Smash Friday Letter

2012-02-10T13:25:00.000-08:00

Celebrate Valentine's Day a day early with the SMASH community at Wahoo's.
Wahoo's will donate 20% of your entire purchase to SMASH PTSA.
Monday, February 13
418 Wilshire Blvd.
Valid all day. Flyer must be presented.
Flyer has been distributed to each student today and is in the e-mailed version of this Friday Letter.
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Dear SMASHing Families,
Exciting Science News: Be sure to take a look at the Santa Monica Daily Press this weekend to see the article about SMASH Core 4 Quick Science students.

Centralized Fundraising Update: Dan McGee and I have started attending the monthly Superintendent’s Advisory Group meetings as well as the monthly elementary and secondary subcommittees so that we have K-8 representation.
According to Superintendent Sandy Lyon, the purpose of the group is “to create an implementation plan that will allow SMMUSD to fully implement centralized fundraising as the means to staff extra positions and professional development at schools no earlier than July 2013 and no later than July 2014.” Thus far, the group has brainstormed what a quality program includes, and the group ideas align nicely with our SMASH practices. Now subcommittees and Principals are collecting information about what schools already have in place. Dan and I will continue to share updates at Site Council and PTSA Meetings as well as via the Friday Letter.

Looking forward to dancing, munching, and visiting with many of you tonight at the Mardi Gras Family Dance! Thank you to Student Council students and teachers (Erin, Graciela, Jayme, and Tamara) for making this special celebration possible.

Jessica

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A Night of LOVE SONGS & POETRY
Special guest artists share passions in a pre-valentine’s day
Benefit for the SMASH Middle School Music Program
Saturday, February 11 at 7:30
1939 Westridge Terrace, Los Angeles, 90049
$15 - rsvp liamjack1@mac.com Or 310-471-4718
Desserts and something bubbly
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DATES TO REMEMBER
Sat, Feb 11 - 7:30pm - A Night of Love Songs & Poetry to benefit the SMASH Middle School Music Program
Mon, Feb 13 - 9:00-10:30am - SMASH School Tour
Mon, Feb 13 - All Day - SMASH day at Wahoo’s at 418 Wilshire Blvd.
Must bring flyer sent home & e-mailed today
Fri, Feb 17 - 8:30-9:30am - Parent Ed - Creating Upstanders: Anti-bullying efforts at SMASH/John Muir
Mon, Feb 27 - 9:00-10:30am - SMASH School Tour
SAVE THE DATE!
Fri, Mar 9 - SMASH Jog-a-Thon. Sign up now to volunteer
Tue, Mar 13 - 6:00pm - SMASH Talent Show
Fri, Mar 16 - 9:15am - Astrocamp assembly
Fri, Mar 30 - Last day to apply for SMASH for September (ALL siblings MUST have their applications in)
Sat, May 19 - SuperSMASH. Sign up now to volunteer.
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Only 4 more weeks until the SMASHing
Jog-a-thon 2012

Volunteer! We still need volunteers to help with refreshments, lap
counting, etc. on the day of the event.

Pledge! Pledge packets will go home 2/17 so look for your child’s pledge
packet and read the information that accompanies it. Help your child fill out the form and collect pledges. 100% of donations go right back to our classrooms.

Save the date! Jog-a-thon ‘12 happens Friday, March 9.
Come run with your athlete and/or cheer on the rest of the runners.

For questions or to volunteer:
Lillie Schlessinger (213)742-3394 lillie.schlessinger@transamerica.com
Darlene Flanders (310)314-8716 darlene@quixo.com
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Hello Friends, Students, Parents and Colleagues
I wanted to let you know about a fabulous new adventure I have just completed. I wrote a book called "101 Things To Do With Your Kids At The Airport". It is available now online. I am very proud of the work and know that if you have children you will thank me after your first trip to the airport! :) Please check it out.
Thank You,
Kristy Pace Artistic Director, Pocket Full of Tales Theatre Company
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LACMA Family Activities
Family Sundays: California Cool
February 12, 19, 26 12:30–3:30 pm
California has its own unique style—from furniture and cars to Barbie and Ken! Check out clean and cool designs in the exhibition California Design to see beachwear, ceramics, jewelry, and even an Airstream aluminum trailer! Then create your own “California look” in artist-led workshops. - North Piazza Free, with museum admission

Target Free Holiday Mondays Visitors of all ages are invited to a free* day at the museum
PRESIDENT’S DAY - Monday, February 20 12–8 pm *Free, tickets required
Visitors of all ages are invited to a free day at the museum*. Bilingual tours, programs, and other activities occur throughout the day. Check out the exhibition California Design, 1930–1965: "Living in a Modern Way" to see California's unique style. Live music by Rhythm Child will get everyone moving with their energetic music for all ages on the plaza at 12:30 pm and 2:45 pm.
* tickets to the Boone Children's Gallery on Target Free Holiday Monday will be timed and distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. Pick up your free timed ticket in the Boone Children's Gallery on the day of the event. Timed tickets allow for a thirty minute visit.
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FREE Paper Shredding & Electronics Recycling
Saturday, February 18 - 9am-2;pm
City Yards - 2500 Michigan Avenue
www.smgov.net/r3 - 310-458-2223
Santa Monica residents only - limited to 25 boxes (12x17x9 inches each)
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Summer Adventure for Elementary School
June 25 - July 20; 8:30-12:30 daily
Roosevelt Elementary School - 801 Montana Avenue
$420 for full morning program; childcare available for additional fee - scholarships available
Brochures & Registration Forms available on March 26 and online at www.smmpta.org or www.smmef.org
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The UCLA Family Commons is excited to announce new programming for Summer 2012.
These camps are unique — full of fun for children, yet grounded in the most up-to-date scientific insights about social and emotional growth at each stage of development.
Girls Get Real (ages 8-12) http://www.uclacommons.com/courses/girls-get-real-ages-8-12
Boys Only (ages 8-12) http://www.uclacommons.com/courses/boys-only-ages-8-12
Commons Kids (Coed, ages 5-7) http://www.uclacommons.com/courses/commons-kids-coed-ages-5-7
The UCLA Family Commons’ approach to summer camp programming is truly one of a kind. Based on the latest research, camps are carefully designed to meet the developmental needs of each group. By enriching social and emotional intelligence, camps provide the foundation for later academic achievement and personal satisfaction.
Yet for children, the camps are entirely about summer fun. Learning is seamlessly integrated into activities like art projects at our Santa Monica center, play at the beach, martial arts in our on-site dojo and yoga in Palisades Park, to name just a few.
Please JOIN US on Wednesday, February 29th, from 4 – 6 pm, when we’ll be celebrating our 2nd Anniversary in Santa Monica. You’ll have the chance to learn more about our camps and see what we’re doing to bring innovative,
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ptsa news
president’s message

Dear SMASHing Parents,
As we move through the Winter season and into Spring, there are two major fundraising events that need our SMASH families to step up and get involved. For the Jog-a-thon (scheduled for Friday, March 9th), we are fortunate that Core 2 moms Lillie and Darlene are on top of this important fundraising event, but they are still looking for volunteers and donations. Please contact events chairs Darlene Flanders [dflanders@quixo.com] and Lillie Schlessinger
(lillie.Schlessinger@transamerica.com] and let them know if you or your company can donate or whether you can volunteer for the morning on Friday, March 9th,, to help assure this event runs smoothly.

As may know SuperSMASH is coming early this year (scheduled for Saturday, May 19, 2012). This summer festival and celebration of our community, is our biggest fundraiser of the year. There will be food, activities, rides and games, and of course, our ever popular Silent and Live Auction. As our main fundraiser, it cannot be successful without the entire SMASH community working together. SMASH depends on the proceeds of this one Saturday to help us meet a major portion of our annual budget. And this one Saturday needs the entire SMASH family.
While preparations for this event are well underway, we still need key volunteers to make sure this event is successful. In particular, we need help with marketing the event to the community, and we need a couple of people to help assist with organizing activities and setting up and running the music program at SuperSMASH. If you can help please contact me at 310-993-0707 (dmcgeee@mcgeelere.com) or Helga Schier at helgaschier@verizon.net

Though we have parents who have volunteered to take over most of the positions on the SMASH PTSA Executive Board for the 2012-2013 school year, we still need a volunteer to be our Historian, which has gone unfilled for several years. If you are interested, please let us know. As always this is a great opportunity to ease into PTSA leadership and get more involved in our community.
Dan McGee

ptsa annual family investment drive
The SMASH Annual Family Investment Drive continues 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).

SMASH bash
If you have not been able to enjoy a SMASH bash event, there are still openings. Please contact Marni Ayers Brady (marniayers@gmail.com) at your earliest convenience and find out what upcoming events are still available.

Green Tips for the Week:
Proper Microwaving: Heating plastic in the microwave can cause leaching into food and many contain hormonedisrupting compounds (not just versions made with bisphenol-A or BPA). Plastics that are labeled “microwave-safe” can simply withstand a higher temperature before losing their shape. So when heating anything in the microwave, use glass or microwave-safe ceramics.
Real Simple Toilet Paper
If every household in the United States replaced just one roll of virgin fiber toilet paper (500 sheets) with 100% recycled ones, we could save 423,900 trees When it comes to paper in general, really think about how you can re-use what already arrives at your house – carefully opened envelopes can be used for things you need to send, or for scrap paper and the shopping list you can’t go to the market without! Padded mailing envelopes are the same, open them carefully and use them again. The more you re-use the less trees come down. Frightening statistic - 33% of municipal waster is paper and cardboard!!!!!!! Want less to recycle, less coupons and junk mail? On the bottom of the LOS ANGELES TIMES “Local Values” is an 800 number. You can call it, listen to prompts and have your address removed from the circulation list.
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CORE 1 NEWS

Valentines Shower
Core 1 traditionally showers their friends with valentines in a celebratory Magic Circle on February 14. If you wish, your child may bring 25 Valentines for all of the children in his/her circle group on the 14th. Please don’t address the cards to specific children.
You’re encouraged to write From: ________ or Love, _______, but please DO NOT write To: ________. This can get extremely confusing at our celebration. Remember: No sweets please! Your children’s love and kindness are sweet enough!

Birthday Bash
We will be honor children with their birthday in February at our next Birthday Bash on February 17th at 11:45 AM in the Magic Garden. If your child has a birthday in February, s/he will be taking home a note regarding birthday bash snacks.

Changes to Ocean Park Blvd. –
Expanding our Pathways Study with Candis
What kinds of discussions have you been having with your child on the way to school – as you pass by the cones and construction crews tearing up and reworking the road? In the spirit of our Ramps and Pathways study, our project groups set out on observation walks to see what we could discover. We watched backhoes moving dirt, jackhammers drilling through concrete, and we discovered a man in a very deep hole. We sat on the sidewalk, and noted these observations in our science notebooks.

One group interviewed a worker, who told us, “We’re widening the sidewalks, and planting trees and grass.”
Arden asked, “Are you putting in a storm drain?”
Alani wondered if they were putting in a train.

I listened to their ideas and questions, without giving much feedback, to see how their observations and interactions might inform their ideas (and misconceptions). In the upcoming weeks, we will continue our walks and begin further research about the city’s plans. I’m hoping to find opportunities for the children to read articles, look at planning maps, maybe even interview “an expert” about the project. If you’ve been involved in developing this project, or know someone who has, please let me know. As we are constantly designing our own pathways in the classroom, we would love to interview someone who helped organize/design the improvements to street in front of our school!

HOPE TO SEE YOU AT THE FAMILY DANCE!!!
Candis, Chrysta, Graciela, Nadja, and Jackie

Candis: cberens@smmusd.org
Chrysta: cwyse@smmusd.org
Graciela: gbarba-castro@smmusd.org

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CORE 2 NEWS

What did you enjoy about the 100th Day of School in Core 2?
Reported by Maya Furukawa, Zelda Saltzman, and Lily Tenzer

We found out how many jumping jacks we could do in 100 seconds and because it got me thinking. (Audrey)

We have learned so much in 100 days of school. (Josh)

I liked the math games because you could choose your math game. (Hannah)

I like the 100th Day of School because we got to play math games with the 3rd graders. I never get to play math games with them. (Nathan)

I liked the 100th Day of School because we got to think of what we would do with 100 some things and could write whatever we wanted. (Dixie)

I liked everything. (Blaise)

The jumping jacks were fun. (Max)

I loved the If I Had 100 sheet. (Gala, Oisin )

I liked playing Go Collecting. (Myles)

I liked doing 100 jumping jacks! (RamRattan)

Important dates for Core 2
Friday, Feb 10 – Family Dance tonight, 6:00-8:00
Monday, Feb 13 – rescheduled trip to Star Eco Station, 9:00 – 2:00, sign
the peach colored permission slip sent home Tuesday and return ASAP
Tuesday, Feb 14 – Valentine’s Day, refer to the guidelines sent home in last week’s Friday letter
Monday, Feb 20 – President’s Day Holiday – no school
Friday, Mar 2 – Celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday, Pajama Day
Friday, Mar 9 – SMASHing Jog-a-thon
Monday, Mar 26 – Symphonic Adventure at Samo High – walking
Wednesday, Mar 28 – Arts with Julianna daytime sharing
Wednesday, Mar 28 – Open House, 6PM

Laura: lsherman@smmusd.org
Jayme: j.wold@smmusd.org
Tamara: tmugalian@smmusd.org
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CORE 3 NEWS

Field Trip to Santa Monica Daily Press! Orange Advisory-Tues Feb. 14; Blue-Advisory Tues Feb. 21! We need chaperones for these trips (departing 11:30 and returning by 3:00). Please contact Genie if you are interested! We can't go without 1 chaperone for each advisory and would ideally like 2 chaperones with each group.

Valentine's Day and its celebrations are in the month of February! Traditionally Core 3 does not have students distribute cards to each other. We will honor the day but the kids will not need to bring anything.

AstroCamp District Permission Slips went home today and need to get signed and returned! Thanks!

6th gr Math w/ Carrie: On Thursday we reviewed the work we did for this unit in preparation for the assessment on Tuesday. Students were invited to take their math binders home with them to study. Encourage your child to take some extra time to review fractions, decimals and percents.
6th gr Math w/ Amanda: 6th grade finished their UCLA math games and recently took a quiz. We will begin a geometry unit this Friday.
5th gr Math w/ Genie: We had our assessment and reflection on fractions and percents. We've moved on to decimals and their relationship to fractions and percents. Please look in your child's backpack (hopefully they show you on their own) for the final assessment and reflection. There is helpful parent information and a spot for you to sign and have returned, so I know you are aware of your child's progress in this unit.

Science w/ Carrie: Our study of biomes/ecosystems continued with looking more in depth at one biome and thinking about how that biome has been affected by humans. Next week students will begin their personal investigations of a biome/ecosystem of their choice. More information about the scope of the project will be in next Friday's letter.

SS w/ Amanda: Core 3 has started exploring Ancient Greece. We have been discussing how geography influenced Ancient Greece. Students are now in city-states and are going to earn points for their city-state by showing pride, mental prowess, and being exemplary citizens. They have also received Greek names and will present their research in a 1-minute presentation on Friday.

RW/WW w/ Genie: Visual Literacy was our vocabulary words of the week and it helped us to make sense of the documentary preview, "Miss Representation". We know that even looking at pictures and video, we need to make sense of what we read and think about the writer/artist/director's point. We also worked hard to quickly publish our column essay and our news article. We hope to get our newspapers and publications out next week—we'll see! That way we can publish at least 3 issues. Ask your child what their column and news article topics are for their first publication.

Art with Kristy: We played 2 fun improv games, "Props" and "Iris Song". Please check out the Core 3 website to see some clips. Also watch a few old episodes from "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" with your child, which helps our new comedians see experts in action.

SuperSMASH Core 3 Art Auction Piece: We have a great idea for our auction item for the students to create! We just need some parent to lead the project! Please talk to Genie or Erin McIntire if interested!

Homework:
6G Math: study for the unit assessment!
5G Math: Packet #20 due Fri 2/17.
Writing: Collect 3 entries in their notebook (3 full pages)—notebooks should be getting filled.
Reading: read every day for 30-40 minutes!

Our very own Kristy published a book with Karin and Ingrid called "101 Things To Do With Your Kids At The Airport". It is available now online at the following website https://www.createspace.com/3757115

Congratulations Shaquil!
State Senator, Fran Pavley, awarded Shaquil the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Monica’s Games Room Youth of the Year for excellence in character, leadership, and outstanding service to the community and club!

Genie, Carrie, Amanda and Malaika
Genie: ghwang@smmusd.org Carrie: cferguson@smmusd.org
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CORE 4 NEWS

Last Tuesday, on February 7, 2012 we went on a field trip to the Morgan-Wixon Theatre to see a performance of Romeo and Juliet. The play was a modern day version and it had two girls translating the Shakespearean words into simpler, modern day English. Some familiar actors in the performance were Sebastian Shier and Sadie Saltzman. Also, Gabriel Shier was a part of the stage crew and controlled the lights. We enjoyed the performance.
Written by Seanie Prendergast

QuikScience: Team Steelhead Update
Last Friday, on February 3, 2012 one of the SMASH QuikScience teams took a field trip to Malibu Creek State Park. Along the drive to the park, we visited the Rindge Dam in Malibu Creek. This dam is a huge part of our science project because it is one of the reasons the Steelhead Trout population decreased in Malibu Creek. We also stopped by the Tapia Water Reclamation Facility. While we were there, we looked over a bridge, to check out the creek and saw something red. We decided to go down to the creek to investigate. We discovered it was a crayfish catcher for the invasive Louisiana Red Swamp Crayfish. This species is contributing to our problem and we consider ourselves lucky that someone else has taken the initiative to get rid of the crayfish.

When we were arrived at the Malibu Creek State Park, we took a short hike to three different parts of the Malibu Creek Watershed. We tested for macro-invertebrates in two different pools of water and found nearly none. We returned to the first pool we visited and we did a swimming survey. We observed a sandy river bottom and multiple flood plains along all three of the river banks. The water temperature was around 48o F (8.8o C), which was freezing cold. Also, on the banks of most of the streams, there were barely any trees. We concluded that this part of the Malibu Creek Watershed is not a good habitat for Steelhead Trout to spawn.
Written by Kayla Palleiko

Upcoming Events
February 10, 2012 at 6:00 pm - Family Dance
February 14, 2012 - Core 4 starts dance during P.E.
February 17, 2012 - Field Trip to the Broad
February 20, 2012 - President’s Day (No School)
February 23, 2012 - Field Trip to the Skirball Center

Darwin Mendinueto - dmendinueto@smmusd.org
Kurt Holland - kholland@smmusd.org

2012-02-03T14:11:00.000-08:00

Come to the
SMASH Family Dance
NEXT Friday, February 10
6-8 PM
WE’LL HAVE MARDI GRAS FUN!

LIVE MUSIC by The CRAWFISH WRANGLERS
SNACKS! * CRAFTS! * RAFFLES!

Bring $5 for admission and extra $$ for the raffle and mask making!!

FAMILIES: PLEASE BRING THE FOLLOWING SNACKS

Core 1: Cheese and Cracker Platters, Chips, Pretzels, other salty snacks and carbs
Core 2: Cut up Fruit and Vegetables. Dips and Salsas
Core 3: Desserts - easy, single serving desserts - cookies, brownie bites, chocolates, etc.
Core 4: Desserts - easy, single serving desserts - cookies, brownie bites, chocolates, etc.

Laissez les bon temps rouler! (Let the good times roll!)

Sponsored by the SMASH Student Council Krewe
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DATES TO REMEMBER
Wed, Feb 8 - 6:00pm - PTSA Meeting

Fri, Feb 10 - 6:00-8:00pm - SMASH Family Dance

Sat, Feb 11 - 7:30pm - A Night of Love Songs & Poetry to benefit the SMASH Middle School Music Program

Mon, Feb 13 - 9:00-10:30am - SMASH School Tour

Fri, Feb 17 - 8:30-9:30am - Parent Ed - Creating Upstanders: Anti-bullying efforts at SMASH/John Muir

Mon, Feb 27 - 9:00-10:30am - SMASH School Tour

SAVE THE DATE!
Fri, Mar 9 - SMASH Jog-a-Thon. Sign up now to volunteer

Tue, Mar 13 - 6:00pm - SMASH Talent Show

Fri, Mar 16 - 9:15am - Astrocamp assembly

Fri, Mar 30 - Last day to apply for SMASH for September (ALL siblings MUST have their applications in)

Sat, May 19 - SuperSMASH. Sign up now to volunteer.
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SANTA MONICA HIGH SCHOOL’S CAFÉ SAMO
Friday, February 3 at 7:30 pm and Saturday, February 4 at 3:30pm and 7:30pm
Humanities Center Theater, 2nd floor, English Building
$10 at the door. Food, desserts and drinks are for sale before shows and during intermission
Café Samo is a cabaret style show produced annually by the Samohi Choir Program, featuring dozens of talented student performers who create and produce their own musical acts.
For information: www.samohichoir.org or 310-395-3204
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A night of
LOVE
SONGS & POETRY
special guest artists share passions in a pre-valentine’s day
Benefit for the SMASH Middle School Music Program
Saturday, February 11 at 7:30
1939 Westridge Terrace, Los Angeles, 90049
$15
rsvp liamjack1@mac.com
Or 310-471-4718
desserts and something bubbly
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Sign up - Stay informed.
A new service from the city of Santa Monica
Visit SMAlerts.net
In the event of an emergency, get important text, email or voice messages sent to your mobile phone, your work email, your home or anywhere you need to receive important safety messages. It’s easy and free. For more information, visit SMAlerts.net or call the Office of Emergency Management at 310-458-2263
*********************
WHAT IS GOING TO BE ON THIS YEAR’S JOG-A-THON T-SHIRT?
Lola Libby-Bleser’s Popsicle Design
Lilly Chertock’s “It’s all about the Popcicle” slogan
*********************
The SMASH Jog-a-thon t-shirt needs you!
Deadline Extended: Tues, February 7
T-shirt sponsors make it possible for all students and teachers to take home a Jog-a-thon t-shirt. Sponsorship is tax deductible to the extent allowable by law. Sponsor names adorn the back of the t-shirt. As a token of appreciateon for their generous support, t-shirt sponsors receive a complimentary t-shirt.

Fill out the form below and drop off in the office by the deadline above.
Make your check payable to SMASH PTSA.

Become a Corporate Sponsor
(donations of $150, $200 or $250)
or
Become a SMASHing Sponsor
(donations of $25, $50 or $100)

Questions?

Contact Lillie Schlessinger (213) 742-3394 – lillie.schlessinger@transamerica.com
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 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 adult sizes since all students will already receive a complimentary t-shirt. If you specifically want your complimentary tshirt to be a child’s size, please note this.)
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SMASH Site Council Minutes
Wednesday, February 1, 2012 5:00 PM Core 2
In Attendance: Laura Sherman, Jessica Rishe, Aurora Delaney, Nathan Goldenberg, Toby Romero, Malaika Boyer, Jackie Boyd, Candis Berens
Absent: Chrysta Wyse, Elizabeth Kramer, Nina Fresco, Shaquil Johnson, Izzy Strick, Mimi Lichterman, Graciela Barba-Castro
Moved by Aurora. Seconded by Toby. Agenda Adopted.
Moved by Nathan. Seconded by Toby. Minutes approved from last meeting with correction that Candis Berens was in attendance, NOT absent.
Community participation: What was the total ice skating fundraising amount? Approximately $300. Student concern about John Muir PE using the basketball court during SMASH lunch. This happens on Wednesdays only.
Reports and Announcements (regular agenda items)
Principal’s Report: SMASH was positively recognized at the State of Our Schools address for our work in mathematics instruction.
Student Reports: Core 3: Moving out of our unit on Apartheid. We have a field trip Tuesday to see Romeo & Juliet. Elective group visiting LACMA tomorrow. 5th graders are going to Astrocamp. Started Journalism unit of study. Running a newspaper or tv talk show. We will be visiting the Santa Monica Daily Press. Core 2 had the Camp Josepho sharing today. Core 1 and 2 visited the Aquarium this week.
Community Organization Reports (to include but not limited to the following):
PTSA: Multicultural potluck was delicious and fun. SuperSMASH carnival and auction planning is underway. Arts & Letters Sale will take place in 2012-2013.
Student Council: There is a Family Dance Assembly this Friday and the theme for the February 10 dance is Carnival, Mardi Gras.
Old Business: Dan McGee will be on the Superintendent Advisory Group elementary subcommittee, Jessica Rishe will be on the middle school subcommittee.
New Business: 92 respondents from SMASH to SMMUSD Homework Survey included comments. Site Council representatives reviewed comments and created a Friday Letter entry using comments notable to them. Nathan wants to know what percentage of students complete 100% of the homework.
Community participation: None
Moved by Nathan. Seconded by Candis. Meeting Adjourned.
Next meeting is Wed, March 7.
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CORE 1 NEWS
Optional100th Day of School Homework
1. List things you and your family could easily collect in quantities of 100.
2. Choose something from your list and gather 100 of that item. It may be a collection that you already have or a new collection. Please be sure that it is not too valuable (i.e., if one of the pieces of the collection gets lost, it will not be a huge disappointment).
3. Bring your collection to school on Monday, February 6 which is our 100th day of school! We count the objects in the collection during our 100 Day Celebration.

Appreciation
Thank you to the wonderful volunteers that joined us on our field trips on Monday and Tuesday. We had afantastic day of learning and fun on our field trips to the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium. For some childrenthe highlight of the trip was riding the Big Blue Bus, for others it was digging for creatures in the sand, butfor most it was seeing and touching sea animals inside the aquarium. The children participated in a lesson onocean habitats and animal adaptations for surviving in their homes. You kept children safe and engaged. We appreciate that you took the time to spend a day with us!

Celebrating Friendship
Core 1 traditionally showers their friends with valentines in a celebratory Magic Circle on February 14. If you wish, your child may bring 25 Valentines for all of the children in his/her circle group on the 14th.
Please don’t address the cards to specific children. You’re encouraged to write From: _______ or Love, ________, but please DO NOT write To: _________. This can get extremely confusing at our celebration. Remember: No sweets please! Your children’s love and kindness are sweet enough!

Birthday Bash
We will be honor children with their birthday in February at our next Birthday Bash on February 17 at 11:45 AM in the Magic Garden. If your child has a birthday in February, s/he will be taking home a note regarding birthday bash snacks.

Wishlist
Band-aids
Tissues
Hand Sanitizer

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!!
Candis, Chrysta, Graciela, Nadja, and Jackie

Candis: cberens@smmusd.org
Chrysta: cwyse@smmusd.org
Graciela: gbarba-castro@smmusd.org

SMASH FAMILY DANCE, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10 - 6:00-8:00PM
CORE 1 FAMILIES - Cheese and Cracker Platters, Chips, Pretzels, other salty snacks and carbs

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CORE 2 NEWS

The Friday Letter is Core 2’s main form of communication, and we want to keep that home/school connection going strong. We put a lot of time and thought into the articles, student quotes, calendars, and curricular updates we prepare for the Friday Letter each week. We also enclose math information, articles, field trip slips, and other important papers in your child’s Friday folder. We have noticed that families aren’t getting all of these papers—since students frequently ask for additional copies that have been lost, recycled or thrown away. Please make time to go through your child’s Friday Folder and read the Friday Letter/Core 2 page together each week as your child develops his/her independence and responsibility in this area. (Note: we admire your efforts to help SMASH be more green, so thank you for reading your Friday Papers via email or the SMASH website. If you would prefer to read a hard copy of the Friday Letter, please let us know and we promise not to hold it against you ;-)

Our field trip to the Star Ecostation has been rescheduled for Monday, 2/13 (As you no doubt heard, the bus was stuck behind an accident on PCH). And, yes, you will need to sign another trip slip (see next week’s Friday papers). Thanks for supporting all of our opportunities to get out into the real world. Ask your child about our recent adventures at the aquarium and UCLA’s Royce Hall. Speaking of amazing trips…

Thank you to those of you who were able to join us for our Camp Josepho sharing. If you couldn’t make it, have no fear—Oisin’s mom, Kathleen, is making an extended version of the slideshow for as a keepsake of the trip (and to raise money towards next year’s Core 2 overnight experience!). If you have any photos of the trip you would like to add, please send them to Kathleen (whitebloom@verizon.net) asap!

The 100th day of school is on Monday, February 6. This year, Core 2 will be holding a low-key celebration during math class. Your child does not need to bring a collection of 100 objects to school.

Valentine’s Day in Core 2 is on Tuesday, February 14 and we could all use a little love and appreciation. Core 2 traditionally delivers “Mail” to their classmates during our Valentine’s Day celebration. Your child may bring in 25 Valentines for all of the children in her/his Advisory group. It is optional to bring in enough Valentine’s for the entire Core (50). If your child would like to address his/her cards to individual students, please make sure he/she has a card for every student in his/her advisory or the entire core. Otherwise, he/she may simply sign the cars From: _________ or Love, ___________. NO candy please! The kids’ love, kindness, and appreciation for each other is sweet enough! If you would like to donate a special treat for the whole advisory (50 kids) to add to our celebration, please let Tamara or Laura know.

We hope you received and read the articles on the importance of reading and writing. There will not be a homework half sheet until ALL the writing homework “pledges” have been signed and returned. This month’s article is about…Math Homework:
Expect Your Child to Work Hard and be Able to Learn Math
Many adults leave school thinking that mathematics doesn't make sense. The way they learned math did not always enable them to efficiently solve problems in ways that made sense to them. When working with your child, keep in mind that children can make sense of mathematics if given the opportunity and support. Encourage your child to stick with a task even if it seems challenging. Be sure to talk through what the problem is asking and discuss some of the strategies that might be used to solve the problem. Help your child learn that there are many ways to solve problems.
"When parents and teachers alike believe that hard work pays off, and when mathematics is taught and learned by using all the strands of proficiency, mathematics performance improves for all students." Kilpatrick, J. & Swafford, J. Helping Children Learn Mathematics. (2002, p. 21).
Please enjoy the rest of this article enclosed in your child’s Friday folder.

Laura: lsherman@smmusd.org
Jayme: j.wold@smmusd.org
Tamara: tmugalian@smmusd.org

SMASH FAMILY DANCE, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10 - 6:00-8:00PM
CORE 2 FAMILIES - Please bring Cut up Fruit and Vegetables. Dips and Salsas
*********************
CORE 3 NEWS

Field Trip to Morgan-Wixson Theater a Modern Romeo & Juliet Tuesday, February 7. Chaperone's needed (departing at 10:15 and returning by 2:00). Please contact Genie if able to join us! We could use a few more chaperones!
Field Trip to Santa Monica Daily Press! Orange Advisory-Tues Feb. 14; Blue-Advisory Tues Feb. 21! Trip slips went out today for this last minute planned trip to our local newspaper as we are writing our own news articles and columns in Writing Workshop. Thanks to our very own SMASH family, The Furukawa family, for making this trip available to us. We need chaperones for these trips (departing 11:30 and returning by 3:00).
Please contact Genie if you are interested! We can't go without 1 chaperone for each advisory and would ideally like 2 chaperones with each group.

Valentine's Day and its celebrations are in the month of February!
Traditionally Core 3 does not have students distribute cards to each other. We will honor the day but the kids will not need to bring anything.

AstroCamp is Feb 22, 23, 24. Thank you for turning in your paperwork on time! Please go over the attached paper with your child so you can make sure you have what you need from the packing list and to go over what they will experience while they are away from home.

Dramatic Arts with Kristy: We were busy acting, laughing and improvising the past two weeks! We've learned new improv exercises like "Movers and Shakers", "Slide Show", "The Room Game", and "Interrogation". Ask your child about how to play them and what makes them funny and fun to play. Next time your family wants to play charades, try one of these activities!

Homework:
6G Math: Assignment 12B is due 2/9/12
5G Math: Packet #19 due Fri 2/10.
Writing: Collect 3 entries in their notebook (3 full pages), anything they want, can include ideas for their improv and comedy work with Kristy, newspaper column or article ideas, anything! Ask your child if they completed last week's writing homework?
Reading: read every day for 30-40 minutes! Don't forget to get in some nonfiction reading!

Hi Parents,
Today, Friday, February 3 will be my last official day of work before I begin my maternity leave. The baby is due in two weeks, but from recent doctor's visits, it seems like she might come sooner. I thought it best to get off my feet so I don't have the baby at school! I will continue to be around SMASH a bit next week (if I don't have the baby this weekend). I will be in class on Monday and Wednesday for math to help conclude the UCLA Math Games study and I plan to be at the Family Dance on Friday (again, unless I have a new baby) as well. I hope to see you there! I know that Core 3 will be in great hands with Genie, Carrie, and Amanda while I am gone. Amanda is planning an interesting, hands-on unit on life in Ancient Greece and I know the students are looking forward to delving into a different historic time period. I am excited to return to the classroom after Spring Break and already planning out our studies of Ancient Egypt.
I will send photos along in an email blast when the baby arrives. Thank you for all of your kind words and your great
children!
All the best, Erin
dodgers44@hotmail.com
ehaendel@smmusd.org

SMASH FAMILY DANCE, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10 - 6:00-8:00PM
CORE 3 FAMILIES - Please bring easy, single serving desserts (cookies, brownie bites, chocolates)
*********************
CORE 4 NEWS
Upcoming Events
February 7, 2012 - Field trip to Morgan-Wixon to watch Romeo and Juliet
February 10, 2012 - Family Dance
February 14, 2012 - Core 4 Dance begins
February 17, 2012 - Field trip to the Broad Theater
February 23, 2012 - Field trip to the Skirball Center

8th grade
This week in science, we started our teenage brain project and we dissected sheep brains.
We started chapter 7 (Exponents and Polynomials) in Algebra.

7th grade
We finished Our Yosemite projects last Friday! This week we will start our new science projects on a place or animal.
We took a spirit walk, to think of something we are interested in, so remember to have something in mind.

Language Arts/Humanities
Next week, students are will switch Language Arts/Humanities groups

QuickScience
Team Steelhead
In two weeks our QuickScience projects are due! Wish us luck! In case you didn't know our project is about Steelhead trout. More specifically Steelhead in the Malibu creek. These trout are being affected by a various number of things, such as pollution in the water, that includes High oxygen levels, Chemicals, oil, and sewage. On top of that there is a dam blocking their passage to spawn. Their population is continuing to drop with numbers that have gone down from 42,000 to 50 in the last 6 years.
Help us save the steel head trout by:
1. Liking us on facebook- Damn That Dam
2. Visit our website - www.damnthatdam.com
3. Follow us on twitter at - @ohdamthatdam
4. Visit our blog - damnthatdam.blogspot.com
5. Read the Santa Monica Daily press and look out for our article!
6. Email us with any questions regarding our project- troutymouth.qs@gmail.com
Thank you so much!
The Steelhead Team- Fiona, Naomi, Devin, Maya, Emma, Mackenzie, and Kayla

Team Mercury
Our projects are due on feb 13th. Our project is about the poisonous metal mercury. Mercury is mostly in fish and can damage their brain cells. Mercury poisoning can also result from being exposed to water soluble forms of mercury (such as mercuric chloride or methyl mercury), breathing mercury vapor, or eating seafood with tainted mercury. Mercury in a lake or a river, is converted to methyl mercury by bacteria and other processes. Fish absorb methyl mercury
from their food and from the water that passes over their gills. Mercury is tightly bound to proteins in all fish tissue, including muscle. There is no method of cooking or cleaning fish that will reduce the amount of mercury in a meal. Nationwide, mercury is represented in more fish consumption advisories than any other chemical.

QuikSCience: http://www.usc.edu/org/quikscience/
Our blog: http://teammercuryqs.blogspot.com/
Follow us on twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/teammercuryqs
For questions email: teammercuryqs@gmail.com

Written by William and Devin

SMASH FAMILY DANCE, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10 - 6:00-8:00PM
CORE 4 FAMILIES - Please bring easy, single serving desserts (cookies, brownie bites, chocolates)
***************

2012-01-27T15:04:00.000-08:00

Dear SMASHing Families,
Congratulations to our 4th-8th grade musicians for creating such a pure, strong, delightful sound at the concert Tuesday night. What a wonderful evening.

After our SMASH screening of Race to Nowhere last Spring, each Core held discussions and wrote Friday Letter entries reiterating teachers’ thoughts about homework. One of the ideas in the lower Cores included using homework as a communication tool with families so you understand what your children are learning and can have a non pressured way to practice some reading, writing, and math, with plenty of class time provided for on-going projects and research.
This December, there were 92 SMASH responses to the SMMUSD Homework Survey. When asked how you find out about your child’s homework, 55.4% said through the Friday Letter and 57.6 % said from your child.

81.3% said your child spends “about the right amount of time” doing homework
69.2% said your child occasionally or never needs help completing homework independently. 30.8% said your child usually or always needs help

At SMASH we believe, homework should never be a source of family stress. Based on the survey comments and statistics, for those who responded to the survey, it seems like this goal of low intensity homework is being achieved.
If homework ever becomes a source of contention between you and your child, please contact your teacher so we can create a smoother homework agreement with your family.
Jessica
****************************
DATES TO REMEMBER
Tues, Jan 31 - SMASH night at California Pizza Kitchen
Tues, Jan 31 - 6:30pm - Virginia Avenue Park - State of Our Schools
Wed, Feb 1 - 2:00-2:50pm - Camp Josepho sharing - in Core 2
Wed, Feb 1 - 5:00pm - Site Council
Thurs, Feb 3 - Last day to be a Jog-a-Thon T-shirt sponsor!
Wed, Feb 8 - 6:00pm - PTSA Meeting
Fri, Feb 10 - 6:00-8:00pm - SMASH Family Dance
Sat, Feb 11 - 7:30pm - A night of Love songs & poetry to benefit the SMASH Middle School Music Program
Fri, Feb 17 - 8:30-9:30am - Parent Ed - Creating Upstanders: Anti-bullying efforts at SMASH/John Muir

SAVE THE DATE!
Fri, Mar 9 - SMASH Jog-a-Thon. Sign up now to volunteer
Tue, Mar 13 - 6:00pm - SMASH Talent Show
Fri, Mar 16 - 9:15am - Astrocamp assembly
Fri, Mar 30 - Last day to apply for SMASH for September (ALL siblings MUST have their applications in)
Sat, May 19 - SuperSMASH. Sign up now to volunteer.
****************************
SMASH Restaurant FUNd r a i s e r N i g h t
Come out and have fun with friends and family
CALIFORNIA PIZZA KITCHEN
210 WILSHIRE BLVD.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 31 - ALL DAY!
CPK will donate 20% of your total back to SMASH PTSA. (This includes take out.)
SEE YOU THERE!
Make sure to bring the flyer attached to today’s Friday Letter & e-mail
****************************
SMASH Site Council Agenda
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
5:00 PM Core 2
Adopt Agenda

Approve minutes of last meeting
Community participation
Reports and Announcements (regular agenda items)
Principal’s Report
Student Reports
Community Organization Reports (to include but not limited to the following):
PTSA
Student Council
Other
Old Business
Discuss SMMUSD centralized fundraising working group
New Business
Discuss Homework Survey Results
Community participation (is applicable)
Adjourn
****************************

A night of
LOVE
SONGS & POETRY
special guest artists share
passions in a pre-valentine’s day
Benefit for the
SMASH Middle School
Music Program

Saturday, February 11 at 7:30
1939 Westridge Terrace, Los Angeles, 90049
$15
rsvp liamjack1@mac.com
Or 310-471-4718
desserts and something bubbly
***************************
ptsa news
president’s message

Dear SMASHing Parents,

As you many of you already know, the 7th Annual STATE OF OUR SCHOOLS Community Report will be presented by Superintendent Sandra Lyon and special guests on Tuesday, January 31 - 6:30- 9:00pm at Virginia Avenue Park, Thelma Terry Building, 2200 Virginia Avenue, in Santa Monica. There is plenty of parking, especially on the Pico at 23rd St. parking lot. Sandy Lyon and others will be presenting the latest information on student achievement, educational initiatives and SMMUSD’s financial health. I expect there will be an update on the plan for centralized fundraising and a report on the first meeting the Superintendent’s Advisory Committee, which met last Monday in the SMMUSD Board Room.

