SuperSMASH
SILENT AUCTION & CARNIVAL
THIS SATURDAY - MAY 18
11:30am to 5:30pm
COOL STUFF TO BID ON!
GREAT FOOD!
FUN RIDES AND GAMES!
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www.smash.smmusd.org
May 17, 2013
Dear
SMASH Families,
SuperSMASH is here!
Thank
you in advance to all of our families for taking shifts working the carnival
or
auction and having lots of fun together tomorrow—Saturday, May 18
Also, save the date: SMMUSD and SMMEF
(Education Foundation) invite you to attend a Community
Conversation about SMMUSD’s new
centralized fundraising program and allocation plan, Partners for
Student Success!
Tuesday, May 28
5:30-7:00pm
John Adams Middle School Cafeteria
(2405 16th Street., Santa Monica)
(parking available on the blacktop)
Assistant Superintendent Terry Deloria and
Superintendent Sandra Lyon will share that night how students
will benefit from the centralized
fundraising program and allocation plan, Partners for Student Success.
This
presentation is geared towards elementary
school families, but I encourage our upper school families to attend
as well.
Truly
yours,
Jessica
**********************
FOOD
& NUTRITION SERVICES’ IMPORTANT DATES!
· May
13 is the last date to prepay for the Meal Deal (in the office and online)
· May
17 - Last day to pay for lunch by check
· June
11 - Last day to pay balance due.
All
negative and positive balances will rollover to the 2013/2014 school year
***********************
DATES TO REMEMBER
Sat, May 18 -
SuperSMASH!
Tue, May 21 - 6:00pm - Strings and Winds
Music Concert - 4th-8th grades (Orchestra, Band, Jazz Band)
Wed, May 22 - 5:30pm - PTSA Executive Mtg
Fri, May 24 - All books from SMASH library
must be returned and missing books paid for
Mon, May 27 - Memorial Day - School Closed
Tues, May 28 - 5:30-7:30pm - JAMS
cafeteria. Superintendent presents Centralized Fundraising Conversations with SMASH, Grant, Edison & Rogers
parents.
Wed, May 29 - Restaurant Night TBA
May 30 - 6:00pm - Choir Concert - 4th-8th
grades
Fri, May 31 - 9:45am - Core 1 Assembly
Fri, May 31 - 3:00pm - Last day to turn in
SMASH application for 1st-8th grade lottery
Mon-Tues-Wed, Jun 3, 4 & 5 - 8th grade
San Diego trip
Tue-Wed-Thurs, Jun 4, 5 & 6 - 7th
grade Fulcrum Trip
Wed, Jun 5 - 6:30pm - PTSA Mtg
Mon, June 10 - 10:00am - SMASH 8th grade
graduation
Tues, June 11 - Last Day of School Beach
Day
Thur, Aug 22 - First day of school!
***********************
Auditions
are this Saturday!
Do you know a young musician who loves
music? We still have time for students to sign up for an audition on morning of Saturday, May 18. Any students entering
the 4th or 5th grade in the fall are welcome to audition. Private lessons are recommended but not required. Financial
aid is available.
More details including audition sign-ups
are available at www.elementalstrings.com/auditions
...and that includes Band, too!
After nine seasons in the community, we
are finally expanding to Elemental Band this fall! Led by the SMMUSD's
own Jessica Swift, our amazing team of
teachers will bring the quality instruction and inspiration you have come to
know and expect from Elemental Strings to woodwind, brass and percussion
students! Elemental Band auditions will take place on Saturday May 18 in the afternoon.
Financial aid is available.
More information including audition
sign-ups are available at www.elementalband.com
***********************
Samohi
Theatre presents a new coffeehouse-style production
Public
Domain
Thursday,
Friday & Saturday - May 23,24 & 25
5
Performances: Thu & Sat, 5pm & 7:30pm; Fri 7:30pm only
This eclectic, caffeine-infused collection
of music, theatre pieces, poetry, dance, and more is directed and more is
directed and performed (some even written) by
Samohi students, in a coffeehouse-style atmosphere with freshly roasted Public Domain coffee, brownies, and more.
