HAPPY
BIRTHDAY DR. SEUSS!
In
Celebration - everyone is invited to
SMASH
PAJAMA DAY!
Friday,
March 1
Pajamas
must be appropriate for school.
Students
must be able to participate in all school activities - NO slippers!
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Dear SMASHing Families,
“There are two kinds of education. One is
that which makes you pass examinations, the other is the one you enjoy. This makes education an atmosphere, a
discipline, and a life – and produces a human being.”
- Bishop David
Teachers have completed our mid-year
narratives so look for them in the mail. I hope you feel as I do that they are another wonderful opportunity to learn
about our children. Take time to read what the teachers have written then find some time for a family conversation where
you ask your children to articulate what they know about their own learning, their strengths and areas of challenge. So
often in the field of education, we do not take the time to ask children what they know, what they are good at and what they
want to work on. Let’s continue to make a point of asking in SMASH classrooms and at home, make a point of
listening to what they have to say about their learning. I am sure you are as proud of your children as we are of them.
Jessica
***********************
DATES
TO REMEMBER
Wed, Feb 27 - California Pizza Kitchen -
SMASH fundraiser - Flyer in today’s Friday Letter
Tue, Mar 5 - State Writing Test - 4th/7th
grades
Wed, Thur, Fri, Mar 6, 7, 8 - Stairway of
the Stars
Sun, Mar 10 - Daylight Savings - Spring
Forward!
Mon, Mar 11 - 9:00-10:15am - SMASH school
tour
Wed, Mar 13 - 6:30pm - SMASH PTSA Mtg
SMASH JOG-A-THON!! Friday, March 15
LOOK FOR YOUR PLEDGE PACKET TODAY!
A pledge form letter is included in today’s
Friday Letter
Students will be training for the Jog-A-Thon
during their PE classes on Thur, Feb 28 and Tues ,March 4 & 11
***********************
SMASH Restaurant Night
Wednesday,
February 27
California
Pizza Kitchen
210
Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica 310-393-9335
Dine-In,
Take Out or Catering
Look
for the flier in today’s Friday Letter - also available in the SMASH office
. ********************
SMASHingParents!
If
you make purchases on Amazon.com, you can make money for SMASH each time you
hit the "buy" button.
Here's how:
1. Open this link: http://tinyurl.com/AMAZONSMASHPTSA
2. Bookmark the page.
3. Each time you go to Amazon, be sure to
go through this link.
4. Pat yourself on the back for putting
your dollars to work, supporting the SMASH Community.
Have a great weekend!
Jamee Tenzer and David Saltzman
SMASH PTSA Co-Presidents
WILL
YOU JOIN US?
Santa Monica Malibu Education Foundation
wants to celebrate all donors to its Dollar A Day Campaign this year! Bloomingdale's, one of the Ed Foundation's
corporate partners, has organized a celebration for donors and for everybody on
Saturday, February 23. Please join Superintendent Sandra Lyon and District
Principals for this event.
Please note that the shopping event lasts
from 12pm to 7pm that day – this is when Bloomingdale's will give 10% of all
tracked store purchases back to the Education Foundation (check in and present
receipts at the SMMEF Redemption Desk/bStylebar on Level 2). The donor
celebration begins at 3pm on Level 2 at Bloomingdale's and lasts about 30 minutes.
Please RSVP to Rachel Faulkner, rachel.faulkner@smmef.org, if you can attend and/or if you'd like
more information.
Hope to see you there!
***********************
Only 3 more weeks until Jog-a-thon 2013
Friday, March 15th
GO GET
THOSE PLEDGES!
·
Ask your neighbors
·
Call family and friends
·
Pledge your whole Core (penny a lap
anyone?)
·
Email those faraway relatives (sample
wording sent with pledge packet and Friday Letter)
·
Is your teacher or parent running? They
can get pledges too! We have extra pledge packets in the office.
Contact Lillie Schlessinger at
213-742-3394 or
lillie.schlessinger@transamerica.com to
volunteer.
You can
volunteer or jus t come and cheer!
Pledge
Packets are due back Thursday, March 14th
Santa Monica Alternative School House
2525 5th Street - Santa Monica, CA 90405
Phone 310-396-2640 - Fax 310-452-4353
Date ________
Dear ____________________________
It’s that time of year again! My SMASHing Jog-a-thon ’13
will take place on March 15. I will be participating by running laps for 20
minutes to help raise money for my school, Santa Monica Alternative School House
(SMASH). Thanks to the support of family and friends like you, we raised over
$18,000 last year that went directly to enriching our curriculum and experience
at SMASH. I would be very happy to list you as one of my sponsors at this year’s
event.
You can pledge one of two ways: Pledge a flat donation
regardless of the number of laps I complete, or pledge a specified amount per
lap (for example, 20 laps x $2.00 = $40.00 pledge total). SMASH does not have
an official track so a “lap” tends to be about 1/8 of a mile (give or take).