In the past this event has not been well attended. SMASH has a great opportunity to get noticed if we can get at least 5 people to attend and ask questions afterwards. Please mark the day in your calendar and make plans to attend. This is a chance for SMASH parents to get involved have your voice heard.
Dan McGee

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 green tip
How Many Times Can You Use Paper? Consider this: the U.S. alone uses 4 million tons of copy paper annually, about 27 pounds per person. Save all those one sided flyers and junk mail letters. You can use the backside for printing or for scratch paper. Visit http://content.photojojo.com/diy/photo-cover-notepad/ to learn
how to make your own notepad from scratch paper. Cut up cereal, tissue, and cracker boxes also make excellent note paper. Save money, trees, and landfills by usiing blank, new paper sparingly and reusing as much one-sided paper as possible. Search your offices and homes for one-sided, non-confidential paper. SMASH classrooms could always use one sided scratch paper for drawing and classwork. You'd be surprised how quick a stack of paper disappears with excited artists and writers!

No Terracycle Collection 2/2-2/8: There will be no Terracycle pick up at SMASH between 2/2-2/8. Please bring in your Terracycling from home before 2/2 or save it until 2/9. DO NOT bring your Terracycling to school during those dates as it will not be picked up and will attract critters. Thank you!
****************************
BASEBALL PLAYER EVALUATION—RESCHEDULED
Last week’s scheduled Player Evaluation has been rescheduled for this Saturday, Jan 28 at Los Amigos Park. (Corner of Hollister and 5th St.)
Player evaluations will begin at 9:00 am and continue through 1:00 pm.
Players should arrive twenty minutes before their specific division's evaluations period:
Pony Division, ages 13-14, begin at 9:00 am.
Bronco Division, ages 11-12, begin at 10:00 am.
Mustang Division, ages 9-10, begin at 11:00 am.
Pinto Division, ages 7-8, begin at 12:00 noon.
Shetland Division, ages 4-6, Evaluations are not required.

Teams are forming now so hurry down and register for the 2012 Season.
Opening day is March 3rd !!!
****************************
Hey SMASH,
the Family Dance is coming!

Friday, February 10
6-8PM

*People don’t have to go to New Orleans For Mardi Gras,
we’re having our own right here at SMASH!
We’ll have LIVE MUSIC, tasty snacks, crafts, raffle, and FUN!
Admission $5 per person
Includes a live band and snacks
Be sure to bring extra $$ for raffle prizes and Mardi Gras mask making!

*Presented by the SMASH Student Council
****************************
The SMASH Jog-a-thon t-shirt needs you!
Deadline: February 3rd

T-shirt sponsors make it possible for all students and teachers to take home a Jog-a-thon t-shirt. Sponsorship is tax deductible to the extent allowable by law. Sponsor names adorn the back of the t-shirt. As a token of appreciation for their generous support, t-shirt sponsors receive a complimentary t-shirt.

Fill out the form below and drop off in the office by the deadline above. Make
your check payable to SMASH PTSA.

Become a Corporate Sponsor
(donations of $150, $200 or $250)
or
Become a SMASHing Sponsor
(donations of $25, $50 or $100)

Questions?
Contact Lillie Schlessinger (213) 742-3394 – lilie.schlessinger@transamerica.com

------------------------------------------ -------------- ---------------------------------------Sponsorship: Corporate ___$250 ___$200 ___$150

SMASHing ___$10 0 ___$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 adult sizes 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.)

****************************
CORE 1 NEWS
VALENTINE’S DAY TRADITION IN C1 is on Tuesday, February 14 and love is in
the air. Core 1 traditionally showers their friends in Valentines in a celebratory Magic
Circle.

Your child may bring 25 Valentines for all of the children in his/her circle group on the 14th.
Please don’t address the cards to specific children. You’re encouraged to write From: _______
or Love, ________, but please DO NOT write To: _________. This can get extremely confusing at our celebration….
P.S. No sweets please! Your children’s love and kindness are sweet enough!!

AQUARIUM FIELD TRIP REMINDER:
Core 1 has been invited to visit the Santa Monica Aquarium on January 30th and 31st.
Here is how it will work:

Monday, January 30th – ALL MENTORS AND SOME PARTNERS
(this group has received a yellow permission slip)

Tuesday, January 31st – ALL BIGS AND SOME PARTNERS
(this group has received a green permission slip)

PLEASE ARRIVE TO SCHOOL ON TIME Both groups will leave school as early as possible (before 9:00) on the BIG BLUE BUS #8. We will eat snack before our program (which starts at 9:30). We will also have time to play at the park, eat lunch, and walk back to school. Please pack enough food and water for your child for the entire day. Sunscreen is also recommended. We will return to school around 1:00.

If you have not already done so, please complete your child’s permission slip and return it with your child’s $1 bus fare in an envelope with your child’s name. If you’re available, please email Graciela (if your child is going with the Mentors) or Chrysta (If your child is going with the Bigs) if you have not already signed up and want to join us as a chaperone. Parents’ assistance is essential to keep our trips safe and fun for all.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!!
Candis, Chrysta, Graciela, Nadja, and Jackie

Candis: cberens@smmusd.org
Chrysta: cwyse@smmusd.org
Graciela: gbarba-castro@smmusd.org
****************************
CORE 2 NEWS
Core 2 Dates to Remember
Monday, January 30 – field trip to Star Eco Station, 8:35 – 2:00
Wednesday, February 1 -- field trip to Santa Monica Pier Aquarium, 8:45 – 12:00
Wednesday, February 1 – Camp Josepho sharing, 2:00 – 2:50, in Core 2
Monday, February 6 – 100th Day of School
Tuesday, February 14 – Valentine’s Day
Monday, February 20 – President’s Day Holiday – no school
Friday, March 2 – Celebrate Dr. Suess’ birthday, Pajama Day
Friday, March 9 – SMASHing Jog-a-thon
Monday, March 26 – Symphonic Adventure at Samo High – walking
Wednesday, March 28 – Arts with Julianna daytime sharing
Wednesday, March 28 – Open House, 6PM

Wish list: scratch paper, tissues, scotch tape refills (we have the holders), hand sanitizers and large refill

In Art with Julianna we have been exploring different ways to create objects with clay – pinch pots, and slab shapes. We have Art every Wed, 8:30 – 10:15, and would love to have parent helpers. We especially need help on the starred days. If you could come in for one of these sessions please let us know ASAP!

Wed, 2/1 – no Art, to be rescheduled, field trip to Santa Monica Aquarium,
2/8 – Art
*2/15 – Art cutting cardboard
2/22 – No Art
*2/27 – Art cutting cardboard
3/7 – Art
3/14 – Art
3/21 – Art
Wednesday, March 28 – Arts with Julianna daytime sharing

Tamara, Laura, Jayme, and Karin

Laura: lsherman@smmusd.org
Jayme: j.wold@smmusd.org
Tamara: tmugalian@smmusd.org
****************************
CORE 3 NEWS
*Field Trip to Morgan-Wixson Theater a Modern Romeo & Juliet Tuesday, February 7. We’re requesting a $7.00 donation. Chaperone's needed (departing at 10:15 and returning by 2:00). Please contact Genie if able to join us!

*5th grade Astro Camp paperwork must be turned in by February 1. Final payment is also due by February 1! Please e-mail Genie at ghwang@smmusd.org if you need information on your payment status.

Please talk to your child about taking care of their belongings and being mindful of other people's belongings. As we are working on keeping organized, prepared, and being upstanders in our community, there continues to be issues with pencils being taken out of backpacks and cases without permission. More awareness and more communication does make a difference in keeping everyone's belongings safe. Thanks!

6th gr Math w/ Carrie: We focused on converting improper fractions to mixed fractions (and back) as well as beginning to look at how to convert fractions to percents.
6th gr Math w/ Erin: We continued our participation in the UCLA Math Games Study. Students are enjoying the games while at the same time practicing their math skills and contributing valuable research material to UCLA.
5th gr Math w/ Genie: We have been adding and subtracting fractions and been using the clock and the friendly number 12, but also know that we need to find a common denominator of a variety of numbers so knowing our multiples of numbers is important. We are also using our factors knowledge to help us find our numerators to know how many 3's (or 1/3s) are in 12 or how many 4's (or 1/4s) are in a 12. Help you child by practicing their factors and multiples of a number. Try it out with 12, 24, 60, and 100.

Science w/ Carrie: Our study of technology had us look at "sticky sites" and how to "cite a site". We also began our research on biomes, ecosystems, and habitats. One of our "Big Questions" is, "What is the difference between a biome, an ecosystem, and a habitat?"

SS w/ Erin: This week Kaiden's mom, Cris, came to tell us about her experiences volunteering in post-apartheid South Africa. She spent almost 2 hours with each group of students, showing an amazing slide show and sharing different statistics about life under apartheid. The students were able to see photos of Piesang River, the Black homeland where she lived and worked. She also showed the contrasting parks and homes of the White citizens of Cape Town. It was an
incredibly eye opening and informative presentation for the children (and for me). Thanks Cris!

We also spent time doing some non-fiction Social Studies reading and discussion. The students read and thought about a current article on education from the NY Times. We discussed the ideas in the article: should parents have the right to opt their child out of parts of the public school curriculum that they don't agree with? Feel free to discuss with your child.

RW/WW w/ Genie: We have been listening and reading different news columns and articles as we launched our Journalism and Nonfiction Reading Units. We are reading different news articles and columns which are like essays and each journalist will have to write one column and one article for their group's newspaper. Encourage your child to read the newspaper or read the news online to practice their nonfiction reading skills and to help them get ideas for their writing. They will be able to choose their publishing format, paper, blog, audio, or video as well as their group's newspapers name.

Homework:
6G Math: #10B is due Thursday, February 2.
5G Math: Packet #18 due Fri 2/3.
Writing: Collect 3 entries in their notebook (3 full pages), anything they want, can include ideas for their improv and comedy work with Kristy, newspaper column or article ideas, anything!
Reading: read every day for 30-40 minutes! Ask your child how many books they have completed this year.
Juliana, our SMASH artist-in-residence will be teaching a Saturday Watercolor Class from 10am-12pm for 9-12 year olds at Otis Parsons (see Otis Parson website for further details)
DEAR MIDDLE SCHOOL STRINGS & WINDS “MY GIRL” PERFORMERS,
You were incredible at your concert musicians! In order to capture the wonderful sound of both groups playing My Girl, Lori Nafshun has generously agreed to film you next Tuesday, January 31st at 8:00am in the SMASH Library with both groups side by side.
So...bring your instruments and yourselves to the Library at 8:00am on Tuesday.
Kevin & Mike’s winds group will then go to Core 4 at 8:30
Robbie’s strings group will stay in the library to finish your class time until 9:15.
Please, remind your friends to be on time so we can have a good video of your wonderful music.

*Reminder: Sat, Feb 11 at 7:30pm, SMASH middle school music program fundraiser—details in today’s letter

****************************
CORE 4 NEWS
8th grade
In 8th grade science, we are beginning to get a test every other Wednesday. We will also be beginning projects with partners. We will choose an experiment from our written test last week or from the test for next week such as Newton’s unit of measure and force. We will create an experiment that represents our choice. In Algebra, we just finished our first semester finals. Some students had it up to chapter 6 and the others had it up to chapter 5. There is a chapter 6 test on Monday, January 30th. We also have rearranged our mini support groups.

7th grade
In science we are completing our Yosemite boards by Friday the 27th. Our Yosemite boards are about animals, plants, weather, and geological features. In Pre-Algebra, we are finishing up chapter four and it is due by Friday the 27th. We will start chapter five next week.

Humanities
In Humanities, we are finishing up with a mini unit on religion. We recently received this assignment and each person was assigned a religion to study. So far, we have learned that Scientology is the newest religion and that Hinduism is the oldest religion. We also found out that Christianity has the greatest numbers, but, Islam is the fastest growing religion. This will be our last unit before we switch to language arts.

Language arts
We created book clubs and decided on a book to read. We are working on our book club projects. Some of the projects we are working on are character boards, power point, plot timeline/story mountain, and literature responses. We are also were wrapping up our vocabulary unit by making either a skit or a story.

Written by Daniel. K and Sebastian. S

Dear Middle School Strings and Winds “My Girl” Performers,
You were incredible at your concert musicians! In order to capture the wonderful sound of both groups playing My Girl, Lori Nafshun has generously agreed to film you next Tuesday, January 31st at 8:00am in the SMASH Library with both groups side by side.

So...bring your instruments and yourselves to the Library at 8:00am on Tuesday.
Kevin & Mike’s winds group will then go to Core 4 at 8:30
Robbie’s strings group will stay in the library to finish your class time until 9:15.
Please, remind your friends to be on time so we can have a good video of your wonderful music.
- Jessica

Upcoming events
• Core 4 Parent Ed. Night - February 1, 2012 at 6:30 p.m.
• Language Arts Celebration - February 3, 2012
• Trip to the Morgan-Wixon Theatre to watch Romeo and Juliet for Kids - February 7, 2012 at 11:15 a.m.
• Sat, Feb 11 at 7:30pm, SMASH middle school music program fundraiser—details in today’s letter

Darwin Mendinueto dmendinueto@smmusd.org

Kurt Holland kholland@smmusd.org
****************************
Santa Monica - Malibu Schools
“Like life, racial understanding is not something that we find, but something that we must create.” -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

THE SANTA MONICA-MALIBU UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
Is sponsoring another opportunity for
Members of the community to
Come together to participate in a
Dialogue on Race.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
9:00am - 12:00pm
Santa Monica High School
We welcome your voice and contribution to the dialogue, and working
with us to make our community a truly respectful place.
*********************************************************************
In order that we may plan appropriately, please let us know that you will be attending
by contacting Sara Wahrenbrock at swahrenbrock@smmusd.org.
or 310-450-8338, ext. 70241; or send the bottom section of this sheet to
Sarah Wahrenbrock - SMMUSD
1651 16th St
Santa Monica, CA 90405
__________________________________________________________________
I will be attending the Dialog on Race on Saturday, February 4, 2012

Name _______________________________________
Number of people attending including yourself _________________

Name(s) of additional attendees ____________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________
****************************

2012-01-20T15:15:00.000-08:00

Dear SMASHing Families,
Many thanks to the organizers and participants at the Multicultural Pot Luck Wednesday. What a treat to have Lebanese pepper walnut hummus and sweet Jewish kugel all in one meal! It was a pleasure sharing delicious dishes and good family fun together.

Come join us for the Music Concert next Tuesday, January 24 6:00-9:00pm. Enjoy the continuum of our 4th through 8th grade musicians!

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend in the meantime.
Jessica
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DATES TO REMEMBER
Mon, Jan 23 - 9:00-10:30am - SMASH School Tour
Tues, Jan 24 - 6:00-9:00pm - Music Concert - See details in today’s Friday Letter
Tues, Jan 24 - all day - Ben & Jerry's on Main St. Use flyer & 20% of total goes to SMASH
Fri, Jan 27 - 8:45am - Yosemite Assembly - Auditorium
Fri, Jan 27 - Last day to submit Jog-a-Thon t-shirt design
Tues, Jan 31 - 6:30pm - Virginia Avenue Park - State of Our Schools
Wed, Feb 1 - 2:00-2:50pm - Camp Josepho sharing - in Core 2
Wed, Feb 1 - 5:00pm - Site Council
Thurs, Feb 3 - Last day to be a Jog-a-Thon T-shirt sponsor!
Wed, Feb 8 - 6:00pm - PTSA Meeting

SAVE THE DATE
Tues, Jan 31 - SMASH night at California Pizza Kitchen
Fri, Feb 10 - 6:00-8:00pm - SMASH Family Dance
Fri, Feb 17 - 8:30-9:30am - Parent Ed - Creating Upstanders: Anti-bullying efforts at SMASH/John Muir
Fri, Mar 9 - SMASH Jog-a-Thon. Sign up now to volunteer
Tue, Mar 13 - 6:00pm - SMASH Talent Show
Fri, Mar 16 - 9:15am - Astrocamp assembly
Fri, Mar 30 - Last day to apply for SMASH for September
(ALL siblings MUST have their applications in)
Sat, May 19 - SuperSMASH. Sign up now to volunteer.
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7th Annual Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School Distinct
STATE OF OUR SCHOOLS
Community Report
Superintendent Sandra Lyon and special guests present the latest information on:
Student Achievemen, Educational Initiatives and SMMUSD’s financial health
Tuesday, January 31 - 6:30-9:00pm
Virginia Avenue Park, Thelma Terry Building
2200 Virginia Avenue, Santa Monica
For more information, e-mail: swahrenbrock@smmusd.org
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Ben & Jerry’s
Tuesday, January 24 (2441 Main Street)
Join us after school for an event where giving won’t just feel good, it will taste great!
Bring the flyer that was sent home with each student today, on Tuesday, January 24 and
20% of your total will be donated back to the SMASH Middle School Music Program!
See You There!
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Hey SMASH,
the Family Dance is coming!
Friday, February 10
6-8PM
*People don’t have to go to New Orleans For Mardi Gras,
we’re having our own right here at SMASH!
We’ll have LIVE MUSIC,
tasty snacks, crafts, raffle, and
FUN!
*Presented by the SMASH Student Council
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GREEN LIVING WORKSHOPS
Save Money by Learning Solutions to Today’s Greatest Environmental Challenges
Upcoming Green Living Workshops
GLW 101
3 hour condensed version of the 6-week workshop.
Sat, Feb 4; 10am-1pm. Center for Environmental & Urban Studies.
Energy Workshop
LED Demonstration workshop covering energy issues.
Tuesday, Feb 28; 7-8:30pm. Santa Monica Main Library
Sign Up at Sustainableworks.eventbright.com
***************

The UCLA Family Commons Family Public Expert Series
Feb 1 - Understanding Children’s Anxiety & Obsessive Behavior; Dr. John Piacentini
Upcoming Classes & Programs:
0-5 Parenting: Putting the fun into fundamentals - Workshops every Friday 12:30-2:00pm
Youth Mindfulness - Six-week class beginning Jan 21. Classes for 10-12 year-olds & 13-16 year olds
Meet Our Team - Mommy & Me Music at the Family Commons. Monday & Wednesdays at 10:30am
1221 2nd Street; Santa Monica, CA 90401
310-395-5650; www.uclacommons.com
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Run for your lives! The SMASH
Jog-a-thon is coming Friday, March 9
· Submit a t-shirt design by 1/27. 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 27.
Save the date. The Jog-a-thon takes place Friday, March 9. 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 2/3. 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 February 3.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 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 adult sizes 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.)

SMASH Jog-a-thon FAQs

Question: When is the Jog-a-thon?
Answer: Friday, March 9th from approximately 8:30 to 11:30 am. (An exact schedule will be printed in a Friday Letter before the event.)
Question: What happens at the Jog-a-thon?
Answer: SMASH students (and many teachers, parents, siblings and friends) run or walk laps to raise money for our school. Each student will be given a pledge packet a few weeks before the event and encouraged to get family, friends and neighbors to make a financial pledge for each lap run.
Question: How long is a lap and how many minutes will the students run?
Answer: Since SMASH’s field doesn’t have an official track, a ‘lap’ is as long as we say it is. We mark out a course on the day of the event and children run the course for 20 minutes (separated into different groups to avoid a Pamplona “running of the bulls” situation).
Question: How many laps will my child run?
Answer: It depends. A fast runner might complete as many as 60 laps and a good walker might complete 20.
Question: Are parents welcome?
Answer: YES! Parents are needed now as volunteers and are always encouraged to join in as runners or spectators. There will be music and refreshments for the kids and it is a great way to spend some time exercising with your child.
Question: What do volunteers do?
Answer: Volunteers help before, during and after the event and handle everything from setting up the course, to serving food/water to students, to counting laps and tallying pledges.
Question: How does my child submit a design for the t-shirt competition?
Answer: Simply have him/her draw the design (black/white or color) on an 8 ½ by 11 piece of white paper. Include his/her name on the back and turn it into the office by January 27th.
Question: What about t-shirt sponsorship?
Answer: T-shirt sponsors are very important. They pay for the cost of the t-shirts so that all students/teachers get a free Jog-a-thon shirt. Corporate sponsors donate $150, $200 or $250 and SMASHing sponsors donate $25, $50 or $100. Donations are tax deductible to the extent allowable by law. As a token of appreciation for their support, the t-shirt sponsor’s name will adorn the back of the shirt.*
Question: How can I find out more? How do I volunteer?
Answer: Contact Lillie Schlessinger, lillie.schlessinger@transamerica.com or Darlene Flanders, darlene@quixo.com.
***************

SMASH & JOHN MUIR ELEMENTARY
WINTER CONCERT

Tuesday, January 24

6:00pm
4th Grade Viola, Violin, & Cello - Auditorium
4th Grade Clarinet - Muir Computer Lab (Bungalow B)
4th Grade Trumpet & Trombone - Bungalow 1

7:00pm
4th Grade Chorus - Library
5th Grade Musicians – Auditorium

8:00pm
SMASH Middle School Musicians - Auditorium

Mr. Anderson, Ms. Bersch, Ms. Cha Mr. McKeown, Ms. Spike-Gravelle, Ms. Swift

STUDENTS: Please arrive 15 minutes before your performance time
And wear nice school clothes.

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ptsa news

president’s message

Dear SMASHing Parents,

One the great qualities of SMASH is the tremendous sense of community during the many events held throughout the year. One of these great community events, was the Multi-Cultural Potluck Wednesday evening, just two days after the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday on Monday. Not only did we get to share food from different cultures, it was a great time to connect and share with other SMASH families.

This Monday, January 23rd will be the first meeting of the Superintendent’s Advisory Committee, which will start discussion about implementation of the new centralized fundraising plan. Many of the details of this new policy are still to be determined, such as whether there will be different application of the new policy in the secondary schools compared to the elementary schools. As the only K-8 school in the district,
SMASH is vitally interested in how this policy will effect our school.
It is more important than ever for SMASH parents to get involved in formulation of the new policy by staying informed and attending meetings. SMASH needs your voice in implementing this new policy.
Dan McGee

ptsa annual family investment drive
· The SMASH Annual Family Investment Drive continues 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 green tip
No Terracycle Collection 2/2-2/8: There will be no Terracycle pick up at SMASH between 2/2-2/8. Please bring in your Terracycling from home before 2/2 or save it until 2/9. DO NOT bring your Terracycling to school during those dates as it will not be picked up and will attract critters. Thank you!

Make a Green New Year's Resolution!: Many of us make resolutions to lose weight, eat healthier, spend
less money, ... Why not resolve to keep our planet healthy too? My New Year's Resolution is to make beans from scratch at home instead of buying canned beans. This will reduce household grocery costs, BPA consumption, and packaging waste. What will YOUR resolution be?

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CORE 1 NEWS

AQUARIUM FIELD TRIP:
Core 1 has been invited to visit the Santa Monica Aquarium on January 30th and 31st.

Here is how it will work:

Monday, January 30th – ALL MENTORS AND SOME PARTNERS
(this group will receive a yellow permission slip)

Tuesday, January 31st – ALL BIGS AND SOME PARTNERS
(this group will receive a green permission slip)

Both groups will leave school as early as possible (before 9:00) on the BIG BLUE BUS #8. We will eat snack before our program (which starts at 9:30). We will also have time to play at the park, eat lunch, and walk back to school. Please pack enough food and water for your child for the entire day. We will return to school around 1:00.

Please complete your child’s permission slip and return it with your child’s $1 bus fare in an envelope with your child’s name.

If you’re available, please sign-up to chaperone. Parents’ assistance is essential to keep our trips safe and fun for all.

DRAMA UPDATE:
Our drama teacher, Kristy, joined us again this week to lead us in fun drama games and theatrical performances. We continue to approach our performances holistically, where the children are constantly changing characters, revising the “script”, and fine-tuning the story. In Reading Workshop, we are also knee-deep in studying these stories in more depth and comparing their various versions.

Our stories are named “The Three-mendous Tales!”

The Mentors are performing Three Billy Goat Gruffs, the Bigs are performing Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and the Partners are performing The Three Little Pigs.

This week we also installed a life-size shadow screen in Graciela’s room. Thanks to Kaila’s mom, Devorie, for sewing it together!! We will be performing shadow plays of our stories beginning next week, using video to help us reflect on our performances and revise our plans.

SAVE THE DATE! Our Drama Sharing is scheduled for March 28th in the morning. All three shadow shows will be performed LIVE. More details to come…

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!!
Candis, Chrysta, Graciela, Nadja, and Jackie
Candis: cberens@smmusd.org
Chrysta: cwyse@smmusd.org
Graciela: gbarba-castro@smmusd.org

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CORE 2 NEWS
Advisory News: Here we are in mid-January, with Winter Break becoming a distant memory. The students are adjusting to their new advisory groups and revisiting CARES and our Core 2 guidelines & consequences. Some of us came back from break raring to go, while others among us needed a bit more time to readjust to the routine and structure of school. With some gentle (and some not-so-gentle ;-) reminders, we are setting the course for a busy and productive winter trimester. Tamara and Laura are busy writing the Mid-year narrative report cards. You can expect them sometime in February.

Theme: In Theme, where we focus on nonfiction reading and writing, Laura has been working with the students on a body systems unit. Ask your child what body system he/she is researching with his/her small group. Through this research, the students are learning to find information in nonfiction texts, cite the resource, and report the information in their own words. With Tamara, the students are learning about the development (due in part to the Gold Rush, the Transcontinental Railroad, and the building of the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro) of important early communities in California, such as San Jose, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. They are comparing/ contrasting these communities with Santa Monica and our classroom community, as well as utilizing skills from other units (such as map-making) to study and write about Santa Monica history. Thank you to Eli’s Nina for sharing her resources and passion about Santa Monica with us.

Literacy: In Readers Workshop, we started Mystery book clubs. The students are reading and discussing mystery books--such as Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, A – Z Mysteries, and Encyclopedia Brown--in small groups. Because we spend most of our class reading time in our book clubs, you and your child’s commitment to reading Just Right books at home is very important. Thank you for supporting your child’s lifelong reading habits. In Writing Workshop, we are working feverishly on a realistic fiction unit. Our read-aloud book, Because of Mr. Terupt, by Rob Buyea, is providing an engrossing example of the genre, as well as some heavy discussions. The students have been collecting ideas, fleshing out those ideas, and planning a few possibilities for their stories. They will be planning, drafting, revising, editing, and publish-ing their realistic fiction stories over the next few weeks. We look forward to sharing our stories with you. We know many students love this writing, while others are longing to do more free writing. WW homework is an excellent opportunity to do that and more. We hope the list of writing ideas will help students enjoy writing at home. Thank you for pledging to support your child’s commitment to writing more.

Math: Laura’s 3rd graders continue Collections and Travel Stories, the second addition and subtraction unit.
Tamara’s 4th Graders are wrapping up Multiple Towers and Division Stories, our second multiplication and division unit, with an emphasis on division with remainders. These foundational skills, along with the ability to memorize some facts and apply logic to manipulate the numbers to solve problems in a variety of ways is KEY to successful mathematical thinking.

Wednesday Visual Arts with Julianna and Tamara is going well. With Julianna the students dove right into some clay exploration. They will be focusing on 3-D art in this class. The students experimented with a variety of lines, shapes (geometric and organic), and patterns to make a small design. They will be using 2-D tools and techniques, such as watercolor, pen & ink drawing, and mixed-media collage with Tamara. We will be sharing this work with you on in March.

Media Center: Both groups visit the Media Center twice a month on Thursdays (alternating with visits from our Core 1 Reading Buddies).

Field trips: We are so lucky to have Audrey’s April helping us secure opportunities to get out into the world. Today’s concert at Royce Hall was great. Upcoming: M 1/30—STAR Ecostation, W 2/1—Santa Monica Bay Aquarium. Look for details, trip slips, and sharings (Camp Josepho sharing W 2/1) in future letters. The learning we do outside of the classroom is very powerful. Thanks for your support!

T.T.F.N.
Tamara, Laura, Jayme & Karin
Laura: lsherman@smmusd.org
Tamara: tmugalian@smmusd.org

Pony League at Los Amigos Park has spaces available for 9 and 10 year olds. If you are interested, please contact Jeff Jarow at jeff@parcommercial.com
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CORE 3 NEWS
6th Grade Parents,
On January 27 at 9:15, the 7th Grade Core 4 students will be running an assembly, to share their Yosemite experience. We encourage all 6th grade parents to attend this assembly, since your kids will be going on this trip next year. This sharing will include a lot of valuable information. We hope you will be able to come! Thanks so much! From, the 7th Grade

INSTRUMENTAL/CHORAL MUSIC CONCERT TUESDAY, January 24 AT STARTING AT 6:00 AT SCHOOL!

6th gr Math w/ Carrie: We are getting better at going back and forth between decimals and fractions. On Thursday we took a quiz to see how well we are understanding the material. Ask your child how he/she did on it. Next week we will add percents to the mix!
5th gr Math w/ Genie: We started looking at adding fractions. We are starting with using what we know about the common fractions and their percents to understand how fractions are added. Later we will talk about the algorithm procedure of the lowest common denominator and adding the numerators and then reducing. For now, it's important for your student to understand if 1/4 + 1/3 would equal 25% + 33.3% so it's more than ½, 58.3%. And to use tools like the clock and its friendly 12 sections to see 1/4 of the clock + 1/3 of the clock would get us to 7/12 which is just 1/12 bigger than ½. Ask your child to share with you.

Science w/ Carrie: Our technology study continued this week with a look at "key words" when searching for information and learning how to evaluate websites to determine how trustworthy they are.

RW/WW w/ Genie: Our words of the week is bias and pilot from an article inspired by last week's district discussion on Race hosted by SMASH/John Muir. One of the key points I got from the discussion is that it's important to talk about race as a way to help understand and grow a community. One of the first questions asked of the people who attended was, "How often do you think about race?" Talk over this question with your child and ask them about the article we read in class which is available under the Reading Workshop page on the Core 3 website. (sites.google.com/ site/smashcore3/) Science Fiction Short Stories are due and will be celebrated Fri, 27th--10:30 blue; 11:30 orange.
Families are welcome to join us!

Organization 101 w/ Carrie: The percent of students who had the basic supplies (pencil, HW binder, book, writing journal) with them increased from last week. Yay! These items should be with the kids at all times. We also looked at backpacks this week and kids cleaned them out if they needed to be. We are aiming to avoid having tons of stray papers shoved in the bottom of the backpacks. Next week we will tackle some of the in-class binders.

Homework:
6G Math: Assignment 9B is due Thursday, January 26.
5G Math: Packet #17 due Fri 1/27.
Writing: We are done with class time to work on the science fiction short stories. Please check with your child and see if they are done. If not, they need to work on this at home to make the due date Friday, 1/27.
Reading: read every day for 30-40 minutes! Do you know if your child is reading every day?

Genie: ghwang@smmusd.org
Carrie: cferguson@smmusd.org
Erin: ehaendel@smmusd.org
6th grade boys interested in Boy Scouts and their parents are invited to the Boy Scouts Troop 2’s Open House on February 6 at 7:15pm at Lincoln Middle School Cafeteria (1501 California Avenue)
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CORE 4 NEWS

Upcoming Events:
Instrumental Music Concert Tuesday, January 24th at 6pm.

Assembly Friday, January 27th at 8:45am.

Core 4 Parent Ed Meeting Wednesday, February 1st at 6:30pm.

7th grade happenings:
Last week we were in Yosemite, we had a really fun time. We hiked around the beautiful park, we had team building activities, and learned about taking care of the park. For 7th grade in science we have our Yosemite boards due on the 27th. In math, we are finishing chapter four and it will be due on the 27th.

8th grade happenings:
The week the 7th graders were gone in Yosemite, the 8th graders had a sub. His name was Tom and he was a very good substitute and followed all guidelines in the classroom. We took a math quiz on chapter 6-2 in the math book. We are planning to finish chapter 6 by the end of next week. In science, we did some scientific research on the teenage brain. We also had a test on Wednesday the 18th.

Language Arts/Humanities
In language arts we are working on our book club projects and our skits for vocabulary list 9. In philosophy we are working on a paper on the inner workings of our own personal philosophy. The personal philosophy first draft is due in about a week and a half.

Written by Seb C. and Eamonn R.

Please make plans to join us on a very important Parent Education meeting on February 1. We will continue to discuss the teenage brain and exit strategies in risk taking situations in middle school.

Darwin: dmendinueto@smmusd.org
Kurt: kholland@smmusd.org

2012-01-13T14:09:00.000-08:00

Monday, January 16 - Martin Luther King. Jr. Day - SCHOOL CLOSED
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Dear SMASHing Families,
In his 2010 essay, “Quality Education as a Civil Right,” Ernesto Cortes Jr. reminds us that “a good education is more than a civil right; it is the foundation necessary to sustain our democracy and modern civilization.” Students and their families, through participation in the educational institution, must learn to question, interpret, and contextualize encounters in order to avoid being “prey to the demagogues of hate.” “Real understanding and insight require not just a grasp of what was said, but also its context—the person’s story, history, and experience. “ Thank you to Superintendent Sandy Lyon, Board Member Oscar de la Torre, Director Peggy Harris, our wonderful facilitators Maria, Ivan, Kim, and Lisa, and all the parents who joined together Wednesday night to participate in our SMASH/Muir Dialogue on Race, where we attentively listened to one another and hopefully built greater understanding of each person’s story and experiences.

I look forward to further visiting and storytelling as we join together on Wednesday, January 18, 6-7:30pm for the Multicultural Potluck. I will be sharing a specialty dish from my own Russian Jewish background and will enjoy the wonderful variety of nationality dishes you’ll be bringing. I truly appreciate the way SMASH is full of friendly conversationalist families who enjoy each other’s company, and I know what a great turnout we get at this event.

It is very dark around campus at night and in order to keep everyone safe and supervised, families need to follow these guidelines for the evening: Dinner and Visiting 6-7:30pm in the Cafeteria and Lunch Benches. Front office and lunch area bathrooms will be open. Lunch bench area is open to students who are with their adults. The yards and other areas of campus are closed. Parents, please remind your children to stay in designated areas.

Thank you in advance for following these guidelines to make this a delicious, fun, SAFE, interactive evening for all.
Jessica
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DATES TO REMEMBER
Mon, Jan 16 - Martin Luther King, Jr Day—SCHOOL CLOSED
Wed, Jan 18 - 6:00-7:30pm - Multicultural Potluck Dinner
Mon, Jan 23 - 9:00-10:30am - SMASH School Tour
Tues, Jan 24 - 6:00-9:00pm - Music Concert
Fri, Jan 27 - 8:45am - Yosemite Assembly - Auditorium
Fri, Jan 27 - Last day to submit Jog-a-Thon t-shirt design
Tues, Jan 31 - 6:30pm - Virginia Avenue Park - State of Our Schools
Wed, Feb 1 - 2:00-2:50pm - Camp Josepho sharing - in Core 2
Wed, Feb 1 - 5:00pm - Site Council
Thurs, Feb 3 - Last day to be a Jog-a-Thon T-shirt sponsor!
Wed, Feb 8 - 6:00pm - PTSA Meeting

SAVE THE DATE
Fri, Feb 10 - 6:00-8:00pm - SMASH Family Dance - details to come
Fri, Feb 17 - 8:30-9:30am - Parent Ed - Creating Upstanders: Anti-bullying efforts at SMASH/John Muir
Fri, Mar 9 - SMASH Jog-a-Thon. Sign up now to volunteer
Tue, Mar 13 - 6:00pm - SMASH Talent Show
Fri, Mar 16 - 9:15am - Astrocamp assembly
Fri, Mar 30 - Last day to apply for SMASH for September (ALL siblings MUST have their applications in)
Sat, May 19 - SuperSMASH. Sign up now to volunteer.
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Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 2012 National Holiday “Weekend of Celebrations”
Presented by the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Westside Coalition. Sponsored by City of Santa Monica, City TV-Santa Monica, The Santa Monica College Assoc, The Rand Corporation, Soka Gakkal International (SGI-USA) and Santa Monica College

Fri, Jan 13, 7:30-9:00am Westside Interfaith Prayer Breakfast $20/person; Calvary Baptist Church; 1502 20th St

Sat, Jan 14, 9am-noon - MLK Kidz Party - Free. Virginia Ave Park, Kidz Zone; 2200 Virginia Avenue

Sat, Jan 14, 1-6pm - MLK Westside Teen Unity—Peace In - Free. The Talking Stick Coffee Lounge; 1411 Lincoln Bl

Sun, Jan 15, 3:30pm - MLK Weekend Family Concert; Santa Monica Symphony Orchestra - Free. SGI-USA World Culture Ctr Auditorium; 525 Wilshire Blvd

Mon, Jan 16, 9:00am-Noon - 27th Annual Celebration Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Holiday. SGI-USA World Culture Ctr Auditorium; 525 Wilshire Blvd.

