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www.smash.smmusd.org September 7, 2012
Dear SMASHing Families,
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 7 is the Santa Monica 5000, the
5k/10k run/walk that is it a great fundraising opportunity for Coach Tony’s P.E. program at SMASH, and is
also a one-of-a kind community event – a chance for everyone to come together in celebration of fitness and
athletics in our SMMUSD schools.
Here’s how it works:
1. Go to
www.santamonica5000.com <http://www.santamonica5000.com> to register for the race. $5 of your registration fee goes to Coach Tony’s
SMASH PE Program (you’ll see where to designate your funds on the registration page). The registration fee is $25 for
youth and $35 for adults. Race options include a 5k, 10k, 3k for kids and
families, and Tot Trots (FREE for kids under 7).
2. Use the race
as a way to fundraise for SMASH PE. Just go to www.imathlete.com/donate/santamonica5000
<http://www.imathlete.com/donate/santamonica5000> to find the donation page for SMASH
PE. It’s exactly like participating in a breast cancer walk or
an AIDS race – you can run or walk in support of Coach Tony’s SMASH PE Program and ask friends and family to
donate to your effort – it’s THAT simple.
We hope $1,000 worth of SMASH participants
will pledge on-line and/or enjoy the fitness experience on October 7th
Truly yours,
Jessica
************
DATES TO REMEMBER
Tues, Sept 11 - 5pm - Catalina parent mtg.
Tues, Sept 11 - 6pm - Core 3 Forum
Wed, Sept 12 - 3:30pm - Site Council mtg.
Wed, Sept 12 - 6pm - Core 4 Forum
Wed, Sept 12 - 7pm - Yosemite parent mtg.
Fri, Sept 14 - Menchies fundraiser. Flyer
must be presented for SMASH to get a donation.
Mon, Sept 17 - Admissions Day - SCHOOL
CLOSED
Wed, Sept 19 - 6:00pm - PTSA Mtg
Fri-Sun, Sept 21-23 - SMASH family camping
trip
Wed, Sept 26 - Local Holiday - SCHOOL
CLOSED
************
Hello All SMASH Families!
As your SMASH Chorus Director, I am
appealing to all adult pianists out there! SMASH Middle School Chorus is looking for a volunteer piano accompanist
to assist us in our rehearsals and concerts. We were lucky/blessed to have a parent volunteer last year, and it made
all the difference in helping to advance our musicianship during class and provided obvious benefits during
performances. If you are an experienced pianist, with solid sight-reading
skills, and are available Tuesday and/or Thursday
mornings from 9:15-10:10, please contact Jessi Spike Gravelle at buzzjess@earthlink.net. I would love to talk with you about
possibly accompanying our wonderful 6th,7th and 8th grade singers
************
CORE 1
NEWS
Core 1
CARES
All 3 circle groups spent a
week developing our Core 1 CARES guidelines.
CARES is a term used
throughout SMASH, which helps frame our social curriculum
(CARES stands for Cooperation,
Assertion, Responsibility, Empathy, and Self-Control).
After several discussions at Magic Circle, all of the
children in Core 1 agreed to the following guidelines for the year:
1. Be soft with your hands,
feet, and body.
2. Use pleasant words.
3. Take care of the things
in the classroom.
4. Share and include others
5. Ask for what you need.
Each circle group has a written contract in the classroom,
which every child signed in agreement. Look for the contract hanging in the
classrooms. Feel free to refer to them at home – or as you volunteer in the
classroom.
Forum: What an amazing
turn-out at Tuesday night’s Core 1 Forum!! We hope you learned new information
about the “Core 1 Basics,” and shared our excitement for the upcoming year. Thank
you to families for your contributions and everyone who signed up for regular
volunteering hours. VOLUNTEERING NOT ONLY HAS HUGE BENEFITS FOR YOUR CHILD,
IT BENEFITS THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY!! The sign-up sheets will continue
to be posted in the classrooms, if your availability changes this year.
THANK YOU TO THE CREW OF PARENTS WHO WORKED IN OUR GARDEN
LAST WEEKEND! Our garden angels
spent hours last Saturday cleaning out our small yard garden and preparing it
for the children. If you’re interested in helping with the garden, please talk to
Candis.
Reminders: If you
haven’t returned your child’s green Library Form, please do so ASAP!!
Core 1 Partners will be visiting the library on Wednesdays.
Bigs and Mentors will visit on Thursdays. Please help your child remember to
bring his/her book back to school. Children who forget their book will be able
to look at books in the library, but will not be able to checkout another book
(until it is returned).