Please make the check payable to SMASH PTSA and mail it to
my house as soon as you can. You can also pay by credit card at http://ptsasmash.blogspot.com/ (where it says “donate”). When reviewing your donation there
will be a hyperlink that says “add special instructions to seller” and you can
type in my name and the word “Jog-a-thon.” If you are making a per lap pledge I
will contact you immediately following the event to inform you of the total.
Thanks in advance for being a part of this year’s
Jog-a-thon, and for supporting my efforts in this fun-filled
fundraiser!
Best Wishes,
***********************
Some great SMASH Bash
events are coming up that still have space!
Please email SMASH Bash Coordinator Marni
Ayers Brady ASAP (marniayers@gmail.com) if you or your child is interested in
attending.
- Improv Theatre Party with Kristy Pace (For Core 1 and 2) March 2nd (Sat) 2-4pm $25
(Tenzer Residence)
- Pancakes and Smoothies with the Principal (for everyone - but NO DROP OFFS. All kids must be supervised by parents) March 13 (Wed) 7:45am - 8:30 $7 per person (SMASH Cafetorium)
- SMASH Poker Party (Adults
Only) March 16 (Sat) 4pm to ? (location and time tbd) $40 Buy In
- Marni
Ayers Brady at marniayers@gmail.com
***********************
Sustainable
Works Green Living Workshop
Did you
know it takes more than 2,400 gallons of water to produce a pound of beef?
You
save more water by noteating a pound of beef than by not showering for 6
months!
Join a FREE Sustainable Works Green
Living Workshop and learn how information like this will help you save money
and positively impact your family, community, and ultimately the planet!
When: 6 Tuesday Meetings: March 12th, 19th
& 26th and April 2nd, 9th & 16th, 7pm-8:30pm
Where: Santa Monica Main Library Multipurpose Room, 601 Santa
Monica Blvd. SM 90401
Encourage your friends to join you for
this fun, educational opportunity.
•Reduce your Water & Energy usage
•Save $ on Utilities
•Cut landfill Waste
•Reduce your Family's Exposure to Toxic Chemicals
•Reduce your Transportation Impact
•Make more sustainable Shopping &
Food choices
Receive FREE resource saving tools
Water saving hose nozzles, Energy saving
light bulbs, Reusable shopping bags, safe cleaning supplies, healthy energy
bars, and more...
Visit www.sustainableworks.eventbrite.com to reserve your space at an upcoming
workshop.
***********************
SUMMER ADVENTURE
Elementary
School
Five
affordable weeks of non-stop fun, exploring and creating.
June
17-July 19
(5 weeks,
closed July 4)
8:30am -
12:30pm daily
WILL
ROGERS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
2401 14th
Street
$525 for
full morning program
Childcare
available for an additional fee.
Scholarships
available for qualifying students enrolled in SMMUSD for August 2013
Discounts
Available! -Sign up by April 15 and pay $500 for the full morning program
Registration
Starts on March 18
Online at
www.smmpta.org or www.smmef.org
In person
at the District Office
March 18
& 19, 8:00am-2:00pm
And
10:00am - 2:00pm thereafter
***********************
Benefitting the
Santa Monica Alternative School House
SMASH
Wednesday, February 27
California Pizza Kitchen
210 Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica
310-393-9335
Dine-In, Take Out or Catering
Flier is in the e-mail version of today's Friday Letter and available in the SMASH office.
|
|||
***********************
CORE
1 NEWS
“Reading
With Your Child” Parent Dialogue Night - Tuesday, February 26 at 5:45 pm in
Core 1
This is a night you don’t want to miss!
The teachers have prepared for an evening of learning and conversation as we explore
the different Developmental Stages of Reading in Core 1. Come find out how you
can support your child’s reading in so many different ways.
“Should I read
to my child or should I ask him/her read to me?”
“How do I
encourage my child to think deeply about what he/she is reading?”
“How can I help
my child read more fluently? When should I expect this to happen?”
“What does it
mean to read a “Just Right” book? Where can I find these books?”
“What if my
child doesn’t want to read?”
In your child's narrative (which will be
arriving in your mail shortly), you'll notice the continuum of the
Developmental Stages of Reading. Come see how we support
these stages differently in the classroom - and at home, how you can meet your
child at his/her developmental stage and gently bridge them to the next stage.
CHILDCARE WILL BE AVAILABLE!!
We know how much you support SMASH in so
many different ways. By attending our Parent Dialogue nights, you can find meaningful and effective ways to
support your child at home.
Please RSVP to Graciela at gbarba-castro@smmusd.org if you can attend. We hope to be able to
personalize our plans according to your responses.
March Birthday Bash–
We will be celebrating January and
February birthdays on Friday, March 1 at 11:45 AM in The Magic Garden (Candis’ room). If you child’s birthday
will be celebrated, we’d love for you to join us!
On the day of Birthday Bash, the birthday
child is invited to bring his or her favorite fresh fruit or vegetable to
share with the Core 1 community. Other snacks
will not be served. The child can bring a fresh fruit or vegetable (as it was purchased) to school at 8:30. The birthday
children will prepare the fruit or vegetable by washing it, cutting it,
and presenting it during Projects Time from
9:00-10:00. Birthday families are invited to help at that time.