For more info: 310-207-4500 or e-mail mlk_westside@verizon.net or on Facebook
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Santa Monica Family YMCA Open House
Saturday, January 14 - 9:00am-3:00pm
1332 6th Street 310-393-2721 www.ymcasm.org - Join the fun, take a tour, receive a Free 1-Week Guest Pass
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Pathways to Student Success Through the Arts
Importance of Creative Thinking, Emotional Intelligence and the Arts for Students in the 21st Century
Saturday, January 14
2:00pm - $10 per person/at the door
SOL-LA Music Academy; 1812 Stanford St, SM - info@sollamusicacademy.org
Violinist Robert Gupta is passionate about education and outreach, both as a musician and as an activist for mental health issues. Subjects covered will include benefits of music; inspiring student growth and practice; the role of the parent in music education; development of creative thinking, emotional well-being and imagination; preparing for the challenges of the 21st century.
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YWCA Girls Winter 2012
Basketball League - Girls ages 7 through 14
Saturdays: January 21-March 24.
Each age division plays each hour starting at 1pm and ending at 7pm. One week night practice.
Contact Hilton Brown, Athletic Director, 310-452-3881 x 125, hbrown@smyca.org, $99 per player
YWCA Santa Monica/Westside; 2019 14th St, Sign up: 310-452-3881; www.smywca.org or YWCA front desk
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Spring 2012 Santa Monica Swim Center
Priority for residents on-line February 1 at 6am. Registration Feb 1 - Feb 7 is online only. Non-residents online registration begins February 8 at 6am. An approved account is required for all on-line registration. Apply for an on-line account NOW at www.smgov.net/recenroll. Proof of residency is required for Santa Monica residents.
Santa Monica Residents - Proof of Residency Requirement: Depending on the program, residents may receive priority registration, reduced fees, financial assistance, or other benefits. In addition to a driver’s license or government issued picture ID, one of the following in the registrant’s name is required to verify residency: rental agreement, mortgage statement, current utility bill.
Mail-In and Drop-Off Registration: Beginning February 8. Drop off registration forms will be accepted at the Swim Center Monday through Friday, 5:30-8:00am and 3:00-7:00pm. Saturday and Sunday drop off 8:00am-5:00pm.
The Santa Monica Swim Center
2225 16th St; Santa Monica 90405
Phone: 310-458-8700; Fax: 310-450-5076
www.smgov.net/swim
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Reflective Parenting Workshop For parents of preschool and school aged children (3-9)
Tuesdays, February 7 - April 3: 7-8:30pm
This innovative 10-week workshop provides parents with a model, which views children’s behavior as meaningful. The group will focus on specific topics such as temperament, discipline, and emotional regulation as well as developing an understanding of the thoughs and feelings that underlie your interactions with your child.
Goals: To increase confidence in parenting; new ways to think about children’s behavior and effective interventions for difficult behavior.
Family Service of Santa Monica
1533 Euclid Street, Santa Monica
Fee: $200 individual/ $350 couple (sliding scale opportunities)
To register, or for more information contact: Annie Wilson, LCSW or Jennifer Chen Speckman at 310-451-9747
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EXPANDING YOUR HORIZONS
Career conference for girls in grades 5-8. - Saturday, March 17
Mount St. Mary’s College, Doheny Campus; 10 Chester Place, Los Angeles
Space is limited to the first 200 students, so please register early!
Twenty-five women who work in math-and science-related careers will present hands-on workshops in fields such as veterinary medicine, civil engineering, theoretical physics, and chemistry.
For information & registration contact Dr. Eleanor Siebert at 310-954-4015 or www.ExpandingYourHorizonsLA.org
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GREEN LIVING WORKSHOPS
Save Money by Learning Solutions to Today’s Greatest Environmental Challenges
Upcoming Green Living Workshops
6-WEEK SERIES
Traditional action Oriented. Six 1.5 hour meetings
Wednesdays: Jan 18 - Feb 22. 7-8:30pm - Santa Monica Main Library
GLW 101
3 hour condensed version of the 6-week workshop. Sat, Feb 4; 10am-1pm. Center for Environmental & Urban Studies.
ENERGY WORKSHOP
LED Demonstration workshop covering energy issues.
Tuesday, Feb 28; 7-8:30pm. Santa Monica Main Library
Sign Up at Sustainableworks.eventbright.com
$50 for 6-week series - Free for Santa Monica residents (suggested $25 donation)
Sustainableworks.org 1744 Pearl Street, Santa Monica 310-458-8716 x 4
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7th Annual Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School Distinct
STATE OF OUR SCHOOLS
Community Report
Superintendent Sandra Lyon and special guests present the latest information on:
· Student Achievement
· Educational Initiatives
· SMMUSD’s financial health
Monday, January 30 - 6:30-9:00pm
Malibu City Hall; 23835 Stuart Ranch Road, Malibu

Tuesday, January 31 - 6:30-9:00pm
Virginia Avenue Park, Thelma Terry Building
2200 Virginia Avenue, Santa Monica
For more information, e-mail: swahrenbrock@smmusd.org
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FREE COMPOST - SATURDAY, JANUARY 21 7am-2pm
City Yards at 2500 Michigan Avenue - residents may fill 5 large burlap sacks with compost
For information: 310-458-2223; www.smgov.net/r3
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Run for your lives! The SMASH
Jog-a-thon is coming Friday, March 9
Submit a t-shirt design by 1/27. 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 27.

Save the date. The Jog-a-thon takes place Friday, March 9. 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 2/3. 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 February 3.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 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 adult sizes 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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ptsa news
president’s message

Dear SMASHing Parents,

Now that winter break is behind us and we look forward to an outstanding new year, let’s get ready for the big events that will take place in 2012, including the Jog-a-thon, SuperSMASH and the Arts and Letters Sale.

Please note the Arts & Letters Sale will be rescheduled and the new date is still to be determined. The Jog-a-thon is set for March 9th, and our kids will soon start getting pledges for the laps they will run. In addition, there will be a new SMASH Jog-a-thon T-shirt, which will be designed by a SMASH student. The jog-a-thon is one of our major fundraisers of the school year and it is a great community building event. If you have not attended the SMASH Jog-a-thon, it is a morning school day event that is over by noon and requires parent volunteers to make sure it runs smoothly. Make plans now to attend.

This year SuperSMASH will be a couple of weeks earlier than last year, before Memorial Day on May 19. Though we are more than four months away, preparations are already underway. There are lots of opportunities to get involved. As many of you know, SuperSMASH is our biggest fundraiser of the year. This year will be the last year for Helga to help lead the effort and as always, we need everyone to participate to make this event a SMASHing success.

Are there any SMASH parents interested in getting involved in the new plan for centralized fundraising in our school district? If so consider attending a meeting of the SMMUSD Education Foundation. In light of the apparent revenue shortfall and proposed state budget cuts, we need SMASH voices to help make sure this new policy is a success.

Thanks,
Dan McGee

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 green tip
Renters Right to Recycle Act: Beginning January 1st, apartment buildings in California with five or more units are mandated to provide recycling services for paper, plastic, bottles and cans. Visit http://www.californiality.com/2011/09/california-renters-recycling-law.html for more information.

Nature's Air Filters: Houseplants absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen; however, many plants also eliminate significant amounts of benzene, formaldehyde, and/or trichloroethylene. Some of these plants include varieties of Dracaena, palm, English ivy, rubber plant, and Peace Lily. The NASA Clean Air Study recommends one potted plant per every 100 square feet of indoor space. For a more complete list, visit http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/CoopExt/4DMG/Plants/clean.htm

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CORE 1 NEWS
WHAT IS Phonemic Awareness?
Phonemic Awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds in spoken words. We know that giving children experiences in manipulating sounds in language helps them learn to read. Phonemic Awareness activities can be done without any reading materials at all. Here are four early Phonemic Awareness activities that are fun activities to try in the car. Rhyming is one of the aspects of phonemic awareness that children enjoy. Children develop their reading skills when the sing songs with silly rhyming lyrics such as Down By The Bay and Willoughby Wallaby Woo. They enjoy guessing Rhyming Riddles like “I’m thinking of a word that starts with the /c/ sound and rhymes with bake.”
Alliteration is another aspect of phonemic awareness. Carole King‘s song Alligators All Around and the ZooPhonics song are examples of song with alliteration. Children enjoy the challenge of listing words that begin with a given sound. How many words can you think of that begin with /c/?
Segmenting or breaking up words into their individual sounds is another activity to develops phonemic awareness. Let’s break up the word cat into two parts: /c/ /at/. Now let’s break up the word cat into three parts /c/ /a/ /t/. Putting the sounds together is called blending. I’m going to break up a word and I want you to put it together: /m/ /op/.
By playing these games, you can help your child strengthen his her reading muscles without having to hold a book!

BIRTHDAY BASH
Children have a need to feel a sense of significance, belonging, and fun at school. Birthday bashes are one way we celebrate each child and invite him/her to share a favorite snack with others. If your child will be celebrating his/her birthday this month, you will be receiving a Birthday Bash Invitation Letter. This is a new routine that we are trying out. We will celebrate January birthdays on January 20 at 11:45am. Friends and family are welcome to join us!

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR DAY-Monday, January 16th
Enjoy celebrating Marting Luther King Jr. Day. We can’t wait to hear about how your families celebrated.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!
Candis, Chrysta, Graciela, Jackie, and Nadja

Candis: cberens@smmusd.org
Chrysta: cwyse@smmusd.org
Graciela: gbarba-castro@smmusd.org
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CORE 2 NEWS

Core 2 Enjoys Field Trips and Outdoor Adventures Because …

...we are outside with nature, learning about place around you, and you can connect with other Core 2 kids. (Giulia)

...we spent time around nature – plants/rocks. (Malia)

...we can practice what we learned about using our freedom with responsibility. (Jobim)

...we went to a new area learning place. (Maya)

...we can learn about environment and to leave nature where it is. (Carissa)

...hiking isn’t boring, it is fun and we learn a lot. (Audrey)

...of the archery. I got to relax. (Eli)

Hannah, Ocean, Audrey, and Jack Z enjoyed the campfire and singing.
Quinn. Leo, and Nalani liked the archery.
Eleanor liked the Daddy-Daughter cabin.
Dixie, Josh, and Morgan liked making smores.
Nathan had a SMASHing time being with friends at night.
Nalani enjoyed knot tying.
Lilly C liked everything especially the archery.

You are invited to come to our Camp Josepho sharing on Wednesday, Feb 1, beginning at 2:00 – 2:50 in
Core 2! Come see, discuss, and relive our first outdoor adventure trip.

Upcoming Field Trips and Events in Core 2!
Monday, Jan 30, 9-2:00, field trip to Star Eco Station and picnic lunch, school bus
Please sign and return the attached permission slip ASAP

Monday, March 26, Symphonic Adventure, concert at Barnum Hall, Samo 9:30-12:00, we are walking

Monday, May 21, California Science Center, 9-2:00, school bus

Laura: lsherman@smmusd.org
Jayme: j.wold@smmusd.org
Tamara: tmugalian@smmusd.org

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CORE 3 NEWS

· NO SCHOOL MONDAY!

· SMASH Bake Sale after school Fri 1/20

· MULTICULTURAL POTLUCK DINNER Wednesday 1/18 6:00pm

6th gr Math w/ Carrie: Our investigation of fractions and decimals continued by working on moving back and forth between fractions and decimals. We also looked at place value. Something that can be worked on at home is changing fractions like 72/10, 72/100, 72/1000, 72/10000 into the decimal form.
6th gr Math w/ Erin: This week we began the UCLA Math Games study. UCLA is studying how students progress through various math concepts by using their games. We are excited about the opportunity to participate in this study. Ask your student what they think of it.
5th gr Math w/ Genie: We worked on comparing fractions. How do we know which is bigger between 7/8 and 5/6?
Ask your child all the different ways they know how to compare fractions.

Science w/ Carrie: This week we talked about search engines (google, yahoo. bing, ask, factmonster, quintura), directories (yahoo directory, lycos, about, open directory, dmoz, and ipl2), and meta-search engines (dogpile and MetaCrawler). We compared search results of "World Cup 2010" using different searching techniques. Ask your child what they learned about it and if they found any new ways to search that they think are useful.

SS w/ Erin: This week we did various activities in Social Studies and Geography. On Monday students worked on a world geography search. They also read and briefly discussed an article from the Los Angeles Times about Ethnic Studies classes in Arizona public K-12 schools being deemed illegal. We will be reading and discussing a different non-fiction Social Studies article each week as part of our Core 3 reading program. On Wednesday students had a chance to share their Civil Rights final unit projects with the school community. I hope you were able to be there. Today we had a great visit from Liam's dad, Tom Hayden. We thank him for sharing his experiences and expertise about the Civil Rights Movement with the class (I would provide more details of his visit, but due to Friday letter deadlines, I write this in advance of Friday!).

RW/WW w/ Genie: Our word of the week is droned. Ask your child what it means and some examples. We have been busy revising our science fiction drafts by changing verbs to stronger verbs, adding in metaphors and similes to build a stronger picture for our reader, and making sure our character is known to our reader by how he/she looks, feels and thinks. We also shared some nonfiction articles and had to stop a lot to make sense which is a good nonfiction reading strategy. Find an interesting article and read it together with your child!

Organization 101 w/ Carrie: We had our first organization check this week. Carrie looked for pencils, HW binders, reading books, and writing journals. In your child's HW folder there is a sheet indicating whether he/she had all of the required items. Please check the sheet. Next week we will have the same check and spend a little time making sure backpacks are relatively organized and not filled with massive amounts of unnecessary items!

Homework:
6G Math: 8B is due Thursday, January 19
5G Math: Packet #16 due Fri 1/20.
Writing: edit and publish your science fiction short story-we'll be working on this all next week in class. Your child may need help typing or time to type at home.
Reading: read every day for 30-40 minutes! Read some nonfiction that interests you!

Genie: ghwang@smmusd.org
Carrie: cferguson@smmusd.org
Erin:ehaendel@smmusd.org
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CORE 4 NEWS

Dear Core 4 Families,
Core 4 will soon begin our Risk Resiliency Unit including Egg Babies, Planned Parenthood, Effects of Substances, and generating exit strategies when under peer pressure.

Before entering this curriculum we ask that all Core 4 parents join us Wednesday, Feb 1; 6:30-7:30pm for a Core 4 Parent Education Night. Parents only, no students.

We will review:
1. Information regarding known risky SMMUSD adolescent behaviors. We know this is
important information for you as parents to have. We want your input to determine to
what degree we share this information with our SMASH 7th/8th graders.

2. Understanding the teenage brain and how to talk with your teenager.

3. How to support your child regarding peer pressure and generating possible Exit strategies.

Please mark your calendars and make arrangements to join us that evening.

8th grade Yearbook cover submissions are due to Jessica on Friday, January 27 by the end of the school day.

Kurt: kholland@smmusd.org
Darwin: dmendinueto@smmusd.org
Bailey: baileyfield@mac.com

2012-01-06T13:29:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

Dear SMASHing Families,
“I believe that there is a subtle magnetism in Nature, which,
if we unconsciously yield to it, will direct us aright.” –Henry David Thoreau

Mitch, Micah, Eli and I were lucky to spend the two weeks of Winter Break together in nature, enjoying the snowy ski mountains of Big Bear, the whales/sea otters/hiking trails of Big Sur, and the elephant seals of Pismo Beach.

Thank you to all SMASH families for the generous holiday gift that we put towards this joyful, rejuvenating two weeks of family travel.

Mark Your Calendars: Wednesday, January 11th 6:00-8:00 pm SMASH and John Muir are sponsoring an opportunity for adults and 5th-8th grade students in the SMASH/Muir community to come together to participate in a Dialogue on Race in our SMASH/Muir Library. This is a site based follow up to the District’s Dialogue on Race event that occurred October 29 at Samohi.
Superintendent Sandy Lyon and Board Member Oscar de la Torre are planning to join us, so this is an important chance to build connections with them. We welcome your voice and contribution to the dialogue as we further our campus’ respectful community.

Truly yours,
Jessica
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SMASH REMINDERS
Our attendance policies are dictated by the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District

Absences: Please call the office (310-396-2640 x 0) the day your child is absent.

The district does not take “not feeling well” or “ill” as an excuse - they require a specific explanation. Illness is defined as having a contagious disease, a temperature over 100 degrees, symptoms of vomiting, diarrhea, chronic illness or other conditions with written orders from a doctor. Children can and should attend school with less severe symptoms such as headaches, fatigue and stomachaches. Per district policy, at 14 or more days of excused absences, they request that any further absences for illness be verified by a physician.

Any time your child is out for a reason other than illness, bereavement or medical appointment, the district considers it as an unexcused absence. (Students who hold work permits may be absent for a maximum of 5 absences per school year) Three unexcused absences is considered as one truancy.
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DATES TO REMEMBER
Sun, Jan 8 - Fri, Jan 13 - Yosemite Trip for 7th grade students
Mon, Jan 9 - 9:00-10:30am - SMASH School Tour
Wed, Jan 11 - 8:30am - PTSA Mtg
Wed, Jan 11 - 6-8pm - Dialogue on Race
Mon, Jan 16 - Martin Luther King, Jr Day—SCHOOL CLOSED
Wed, Jan 18 - 6pm - Multicultural Potluck Dinner
Mon, Jan 23 - 9:00-10:30am - SMASH School Tour
Fri, Jan 27 - 8:45am - Yosemite Assembly

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HAPPY NEW YEAR CORE 1

Welcome back to school after two weeks of recreation, relaxation, and extended family time. We are very grateful for the wonderful gifts and wishes we’ve received from you. We feel very fortunate to belong to the SMASH community and to work with your children. After our two-week break, we have renewed intentions for the remainder of the school year:
Parent Project Meetings for Parents Interested in Leading a Project
A Guided Writing Parent Education Afternoon
A Math Morning for Parents to Participate in with the Children

COMMUNITY GROUP MORNING MEETING
Once a month on a Friday morning, the SMASH student body mixes up for fun. Staying true to our school house model, children meet in cross-core groups for a morning meeting to build community. Core 1 students, together with their family group (Partner, Big, and Mentor) walk to their Community Group Morning Meeting. The meetings are planned by the SMASH Student Council. Children build relationships with childrenand teachers in other cores. We had our monthly community group morning meeting today. Some questions you could ask your child about his/her community group are Where does your community group meet? Who
is your leader? What is community group’s name? How did you greet your community group today? Whatgame did you play in your community group? Who do you know from Core 1/2/3/4 that is in your group?

DRAMATIC ARTS PROGRAM
We have begun our drama lessons with Kristy Pace, our amazing artist in residence. We are developing our dramatic skills as we prepare for our theatric performances of The Three Billy Goats Gruff (Mentors), The Three Little Pigs (Partners), and Goldilocks and The Three Bears (Bigs). We will be retelling these classic tales in shadow puppets.

BIRTHDAY BASH
Children have a need to feel a sense of significance, belonging, and fun at school. Birthday bashes are one way we celebrate each child and invite him/her to share a favorite snack with others. If your child will be celebrating his/her birthday this month, you will be receiving a Birthday Bash Invitation Letter. This is a new routine that we are trying out. We will celebrate January birthdays on January 20 at 11:45am. Friends and family are welcome to join us!

PARTNER ASSESSMENTS
Candis will be starting her January assessments with Partners NEXT WEEK. Please choose ONE afternoon for your child to stay at school until 3:00. Groups of 3-4 children will stay with Candis each day 1:30-3:00 to be fully assessed in reading, writing, and math. They will also have time to eat a snack and have some "down time." Please refer to the GOOGLE doc for available dates and sign-ups. If you're not able to access the doc, feel free to email Candis a couple of dates that work for you. Thanks!

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!
Candis, Chrysta, Graciela, Jackie, and Nadja

Candis: cberens@smmusd.org
Chrysta: cwyse@smmusd.org
Graciela: gbarba-castro@smmusd.org

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CORE 2 NEWS

Welcome back and Happy 2012! Laura, Jayme, Tamara, and Karin would like to thank you for all of your kind, generous, and yummy holiday gifts. We hope you found the holidays to be as restful and reinvigorating as we did. As is the Core 2 way, we hit the ground running this week: starting the week with visual arts with Julianna and Tamara (Laura’s group made simple clay pots while Tamara’s group explored lines and shapes. Next arts session, the groups will swap activities.), launching a new theme unit (science with Laura—body systems and social studies with Tamara—Santa Monica history), jumping right back into our math units (3G—addition & subtraction and 4G— multiplication & division), planning and writing a small moment story in just 30 minutes (!), and making a renewed commitment to choosing Just Right Books for independent reading at school and at home. We need your help!
Please read the following articles for ways to help your child become the best reader s/he can be and get the most out of reading homework.

The Goldilocks Strategy for Choosing Books
Do you remember Goldilocks' quest in the fairy tale "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" to find the porridge, chair, and bed that were "just right"? Selecting a book can sometimes feel the same way. Just as Goldilocks found that some porridges were too hot or too cold and others were just right, beginning readers often have difficulty finding books that are "just right" and not too hard or too easy. Reading should always be fun for your child. You want them to feel
confident about the books they read and not frustrated. Children should read books that are on their level. Here is an easy strategy to help your child pick a book that is just right for him/her!

Too Easy Books. Ask yourself these questions. If you are answering YES, this book is probably a Too Easy Book for you.
1. Have you read it lots of times before?
2. Do you understand the story very well?
3. Do you know and understand almost every word?
4. Can you read it smoothly?

Just Right Books. Ask yourself these questions. If you are answering YES, this book is probably a Just Right Book for you.
1. Is this book new to you?
2. Do you understand what you’ve read so far?
3. Are there just a few words per page you don’t know?
4. When you read are some places smooth and some choppy?
5. Can someone help you with this book? Who?

Too Hard Books. Ask yourself these questions. If you are answering YES, this book is probably a Too Hard Book for you. Give it another try later.
1. Are there more than a few words on a page you don’t know?
2. Are you confused about what is happening in most of this book?
3. When you read, does it sound pretty choppy?

From “Lessons from Goldilocks: Somebody’s Been Choosing My Books But I Can Make My Own Choices Now!”by Marilyn M. Ohlhausen and Mary Jepsen. The New Advocate, Vol. 5, No. 1, Winter 1992, p. 36 Norwood, MA: Christopher-Gordon Publishers, Inc. Reprinted with permission of the authors.

The only way to become a stronger, better reader is by reading Just Right books every day. For more information about the importance of reading and reading at home, please see the articles with this week’s Friday Papers. Happy reading!

“No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading,
or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance.” - Confucius

Laura: lsherman@smmusd.org
Jayme: j.wold@smmusd.org
Tamara: tmugalian@smmusd.org

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CORE 3 NEWS

Thank you for all the cards, notes, treats, handmade crafts, gifts, and PTSA staff gift! We felt your holiday spirit and appreciate your thoughtfulness and generosity!

Welcome back to school! We hope you received in this week's email blast the attachment of the new schedule. No major changes, but we want you to be aware of the slight changes to accommodate Carrie and Erin's new days.

New Year’s Resolutions: ORGANIZATION! This is the second most common resolution for a reason and the habits start now! So...with that in mind, once a week Carrie is going to be working with the kids to help them get and/or keep organized. She will do weekly checks for some basic things that all kids should have (pencils, paper, HW binder, reading book, writing journal) and periodic checks on other things (like organizing their backpacks and subject binders).
The Orange group will have their checks on Tuesday afternoons and Blue will be on Thursday afternoon.

6th Grade Math with Carrie: Our study of fractions continues and now we are adding decimals to the mix.
6th Grade Math with Erin: Over the next few weeks we will be participating in a math games study through UCLA. This is a group opportunity for our students and our school to be involved in cutting edge research in math education. Paperwork was sent home with your child on Wednesday. There is nothing to sign and return, but please ask your child to see the paper so that you have all of the information. Feel free to ask any questions that arise.
5th Grade Math with Genie: We continued our fractions unit and tried to get back into the swing of things. We are learning to know (memorize) frequently used fraction and decimal equivalents as well as equivalent fractions.

Science with Carrie: We wrapped up our Space presentations and we are working on getting all of the videos up so you can see them if you missed it. As soon as they are posted, we will let you know how to access them. They were all quite impressive! We will be spending a few weeks doing some technology basics during science class including some basic organization skills, researching skills, and computer ethics.

Social Studies with Erin: Students took the time on Wednesday to reflect on their final unit projects on the Modern Civil Rights Movement. Many of the students did amazing work - putting together informational poster boards with photos, facts, and their opinions. If you are able, please stop by next Wednesday, January 11th (Blue Group 11:30 - 12:15 and Orange Group 1:20 - 2:00) to see what the students have created. We will spend the next few weeks talking about civil rights around the world (historic and current). A few parents have offered to share of their experiences growing up or working in countries that were (are) struggling for equality for all people. If you feel that you have something to share with the class, please let me know. The students always get a lot out of these personal histories.

Reading and Writing Workshop with Genie: We have started revising our science fiction short stories looking at our drafts with fresh eyes after the long break. We also read a picture book, The Boy Who Loved Words to think about collecting great words so that we can use the perfect word when we are talking and writing. For example, is respite a good word for our recent break? This also will help us as we learn how to be comedic on stage and how word choice can affect our meaning.

Dramatic Arts with Kristy: We had our first session this week and started off thinking about funny stories, what makes people laugh, and comedic exercises to help our funny bones.

Homework:
6G Math: assignment 7B is due 1/10.
5G Math: Packet #15 due Fri 1/13.
Writing: work on revising draft if you are behind.
Reading: read every day for 30-40 minutes!

Genie: ghwang@smmusd.org
Carrie: cferguson@smmusd.org
Erin:ehaendel@smmusd.org
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CORE 4 NEWS

Thank you for the cards, treats, homemade items, and the PTSA staff gift. You are always so generous and thoughtful, we deeply appreciate it.

Yosemite Trip: Our winter adventure for 7th graders in beautiful, and currently summer like Yosemite Valley is just days away. Preparations have ended and soon we shall be enjoying the meadows, animals, and geology of this national park. Our stellar chaperone team is set, reservations are made, and copious quantities of cash has left our accounts to pay for transportation, housing, and learning activities. Please do everything possible to insure your child’s attendance; this trip is potentially life changing, memorable, and fun. In addition, at this
point no refunds are possible, as the money has been spent. Some reminders:
1. We will depart at 04:10, Sunday the 8th of January from Union Station in downtown Los Angeles and return during the evening on Friday the 13th. Please have your child and gear at the station by 03:00 Sunday morning. Be sure they have enough food to keep them happy for ten hours. Our adult leadership team will bring emergency rations, but each child should have two sandwiches, trail mix, and two full water bottles when they arrive at Union Station. Please do not send junk foods: candy, chips, or any food with saturated fats.

2. Use the following link http://www.naturebridge.org/yosemite/parents to find out all you could want to know about the trip, the location, or the people we work with up in the park. A packing list may be found here: http://www.naturebridge.org/yosemite/clothing-and-equipment-lists.

3. It is critical that they bring two water bottles, a spare winter hat, and rain gear. Gloves are another frequently lost item, so bring two sets of those if possible. The forecast is for warmer temperatures meaning any precipitation will be rain and not snow. As a reminder, “No Cotton” means 100% freedom from cotton clothing. The only person who has ever had to go to the hospital from Yosemite went as a direct result of sneaking cotton underwear into his daily outfit. He lasted two days and had to be sent home to prevent serious injury. Cotton will put your child at risk. Keep the cotton clothes at home and enjoy wearing them in the stable Santa Monica climate.

4. Communication during the trip. As agreed at our planning meeting, all electronic devices should remain at home. In the past children have lost phones (average of three a year), cameras (2-5/year), and a significant variety of other devices. We scramble, climb, swing upside down and engage in many types of play. If your child’s device finds its way onto the trip, you are likely buying another to replace it. Adults will take lots of pictures for you to see at the January 27 8:45 am Yosemite Assembly.

We will be checking our phones frequently while in the park and text messages get through most of the time. Do not leave messages as the system will take them, but we are unable to retrieve them. In addition, we will be updating Janice/Jessica daily before noon and will be able to address any needs through them.

8th Graders: will spend the week with substitute teacher Tom Boyd (yes, he’s Jackie’s husband). They will focus on completing yearbook pages and 8th grade tiles as well as Humanities, Algebra and Science projects

.
Kurt: kholland@smmusd.org

Darwin: dmendinueto@smmusd.org

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FREE FLAMENCO GUITAR AND DANCE WORKSHOP, SUNDAY JANUARY 8
A free Flamenco Guitar & Dance Workshop with Adam del Monte and Venessa Acosta will be Sunday, Jan 8 at 4PM in Virginia Avenue Park's Thelma Terry Performance Space, 2200 Virginia Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 90404.
This Workshop is a presentation of the Santa Monica Symphony http://www.smsymphony.org/

FREE SANTA MONICA SYMPHONY AFTERNOON CONCERT FOR FAMILIES,
SUNDAY JANUARY 15
PREMIERING ADAM DEL MONTE'S CONCERTO FOR FLAMENCO GUITAR AND ORCHESTRA
The Santa Monica Symphony's annual afternoon free concert for families, with conductor Allen Robert Gross and Adam del Monte, guitar, will premiere del Monte’s 'Paisajes': Concerto for Flamenco Guitar and Orchestra, in an afternoon of dance music from around the world with Dvořák: Three Slavonic Dances, Chen Yi: Duo Ye, and Bizet: Carmen Suite No. 2. This Santa Monica Symphony concert is at 3:30 PM, Sunday, January 15th, in the SGI Auditorium at 525 Wilshire (free parking for this concert is at 1212 7th Street).

The Flamenco Workshop and the Santa Monica Symphony concert are free and open to the public. Families and groups are especially welcome.
You can contact the Symphony at (310) 395-6330 or www.smsymphony.org
To learn more about January 15th Symphony concert go to http://www.smsymphony.org/CurrentConcert.html

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Santa Monica Youth Orchestra - Free after school program

Open enrollment for Teens. Sign up at www.santamonicayouthorchestra.org

Details in e-mailed version of this week's Friday Letter

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Green Living Workshops

sustainable works.org

Upcoming Green Living Workshops

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State of Our Schools

Community Report

Tuesday, January 31 - 6:30-9:00pm

Virginia Avenue Park, Thelma Terry Building

2200 Virginia Avenue, Santa Monica

2011-12-16T14:54:00.000-08:00

Have a Wonderful Winter Break!
Dear SMASHing Families,
“Like life, racial understanding is not something that we find, but something that we must create.” --Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Save the Date: Wednesday, January 11, 6:00-8:00 pm SMASH and John Muir are sponsoring an opportunity for adults and 5th-8th grade students in the SMASH/Muir community to come together to participate in a Dialogue on Race in our SMASH/Muir Library. This is a site based follow up to the District’s Dialogue on Race event that occurred October 29 at Samoh Superintendent Sandy Lyon is planning to join us as well as School Board member, Oscar del la Torre, so this is an important chance to build connections with them. We welcome your voice and contribution to the dialogue as we further our campus’ respectful community.

Also, for those who have not done so already, please add your SMASH voices to the District homework conversation and participate in the Homework Survey. It took me three minutes to complete mine as Micah’s mom.
Go to www.smmusd.org , look on the left side of the home page where it says “Parent Homework Survey” and click on “Take survey in English.” Thanks for taking 3 minutes to give your thoughts about the type and amount of homework your kids experience at SMASH.

Wishing you a happy holiday season and peaceful new year.
See you January 4th when we return to school.

Jessica
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WINTERLIT - HOLIDAY CELEBRATIONS IN SANTA MONICA
Tuesday, December 20-27 - Chanukah Menorah Lighting at sundown
Nov 1—Dec 31 - Gift Your Schools. Shop & dine at Santa Monica Place and earn SMASH 5% donation. Just present your receipts at the Concierge on level 1. For details 310-260-8333.
SANTA MONICA PLACE
Thursdays 5-7pm & Saturdays 1-3 & 5-7pm - Live carolers
Now through Christmas Eve - Visit Santa in The Market and Snow Falls at 7pm in Center Plaza
SANTA MONICA PIER - 2011 HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE
Saturday, December 17 11:00am - 5:00pm
11:00-3:00 - Santa Claus visits the Merry-Go-Round. FREE rides during his visit
1:00-3:00 - Cirque du Soleil Oh Snap Experience, interactive truck & free photo opportunity for the entire family
2:30-5:00 - Holiday Caroling - Carolers stroll along the pier.
December 1-18 - Canned Food Drive supporting Upward Bound House. Drop off in the Merry-Go-Round building
For a list of all events visit WinterLit.com - SantaMonicaPlace.com - ICEatSantaMonica.com
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DATES TO REMEMBER
WED, Dec. 21 - TUES, Jan. 3 - WINTER BREAK - SCHOOL CLOSED
Wed, Jan 4 - 5:00-6:00pm - Site Council Mtg
Sun, Jan 8 - Fri, Jan 13 - Yosemite Trip for 7th grader students
Mon, Jan 9 - 9:00-10:30am - SMASH School Tour
Wed, Jan 11 - 6-8pm - Dialogue on Race
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Welcome Nurse Magdalena Iyela to SMASH & John Muir!
Magdalena will be here Monday - Friday, 9:45 - 1:15
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LOOKING FOR A CHRISTMAS TREE?
Bennett Zemke’s Boy Scout troop #2 has trees up to 11 feet tall, as well as wreaths and garlands. Located on Montana Ave between 15th & 16th Streets. The lot is open 9am-9pm, with local delivery available Bring the flyer for a 10% discount, go to http://www.troop2bsa.org /2011TreeLotFlyer.pdf to print the flyer.
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The D.C. Dance Center Presents “THE LAND OF SWEETS….AND SOME TREATS”
Saturday, Dec 17 - 6:30pm
12422 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles 90025
Emma Green & Mac Varner will be dancing in this fun children’s holiday performance.
Proceeds from this performance go to local charities.
Children’s Workshops at 1:00pm (ages 3-5) and 3:30pm (ages 6 and up)
Children can celebrate the holidays with arts, crafts, snacks,
and be able to learn and perform excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker “Land of Sweets”
For information and tickets go to www.dancecenterla.com
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UCLA FAMILY COMMONS presents Helping Girls Have a Healthy Relationship With Food & Exercise Family Public Square: Expert Series with Dr. Michael Strober
Wednesday, January 4; 7:00-8:30pm $20/person
Even girls with healthy eating and exercise habits experience social pressure around anorexia and bulimia — whether it's hearing other girls talk about it, seeing fellow athletes go to extremes, or being urged to try dangerous behaviors themselves. Learn how to talk to your daughter about eating disorders, recognize the warning signs for risk of anorexia or bulimia, and help your daughter build the coping skills to feel good about herself and her body.
Dr. Michael Strober, a clinical psychologist, is the Franklin Mint Professor of Eating Disorders in the UCLA Psychiatry Department. He is Director of the UCLA Eating Disorders Program and the Adolescent Mood Disorders Program, and he has conducted extensive research on topics such as the developmental risk factors for eating disorders and the prevention and treatment of mood disorders among young people.
REGISTER: 310-395-5650 or e-mail at unfo@uclacommons.com

The UCLA Family Commons presents
Navigating Divorce: for Children ages 7-11With Dr. Rebecca Eberlin, PhD.
Mondays 4:00-5:15pm; January 9 - February 27 $350 per person
Classes include: identifying, labeling and controlling feelings; solving problems; divorce specific coping skills; age appropriate understanding of divorce-related concepts and creating positive perceptions of one’s self and family. 1221 2nd Street; Santa Monica 90401 310-395-5650 www.uclacommons.com
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SMASH Site Council Agenda
Wednesday, January 4, 2012; 5:00 PM Core 2
Adopt Agenda
Approve minutes of last meeting
Community participation
Reports and Announcements (regular agenda items)
Principal’s Report
Student Reports
Community Organization Reports (to include but not limited to the following):
PTSA
Student Council
Other
Old Business
Vote on final site plan including literacy, math, and school climate goals
New Business
Discuss SMMUSD centralized fundraising working group
Community participation (if applicable)
Adjourn
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SMASH Site Council Minutes
Wednesday, December 7, 2011 5:00 PM Core 2
In Attendance: Laura Sherman, Jessica Rishe, Candis Berens, Jackie Boyd, Mimi Lichterman, Aurora Delaney, Toby Romero, Nathan Goldenberg, Malaika Boyer
Absent: Graciela Barba-Castro, Chrysta Wyse, Elizabeth Kramer Nina Fresco, Shaquil Johnson, Izzy Strick
Moved by Mimi. Seconded by Jackie. Agenda Adopted.
Moved by Jackie. Seconded by Candis. Minutes approved from last meeting.
Community participation: None
Reports and Announcements (regular agenda items)
Principal’s Report: Middle School Music Meeting at SMASH resulted in search for Jazz Club instructor for Winds and Winds-Strings collaboration around a contemporary piece “My Girl” which is being made into short film. Fundraising for this music program is underway (ICE 12/8). SMMUSD Board of Education passed centralized fundraising policy with Education Foundation as partner. People interested in serving on Superintendent’s advisory group to give input to details of this policy should let Jessica know. PTSA will be letting people know about “Our Children Our Future” initiative on November 2012 ballot. CA lost $18Billion in education spending and this initiative would raise $10 Billion through a sliding scale income tax. Creates $1300 per student to spend on programs and personnel (Art, Music, PE, Librarians, Counselors)

Student Reports: Core 3 is finishing science projects and learning about the Civil Rights Movement. Can do a speech; blow up map, posterboard or a song to demonstrate facts about Rosa Parks boycott and other moments. Will be drafting science fiction stories soon. Core 3 final visual art projects will be displayed next week Dec 13th at the Sharing. Core 3 designed umbrellas for the Holiday Boutique. DARE graduation is 11:00 December 16th. Core 3 is going to the Griffith Observatory next week. Nathan proposes having designated amount of time have to sit at the benches and eat and then go and play after. Look in February for a way for Site Council to lead surveys or focus groups to see student feedback about play before eat pilot. Need more instrument storage in Surf Shack. Might need designated areas for types of instruments. Get Core 2 and Core 3 student leaders together to come up with a plan.

Community Organization Reports (to include but not limited to the following):
PTSA
Student Council: Upper School planned the last Community Group Morning Meeting. December 16th will be Crazy Hair Day.
Old Business: None
New Business:
Early Literacy and Conceptual Mathematics goals reviewed
Early Literacy Goal: Support students struggling to learn to read in grades 1st-2nd
Focus on early literacy intervention by complementing the classroom Reading Workshop with Reading Recovery instruction. Funding Source: $5,828 Tier III and $2,851.30 Equity
Description: 6 hours per week of Reading Recovery support for identified 1st and 2nd graders
Math Goal:
In order to promote rigor, relevance, and effectiveness, identify where student thinking was being stretched by questions posed and participation levels, students had clarity about why they were learning the lessons, and where students interact with the curriculum in a variety of ways.
Actions
2nd and 7th/8th grade teachers rotate filming model math lessons. They edit them into 5 minute shorts for use with protocols at staff banked time meetings after school Fridays. Teachers work with Graciela Barba-Castro, Instructional Leadership Team Math Teacher Leader to design lessons and examine student work from lessons, including focus student work. Every grade level will engage in the Learning Walk process. This process will allow teachers time to see K-8: ”We know it’s rigorous/ relevant/effective when teachers/students…”
Host JAMS Pathway Principals’ Math Learning Walk
Funding Source: $0 from site, all sub time and training provided through RGK SMMUSD Educational Services Grant
Community participation: None
Moved by Candis. Seconded by Jackie. Meeting Adjourned.
Next meeting is Wed, January 4.
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ptsa news

president’s message
Dear SMASHing Parents,
I hope everyone had and a great time at last Friday’s Holiday Boutique. It was one of the best Holiday Boutiques ever and very fun for both kids and adults. Congratulations and thank you to Birte, Tamara, Helga and everyone who helped make this event a great success.
Last week’s mention in the Friday letter of the recent vote by the School Board on November 29 to implement centralized fundraising, was intended to let everyone know that there will be changes in the future with regard to our fundraising efforts. This week our superintendent, Sandra Lyon, sent an email to confirm the vote of the Board and the forthcoming changes, but she also wants everyone to know Nothing will change at schools in the 2012-13 school year. The Board policy states that the earliest the policy could be implemented would be July 2013, and the latest date by which it must be implemented is July 2014. This gives us time to determine how this policy will be implemented as well as to raise the funds we need to pay for the desired staff positions and professional development. Now is the time for SMASH parents to get involved in formulation of the new policy by applying to join the Superintendent’s Advisory Committee and/or attending meetings of the SMMUSD Education Foundation. Please call the district office to get an application for the Superintendent’s Advisory Committee and attend a meeting of the Education Foundation. SMASH needs your voice in implementing this new policy.
This is also the time of year when we need parents to step-up and take a role on the SMASH PTSA Executive Board. Most of the positions on the Board, including President and Treasurer, need to be filled so that a new Board can take over at the end of this school year and be ready for the 2012-2013 school year. Please note that many of the Board positions do not require a significant commitment of time, but they do offer the chance to be a voice and participate in the process of fulfilling the PTSA’s mission on behalf of SMASH.
Thanks,
Dan McGee

ptsa annual family investment drive
·The SMASH Annual Family Investment Drive continues throughout the year and we need every family to participate, even if you cannot afford the recommended amount. For those families who have not made a decision and have waited until the end of the year before deciding, now is the time to make a decision about your end of the year tax deductible contribution. If you haven’t made a commitment for your Annual Family Investment, we ask that you please make a commitment before the end of the year. Donations can be made by check, Paypal or credit card.
Annual Family Investment (AFI) envelopes are available in the office. Please remember that your investment helps pay for classroom teaching assistants, reading and math specialists, the SMASH fine arts program, science equipment, technology upgrades, professional development and so much more. If you have any questions, contact Marni Ayers Brady (marniayers@gmail.com) or Helga Schier (helgaschier@verizon.net)

SMASH green tip
Green For The Dogs Part II: Concrete floors are not comfortable for anyone. Old blankets and towels you don't want anymore would make perfect soft spots for shelter animals. Check your local animal shelter if they will take these donations.
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CORE 1 NEWS

CORE 1 PARK DAY
On Tuesday, December 20, we are planning a WALKING FIELD TRIP to HOTCHKISS PARK (the hill park on 4th and Hollister). We will be offering a variety of games and activities. Parents are invited to join us – and encouraged to bring your own activity as well, such as a parachute or jump ropes. Children will need to wear comfortable running shoes and plenty of sunscreen. All children will need to bring a packed lunch. Core 1 will be leaving school at 10:45 and returning by 1:00. Parents are encouraged to come if you can. The more, the merrier!!