Birthday Bash: August & September birthdays will be celebrated on Friday, Sept. 14, 11:45-12:15. Families are invited to celebrate your child’s
birthday with the entire Core 1 community! Expect an invitation in your
Friday Folder, indicating the snack your child would like to share at
the Bash. Please bring the snack on the morning of our celebration to The Golden
Galaxy (Graciela’s Room), and we will prepare it during projects.
Wish List (a few suggestions if you happen to be at the
store):
Hand Sanitizer, Tissue, Sponges
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!
Candis, Chrysta, Graciela,
Nadja & Laura
Candis: cberens@smmsud.org
************
CORE 2
NEWS
THANKS for coming to the Forum. If you were not able to make it, please
see the attached Core 2 Nuts & Bolts letter, About Mathematics
Homework article, and Literacy in Core 2 info to bring you up to
speed. Also, please read the proposal for a Core 2 overnight trip,
and return the completed survey by Friday, 9/14. If you are reading this, you
are off to a great start because from now on the Friday letter will no
longer be sent home in hard copy—Jessica emails it to each family
and it is available on our website. (Go ahead, print this page ;-) Correction:
Jayme’s official married name is Jayme Wold Florian.
Advisory News: Jayme’s Advisory group is named District
416 and Tamara’s Advisory Group will be called Deep Fried Kids-on-a-Stick.
Core 2 Kids
Corner: a review of Books & Cookies and Lone Bean by District 416.
We went to
Books & Cookies and we walked there from SMASH. First, we met a writer
named Chudney. Then, we talked about her new book, Lone Bean, and she read some
of it to us. After that, we got to browse around the bookstore. Last, we went
to the park and ate chocolate chip cookies that we got from Books &
Cookies. The cookies were delicious and we had a lot of fun. We walked back to SMASH
when we were finished. We recommend that everybody go because the cookies are
awesome and they also have a wide variety of books to choose from.
Thoughts about Lone Bean:
"I really like it!" -Rio
"In the first part, I liked when Bean
couldn't wait to see her best friend Carla." -Hannah
"I like how Bean spelled everything
out, like M-E-A-N mean." -Erin
"I thought it was funny that Bean got
the cello and then didn't want it anymore." -Alana
"At first Bean couldn't play the
violin, but then she finally made some music!" -Thea
"When Bean went into 3rd grade, her
best friend's favorite color was green, but Bean's favorite color was still
blue." -Jadyn
Literacy:
Media Center: Each group will go to the Library every
other week, so please complete and return the green contract from the librarian. Information about Scholastic
Book Orders will go home next week.
*RW HW ~ Read for 20 - 30 minutes at home
every day. You may read
fiction picture or chapter books, nonfiction, magazine or internet articles, a blog, you
may read to someone or someone can read to you!
*WW HW ~ Write for fun! Make a list of your favorite things to
write about, types of writing, ideas.
*Math HW ~ Math packets due Friday, 9/14. You may do the packet all at once over the
weekend or do a little bit each night. It should NEVER take more than
1 hour total. Our HW mantra is, “Start with what you know, do what you can, bring it in for help.”
Wish list: scratch paper, tissues, a wall clock,
indoor plants, succulents for patio pots, environmentally friendly Lysol and Febreeze, large refill bottle of hand
sanitizer. Please sign up outside of Tamara’s room.
Have a
great weekend!
Tamara,
Jayme, and Karin
Tamara: tmugalian@smmusd.org
SMASH
Lice
Notice
Dear
Parents/Guardians of Core 2 Students,
The presence of head lice (pediculosis) in our community is
being observed in the school. Since your child
may be exposed to this infestation, it is important you are
aware of the symptoms, treatment procedures, and your role in the prevention of
the spread of this contagious disease. Head lice can affect anyone. Prompt treatment
and reporting are essential to control this epidemic.
SYMPTOMS: Persistent itching is the most common symptom. If your
child is constantly scratching his/her
head, check for lice. A severe infestation can cause
inflammation and open sores on the scalp, and swollen lymph glands in the neck.
EVIDENCE: Adult lice, wingless crawling insects, are rarely seen. Look
for the eggs (nits), which are glued
to the hair shafts. Nits are tiny, gray-white, teardrop
shaped objects, usually found in clusters above the ears,
at the nape of the neck, or the crown of the head. Compared
to dandruff, which flicks off easily, or hair casts
caused by hair spray, which easily slide up and down the
hair shaft, nits adhere tightly to the hair shaft. The
have to be removed forcibly.
