Office or via the website: http:// www.smmusd.org/fiscal/financialDAC.html. They can be mailed to the district office (1651 16th Street, Santa Monica, CA 90404), faxed (310.581.1138), or scanned and emailed to swahrenbrock@smmusd.org.
FOC meetings are currently scheduled once a month at the District Office at 7:00 p.m. in the Testing Room. Following is the schedule of meetings (subject to change) remaining for the 2010-11 year:
Tuesdays: Jan 18, Feb 15, Mar 15, Apr 5, May 17, May 31, Jun 2
Please note: This is a Joint Meeting with the Board of Education during the regular Board Meeting - SMMUSD District Office Board Room, 1651 16th St., Santa Monica.
SMMUSD: 1651 16th St, Santa Monica, CA 90404; ph: 310.450.8338; fax: 310.581.1138; www.smmusd.org
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WEDNESDAY BAKE SALE DATES
CORE 1: Jan 12 CORE 2: Jan 26 CORE 3: Feb 2 CORE 4: Feb 9,
TEACHER APPRECIATION LUNCH (Set up at 1:30pm) CORE 1: Feb 4
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DATES TO REMEMBER
Mon-Fri, Jan 10-14 - 7th grade Yosemite Trip
Mon, Jan 10 - 9:00 am - SMASH school tour
Mon, Jan 10 - CREST Winter Enrichment Classes begin
Mon, Jan 17 - Martin Luther King, jr Day - SCHOOL CLOSED
Wed, Jan 19 - 8:30am - PTSA Mtg
Wed, Jan 19 - 6:00-7:30p - All School Family Book Club & Multicultural Potluck
Mon, Jan 24 - 9:00am - SMASH school tour
Wed, Jan 26 - 5:00-6:00pm - Site Council Mtg
FLYERS AVAILABLE IN MAIN OFFICE
· Santa Monica Pony Baseball 2011 Season
Santa Monica PONY Baseball is accepting registrations for the 2011 season now. Evaluations will be held on Saturday, January 15 and 22 at Los Amigos Park (on Hollister between 5th & 6th). Check the website www.santamonicaponybaseball.com to confirm times and dates. Questions? Leave message at 310-314-7578
· CREST Winter Enrichment Classes
Winter classes begin the week of January 10, 2011. CREST Enrichment offers high quality classes at affordable prices right at your child’s school! Professional companies and instructors are selected to provide your child with access to a wide range of interesting and fun classes not offered during the school day including drumming, art, theatre, foreign languages, martial arts, cooking, photography, dance and more! GENEROUS FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE AVAILABLE
for all CREST programs is available on a sliding scale to qualifying low- to moderate-income families. For info www.CREST.SMGOV.NET or call the City of Santa Monica Youth Office at (310) 458-8540.
· SMARTech Afterschool LEGO (CREST enrichment program) www.GoBabyLearn.org 8-Weeks: Jan 10-Mar 14 Discover & learn the basic principles, concepts & terminology of SMART: Science, Mathematics, Architecture and Robotics Technology using LEGO, fischertechnik & other construction kits. SMARTech I: Kindergarten; SMARTech II: grades 1-5 Register online:http://recenroll.smgov.net or on the CREST enrichment class application
· Santa Monica Little League, Boys & Girls ages 4-16. Registration deadline January 14. www.smll.com
· Yogi Beans - Children’s yoga. City of Santa Monica Community Classes. www.yogibeans.com, 310-604-3399
YWCA Children’s Classes, Winter/Spring 2011 - www.smywca.org - 310-452-3881
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Santa Monica Morgan-Wixson Theatre PINKALICIOUS, The Musical
Saturdays and Sundays at 11:00am February 5 - February 20
Featuring our own Sadie & Zelda Saltzman
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ptsa news
president’s message
Dear SMASHing Parents,
We hope our entire SMASHing family checked-out the outstanding Holiday Boutique. Please give compliments to all who were involved. It was a great start to Winter Break. We also hope our entire community is filled with residual holiday spirit that will carry forward throughout the year. Now get ready for SMASHing events over the next few months that will bring more joy to our community including more movie nights, restaurant nights, SMASH bashes, the Jog-a-thon, SuperSMASH and, of course, more vacation days. Let’s have an awesome 2011.