ART SHARE
What does the world look like through the lens of a child? Did you see the photography presented in Chrysta’s room?
What are the collections that represent your child’s heart – in this moment, at this stage of his/her life? Did you assemble the collection from your child’s cubbie? What materials, colors, and shapes does your child use to represent him/ herself? Did you see the drawn portraits and assemblage in all of the classrooms?

We want to, again, congratulate your artists and thank you for coming out to our Core 1 Art Share on Tuesday night. It was an overwhelming success, and the children had so much fun! We appreciate your support of our program, especially during this busy time of year.

Kristy, our next artist-in-residence in Core 1, will begin a drama study as soon as we come back from Winter Break. The children will be studying and performing FAIRY TALES, and presenting them through a life-size SHADOW THEATER, which we will construct in Graciela’s room. This will be a fun connection to our year-long LIGHT STUDY with Graciela. Stay tuned for more!!

HOLIDAY SHOPPING
Please look for your order forms in this Friday's folder, if there are any extra goodies you would like to buy: Note cards (flower and driftwood varieties, ) and a flashdrive of the 1,235 student created photographs will be available for purchase ($20). The children took most of the photos of each other, and there are countless truly amazing photos, suitable for framing!

JACKETS and SWEATERS and SHIRTS, Oh My!!
Winter Break is a LOOOONNGG time to be without your jackets and sweaters. Please stop by your child’s cubby and the hooks outside of Chrysta’s classroom to collect your child’s left clothing before Break.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!
Candis, Chrysta, Graciela, Jackie, and Nadja
Candis: cberens@smmusd.org
Chrysta: cwyse@smmusd.org
Graciela: gbarba-castro@smmusd.org
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CORE 2 NEWS
Announcements
Thanks for coming to our Arts Sharing!
Dates to Remember:
Friday, December 16 – Last Friday Letter until 2012
Wednesday December 21 – Tuesday, January 3, 2012 – Winter Break
Wednesday, January 4, 2012 – Welcome back! New mixed up Advisories! Art with Juliana!
Monday, Jan 16 – Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday – No school
Wednesday, Jan 18 – Multicultural Potluck, 6pm

Laura: lsherman@smmusd.org
Tamara: tmugalian@smmusd.org
Jayme: j.wold@smmusd.org
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CORE 3 NEWS
Thanks for the Tissues!

Thanks to our chaperones, Marc (Toby's dad), John (Kate's dad), Dan (Molly's), and Yvonne (Aurora's mom) for helping to make our trip to Griffith Park safe and fun! A special thanks to Yvonne for using her connections and making the visit possible! Please look on our website for a few photos of our trip.

Arts Share! Thanks to Juliana and to all our Core 3 artists for putting on a great visual arts show! Their drawings are amazing and are still on view in Core 3 if you haven't had a chance to see the installation. Also, make sure you open up your Core 3 email blast to see the pdf file reflecting on our drawing art unit.

Thanks for purchasing the Holiday Boutique Umbrellas! Many students expressed how fun it was to design and draw on umbrellas. "This is the best project ever!" Alex said. There are still some students who have reserved their umbrella and others are up for sale. If you would like to purchase an umbrella in support of our SMASH PTSA, please come choose one!

6th Grade Math with Carrie: We reinforced our understanding of equivalent fractions, comparing fractions, and adding fractions by playing games like "Fraction War", "Fraction Concentration", and "Fraction Bingo". Homework 6B is due on Tuesday.

Science with Carrie: Our Space Presentations started this week for a few students who are going out of town. The rest of the presentations will be on Monday and Tuesday. Please see the list below to know when your child's presentation will be. We are going to try to keep close to these times (the kids know that it is supposed to be about 5 minutes and that at the 7 minute mark, the need to be done).
Orange Group (Monday):
10:35 Clara
10:42 Ifeyani
10:48 Luke/Sam
10:55 Alan
11:05 Toby/Shaquil
11:15 Liam/Duncan/Theo
11:25 Lydia
11:35 Nathan G
11:45 Molly
11:55 Sophie
12:05 Willow/CJ
12:15 Bailey/Zoe

Blue Group (Monday):
1:15 Isabel/Riley
1:24 Lucie
1:33 Olivia/Nathan M.
1:42 Robbie
1:51 Kaiden
2:00 Iris/Kate
2:09 Lillian/Mosi
2:18 Mina
2:27 Sydni
2:36 Alex
2:45 Cole, Zoey Rose, Solal

Tuesday (could be from either Blue or Orange group)
8:35 Mika/Simeon
8:43 Caleb
8:51 Aurora
9:00 Timmy
9:09 Izzy

Reading and Writing Workshop with Genie: We started drafting our Science Fiction Short Stories! The drafts should be finished before break so we can take our minds and eyes off our work to return in the new year with fresh minds and eyes which is a great way to start RE-vising!

Social Studies with Erin: Please finish Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary over the winter vacation. We will continue to discuss the issues and events in the book when we return in January. We will also have a chance to share our Civil Rights final projects at that time.

Winter Break Homework:
READ, READ, READ! Read lots of good books or at least one!
Play some games with your family!
Watch a good movie!
Practice your multiplication or division facts!

Be ready for learning in the new year and for new advisories! Carrie and Erin's schedule will be switching. Carrie will be teaching on Tuesdays and Thursdays and Erin will be teaching on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Erin will be taking her maternity leave in the middle of February and Amanda will be our long term sub.

Have a wonderful winter break!
Genie: gwang@smmusd.org
Carrie: cferguson@smmusd.org
Erin: ehaendel@smmusd.org

Dear Core 3 and Core 4 Families,
Our Middle School 2011-2012 Music Program Pilot continues to thrive and evolve thanks to thoughtful student and organized parent input. It was wonderful to hear our 3 inspired middle school groups (strings, winds, choir) perform at the Holiday Boutique.

Next two known performances will be Tuesday, January 24th 8-9pm Winter Music Concert and Tuesday, March 13th 6:00-7:30pm Talent Show. Perhaps other performance opportunities will also arise.

Choir will continue to meet with Jessi Tuesday/Thursday 9:15-10:15
Strings will continue to meet with Robbie Tuesday/Thursday 8:00-9:15, and
Winds will have the following pilot starting in January:

1) District Middle School Winds Program with Kevin Tuesday/Thursday 9:15-10:10 with Mike Hyziak teaming with Kevin on Thursdays.

2) Jazz Club for Winds Students (optional but highly encouraged) Fridays 1:45-2:45 at SMASH with Instructor Mike Hyziak. This will begin Fri, January 6 in the Music Room next to our Cafetorium.
Mike is a professional Jazz music arranger and looks forward to determining which music pieces students want to work on where he can create parts targeted to their instrumentation and playing level. His vision for the Friday group time includes: having fun playing Improv along with structured learning about phrasing, articulations, or the context behind
the music.

Who May Join? This is available to those in our Middle School District Winds Program as well as to those 6th-8th graders who are unable to participate in our District Middle School Music Program because they play an instrument not currently supported within our music program such as rhythm instruments, electric bass, piano, electric guitar, French horn, or tuba. Interested students not involved in our District Middle School Music Program will need to meet with Mike privately to confirm intermediate skill level in order to join the group.

While we begin this club at a manageable size, without 5th graders, vocalists or traditional string instruments, Mike is very interested in expanding in future years if the club gets solidified.

If interested in joining, email jrishe@smmusd.org so we may compile a list for Mike to get in touch with you.

Thank you to those who have already made donations to this SMASH Middle School Music Program. Others who wish to make your donation to this music program may write a check to “SMASH PTSA” and put “Middle School Music” on the memo line.

Looking forward to 2012 where we get to hear the strings/winds “My Girl” collaboration, more vocal harmonies, and a little SMASH Jazz!
Jessica

PLEASE NOTE: NO MIDDLE SCHOOL STRINGS CLASS WITH ROBBIE ON THURSDAY, JANUARY 5. Class will resume on January 10.
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CORE 4 NEWS
Holiday Happenings In Core Four: On the schedule are two activities and parents are encouraged to join us.
Ice Skating in downtown Santa Monica on 12/19 is always a blast and we would like to do this again after missing a year. Our plan is to walk over starting around 09:30am, skate, fall, and play for an hour and one half before walking back to school for lunch. Please have your kids bring $15.00 for entrance fees and a snack. As always, if this presents a problem, contact us and we shall work it out with you.

The second big event is our Caribbean Junk-a-Roo on the 20th. This multi-cultural event celebrates our kid’s efforts in humanities. The event kicks off with brief presentations starting at 11:30, breaks for lunch at the normal time and resumes just after with a Caribbean style secret Santa activity. Around 14:00 we will begin snacking on what we hope will be a sumptuous collection of Caribbean style snacks. Please bring anything to this potluck: plantains, dirty rice, jerk chicken, etc…

Our intention this year is to model a materialism free manner of celebration that focuses upon people, relationships, and careful choices. We seek to avoid the endless cycle of consumerism that has frivolously eroded the world’s resources; instead, we will celebrate the enduring bonds, special qualities of creativity, and thoughtfulness that exist amongst our community. We feel this is consistent with CARES, our social curriculum and our intention to model what we value in life.

If thinking of holiday gift giving, the Global Adolescent Project (www.globaladolescent.org) is something we support and thought you might be interested in learning about.

Kurt: kholland@smmusd.org
Darwin: dmendinueto@smmusd.org
Bailey: bailey.field@mac.com
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PAPPA JOHN’S PIZZA
FRIDAY, JANUARY 13 AND 27, 2012
Opt out of Nonfat Chocolate Milk at
fns@smmusd.org. Simply give us your child’s
Name, ID # and school

2011-12-09T15:36:00.000-08:00

Dear SMASHing Families,
As we wind down from another special Holiday Boutique chaired by Birte Reimer, Helga Schier, Siridyal Shilo, and Tamara Mugalian, we get ready for our next artistic SMASH event. Have you asked your children about visual arts with Julianna or drama with Kristy lately? As you get ready to attend the December 13 (Cores 1,2,3) and December 14 (Core 4) Art and Drama Sharings, here are a few creative experiences to ask your young artists to describe:
Core 1 artists have been making portraits out of found objects, drawings, painting on clay, and assemblage.
Core 3 students are having more technical lessons about drawing such as interpreting basic shapes according to eye level and various perspectives or left/Right brain use in visual perception of an artist.
Core 2 puppeteers and Reader’s Theater performers have storylines, props, and characters they’ve developed.
Core 4 film crews have been editing their footage now that the writing and acting stages are over.

Thank you SMASH PTSA for our thriving K-8 arts program. Come hear Dan McGee speak about our SMASHing Arts Program and other SMASH successes at the December 15, 6:00pm Board of Education meeting at the district office. E-mail me at jrishe@smmusd.org if you are able to attend.
Jessica
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CITY OF SANTA MONICA CONSTRUCTION NOTICE
OCEAN PARK BLVD COMPLETE GREEN STREET
THIRTY DAY NOTICE
The city of Santa Monica has awarded a contract to Excel Paving Company for the Ocean Park Blvd Complete Green Street Project. The project is scheduled to start December 2011 with completion in January 2013.

This notice is to make you aware of the start of this project. We will receive additional flyer approximately three weeks from work in the SMASH area, and again given a notice two days before the start of construction.

The Ocean Park Blvd Complete Green Street Project will consist of five phases
1. South side of Ocean Park Blvd.
2. North Side of Ocean Park Blvd.
3. Median of Ocean Park Blvd.
4. Ocean Park Blvd. Paving
5. Los Amigos Park Infiltration System
During each phase, traffic control will be in place and will maintain one lane of traffic in each direction.

This project will provide wider sidewalks and parkways for storm water runoff. The project will provide wider sidewalks and parkways for storm water biofilter swales and infiltration, new landscape medians, new marked crosswalks with enhanced overhead flashing beacons, new painted bike lanes and traffic striping, pedestrian level lighting, new trees and landscaping, street furniture, bike racks and traffic signal modification.

Contractor’s work operation, which will normally be from 8:00am to 6:00pm Monday to Friday.
If you want to know more, have questions, or need additional information, you can contact Michael Aguilar, Construction Manager/Inspector at 310-857-4946
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DATES TO REMEMBER
Fri, Dec 9 - Fri, Dec 16 - SMASH Book Fair
Tues, Dec 13 - 6:00-7:30pm - Art Share (Cores 1, 2 & 3), Book Fair open
Thurs, Dec 15 - 6:00pm - SMASH Board of Education Presentation
Fri, Dec 16 - 8:45am - Hess-Kramer Assembly AND Crazy Hair Day
WED, Dec. 21 - TUES, Jan. 3 - WINTER BREAK - SCHOOL CLOSED
Wed, Jan 4 - 5:00-6:00pm - Site Council Mtg
Sun, Jan 8 - Fri, Jan 13 - Yosemite Trip for 7th grader students
Mon, Jan 9 - 9:00-10:30am - SMASH School Tour

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LOOKING FOR A CHRISTMAS TREE?
Bennett Zemke’s Boy Scout troop #2 has trees up to 11 feet tall, as well as wreaths and garlands. Located on Montana Ave between 15th & 16th Streets. The lot is open 9am-9pm, with local delivery available Bring the flyer for a 10% discount,go to http://www.troop2bsa.org/2011TreeLotFlyer.pdf to print the flyer.
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SANTA MONICA SYMPHONY HOLIDAY CONCERT
Saturday, Dec 10 at 7:30pm Santa Monica Civic Auditorium
Allen Robert Gross, Music Director & Conductor
FREE ADMISSION - Bring school-age children! www.smsymphony.org 310-395-6330
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WESTSIDE FOOD BANK DONATION BARREL
IN THE SMASH OFFICE UNTIL THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15
The following items are needed (no glass except for baby food)
Cans of: tuna, vegetables and soup; fruits and fruit juices; pork & beans; stews & other meats
Packaged food: pasta, lentils and beans; macaroni & cheese and packaged dinners; instant soup, hot and cold cereal; peanut butter and other nut butters; nutritional bars: protein, granola, energy or breakfast bars
Baby foods are urgently needed. Two thousand babies and toddlers are without adequate nutrition each day right here on the west side of Los Angeles.
Baby/Toddler needs:
Infant formula; jar foods-all flavors & stages; crackers, teething biscuits and cookies; raisins & fruit snacks; juices: jars, cans, pouches & boxes; infant & children’s cereals
Other items need at Westside Food Bank:
Socks - new or clean gently-used socks—any size. Blankets - new or clean gently-used
Travel size sundries are urgently needed: travel sized shampoo, hair conditioner, soap, bath & shower gel, toothpaste and toothbrush and towels (new or clean gently-used)
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Santa Monica High School Winter Choral Concert: Motus Perpetuus VII
Thursday, December 15 at 7:00pm - SAMOHI Barnum Hall
$5 Students, $10 Adults - At the door
This annual concert of perpetual motion features all of the students in the Santa Monica High School Music Program.
Choirs are strategically situated throughout Barnum Hall, with songs following each other without applause, from one piece to the next. From Gregorian Chants to the work of French composer Francis Poulenc, this year’s concert will intertwine one thousand years of choral music history as students traverse every area of Barnum Hall creating an exciting, immersive experience that is a perennial favorite of concertgoers. The concert concludes with the traditional singing of The Hallelujah Chorus, for which audience alumni choristers are invited to the stage to join in.
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SANTA MONICA LITTLE LEAGUE REGISTRATION
Community baseball with Divisions from T-Ball to Seniors, boys and girls ages 4 to 16. Spring 2012 Registration is Now Open! Go to www.smll.com for a description of Divisions, League Boundaries and more. Register Online or print the Mail-in Registration Form Scholarships are available Contact registrar@smll.com for more info
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WINTERLIT - HOLIDAY CELEBRATIONS IN SANTA MONICA
Tuesday, December 20-27 - Chanukah Menorah Lighting at sundown
Nov 1—Dec 31 - Gift Your Schools. Shop & dine at Santa Monica Place and earn SMASH 5% donation. Just present your receipts at the Concierge on level 1. For details 310-260-8333.
Ice Skating - 5th & Arizona, November 11-January 16 - admission & skate rental $12
2 for 1 Tuesdays, Wacky Hat Wednesdays, After-Hours Broom Ball, Rock ‘N’ Skate Fridays, Costume Skate Sundays
Breakfast with Santa: RSVP at smpholiday.evenbrite.com
Sat, Dec 10 - 9:30-10 at Santa Monica Place Food Court
Pet Photos with Santa: Thurs, Dec 8 - 6-8pm - The Market Place at Santa Monica Place
For a list of all events visit WinterLit.com - SantaMonicaPlace.com - ICEatSantaMonica.com
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SANTA MONICA PIER - 2011 HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE
Saturday, December 17 11:00am - 5:00pm
11:00-3:00 - Santa Claus visits the Merry-G0-Round. FREE rides during his visit
2:30-5:00 - Holiday Caroling - Carolers stroll along the pier.
December 1-18 - Canned Food Drive supporting Upward Bound House. Drop off in the Merry-Go-Round building
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PAL 6th ANNUAL BEST GIFT EVER DRIVE - Now through December 13
Donate a new unwrapped gift, gift card or make a cash donation to any of the following locations and help youth ages 6 to 17 in the Santa Monica community experience the joy of the holiday season
GIFT DROP LOCATIONS
Santa Monica PAL at 1401 Olympic Blvd
Downtown Santa Monica Police Substation at 1433 2nd St
Santa Monica Place Concierge, 3rd & Broadway (Gifts only, no cash or gift cards at this site please)
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In honor of Kwanzaa, the John Adams Middle School Pathway schools cordially invite you to the:
Karamu Community Dinner Celebration
Thursday, December 15 - 4:30-6:00pm
Check-in begins at 4:00pm at Will Rogers Learning Community; 2401 14th Street
R.S.V.P. by December 8th to Donna McCoy dmccoy@smmusd.org or (310) 452-2326 x 72218
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The UCLA Family Commons at Santa Monica
PROMENADE COMMONS KIDS CLUB
1221 2nd Street, Santa Monica (behind 3rd St Promenade) 310-395-5650
Mon-Fri: 10:00am-6:30pm
Sat: 9:00am-7:00pm (after 3pm by appt only)
Sun: 1:00-7:00pm
$15/hour - Siblings $5/hour
Drop off you child at the new Promenade Commons Kids Club. Children enjoy an afternoon of crafting, active games
and other healthy fun. Children are welcome to stay for one to six hours or anything in between.
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The UCLA Family Commons presents
Navigating Divorce: for Children ages 7-11
With Dr. Rebecca Eberlin, PhD.
Mondays 4:00-5:15pm; January 9 - February 27
Cost $350 per person
Classes include: identifying, labeling and controlling feelings; solving problems; divorce specific coping skills; age appropriate understanding of divorce-related concepts and creating positive perceptions of one’s self and family.
1221 2nd Street; Santa Monica 90401 310-395-5650 www.uclacommons.com
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ptsa news
president’s message

Dear SMASHing Parents,
As we move toward the Winter Break and heart of the holiday season, this is the time to start looking ahead to a bright future at SMASH. One of our unique qualities at SMASH is the strong sense of community and the shared belief that we strive to balance the needs of the individual with the needs of the community.

With the recent vote by the School Board on November 29th to implement centralized fundraising on a district wide level, this is the time for all of us to reflect and consider what we can do as a community to contribute to the success of this new fundraising model. Though the new fundraising plan will not begin until the 2013-2014 school year, development of the details will begin with the Superintendent’s Advisory Committee, which will begin meeting after Winter Break, and will include the input of the SMMUSD Education Foundation, which will lead the centralized fundraising plan. At SMASH we have parents and families that have been leaders in past efforts, such as the SOS Campaign, and who have demonstrated year after year the ability to organize and coordinate efforts on behalf of our schools. These groups need the talent and input of our community. Now is the time to get involved and contribute to the exciting process to develop a comprehensive and successful district wide fundraising plan by volunteering to serve on the Superintendent’s Advisory Committee and attend Education Foundation meetings that are held on a regular basis.

For the present, the fundraising that we do at SMASH will not change. More importantly, much of our fundraising, whether the rummage sale, holiday boutique, jog-a-thon or SuperSMASH is as much about community and the things we share together as it is about the money we raise. We must continue to set an example for the entire district with our community, our energy and our volunteer spirit.
Thanks,
Dan McGee

ptsa annual family investment drive
· The SMASH Annual Family Investment Drive is on-going and will continue throughout the year. We are striving to surpass last year’s record breaking family participation. For those families who have not made a decision and have waited until after the end of the year before deciding, now is the time to make a decision about your end of the year
tax deductible contribution. If you haven’t made a commitment for your Annual Family Investment, we ask that you please make a commitment before the end of the year. Donations can be made by check, Paypal or credit card. Annual Family Investment (AFI) envelopes are available in the office. Please remember that your investment helps pay for classroom teaching assistants, reading and math specialists, the SMASH fine arts program, science equipment, technology upgrades, professional development and so much more. If you have any questions, contact Marni Ayers Brady (marniayers@gmail.com) or Helga Schier (helgaschier@verizon.net)

SMASH green tip
Green For The Dogs: Even old sports balls that no longer stay inflated can be repurposed. Check with your local animal shelter if they would like them for their dogs.
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Wigs, gel, pipe-cleaners and bows…
On Crazy Hair Day
anything goes!!!! Show your school spirit and wear a crazy hairdo on December 16

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CORE 1 NEWS

CIRCLE GROUPS
Our Core 1 children met in their new circle groups yesterday. Circle groups are comprised of Partners, Bigs, and Mentors. We meet in circle groups for Morning Meeting, Projects, and Magic Circle. Candis’ group is called The Golden Puff Balls, Chrysta’s group is called The Swimming Uffys (pronounced uh-fee-s) and Graciela’s group is call The Glowing Stars. We used a democratic process to select the group names. Even though some children were disappointed that their first choice did not win, everyone accepted their new names. Here’s what two Bigs had to say:

Simone: First we picked names, and then we were voting. The Gardening Gummy Bears didn’t make it, but the Golden Puff Balls did. I wish the Gardening Gummy Bears had made it.
Ana-Sofia: I don’t! I love Golden Puff Balls!
Simone: Me, too!

ART PROGRAM SHARE
On Tues, December 13 at 6:00pm your family and friends are invited to our ARTS PROGRAM SHARE! Core 1 will be sharing our study of PORTRAITS and COLLECTIONS in all 3 classrooms. Come see our paintings, drawings, photography, and assemblage representing ourselves and the world around us. You will be amazed at the depth and quality of our artists’ creations. Thank you to Marni and Julianna for your leadership in this study! We would love PARENT VOLUNTEERS to help us with the installation.

SILENT AUCTION ITEMS
In conjunction with our portrait study, Core 1 will collaboratively create stunning artwork, which will be auctioned off as a fundraiser. This project is still in-progress, so we dare not reveal too much. But be on the look-out for these one-of-a-kind pieces. Proceeds from this fundraiser will go directly to our Winter/Spring Holistic Drama Study. More details regarding the silent auction coming soon!!

BOOK FAIR Please remember to visit the book fair to buy books for home and for the classroom. We have put some books in the wish basket, based on the children’s recommendations, that we would love to add to our Core 1 library. Thanks for making our wishes come true.

CRAZY HAIR DAY Will be on Friday, December 16th. Show your school spirit by changing your do! Hats, wigs, pipe-cleaners, bows…anything goes!

BIRTHDAY BASH
We will be celebrating December birthdays on Friday, December 16th at 11:45 in the Magic Garden. If your child will be celebrating his/her birthday this month, please sign up in Candis’ room to bring a Birthday Bash peanut-free snack to share with 75 children.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!
Candis, Chrysta, Graciela, Jackie, and Nadja

Candis: cberens@smmusd.org
Chrysta: cwyse@smmusd.org
Graciela: gbarba-castro@smmusd.org

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CORE 2 NEWS
Advisory News: It’s hard to believe that we are already at Winter Break (!) Tamara, Jayme, and Laura will be creating new mixed-group advisories (putting students from both advisory groups together). We do this to give students opportunities to work with a wide variety of classmates and have experiences with both Advisors. The students have given us some of their ideas, which we do our best to accommodate. Please respect the time and thought we put into the groups. They will start in their new groups after Winter Break. Let us know if you have
any questions or concerns about this process.

Theme: In Theme, Laura has been helping the students explore concepts and construction of simple machines. With Tamara, the students have been using atlases to learn about the continents and oceans. They are working in groups to color and label physical and political maps of each continent, which they will put together into individual atlases for each student.

Literacy: In Readers Workshop, we have been indentifying and discussing the Main idea and details in nonfiction books. In fiction books, we identified and discussed the theme, lesson, or big idea in our read alouds and Just Right books. By identifying what we think stories are really, really about, we can begin to put that understanding into our writing. We have also been discussing the importance of choosing Just Right Books for independent reading. It is critical for all students to read a book that is not too hard (5 or more “stumbles” on a page), but also not too easy (duh). It should be a book of high interest to the student that they can read and understand
by themselves. Please help your child choose appropriate books at home for reading homework.

In Writing Workshop, we just published our first narrative piece, a Small Moment story. We are currently demonstrating what we learned in that unit by doing a Small Moment quick publish piece—spending 1 – 2 days on each step of the process. Our next nonfiction/non-narrative writing unit will be a personal essay: using an idea or opinion as an angle to write about ourselves. (We also hope you enjoy the gifts of their mini-poetry unit.)

Math: Laura’s 3rd graders have started Collections and Travel Stories, another addition and subtraction unit.
Tamara’s 4th Graders just started Multiple Towers and Division Stories, a second multiplication and division unit, with an emphasis on division with remainders. These units will continue after Winter Break.

Wednesday Drama with Kristy: Theater Arts with Kristy was, as always, an amazing communal process. We look forward to sharing our hard work with you on Tues, 12/13, 6:30 – 8:00 pm. We will be starting VisualArts with Julianna as soon as we return from Winter Break.

Media Center: Both groups visit the Media Center twice a month on Thursdays (alternating weeks). Students may bring their library books home. Please help them be responsible for their books—and returning them to school on Thursdays.

Thank You to all the parents who helped make our beautiful Holiday Boutique projects and to all the SMASH families and students for shopping, snacking, and creating to make our Holiday Boutique a SMASHing success.

*Special shout out to Mimi for helping Tamara, Laura, and Jayme by subbing and volunteering to support Core 2. Her help, insight, and teaching expertise is invaluable.

CRAZY HAIR DAY Will be on Friday, December 16. Show your school spirit by changing your do! Hats, wigs, pipe-cleaners, bows…anything goes!

Have a joy-filled, stress-free, happy and warm holiday this Winter Break!
Tamara, Laura, Jayme, (and sometimes Mimi!!!)

Laura: lsherman@smmusd.org
Tamara: tmugalian@smmusd.org
Jayme:j.wold@smmusd.org
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CORE 3 NEWS
Tissues needed—we didn't get any last week and with all the colds, the paper towels were a bit rough!

Field Trip Reminder - Wednesday we LEAVE AT 8:00 for the Griffith Park Observatory. We are taking a chartered bus so we can get there by our 9:00am appointment. BE HERE EARLY so you don't miss it! Also, because it's a chartered bus, the cost is greater than we put on the permission slip. We are asking for an $8 donation to help cover the cost. Thanks to all the parents who have volunteered to chaperone!

6th Grade Math with Carrie: Our study of fractions has progressed to more complex topics. This week we worked on finding fractions between fractions (for example, naming two fractions that fall between 1/4 and 1/5). Ask your child to show you how they figure it out. We also started our study of improper and mixed fractions.
6th Grade Math with Erin "Data About Us": We continued delving into 2 dimensional geometry with our study of angles.
5th grade Math Workshop with Genie: How was playing Close to 1,000 and Close to 7,500? Were you impressed with any of the strategies your child used? We have been working on story problems that involve large numbers and realized that we are great at computation but sometimes try to solve the incorrect equation because we didn’t read all the words carefully. Your mathematician knows the final assessment of the unit is coming up and know there are times when it's ok to rush and not worry about accuracy and there are times when it counts.

Science with Carrie: Space Presentations will be on Monday, December 19. Students will sign up for times on Monday, December 12. If there is a particular time you would like your child to sign up for so you can be there to see them, please let your child (and Carrie) know so we can plan accordingly. The Orange Group will have their presentations between 10:45 and 12:25 and the Blue Group will be between 1:15 and 3:00. Presentations should be about 5 minutes each so the times will be approximate but, if you let Carrie know that you're planning to be there, she can make sure to hold your child's presentation until you get there. The creativity in the projects is impressive we have songs, PowerPoints, slide shows, posters, puppet shows, and much more. Carrie will video tape all of the presentations so we can watch them later (so, if you miss it, it will be on tape).

Social Studies and Geography with Erin: Students were busy working on their final Civil Rights project this week. We also took some time to read aloud from and discuss the Malcolm X book.

Reading and Writing Workshop with Genie: As writers we know it's challenging to write a short story especially since we are involved in our just right books that are so long! Ask your child how they are introducing characters and settings while moving the plot to make their story not too short and not too long. We are coming to an end of our Read Aloud White Mountains. The formal English is challenging to understand but we've learned a lot of vocabulary. And more importantly, we have been making personal connections to the story and connecting the story to different science fiction and fantasy stories we have read and seen. We've been taking notes during Read Aloud which will aid us when we write our literary essays.

Visual Arts with Juliana: We had our last visual arts session this week! We have been working on our independent projects that will be on display in Core 3 at our Arts Share on Tuesday, December 13 from 6:00pm- 7:00pm. Our artists will also be available to do quick sketches of visitors—portraits, hands, shoes, and object you have handy—Street-Artist-style! Come join us to see their phenomenal drawings, get sketched, as well as browse the SMASH book fair! Thanks to Juliana for an amazing semester of art!

Homework:
6G math: Assignment 5B due 12/13
5G math: packet #14 due Friday, 12//16.
RW: READ, READ, READ! Make sure to log in finished books on the yellow card in class.
WW: work on Science Fiction Short Story—we've finally started drafting!

CRAZY HAIR DAY Will be on Friday, December 16. Show your school spirit by changing your do! Hats, wigs, pipe-cleaners, bows…anything goes!

Genie: ghwang@smmusd.org
Carrie: cferguson@smmusd.org
Erin: ehaendel@smmusd.org
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CORE 4 NEWS

8th graders need to bring in photos on a memory stick by Friday, January 6 so they are ready to make yearbook pages.

Any 8th grader interested in submitting a design for the yearbook front and back covers should submit it to Jessica by Friday, January 6.

CRAZY HAIR DAY will be on Friday, December 16. Show your school spirit by changing your do! Hats, wigs, pipe-cleaners, bows…anything goes!

2011-12-02T14:41:00.000-08:00

Dear SMASHing Families,
Our SMASH community encourages students to proactively advocate for themselves in a respectful, informed way. Some recent examples include a Core 4 petition for iPod use during independent writing that cites the research studies showing benefits to adolescent focus and a Google document proposing new, more fair lunch bench clean up procedures. The excerpt below comes from a newspaper three students asked me to share in the Friday Letter in order to build more interest in a book they hope more will want to read (perhaps through our upcoming Book Fair 12/9-12/16) and to raise awareness of an upper school concern.

The School Chase Times:
To tell you all stuff that’s hip happening around the school for kids
Written by Asher, Shai, and Tali Chase
The new book of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series just came out on the 15th of November 2011. Cabin Fever is the name of the Smashing book. It is a book for the whole family to enjoy. It is written by Jeff Kinney.

Also, somebody keeps writing on the walls in the upstairs bathrooms. If you know something about the writing in the bathrooms, report to Core 3 classrooms and we’ll see what we can do.

As the “Occupy” movement is promoting societal talks about how to consider many different needs, I admire our SMASH students’ articulate, enthusiastic, increasingly organized group advocacy.

Looking forward to seeing many of you at the SMASH Holiday Boutique next Friday, Dec 9th 11:30-5:30pm!
Come enjoy the Middle School musicians at the Boutique:
12:30-1:00 - Strings
1:45 - 2:15 - Winds
2:30 - 3:00 - Choir
Jessica
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WESTSIDE FOOD BANK DONATION BARREL
IN THE SMASH OFFICE UNTIL THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15

The following items are needed (no glass except for baby food)
Cans of: tuna, vegetables and soup; fruits and fruit juices; pork & beans; stews & other meats

Packaged food: pasta, lentils and beans; macaroni & cheese and packaged dinners; instant soup, hot and cold cereal; peanut butter and other nut butters; nutritional bars: protein, granola, energy or breakfast bars

Baby foods are urgently needed. Two thousand babies and toddlers are without adequate nutrition each day right here on the west side of Los Angeles.
Baby/Toddler needs:
Infant formula; jar foods-all flavors & stages; crackers, teething biscuits and cookies; raisins & fruit snacks; juices: jars, cans, pouches & boxes; infant & children’s cereals

Other items need at Westside Food Bank:
Socks - new or clean gently-used socks—any size. Blankets - new or clean gently-used
Travel size sundries are urgently needed: travel sized shampoo, hair conditioner, soap, bath & shower gel, toothpaste and toothbrush and towels (new or clean gently-used)
Westside Food Bank
1710 22nd St., Santa Monica, CA 90404
Phone:(310) 828-6016, Fax:(310) 828-2646
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DATES TO REMEMBER
Wed, Dec 7 - 5:00-6:00pm - Site Council Mtg.
- 6:00pm - PTSA Mtg

Thurs, Dec. 8 - All Day - SMASH fundraiser at ICE Santa Monica skating rink. Bring the flyer and SMASH receives 25% of the proceeds. Flyer available in the SMASH office and is being attached to today’s e-mailed Friday Letter.

Fri, Dec. 9 - 11:30-5:30 - SMASH Holiday Boutique & Art Affaire Sale - Something for everyone - unique handmade
items, food and fun activities.

Fri, Dec 9 - Fri, Dec 16 - SMASH Book Fair

Tues, Dec 13 - 6:00-7:30pm - Art Share (Cores 1, 2 & 3), Book Fair open

WED, Dec. 21 - TUES, Jan. 3 - WINTER BREAK - SCHOOL CLOSED

Thurs, Dec. 8 - All Day - SMASH fundraiser at ICE Santa Monica skating rink. Bring the flyer and SMASH receives 25% of the proceeds. Flyer available in the SMASH office and is being attached to today’s e-mailed Friday Letter.
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Don’t shop for the holidays until you’ve been to our annual
Holiday Boutique & Art Affaire
December 9, 11:30 – 5:30pm
We need parent volunteers** to help manage our food stands (Waffles, Chili) and activity booths (Candle-Making, Spin Art… NEW ideas always welcome). If you can help, please contact Helga Schier at helgaschier@verizon.net. PTSA receives 20% of vendor’s gross receipts. **If you want to help at the Core Art Tables, please contact Chrysta, Tamara or Genie.

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WESTSIDE BALLET'S "THE NUTCRACKER" ENCHANTS THIS DECEMBER
SMASH's Olivia Sparling performs the lead role of Clara in four of the eight scheduled performances.
Get in the holiday spirit with Westside Ballet's Winter 2011 performances of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker. One of the most highly regarded productions of The Nutcracker in all of Los Angeles, this year's performances are being held over the first two weekends of December at the Wadsworth Theater in Westwood.
WHAT: The Nutcracker, produced by Westside Ballet
WHEN: 1PM and 5PM, December 3, 4, 10, 11
WHERE: Wadsworth Theater, Veterans Administration, 11301 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles 90073
COST: $25 per ticket if purchased at Westside Ballet, 1709 Stewart St., Santa Monica 90404 on 11/19 and 11/26 from 10AM-noon, or $30 per ticket plus fees via Ticketmaster.com
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America's Got Talent
will be coming to Anaheim on December 10 & 11th at the Anaheim Convention Center looking for talented students. If your child is interested in auditioning, please contact: America’s Got Talent Casting Coordinator Grace Kim at 818.794.7817 agtauditions.com http://agtauditions.com/
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The UCLA Family Commons & Parents Education League present
When Stress is Good for Children with Dr. Rebecca Eberlin, PhD.
Friday, December 2 - 10:00-11:30am
Sometimes stress helps children grow. If you protect your children from every hurt, problem and rejection, they can’t develop a sense of their own power. Learn the difference between “bad” stress that causes children harm-being bullied, for example—and “good stress that helps their long-term development. Call 310-395-5650 to reserve your space - $20 per person.
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LOOKING FOR A CHRISTMAS TREE?
Bennett Zemke’s Boy Scout troop #2 has trees up to 11 feet tall, as well as wreaths and garlands. Located on Montana Ave between 15th & 16th Streets. The lot is open 9am-9pm, with local delivery available Bring the flyer with today’s Friday Letter for a 10% discount, or go to http://www.troop2bsa.org/2011TreeLotFlyer.pdf to print the flyer.
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SANTA MONICA SYMPHONY HOLIDAY CONCERT
Saturday, Dec 10 at 7:30pm - Santa Monica Civic Auditorium
Allen Robert Gross, Music Director & Conductor
FREE ADMISSION - Bring school-age children! www.smsymphony.org 310-395-6330
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WINTERLIT - HOLIDAY CELEBRATIONS IN SANTA MONICA

Tuesday, December 20-27 - Chanukah Menorah Lighting at sundown

Nov 1—Dec 31 - Gift Your Schools. Shop & dine at Santa Monica Place and earn SMASH 5% donation. Just present your receipts at the Concierge on level 1. For details 310-260-8333.

Ice Skating - 5th & Arizona, November 11-January 16 - admission & skate rental $12
2 for 1 Tuesdays, Wacky Hat Wednesdays, After-Hours Broom Ball, Rock ‘N’ Skate Fridays, Costume Skate Sundays

Breakfast with Santa: RSVP at smpholiday.evenbrite.com
Sat, Dec 3 - 9:30-11:30 at The Market Place at Santa Monica Place
Sat, Dec 10 - 9:30-10 at Santa Monica Place Food Court

Pet Photos with Santa: Thurs, Dec 8 - 6-8pm - The Market Place at Santa Monica Place

For a list of all events visit WinterLit.com - SantaMonicaPlace.com - ICEatSantaMonica.com
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MAIN STREET CELEBRATIONS
Saturday, December 3
5:00pm - Time with Santa to take photos with kids. Free - bring your own camera.

6:00pm - Tree lighting with holiday songs by the Samohi Choir at the California Heritage Museum Lawn Ocean Park Blvd & Main St)

6:30pm Candlelight Walk to the Shopping Cart Tree at Edgemar courtyard with music by Off Their Jingle Bell Rockers. Santa will be on hand for more photos.

6:00-9:00pm - Participating Main Street merchants invite you to their special holiday parties complete with refreshments and music.

