Last week before the holidays!

Two thank yous:
I neglected to acknowledge all of those who helped with our last Family Night Potluck. We had an amazing turnout! It was nice to visit with everyone and enjoy the yummy food. Thank you to everyone who contributed!

Our UCSD fieldtrip was a great success because of the help of our drivers. We couldn't have done it without you. Our Student Ambassador, Bijan, told us that he thought we were a great class and he appreciated how well behaved and attentive we were compared to most middle school student tours he gives!

Upcoming Events
• Pizza Friday Fundraiser $3 one slice $4 two slices

• 7th Grade Bake Sale: Friday

• Winter Break: Dec 20-Jan 2

• No School Monday Jan. 3: Professional Growth Day for teachers

• Jan 20 Reily's Farm in San Bernardino(2 hours north). This all day trip is a living history exploration of the Revolutionary War. The trip includes dramatic and cultural workshops, a light lunch and two mock battle scenarios. The cost is $20 which includes the fieldtrip, lunch and gas. Please bring money asap as we need to pay a deposit now. So far we have these drivers: Lisa(6), Tony (4), Crystal (4), Kaleb (4), Andrew C (3), Andrew G (3), James (4), Elena(5), Brittney (?)


Class Happenings
Math:
Students had a math test today covering functions and graphing. Our next unit includes solving algebraic equations in single step, two step and multiple steps. The goal of this unit is to help students look at an equation and break it apart into smaller, understandable steps. Algebraic equations are all around us. We use them in science, money, measurement, food etc. My hope is to take away the fear of "the algebra monster" by giving students the tools to solve any math problem.

Science:
We are almost ready to present our "second round" of posters. Students chose elements or groups of elements from the periodic table to create a poster and presentation. I have seen a great improvement as well as dedication to researching the information compared to the first time around with the atomic theory posters. We took a little more time than I expected to finish up but the results far outweigh the time lost. I am using this time to teach the importance of doing excellent work as opposed to mediocre work. During presentations of their elements, students will also be assessed on their listening as well as speaking skills.

Two weeks left until winter break! We have much to do!

Upcoming Events

• Friday December 10 7th and 8th grade Field Trip to UCSD
So far we have enough drivers for 35 students. We need 40. Here is what I have so far. () = number of passengers:
Lisa(6), Andrew C (3), Maggie (4), Crystal (4), Eddie (4), James(4), Brittney (6), Tony (4), Andrew G (?)

• Jan 20 Reily's Farm in San Bernardino(2 hours north). This all day trip is a living history exploration of the Revolutionary War. The trip includes dramatic and cultural workshops, a light lunch and two mock battle scenarios. The cost is $20 which includes the fieldtrip, lunch and gas. Please bring money asap as we need to pay a deposit now. So far we have these drivers: Lisa(6), Tony (4), Crystal (4), Kaleb (4), Andrew C (3), Andrew G (3), James (4), Elena(5), Brittney (?)


Class Happenings
Math:
Students continued learning about and identifying the slope and y-intercept. We finished the Stretching Slinkies Project and started Who Wins the Race?, an inquiry into how do we figure out a word problem? Students are using graphs diagrams and words to explain how they came up with their conclusions. Eventually students will use their conclusions to determine slopes and y-intercepts.

Science
We critiqued our posters about the discovery of atoms and will be using that information to create even BETTER posters to represent the periodic table, metals, nonmetals and metalloids. This information will be used for the mystery next week.

Hope everyone had a relaxing Thanksgiving break!

Upcoming Events

• Family Night this Thursday Dec 2 Potluck!
Please bring favorite dishes according to your last name:
A-K: Main Dish to serve 6-8 people
L-R: Side Dish plus 1- 2Liter drink
S-Z: Dessert plus 1-2Liter drink

• No School Friday Dec 3 Teacher Professional Development Day

• Friday December 10 7th and 8th grade Field Trip to UCSD(drivers needed for 40 kids. please let me know asap if you can drive)

• Jan 20 Reily's Farm in San Bernardino(2 hours north). This all day trip is a living history exploration of the Revolutionary War. The trip includes dramatic and cultural workshops, a light lunch and two mock battle scenarios. The cost is $20 which includes the fieldtrip, lunch and gas. Please bring money asap as we need to pay a deposit now. Drivers needed!

Class Happenings
Math:
Students continued learning about and identifying the slope and y-intercept. Using pattern blocks, we determined equations of lines. We also learned how to graph a line in just a few seconds using only the slope and y-intercept.
Science:
Before the break, students designed posters to present information they learned about the discovery of atoms and elements. We also"created" edible cookie atoms to understand the structure of the atom and where protons neutrons and electrons are located. We are gathering more information about elements this week before our actual investigation into a “crime scene” that takes place at IA next week.