A mélange of creativity and talent for just $10 adults or $5 students, at the door or reserve your tickets online at
samohitheatre.org. Suggested for ages 12 and up. Performance in the intimate Humanities Center Theatre on the 2nd floor
of the English Building (H-House) on the east side of the Samohi campus at Michigan & 7th St. Questions? Send an
e-mail to Samohi Theatre at info@samohitheatre.org
***********************
CREST
SUMMER CAMP - ENROLL NOW!
Looking
for something for your kids to do this summer?
Give one of CREST’s convenient and
affordable City Camps a try! Camps begin June 12. Full- and half-day camps are offered at multiple locations for
youth ages 8-14. All camps take weekly excursions to theme parks and local attractions.
Outing transportation and daily lunch are included. Choose a camp that best
fits your and your child(ren)’s needs.
Santa Monica Sports Experience has a new line-up this summer! A different
sport or organized game is highlighted each week, including the annual Pinewood
Derby Race where participants can design, build and race their own car! Additional weekly themes are virtual
sports gaming, lacrosse, black-top hockey, dodge ball and more. Both full- or half-day options are available at John
Adams Middle School.
Wrap-Around Camp provides a fun, action-packed summer
camp experience at McKinley Elementary School for your 4th or 5th grader who is attending
summer school. Participants stay onsite and easily transition from their summer
school classrooms to a half-day camp featuring
sports, games and special events.
Camp Santa Monica at Virginia Avenue Park offers four
innovative speciality groups that will give your child the opportunity to explore
his or her own personal interests. Campers can sign up for a full-day or week
of Art Extravaganza, Fit & Fun, Science Solvers or the ever
popular, Water Adventures where the name of the game is getting wet! Generous Financial Assistance
subsidizing up to 90% of camp fees are available to qualifying Santa Monica
residents based on a sliding scale. Non-residents attending summer school at McKinley Elementary School are eligible while summer school is in-session only. Low-
to moderate-income families are encouraged to apply prior to registration. To receive an application, visit www.smgov.net/financialassistance.
Weekly costs for half-day are $123 for
residents and $133 for nonresidents. Weekly costs for full-day are $200 for residents and $220 for nonresidents.
Extended care in the early morning and evenings are available for an additional $35 per week.
For more information, contact the City of
Santa Monica’s Youth Office located at Reed Park at 310-458-8540.
Enroll online now at www.smgov.net/recenroll.
Subject:
Participate in Make Music LA!
Make Music Los Angeles/MMLA is a daylong
celebration of music with live performances happening all over LA county,
including Santa Monica, on the Summer Solstice, Friday June 21. The event is
about people getting together in their neighborhoods in a do-it-yourself
fashion and organizing their own free music concerts/ performances in a variety of locations including community gardens,
plazas, schools, courtyards and parks.
The City of Santa Monica in partnership
with MMLA will host music performances throughout the day in Palisades Park, outside 1450 Ocean, from 1 – 7pm.
Musicians are also welcome to perform in City parks and beach areas provided the attached guidelines are followed. We
invite you and your organization to participate by hosting a performance and by spreading the word to musicians and
about the event itself.
To discuss hosting your own performance or
to organize an MMLA presentation to your board, please contact Rebecca Hogan at rebhogan@gmail.com or 310-951-4587.
For more information about MMLA please
visit www.MakeMusicLA.org
Feel free to contact me with any questions
about the City’s involvement. We hope you are inspired to get involved!