5:00pm Nov 25 until 9:00pm on Dec 3 - Vote for your favorite Main Street window and/or interior decorations. Your ballot doubles as a raffle entry for a chance from over 30 Main Street businesses.Ballots can be found a mainstreetsm.com
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CANDY CANE DRIVE
Sponsored by the Santa Monica Firefighters’ and Police Officers’ Associations Santa Claus is coming to your neighborhood, escorted by the Santa Monica Police in cars & Motorcycles. Listen for sirens and look for him on the bright red fire engine. Candy canes available for all
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 3
10:30-10:50am Douglas Park (California Ave & 25th St.)
11:00-11:15am - Christine Reed Park (California Ave & Lincoln Blvd)
11:25-11:50am - 3rd Street Promenade at Wilshire Blvd
1:15-1:30pm - Virginia Ave Park (2200 Virginia Ave)
1:45-2:00pm - Marine Park (Marine & 17th Sts)
2:15-2:30pm - Clover Park (Ocean Pk & 25th ST.
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SANTA MONICA PIER - 2011 HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE
Saturday, December 17 11:00am - 5:00pm
11:00-3:00 - Santa Claus visits the Merry-G0-Round. FREE rides during his visit
2:30-5:00 - Holiday Caroling - Carolers stroll along the pier.
December 1-18 - Canned Food Drive supporting Upward Bound House. Drop off in the Merry-Go-Round building
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PAL 6th ANNUAL BEST GIFT EVER DRIVE - Now through December 13
Donate a new unwrapped gift, gift card or make a cash donation to any of the following locations and help youth ages 6 to 17 in the Santa Monica community experience the joy of the holiday season
GIFT DROP LOCATIONS
Santa Monica PAL at 1401 Olympic Blvd
Downtown Santa Monica Police Substation at 1433 2nd St
Santa Monica Place Concierge, 3rd & Broadway (Gifts only, no cash or gift cards at this site please)
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CAN WE TALK?
A community conversation with City Manager Rod Gould about neighborhood projects, the economy, and the future

...about how we are doing… How does the economy look from a local perspective. Rod will discuss our fiscal outlook
and talk about the city’s strategies for difficult times.

…and what are we doing?... What did we do last year? How will we build on that? Talk with Rod about what we
accomplished last year, upcoming City initiatives and outreach projects, and what is going on in your neighborhood.

Monday, Dec 12 - 7pm - Virginia Ave Park, Thelma Terry Community Rm, 2200 Virginia Ave

Wednesday, Jan 4 - 7pm - Montana Branch Library, Community Rm, 2401 Montana Ave

Wednesday, Jan 19 - 7pm - McKinley School, 2401 Santa Monica Blvd

All locations are wheelchair accessible. For additional disability-related accommodations or for more information about these meetings, please call 310-458-8281 or visit www.smgov.net/neighborhoods
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WINTER CHEER 2011 - Douglas Park Clubhouse

Baking Buddies -#1601.300- - Tues Dec 6, 13 & 20; 3:30-5:00pm 4-12 years
$6 materials fee due on first day of class. SM residents $45/non-residents $52
We will bake different creations in each class, going over different ingredients, measurements, cooking safety all in a
fun-filled class.

Holiday Arts & Crafts - #1601.301 - Thurs Dec 8, 15 & 22 - 3:30-5:00pm - 4-12 years old $6 materials fee payable to instructor on first day of class. SM residents $45/non-residents $52 Come share in the festive spirit as we make all sorts
of holiday crafts using a variety of mediums

Friday Night Stay and Play - #1601.302 - Friday, Dec 16; 5:30pm-8:30pm - 3-12 years old
SM residents $36/non-resident $41 Drop off your children on Friday night for some holiday cheer. We will sing songs, hear stories, decorate and have a great time. Children should bring a snack.
Teachers:Anna Flynn & Sarah Goldman
City of SM Community Classes - 310-458-2239 recenroll.smgov.net
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Santa Monica High School Winter Choral Concert: Motus Perpetuus VII
Thursday, December 15 at 7:00pm - SAMOHI Barnum Hall
$5 Students, $10 Adults - At the door
This annual concert of perpetual motion features all of the students in the Santa Monica High School Music Program. Choirs are strategically situated throughout Barnum Hall, with songs following each other without applause, from one piece to the next. From Gregorian Chants to the work of French composer Francis Poulenc, this year’s concert will intertwine one thousand years of choral music history as students traverse every area of Barnum Hall creating an exciting,
immersive experience that is a perennial favorite of concertgoers. The concert concludes with the traditional singing of The Hallelujah Chorus, for which audience alumni choristers are invited to the stage to join in.
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Freedom Riders: A Community Conversation on Democracy in Action
Wednesday, December 7 - 7:00-9:00 p.m. - The Broad Stage - 1310 11th Street, Santa Monica,
Join us for a Community Conversation featuring the award-winning film Freedom Riders by PBS American Experience. The program will include excerpts from the film and conversation led by former Justice Department civil rights attorney, author, and Facing History board member Gerald Stern. He will be joined by Freedom Rider Ernest “Rip” Patton Jr., who will share experiences as a participant in the Nashville Movement and the Freedom Rides.
Seating is limited. Visit facinghistory.org/communityconversations.
For info contact Jennifer Lenardson at 213-202-2811 x28 or Jennifer_Lenardson@facing.org.
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INTERCULTURAL DISTRICT ADVISORY COMMITTEE
At its board meeting on November 17, the Board of Education reconstituted the Intercultural District Advisory Committee (DAC) and directed the superintendent’s office to solicit applications for community members to serve on the committee.

Applications to serve on this committee can be found in English and Spanish at http://www.smmusd.org/DAC/index.html or in the superintendent’s office (1651 16th Street, Santa Monica). The deadline to submit applications to the superintendent’s office is Tuesday, December 20, 2011. The goal is for the Board of Education to review the applications and appoint members to the committee at the January 19, 2012, board meeting.
Reconstituting the Intercultural DAC, which has a temporary name of the Intercultural Equity and Excellence DAC, is part of the school district’s response to the May 2011 racial incident that took place at Santa Monica High School.
The board charged the committee with the follow directives:
• Support the district’s work of closing the achievement gap by assisting in the identification and elimination of inequities in educational processes and outcomes of underserved students in district schools.
• Serve as a vehicle for parents, community, and students to communicate with the Board on matters related to the successful participation in the educational process of students and parents who come from diverse socio-economic, ethnic, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds or from the LGBTQ community.
• Provide a forum for the articulation of ideas and activities being implemented in the district, school sites, and the greater community that are successfully meeting the needs of our diverse student and parent population.
• Provide input on district and school site efforts to facilitate the building of bridges of understanding between diverse student and parent populations so that all groups feel connected to, and part of the school community.
• Work collaboratively with other advisory committees as appropriate.
Report to the Board annually on the scope of their work, and recommendations that are developed relative to their charge.
Additionally, the board provided staff with the following guidelines for the committee’s composition:
• In accordance with District guidelines, there shall be a minimum of seven and maximum of nineteen active members.
• Up to three positions will be held by site staff. The Superintendent or designee will work with site administrators to encourage district employees to apply to serve on the committee. The board will appoint employees to the committee taking into account school levels, experience and/or expertise, and diversity of geographic location.
Community organizations whose charges intersect directly with the core work of this advisory committee will be invited to designate a representative to serve. These organizations include, but are not limited to, the Santa Monica-Venice Branch of the NAACP, Virginia Ave. Park, and the Westside Chapter of the Association of Mexican-American Educators. The DAC will be governed by the guidelines prescribed in Board Policy and Administrative Regulation 1220.
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SMASH Site Council Minutes Tuesday, October 4, 2011
In Attendance: Laura Sherman, Jessica Rishe, Nina Fresco, Malaika Boyer, Mimi Lichterman, Candis Berens, Elizabeth Kramer,
Toby Romero, Nathan Goldenberg, Aurora Delaney, Shaquil Johnson, Izzy Strick

Absent: Graciela Barba-Castro, Chrysta Wyse, Jackie Boyd

Agenda Amended with addition of “School Climate goal review” to School Improvement Plan New Business : Moved by Laura
Sherman. Seconded by Nina Fresco. Approved.
Agenda approval: Elizabeth Kramer moved. Toby Romero seconded. Agenda approved.

Approve Minutes of last meeting with one punctuation correction.
Moved by Mimi Lichterman : Seconded by Malaika Boyer. Approved

Community Participation: None

Reports and Announcements (regular agenda items)
Principal’s Report: Whole Child nutrition and fitness with A La Carte healthier choices, fewer Bake Sales since they are Fridays only not Wednesdays and Fridays,

Student Reports: Some students eat food with time still left before bell rings. Some girls want more time to eat and some boys want more time to play. There is trash left at the lunch benches that we need to clean up. It is hard if we are really hungry and need to go straight out to play. If a student has a lunch from home s/he can take a few bites to hold over before going onto the field but this won’t work if buying hot lunch.

Core 3: Memoir Writing Celebration was today. Do UCLA Royce Hall field trip every year. Catalina Trip for 6th graders is next week. Griffith Observatory field trip is coming up. We are taking JPL science field trip in November, which ties with our studies about the solar system. 5th graders will go to Astrocamp in February.

Middle School band musicians would like to be able to do choir too and want more playing time, less time talking and putting room back together. They don’t think it is fair winds get to work with String Project LA. Music Committee meeting with District schedulers, music teachers, and student musicians and parents will be happening this Fall. Community Organization Reports

PTSA Meeting: 60 people signed up each night of the SMASH Camping trip and we got to do Archery this year. Rummage Sale, Halloween Carnival, and SMASH Bash sign ups are coming up.

Student Council: Community Group Morning Meeting will happen this Fri, October 7th.

New Business:
School Climate Counseling Services Site Improvement Plan Goal: Improve school climate through a counseling program that meets school stakeholder social and emotional needs.

Performance gains expected for these Student Groups:
Students will use “CARES” more effectively (Cooperation, Assertion, Responsibility, Empathy, Self-control)

Means of evaluating progress toward this Goal:
OLWES survey results and SMMUSD Middle School survey
Middle School Initiative Student Survey Responses (SMASH Students)
N=70 6th/7th/8th graders April 2011
81.4% of middle school students say they can often or almost always manage stress at school.
81.4% of middle school students say they almost never or once in a while feel stress at school.
85.5% say they feel safe at school.
86.9% say they feel supported by classmates.
88.4% say students respect each other.
94.3% say teachers treat everyone fairly.
94.3% say they can go to at least one staff member on campus if they need help.
40.6$ say almost never see bullying. 43.5% say once in a while. 11.6% say often. 4.3% say almost always.
Questions: Is there a survey given to student and parent participants in the counseling groups? No but staff looks at patterns of office referrals. Will there be more staff “Creating Upstanders” training? Committee meets every other month and we will also do a parent event around February.

Old Business: None

Community Participation: Would a field trip to the LA County Fair be possible next year on a Wed TH or Fri?

Next meeting: Wednesday, December 7th 5:00pm. (1/4, 2/1, 3/7, 4/18, 5/23)

Adjourn: Malaika Boyer motioned and Elizabeth Kramer seconded. Adjourned.

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ptsa news
president’s message

Dear SMASHing Parents,
We hope our entire SMASH community had an outstanding Thanksgiving and long holiday weekend. Our kids can now focus on finishing out the last three weeks of school in 2011, with outstanding effort before Winter Break, which is December 21st to January 3rd. If you haven’t starting making plans for your kids during Winter Break, now is the time to take action to line up trips, outings, parties, camps and other activities for the two weeks school will be closed.

As many parents already know, our students are creating art and other items to sell at the Holiday Boutique, which is scheduled for Friday, December 9th. Please calendar the date today, so you don’t miss out on the opportunity to purchase something made by your child and to purchase gifts for the upcoming holidays. The Holiday Boutique will be followed by the SMASH Bookfair which runs from December 9th to the 16th.

Our next PTSA meeting is on Wednesday, December 7th at 6:00 p.m. This is also the time of year that we need to find out who is interested, in taking over a position on the SMASH PTSA Executive Board for the 2012-2013 school year and being a leader in our PTSA mission during a very exciting time of change. As many have already heard, it appears that SMASH and all the schools in our district will be facing district-wide changes in regard to our fundraising efforts and how the money raised can be spent. While the exact format of these changes has not been determined, this is a great time to get more involved in your child’s future, to help lead the way into the next year school year and to be a voice in the process of helping to formulate the details for the new fundraising procedures.
Thanks,
Dan McGee

SMASH green tips
• Green Up Your Holidays: Remember to take your reusable shopping bags when you go retail shopping for gifts. A good idea is to have a couple of bags, washed clean, dedicated to retail shopping so germs from groceries don't contaminate your gifts. Reuse things like leftover or old linens/scarves/clothes, newspaper, and shopping bags to wrap gifts. Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle!
• GREENer Christmas Trees - delivered in a pot and picked up so you (or someone else) can use it again next year! Smash Families get a 5% discount on renting any Living Christmas Tree this year by using Code: SMASH2011 at check out. The company delivers and picks it up. All you have to do is say what size tree you want, and how long you'd like to rent it! At the end of the season, 10% off all these proceeds will be donated to SMASH as well! Go to:
www.livingchristmas.com Look for the Living Christmas Tree display and raffle at the Holiday Arts Boutique on 12/9!
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Sustainable Works Green Living Workshops 101
Would you like to educate and empower yourself with simple steps that save our environment and save you money but you can't commit to a 6 week Green Living Workshop? Then the 3 hour GLW 101 is for you.

The Green Living Workshop 101 is a condensed version of the 6 week Green Living Workshop which covers the following topics: Water Energy Waste Chemicals Transportation Shopping & Food

We will spend 3 hours learning about the main problems related to each of the above topics. We will then review the top 3 or 4 solutions for each topic which participants can implement very quickly and easily after completing the workshop. Sustainability tools will be raffled off to help participants carry out the solutions discussed during the workshop.
THIS IS THE LAST WORKSHOP BEING OFFERED IN 2011
Saturday, December 3rd, 2011, 10:00am-1:00pm: Santa Monica Main Library – 601 Santa Monica Blvd.
For more information about Sustainable Works visit us at www.SustainableWorks.org
Sign up at: www.sustainableworks.eventbrite.com 310.458.8716 ext 4 info@sustainableworks.org
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CORE 1 NEWS

CHANGE OF CIRCLE GROUPS
As we mentioned in our last Friday Letter, the children in Core 1 will be changing Circle Groups in December. Every child will have the opportunity to experience and connect with a different Circle Group teacher. We will also be adjusting the mix of children to maximize on group dynamics and create new opportunities for the children.

Your child will know most of the children in his/her new group, and will have the opportunity to get to know a handful of new children as well. We will begin these new Circle Groups on Thursday, December 8th at Morning Meeting.
ART PROGRAM SHARE
This is an event you won’t want to miss!! On Tuesday, December 13th at 6pm your family and friends are invited to our ARTS PROGRAM SHARE!!
Core 1 will be sharing our study of PORTRAITS and COLLECTIONS in all 3 classrooms. Come see our paintings, drawings, photography, and assemblage representing ourselves and the world around us. You will be amazed at the depth and quality of our artists’ creations. Thank you to Marni and Julianna for your leadership in this study! During the next two weeks, we will be taking time to reflect on our study and assemble it for presentation. We would love PARENT VOLUNTEERS to help us prepare the artwork for presentation. We have so much to share!

SILENT AUCTION ITEMS
In conjunction with our portrait study, Core 1 will collaboratively create stunning artwork, which will be auctioned off as a fundraiser. This project is still in-progress, so we dare not reveal too much. But be on the look-out for these one-of-a-kind pieces. Proceeds from this fundraiser will go directly to our Winter/Spring Holistic Drama Study. More details regarding the silent auction coming soon!!

WISH LIST
Rakes, brooms, and latex-free band-aids

These are busy times for some families, and many children were TIRED this week. Hope you can find some time for your family to rest this weekend and return to your home routines and sleep schedules. These rhythms allow for maximum learning and enjoyment at school.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!
Candis, Chrysta, Graciela, Jackie, and Nadja
Candis: cberens@smmusd.org
Chrysta: cwyse@smmusd.org
Graciela: gbarba-castro@smmusd.org
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CORE 2 NEWS
Look for photos from Day of the Dead Altars in the e-mailed version of today's Friday Letter.
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CORE 3 NEWS
Tissues needed! Thanks for sending them in with your child!

Field trip coming up! We're going to the Griffith Park Observatory on Wednesday, 12/14. The bus will LEAVE at 8:00am so we can get there on time! A permission slip went home today. Please return it by next Friday, 12/9. We are asking for an $8 donation to help cover the cost of the charter bus. Packed lunches will be needed! We still need parent chaperones. Let Genie or Carrie know if you can join us!

Core 3 has been aware of vandalism/pranks to personal and public property. As a community we are concerned and have begun discussions around the moral and ethical issue of destruction—some that can be repaired and some that cannot. Why do some want to break their own pencil, write on or rip a Core 3 binder, write on bathroom walls, steal snack, or rip another community member's paper? Some ways to start talking about these issues at home are to ask "What if" scenarios. What if you could take $20 from your mom's purse and not get caught? What if you could run less in PE without Coach Tony knowing? What if you could write on the bathroom walls to say something and be anonymous? Why would someone do these things?

6th Grade Math with Carrie: We are deep in our study of fractions! This week we focused on finding equivalent fractions and determining where fractions fall on a number line. This will help us determine the how fractions compare to each other.
6th Grade Math with Erin "Data About Us": This week we started our 2 dimensional geometry unit. Students are familiarizing (or re-familiarizing) themselves with different types of angles and rules surrounding angle measurements.
5th grade Math Workshop with Genie: We have focused the last few weeks on different addition and subtraction strategies and practicing a lot of mental math. We've also talked about the importance of clear and concise notation so our work can be read and understood by our math community. And we dissected the US subtraction algorithm. We know it's an efficient strategy but it's important to look at the numbers we're working with first, because sometimes we can use our mental math faster than the multi-stepped stacking algorithm with all that borrowing and carrying! For example, 1,002 – 899, try solving it without paper.

Science with Carrie: Our astronomers and astrophysicists are hard at work learning about the wonders of the Universe. This week they decided what they were going to do for the written, visual, and oral portions of their presentations. Ask your child what they are doing. They also gave a list of supplies needed to complete their projects. Carrie will get the supplies (if they told me what they need). The presentations will be on Monday, December 19.

Social Studies and Geography with Erin: This week we began working on our final Civil Rights project. Students are working on showing what they've learned through essays, maps, posters, and songs - whichever way they felt they could best share their knowledge and understanding. Please make sure your child comes to school prepared with all their project making materials. If they bring their materials in a timely manner and use class time wisely, they should not have to finish the project for homework. Project is due Dec. 15th.

Reading and Writing Workshop with Genie: We have begun our Science Fiction Short Story unit by collecting possible ideas have chosen our main character, plot and setting! Remember to remind your child to read daily! The depth of life understanding is evident among our avid readers, because they have lived a thousand more lives than their own through the characters they live with in each book they read. If your child isn't an avid reader, what is a way you could encourage them to read?

Homework:
6G math: HW #4B. The odd problems are required, even problems are extra credit.
5G math: packet #13 due Friday, 12/9/11.
RW: READ, READ, READ! Make sure to log in finished books on the yellow card in class.
WW: work on Science Fiction Short Story.
SS: Please read the first four Chapters of Malcolm X, By Any Means Necessary.

You are invited to SMASH’s First D.A.R.E. Graduation on Tuesday, Dec 20 2-3pm - Auditorium Please come and support your child’s pledge to be drug free. (Students must wear their D.A.R.E. t-shirt)

Come enjoy the Middle School musicians at the Boutique:
12:30-1:00 - Strings; 1:45 - 2:15 - Winds; 2:30 - 3:00 – Choir

Genie: ghwang@smmusd.org
Carrie: cferguson@smmusd.org
Erin: ehaendel@smmusd.org
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CORE 4 NEWS
8th Grade Notes: These fine young scientists are rocking the house! We are four solid weeks ahead in academic learning and the quality of student work has improved significantly to near high school level. Needless to say, I am very impressed, excited, and gratified at the opportunities for deeper learning that these students are creating for all of us with consistently good choices. One clear, measurable signal of the group’s serious approach is that I am experiencing a 98% turn in rate for the first time in eight years of Novembers spent with 8th graders. This is profoundly good news, so please share with your 8th grader your pleasure at the group’s achievement. It also looks like we should start the Planned Parenthood/Risk unit just after the holiday break as opposed to waiting for spring.

Please advise me! We have an unprecedented opportunity to visit a lab at UCLA where live animal testing is being conducted. My personal feelings about this type of testing are deeply conflicted; however, as a science guide, I am attracted to the idea because it is a very real controversy and teachable moment. Naturally, the final decision about what your child is exposed to is yours, so lets have a conversation about this before I commit to anything beyond lessons on bioethics. The researcher is willing to join us here at SMASH to work through the issues with our learners. Let me know by email before Dec, 7th.

Parent Involvement is Critical: Research, our experience, and reports from returning students make clear that having parents around school is deeply valuable. Please find the time to visit us during the school day. Drop around whenever you find a moment. Unannounced visits are of particular value to our entire community. I am aware of how hard it is to find time in a busy life; however, middle school represents one of your best opportunities to influence your child’s life before adult influence wanes and peer groups take a primary steering role. Do this now! It’s important. If you need help fto comfortable drop-ins call any of the core four team and we will help. On the calendar are three opportunities to help kids become young adults. Fun too!

1. We are throwing a Caribbean Holiday Junk-a-roo, party time, on the 20th at 12:00. This event celebrates our humanities unit including history, geography, and philosophy of government activities. Please show how much you value this work by showing up.

2. Ice skating with core four on the 19th between 10 and 13:00

3. Field trips to the Skirball center, Museum of Tolerance, and a writing center are all coming up soon. Please find the time to join us. I assure you that it is worth your valuable time. We love sharing this adventure with our parent partners.

Come enjoy the Middle School musicians at the Boutique:
12:30-1:00 - Strings
1:45 - 2:15 - Winds
2:30 - 3:00 – Choir

Kurt: kholland@smmusd.org
Darwin: dmendinueto@smmusd.org
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2011-11-18T15:38:00.000-08:00

www.smash.smmusd.org

Dear SMASHing Families,
What a caring, celebrative, great learning community we are a part of. There were so many responses to my message about having a family cultural exchange with our Chinese guests David and Tony.

Special thanks to Ken, Yung, Caleb and Simeon for opening up their home as such gracious hosts to our Chinese guests David and Tony for all nine nights!
Thank you
*to Carrie and CJ for the Beverly Hills tour,
*to John, Patty, Andrew and Jason for the Temescal Canyon exploration,
*to John, Jeannine, Mac, Riley, and Violet for the taco feast,
*to Mike, Lori, Mica and Ari for the Getty adventure,
*to Janice, Jackie, and Tamara for Happy Hour/ Santa Monica Place rooftop dinner,
*to the SMASH staff for all the teaching explanations and demonstrations
*to Tamara and Mitch for the Downtown LA photo shoot,
*to Tom, Barbara and Liam for the attempted lunch.
*to Charles, Alicia, Bradley, and Rachel for the family dinner complete with high school tales

“We miss SMASH warm-hearted teachers and parents and of course the smart kids. Thank you for helping us to understand the special school-SMASH, giving us so many detail introductions of teaching, curriculum. Especially thanks for your great parents, gave us new day and new experience everyday. Please say "thank you" to who gave us help on behalf of us.” David and Tony
Jessica

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Westside Annual THANKSGIVING COMMUNITY DINNER & CELEBRATION

This is the table to be at on Thanksgiving, and everyone is welcome. A carnival for the kids, live music, free medical, dental and eye exams, plus free clothing, blankets and haircuts.

Thanksgiving Day, November 24
Santa Monica Civic Center (Pico Bl & Main Street)
Carnival and Medical open at 8:00am
Dinner 11:00am - 3:00pm
Bring the Whole Family. It’s Free. It’s Fun. Fantastic Food
Please join folks from every faith and all walks of life
in a day of thanks and celebration
Info Hotline: 310-394-3153 www.westsidethanksgiving.org
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DATES TO REMEMBER
No Friday Letter next week
Wednesday, Nov 23 is a regular schedule day - NOT minimum day
Thursday & Friday, Nov 24 & 25 - Thanksgiving Holiday - SMASH CLOSED
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Don’t shop for the holidays until you’ve been to our annual
HOLIDAY BOUTIQUE & ART AFFAIRE
Friday, December 9, 11:30 – 5:30
We are looking for vendors and artisans* who have unique handmade items to offer at the sale.
If you are interested in selling your creations (jewelry, scarves, art work), contact Birte Reimer at reimer.birte@gmail.com. Students are welcome to sell, too.
****
We also need volunteers** to help manage our food and activity booths (Waffles, Chili, Candle-Making, Soap-Making, Spin art, SMASH Gear). If you can help, please contact Helga Schier at helgaschier@verizon.net.

*Vendors fill out a vendor’s agreement, and are responsible for their own set-up and clean-up.
PTSA receives 20% of vendor’s gross receipts.

**If you want to help at the Core Art Tables, please contact your Core Rep.

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WESTSIDE BALLET'S "THE NUTCRACKER" ENCHANTS THIS DECEMBER

SMASH's Olivia Sparling performs the lead role of Clara in four of the eight scheduled performances.
Get in the holiday spirit with Westside Ballet's Winter 2011 performances of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker. One of the most highly regarded productions of The Nutcracker in all of Los Angeles, this year's performances are being held over the first two weekends of December at the Wadsworth Theater in Westwood.
WHAT: The Nutcracker, produced by Westside Ballet
WHEN: 1PM and 5PM, December 3, 4, 10, 11
WHERE: Wadsworth Theater, Veterans Administration, 11301 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles 90073
COST: $25 per ticket if purchased at Westside Ballet, 1709 Stewart St., Santa Monica 90404 on 11/19 and 11/26 from 10AM-noon, or $30 per ticket plus fees via Ticketmaster.com
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Terrific news from our friends at Americans for the Arts and one of their corporate partners, KRIS Wine.
As part of its second annual “Art of Education” program, KRIS has launched a new program that will award $25,000 to 16 public schools in the United States to help support arts education programs. Who decides which schools will receive the funds? We do!
Visit KRIS Wine’s Facebook page (http://apps.facebook.com/krisartofeducation/ ) and cast your vote for your favorite K-12 public school to win funding to help support arts education programs. Participants 21 years and older can vote one time per day through November 30. The school with the winning number of votes will be awarded $5,000. The next five schools receiving the top number of votes will receive $2,000. Schools that rank sixth through 16th in total number of votes will receive $1,000.
I hope that every SMASH member will take a moment and get started today --- cast your vote, set a reminder on your calendar to do it every day through November 30, and spread the word to your friends, family, and colleagues.
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LOS ANGELES YOUTH ORCHESTRA
With artistic director, Russell Steinberg, Ph.D. Presents
EAGLES & DRAGONS - Music Exploring Light & Dark, Heaven & Hell
Beethoven Symphony No. 2; Russell Steinberg, Flag of 9/11; Paul Simon, America
BARNUM HALL, Sunday, November 20 at 4:00pm
Santa Monica High, 600 Olympic Blvd.
ZIPPER CONCERN HALL, Monday, November 21 at 7:30pm
Colburn School, 200 S. Grand Ave
For Tickets and information: LosAngelesYouthOrchestra.org; 310-571-LAYO
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The new SMASH Directory is in!
PTSA member, please come into the main office to pick up your copy.
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Flyers Available in the Office
Broadway Gymnastic School Classes Grades K-5, Tues3:20-4:15 classes www.BroadwayGym.com
Youth Mindfulness - UCLA Family Commons www.uclacommons.com or 310-395-5650
Ages 8-12, Classes Wednesdays 4-5pm (Nov 16 to Dec 17) or Saturdays (Nov 19-Dec 17)2-3pm
Mad Science Enrichment Winter Camp - Dec 19-23 and Dec 26-30 www.MadScience.org
Kids On Stage/Teens On Stage: Winter Play Festival & Winter Camp www.KidsOnStage.com
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WINTERLIT - Holiday Celebrations in Santa Monica
Sat, Nov 19 - 6:00pm -Tree Lighting & Santa arrival celebration at Santa Monica Place, Center Plaza at Santa Monica Place. Event includes Tree Lighting, Santa and Mrs. Clause arrival, musical entertainment, giveaways and snowfall.

Tuesday, December 20-27 - Chanukah Menorah Lighting at sundown

Nov 1—Dec 31 - Gift Your Schools. Shop & dine at Santa Monica Place and earn SMASH 5% donation. Just present your receipts at the Concierge on level 1. For details 310-260-8333.

Ice Skating - 5th & Arizona, November 11-January 16 - admission & skate rental $12
2 for 1 Tuesdays, Wacky Hat Wednesdays, After-Hours Broom Ball, Rock ‘N’ Skate Fridays, Costume Skate Sundays

Arthur Christmas Activities:
Sat. Nov 19 - Santa Photo - 2:00-5:00pm. 3rd Street Promenade & Wilshire Blvd
Sun, Nov 20 - Ice Skating Party - 2:00-5:00pm. 5th St and Arizona Ave
Mon, Nov 21 - Craft Day - 3:30-5:30pm 3rd Street Promenade & Santa Monica Blvd
Tues, Nov 22 - Ornament Decorating - 3:30-5:30pm - 3rd Street Promenade & Arizona Ave
Nov 22-23 - Snow Days - 3:00, 5:00 & 7:00pm - 3rd Street & Arizona

For a list of all events visit WinterLit.com - SantaMonicaPlace.com - ICEatSantaMonica.com

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Freedom Riders: A Community Conversation on Democracy in Action
Wednesday, Dec 7 - 7:00-9:00 p.m. - The Broad Stage - 1310 11th St, Santa Monica, Join us for a Community Conversation featuring the award-winning film Freedom Riders by PBS American Experience. The film shares the powerful, harrowing, and ultimately inspirational story of eight months in 1961 that changed America forever. From May until December 1961, more than 400 black and white Americans risked their lives—many endured savage beatings and imprisonment—for simply traveling together on buses and trains as they journeyed through the Deep South. Deliberately violating Jim Crow laws, the Freedom Riders were met with bitter racism and mob violence along the way, sorely testing their belief in nonviolent activism.

The program will include excerpts from the film and conversation led by former Justice Department civil rights attorney, author, and Facing History board member Gerald Stern. He will be joined by Freedom Rider Ernest “Rip” Patton Jr., who will share experiences as a participant in the Nashville Movement and the Freedom Rides. Patton was one of 14 Tennessee State University students expelled for participating in the Rides.
Seating is limited. Visit facinghistory.org/communityconversations.
For more information contact Jennifer Lenardson at 213-202-2811 x28 or Jennifer_Lenardson@facing.org.

As part of Facing History’s national series of Community Conversations, this event is free and open to the public. This event is presented by Facing History and Ourselves and The Allstate Foundation in partnership with Santa Monica- Malibu Unified School District, Santa Monica College, Santa Monica Bay Area Human Relations Council, and The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Westside Coalition.
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The World Leader In Obstacle Racing, Spartan Race
Comes to Malibu’s Calamigos Ranch Nov. 19
This Sat., Nov. 19, approximately 4,000 competitors from across the U.S. and several foreign countries representing every walk of life, age and stage and varying degrees of athletic abilities will converge on Calimigos Ranch in Malibu, Calif. for the Spartan Sprint Race . Spartan Race, the world’s leading obstacle racing event, is designed to test participants’ resilience, strength, stamina and ability to laugh in the face of adversity.
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Upcoming Textiles Recycling/Green Holiday Workshop–Sat, Nov 19, 9am-3pm
MODERNIZE YOUR HOLIDAY WRAPPING AND RECYCLE YOUR TEXTILES AT THE SAME TIME!
The City of Santa Monica’s Resource Recovery & Recycling Division, 2500 Michigan Ave. 310-458-2223; www.smgov.net/r3
After the unwrapping frenzy, someone in your household grabs a plastic trash bag and fills it with balled up wrapping paper, plastic bows and ribbons. This year, try tapping into your creative side! How about wrapping a gift in a gift? Tshirts make wonderful wrapping and we are here to show you how! This year’s clothing/textile recycling event will also feature a mini workshop on constructing no-sew t-shirt bags and how to reuse cloth instead of purchasing new wrapping paper.

Santa Monica Resource Recovery & Recycling is hosting a textiles collection event at the City Yards, helping you to find a new home for all your unusable clothing, towels, bedding and so much more. Residents are encouraged to take reusable goods to any of the many charities benefiting the Santa Monica area. A reuse guide is available at www.smgov.net/r3.

The average American threw away 68 pounds of textiles last year — old rags, bedding, stinky socks, and unflattering clothing. We are looking for your assistance to help recover this material. Most “old” clothing in good condition can be resold by local charities. Even torn or stained clothing that is not suitable for resell can be recycled. Some recovered fabrics become wiping and polishing cloths, those old jeans can become wall insulation and cotton can actually be composted!

We have the recycling part covered; now it’s your turn to pitch in. Drop off the clothing you no longer need or want and learn an awesome way to make your holiday a little “greener”.

What to bring?
Clean and dry textiles like clothing, shoes, towels, sheets, scarves, hats, bags and belts. (Plus, a t-shirt for the workshop!)
When? Saturday, November 19, 2011 from 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM; Workshop drop-in between 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM
Where? City Yards, 2500 Michigan Ave., Santa Monica, CA 90404

Seams split? Doesn’t fit? Sick of it? RECYCLE IT!
Clean out your closet and join in for this ONE-DAY special recycling event. Bring clean and dry clothing, paired shoes, bedding, linens, hats, belts and other fabric. Items will be sorted for re-use or recycling.
Same Day No Sew T-Shirt Bag Workshop - Plus other green alternatives to paper gift wrapping Drop in between 10am-2pm
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Solar Stuff
California is leading the nation in Solar energy generated electricity. We are currently at one gigawatt, which is equivalent to two coal fired power plants! But you could also be using more solar energy right now – even if you don’t have space for a clothes line – what about clothes racks? They are great because you can move them in and out doors, they hold a LOT and don’t take up too much space. Don't let all that clean sun-power go to waste.
Education/Activism/Gifts
As we guide our children to be effective world citizens, get involved as a family with organizations that are moving us towards a more sustainable future. Right here is Santa Monica, we have the NRDC - Natural Resources Defense Council. They are scientists and lawyers, and they never let the federal or state government slip through environmentally bad legislation without a fight. Check them out, follow what they do, get your children involved to help save the Polar Bears http://www.nrdc.org/default_t0.asp They also have great green holiday gifts - for all those family members and friends who already have enough stuff - you can make donations on their behalf to save Toucans, Gray Wolves and Grizzly Bears..... my father-in-law loved the Grizzly Bear one we got him.
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Holiday Boutique & Art Affaire
December 9, 11:30 – 5:30
We need parent volunteers**to help manage our food stands (Waffles, Chili) and activity booths (Candle-Making, Spin Art… NEW ideas always welcome). If you can help, please contact Helga Schier at helgaschier@verizon.net.
****
We also have some space left for vendors and artisans* who have unique handmade items to offer at the sale.

If you are interested in selling your creations (jewelry, scarves, art work), contact Birte Reimer at reimer.birte@gmail.com. Students are welcome to sell, too.

*Vendors fill out a vendor’s agreement, and are responsible for their own set-up and clean-up.
PTSA receives 20% of vendor’s gross receipts.
**If you want to help at the Core Art Tables, please contact Chrysta, Tamara or Genie.
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DECEMBER LUNCH MENU
Thurs, Dec 1 Cool Lunch!, Turkey Taco Bar w/Tortilla Chips & Salsa,Frozen Vanilla Yogurt Cup
Fri, Dec 2 Pizza Friday! Thin Crust Cheese Pizza, w/Fresh Garden Salad, Banana

Mon, Dec 5 Turkey Corn Dog, Fresh Veggie Stix, Fresh Kiwi
Tues, Dec 6 Cool Lunch! Baked Chicken w/Green Beans, Biscuit
Wed, Dec 7 Cool Lunch! Senor Felix Bean & Cheese Burrito w/Frozen Watermelon Cup
Thurs, Dec 8 Cool Lunch! Chicken Giggles w/Baked Potato Smiles
Fri, Dec 9 Pizza Friday! Big Daddy Cheese or Pepperoni Pizza w/Fresh Garden Salad Fresh Orange Slices

Mon, Dec 12 All American Char Broiled Beef Hamburger w/Seasoned Potato Wedges, Fresh Tangerine
Tues, Dec 13 Cool Lunch! Chicken Patty Sandwich
Wed, Dec 14 Cool Lunch! Rotini Pasta W/Meatballs Warm Bread Stick
Thurs, Dec 15 Cool Lunch! Chicken Fajitas w/Flour Tortilla, Salsa
Fri, Dec 18 Pizza Friday! Slice of Cheese Pizza w/Fresh Garden Salad, Cry Baby Sour Apple Cup

Mon, Dec 19Turkey Hot Dog w/Fresh Baby Carrots, Fruit
Tues, Dec 20 Baked Chicken Nuggets Baked Tater Tots, Fruit, Holiday Cookie

BREAKFAST MENU
MONDAY - French Toast, Fruit, Milk
TUESDAY - Biscuit w/Turkey Sausage, Fruit, Milk
WEDNESDAY - Breakfast Pizza, Fruit, Milk
THURSDAY - Belgian Waffle, Fruit, Milk
FRIDAY– Turkey Sausage & Egg Frittata, Fruit, Milk
Offered Daily-Assorted fruits (fresh, canned), 4oz 100% Juice (no added sugar), 1% & Nonfat Milk. Assorted cold cereal (whole grains, reduced sugar), whole grain crackers.

Vegetarian Option
12/1-12/2 Toasted Cheese Sandwich
12/5-12/9 Cheese Quesadillo
12/12-12/18 Bean Burrito
12/19-12/20 Yogurt & Pretzel
Prepay online:www.mylunchmoney.com
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CORE 1 NEWS

SPECIAL THANKS
Special thanks to all involved in our Holiday Boutique Project: Tie Dyed Fabric Napkins. From Julie (of Jadyn) spearheading the project, to all the parents who have donated their time and supplies to make this project work. Thank you to ALL involved!

ART PROGRAM SHARE
Mark your calendars! Tuesday, December 13 at 6pm is our ARTS PROGRAM SHARE EVENING! All families are invited to come out and celebrate our visual arts program, lead by the marvelous Julianna and Marni! All Core 1 children will have participated in 9 weeks of visual art education, based in art theory, and focusing on portraits and collections. We look forward to you joining us on this special evening.

WRITING CELEBRATIONS: YOU ARE INVITED!
This week, the Partners have launched writing workshop! A few of the Bigs paid them a visit, and shared what it means to be a writer and how to stay organized with all of you writing tools. Next week, the Bigs and Mentors will celebrate the publishing of their most recent work. On Wednesday, November 23, from 2:30- 3pm you are invited to join us during our writing celebrations! The Mentors will celebrate the publishing of their personal narratives. The Bigs will also celebrate their personal narratives, with a focus on writing for readers. The Bigs will also share their work in progress: Realistic Fiction. We hope you can join us!

CHANGE OF SEASON, CHANGE OF CIRCLE GROUPS
This December, your child will change Circle Groups. Their workshop group will remain the same. Half of each circle group will move to one teacher, and the other half will move to the other. This way, all children have the experience of getting to know new Core 1 friends and teachers, while maintaining the security of staying with a large group of children they know well. The new groups will be created at the end of this month, and the new groups will be announced sometime in December.

NOVEMBER 28-DECEMBER 2
This week will be filled with many opportunities for your children to practice: learning from different adults, flexibility and leadership. Jackie and Nadja will be in class, as usual. Throughout the week, some of the other teachers, participate in professional development and some personal days (Chrysta will be celebrating her big 4-0 with her family). At least one Core 1 teacher will be present each day! Other guest teachers you will see are former SMASH teachers Mimi and Tom (Jackie’s husband)! Also, please welcome Joy! She has subbed in Core 1 in the past and is looking forward to returning. Your children are in capable and loving hands. Please, contact your child’s workshop/touchtone teacher, if you have any questions.

