As I shared at
the potluck, two intentions in honor of this 40th year
are 1) what SMASH staff refers to as ―closing the loop‖ (taking time to reflect
about learning that is occurring) and 2) public advocacy of our SMASH beliefs
and practices. One philosophical belief at SMASH is that learning should not
just be preparation for life, but that school learning should actually be
"life itself." As we continue to think about what the next iteration
of this belief can look like at SMASH, I encourage us to watch a PBS show
throughout September entitled Is School Enough?
Jessica
**********************
SMASH COMEDY NIGHT
a PTSA "Adults Only"
Fundraiser
Sunday, November 17 at 7pm
Magicopolis on 4th St. in downtown
Santa Monica
This promises to be a great night of fun and good times. Tickets are on sale for $40 - a bargain for this show. There is limited seating at Magicopolis and we expect a sell-out so get your tickets early.
PLEASE BUY YOUR TICKETS SOON! If we do not sell the tickets through our Smash Community we will be promoting the show on Jake's Podcast, in the Santa Monica Daily Press and with posters around town. This takes money and time and can be avoided if we sell the tickets within the next couple of weeks.
We encourage you to invite your friends from outside of our community. This promises to be one of the best nights of comedy that Santa Monica has ever seen.
Nina Furukawa
SMASH Comedy Night Event Chair
nina@smdp.com 310-922-2060
**********************
DATES TO
REMEMBER Tues, Sept 10 - 6-8pm - Music Back to School Night at John Adams Auditorium (Details in Friday Letter)
Wed, Sept 11 - 6:00-7:30pm - Core 2 Forum
Fri, Sept 13 - 9:45am - Core 2 assembly
Fri, Sept 13 - Core 4 Staff Appreciation lunch
Wed, Sept 18 - 6:00-7:30pm - Core 3 Forum
Fri, Sept 20 to Sun, Sept 22 - SMASH Family Camping at Camp Josepho (details in Friday Letter)
Wed, Sept 25 - 6:00-7:30pm - Core 4 Forum
Fri, Sept 27 - 8am - SMASH Bash Sale in Small Yard
**********************
Don't Trash
It, Terracycle It!
Things we
normally throw away are recyclable through Terracycle.net. Toothpaste tubes,
toothbrushes, cos-metics, lotion tubes, deodorant sticks, chips bags,... SMASH
has raised about $1100 since the 2010 school year. Many families collect Terracylable
packaging at home and bring them to school. There are Terracycle bins in the
small yard, in the breezeway leading to the small yard, and in Core 3.
For more info
or to obtain a complete chart of acceptable Terracycle packaging,
please email Core
3 mom Mimi Lichterman. mimilichterman@yahoo.com
**********************
Target
wants to donate to SMASH!
But, we need
your help.
Please visit
the Target page on Facebook and click on "Give with Target" You can
vote for SMASH once each day so vote early and often! The offer ends on
September 21!
**********************
Elementary
Instrumental Music “Back to School” nights. The district music department would like parents and their child to attend one of the music information nights and meet with the music teachers. The informational portion of the evening will begin promptly at the start for each site to introduce the music teachers, discuss expectations and go over vital information regarding music supplies and equipment specifications.
6:00-8:00 pm,
Monday, September 9 at Lincoln Middle School Auditorium at 1501 California Ave.
or
6:00-8:00pm,
Tuesday, September 10 at John Adams Middle School Cafeteria at 2425 16th St
**********************
From
your SMASHing PTSA Presidents . . . . .
BUY LOCAL: (though
the Y&YY usage tax) brings our Santa Monica and Malibu schools 6 and a half
million dollars a year. Supporting Santa Monica businesses makes sense for our
schools, our kids and our communities.
Stop by the
Buy Local Expo on the 3rd Street Promenade on Saturday, September 21st!"
(for all SM AND Mali-bu families)
A FUN NIGHT OUT TO SUPPORT THE ED
FOUNDATION: FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2014
6:30 P.M. – Pre-Party generously hosted by Rusty’s Surf Ranch
8:00 P.M. – TOTEM™
under the Grand Chapiteau at the Santa Monica Pier
Experience the
wonders of Totem from Cirque du Soleil® and help support the arts in our public
schools.