TREATMENT: Check with your physician or purchase a high quality
lice-killing shampoo at your local
retailer. No prescription is needed. Shampoo your child’s
hair as directed on the product label. KEEP
SHAMPOO OUT OF THE CHILD’S EYES! Rinse well. Vinegar rinse
(2 tbsp. white vinegar/1 quart of hot water) or “detangling” conditioner may help. Dry with a
towel. REMOVE ALL NITS using fingernails or a “lice” comb. You can get prescription shampoo that kills
live lice and eggs from your health care provider.
HOME HYGIENE: Examine all family members. If infested, treat promptly.
Notify your child’s playmates,
who might be infested. NOTIFY SCHOOL NURSE. Machine wash,
in HOT water, all washable towels, combs, hairbrushes, sheets, pillowcases, and
washable clothing. For non-washable articles: take them to the dry cleaner or
seal them in a plastic bag for 20 days. Wash all surfaces in the living and
sleeping areas, as well as the bathrooms, especially chair backs. Temperatures
greater than 128 degrees for 5 minutes kills lice and eggs.
SCHOOL READMITTANCE: A
CHILD WHO IS FOUND TO HAVE HEAD LICE WILL BE EXCLUDED FROM SCHOOL. AFTER
TREATMENT, THE STUDENT MAY RETURN TO SCHOOL.
Please refer to www.smmusd.org
website for more information (under
Departments and Health).
Sincerely,
Magdalena Ayala
School Nurse
310-396-2640 x 64-105
************
CORE
3 NEWS
Core 3
Forum, Tuesday, 6:00 Sept 11! $25
for supplies requested! Catalina
meeting 5:00 for 6gr families.
Still need chaperones! School bus trip to downtown, Homeboy
Industries, http://homeboyindustries.org on Mon. 9/24, from 8:30-2:30.
Free walking Diavolo Dance Troupe concert @ the Broad Theater on Friday
9/28, 9:30-1:00. Please email Genie and Erin if you can chaperone
either or both of these field trips. Catalina for 6th graders, 10/8-10/10.
6th Grade Math with Mimi: This week we solved story problems by
finding Least Common Multiples and Greatest Common
Factors. You can ask your student about one of the ferris wheel, cicada,
or equal share problems we worked on in class and what strategy they used to
find the LCM or GCF. There is a homework sheet due next THURS, 9/13.
6th Grade Math with Erin: This week students studied the differences
between Reflection Symmetry and Rotational Symmetry. Students looked through
their shapes sets to determine which shapes possessed each type of symmetry.
They also went looking around campus for shapes with various symmetries. On
Friday students pondered how using different shapes to tile different surfaces
produced different results (full tile vs. leaving spaces in between shapes).
5th grade Math Workshop with Genie: We started a meaty unit on multiples and
factors called Number Puzzles and Multiple Towers. Can you come up with a
number(s) that would fit these clues: This number is greater than 50. This number
is odd. This number is less than 100. This number is a multiple of 15. Discuss
this with your children and come up with your own number puzzles while
driving in the car or around the dinner table.
Science with Mimi: Ask your child about their body system
specialty. This week, we continued to work on note taking skills by taking
notes while reading non-fiction books and by watching short videos. During note
taking, students are required to jot down paraphrased facts as well as
connections they make with the facts they find. Writing down connections
demonstrates that they understand the text and can relate the information to
other things they already know or wonder about.
Social Studies and Geography with Erin: This week in Social Studies we continued
to talk about issues as they relate to the election. The Blue Group
brainstormed about animal rights issues. They came up with many aspects of animal
rights, amongst them: whaling, killing animals for tusks, fur, etc, giant net
fishing, hunting, vegetarianism, industrial farming, leash laws, spaying and
neutering, no kill shelters, and dog and cock fighting. The group then watched
part of the film that the Orange Group watched last Wednesday, "Street
Dogs of South Central." On Friday both groups met with Lee Greenberg from
Animal Advocates Alliance. Lee shared her knowledge about animal rights and
animal protection laws with class. Please ask your child to share what they
learned. Next week we will introduce the issue of education - focusing on
educational inequality in the United States. We will be visited by Dr. Liza
Bearman, a former teacher who currently works bringing thematic based,
cross-curriculum instruction to Juvenile Incarceration camp schools. In
Geography students continued working on our giant wall map of North America.
Reading and Writing Workshop with Genie: We know you are busy writing your 1-3 page
memoir or memory of your child so you can share it with your child when we
celebrate publishing our memoirs on Tues, Sept 25! We've focused a lot on the
process of writing and have spent this week living with and nurturing our idea
so we can draft a rich first draft and be ready to revise (before we edit) next
week. We are also busy talking about character and how we know them inside and
out as we read through a book. Share your favorite book character with your
child. Check out the books available on Scholastic through a class book order
(Class Activation Code: HBQCR).