Wish List: Rakes, Brooms, Plastic Spoons

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND
Candis, Chrysta, Graciela, Jackie, and Nadja
Candis: cberens@smmusd.org
Chrysta: cwyse@smmusd.org
Graciela: gbarba-castro@smmsud.org

REMINDER: No Friday Letter next week.
Wednesday, Nov 23 is a regular schedule day—NOT minimum day.
November 24 & 25 - Thanksgiving Holiday - SMASH closed

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CORE 2 NEWS
As we embark upon our first Theme (Science and Social Studies) unit in Core 2, we are really focused on utilizing many avenues for students to take in information (interviews, personal experiences, resources, videos, experiments, nonfiction books, etc), as well as creating a variety of ways for them to demonstrate what they have learned (written report, poster, speech, skit, debate, etc.). We call this Multiple Ways of Knowing and Showing. In addition to meeting a variety of learning styles, we also try to create opportunities for students to develop and pursue their personal interests and curiosities. We call this Choice and Voice. This educational philosophy and practice is one of the many key components of SMASH education.

Please see this week’s education article, which is about improving motivation, to learn more about how these practices affect student motivation, interest, and learning. The article also points to a variety of resources for more information. You’ll find the entire article in this week’s Friday Folder.

Student Motivations and Attitudes: The Role of the Affective Domain in Geoscience Learning

Teachers have a lot to do with their students' motivational level. A student may arrive in class with a certain degree of motivation. But the teacher's behavior and teaching style, the structure of the course, the nature of the assignments and informal interactions with students all have a large effect on student motivation. We may have heard the utterance, "my students are so unmotivated!" and the good news is that there's a lot that we can do to change that.

Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation
Educational psychology has identified two basic classifications of motivation - intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation arises from a desire to learn a topic due to its inherent interests, for self-fulfillment, enjoyment and to achieve a mastery of the subject. On the other hand, extrinsic motivation is motivation to perform and succeed for the sake of accomplishing a specific result or outcome. Students who are very grade-oriented are extrinsically motivated, whereas students who seem to truly embrace their work and take a genuine interest in it are intrinsically motivated.

Motivating Students
This chapter from the book Tools for Teaching by Barbara Gross Davis (Jossey-Bass Publishers: San Francisco, 1993) is a great place to start for ideas and tips about increasing student motivation in your classes. The author presents a handy distillation of research on motivation and uses examples and anecdotes that bring this material to life. In addition to general strategies, this chapter addresses successful instructional behaviors, how to structure a course to motivate students, de-emphasizing grades and responding with other types of feedback to students, and tips to encourage students to complete assigned readings. A reference list points the way to more specific information.

Excerpts from this chapter:
Give frequent, early, positive feedback that supports students' beliefs that they can do well.
Ensure opportunities for students' success by assigning tasks that are neither too easy nor too difficult. Help students find personal meaning and value in the material. Create an atmosphere that is open and positive. Help students feel that they are valued members of a learning community.

Laura: lsherman@smmusd.org
Jayme: j.wold@smmusd.org
Tamara: tmugalian@smmusd.org

REMINDER: No Friday Letter next week.
Wednesday, Nov 23 is a regular schedule day—NOT minimum day.
November 24 & 25 - Thanksgiving Holiday - SMASH closed
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CORE 3 NEWS
6th Grade Math with Carrie: We continued our investigation of fractions, decimals, and percents this week by making fraction strips to show different fractions and their equivalent fractions (for example: 1/3=2/6=3/9=4/12). We also estimated fractions of fundraising goals. Students are being encouraged to think about the relationship between fractions, decimals and percents. Any opportunity you have to talk about these at home will help them in their understanding.
6th Grade Math with Erin "Data About Us": This week we only spent a little time on data due to no school Wednesday and our Catalina assembly Friday. The students continued to work on their personal graphing question - collecting data from classmates, creating a bar graph, and finding out the mean, medium, mode, and range of their data.
5th grade Math Workshop with Genie: We have started our 3rd unit, Thousands of Miles, Thousands of Seats. We are focusing on place value and addition and subtraction in large numbers. We are using our mental math skills to solve subtraction problems like 10,000-2,308 in our head. Ask and see which strategy they use! Our unit on 3D geometry ended with a general understanding of volume as well as learning the formula lxwxh for a box and lxwxh÷3 for a pyramid. These abstract concepts challenged many of our 5th graders. Please continue discussing the formulas and the concepts of volume with your child. Check out the helpful parent guide pdf file (3Dgeo) on the homework webpage sites.google.com/site/smashcore3/.

Science with Carrie: We finally started our individual space explorations! Students are studying an incredibly variety of topics from Albert Einstein and Copernicus to Pulsars and Black Holes. Ask your child what he/she is studying and encourage them to do some research at home!

Social Studies and Geography with Erin: This shortened week in social studies began our investigation of differing schools of thought during the Civil Rights movement. Was everyone involved committed to nonviolence?
Students were introduced to Malcolm X and the Black Panthers. We will continue our study of these people/groups over the next few weeks. Purchase whole class biography, Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary by Walter Dean Myers by Nov 30! For those who brought in $6, we will purchase and have the book delivered to school by Nov 30.

Reading and Writing Workshop with Genie: Our writers published their personal essays and celebrated on Thursday all their hard work. They learned how to choose an idea and take it through the non-narrative writing process. They outlined their ideas on a boxes and bullets template, which helped them organize their 5 paragraphs—introduction, reason 1, reason 2, reason 3, and a conclusion. What made these essays personal was using their own narratives to help bring light to why their idea was important. Our next writing unit is Science Fiction Short Story. The students have all been asking for an opportunity to be more creative and write fiction. Realistic Fiction of course is welcomed! However with all their new universe knowledge from science and our read aloud White Mountains, many are excited to understand science fiction as a genre. The writers are back into their notebooks and should be collecting ideas. Any idea that comes to them should be jotted down and any ideas that could be part of their science fiction short story should be saved in their notebook.

Homework:
6G math: Assignment 2B is due on Tuesday.
5G math: packet #12 due Friday, 12/2/11.
RW: READ, READ, READ! Make sure to log in finished books on the yellow card in class.
WW: Collect 3 home entries in writing notebook by 12/2/11.
SS: Purchase Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary by Walter Dean Myers by Nov 30!
Genie: ghwang@smmusd.org
Carrie: cferguson@smmusd.org
Erin: ehaendel@smmusd.org

REMINDER: No Friday Letter next week.
Wednesday, Nov 23 is a regular schedule day—NOT minimum day.
November 24 & 25 - Thanksgiving Holiday - SMASH closed

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CORE 4 NEWS

Yosemite Trip Reminder: Our winter adventure for 7th graders in beautiful Yosemite Valley is coming up in just four working weeks and three days after the winter break.

Ways to prepare for the trip:

1. Get in shape for the trip – There is a lot of walking on this trip, so plan a few hikes with your child before the trip, break-in those hiking shoes if they are new, and have your child walk more each day.

2. It is critical that children be provided with non-cotton winter-wear made of synthetic or organic fibers that wick moisture away from their body. This is a safety issue and non-negotiable. We have many clean jackets, over-shirts, fuzzy sweaters, and some ski pants to lend to people on a first come-first served basis. You will wish to buy the long underwear, synthetic socks, and hiking boots soon as prices begin to rise after Thanksgiving.

3. Use the following link http://www.naturebridge.org/yosemite/parents to find out all you could want to know about the trip, the location, or the people we work with up in the park. Of course you may drop around to ask me questions as well. I love seeing parents.

We will be having a bag check to insure students are safe and a mandatory information meeting for parents on Wednesday, Dec 7 at 18:00. Please make plans now to join us as we finalize the arrangements necessary to insure your child’s safety during this learning adventure.

Drop around if you have any questions. You are always welcome here.

Tardiness – This past Monday and Tuesday, we had high number of students who came to school late. We don’t want tardiness to become a new habit, especially for 8th graders. Please remind your child the importance of coming to school on time. This is also a great time to see if your child is getting enough sleep (and not on facebook all night), had a good breakfast to give them energy to start their day, and is prepared for school by having all the necessary materials. If your child already has a habit of coming to school early or on time, we want them to keep it up!

REMINDER: No Friday Letter next week.
Wednesday, Nov 23 is a regular schedule day—NOT minimum day.
Thursday & Friday, Nov 24 & 25 - Thanksgiving Holiday - SMASH closed

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Darwin and Kurt

Darwin: dmendinueto@smmusd.org
Kurt: kholland@smmusd.org

2011-11-04T15:16:00.000-07:00

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6 - DAYLIGHT SAVINGS ENDS!
SET YOUR CLOCKS BACK ONE HOUR

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Dear SMASHing Families,
Remember our collective energy after watching Race to Nowhere together in the Spring? One message of that film was that students at many schools are overly burdened by the amount of nightly homework they are receiving. Last year, SMMUSD launched a Homework Survey that resulted in a revised District homework policy. Please add your SMASH voices to the District conversation and participate in the follow-up survey. It took me three minutes to complete mine as Micah’s mom.

Go to www.smmusd.org, look on the left side of the home page where it says “Parent Homework Survey” and click on “Take survey in English.”

Thanks for taking 3 minutes to give your thoughts about the type and amount of homework your kids experience at SMASH.

Jessica
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THANK YOU!
The SMASH/John Muir Halloween Carnival was big success due to all of the work that our schools’ parents put in to it. From the planning, the decorations, food, games and clean-up: everything went smoothly. Great Teamwork!
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The new SMASH Directory is in!
If you are a PTSA member, please come into the main office to pick up your copy.
A Shout-Out to Tracy Saltzman for all the work it takes to input the information
& to Nikki von Riesen for the quick and beautiful printing job!

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DATES TO REMEMBER
Sun, Nov 6 - Day Light Savings Ends (set your clock back one hour)
Mon & Wed, Nov 7 & 9 - SMASH restaurant FUNdraiser Nights
Wed, Nov 9 - 6:00-8:00pm - Middle School Music Mtg
Fri, Nov 11 - Veteran’s Day Holiday - SMASH CLOSED - No Friday Letter
Tues, Nov 15 - School Photo Retakes - If you want a redo-you must bring in the entire photo package
Wed, Nov 16 - Elementary School Pupil Free Day - SMASH CLOSED
Fri, Nov 18 - 9:15am - Catalina Assembly
Thurs & Fri, Nov 24 & 25 - Thanksgiving Holidays - SMASH CLOSED

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Don’t shop for the holidays until you’ve been to our annual
HOLIDAY BOUTIQUE & ART FAIRE
Friday, December 9, 11:30 – 5:30
We are looking for vendors and artisans* who have unique handmade items to offer at the sale.
If you are interested in selling your creations (jewelry, scarves, art work),
contact Birte Reimer at reimer.birte@gmail.com. Students are welcome to sell, too.
****
We also need volunteers** to help manage our food and activity booths
(Waffles, Chili, Candle-Making, Soap-Making, Spin art, SMASH Gear).
If you can help, please contact Helga Schier at helgaschier@verizon.net.

*Vendors fill out a vendor’s agreement, and are responsible for their own set-up and clean-up.
PTSA receives 20% of vendor’s gross receipts.
**If you want to help at the Core Art Tables, please contact your Core Rep.
***************
Terrific news from our friends at Americans for the Arts and one of their corporate partners, KRIS Wine.
As part of its second annual “Art of Education” program, KRIS has launched a new program that will award $25,000 to 16 public schools in the United States to help support arts education programs. Who decides which schools will receive the funds? We do!

Visit KRIS Wine’s Facebook page (http://apps.facebook.com/krisartofeducation/ ) and cast your vote for your favorite K-12 public school to win funding to help support arts education programs. Participants 21 years and older can vote one time per day through November 30. The school with the winning number of votes will be awarded $5,000. The next five schools receiving the top number of votes will receive $2,000. Schools that rank sixth through 16th in total number of votes will receive $1,000.

I hope that every SMASH member will take a moment and get started today --- cast your vote, set a reminder on your calendar to do it every day through November 30, and spread the word to your friends, family, and colleagues.
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SMASH Restaurant FUNdraiser Nights
Come out and have fun with friends and family at
Veggie Grill at 2025 Wilshire Blvd
Monday, Nov 7 and Wednesday, Nov 9 - 3-10pm
Veggie Grill will donate 50% of your total back to SMASH PTSA. (includes take out.) Come one or both nights! Make sure to bring the flyer. See you there
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SALVATION ARMY FUNDRAISER BAZAAR & TRADITIONAL THANSGIVING MEAL SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12
BAZAAR 1:00-2:00PM
THANKSGIVING MEAL $6.00
The Salvation Army Santa Monica Corps
1533 4th Street, Santa Monica 310-451-1358

If you missed cleaning your closets at SMASH Rummage Sale
you can still unload your white elephants and brick-a-bracks at the Salvation Army.
Thurs, Nov 10 from noon to 1:30; and Fri, Nov 11 from 2:00 to 3:00pm Drop off at back at 1533 4th St. All proceeds to towards Salvation Army’s efforts to help the needy in our community.
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WESTSIDE FOOD BANK - 21st annual 5K Hunger Walk. Sunday, November 6
at 12:30pm at Ocean Park Blvd & the Beach. The walk begins at 1:30. Everyone is welcome to walk. No registration fee, and no minimum fundraising required. The goal is to help fight hunger in our community, raise awareness and have a great time!. For details or to donate go to www.westsidefoodbankca.org.

Thanksgiving Day Yoga - Fundraiser for Westside Food Bank - at Santa Monica Yoga November 24, 10-11:30am. All Levels with Kyra Haglund Suggested donation $20, cash or check made payable to Westside Food Bank. Santa Monica Yoga, 1640 Ocean Park Blvd. 310-396-4040
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The UCLA Family Commons
1221 2nd Street, Santa Monica 310-395-5650 www.uclacommons.com
Family Public Square EXPERT SERIES
Hear the latest research and practical information on topics central to the health and well-being of your family. Leading UCLA researchers and other experts share insights and engage you in dialogue about parenting, child development and habits for good health.

Talks are held from 7:00-8:30pm on the first Wednesday of each month at the UCLA Family Commons in Santa Monica. Cost is $20 per person.
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CAN WE TALK?
A community conversation with City Manager Rod Gould about neighborhood projects, the economy, and the future
...about how we are doing… How does the economy look from a local perspective. Rod will discuss our fiscal outlook and talk about the city’s strategies for difficult times.
…and what are we doing?... What did we do last year? How will we build on that? Talk with Rod about what we accomplished last year, upcoming City initiatives and outreach projects, and what is going on in your neighborhood.
Monday, Nov 7 at 7:00pm - at SMASH/John Muir Auditorium
Monday, Nov 21 - 7:00pm - Civic Center East Wing at 1855 Main St
Monday, Dec 12 - 7:00pm - Virginia Ave Pk, Thelma Terry Community Rm, 2200 Virginia Ave
Wednesday, Jan 4 - 7:00pm - Montana Branch Library, Community Rm, 2401 Montana Ave
Wednesday, Jan 19 - 7:00pm - McKinley School, 2401 Santa Monica Blvd
All locations are wheelchair accessible. For additional disability-related accommodations or for more information about these meetings, please call 310-458-8281 or visit www.smgov.net/neighborhoods
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Santa Monica-Malibu USD – Food & Nutrition Services
Phone: (310) 450 – 8338 ext. 70228 Email: fns@smmusd.org
NONFAT CHOCOLATE MILK “OPT OUT”
Parents or Guardians ONLY, to have your child(ren) “Opt Out” of nonfat chocolate milk served in school cafeterias at lunch please follow these steps:

1. Email: fns@smmusd.org. Indicate your child’s full name, school name, student identification number. OR: Call your school office OR Food and Nutrition Services (310 450 8338 ext. 70228) with the same information required above.

2. Allow 3 days for the information to be available to the cafeteria staff.

3. Tell your child that he/she will only be able to take the “white” unflavored milk. When a student presents his/her lunch card at the cash register a flag will appear on the screen indicating this student has opted out of nonfat chocolate milk. If a child takes nonfat chocolate milk by mistake, cafeteria staff will exchange it for the non flavored milk. Non flavored white milk choices are: nonfat or 1%. Nonfat chocolate milk is not served at breakfast.
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Don’t miss Samohi’s First Play of 2011-12
Opening Friday November 4 - A Night Of Madness
At the Humanities Center Theater (southeast corner of campus)
A cast of 32 insanely talented students presents A Night of Madness,
Director Kate Soller’s inaugural production about who is “crazy” and who is “normal.” Funny, thought-provoking live theatre nearby in your own community. Suggested for ages 12-adult.
Tickets $5 for students and $10 adults. Free parking
Fri, Nov 4; Sat, Nov 4; Thurs, Nov 10 & Sat, Nov 12 at 7:00pm. Sat, Nov 12 also has a 2:00pm matinee. To order tickets online visit: samohitheatre.org.
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HALLOWEEN CARNIVAL THANKS

We would like to send out a special thank you for all the help we received putting together the SMASH / John Muir Halloween Carnival to: All of the wonderful volunteers from SMASH & John Muir
Nikki von Riesen & the 8th graders for the Haunted House
Roxanne for being a super mom
Helga Schier for her notes and words of wisdom
Tracey for always having keys
Janice Wold for answering all the random question we had daily
Whole Foods
Bob's Market
Trader Joe's
Albertson's

The scarecrows peeking up around the campus look amazing. All of the scarecrow participants did such an amazing job on their scarecrows. Thank you for helping us decorate. Who knew recyclables could look so fabulous. We'd like to thank all of the family friendly business around town that loved the idea of making scarecrows out of recycled items and donated to the Scarecrow Raffle.

· $25.00 gift card from Outside the Box Creative Academy on Pico & 4th Street.
· $30.00 gift card from Omelet Parlor on Main Street. A great outdoor patio for Sunday brunch with the whole family.
· From Bike Attack; an XLC cycle light set. High Intensity LED Light, Quick-release mounting and 80 hours of burn time.
· $20 gift card from Swingers on Lincoln and Broadway. There is such a thing as Breakfast served all day. From Onion Rings served with Homemade Ranch to Vegan Cobb salad to Mickey Mouse Pancakes there is something for everyone. Open 7 AM to 3 AM
· From ZJ Boarding house; a ZJ Boarding house goodie bag with this fabulous Green ZJ’s t-shirt, ZJ's gray beanie, Sticky Bumps wax and loads of stickers for your board.
· $5 gift card from Bubba Boba (gelato and boba shop) on Ocean Park and 29th. We sampled both the pistachio and cookies and cream gelato. Yummy!
· $5 gift card from Bubba Boba
· $5 gift card from Bubba Boba
· $10 gift card from Miyako Japanese restaurant and sushi bar. This place is kid loving and budget friendly. Hum, sushi or teriyaki chicken?
· $10 gift card from Miyako
· $50 gift card from Pit Fire Pizza on Washington Blvd. Wood burning pizza and salads made with organic greens. This place is kid crazy on Friday nights
· $50 gift card from Pit Fire Pizza on Washington Blvd
· From Puzzle Zoo on Main Street, A face painting kit from Snazaroo. And just in time for Halloween.
· From AMF Bay Shore Lanes Bowling on Pico and 4th 10 free bowling passes. So you and your friends or you and your family can have a bowling night.
· $10 gift card from Menchies. Frozen yogurt with toppings. Need we say more? Lets go!
· $10 gift card from Menchies.
· 2 Free meals at Islands on Washington Blvd in Marina del Rey A $26 value. A Burger and fries it is.

THANK YOU!!!!
Devorie Franzwa & Amber Baker
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ptsa news
president’s message

Dear SMASHing Parents,

That was an outstanding Halloween Carnival last Friday, October 28, 2011. This is the only event that SMASH conducts jointly with John Muir. The kids had a great time, there was plenty of fun and food for all. Thank you new SMASH moms, Amber and Devorie, who took over this event on behalf of SMASH and demonstrated that Smashing volunteer spirit. Your leadership is greatly appreciated.

Congratulations for an outstanding Rummage Sale on October 22nd. Thank you Jamee Tenzer and Kelly Lance for all your hard work. Also, thank you to all who pitched-in to help make this event a success.

Dan McGee

SMASH green tip
· Just Say NO to Free Stuff: Free stuff is great. How can we say no to freebies? It's hard to reject those tempting pens, rulers, bags, and frisbees, but do you REALLY need them? Will they really get used? Think twice before you take them. If they're just going to sit around the house or get tossed in the junk drawer, JUST SAY NO THANKS. You don't need to figure out how you're going to reuse, recycle, or dispose of things if you don't have them in the first place.

· So it probably feels great to have redistributed some of your unused/older stuff at the SMASH Rummage sale. Before you go out and buy any new stuff…..think about some of the most important stuff keeping us healthy and alive - WATER. It is estimated that in just two short years 36 U.S. states will be facing water shortages. California is one of those states and yet there are no truly effective water conservation laws in place. Think about ways to cut down on water consumption. Showers use less water, so are greener than taking baths. Turn off your irrigation systems and water only as your garden needs it. We are earmarked as an area that will have “substantial conflict potential” due to water shortages. Let’s try to stop that from happening.

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CORE 1 NEWS

Projects November is here and we are beginning our Project Study work.

Candis is focusing on Ramps & Pathways; Chrysta is focusing on Life Science; and Graciela is focusing on Light. Your child will participate in each project group, once a week. Keep your eyes and ears out for ways you can support this very important work throughout the year. We will be using science journals as one way for children to represent what they know, what they want to know, and what they are learning during projects. A big thanks to Elizabeth (Ricky) for donating the notebooks to our core.

Woodworking Jackie has started her woodworking groups!
Each week during Projects time, Jackie will take one student per circle group. This woodworker will be with Jackie for the whole week, and see a project from start to finish: They will plan/design, create, reflect on, and share their project. Every child who wants to participate in woodworking will have at least one opportunity for a week-long woodworking project this year. Thank you to our parents to have volunteered to help with this work. The children are working with real woodworking tools, and we could not do it without your support. Thank you to José (Andrea & Gabriella) for the donation of protective goggles for the children to use during this time.

Special Groups We are starting up special groups, run by parents, that will take place during projects time. These include Gardening with Molly (Quillen) and Mazi (Mateo & Nico); Cooking with Monet & Tina (Lauren & Matthew); Art with Jean (Emie); and Face Painting with Devorie (Kaila). We are keeping track of the children who are participating in these special groups to ensure that all children have opportunities to be involved in some of the groups in some way. Please let us know if there is a special group that you would like to start.

November Birthday Bash: Friday, November 18
If your child has a birthday in the month of November, please sign up to bring a birthday snack. The signups are on a clipboard outside of Candis’ room. We request that the snacks be peanut-free. The snacks will be shared by 75 children, and they will be offered with your child’s lunch. Our birthday bash will be on Friday, November 18. We will gather in Candis’ Room (The Magic Garden) at 11:45. Family and Friends are welcome.

Wish List
Rakes
Brooms
Dustpans
Scratch paper (to re-use one side)

Reminders: Daylight Savings time ends Sunday, Nov 6
School Closed Friday, Nov 11 - No Friday Letter

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND & REMEMBER TO “FALL BACK”!
Candis, Chrysta, Graciela, Jackie, and Nadja

Candis: cberens@smmusd.org
Chrysta: cwyse@smmusd.org
Graciela: gbarba-castro@smmsud.org

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CORE 2 NEWS

Advisory News: We’ve really turned a corner in Advisory. Thanks, no doubt, to conferences and the trip to Camp Josepho, the kids have really bonded as a group and are using cooperation, assertion, responsibility, empathy, and self-control together. We feel lucky to be working with such a special group of kids.

Theme: In Theme so far, we have been learning about each other by sharing about ourselves. After sharing our collections, the students were eager to share more. The students learned about Dias de los Muertos and have been bringing n objects to honor both things they feel lucky to have in their lives and things they have lost. They have been working closely with their table teams to create personal “alters” as well as communal “alters” at each of their tables. Their excitement, cooperation, and devotion to this project has really inspired us. We know it will inspire you. We hope you will be able to come celebrate with us on Thursday, November 10, at 2:00 to view –and add to—our alters and enjoy some horchata and pan dolce. See the email from Jayme, Tamara, and Laura to see how parents can help!

Literacy: In Readers Workshop, we continue character/setting study, envisioning, predicting, and inferring during read alouds and in our Just Right books. We will delve a bit deeper into literary analysis by examining the things authors do: details, foreshadowing, and symbolism. Nothing (character names and characteristics, setting choices, plot twists and turns) is random in a book—the author plans every bit very carefully. We will examine why authors make the choices they do and how that helps us as readers. In Writing Workshop, we’ve published 3 short writing pieces since September. We just started our first big writing unit, A Small Moment Story, writing about a personal experience. And our next nonfiction/non-narrative writing unit will be a personal essay: using an idea or opinion as an angle to write about ourselves. The students have been collecting ideas about themselves, people, places, things, and animals that are important to them, and memorable experiences they’ve had. They learned that writers write about times they felt strong emotions and zoom in on little scenes from their experiences.

Math: Laura’s 3rd graders are wrapping up their second unit, Surveys and Line Plots, which helped the students explore collecting and representing data, using graphs and charts to represent information. Look for your child’s math packet, assessment, and Laura’s reflection in the Friday Papers soon. Next up for 3G Math is Collections and Travel Stories, another addition and subtraction unit. Tamara’s 4th Graders just finished their second math unit, Describing the Shape of the Data, which helped the students collect, represent, compare, and describe data. They also dabbled in probability. Please look for the math packets, the unit assessments, and your child’s self reflections from their first 2 units in the Friday Papers coming soon. Next up for the 4G Mathematicians is Multiple Towers and Division Stories, a second multiplication and division unit, with an emphasis on division.

Wednesday Drama with Kristy: Theater Arts with Kristy is going strong. Laura’s Advisory Group is making masks and doing Readers’ Theater based upon a couple of their favorite stories. Tamara’s Advisory is busy practicing puppetry and rehearsing movement using a couple of our favorite picture books as inspiration.
Save the Date—We’ll be sharing our hard work with you on Literacy Night 12/14, 6:00pm

Media Center: Both groups visit the Media Center twice a month on Thursdays (alternating weeks). Students may bring their library books home. Please help them be responsible for their books—and returning them to school on Thursdays.

Thank You to Audrey’s April for arranging a special field trip for the fourth graders to see Peter & the Wolf at the Broad Stage. Thank you to our parent chaperones for helping us take the Big Blue Bus, eat our snacks, and enjoy the show. We all look forward to more trips this year—there’s a whole world of music, art, dace, drama, and life for us to explore!

Reminders: Daylight Savings time ends Sunday, Nov 6
School Closed Friday, Nov 11 - No Friday Letter

Make some memories this weekend—they last a lifetime and never break!
Laura: lsherman@smmusd.org
Tamara: tmugalian@smmusd.org
Jayme: j.wold@smmusd.org

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CORE 3 NEWS

JPL Trip on Monday! The bus leaves at 8:30 so BE ON TIME! Pack a snack and lunch (no glass).

6th Grade Math with Carrie: We took our assessment on Monday for Prime Time. On Tuesday, we worked on correcting our assessments and doing self-evaluations. We will wrap up Prime Time next week and start on Bits and Pieces (fractions, decimals, percents). No homework this week!
6th Grade Math with Erin "Data About Us": This week we continued practicing finding the mean (average) or a set of data. Try this example with your student. You have six households and the mean number of people in all the households together is 4. Draw and make a bar graph of 2 different data sets that could meet this criteria.
5th grade Math Workshop with Genie: Please make sure your have signed your child's Unit 1's Reflection Sheet and have it returned in the green folder to school. We have been busy looking at volume in different units, centimeters, inches, feet, yards and meters. As we are furthering our understanding of volume, we have begun to look at how to know the volume of cylinders and pyramids. Ask your child how they can figure out the volume of a pyramid and how they know for sure.

Science with Carrie: We got ready for our trip to JPL by learning more about Galaxies, Black Holes, and the various missions from NASA. The children created JPL notebooks to use when we go on our trip. We are all very excited to meet with scientists who are on the cutting edge of space exploration!

Social Studies and Geography with Erin: We delved further into the Civil Rights movement this week. Students took notes on and discussed The Little Rock Nine, Sit-Ins, Freedom Rides, and various happenings in Birmingham, including the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church. Please ask your children to share what they have learned and their thoughts on how these incidents relate to life today. In Geography, we are working hard to complete the giant world map that we have been working on since the first weeks of school. It should be up by Monday. Come check it out!

Reading and Writing Workshop with Genie: We have begun a new Read Aloud a science fiction book called The White Mountains. With this new read aloud we will deepen our study of book talk and use notes taken during Read Aloud to help us make our conversations connected and richer by carefully talking and listening to each other. Ask your child what we noticed when we watched a videotape of our class discussion of Slob. In Writing, we've continued to revise and edit our personal essays. Please take a look at your child's Rubric and see if they have followed it to help them make their writing piece clearer.

Homework:
6G math: No Homework this week!
5G math: packet #9. Due Thursday 11/10/11
RW: Read every day! Have you started your second book club? Third book club?
WW: Personal Essay revised and edited using the Rubric! No notebook entries due this week.

Reminders: Daylight Savings time ends Sunday, Nov 6
School Closed Friday, Nov 11 - No Friday Letter

Scholastic Book Club Orders are Due by Nov 11! Go to: scholastic.com, go to parent tab, quick links book clubs, class code HBQCR

Calling all interested SMASH middle school music parents and musicians!
Join Jessica Wednesday, November 9th 6-7pm in the Library to discuss:
*Reflections on how Winds, Strings, and Choir are rolling out this year
*How to set up funds/inventory for those who need to rent instruments in the future
*How to raise monies this year towards Robbie’s String and Mike’s Wind contracts
*How to create a future schedule where all musicians could do both choir and an instrument
*Equity across Wind and String course structure/offerings

Genie: ghwang@smmusd.org
Carrie: cferguson@smmusd.org
Erin: ehaendel@smmusd.org

***************

CORE 4 NEWS

Chemistry/Physical Science at Heal the Bay’s Aquarium: Our field science formal academics got off to a watery start amongst the finny denizens of our local waters. 7th graders used oceanographic measuring equipment, and collected/tested water samples for nitrates, phosphates or dissolved oxygen. This hands on investigation is our first experiential touchstone for an academic investigation of the periodic table, chemical reactions, and the particle theory of matter (atoms, molecules, and bonding). On Thursday 7th grade scientists got to burn their schoolwork during a mini-experiment. Most enjoyed this opportunity to rid themselves of a
piece of low quality work even as we discussed activation energy and reactions.

8th Grade Notes: These fine young scientists spent much of the week working on an introduction to the Six Unifying Principles of Biology. We looked deeply at how ecology works along the coral reefs of Belize, reviewed key concepts from prior years, and identified the principles that will guide our life science investigations.

This distinctive group of students is doing reasonably academically even as they are sorting through many intense social distractions. It is an ideal time to find a tutor for your 8th grader and to organize their schedule so that a balanced multi-subject approach to academics may assume a greater portion of their time. Let me know if you want help finding a tutor as we many effective alumni who both volunteer and tutor for nominal sums. Every learner from the struggling to the stellar should organize weekly tutoring now to help avoid a deep 8th grade slump mid year.

Parent Involvement Opportunities: Thank you parents who joined us for the trips to the aquarium! Your choice to help out kept our students safe, added to the fun, and encouraged active learning on the kid’s part. Thanks again and drop around anytime. If you missed this chance, we have more exciting learning trips on the schedule so shoot me an email.

Dates to Remember:
Thurs, Nov 10 at 6:00pm - 8th grade Parent Support meeting at Schlessinger’s home.
Sun, Nov 6 - Daylight Savings time ends
Fri, Nov 11 - School Closed - No Friday Letter

Calling all interested SMASH middle school music parents and musicians!
Join Jessica Wednesday, November 9th 6-7pm in the Library to discuss:
*Reflections on how Winds, Strings, and Choir are rolling out this year
*How to set up funds/inventory for those who need to rent instruments in the future
*How to raise monies this year towards Robbie’s String and Mike’s Wind contracts
*How to create a future schedule where all musicians could do both choir and an instrument
*Equity across Wind and String course structure/offerings

Kurt: kholland@smmusd.org
Darwin: dmendinueto@smmusd.org
Bailey: baileyfield@mac.com

2011-10-28T16:01:00.000-07:00

Dear SMASHing Families,
I joined two Magic Circles this week to look deeper with Core 2 students at our school focus on having a peaceful, healthy time to eat at the lunch benches after playing on the field. Over the last several weeks, various students had made comments about other people’s food. We talked about respecting family choices and needs around the food people bring or receive from the cafeteria for lunch. We are a diverse community of eaters based on preferences, allergies, time available to cook, family budgets, and other factors. Some of us are carnivores, vegans, vegetarians, eat gluten-free, or rotate foods for other reasons.

Core 2 students have suggested and agreed upon a couple guidelines to make everyone feel peaceful while they eat: “We cannot ask for food or money from someone or take someone’s food or money when they are not looking.” “If somebody makes a mistake and insults our food, we can remind them 1) Don’t yuck my yum or 2) I like it, have you tried it? or 3) Keep your thoughts inside this is what I have for lunch today.”

I know all of us adults who supervise the lunch area remind students of guidelines and help redirect when somebody forgets. I also know the greater power of student Upstanders (those who politely speak up when they see something inappropriate instead of passively observing). I hope all of us will help students of all ages eat food that makes them feel strong and alert and know how to respectfully assert themselves if someone tries to take or criticize their food. At a family dinner, role play using some of the Core 2 suggested quotes or come up with some that sound more natural for your child’s age group and personality.
Truly yours,
Jessica

DATES TO REMEMBER
Sun-Tues, Oct 30 to Nov 8 - SMASH hosts visiting principals from China
Wed, Nov 2 - 8:30am PTSA Mtg
Fri, Nov 4 - 6:00-8:00pm - SMASH Upper school Dance. Details in Core 3 & 4 letter
Sun, Nov 6 - Day Light Savings Ends (set your clock back one hour)
Mon & Wed, Nov 7 & 9 - SMASH restaurant FUNdraiser Nights (See today’s Flyer)
Wed, Nov 9 - 6:00-8:00pm - Middle School Music Mtg
Fri, Nov 11 - Veteran’s Day Holiday - SMASH CLOSED
Wed, Nov 16 - Elementary School Pupil Free Day - SMASH CLOSED
Thurs & Fri, Nov 24 & 25 - Thanksgiving Holidays - SMASH CLOSED

Shout outs to Jamee Tenzer and Kelly Lance
for running a financially successful and very smoothly run Rummage Sale last Saturday!
Despite the LONG hours to sort, set up, sell and break down,
they were both incredible until the very last item was sent away.
And the financials are: $4978 Rummage Sales; $375 Bake Sale; $111 Raffle Tickets;
For a total of $5,464. Thanks Kelly and Jamee!

SMASH Restaurant FUNdraiser Nights
Come out and have fun with friends and family at
Veggie Grill at 2025 Wilshire Blvd
Monday, Nov 7 and Wednesday, Nov 9 - 3-10pm
Veggie Grill will donate 50% of your total back to SMASH PTSA. (This includes take out.)
Come one or both nights! Make sure to bring the flyer. See you there

THINGS TO DO:
• Los Angeles Haunted Hayride and Maze at Griffith Park
Very Scary! Not recommended for ages 8 and under!
Losangeleshauntedhayride.com/la_haunted_house_mobile.html

• Mon, Oct 31 - 5:00-9:00pm - PALOWEEN CARNIVAL at Barker Hanger. 3021 Airport Ave.
Halloween Party for the whole family. FREE Entrance. Games 25¢, Fun House & Picture Booth $1. NO tickets sold after 8:15pm. For more information please call 310-458-8988 PAL ( Police Activities League)

• 3rd Annual Halloween Hop on Montana Avenue Oct 31 from 3-6pm
Kids of all ages will enjoy trick-or-treating all along Montana Avenue, plus all kinds of fun, spooky activities for kids including face painting, temporary tattoos, fortune telling, a doggie costume contest, and of course lots of candy! For a list of participating stores go to http://www.montanaave.com/events-details.php?eid=20

• Halloween Haunted House at Santa Monica YWCA, Friday, Oct 28, 3-9pm
Haunted house, maze, costume parade, balloons, crafts, face-painting and snacks. $10 adults, $5 children

• Haunted Heats Halloween Surf Contest, Saturday, October 29 - 8am at Lifeguard Tower 26
Surfers of all ages and skill levels are invited to participate in this competition, hosted by ZJ Boarding House. Spectators are also welcome, but in order to participate in the competition, you’ll need to be in costume!

• Halloween Hullabaloo, Santa Monica Playhouse, Saturday & Sunday 12:30-3pm, Oct 29 & 30
The interactive musical comedy will delve into the history of Halloween. Kids can win prizes, hop onstage to join the actors, participate in sing-a-longs and get their faces painted before the show. If they arrive in costume, they’ll get two-for 1 passes to a future Family Theatre production. Reservations required. $10.50 12 years-old & under, $12.50 13 years-old & over. 310-394-9779 x 1 or santamonicaplayhouse.com

Don’t shop for the holidays until you’ve been to our annual
Holiday Boutique & Art Affaire
Friday, December 9, 11:30 – 5:30
We are looking for vendors and artisans* who have unique handmade items to offer at the sale. If you are interested in selling your creations (jewelry, scarves, art work), contact Birte Reimer at reimer.birte@gmail.com. Students are welcome to sell, too.
****
We also need volunteers** to help manage our food and activity booths (Waffles, Chili, Candle-Making, Soap-Making, Spin art, SMASH Gear). If you can help, please contact Helga Schier at helgaschier@verizon.net.

*Vendors fill out a vendor’s agreement, and are responsible for their own set-up and clean-up.
PTSA receives 20% of vendor’s gross receipts.
**If you want to help at the Core Art Tables, please contact your Core Rep.

SEUSSICAL!
November 12-December 17
Performances: Saturdays & Sundays at 2pm (no performance Dec 11)
Welcome to the fantastical world of Dr. Seuss!
Join us for the adventures of Horton the Elephant, along with a host of characters from Dr. Seuss. $15 reserved seats at www.morgan-wixson.org or 310-828-7519 Morgan-Wixson Theatre; 2627 Pico Bl, SM

Terrific news from our friends at Americans for the Arts and one of their corporate partners, KRIS Wine.
As part of its second annual “Art of Education” program, KRIS has launched a new program that will award $25,000 to 16 public schools in the United States to help support arts education programs. Who decides which schools will receive the funds? We do!
Visit KRIS Wine’s Facebook page(http://apps.facebook.com/krisartofeducation/) and cast your vote for your favorite K-12 public school to win funding to help support arts education programs. Participants 21 years and older can vote one time per day through November 30. The school with the winning number of votes will be awarded $5,000. The next five schools receiving the top number of votes will receive $2,000. Schools that rank sixth through 16th in total number of votes will receive $1,000.
I hope that every SMASH member will take a moment and get started today --- cast your vote, set a reminder on your calendar to do it every day through November 30, and spread the word to your friends, family, and colleagues.

The UCLA Family commons
Social Skills Training ages 5-7 & 8-10
1221 2nd Street, Santa Monica
310-395-5650 www.uclacommons.com

SANTA MONICA SYMPHONY 2011-2012
Allen Robert Gross, Music Director & Conductor
Sat, Oct29 at 7:30pm Santa Monica Civic Auditorium
Pre-concert talk at 6:30pm, Professor Raymond Knapp
FREE ADMISSION. Bring School-age children!
www.smsymphony.org 310-395-6330

Santa Monica-Malibu USD – Food & Nutrition Services
Phone: (310) 450 – 8338 ext. 70228 Email: fns@smmusd.org
NONFAT CHOCOLATE MILK “OPT OUT”

Parents or Guardians ONLY, to have your child(ren) “Opt Out” of nonfat chocolate milk served in school cafeterias at lunch please follow these steps:
1. Email: fns@smmusd.org. Indicate your child’s full name, school name, student identification number.
OR: Call your school office OR Food and Nutrition Services (310 450 8338 ext. 70228) with the same information required above.