Allison Ostrovsky
Cultural Affairs Supervisor
City of Santa Monica | Cultural Affairs
Division arts.smgov.net/home
1437 Fourth St, Suite 310 | Santa
Monica, CA 90401
(310) 458-8350 P | (310) 917-6641 F
***********************
SMASH & JOHN MUIR ELEMENTARY
SPRING CONCERT
Winds
Orchestra
Jazz Band
Tuesday,
May 21, 2013
6:00 pm
4th
Grade Band & Orchestra – Auditorium
7:00 pm
5th
Grade Band & Orchestra – Auditorium
8:00 pm
Smash
Middle School Musicians
Winds,
Orchestra & Jazz Band – Auditorium
We are
looking forward to sharing this evening with you!
Ms.
Bersch, Ms. Cruz, Mrs. Quiroz,
Mr.
Anderson, Mr. Munoz, Mr. Anderson
Students:
Please arrive 15 minutes before your performance time
and wear
nice school clothes.
***********************
SMASH & JOHN MUIR ELEMENTARY
CHOIR SPRING CONCERT
Thursday
May 30, 2013
6:00pm
4th,
5th & Middle School Choirs – Auditorium
We
are looking forward to sharing this evening with you!
Ms.
Cruz & Mrs. Spike-Gravelle
Students:
Please arrive 15 minutes before your performance time.
Please
wear nice clothing.
***********************
CORE
1 NEWS
Spring is the time for CHANGE!!
As the children in Core 1 prepare for
their transition to the next school year, we are witnessing metamorphosis with
our silk moths, as they slowly wiggle out of their
cocoons, mate, lay eggs, and die.
“When the silk moth came out of the
cocoon, it spit ‘acid’ so it could come out.” – Rowan
“The silk moth was stuck in the cocoon,
and it was difficult to come out.” – Marlee
“When the new silk moth came out, there
were two other silk moths, they were boys, and they were fighting over her.”– Katell
“Not all of the cocoons hatched.” –
Marielle
“Those two cocoons are dead.” – Cathy
“If some of the cocoons were made earlier,
then that would make the other ones [come out] later.” – Teagan
To add to our study, we recently found monarch
caterpillars in our new butterfly garden in the small yard. Two of the caterpillars have pupated, and we have
created a habitat in our classroom to carefully observe all of the caterpillars
and chrysalis. Ask your child about our life
cycle study:
“What is it like when a caterpillar turns
into a chrysalis? What do you know about caterpillars?
What is the difference between a
caterpillar and moth? Tell me about their life cycle.”
Library Books
To prepare for the end of the school year,
Diane, our campus librarian, is requesting that all books be returned next week (no later than Friday, May 24). This
was the last week that children were invited to check out books. Please check your bedrooms, books shelves, and
backpacks and RETURN ALL LIBRARY BOOKS NEXT WEEK. If one of your books is missing, please visit
Diane to find out how you can pay for it or replace it with another book.
Partners’ Writing Celebration
During the past month, the entire Core has
been writing information books during Workshop. The Partners’ are publishing their
“How To” stories this week. Come see them share their amazing work with their
Circle Groups on Thursday morning 8:45 – 9:10. From How to Camp to How to Use
the Toilet , these instructional books are fun and informative!
Mark Your Calendars!
Upcoming Birthday Bashes
June birthdays will be celebrated on Friday May 31 from 11:45 to
12:15
July birthdays will be celebrated on Friday, June 7 from 11:45
to 12:15
Core 1 Assembly: May 31, 9:45-10:15
See you at SuperSMASH!
Candis,
Chrysta, Graciela, Nadja & Laura
Candis: cberens@smmsud.org
Chrysta: cwyse@smmusd.org
Graciela: gbarba-castro@smmusd.org
***********************
CORE
2 NEWS
Hi Core 2 Families and Friends,
We only have a few weeks left in school,
but we have a lot more to learn and explore! In Literacy, we’ve been studying
Historical Fiction and learning all about different time periods and how
to make our own stories sound authentic to the time period we are writing. For
example, students are thinking critically about the names that they give their
characters. Josh made sure that his character, living in France during
World War II, had a name that is from French origins. Erin and Ocean both
researched the meaning behind various African names so that they would fit into
their character’s description and the story of their life. Ram Rattan checked
with Google Translator to make sure that her Dutch word for love (liefde in
Dutch) was correct so that her character’s origins would sound accurate.