This is also the time of year for the SMASH PTSA to start the process of finding parents who want to get more involved and volunteer for leadership roles in PTSA for the 2011-2012 school year. There will be several positions opening on the SMASH PTSA Board and committees that need more leaders. Discussion about PTSA positions that need to be filled will take place and a nominating committee appointed at the upcoming board meeting on January 19. Interested in joining the PTSA board or finding out about committee openings? Attend the January 19 meeting and learn more. Dan McGee
ptsa annual family investment drive
· The SMASH Annual Family Investment Drive will continue throughout the year. Have you made a commitment? We are striving for 100% participation. If you have any questions, contact Marni Ayers Brady (marniayers@gmail.com) or Helga Schier (helgaschier@verizon.net)
SMASH bash
· If you have not been able to enjoy a SMASH bash event, please consider attending an event in the new year. Please contact Marni Ayers Brady (marniayers@gmail.com) at your earliest convenience and find out what upcoming events are still available.
SMASH camping/cabin trip
· If you have not signed-up for the SMASH camping trip on May 6th, 7th, 8th at Camp Josepho in Pacific Palisades and are still interested in Hiking, Campfire Songs, S’mores and more with SMASH community, please contact Elizabeth Kramer, elizabethrita@gmail.com, (310) 433-5612
SMASHing meetings
· Our next PTSA meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, January 19, 2011, at 8:30 a.m. If you have never attended a PTSA meeting, please stop by. For those who are regularly involved, we look forward to seeing you at the meeting.
DATES TO REMEMBER
Wednesday, January 19, 2010, Multicultural Potluck, SMASH/Muir Cafeteria, 6 -7:30 pm.
GREEN TIP FOR THE WEEK
Cozy up to Easy Energy Savings: By setting your home and office heating systems just a few degrees lower, you'll save a sizable amount of energy. And you'll make your mother-in-law happy by wearing that ugly sweater she gave you last Christmas.
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CORE 1 NEWS
Dear Core 1 Families,
Happy 2011! With the start of a new year, we are changing Circle Groups. We look forward to seeing old relationships strengthen while providing opportunities for new friendships to develop. The children will be getting a new Circle Group teacher –Candis, Chrysta, or Graciela—and stay in the same Partner, Big & and Mentor team. The children stay in Circle Groups for morning meeting, projects, and magic circle time.
We will switch circle groups again in the spring, so that all students will get a chance to be in a circle group with each teacher and each child over the course of the school year.
The children will stay in the same Workshop Groups by grade level with the same teacher. The children have reading, writing, and math in their workshop groups. Your child’s Workshop teacher will continue to be your touchtone teacher for communication.
Join us for the Core 1 Family Math Celebration - Wednesday, January 12 at 8:30 am to 10:00. Part of the time the children will share some of their regular math routines, games, and activities - and after we'll have a chance to meet as adults (while the children are at recess). The teachers will take a moment to share some of our thinking/expertise and answer questions. We also invite parents to share their own views/ experiences related to their child's math learning.
The Partners’ first WRITING CELEBRATION will be Friday, January 14. They will be sharing their first published books at Morning Meeting (8:45 – 9:15). EVERYONE is invited to celebrate these blossoming writers!
Candis and Jackie will be leading a field trip to the Santa Monica Recycling Center. We will
take 2 groups – 1 group will be going on TUESDAY, JANUARY 18 and the other group will be going FRIDAY, JANUARY 21. PLEASE LOOK CAREFULLY AT YOUR CHILD’S PERMISSION SLIP AND MAKE NOTE OF THE DATE WHEN HE/SHE IS GOING. Your child will need to pack a snack. We will be taking the Big Blue Bus, and a $5 donation is requested. Sign-up to accompany us are in Candis’ room.
The next Birthday Bash for January birthdays will be January 28 at 11:45. Please sign-up to bring a healthy snack in Candis’ room.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Candis, Chrysta, Graciela, Jackie, and Karin
Candis: cberens@smmusd.org Chrysta: cwyse@smmusd.org Graciela: gbarba-castro@smmusd.org
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CORE 2 NEWS
Advisory News: Happy New Year! The students have been reflecting on their growth since the beginning of the year—examining strengths and areas for improvement—and setting new goals. Tamara, Laura, and Jayme will be assessing their reading, writing, math, and citizenship (CARES) in preparation for the narrative report cards, which will come home at the beginning of February. At that time, we will be creating new mixed advisory groups. There are many factors that go into this decision, so please trust that we have put a lot of thought into the groupings. We also continue to have a very “open-door” core: Laura, Jayme, and Tamara work with all Core 2 students throughout the week. Please let us know if you have any questions. ***Family HW: Do some reflecting at home, and work together to make some New Year resolutions. What do you do better now and what are you still working on at home?