2. Allow 3 days for the information to be available to the cafeteria staff.

3. Tell your child that he/she will only be able to take the “white” unflavored milk.
When a student presents his/her lunch card at the cash register a flag will appear on the screen indicating this student has opted out of nonfat chocolate milk. If a child takes nonfat chocolate milk by mistake, cafeteria staff will exchange it for the non flavored milk. Non flavored white milk choices are: nonfat or 1%. Nonfat chocolate milk is not served at breakfast.

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH ALL THAT CANDY?
Dear John Muir/SMASH Families
We are so excited to announce that next week we will be hosting a Halloween Candy Give Back. The candy will be donated to the troops stationed overseas via Operation Gratitude. Please consider having your child donate his/her Halloween Candy for a good cause. This is an excellent opportunity for the kids to still have an excellent time Trick-or Treating, while learning about "giving back" and keeping the sugar out of their systems and teeth. Candy collection will begin Tuesday morning beginning at 7:45 am until 8:45 and Wednesday morning beginning at 7:45am until about 8:45 am.
Please note that the media has been made aware of this project and love the idea. So far two news crews have put it on their schedule to be at John Muir on Tuesday morning.
Thanks, Jackie Naidoo

“Like life, racial understanding is not something that we find, but something that we must create.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The Santa Monica‐Malibu Unified School District
Is sponsoring an opportunity for members of the community to come together to participate in
a Dialogue on Race.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Santa Monica High School
Noted educator, Dr. Sylvia Rousseau, will be part of the morning’s activities. We welcome your voice and contribution to the dialog, and working with us to make our community a truly respectful place.
**********
In order that we may plan appropriately, please let us know that you will be attending, by contacting Sarah Wahrenbrock at swahrenbrock@smmusd.org. or (310) 450‐8338, ext. 70241;
or send the bottom section of this sheet to
Sarah Wahrenbrock – SMMUSD; 1651 16th St, Santa Monica, Ca 90404
________________________________________________________________________________________ I will be attending the Dialog on Race on Saturday, October 29

Name__________________________________________________

Number of people attending including yourself________

Name(s) of additional attendees _____________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

NOVEMBER SCHOOL LUNCH MENU
Tues, Nov 1 Teriyaki Chicken Dippers And Steamed White Rice
Wed, Nov 2 Waffle, Stix w/Turkey Sausage Patty, Baked Hash Browns, 100% Orange Juice
Thurs 3 Turkey Taco Bar And Tortilla Chips Salsa
Fri, Nov 4 Pizza Friday! Thin Crust Cheese Pizza w/Cherry Tomato Salad, Fresh Grapes

Mon, Nov 7 Baked Breaded Chicken, Patty Sandwich w/Baked Potato Smiles Frozen Wild Cherry Cup
Tues, Nov 8 Cool Lunch! Baked Corn Dog w/Fresh Baby Carrots
Wed, Nov 9 Cool Lunch! w/Baked Chicken Nuggets And Warm Dinner Roll
Thurs, Nov 10 Cool Lunch! Señor Felix Bean & Cheese Burrito w/Corn, Mild Chili Salsa
Fri, Nov 11—VETERAN’S DAY HOLIDAY

Mon, Nov 14 Char Broiled Beef Hamburger w/Baked Seasoned Potato Wedges Frozen Vanilla Yogurt Cup
Tues, Nov 15 Cool Lunch! Oven Fried Chicken w/Whole Wheat Roll
Wed, Nov 16 - PUPIL FREE DAY—SCHOOL CLOSED
Thurs, Nov 17 Cool Lunch! Crunchy Taco w/Frozen Watermelon Cup
Fri, Nov 18 Pizza Friday! Big Daddy Cheese or Pepperoni Pizza w/Fresh Garden Salad Fresh Orange Slices

Mon Nov, 21 - 3 Cheese Ravioli w/Warm Bread Stick, Tamai Farm Salad Greens, Red Ruby Grapes
Tues, Nov 22 Cool Lunch! Honey Rib Sandwich on Whole Grain Bun And Baked Beans
Wed, Nov 23 Slice of Cheese Pizza w/Fresh Baby Carrots, Thanksgiving Cookie, Cry Baby Sour Apple Cup
Thurs, Nov 24 THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY
Fri, Nov 25 THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY

Mon, Nov 28, Orange Chicken, w/Steamed White Rice, Broccoli Florets, Orange Slices
Tues, Nov 29 Cool Lunch! Turkey Hot Dog on Whole Grain Bun w/Seasoned Potato Wedges
Wed, Nov 30 Cool Lunch! Baked Chicken Strips w/Whole Grain Roll

Second Choice Vegetarian Option
Nov 1-4 Cheese Quesadilla
Nov 7-11 Bean Burrito
Nov 14-18 Yogurt & Pretzels
Nov 21-23 Cheese Sticks
Nov 28-30 Toasted Cheese Sandwich

Breakfast Menu
Monday - French Toast, Fruit, Milk
Tuesday - Biscuit w/Turkey Sausage, Fruit, Milk
Wednesday - Breakfast Pizza, Fruit, Milk
Thursday - Belgian Waffle, Fruit, Milk
Friday - Turkey Sausage & Egg Breakfast Frittata, Fruit, Milk
Offered Daily: assorted fruits, 100% juice, 1% & nonfat milk; assorted cold cereal, whole grain crackers
Prepay online: www.mylunchmoney.com

CORE 1 NEWS

Dear Core 1 Families,

Nursery Rhymes
For the past three weeks, we have shared Nursery Rhymes in Core 1. Nursery rhymes come in song, poem, chant, and game forms. We have enjoyed nursery rhymes that have traveled around the world as people move from one place to another. We invite you to share a nursery rhyme that has been passed down in your family.
Write it and illustrate it with your child on a white sheet of letter-sized paper. We will add it to our Core 1 collection of nursery rhymes book.

Here’s a song we sing in Core 1 to begin our morning:
Good Morning by Greg & Steve
Good morning, good morning, good morning to you
Good morning, good morning, good morning to you
Our day is beginning, there’s so much to do
Good morning, good morning, good morning to you

Buenos días, buenos días, buenos días a ustedes
Buenos días, buenos días, buenos días a ustedes
El día comienza hay mucho que hacer
Buenos días, buenos días, buenos días a ustedes

Wish List
Brooms
Dustpans
Rakes
Scratch paper (to re-use one side)

HAVE A WONDERFUL & SAFE WEEKEND!
Candis, Chrysta, Graciela, Jackie, and Nadja
Candis: cberens@smmusd.org
Chrysta: cwyse@smmusd.org
Graciela: gbarba-castro@smmsud.org

CORE 2 NEWS

Core 2 4th Graders Page
10-28-11

What is your favorite part of Halloween besides the candy?
• Candis: the costumes (interviewed by Malia)
• Lillian: likes to dress up awesomely (Alie/Audrey)
• Graciela: I am getting creative with costumes (Nick)
• Janice: My favorite part of Halloween is costumes (Ava)
• Riley: Dressing up and getting my costume (Jullian/Morgan)
• Jayme: wearing funny/silly costumes (Giulia)
• Maya Reimer: costumes because you get to make them and you can be whatever you want (Lily/Zelda)
• Charlie: my favorite thing is dressing up (Abigail/Aidan)
• Coach Tony: scaring people (Eli)

*Use this data to create a bar graph. Remember to make a Horizontal Axis and a Vertical Axis first and then add the data. Turn your graph in with your math Homework that is due Friday, Nov 4!

Monday, October 31, during Creative Time at 2:00, we will begin planning our Table Team/ Island Altars. We talked to the children this week about Los Dias de los Muertos, Day of the Dead. They listened and discussed this celebration where families honor their dead relatives. To create alters, help your child to remember to bring in photos of family and friends, favorite "lovies" or small toys, small treasures (maybe one item from one of their collections), things they are proud of, and other small items to represent themselves in the altar. The altar will be a celebration of their lives in the Core 2 community and in their table teams/islands. We will work on them for 2 weeks, so if they forget next Monday, they will have time the following week too.
Thanks, Jayme, Tamara, Karin, and Laura

Jayme: j.wold@smmusd.org
Tamara: tmugalian@smmusd.org
Laura: lsherman@smmusd.org

CORE 3 NEWS
Our JPL trip is almost here! We will be going to JPL on Monday, November 7. WE NEED TO LEAVE AT 8:30 in order to get there on time so DON'T BE LATE that day! A permission slip is attached to this Friday Letter. Please return it by Tuesday, November 1 (to Carrie). We will be bringing sack lunches (no glass please) and eating at a local park. A $5 donation to help pay for the bus is greatly appreciated.

6th Grade Math with Carrie: We spent this week reviewing the material from our unit on PrimeTime. Our assessment will be on Monday! Students were reminded that they may want to bring their math binders home so they can use them to study.
6th Grade Math with Erin "Data About Us": This week we continued our unit by learning about how to find the mean (average) of a set of data. Please ask you student to show you a few methods of finding the mean. We also spent some time on warm-up problems regarding "random samples." What is a random sample? How can we get the most comprehensive set of data from any one question?
5th grade Math Workshop with Genie: Please make sure you sign your child's Unit 1 Reflection Sheet in the Green Folder and have your child return it to school! We have been busy looking at how we measure volume and how we know with visuals and with numbers. We will continue our study now looking at different units of measurement looking at centimeters and inches. Ask your child to find the volume of a box in your house using a ruler.
Science with Carrie: We took our planet assessment on Monday and everyone who took notes on the presentations did quite well. On Tuesday we ventured out past the Solar System and started looking at Black Holes since that is an area of great interest. We are really working on taking notes using a 2-column note system. Developing good notetaking skills will help us all as we move forward. Next week we will look a little more at Black Holes and also at stars and galaxies as we prepare for our trip to JPL.
Social Studies and Geography with Erin: We continued our study of Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott with the viewing of a short Teaching Tolerance documentary called," Mighty Times: The Legacy of Rosa Parks." Please ask your child to discuss the film with you. Some discussion ideas: What was life like for Rosa Parks as a child? How were young people involved in the bus boycott? What economic effects did the boycott have on the city? How were white citizens involved with the boycott?
Reading and Writing Workshop with Genie: We finished our Read Aloud, Slob. Ask your child what they felt were some big ideas they got from the book. Also in what ways did your child connect with the book or find it similar to another book or movie? In Writing, we have planned our essays using our boxes and bullets template (you can download one from our website), and used it to help us draft our essays to make sure we have each paragraph organized: an introduction, 3 middle paragraphs each with a separate reason, and a conclusion. We are learning that they can be in first person or third person, but not second person (no you's).

Homework:
JPL permission slip due Tuesday, November 1
6G math: Assignment #22 (and all assignments from Prime Time) are due Monday, 10/31 - the day of the assessment. Study for the assessment!
5G math: packet #8. Due 11/4/11
RW: Read every day! Be ready for your book club talk! What's the big idea of your book?
WW: Finish Personal Essay Draft and Revise using the Rubric! Be ready to edit!

Genie: ghwang@smmusd.org
Carrie: cferguson@smmusd.org
Erin: ehaendel@smmusd.org

Calling all interested SMASH middle school music parents and musicians!
Join Jessica Wednesday, November 9th 6-7pm in the Library to discuss:
*Reflections on how Winds, Strings, and Choir are rolling out this year
*How to set up funds/inventory for those who need to rent instruments in the future
*How to raise monies this year towards Robbie’s String and Mike’s Wind contracts
*How to create a future schedule where all musicians could do both choir and an instrument
*Equity across Wind and String course structure/offerings

SMASH's Upper School Dance for Core 3 and Core 4 is coming up!
It's a great way to spend the evening of Friday, November 4, from 6-8pm. Having fun, dancing with friends, and the simple pleasure of going! Taking place at the SMASH Auditorium. It is your duty as an upper school SMASH student to go and have fun! Only $5 admission and awesome raffle prizes to win! SEE YOU THERE!

CORE 4 NEWS
Hess Kramer Ropes Course: Oh how I wish all parents could see firsthand the growth in communication skills, maturity, and responsible autonomy that children experience on this trip. Deep thanks go to SMASH parent Leslie Bourne and her staff at Fulcrum Adventures. We have learned a great deal from these exceptional people and look forward to growing our relationship in the immediate future. Stand by for exciting developments related to our working relationship later in the year. For now ask your child to describe this thrilling experience in specific terms. We hiked steep hills, leapt from the top of telephone poles, swung out over cliffs, and used pillows to battle for night-time supremacy. In addition, ask them what are they planning to bring to SMASH from the experience? Finally and most importantly, how did this experience help them become independent of their teachers, parents, and other loving adults? Asking them probing questions and patiently supporting efforts to be descriptive now will help them process this meaningful adventure and become strong, independent learners and people.

Yosemite Trip: Our winter adventure for 7th graders in beautiful Yosemite Valley is coming up in just six working weeks and three days after the winter break. Preparations are coming to an end and soon we shall be enjoying the mountains during their finest season. Our stellar chaperon team is set, reservations are made, and copious quantities of cash are leaving our accounts to pay for transportation, housing, and learning activities. Please do everything possible to insure your child’s attendance; this trip is potentially life changing, memorable, and fun. Some details:
1. Payment for the trip is now past due. Please be sure to communicate with us consistently about any payment plans you have negotiated. I assure you this trip is worth the price, despite the $600 dollar expense, and a great value!
2. We will depart very early Sunday, January 8 from Union Station in downtown Los Angeles and return during the evening on Friday, January 13. Exact times are being arranged by trip goddess, Malaika, and will be sent out late next week along with permission slips and medical forms.
3. Use the following link http://www.naturebridge.org/yosemite/parents to find out all you could want to know about the trip, the location, or the people we work with up in the park. Of course you may drop around to ask me questions as well. I love seeing parents.
4. It is critical that children be provided with non-cotton winter-wear made of synthetic or organic fibers that wick moisture away from their body. This is a safety issue and non-negotiable. We have many clean jackets, over-shirts, fuzzy sweaters, and some ski pants to lend to people on a first come-first served basis. You will wish to buy the long undies, synthetic socks, and hiking boots soon as prices begin to rise after Thanksgiving.

We will be having a bag check to insure students are safe and a mandatory information meeting for parents on Wednesday, Dec 7 at 18:00. Please make plans now to join us as we finalize the arrangements necessary to insure your child’s safety during this learning adventure.
Drop around if you have any questions. You are always welcome here.

Kurt: kholland@smmusd.org
Darwin: dmendinueto@smmusd.org

Calling all interested SMASH middle school music parents and musicians!
Join Jessica Wednesday, November 9th 6-7pm in the Library to discuss:
*Reflections on how Winds, Strings, and Choir are rolling out this year
*How to set up funds/inventory for those who need to rent instruments in the future
*How to raise monies this year towards Robbie’s String and Mike’s Wind contracts
*How to create a future schedule where all musicians could do both choir and an instrument
*Equity across Wind and String course structure/offerings

SMASH's Upper School Dance for Core 3 and Core 4 is coming up.
It's a great way to spend the evening of Friday, November 4, from 6-8pm.
Having fun, dancing with friends, and the simple pleasure of going! Taking place at the SMASH Auditorium. It is your duty as an upper school SMASH student to go and have fun! Only $5 admission and awesome raffle prizes to win! See you there!

2011-10-21T17:37:00.000-07:00

Dear SMASHing Families,
Get ready to welcome Tony and David, two visiting middle school principals from Shang Hi, China. They will be visiting SMASH for one week from Monday, October 31 through Monday, November 7. Tony is from a 6th-9th grade school with 880 students and 80 teachers. David is from a school with 550 students and 80 teachers. SMASH will seem very small and personalized in comparison.

Many thanks to Ken, Yung, Caleb, and Simeon Downing for hosting our two guests from China at their home! In order to give Tony and David a variety of experiences and to share the benefits of this crosscultural interaction, I am looking for 6 families to have Tony and David come home after school with you and be part of your family dinner one night before they return to sleep at the Downings. If you are interested in and available to have Tony and David over for dinner 11/1, 11/2, 11/3, 11/4, 11/5, or 11/6, please contact me at jrishe@smmusd.org.
Jessica
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See you at the SMASH RUMMAGE SALE Tomorrow, October 22
9am-1pm (or get here early—$5 for 8am admission)
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BOO!
Friday, October 28 1:30 to 3:30 pm

All students, parents and siblings are welcome to the SMASH/John Muir Halloween Carnival.

We would like to remind everyone that children are allowed to wear costumes to school as long as they follow these guidelines:

• All costumes must be appropriate for school (your child must be able to do all of the school activities in whatever they are wearing).
• NO MASKS - we need to see their faces
• NO WEAPONS of any kind (including canes, pitchfork, any kind of stick or pole, etc.)
• NO CANDY

PLEASE NOTE THESE IMPORTANT CARNIVAL RULES:

• Children must be picked up from the Carnival NO LATER than 3:30 pm

• Core 1 students need to be picked up from class and supervised by an adult at Carnival

• School rules regarding costumes, masks, weapons and candy still apply.

• NO PLAYGROUND ACCESS.

• All CREST enrichment classes will be held.

• CREST and CREST Childcare are NOT attending the Carnival. If you plan to have your child attend, please make arrangements in advance with their CREST instructor.

• The SMASH office cannot make any decisions regarding CREST arrangements.

• NO costumes at school on Oct. 31.
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DATES TO REMEMBER
Sat, Oct 22 - RUMMAGE SALE
Mon, Oct 24 School Tour
Mon-Wed, Oct 24-26 8th grade trip to Hess Kramer
Fri, Oct 28- SMASH & John Muir HALLOWEEN CARNIVAL 1:30-3:00. Please read carnival rules!
Sun-Tues, Oct 30 to Nov 8 - SMASH hosts visiting principals from China
Wed, Nov 2 - 8:30am PTSA Mtg
Fri, Nov 4 - 6:00-8:00pm - SMASH Upper school Dance. Details in Core 3 & 4 letter
SAVE THE DATE
Mon, Nov 7 and Wed, Nov 9 - SMASH restaurant fundraiser nights at Veggie Grill—Details to come
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• Los Angeles Haunted Hayride and Maze at Griffith Park
Very Scary! Not recommended for ages 8 and under!
Losangeleshauntedhayride.com/la_haunted_house_mobile.html

• Mon, Oct 31 - 5:00-9:00pm - PALOWEEN CARNIVAL at Barker Hanger. 3021 Airport Ave. Halloween Party for the whole family. FREE Entrance. Games 25¢, Fun House & Picture Booth $1. NO tickets sold after 8:15pm. For more information please call 310-458-8988 PAL ( Police Activities League)

• Fishy Fest Celebrating Halloween and Dia de los Muertos"Santa Monica Pier Aquarium; Sat -Sun, 12:30-5 p.m.No need to wait till next weekend to celebrate Halloween—the aquarium is getting into the spooky spirit a week early. Kids are encouraged to clad themselves in marine-themed costumes, but however they decide to dress, they'll be able to see live animals that glow in the dark.
Free for kids under age 13; suggested $5 donation or a $3 entry fee for others
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SEUSSICAL!
November 12-December 17
Performances: Saturdays & Sundays at 2pm (no performance Dec 11)
Welcome to the fantastical world of Dr. Seuss!
Join us for the adventures of Horton the Elephant, along with a host of characters from Dr. Seuss.
$15 reserved seats at www.morgan-wixson.org or 310-828-7519 Morgan-Wixson Theatre; 2627 Pico Bl, SM
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SANTA MONICA SYMPHONY 2011-2012
Allen Robert Gross, Music Director & Conductor
Sat, Oct29 at 7:30pm Santa Monica Civic Auditorium
Pre-concert talk at 6:30pm, Professor Raymond Knapp
FREE ADMISSION. Bring School-age children!
www.smsymphony.org 310-395-6330
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NEW CAR SEAT LAW for CHILDREN UNDER 8 YEARS OLD
SB 929 has been signed into law in California, requiring that children under 8 years old
remain in booster seats unless they are 4’ 9” tall.
Car collisions are the leading cause of death and acquired disability in children between ages
4 & 8, and it has been proven that booster seats save the lives of children by
reducing their risk of vehicle accident related injury and fatality by 60 percent.
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Anyone have a child’s tennis racket to donate to SMASH? We are looking for 4 rackets for use during a lunchtime tennis club. If you have one to donate, please bring it to the front office.
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Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Invites you to the Grand Opening and
Ribbon Cutting Of the Synthetic Turf Athletic Field on Thurs, October 27 at 3:30pm at Santa Monica High School Freshman football game will begin at 3:45pm
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Pacific Standard Time Family Festival - At the Getty Center
Saturday, October 22, 2011 - 10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. Free - no reservations required.
Inspired by art in L.A., this daylong festival invites a new generation of local artists to reinterpret the creative legacy of artists featured in the Pacific Standard Time initiative. Discover special performances and unexpected installations by Machine Project, Kim Ye, and other local artists, make your own mail art, help to recreate a version of Di Suvero's Peace Tower with Becca Lofchie, and so much more at this only-in-Los Angeles event!
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“Like life, racial understanding is not something that we find, but something that we must create.”
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Is sponsoring an opportunity for members of the community to come together to participate in
a Dialogue on Race.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Santa Monica High School
Noted educator, Dr. Sylvia Rousseau, will be part of the morning’s activities. We welcome your voice and contribution to the dialog, and working with us to make our community a truly respectful place.
**********
In order that we may plan appropriately, please let us know that you will be attending, by contacting Sarah Wahrenbrock at swahrenbrock@smmusd.org. or (310) 450‐8338, ext. 70241; or send the bottom section of this sheet to Sarah Wahrenbrock – SMMUSD; 1651 16th St, Santa Monica, Ca 90404
_______________________________________________________________________________________
I will be attending the Dialog on Race on Saturday, October 29.

Name__________________________________________

Number of people attending including yourself________

Name(s) of additional attendees______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
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Terrific news from our friends at Americans for the Arts and one of their corporate partners, KRIS Wine. As part of its second annual “Art of Education” program, KRIS has launched a new program that will award $25,000 to 16 public schools in the United States to help support arts education programs. Who decides which schools will receive the funds? We do!
Visit KRIS Wine’s Facebook page (http://apps.facebook.com/krisartofeducation/ ) and cast your vote for your favorite K-12 public school to win funding to help support arts education programs. Participants 21 years and older can vote one time per day through November 30. The school with the winning number of votes will be awarded $5,000. The next five schools receiving the top number of votes will receive $2,000. Schools that rank sixth through 16th in total number of votes will receive $1,000.
I hope that every SMASH member will take a moment and get started today --- cast your vote, set a reminder on your calendar to do it every day through November 30, and spread the word to your friends, family, and colleagues.
****************
Fab four plus one more
Barnum Hall - Santa Monica High School, - 7:30 p.m.
Beatles historian and humorist Martin Lewis will host “The Beatles at Barnum,” a celebration of the music of the Beatles featuring the award-winning Santa Monica High School Symphony Orchestra and local rock band Father Knows Best. The performance will include full orchestra arrangements of Beatles favorites, audience sing-alongs of “Hey Jude” and “All You Need Is Love,” and special guest vocalists and instrumental performers.
For more information, visit www.SamohiOrchestras.org. Tickets are $20 for general admission, $10 for students.
Available at the door or online at www.brownpapertickets. com/event/204402 All proceeds to benefit the Samohi Orchestral programs.
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JOIN THE SMASH PTSA
Parent Teacher Student Association
Arriving very soon ~
SMASH Phone Book
Your golden ticket to a copy of the SMASH Phone Book is a SMASH PTSA membership. If you haven’t already joined, it’s not too late. Pick up a PTSA envelope at the office and submit your check ($8 per membership), payable to SMASH PTSA. You get one Phone Book for each membership you purchase. Multiple memberships = multiple copies of the directory = one will always be at hand.
5 More Great Reasons to Join the SMASH PTSA
1. Be in the know. The PTSA helps you keep up with what’s happening at SMASH. You’ll find out what you can do to make a difference for your child and to make SMASH an even better place.
2. Make connections. Whether you attend PTSA meetings and events or just link in via e-mails, through the PTSA you’ll connect with others who share your concern for our kids and their education. The PTSA is a way to meet other SMASH parents and build relationships.
3. Hone your skills. In the PTSA, you’ll have the opportunity to use what you know, try new things, and develop your skills.
4. Speak up. The PTSA is a forum for exchanging ideas. Your membership can be a means to effectively suggest changes and to be involved in making them happen.
5. Be a role model for your child. Through your involvement in PTSA, not only will you help your child and all children receive a better education but you’ll show your child how much you value education. You also will teach your child about giving back to the community.
Questions? Email Snow Lam-Hansen (mother of Kim and Tia Hansen/Core 1) at snowwht@gmail.com.
Sincerely,
Snow Lam-Hansen, PTSA Membership V.P.
Daniel McGee, PTSA
Jessica Rishe, President Principal
****************
ptsa news
president’s message

Dear SMASHing Parents,
The Facility Improvement Projects Office (FIPO) of SMMUSD is inviting input in regard to Measure BB, a bond measure, which was passed in November 2006, to improve health, safety, and class instruction by repairing and renovating outdated classrooms, bathrooms, plumbing, leaky roofs, updating computer technology and improving fire safety equipment, as follows: 1) How can the FIPO help your school and community?; 2) What is the most effective way to communicate to parents, staff and the surrounding community?; 3) As a PTA representative, what are your goals for your school and community as we move further into Measure BB construction?; and 4) What are some topics you would like to see communicated in the Measure BB program?. Please email your comments to Janie Buelow Hale: jbuelow@s,,usd.org.

On Wednesday, November 2, 2011, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel, will be the one year birthday celebration of the passage of Props. Y+YY with Gleam Davis, Mayor Pro Tempore, City of Santa Monica, Rod Gould, City Manager and Sandra Lyon, Superintendent of Schools, SMMSUD. RSVP to CEPS co-chairs, Shari Davis and Rebecca Kennerly, info@excellentpublicschools.org or call 310-395-4483.

If you have note volunteered for the Rummage Sale tomorrow, Saturday, October 22, 2011, and you can help, even if only for a short time, we still need volunteers to help on Saturday, especially with clean-up. Please contact Jamee Tenzer (tenzer@lifeworks4coaching.com) or Kelly Lance (kebolance@yahoo.com) to volunteer for the Rummage Sale.
Thanks, Dan McGee

ptsa annual family investment drive
•Public school is free – a great education is not. Hence the SMASH Annual Family Investment Drive is the single most important fundraiser of the year. Your contribution pays for classroom teaching assistants, reading and math specialists, the SMASH fine arts program, science equipment, technology upgrades, professional development and so much more. Please make your tax deductible contribution or commitment by October 1, 2011. We suggest an investment of $575/student, but no amount is too much or too little. We are aiming for 100% participation, so give what you can and give as soon as possible. Please check your first day packet for our Annual Family Investment Letter, the form and envelope. If you have any questions, contact Marni Ayers Brady (marniayers@gmail.com) or Helga Schier (helgaschier@verizon.net).

SMASHbash sign-up
•If you missed SMASHbash sign-up on Friday October 7, don’t fear, you can still sign-up. There are still events with space. Please contact Marni Ayers Brady (marniayers@gmail.com) at your earliest convenience and let her know what events you want to attend. Don’t miss out on your chance to participate.

SMASH green tips
•Proper Disposal of Prescription Drugs: On Saturday, October 29, 2011, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Santa Monica Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will give the public another opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs. Disposing of unused medicines by flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash poses potential safety and health hazards. Bring your medications for disposal to the front of the Santa Monica Police Department at 333 Olympic Drive. An officer will be available at the curb to make it easier for you to just drive up and drop off your unused or unwanted prescription drugs. The service is free, anonymous, and no questions will be asked.
• Want to have less PLASTIC stuff in your life? Make your own yoghurt and wash your laundry with Soap Nuts!
Soap nuts come from Indonesia and are compostable once they stop producing lovely toxic-free suds, so a win-win for the environment. Read all about them and buy your Soap Nuts today at http://laundrytree.com/
Making your own yoghurt is soooooo easy, here are two online recipes that don't require you to buy a (plastic) yoghurt maker, just use stuff you already have.http://pink-apron.com/2009/07/homemade-yogurt-without-a-yogurt-maker/
http://greekfood.about.com/od/syrupssauces/r/make_yogurt.htm We're going to help our planet with both low tech and high tech solutions, everybody!
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SCARECROW RAFFLE REMINDER
DON’T FORGET TO MAKE YOUR SCARECROW FOR THE RAFFLE.

• BRING IT ON MONDAY, OCTOBER 24 AND FILL OUT THE FORM
IN THE SMALL YARD.

YOU COULD WIN ONE OF THESE GREAT PRIZES:
• • A GIFT CERTIFICATE FROM
• SWINGERS ON LINCOLN
• OMELETTE PARLOR ON MAIN STREET
• OUTSIDE THE BOX ON 4TH STREET
• AMF BOWLING ON PICO
• A GIFT BOX FROM LUSH ON THE PROMENADE
(Stop by Lush store for their all day Halloween celebration)
• AND MORE!
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CORE 1 NEWS

Halloween in Core 1
We will be celebrating Halloween on Friday, October 28.
Halloween is an interesting time of year when we get to dress-up and be creative about who we are. We have fun wearing costumes, putting on face paint, acting out characters. It is also a time when children may become more conscious of their fears and experiment with their limits (which are changing as they grow…).

ALL Core 1 students MUST BE WITH AN ADULT to attend the Carnival.

Here are some helpful hints and fun events happening that day:
1. Costumes – The children may wear their costumes to school as long as they do NOT wear masks or bring weapons of any kind. Costume pieces that can be easily lost or destroyed are discouraged, too, since it will be a long day. Their costumes also need to allow them to participate in regular classroom activities.

2. Costumes are by no means mandatory, and the children are also welcome not to wear costumes at all.

3. To share our festive spirit, Core 1 will be going on a Halloween Community Walk 9:00 – 10:00 on October 28. We will parade down Main Street and return to school in time for snack. Chaperones are needed and sign-ups are outside the Magic Garden door.

4. The SMASH/MUIR Halloween Carnival will begin following our all-school 1:30 dismissal. Parents should pick up their children in the small yard, if you’re planning to attend the carnival afterward. Please do not send in candy to distribute to the children before, during, or after Halloween. There will be PLENTY of treats everywhere, and we hope to encourage healthy eating at school. Thank you!

Please no costumes on Monday, October 31. We will be doing a few special Halloween activities, but we’ll be keeping it low-key that day….

Jackie will be at Hess Kramer on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of next week as she helps to chaperone the 8th grade trip. Have fun Jackie!

Thanks to the parents who attended our Volunteer Discussion Meeting on Wednesday. Included in this week’s Friday Folder are some helpful hints for volunteering in the classroom. These are some additional points we would like to add:

• Regular volunteers should submit an updated TB test to the nurse. If you need to be tested, you may do so with the school nurse or your own doctor
• Please sign-in/out at the Main Office when you volunteer. This is an important safety routine – especially since we share space with another school.
• Parents are encouraged to come regularly or to volunteer at different times. For parents with flexible schedules, it might be better to volunteer whenever you can find the time.
• For parents who sign-up for a regular time-slot, please arrange for a substitute (if possible) or kindly email the teacher ahead of time. Chrysta’s Workshop time has the greatest need for volunteers. If you are still looking for a way to help, please consider coming during the late morning (11:30-12:15 – you could stay a little later and eat lunch with your child!) or late afternoons (2:15-3:00 – right before pick-up!).

Candis: cberens@smmusd.org
Chrysta: cwyse@smmusd.org
Graciela:gbarba-castro@smmusd.org
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CORE 2 NEWS

BE SURE TO READ THE RULES FOR THE HALLOWEEN CARNIVAL

Thank You to everyone in Core 2 for supporting our first-ever overnight field trip to Camp Josepho! A special shout out to Jessica for all the prep she put in to make this trip run smooth as silk, Janice for organizing the carpools, Core 1’s Elizabeth and Ricky for being our Camp Josepho gurus, Core 1’s Tina and Monet for the fabulous food, Nick & Nathan’s Leslie for lending us the fun-loving Chris for teambuilding, and to all the parents who were able to join us. It was an amazing two days of outdoor learning and fun. The kids really bonded as a group. We couldn’t have done it without you! We are working with Oisin’s mom, Kathleen, on a slideshow assembly (date TBD). If you have any photos from the trip, please EDIT them and send a selection of 10 – 20 photos to Kathleen at whitebloom@verizon.net. ~Tamara, Laura, & Jayme
***
It is the 3rd week of the month…time for us to learn and grow together. Our topic this week: spelling. Spelling over the last few years has been the subject of a commonly mailed piece of Internet “wisdom.” And I quote:
Aoccdrnig to rscheearch by the Lngiusiitc Dptanmeret at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't
mttaer in what oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat
ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

Translation: According to research by the Linguistic Department at Cambridge University, it doesn’t matter in what order the letters in a word are, the only important thing is that the first and last letter be at the right place. The rest can be a total mess and you can still read it without a problem. This is because the human mind does not read every letter by itself, but the word as a whole.

This paragraph has been widely circulated on the Internet since 2003, and it is still referred to, either as a point of interest or to defend inconsistent (poor) spelling, or choosing not to teach it. Is it because it rings of the truth that it makes scholars and educators cringe? Hardly. Among other things, there was no such research, and the words in the passage don’t follow the rule of “only the first and last words matter.” It’s a myth. It is fluent readers who can figure out this highly predictable text – and the path to fluent reading includes a firm foundation in the sounds represented by letters and their spelling.
Excerpted from The Importance of Spelling by Susan Jones, M. Ed. 2/2009

*For More information about spelling and literacy in Core 2, please read and discuss the handouts included in this week’s Friday Folders.
***
Laura: lsherman@smmusd.com
Jayme: j.wold@smmusd.org
Tamara: tmugalian@smmusd.org

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CORE 3 NEWS
BE SURE TO READ THE RULES FOR THE HALLOWEEN CARNIVAL

Thank you for the delicious and nutritious Staff Appreciation Lunch!
There are a few serving items left in Genie's room.

6th Grade Math with Carrie: We refreshed our memories about how to find the GCF and LCM of two (or more) numbers by using "Lily's Method". We also learned how to do the Prime Factorization of a number using two different methods. The first one we are calling "Larry's Method" because it's very similar to Lily's Method and the second method is the Tree Method.
6th Grade Math with Erin "Data About Us": We continued to work on our graphs.
5th grade Math Workshop with Genie: Please look at our website under Homework to see parent letters on our new 3D geometry unit. We have been visualizing and building rectangular prisms (boxes) to see how many cubes can fit. We know length, width, and height can help us determine volume. Please look around your house to further your child's understanding of volume. Also look in your child's backpack for their Unit 1 Final Assessment, Reflection, and sample answers. Your signature is required on the Reflection page.

Science with Carrie: Most of our Planet Experts presented this week. We ran out of time to do everyone so those who did not get to present will share on Monday. Overall, the presentations were well organized and filled with important information. Everyone took notes and asked questions in order to prepare for the assessment that will be given on Monday. The assessment will consist of questions that the planet groups made and the information they shared during their presentation. Students will be able to use their notes on the assessment. We are hoping to get the videotapes of the presentations up on the Core 3 website (if we have enough space for them). Next we will be moving further out into space so be thinking about what you want to know about beyond the solar system!

Social Studies and Geography with Erin: We looked deeper into Rosa Parks and students were interested in current events that could be connected to Civil Rights. Keep reading the news with your child!

Reading and Writing Workshop with Genie: We have chosen our ideas for our personal essays and began nurturing and planning before we draft. We also spent time this week to write letters to favorite artists for our Arts and Letters fundraiser. Please take time to draft a letter yourself to your favorite visual artist, poet, writer, actor, or comedian. Ask your child what format to follow and what important information needs to be included in this letter. Your child will be excited to teach you how to write this letter. Then your letter will be ready when the postcards are available to mail out. Also check in with your child on their daily reading!

Homework:
6G math: Assignment #19 (a copy is in the attachments on the website and extras are in the "extra math" folder in the classroom). There is an extra credit page as well (also marked #19).
5G math: packet #7. Due 10/28/11.
RW: Read every day! Be ready for your book club talk! What's the big idea of your book?
WW: Collect 2 new entries (15 minutes of writing or 1 full page entry) at home by Fri 10/28. Have you filled up a quarter of the pages in your notebook? Have you filled up almost half of your notebook?
****************
SMASH's Upper School Dance for Core 3 and Core 4 is coming up. It's a great way to spend the evening of Friday, November 4, from 6-8pm. Having fun, dancing with friends, and the simple pleasure of going! Taking place at the SMASH Auditorium. It is your duty as an upper school SMASH student to go and have fun! Only $5 admission and awesome raffle prizes to win! See you there!
****************
CORE 4 NEWS
BE SURE TO READ THE RULES FOR THE HALLOWEEN CARNIVAL

Conference Follow-Up: What a fine experience these goals setting conferences are for everyone involved. Most of the kids were clear, articulate, and poised during these student led conferences. Inspiring, joyous, thought provoking! If you missed this opportunity to support your child, we look forward to meeting at some other time. Please drop around during the school day; we can almost always find a minute or five to talk with parent partners. Tuesdays between
10:30 and 12:10 are a great time for quick check-ins with me (Kurt). Just before and just after school, while convenient for people dropping or picking up their kids, are not good times for teachers as we are normally fully engaged with motivated students at those points. As discussed at forum we are arranging a parent support night for 8th grade parents with an emphasis on math information. A tentative date has been found and we are confirming a location for this fun
event. Darwin and I will present information of general interest, answer general interest questions, and hang out to enable easy private check-ins. Later in the year we shall be doing this with seventh grade parents if anyone wishes to step up and help me arrange it.

Trips: Malaika, Jessica, and I are completing the arrangements for the Yosemite trip in January. This outstanding educational adventure is scheduled for January 8 through the 13th and should not be missed by any 7th grade student.
A mandatory safety and planning meeting for parents will be held Dec 7, please save the date now. Most of you know that planning for this trip begins a full year ahead of time to allow for families to plan ahead or budget for the $600. expense. To those of you who have you have paid, met the deadlines, and made plans for your child to attend already, thank you. I guarantee your child active learning experiences in an awe-inspiring setting. On the other hand, if you have missed the April/Oct due dates, but still wish to have your child thrive in this dynamic environmental education setting, please email Kurt now and make arrangements for a personal chat. Please, do not allow finances to stand between your child and this trip. Darwin, Jessica and I have many options to offer our parent partners.

Parent Visits to Class Are Great Support: Many parents have asked me “what might I do to support my child during these challenging young adolescent years?” One simple and effective tactic is to show up at school during the day at least once a month. Random drop-ins are particularly effective and welcome! Research and my own experience at SMASH suggests that this is the single most influential act a parent can do to support children through the stressful middle school years. I am fully aware that they are pushing in exactly the opposite direction; however, the perspective of numerous college age alumni is instructive. An instructive quote from a student now at Georgetown University: “We did love the trips and the fun experiments, but the biggest thing was that SMASH included our parents too.” Find a way, get here, support your child, this is important and time sensitive. Be here now! Given the importance of parent presence for students, I am highly motivated to do anything possible to make this easier for you. In that spirit, we shall be offering parent education on the adolescent brain just after the Yosemite trip to highlight the critical importance of this developmental stage. I completely understand how hard it is, but I hope you will be able to find the time.
Kurt: kholland@smmusd.org
Darwin: dmendinueto@smmusd.org
****************
SMASH's Upper School Dance for Core 3 and Core 4 is coming up.
It's a great way to spend the evening of Friday, November 4, from 6-8pm.
Having fun, dancing with friends, and the simple pleasure of going! Taking place at the SMASH Auditorium. It is your duty as an upper school SMASH student to go and have fun! Only $5 admission and awesome raffle prizes to win!
See you there!