Fundraising update: We earned over $100 at our second Pizza day! We have over $1100 in our account for Sacramento. Our goal is $10,500 (500 per student)though so we have a lot of work to do!

****A special thank you Crystal’s Family for hosting our garage sale on November 6. Thanks to donations from IA families, we raised $695.37 for our Sacramento trip!

Upcoming Events
• Pizza Fridays I need parent help setting up and picking up pizzas!
• No School Next Week Nov 22-26! Happy Thanksgiving
• Family Night Thursday Dec 2 Potluck! Bring your favorite family dish
• No School Friday Dec 3 Teacher Professional Development Day
• Friday December 10 7th and 8th grade Field Trip to UCSD(drivers needed)

Class Happenings
The last couple of weeks in math have been devoted to introducing functions, function rules and the Cartesian coordinate plane. We played Human Twister to solidify the meaning of the origin, the x-axis, y-axis and graphing ordered pairs. Students are learning how to define slope and y-intercept and use them in linear equations written in the slope-intercept form. We started an ongoing Stretching Slinkies experiment where students gathered data about pennies and nickles. Students graphed the information they gathered and will be using those graphs to find function rules, slope and y-intercept for their data.

Science this month was devoted to more hands on labs. In the wrap-up of our "What's the Matter?" unit, we investigated solids, liquids and gases and their characteristic properties. Students created a non-Newtonian fluid – sometimes known as oobleck or sticky sand. It’s a liquid, no, it’s a solid, no wait, it’s a liquid again! We discovered that one plus one does not always equal two by measuring the height of two cups of water and then measuring the height of one cup water plus one cup sugar. We watched a Styrofoam cup painted like a witch “melt” when set in acetone. We just started our new unit on Atoms and Elements. Our culminating activity will include an investigation into a “crime scene” that takes place at IA.

If you haven’t heard, the 8th graders have been busy raising money and learning real life math skills at the same time. Before our first Friday Pizza Day, students estimated that about 1/3 of the students at IA would order pizza. They calculated the cost of supplies, a breakdown of individual meals, and profit margin. It was exciting to see that our estimations were spot on! We estimated we would sell 67 meals and the actual total was 65. Our class profited $105 after expenses. We look forward to doing it again this upcoming Friday.

FYI the Academic Language Quiz 5 included the words: Domain, Range, Coordinate Plane, Axis, Origin, Ordered Pair, Function, and Function rule I was impressed with how many students did really well on this quiz! I think they are getting the hang of it!
Academic Language Quiz 6 is this Friday(Nov 19)
Math terms:
Slope
Y-intercept
Linear Equation
Slope-intercept Form
Science terms:
Atoms
Model
Theory
Nucleus
Electron
Electron Cloud

Week 7

Upcoming Events

• Picture Day Thursday Oct. 28
  7th grade 10:00 - 10:35
  8th grade 10:40 - 11:20
• 8th grade Sacramento Trip Fundraiser Garage Sale
  WHEN: November 6, 2010 from 7:00am – 5:00pm
  November 7, 2010 from 7:00am – 1:00pm
  WHERE: 3622 Sunbird Way, San Diego (Tierrasanta)
  Details coming

I want to thank all of our families who attended Student Led Conferences this week. If you did not meet with me, you can still make an appointment.

Although the turnout for Family Night was not the best, we still made $215! Thank you to everyone who brought food in, helped sell tickets, helped set up and serve. Almost every student was involved with this event!

Class Happenings
We spent Monday math honing our addition/subtraction integer skills one last time before moving on. Because of the rest of the week being half days we did not have a "traditional" math period. Math was integrated into our science labs.

Science this week was devoted to hands on labs. In "What's the Matter?" we investigated density, mass, volume, pressure and temperature.
*Our yummy candy bar lab helped students understand how density is a measure of mass per volume. They determined the mass from the actual packaging and the volume by measuring length x width x height. Reminder: Density = Mass/Volume or D = M/V.
*Balloons, boiling water, a soda can, and cold water helped us to discover what happens with changes in temperature. We learned that molecules get excited when they get hot and pressure changes. Parents: do YOU know what happens to a balloon when you put it into a freezer or into boiling water? Does it pop?melt?disintegrate? How about when you heat a soda can with about a centimeter full of water to boiling and then invert it into a bowl of cold water? Does it create steam?explode?float?sink? Although those are some of the ideas we thought might happen, we found out what actually happens by experiment! Next week we will find out why it happened.