Literacy:
RW: We read a preview chapter of the 1st ever All-School SMASHing Book Club Book, the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. We hope this teaser will get everyone interested in reading the book with you, as a family, or independently at home in preparation for our All-school Book Talk on Wednesday, January 19. (You can watch the movie, too—to compare/ contrast the book and the movie.). We hope you’ll join the fun! ***RW HW: Core 2 students—it’s time to get back into the habit of reading for at least 30 minutes at home each day. This homework is VERY important, whether you are a strong, fluent reader or continuing to improve your reading skills.
WW: The students started publishing their Realistic Fiction stories this week. We are very impressed with the complexity of their stories and their willingness to make changes, add details, and flesh out their drafts. They are learning to incorporate all of their revision and editing changes into the final draft for publishing. We will be doing some nonnarrative essay writing next. ***WW HW: Core 2 students—write an “About the Author” blurb for your Realistic Fiction book, if you haven’t yet. Make an illustration to go with your Realistic Fiction story (we will work on illustrations at school,too.).
Math:
Laura’s 3rd graders learned two activities: Go Collecting and Close to 100. ***3G Math HW is attached along with the Close to 100 activity that can be done and kept at home. Ask your child their strategies to figure out the totals and scores. HW due F 1/14.
Tamara’s 4th graders completed the assessment for Describing the Shape of the Data. They started a new unit, Multiple Towers and Division Stories. They will continue to break numbers into easier chunks to help them solve harder problems and use stories, arrays, and clapping to help them visualize groups of numbers. ***4G Math HW: Please read and keep the letter about the mathematics in this unit. HW due F 1/14.
SMASHing Arts: We started visual arts with Julianna this week. The students examined the modern art of Wassily Kandinsky and the contemporary art of Elizabeth Murray and learned about representational, non-representational, abstract, geometric, and biomorphic forms, line, color, shape, and composition. Then they made abstract cut-outs.
***Arts HW: please bring in an object that we can use for art (you won’t get it back). An old shoe, tea kettle, book, stuffed animal, cup, hat, small stool, knick-knack, toy, etc.
SMASHing Core 2 Parent Volunteers: Last trimester, we loved having parents in the classroom teaching us about succulents and apples, helping us make beautiful ornaments, sharing stories and eating latkes, and joining us on field trips. We’d like to continue sharing our learning experiences with you and make time for creativity, exploration, and fun. ***Fridays 11:30 – 12:30 we will be rotating art, cooking, community walks, and games—and we’d love for you to join us! If you have an art activity, a favorite recipe, a special skill/talent/hobby, or want to explore Santa Monica with us, PLEASE let Tamara or Laura know and we’ll put you on the schedule***
Dates to Remember:
Monday, January 17 – Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday –no school
Wednesday, January 19 – All School Family Book Club/Multicultural Potluck dinner, 6:00 – 7:30
Thursday, January 20 – Field Trip: Santa Monica Playhouse 8:45 -12:30, more info next week
Tamara, Laura, Jayme, Nadja, and Karin
Laura: lsherman@smmusd.org Tamara: tmugalian@smmusd.org Jayme: j.wold@smmusd.org
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CORE 3 NEWS
Wanted Chaperones for Our Getty Villa Trip! Monday, January 24th!
6th gr Math w/ Carrie: We continued our work with fractions that began before the break. We have focused on finding equivalent fractions and understanding the roles of the numerator and the denominator. One of our goals was to recognize that fractions can represent a location on a number line and the length from one point to another on a number line.
6th gr Math w/ Erin: This week in Data About Us, we started learning about Coordinate Graphs. Students will be exploring relationships between paired-data values using coordinate graphs. This activity involves students working in pairs to measure both their height and arm span? Are these numbers related? Lets find out!
5th gr Math w/ Genie: We started a unit called Thousands of Miles, Thousands of Seats, so you can guess, it's about math in large numbers! We are using a 10,000 chart to help us navigate how our base-ten system works with 100 boxes across and 100 down it's a 100x100 grid with 10,000 little boxes and get a picture of our numerical place value. So if we are on 1,760 we can see the actual difference to 10,000, giving a visual with the numbers. The chart gives us a scale to ground our understanding and we will move to the US algorithm. Please read the parent math letters that came home today!