Check in with your child about their story and how they are using names,
places, and dates to make their story sound authentic to the time they are
writing in.
In Math, we are working hard to fit
in as much learning as we can before our year ends! 3rd graders are using multiple-step story problems that include multiplication (things that come in groups) and
subtraction. This week’s homework contains student-written problems for paper
clips. We are working on different strategies, including starting with knowing how
many 100s will be in the answer. This helps lessen the numbers by several
hundreds. For example, if there are 7 boxes of paper clips (each box contains
100 paper clips) and I used 67 of them, I know that there will be 6 whole boxes,
or 600 in my answer. When figuring out how many paper clips are left, I am only
working on 100-67 instead of 700 - 67. This strategy helps make the numbers
more manageable. They are working on what makes problems easier to get started.
4th graders are working on finishing up
their 2-D geometry that includes area, fractions, and angles. Students should
be practicing their multiplication and division facts to be ready for the last
unit in 4th grade and to be ready for 5th grade math.
Our Theme/Science unit is moving
along with the students researching different groups, gathering information
about the people that have made the move to California, and thinking about how
they will teach each other about what they’ve learned. Look for the dates of
our sharing to come and experience what we’ve learned.
In our Shelters investigation, students worked to blend
rigid and flexible materials to make a shelter that would be able to withstand gravity and the elements.
Each group constructed a shelter that was tested against the wind. We realized that
weight was a determining factor in a shelter’s wind resistance. Another
noticing in our group was that the stronger and more sturdy the base of our
shelter was, the more capable it was to hold strong against gravity and the
wind. These shelters will be available to see during
our sharing.
We have also begun to explore the 4
different regions in California– Costal, Mountain, Central Valley, and Desert. They
will be learning about how the early people of California survived in each
region. We are realizing that even when one region seems challenging, there are
advantages to living in each one. Students are finding out how people are able
to access food, water, and the best type of shelter for their region.
UPCOMING DATES
Saturday, May 18 - SuperSMASH
Friday, May 24 - 8:30-9:10am - 3rd Grade
Recorder Performance in Jayme room
Monday, May 27 - Memorial Day observed -
SCHOOL CLOSED
Tuesday, May 28 - 3rd Graders begin to
choose their instruments for next year
***End of the year sharing event date to
be determined.
Have a
wonderful weekend - See you at SuperSMASH!
Jayme,
Tamara, and Nadja
Jayme: jwoldflorian@smmusd.org
Tamara: tmugalian@smmusd.org
***********************
CORE
3 NEWS
13/27 (almost 50% the kids figured out)
6th graders and 5/25 (20%) 5th graders arrived to school past 8:30am on Tuesday. 100% of the kids who were late are chronic
late-comers. One strategy we suggest is to try to get your child at school at
8:15. Try resetting your family to "school starts at 8:15" instead of
school starts at 8:30. This will help us to finish the school year strong. Core
3ers love to socialize and coming at 8:15 gives them time to transition into
the start of the day. Even if your child gets here at 8:27, they are rushing to
settle in for the day of school. Please help your child get to school by 8:15.
There are a lot of things in life where 10 minutes late is acceptable. School
is not one of them.
We need a parent volunteer for the
Brochure Project!
~Core 3 is looking for a color printer to
print our awesome SMASH brochures! The brochures are currently on Pages software and ideally will print best from
an Apple computer with Pages, but the brochures can be converted to a pdf file to be more compatible with other
computers.