At 11:45 the whole core will gather in
Candis’ room for a story, a poem, and a song. At about 12:00 the children will snack on the fruits and vegetables that
were prepared by the birthday children and they will eat their lunch at that
time.
We always need help to set-up the buffet
tables on the small yard, to serve the food, and to help the children clean up. Our reusable dishes will need to be taken
home by a birthday family to be washed in a dishwasher.
Please let Graciela know if you can help or if you have any questions. Her e-mail address is gbarba-castro@smmusd.org.
Please let Graciela know if you can help or if you have any questions. Her e-mail address is gbarba-castro@smmusd.org.
The Museum of Flying Field Trip for the
Yellow Group has been rescheduled for Friday March 8th. We will be creating a new chaperone field trip
sign-up sheet. Please look for the email with the Google Doc link. Fingers crossed for a beautiful day!!
HAVE A
GREAT WEEKEND!!
Candis,
Chrysta, Graciela, Nadja & Laura
Candis: cberens@smmsud.org
***********************
CORE
2 NEWS
Hi Core 2 Families and Friends,
We’ve had a wonderful month full of fantastic field trips!
As we return from Temescal Canyon today, we are filled with excitement about
the learning experiences we have outside the classroom. Our Shane’s Inspiration
trip to the Inclusive Playground led us to so many realizations about
ourselves, including our apprehensions about interacting with students that
have disabilities. We realized that all kids, no matter their ability level, want
to have fun and play! Hannah expressed her feelings when she said, “At
first I was scared, and then afterwards, I felt better as I was playing with
them and I knew that they were just like us, but they do things
differently.” Esai stated a similar idea as, “The
first time that I got my partner, it was really mellow and we
were walking around seeing stuff and we had fun, even
though my partner didn’t really talk.” As a group, we
learned that we were more patient and understanding with
our new friends.
We were “detectives” that looked for clues to decide what
activity our friends would like to do. Many of us realized that a similarity
between us was that we both LOVE the swings and the sand areas! Josh and
Jack L.’s friend was so comfortable in the swing that he fell
asleep! Shira and her friends realized that singing nursery rhymes was
the best way to get Ella to smile.
Core 2 has so many favorite parts of the play date. Here
are a few:
*Reading to my buddy
*Pushing my friend on the swings
*Playing in the mist
*Playing in the sand area
*Going around all the trucks
*Seeing my buddy so HAPPY!
Our play date was not without some challenges, but we
learned quickly how to overcome those obstacles and make it fun for everyone. One of the biggest challenges was
communication. It was difficult to determine what our friends wanted to play
when they were unable to use their voice, so we had to do a lot of trial and error.
We successfully figured out what our buddies liked and could tell by the smiles
that we guessed right!
After returning to SMASH, we were excited about the
possibility of a future play date with our new friends and other students that
have different abilities. Last week, we sent home ideas about how to continue
the conversation from this field trip. We encourage all families to keep the
conversation going!
_________________________________________________________________________________
THANK YOU to our parent chaperones that joined us in Temescal Canyon!
Your support during this
trip helped create so many wonderful experiences and memories
for our Core 2 students and
teachers. What an amazing way to continue our outdoor education experiences!
_________________________________________________________________________________
*****Dr. Seuss Pajama
Day is next Friday, March 1!*****
Wear your PJ’s and honor a
beloved children’s author!
Have a restful weekend!
Jayme, Tamara, & Nadja
Jayme: jwoldflorian@smmusd.org
Tamara: tmugalian@smmusd.org
***********************
CORE
3 NEWS
Running Club
Blue will be running on
Wednesdays (Blue has PE Mondays and
Tuesdays).
Orange on Fridays
because (Orange has PE Wednesdays and
Thursdays)
Thanks for helping your
child be ready to run on their running day!
Omnivore's Dilemma
will be the whole class book
for this year has been ordered!
We are requesting a
$10.00 donation for each child to cover the cost of the book.
We will begin the book on
Monday.
6G Math With Mimi: This
week, we took a math quiz on Tuesday. On Thursday, we reviewed the quiz and strategies for multiplying fractions. We also began
learning about dividing fractions. The first set of problems we are working on involve one whole number and one
fraction (ex. 9 ÷ ⅓).
Science With Mimi: The
new Food and Nutrition topic this week is acid. We used baking soda as an
indicator of acid in an experiment on Tuesday. Ask your student
what acid we used and if there were any interesting results from the experiment. Next week, we will need 4
limes and 2 grapefruits for another experiment. If you have a lime or grapefruit tree and/or can donate the
fruit, please let Mimi know ASAP via email.
6th Grade Math with Erin:
Students worked diligently to finish those dream rooms!! We will invite you to
see the floor plans and scale models in the coming weeks.
Stay tuned for our "Data" unit.
No Social Studies this week due to Astrocamp and the Monday holiday.
No Social Studies this week due to Astrocamp and the Monday holiday.
Homework:
5G math: packet #24.
Due 3/1/13
6G math: homework due
RW: Please remind your
child to do some nonfiction reading and think what is the main point of this
text.
WW: Your child should
be back into their writing notebook collecting entries on whatever they want to
write.
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