Leadership/Science: We used our Leadership and Science time to focus on team building skills this week. The students worked in teams to discuss skills/talent/attitudes that can help teams be successful. They also worked together in teams and as a whole class to build identical bridges by relying on their oral communication skills. Next week we will continue to work on teambuilding in anticipation of creating science teams who will work together on a large
project for our theme of Power.
Social Studies & Geography w/ Erin: This week in Social Studies we discussed Breaking Through, by Franciso Jimenez. Students shared insights they learned from the book and we also used the book as a jumping off point to discuss our winter Core-wide theme of "power." Students had a chance to browse through our United States History textbook and compare what they had learned from Jimenez's account to what information about the life of farm workers is available in the textbook (there is one paragraph and it's about Cesar Chavez). We opened up a discussion about who has the power to write history. Who makes the choices about what gets included in textbooks? We were also fortunate to have Arleen Torres - mother of Sophia U. in Core 4, come to speak to us about her experiences growing up as the child of migrant farm workers. What an amazing opportunity for the children to hear a first person account of what they have been learning about from someone in their own community. Thank you, Arlene! By student request, we have begun a project to learn the United States capitals. Students will be creating a project of their choice in order to try to learn as many state capitals as they can. Will your child be making a mobile? Decorating flashcards? Writing a song? Making a collage? Each project will be different and help the students learn some political geography in the way they feel they learn best.
Reading & Writing Workshop w/ Genie: We are continuing our study on nonfiction reading. We are looking at when vocabulary challenges us and how context, root words, suffixes, and prefixes (and the dictionary) can help us
make meaning as continuing to summarize which is challenging. Your child has to read 30 minutes every day after school and it is usually their chapter book, but read a magazine or news article together and talk about it over dinner. Or if you are into reading articles online, email it to your child and then share your thoughts or summarize it in an email. In writing, we are creating brochures about Core 3 to practice our informational (non-narrative) writing skills in small
groups. After this quick publishing, each student will create their own museum brochure based on a museum they create. Our theme this trimester is Power. Museum content has a lot of power and makes a statement that its exhibits are important. Who decides this? What galleries and exhibits get created?
Homework:
6g Math - Assignment #9 and #10 (coded in the top left hand corner of the paper). DUE 1/10/11
5g Math - Packet #13 is DUE 1/14
Social Studies – finish Breaking Through
Reading - Read every day for 30min—Log in pages/write at least 1 question or thought
Writing - collect ideas in writing notebook
Genie: ghwang@smmusd.org Carrie: cferguson@smmusd.org Erin: dodgers44@hotmail.com
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CORE 4NEWS
Core Four News: Welcome to a new year in exciting learning adventures. We launch our first Integrated Thematic Unit directly after Darwin and I return from the Yosemite adventure with our seventh grade student scientists. As we are hiking, investigating geology, and forging deeper teamwork skills amongst the peaks and rivers of Yosemite, the 8th graders will be developing interview skills, weaving new understandings about biology, and enjoying deeper more traditional dives into academics. Please see the attached project description. Due dates are being worked out with students and will be emailed around. As always when we are working
off-site, our partner teacher, Josh will be managing the students who remain here at SMASH. Under his leadership students are productive, reasonably orderly, and continue to enjoy learning activities.
Tech Grant Update—The next two months bring the installation of another new SMART board in Darwin’s room and instructional implementation of the latest generation of handheld computers, beach monitoring tools, and Flip cameras. Getting these tools into our learning spaces and the eager hands of our learners is exciting and creates a level of engagement that is both visible and productive. These tools flow from the Model Technology Teacher grant I was awarded two years ago and much hard work on the part of my partners and myself. This grant periodically takes me out of my own classroom and to other district sites as I deliver training,
receive training, or act as a coach/mentor to other teachers. A final interesting part my district wide role is an invigorating professional relationship with the science department at Lincoln Middle School. A benefit of this new relationship is a joint service project called Earth-Tech that will have our young learners traveling to other schools, making presentations, and collaborating personally or online. The exposure to a respected large traditional middle school should prove instructive for our students. Please stop in to see the newest tech toys, play with them, and join the conversation on how to best deploy this newly earned wealth of resources.
Kurt: kholland@smmusd.org Darwin: dmendinueto@smmusd.org