Seating is
limited so reserve your tickets today for this amazing benefit performance. PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS TODAY! Tickets $150 Call: 310-396-4557 or email: info@smmef.org
**********************
CORE 1 NEWS
Build
Community
Our goal for
this week and next will be to reflect with the children about what is
working to make Core 1 a fun and safe place for everyone. Our collective
observations and reflections will lead us to generate norms. We will refer to
them as our Core 1 CARES. These are ways in which we show Cooperation,
Assertion, Responsibility, Empathy, and Self-Control. We have invited children
to think about their personal needs for significance, belonging and fun as well
as to think about the needs of the larger Core 1 community.
August and
September Birthday Bash–
We will be
celebrating August and September birthdays on Friday, September 13 at 11:45
AM in The Magic Garden (Graciela’s 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 Graciela’s 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. Many of our Core 1 wishes have been granted. We thank you for your generosity in helping us purchase furniture, rugs, and electronics for our Core 1. We have left our Wish Board up in Graciela’s room for those of you who are still interested in viewing our wishes. We also wish to thank you for generosity and for taking the time to shop for core supplies. We will be able to fill our supply cabinets with new staples, post-it notes, tape, staplers, etc.
Have a great weekend!
Graciela (gbarba-castro@smmusd.org)Chrysta (cpowell@smmusd.org)
Christian (ccarter@smmusd.org)
& Nadja
CORE 2 NEWS
***Please be at school by 8:30am
dressed and “geared” up for the day’s activities –
PE, Art, Music…
Anyone arriving after 8:30 needs to swing by the
office for a late slip ***
In Math,
Jayme and the 3rd Grade Mathematicians continue to explore multiple
strategies for doing and representing addition and subtraction. Tamara and
the 4th Grade Mathematicians continue practicing the math class
guidelines and routines as they explore a variety of ways (pencil/paper, mental
math, using manipulatives, independent work, partner work, etc.) to investigate
a variety of concepts (addition/ subtraction, fractions, 2D & 3D geometry,
multiplication/division). Math HW: 3G Mathematicians will be getting HW as
needed. 4G Mathematicians will be getting weekly HW packets.
Communication
is important to us in Core 2, so please read the Friday Letter each week – it
will tell you (almost) everything you need to know! If you ever have questions, comments,
or concerns about your child, please direct them to your child’s grade-level
teacher, so we can answer your question, address the issue, or set up a
meeting. Jayme will be the point person for emails, conferences, and written
assessments for Third Graders. Tamara will be the point person for emails,
conferences, and written assessments for Fourth Graders. If you have info
to share that does not require a response (I will pick up my child early, Billy
has a dentist appointment, my child is home with a tummy ache), please email
us.
We understand
that kids get sick and families go on vacation. In any case, please call the school
office at 310-396-2640 to share the reason for the absence. If you e-mail Jayme
and Tamara, please cc Janice (jwold@smmud.org) and/or Wende
(wmiyamoto@smmusd.org). If the absence will be for 5 days of school or more,
please alert Tamara and Jayme and Wende so we can put together an Independent
Study packet.
The Core 2 Forum is Wednesday, September 11 from 6:00 – 7:30. (Fourth grade families will meet in Tamara’s room. Third grade families will meet in Jayme’s room). Math will start right at 6, so please arrive on time. After Math, we will flip-flop (something your kids will be doing all year) for Literacy at 6:30. Be ready to be a student! There will be a little Q&A time from 7:00 – 7:30. We look forward to seeing a rep from every Core 2 family!!! In lieu of a supply list, Core 2 is asking for a $25 donation to buy classroom supplies and support the “revamping” of our classroom library.
WISH LIST: Tissues – aaahhhchooo!,
Scratch Paper – we LOVE free drawing and paper airplanes!!!
Tamara, Jayme, & Malaika
Tamara:
tmugalian@smmusd.org
**********************
CORE 3 NEWS
Core 3 Forum, Wednesday, September
18! We hope for 100% parent attendance!