~Also if you are a print designer and want
to work with Genie and Jessica on the official publication of the SMASH brochures and contribute to the look and
feel of the new SMASH literature, please email Genie: ghwang@smmusd.org
6G Math with Mimi: This week we began to venture into
division of decimals by first thinking about what that really means. 6.5
divided by 5 is the same as asking how many fives go into 6.5. We looked at how
creating common denominators can transform a decimal division
problem into a whole number division problem. 3.25 divided by 0.5 is the same as 325 hundredths divided by
50 hundredths. 325 hundredths divided by 50 hundredths yields the same quotient as 325 divided by 50!
6G Math with Erin: This week we only had less than a period
of math due to our Monday author visit, our Wednesday Planned Parenthood session, and our Friday
Community Group Morning Meeting. We spent the time we did have collecting more data for our data project.
We hope to finalize the data gathering next week and start graphing our data.
5G Math with Genie: We used logic that we know about 2D shapes
to help us figure out how many degrees angles were without measuring them. We
also took our decimal assessment—the story problems were a challenge. Story problems
are always the most challenging. It's helpful to share real story math problems
with your child.
Science with Mimi: We continued our project by reviewing our
researched facts and thinking about how they relate to our guiding questions and original topic
idea. We then turned our topic idea into a statement or theory that can be proven
by facts. For example, the topic of Vegetarianism could be turned into a
statement like "Vegetarianism helps our health and the environment".
EVERY group should be done with this step now. Please check with your student
about their status and talk about their project with them if they still need to
develop their topic idea into a statement/theory.
Social Studies with Erin: This week in Social Studies students
worked on getting their final notes for the research portion of their Ancient
Rome projects. At the end of the week we brainstormed about creative ideas for
our class Ancient Rome activity book. Each group will add a few pages of
information and learning activities about their Rome sub-topic. Some ideas the
students are thinking about: crossword puzzles, "what's different,"
make your own (cardboard shield, rice-crispy treat Trojan horse, coliseum,
etc.), word search, paper dolls. Over the next few weeks students will implement
this part of the project. Each student will get a copy of the final class book
to take home.
Reading and Writing Workshop with Genie: The Eoin Colfer talk was fun! We knew and
heard again that writers write from what they know and base characters off of
people they know, make a plan to write, revise 10 or more times, know that the
more you write the better writer you become, and that there is never an end to
writing. We hope the signed books will inspire more reading! Wonder, our
read aloud, is full of kids who are just like kids in Core 3, we are realizing.
Some 'tweens in the book and some in our Core are experiencing the changes kids
often go through from playing 4 square at recess to hanging out and talking
about 'who likes who' while some are still happy to play 4 square and other
games. Ask your child how they feel about what is happening in the book and
what they notice in their own lives.
Homework:
5G math: Packet #34 Due 5/24/13
Read and Write every day! This never stops
being 'homework'!
See you
at SuperSMASH!
***********************
CORE
4 NEWS
7th Grade
The 7th Grade is finishing up their
plastic pollution project. Many have presented their project in other cores,
while a couple groups will finish up with
presentations next week. We are halfway through Ender’s Game while in group reading Code Talkers have finished.
They are finishing up the Pre-Algebra Curriculum with an end date of May 24.
8th Grade
The 8th grade students completed and
practiced their exit project. Presentations start next week. The itinerary for
their 8th grade trip to San Diego is almost
finalized. Their tiles were completed last Monday. They are also finishing up To
Kill a Mockingbird with their final book club meeting on Tuesday, May 28.
In math, students are completing the first chapter of Geometry to get
them familiar with what to expect in high school.
Upcoming Events
May 18 Super SMASH!!!!!!!
May 20 - 24 8th Grade Presentations
May 27 No School - Memorial Day Holiday
June 3 - 5 8th Grade Graduation Trip to
San Diego
June 4 - 6 7th Grade Fulcrum Trip
June 10 - 8th Grade Graduation, Early
Dismissal
June 11- Beach Day, Early Dismissal, Last
Day of School
Darwin Mendinueto - dmendinueto@smmusd.org
Kurt Holland - kholland@smmusd.org