****************

2011-10-14T11:51:00.000-07:00

Dear SMASHing Families,
This coming Thursday, October 20th is California’s Great Shakeout. We will have a full-scale earthquake drill, complete with mock injuries that our search and rescue teams will find and first aid team will care for. The front gates will be locked at 10:20am until this drill is complete.

We have a detailed plan to keep all of our students, staff, and visiting adults safe in the event of an emergency. We have monthly fire drills, twice yearly “lock down” and earthquake “drop and cover” drills. In the case of an actual earthquake, all children will duck and cover in the classroom and then assemble on the field with their teachers until the emergency is declared over or until released to an adult. In the case of a true emergency, you or someone on your child’s emergency card should pick up the children at the “reunion gate” on the Fifth Street side of campus just North of the trash bins. Records will be kept on all children released to adults. In case of campus damage near the Fifth Street gate, alternative staging areas may be designated to provide safe shelter to our students so be prepared to 1) Look for “SMASH Reunion Gate” signs hanging on the perimeter fence to designate another pick up area, 2) Receive an email blast if we have Internet function that gives you more detailed information.

What can you do? 1) Talk to your child about your family plan for an emergency. 2) Keep the office emergency cards updated with approved people who can pick up your child. 3) It is also recommended that you tune your radio to KWFB (AM980) or KRSF (FM 103.1) for news reports that may have additional information during an actual emergency. 4) If your child requires medication, please contact Nurse Sandy to be sure we have an adequate supply.

We are ready in case of a true emergency. We have adequate food, water, and shelter to keep our students stay safe for an extended period of time. Our faculty and staff will take good care of our students until you are able to come to campus.
Jessica

PICTURE DAY - TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18
All students will be photographed for their class & school ID (no charge for ID photo).
If ordering a photo package - please make sure your child has their flyer and payment.
Late orders cannot be accepted. Exact payment required - no change available.
Payment may be made by cash, check or money order (made out to Lifetouch).

To pay by credit card, go to mylifetouch.com.
Be sure to put your payment code on the flyer when you return it on picture day.

The least expensive package is Pkg E for $19 - this includes a class photo
Pkg B for $33 includes a class photo and a CD of the individual photo

Lifetouch Flyers/Order Forms have been sent home with each student today.

DATES TO REMEMBER
Tues, Oct 18 - Lifetouch School Picture Day - Flyers will be sent home with each student today.Visit Lifetouch.com for clothing suggestions, online payment details & more.
Thu, Oct 20 “Great Shakeout” Full scale earthquake drill
Fri, Oct 21 - Catalina Assembly Rescheduled for November
Sat, Oct 22 - RUMMAGE SALE
Mon-Wed, Oct 24-26 8th grade trip to Hess Kramer
Mon, Oct 24 School Tour
Sun-Tues, Oct 30 to Nov 8 - SMASH hosts visiting principals from China
Fri, Oct 28- SMASH & John Muir Halloween Carnival
Wed, Nov 2 - 8:30am PTSA Mtg

THIS WEEKEND!!! Kid's Clothing Swap
DATE: Saturday, October 15 TIME: 9 - 12pm
PLACE: Douglas Park in Santa Monica; Chelsea Avenue (Between Wilshire and California)
We will be set up on the NW side of the park. (Close to the playground.)
WHAT: bring your old baby/kid clothes/toys etc - put them in the pile according to size and
take out what you need from the next size up! Kids welcome, if you promise to watch them.
****NOTE CHANGE for this year: Bring a bag of stuff and take a bag of stuff.
Thiseveryone to get a fair amount of treasures in exchange for what they bring. Thanks!
We need as many parents as possible so please spread the word to your other friends. If you belong to a list, please post the information. All items left at the end of the swap will be donated to charity. Any questions, please contact Snow atsnowwht@gmail.com.

SEUSSICAL!
November 12-December 17
Performances: Saturdays & Sundays at 2pm (no performance Dec 11)
Welcome to the fantastical world of Dr. Seuss! Join us for the adventures of Horton the Elephant, along with a host of characters from Dr. Seuss.
$15 reserved seats at www.morgan-wixson.org or 310-828-7519
Morgan-Wixson Theatre; 2627 Pico Blvd, Santa Monica

SAVE THE DATE!
Friday, October 28, 2011
1:30PM to 3:30PM
SMASH/MUIR HALOWEEN CARNIVAL
Free Family Fun!

241 SMASH PTSA memberships purchased so far.
If you haven't joined yet, here's why you should:
Costs only $8 per membership.
Each membership purchased gets you a copy of the SMASH Phone Book.
Gets you more informed about what's going on at SMASH and district-wide.
Leverages our volunteer power to benefit our kids and SMASH.
Connect with other parents to share ideas and concerns.
A strong PTSA improves our school's reputation in the community.

To join, fill out the white PTSA envelope that came in your child’s first day packet, or pick up an envelope at the office. Insert a check for $8 per member, payable to SMASH PTSA. Drop the envelope off at the office. Any questions, email Snow Lam-Hansen (mother of Kim and Tia Hansen/Core 1) at snowwht@gmail.com.

Sincerely,
Snow Lam-Hansen, Membership VP
Dan McGee, PTSA President
Jessica Rishe, Principal

Don’t you just wish you had less stuff?
Well, the SMASH Rummage Sale is here to help!
Why not clean out the closets and start collecting gently used items to donate on Friday, October 21? The rummage sale is on Saturday, October 22

A few reminders as you sort;
Please make sure all items are clean and in good condition.
To help us organize, we would appreciate you using the following guidelines:
clothing: no holes or stains; no undergarments
electronics, bikes, etc.: tested; working condition
toys, games, puzzles: no missing or broken parts; please tape boxes closed
household items; excellent condition only, no over-used plastic ware
shoes:Please make sure there are two and tie them together if possible
baby items: no car seats or boosters and please only clean strollers & high chairs
Please do not mix items together (a blender, hat and board game in one box)Put similar items together in a labeled bag or box (i.e. ‘women’s shoes,’ ‘boys’ clothes,’ ‘kitchen,’ ‘dvds,’ etc.)
Thank you for bringing your contributions and for lending your support!
Questions? Please contact us:: kebolance@yahoo.com or Jamee:jameetenzer@gmail.com

ptsa news
president’s message
Dear SMASHing Parents,
At the PTSA meeting Wednesday evening, a discussion was held about "The Story of Stuff." This
short animated documentary is about the lifecycle of material goods that is critical of excessive consumerism and promotes sustainability. This documentary has been used in elementary schools, arts programs, economic classes as well as places of worship and corporate sustainability trainings. By February 2009, it had been seen in 228 countries and territories. According to the Los Angeles Times as of July 2010, the film had been translated into 15 languages and had been viewed by over 12 million people. If nothing else, this video promotes self examination and raises questions about the role we play in the consumption cycle and invites us to consider what we can do about it. If you could not make the meeting or haven't had a chance to check out this very interesting video, you can find it at storyofstuff.com or on YouTube.

The next major fundraiser at SMASH is the Rummage Sale on Saturday, October 22, 2011. If you can help, even if only for a short time, we need volunteers to help sort and arrange donated items on Friday and to help on Saturday to a make sure this year’s rummage sale is a success. Please contact Jamee Tenzer (tenzer@lifeworks4coaching.com) or Kelly Lance (kebolance@yahoo.com) to volunteer for the Rummage Sale.
Thanks,
Dan McGee

ptsa annual family investment drive
·Public school is free – a great education is not. Hence the SMASH Annual Family Investment Drive is the single most important fundraiser of the year. Your contribution pays for classroom teaching assistants, reading and math specialists, the SMASH fine arts program, science equipment, technology upgrades, professional development and so much more. Please make your tax deductible contribution or commitment by October 1, 2011. We suggest an investment of $575/student, but no amount is too much or too little. We are aiming for 100% participation, so give what you can and give as soon as possible. Please check your first day packet for our Annual Family Investment Letter, the form and envelope. If you have any questions, contact
Marni Ayers Brady (marniayers@gmail.com) or Helga Schier (helgaschier@verizon.net).
ptsa membership
·Don’t forget to turn in your completed PTSA membership envelope and check ($8 per membership, payable to SMASH PTSA). Membership buys you the invaluable SMASH Directory, which is your portal to the SMASH community.
SMASHbash sign-up
·If you missed SMASHbash sign-up last Friday October 7, don’t fear, you can still sign-up. There are still events with space. Please contact Marni Ayers Brady (marniayers@gmail.com) at your earliest convenience and let her know what events you want to attend. Don’t miss out on your chance to participate .
SMASH green tip
·Green Roadside Assistance:Try an eco-friendly auto club. Unlike AAA, Better World Club supports consumer rights, alternative transportation and a cleaner environment.BWC offers competitive rates to AAA as well as bicycle roadside service, insurance and discounts on hybrid rentals and eco-lodging.New members with hybrids or biodiesel vehicles receive a 15% discount.

·A great way to reduce your carbon footprint is to use less STUFF. Santa Monica just stopped one-timeuse tissue plastic bags being used in the city. Fantastic Move! You can take it one step further..... if you keep your own to-go containers in your bag, then when you're eating out, you can use them for any left-overs you might want to take home. And that will be one less one-time-use container to be disposed of.

IN HOPES OF GETTING EVERYONE IN
A GOULISH MOOD . . . . . . . WE NEED YOUR HELP CREATING A HALLOWEEN SCENE.

WE WILL BE DECORATING THE CAMPUS WITH SCARECROWS CREATED BY THE STUDENTS FOR OUR FIRST EVER SCARECROW RAFFLE!
HOW TO ENTER:
· MAKE A SCARECROW - SPOOKY, CUTE, SILLY OR JUST PLAIN SMASHING.
· CREATE YOUR SCARECROW ON YOUR OWN, WITH YOUR FAMILY, OR
IN A GROUP FROM SCHOOL. YOU CAN GIVE YOUR SCARECROW A
NAME OR TITLE. (The SMASH rummage sale is bound to have loads of
scary supplies. You could also use recyclables) .
· Drop it off Monday morning, October 24 & fill out a raffle form
THE SCARECROWS WILL DECORATE CAMPUS ON OCTOBER 24
WE WILL CALL OUT RAFFLE WINNERS AT THE HALLOWEEN CARNIVAL ON OCTOBER 29 AND EACH NAME PICKED WILL RECEIVE A PRIZE!
PLEASE - NO REAL PUMPKIN HEADS. THEY WILL GET STINKY AND ATTRACT UNWANTED CREATURES! NO ELECTRICAL OR BATTERY OPERATED GIZMOS!

CORE 1 NEWS
Things are Heating Up in Core 1!

PHYSICAL EDUCATION (PE) GUIDELINES
~Please be sure your child is wearing shoes suitable for running on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Save the Crocs, flip flops, sandals and Ugg boots for Fridays. This guideline is to keep your child safe from injury on the PE yard and to inspire physical activity during this time of exercise. Think about the shoes you like to wear when walking or running for exercise. Who wants to run in flip flops or hot Ugg boots when running on the grass?
~PE is a “have to.” All students participate in PE unless they have a note from home, requesting otherwise.
Thank you for your help, promoting healthy living for all our Core 1 children.

CLASSROOM VOLUNTEER DISCUSSION GROUP
Are you interested in knowing more about being a classroom volunteer? Candis will lead a discussion group meeting where you can share your questions and your experiences
Please join us on Wednesday, October 19 from 1:45pm-2:15
The Partner children will be supervised out on the yard.

TREASURE BOXES
During the past 2 weeks, the Bigs and Mentors have been secretly creating treasure boxes, which they delivered to their Partners on Friday. The Partners came to the end of their grand adventure, where they discovered a treasure box in a magical fire. Maya opened the box with the key, and inside they discovered important objects to help them keep the peace and love strong in their village. Here is an excerpt from the story:

“This,” said the wizard as he held up the glass. “This is a heart for the love that we share to take care of our friends… and family… and the world.”

“This is a pencil for drawing pictures and writing down words… so you can write the stories we love and share all that you learn.”

“This doll is a friend - for we accomplish much greater things when we work together.”

“And this ugly rock is a geode. It may look like a plain rock, but it actually holds a crystal inside. Let it remind us that we all have beauty and goodness inside us.”

“Take this box,” the wizard finished, “and keep it forever. And the things inside it will remind you that the peace and friendship and love lie within you forever.”

We hope your child can find a special spot at home for his/her box… and perhaps continue to collect special treasures in the years to come.

Wishlist: Have a baby at home who eats baby food from a jar?? We would LOVE to collect the small jars for all kinds of activities. Please wash and collect them, and we’ll put them to great use!
Candis: cberens@smmusd.org
Chrysta: cwyse@smmusd.org
Graciela: gbarba-castro@smmusd.org

PICTURE DAY - TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18
All students will be photographed for their class & school ID.
If ordering photos - please make sure your child has their flyer and payment.
Late orders cannot be accepted. Exact payment required - no change available.

CORE 2 NEWS
Announcements
Camp Josepho – Details about our trip next week!

Dates to Remember:
Friday, October 14 – Core 2 Bake Sale
Monday, October 17 –last third grade dance; join us for a “demonstration” at 9:15
Tuesday, October 18 – Picture Day
Friday, October 28 – Halloween Carnival, 1:30 – 3:30
Friday, November 11 – Veteran’s Day, NO school
Wednesday, November 17 – Pupil Free Day

Wish list:
Kitchen timer, digital cameras (they can be gently used), scratch paper (copy/letter size), clock for Tamara,
Laura: lsherman@smmusd.org
Tamara: tmugalian@smmusd.org

PICTURE DAY - TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18
All students will be photographed for their class & school ID.
If ordering photos - please make sure your child has their flyer and payment.
Late orders cannot be accepted. Exact payment required - no change available.

CORE 3 NEWS
Thank you families for making time for family conferences! We enjoyed meeting about your child and listening to the goals they set for themselves.

6th Grade Math with Carrie: "Math this week was counting fish in Catalina!"
6th Grade Math with Erin "Data About Us": A short math week due to Catalina. Students continued finishing up previous assignments including coordinate graphs and reviewing what we have learned in Data About Us thus far.
5th grade Math Workshop with Genie: We continued to look at division problems through the game division compare (play with your child as part of their homework), story problems, and cluster problems. We took the end of the unit assessment and reflected on our growth in this area of math. And now we have already moved onto 3D geometry looking at volume and of course, length, width and height. Please look on our website for parent letters (homework section) that will inform you on the unit goals and concepts.
Science with Carrie: The 5th graders continued their planet expert work.Next Monday will be the last class day to work on the planets before the presentations on Tuesday!
Social Studies and Geography with Erin: On Wednesday the 5th graders familiarized themselves with the United States map. How many states did you know before the exercise? How many do you know now? On Thursday we learned about how segregation in schools still exists. Why is this? Discuss with your child.
Reading and Writing Workshop with Genie: We are busy filling in pages in our notebooks as we begin our Personal Essay unit. Writing homework continues—2 full pages in your writing notebook by next Friday (4 if this week's homework didn't get completed). Start talking to your child about ideas they have, opinions they think, and experiences that provide statements in their lives. For example, "Being an older sibling requires a lot of patience."; "Saying sorry can be a challenge."; "People cope with stress in different ways."; "Friends can bring lots of happiness to your life." Think of movies and books that give you big messages in your life and share them with your child. Fifth graders were busy this week learning about commas, semicolons, colons,
typing home row, and cursive. Ask them what they remember.
Homework:
6G math: Assignment #16 is due 10/17
5G math: packet #6. Due 10/21/11. Don't stop working on your multiplication/division facts!
RW: Read every day! Be ready for your book club talk!
WW: Collect 2 new entries (15 minutes of writing or 1 full page entry) at home by Fri 10/21.

PICTURE DAY - TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18 All students will be photographed for their class & school ID.If ordering photos - please make sure your child has their flyer and payment.Late orders cannot be accepted. Exact payment required - no change available.

Genie: ghwang@smmusd.org
Carrie: cferguson@smmusd.org
Erin: ehaendel@smmusd.org

CORE 4 NEWS

Drama Teacher Kristy Pace Invites Core 4 Parents’ Help on Oct 19, Oct 26, Nov 9, Nov 23, and Nov30

Kristy would love to have FOUR core 4 parents volunteer to be with us in class from 10:55am-12:25pm and 1:10pm-2:35pm, as adult supervisors during filming. These adults would allow us to have four groups out filming and leave Kristy free to travel between the groups to assist them, answer their questions and give recommendations and filming tips. If you are interested/available, please email kvpsummer@yahoo.com

PICTURE DAY - TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18
All students will be photographed for their class & school ID.
If ordering photos - please make sure your child has their flyer and payment.
Late orders cannot be accepted. Exact payment required - no change available

8th GRADERS
Sign up in the office for helping with Haunted House

2011-10-07T15:19:00.000-07:00

Dear SMASHing Families,
The PTSA meeting where we will start with a ½ hour family conversation is next week, Wednesday, October 12 at 6:30pm. Have you taken 20 minutes to go to http://www.storyofstuff.com/? Childcare will be provided for the business
part of the meeting that follows.

As Core 1 and 2 parents, I’d recommend viewing the video as adults then talking at a family dinner using some of Belinda Waymouth’s suggested questions: “Let’s think about our stuff, how can we get the maximum use out of it?” “Is there another family we could trade/swap stuff with?”

As Core 3 and 4 families, I’d recommend viewing this together and talking about: “What are the political messages of this video; which of these do we support in our family and want to get active about?” “What are things, the stuff, in our household we can reuse over and over? “ “Where do we feel pressure to keep buying the latest trends (electronics, fashion, games…)?”

I look forward to sharing thoughts and learning together at the PTSA Meeting.
Jessica
*****************************************
SMASH RUMMAGE SALE - SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22
Be sure to look for the flyer and plastic bag that went to every student today!

Looking for a few good men AND women!
Can you help us receive Rummage Sale donations on the morning of Friday, October 21 from 8am to 10am? We need helpers out on 5th street to take donations from cars and bring them in to the cafeteria.
Are you or anyone you know MOVING?
Let us help you by taking some of those large boxes off your hands for sorting at the rummage sale.
Feel like a stroll down Main Street?
Can you ask vendors to put up posters between Pico and Ocean Park on Main Street
OR in downtown Santa Monica?
This can be done anytime during the week of October 10.
If you can help with any of the above, please contact Jamee (jameetenzer@gmail.com.)

DATES TO REMEMBER
Mon-Wed, Oct 10-12 - 6th grade Catalina trip
Wed, Oct 12 - NEW Bike It Day
Wed, Oct 12 - 6:00pm - PTSA meeting
Thu-Fri, Oct 13-14 - Core 2 Camp Josepho trip
Tues, Oct 18 - Lifetouch School Picture Day - Flyers will be sent home next week
Visit Lifetouch.com for clothing suggestions, online payment details & more.
Thu, Oct 20 “Great Shakeout” Full scale earthquake drill
Fri, Oct 21 - Catalina Assembly Rescheduled for November
Sat, Oct 22 - RUMMAGE SALE
Mon-Wed, Oct 24-26 8th grade trip to Hess Kramer
Mon, Oct 24 School Tour
Sun-Tues, Oct 30 to Nov 8 - SMASH hosts visiting principals from China
Fri, Oct 31 SMASH & John Muir Halloween Carnival
PICTURE DAY - TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18
ORDER FORMS WILL BE SENT HOME NEXT WEEK
YOU CAN ORDER ONLINE AT LIFETOUCH.COM
(You will need the flyer for ordering information)

SMASH Drama teacher, Kristy, would like to invite you and your family to join her for a special theatre field trip at the Morgan-Wixson Theatre, 2627 Pico Blvd. on Oct. 8 or 9 at 11am. Kristy will be there on both days ready to enjoy the magic of live theatre with you. is able to get SMASH families a special discounted rate of just $7 per person, including adults!!! show is "The Story of Frog Belly Rat Bone" it's based on a great book that was inspired by a
trip to Descanso Gardens in Pasadena.

The Santa Monica-Malibu Education Foundation’s Santa Monica 5000 race raised over $40,000 to help fund sports and athletic programs in our school district.

THE NEW WORLD F.E.S.T. - Festival of Eco-friendly Science & Technology
October 7-9
150 exhibits and 6 stages
Admission: $12 Adults, $8 Seniors 60+ and Kids 14 & under.
Infants & Toddlers Free Tickets available online or at the event.
Admission includes all concerts, speakers, demos, film screenings & access to all exhibits.
Food & beverages reasonably priced.
Santa Monica Beach (end of Ocean Park Blvd) at Beach Parking Lot #5
Fro more information: www.thenewworldfest.com

The UCLA Family Commons - Promenade Commons Kids Club
Drop your kids at the UCLA Family Commons for an afternoon of crafting, games and other activities while you relax and enjoy some time off. Saturday & Sunday afternoons from 1:00-7:00pm, $15/hr www.uclacommons.com

SANTA MONICA PLAYHOUSE
Fall Theatre Workshop - Adventures in Acting
Kids ages 7-13 - Enrollment is limited
1-310-394-9779 x 3 or education@SantaMonicaPlayhouse.com

SAVE THE DATE
Friday, October 28, 2011
1:30PM to 3:30PM
SMASH/Muir Halloween Carnival
Free Family Fun!
*****************************
ptsa news
president’s message
Dear SMASHing Parents,
This week were fall conferences. I hope everyone’s conference went well and that we all got a chance to meet with our child’s teacher, see our child’s work and find out how our kids are doing.
Also, this week was the start of SMASHbash sign-up for the 2011-2012 school year . As most of you know, a SMASHbash is a party, event or activity hosted by a SMASH family or group of families. Each SMASHbash has a limited number of people who can attend. The cost of the event is donated by the sponsoring SMASH family (or families) and participants pay a small fee to attend the event. SMASHbash has become a major fundraiser for the SMASH PTSA. SMASHbashes are a total blast to attend and a great way to bond with our community

Next week is our second PTSA meeting of the school year on Wednesday, October 12, 2011, at 6:00 p.m. PTSA meetings alternate monthly between morning and evening meetings so that those people who are unable to make a morning meeting have the opportunity to come in the evening. If you haven’t been to a meeting or you want to get more involved at SMASH, please come to the meeting next Wednesday, to see what PTSA is all about and find about opportunities to get involved.

The next major fundraiser at SMASH is the Rummage Sale on Saturday, October 22, 2011. If you can help, even if only for a short time, we need volunteers to help sort and arrange donated items on Friday and to help on Saturday to make sure this year’s rummage sale is a success. Please contact Jamee Tenzer (tenzer@lifeworks4coaching.com) or Kelly Lance (kebolance@yahoo.com) to volunteer for the Rummage Sale.
Thanks, Dan McGee

ptsa annual family investment drive
·Public school is free – a great education is not. Hence the SMASH Annual Family Investment Drive is the single most important fundraiser of the year. Your contribution pays for classroom teaching assistants, reading and math specialists, the SMASH fine arts program, science equipment, technology upgrades, professional development and so much more. Please
make your tax deductible contribution or commitment by October 1, 2011. We suggest an investment of $575/student, but no amount is too much or too little. We are aiming for 100% participation, so give what you can and give as soon as possible. Please check your first day packet for our Annual Family Investment Letter, the form and envelope. If you have
any questions, contact Marni Ayers Brady (marniayers@gmail.com) or Helga Schier (helgaschier@verizon.net). ptsa membership

·Don’t forget to turn in your completed PTSA membership envelope and check ($8 per membership, payable to SMASH PTSA). Membership buys you the invaluable SMASH Directory, which is your portal to the SMASH community.

SMASHbash sign-up
·This morning, Friday October 7, 2011, was the start of sign-up for a SMASHbash. If you didn’t get a chance to signup this morning, don’t fear, you can still sign-up. Please contact Marni Ayers Brady (marniayers@gmail.com) at your earliest convenience and let her know what events you want to attend. Don’t miss out on your chance to participate .

SMASHing meetings
·Our second PTSA meeting of the new school year is on Wednesday October 12, at 6:00 p.m. PTSA meetings are held once a month and alternate each month between morning and evening meetings to accommodate all schedules. We need your voice, your support, and your involvement. Look for flyers posted around campus announcing the location. Be there!
SMASH green tip
Recycle Your Athletic Shoes:Take your unwearable athletic shoes to recycle at the Santa Monica Place Nike store.Nike turns them into multipurpose sports courts.
*********************************
SMASH Site Council Minutes
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
In Attendance: Laura Sherman, Jessica Rishe, Nina Fresco, Malaika Boyer, Mimi Lichterman, Candis Berens, Elizabeth Kramer, Toby Romero, Nathan Goldenberg, Aurora Delaney, Shaquil Johnson, Izzy Strick
Absent: Graciela Barba-Castro, Chrysta Wyse, Jackie Boyd
Agenda Amended with addition of “School Climate goal review” to School Improvement Plan New Business : Moved by Laura Sherman. Seconded by Nina Fresco. Approved.
Agenda approval: Elizabeth Kramer moved. Toby Romero seconded. Agenda approved.
Approve Minutes of last meeting with one punctuation correction.
Moved by Mimi Lichterman : Seconded by Malaika Boyer. Approved
Community Participation: None
Reports and Announcements (regular agenda items)
Principal’s Report: Whole Child nutrition and fitness with A La Carte healthier choices, fewer Bake Sales since they are Fridays only not Wednesdays and Fridays,
Student Reports: Some students eat food with time still left before bell rings. Some girls want more time to eat and some boys want more time to play. There is trash left at the lunch benches that we need to clean up. It is hard if we are really hungry and need to go straight out to play. If a student has a lunch from home s/he can take a few bites to hold over before going onto the field but this won’t work if buying hot lunch.
Core 3: Memoir Writing Celebration was today. Do UCLA Royce Hall field trip every year. Catalina Trip for 6th graders is next week.
Griffith Observatory field trip is coming up. Taking JPL science field trip in November which ties with our studies about the solar system. 5th graders will go to Astrocamp in February.
Middle School band musicians would like to be able to do choir too and want more playing time, less time talking and putting roomback together. They don’t think it is fair winds get to work with String Project LA. Music Committee meeting with District schedulers, music teachers, and student musicians and parents will be happening this Fall.
Community Organization Reports
PTSA Meeting: 60 people signed up each night of the SMASH Camping trip and we got to do Archery this year. Rummage Sale, Halloween Carnival, and SMASH Bash sign ups are coming up.
Student Council: Community Group Morning Meeting will happen this Fri, October 7th.

New Business:
School Climate Counseling Services Site Improvement Plan Goal: Improve school climate through a counseling program that meets school stakeholder social and emotional needs.
Performance gains expected for these Student Groups: Students will use “CARES” more effectively (Cooperation, Assertion, Responsibility, Empathy, Self-control)
Means of evaluating progress toward this Goal:
OLWES survey results and SMMUSD Middle School survey
Middle School Initiative Student Survey Responses (SMASH Students)
N=70 6th/7th/8th graders April 2011
81.4% of middle school students say they can often or almost always manage stress at school.
81.4% of middle school students say they almost never or once in a while feel stress at school.
85.5% say they feel safe at school.
86.9% say they feel supported by classmates.
88.4% say students respect each other.
94.3% say teachers treat everyone fairly.
94.3% say they can go to at least one staff member on campus if they need help.
40.6% say almost never see bullying. 43.5% say once in a while. 11.6% say often. 4.3% say almost always.
Questions: Is there a survey given to student and parent participants in the counseling groups? No but staff looks at patterns of
office referrals. Will there be more staff “Creating Upstanders” training? Committee meets every other month and we will also do a parent event around February.
Old Business: None
Community Participation: Would a field trip to the LA County Fair be possible next year on a Wed TH or Fri?
Next meeting: Wednesday, December 7th 5:00pm. (1/4, 2/1, 3/7, 4/18, 5/23)
Adjourn: Malaika Boyer motioned and Elizabeth Kramer seconded. Adjourned.
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CORE 1 NEWS
THANK YOU FAMILIES for attending your conferences this week! What a great way to connect with every family, and celebrate the children’s growth/ address concerns in a quiet, focused space. Your dedication shows every day!!

Special appreciation to Jackie for volunteering her time and staying late on conference days to supervise the children. This is something extra Jackie does for our community – feel free to share your appreciations with her, too.

October Birthdays will be celebrated next Friday, October 14th. The ceremony will start around 11:45, immediately followed by lunch and birthday snacks in the Small Yard. Family and friends are welcome. Children celebrating their birthdays are invited to bring a healthy snack to share. A sign-up sheet will be hanging outside of the Magic Garden door.

Community Walks
Before our first community walk to Hotchkiss Park (4th & Hollister) with our circle groups, we discussed ways to be safe and considerate. Here are some of the highlights:
• Stay in the sandwich. The sandwich starts with an adult leader and ends with and adult leader. They represent the slices of bread in a sandwich. The children stay between the bread representing the veggies. Additional adults are spread out within the club sandwich. Staying in the sandwich helps us stay close to the group, so we won’t get lost. If you get separated from the group, stay where you are until they find you.
• Stay on the sidewalk. This keeps us safe from cars on the street and it helps us keep our shoes clean.
• Use quiet voices. One way to show consideration for our neighbors is to keep a quiet voice when walking on the street. If neighbors are sleeping, we won’t disturb them. Quiet voices help us hear traffic.
• Be safe around people and animals. We keep a safe distance from people and animals. Stay closer to your leaders than to anyone else. We let a leader know if a someone gets close to us.
• Leave things where you see them. The flowers we see belong in gardens. Things could have germs or poison.
It is important that the children remember these guidelines, as we hope to be able to extend our investigations outside of our school campus. Throughout the school year, we usually announce our walks ahead of time in the Friday Letter and encourage parents to come along.Our next Community Walk will probably be our Halloween Parade on Main Street. More details to come!
Note: Any medicine your child may need at school must be given to the school nurse with a doctor’s note (or copy). Cough drops are considered medicine, and students should not have them in their school bags.
Thanks!

Wishlist: Have a baby at home who eats baby food from a jar?? We would LOVE to collect the small jars for all kinds of activities. Please wash and collect them, and we’ll put them to great use!
Candis: cberens@smmusd.org
Chrysta: cwyse@smmusd.org
Graciela: gbarba-castro@smmusd.org

CORE 2 NEWS
Thank You to all the families for joining us at our Fall Family Conferences. It is always a pleasure to have that time together with you and your children. If you weren’t able to get in this week, please contact your child’s advisor.
Advisory News: As we wrap up the first six weeks of school, we realize there is still a lot to practice. In CARES— we’ve spent one week on each skill (Cooperation, Assertion, Responsibility, Empathy, and Self-control), and we will continue to practice, discuss, and focus on one CARES skill a week for the rest of the year. We are also in the process of nailing down our guidelines and logical consequences. We loved getting to know each other through our collections and look forward to sharing more about ourselves over the course of the year (baby pictures, career day, lovies, family history, food/recipes, etc.). Laura’s group is The Purple Pandas and Tamara’s group is The Awesome People.
Literacy: In Readers Workshop, we are still making sure we are always doing the optimal Just Right reading by bringing in/checking out/shopping for Just Right reading materials so we always have something good to read during reading time. We’re delving into character and setting study (how we relate to and think about the characters in our books), envisioning (how we make a movie in our mind of the characters within their worlds), predicting (using the
story and our book smarts to make guesses about what will happen next), and inferring (thinking about how and why characters change over the course of a story and examining what the story is really, really about). This is how we practice being thinking, analytical readers. In Writing Workshop, we just published our first writing assignment—
a Hopes & Dreams Paragraph—using the steps of the Core 2 Writing Process (collecting ideas, choosing one, planning and nurturing our idea, drafting, revising our work, editing for grammar, spelling, and/or punctuation, and publishing). Our next fiction/narrative writing unit will be a personal narrative: writing about a personal experience. And our next nonfiction/non-narrative writing unit will be a personal essay: using an idea or opinion as an angle to write about ourselves. The theme of these writing units will be memoir.
Math: Laura’s 3rd graders are wrapping up their first unit, Trading Stickers, Combining Coins, which we reviewed at conferences. Look for your child’s math packet, assessment, and Laura’s reflection in the Friday Papers. Next up for 3G Math is Stories, Tables, and Graphs and Surveys and Line Plots. In this unit, the students will learn how to use graphs and charts to represent information. Tamara’s 4th Graders just finished their first math unit, Factors,
Multiples, and Arrays, which we went over conferences. Please look for the math packet, the unit assessment, your child’s self-reflection, and Tamara’s feedback in the Friday Papers coming soon. Next up for the 4G Mathematicians is Describing the Shape of the Data—collecting, representing, and describing data.
Wednesday Drama with Kristy: Theater Arts with Kristy is going strong. Laura’s Advisory Group is making masks and doing Readers’ Theater based upon a couple of their favorite stories. Tamara’s Advisory is busy practicing puppetry and rehearsing movement using a couple of our favorite picture books as inspiration. Save the Date—We’ll be sharing our hard work with you on Literacy Night 12/14, 6:30 – 8:00.
Media Center: Both groups visit the Media Center twice a month (alternating weeks). Students may bring their library books home. Please help them be responsible for their books.
District Instrumental Music: The 4th graders do music on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8:30 sharp! They store their instruments and music folders in the Surf Shack. Please help them be responsible for practicing and remembering their instruments for music class. We fought so hard to maintain and grow this program!
3rd grade Dance: The 3Gers have been learning some pretty slick moves. Monday, 10/17 at 8:40am is their last dance class and parents are invited to come see what they’ve learned, if you can make it. Please help your child get here with plenty of time to sign in and make it to their classes by 8:30 sharp!
Core 2 Overnight Field trip to Camp Josepho: Jayme, Laura, and Tamara are getting very excited. So are the kids. Please make sure you have turned in all paperwork and money! Look for a hard copy and an email about the packing list coming with this letter. We’re thrilled so many of you will be able to join us!
Laura: lsherman@smmusd.org
Tamara: tmugalian@smmusd.org
Jayme:j.wold@smmusd.org
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Thank you Yvonne, Allison, Cyndra and Kjersti for chaperoning our first field trip to see Contra-Tiempo! The kids were engaged, interested and sometimes confused. We hope you had a chance to ask your child what they thought of the dancing that was performed for them. We hope to get a student review of the performance in the up coming Student Council Newspaper.
6th Grade Math with Carrie: We continued our investigation of GCF and LCM by using "Lily's Method" and seeing how we can use it as a tool to help us solve real life math problems.We talked about how different mathematical strategies are tools that we can learn to use to solve problems but that we also need to use our logical reasoning to make them make sense.
6th Grade Math with Erin "Data About Us": What's the real story with height and arm span? This week our expert data collectors and graphers sought out the answer the question of whether these two are related. Students spent time measuring each others height and arm span and proceeded to learn to display distributions of these paired-data values on coordinate graphs. Ask your student how the two sets of data are related. Or are they?
5th grade Math Workshop with Genie: We've been looking at large number division problems thinking about different ways to solve, often starting with: ___x___ gets me close to the dividend. We are understanding that division takes a few more steps because there is multiplication/division and then subtraction to then determine a remainder or if more of the divisor can fit. It's complex!
Science with Carrie: Our planet experts are in the final stages of putting their teaching strategies together.Most of them have done their scale drawings of the planet as well as the larger, more detailed drawings.All of the groups are trying to find creative ways to teach us the most important facts about their planet.We have songs, skits, visuals, and other great
ideas brewing.Ask your child what s/he is doing and see if they can teach you the basics of their planet.We will be teaching each other what we know on 10/18.Carrie will video tape the presentations and put them on our website for all to enjoy!We also talked about how we can enter a contest to try to name the GRAIL satellites for JPL/NASA.Rough drafts of ideas and justifications are due on 10/17.This is voluntary.Finally, we talked about the Nobel prize winners in physics that were announced on Tuesday.Three astrophysicists were awarded for their findings that the speed in which the universe is expanding is increasing rather than staying the same or decreasing and that there is something called "dark energy" that is causing this increase.Pretty cool!
Social Studies and Geography with Erin: This week we continued our exploration of how groups have organized to obtain their human rights throughout history. We are keeping up our beginning focus on the Modern Civil Rights Movement with a lesson on Wednesday about Brown vs. Board of Education and the idea of desegregating "with all deliberate speed." On Thursday we were incredibly fortunate to have Ari's dad Mike come in and talk to the class about his experiences growing up in Georgia during this era. Mike was able to give the students personal examples of desegregation, relationships between races, and the action and inactions of those around him. Thank you Mike for coming in! The students will not forget it.
Reading and Writing Workshop with Genie: Amazing writers walk amongst us! We had a fabulous Memoir writing celebration. Please check out the photos and quotes on the Writing Workshop page of our website. We had our postunit assessment on memoir allowing the writers to experience quick writing (writing in 30 min) and are back in our notebooks. Look for your child collecting pages of entries in their notebooks in the next few weeks. Book clubs have been launched! Ask your child what book they are reading and who's in their club as well as what is their plan.
Homework:
6G math: Assignment #16 (front is required, back is E.C.).
5G math: packet #6. Due 10/14/11. Keep working on those multiplication facts!
RW: Read every day! How many pages have you read so far this school year?
WW: Collect 2 entries (15 minutes of writing or 1 full page entry) at home by Fri 10/14.
Genie: ghwang@smmusd.org
Carrie: cferguson@smmusd.org
Erin: ehaendel@smmusd.org

CORE 4 NEWS
Conference Notes: We have completed this week’s 7th grade conference period and what a joy these student led conversations have been. Thanks for trusting us with your precious kids. Also we have forged new working partnerships with parents who are new to the core four experience. If you missed either the 8th grade conference opportunity that started in mid Sept or the just passed 7th grade conference period of this last week please email Darwin or me and we shall work you into the schedule as time permits.

Special thanks to those parents who completed the personalized “Hopes and Dreams” essay assignment from Sept 16th’s Friday letter. These essays are of enormous value to teachers as we seek to serve, know, and guide your child. They are also super fun to read. Thanks again! If by chance you missed this opportunity prior to the conference, I would still love to read more of them. I’ve included the original announcement in the next paragraph.

From the Sept 16th Friday Letter: To help with our conference process, I would like parents to perform two small tasks that are normally a lot of fun. First: write an essay about your child and your hopes and dreams for them. Please, keep this under ten thousand words. My second mini-homework for you is to answer the question: What is the most important thing my child should be doing now? This question is intentionally open because what is most important may not be academic or even school related. Include it in the essay or separate it as you please. Thanks in advance for sharing this important information with me. Many past essays have been touching, inspirational, and fun to read; all will help me serve you and your child better. Have fun and please drop around to see us!

8th Grade Notes and Reminders: If you are considering private high schools it is absolutely imperative that we talk soon. There is a long critical pathway and several specific steps we need to take as a team to insure your child’s acceptance to these demanding schools. The Hess Kramer trip is coming along on Oct 24-26th. Please be sure you have paid us as we are obligated to pay the vendor. To remind you the cost is $350. and it was due last April/May. Once this trip is complete we shall begin the planning for our San Francisco graduation trip in June

Kurt Out Next Week: My sister is scheduled for breast cancer surgery next Wed and I must be at her side. Please be assured that the Core 4 Team has coordinated academic matters and your child’s education will go forward as planned with only minor adjustments to our learning activities. As many of you know, these matters are rarely simple or easy, but your positive energy is welcome and appreciated.

Drama Teacher Kristy Pace Invites Core 4 Parents’ Help on Oct 19, Oct 26, Nov 9, Nov 23, and Nov30
Kristy would love to have FOUR core 4 parents volunteer to be with us in class from 10:55am-12:25pm and 1:10pm-2:35pm, as adult supervisors during filming. These adults would allow us to have four groups out filming and leave Kristy free to travel between the groups to assist them, answer their questions and give recommendations and filming tips. you are interested/available, please email kvpsummer@yahoo.com
Kurt: kholland@smmusd.org Darwin: dmendinueto@smmusd.org