We are
asking for a $25 donation (or whatever you can give at this time) for school
and art supplies for the year from each family. Thank you! This donation helps
in making school fun!
Upcoming
Field Trips - Need Chaperones - check permission slip for more details:
Thursday 9/19
to hear a comic opera The Mikado by Sullivan and Gilbert. Monday 9/23 to see Percussion Ensemble at Pepperdine University.
Monday 9/30 for an internet research class at the Main Santa Monica Public Library.
6th gr Math
with Erin: This week
we continued our study of factors. What numbers go into another number in equal
amounts? Can you figure out all the factors for a given number? How many
factors does a prime number have? What about a composite number? Next week we
will continue looking at these math concepts.
5th gr Math with Genie: What is a prime number? What is a
composite number? What is a square number? We are using our math vocabulary as
we solve number puzzles with clues like this: This number will make a rectangle
4 tiles wide (a multiple of 4). This number will also make a rectangle 3 tiles
wide (a multiple of 3). This number is square. This number is larger than 100.
Check and make sure that you found all the possible answers! This is 5th grade math. And some parents love math and thinking through
these problems and others say they didn't like it. Remember, you influence your
child greatly so if you say, "I don't get it." Or "I'm not good
at math." You are sending a clear message to your child. Be open, try the
math yourself, ask your child to share their thinking, and know there are many
ways to solving a problem. Please continue to support your mathematician with
their homework by giving them time and space to work on the packet.
Reading and
Writing Workshop with Genie: Debating with formal language and taking positions we may not
agree with have been the fun challenges in Writing Workshop. We are excited to
continue practicing and then demonstrating our debate skills for you in a few
weeks. We also personalized our notebooks and have lots to fill them with. Keep
up with the daily reading! We are looking at big ideas that come from our read
aloud, Marshfield Dreams by Ralph Fletcher and from our own independent
reading books. Every Friday a Nonfiction reading sheet will be sent home as a
good place to get a little nonfiction reading practice in. We will go over them
on Wednesday of each week. Please have your child read, think, and complete by
Wednesday!
Visual Art
with Julianna: We
brainstormed ideas for Claymation/stop animation short clips. We are excited to
get started and learn to manipulate clay and the technology aspect of stop
animation and movie editing.
Homework:
5G math: packet #2. Due 9/13/13
RW: read every day for 30-40 minutes (around 100 pages a week)
Nonfiction reading sheet—complete front and back by Wednesday (9/11)
Genie, Erin & Laura
Genie: ghwang@smmusd.org Erin:
ehaendel@smmusd.org
**********************
JOIN SMASH PTSA
Parent Teacher Student Association
Have you
joined the SMASH PTSA yet? Complete the white PTSA membership envelope that
came home with your child in the First Day Packet. Drop the completed
envelope and check (payable to SMASH PTSA) at the office. Extra envelopes
are there too.
It costs
only $9 per membership to join. We recommend that you purchase a membership
for every member of your family. 4 family members --> 4 memberships
--> 4 SMASH Phone Books --> $36.
Don’t be
afraid that if you become a member, something will be expected of you.
While we welcome anyone who wants to
volunteer or come to meetings, we don't require our members to volunteer or
attend meetings. Your membership simply shows that you support what we are doing for the
teachers, the kids and the school. The extent of your commitment to us is your $9 dues. When
you join, WE make a commitment to YOU.
And if you
do want to get more involved, awesome! Baby steps are fine. You’re welcome
to come to one of our monthly meetings and just listen. Get to know who’s
working on what. Maybe find something you’re interested in and get
involved. Your involvement in PTSA will build skills in leadership,
communication and advocacy.
Any
questions, email Snow Lam-Hansen
(mother of
Tia/Core 1 and Kim Hansen/Core 2) at snowwht@gmail.com.
Sincerely,
Snow
Lam-Hansen Jamee Tenzer Jessica
Rishe
PTSA Membership V.P. David Saltzman Principal
PTSA Co-Presidents
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