Visual Arts with Juliana: We have begun thinking about puppets,
where the parts can come from, how old they are, who are they, and the character
they can become. We've also constructed a few puppets. Ask your child who their
puppet is. You can also search youtube for an old video "Jim Henson on
Making Muppets 1969" which shows different ways to create puppets out of
everyday material. Your child will be looking at household items with new eyes
as they will be gathering materials to create their puppets with. Please let
Genie know if you are interested in sponsoring our puppets arts unit.
There are email blasts coming from Principal Jessica and from the
Core 3 reps, Erin McIntire (Willow’s mom) and April Motola (Audrey’s mom). If
you have not been receiving emails like the Scholastic Book Order, or the
Social Studies Animal Advocates speakers bringing a therapy dog, please email
smashcorethree@gmail.com. If you haven’t been receiving an email from Jessica
with the Friday Letter, please email Janice,, jwold@smmusd.org.
Homework:
6G math: sheet due Thurs 9/13/12
5G math: packet #3. Due 9/14/12
RW: read every day for 30-40 minutes
(around 100 pages a week)
WW: finish memoir draft
Genie: ghwang@smmusd.org
Erin: ehaendel@smmusd.org
Mimi: mimilichterman@yahoo.com
************
CORE 4
NEWS
Forum: Core 4 forum is
coming up next week at 18:00 on Wed the 12th. Darwin and I will take you
through
our plans for the year, check in about the social
curriculum, and answer questions of general interest. We start on time out of respect for everyone’s family commitments.
If you are a parent of an 8th grader please allow extra time to check-in with Jessica and Kurt after the
general forum. We will be covering SMASH’s high school transition plan, graduation requirements, and
helping to create a fine meshed safety net under these risk- loving young adolescents.
Trip Info: It is time
to finalize the details about our upcoming trips to Hess Kramer and Yosemite.
If you
have an outstanding balance on one of these trips from April’s
pre-payment period please consider giving us
a check at forum. If that is not possible arrange to make
those payments ASAP. This is our 90 day cut-off for paying vendors and after this point we will not be able to
hold a spot for your child. Scholarships may be
available, please contact Jessica.
Conferences Have Begun:
We have started goal setting conferences with 8th grade.
If you are the parent of an 7th grader, yours start just after our forum on. In
essence, we are just allowing ourselves the extra time to understand and enjoy working alongside your child before
we set individual goals. To help with our conference process, I would like 7th grade
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 us.
Many past essays have been touching, inspirational, and fun to read; all will help us serve you and your child
better. Have fun and please drop around to see us! Please email us to schedule your conference date.
Kurt: kholland@smmusd.org
Darwin: dmendinueto@smmusd.org
Reminders:
Wed, Sept 12 - 6:00pm - Core 4 Forum - for parents.
Childcare available
Wed, Sept 12 - 7:00pm - Yosemite Parent meeting
Mon, Sept 17 - Admissions Day observed - SCHOOL CLOSED
Wed, Sept 26 - Local Holiday - SCHOOL CLOSED
************
President’s Message
“Nothing you do for children is ever wasted.”
― Garrison Keillor, Leaving Home
You guessed it, we are going to ask you to “do” a few
things….
SPEND 5 MINUTES That’s all it takes to click through the easy-to-navigate
email volunteer sign-up sheet.
We need your EXPERTISE, ENERGY AND EMAIL ADDRESS! Please
take a moment to let us know how
you would like to participate in the SMASH Community this
year. Here’s the link: https://docs.google.com/
spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHhWXzBNaVRQWnhYU1MzN2JPVnp4ZFE6MQ#gid=0
MAKE YOUR AFI CONTRIBUTION OR COMMITMENT We request that
everyone participate no
matter how small or large the donation. Everything is
appreciated. If you have any questions, please contact
marniayers@gmail.com.
GO GREEN! 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
CREATE SOME SPACE in your closets and drawers and donate gently used clothing,
household items,
books and more, to the SMASH Rummage Sale. Drop off is
Friday, October 19th and the sale is Saturday,
October 20th
!
LEARN MORE ABOUT PROP
38 It is designed to raise $10 billion a
year for schools. All proceeds of
Prop 38 will be put into a secure trust fund to be
distributed evenly on a per-child basis to every public school.
If you want to see the amount of money that would be
allocated for SMASH specifically, go to http://
ourchildrenourfuture2012.com/benefits-calculator.aspx
Thank you for all you do!
David Saltzman and Jamee Tenzer
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