Because of conferences, short days and no school Friday, we did not have our weekly Academic Language quiz. We will have it next Friday Oct 22.
Academic Language Quiz 4 will include the following terms:

density
mass
volume
pressure
temperature
Boyle's Law
Charles' Law

Week 5 and 6

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS:
*Minimum days Tuesday, Wednesday,Thursday.
*No school Friday. It is teacher Professional Devolopment day.
*Please contact me if you have not signed up for STUDENT LED CONFERENCES yet. Right now I only have seven students who have signed up. I want to meet with EVERY family this week.
*Our class is in charge of dinner for Family Night this coming Thursday(this is a class fundraiser!)
*During Family Night I will be holding a PARENT MEETING to discuss cost and fundraising ideas for our Eighth grade Northern California class trip at the end of the year.

CLASS HAPPENINGS
In our math class, we finished our tessalations and worked on addition and subtraction of integers. I am stressing the importance of practicing the basic integer addition and subtraction skills. Over the years most of the mistakes I see while solving complex algebraic problems is in simple addition/subtraction errors.

During science we practiced using the scientific method and writing a laboratory report. Students were given the challenge to create a car that rolls and carries an eraser using only two pieces of paper, a 16cm piece of wire and glue. It was fun to see their ideas and their reasoning for creating their cars. We started our chemistry unit "What's the MATTER?" Students were introduced to the three states of matter: solids liquids and gases.

During our project time on Wednesdays, students created a piece of artwork to portray their Summer vignettes written in Tony's class. Students made chalk and tempera paint in my class and many students used their own created colors as their medium for their artwork.

Academic Language Quiz 2 consisted of the following science terms:

scientific method
question/observation
hypothesis
materials
procedure
data analysis/results
conclusion

Academic Language Quiz 3 consisted of the following math and science terms:

Integer
Whole Number
Absolute Value
Matter
Solid
Liquid
Gas

Week 4

A special thanks to James and his mom for bringing Moon Cakes and other snacks on Wednesday. The Chinese Moon Festival is a traditional Chinese event that is celebrated during the full moon in September.

We had a great time on Friday at lunchtime. We got pizza and went to the park. I plan on doing that every other week just to break the monotony of going to the upper bay for lunch. During class council last week, we talked about ways to make lunch more enjoyable. I agreed to taking kids to the park once a week and having lunch in the commons on the off weeks. If any parents would like to help with this, I would appreciate the company!

One of my goals this year is to have all students using ACADEMIC LANGUAGE. Knowing and understanding the vocabulary of math and science will aid students in grasping the concepts.
Students will be quizzed weekly on new words related to the concepts being taught.
Week 1 Academic Language Quiz consisted of the following math terms:

• constant
• consecutive numbers
• symmetry
• translation
• reflection
• line of symmetry
• rotation
• tesselation

Our math class this past week looked more like an art class. Students made tesselations using equilateral triangles and symmetric designs they created. In science we talked about the two main concepts we will cover this year. Namely, Chemistry and Physics. We took a look at the scientific method by guessing how many marbles and what types of dividers in 7 sealed boxes. Using only observations from the outside of the box, students formed hypotheses stating what the inside of the box looked like.

UPCOMING EVENTS: Student-Led Conferences Oct 11-14 minimum days

week 2 and week 3

What a great year this is turning out to be! I can say with surety that this school year kicked off so much smoother than the last two years. I feel privileged to be a partof such a great endeavor. Students are getting into the routines of school and reconnecting with their friends as well as making new ones. We have six students in 8th grade and seven (and counting) in 7th grade who are new to IA this year. They have blended right in to our school culture.



Yesterday, during morning meeting, we reflected on what is different about our school compared to other schools we attended. Here are some of their responses:

• Teachers help me when I don't understand instead of make me feel dumb.


• Teachers actually listen to me and care about me.


• I like that we learn things "hands on" instead of reading about it in a book or memorize using flash cards.


• This school is open and inclusive - students decide.


• Kids are nicer.


• Teachers make kids feel comfortable.


• We have group work and collaborate.

The past two weeks were spent establishing our schedule, introducing our "Me project", and diving into math.

This year in math, all students will concentrate on five core concepts in order to perfect their algebraic thinking: 1) Equivalence 2) Patterns and Functions 3) Variables 4) Graphing and 5) Mathematical writing

For the past two weeks we have been looking at patterns and learning how to represent them on T-Charts. Some students have been able to turn their understanding of their charts into algebraic expressions. Ask your student about Leapfrog, Flying V or Pattern Blocks.

Thank you to those parents who came to back to school night last Thursday. Those of you who couldn't make it, please contact me. I am in need for volunteers to help me in and out of the class(especially a room parent). Also come sign up for a time slot for Student Led Conferences to be held the week of October 11 through Oct 14.

Lisa's Class Week 1 Update

ATTENTION! IA NEEDS STUDENTS! Although the 8th grade class and 3rd grade class are nearly full, some classes need more kids! Please let your friends and neighbors know about Innovations Academy. They can enroll immediately. Contact me if you have questions.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We made it through the first week of school! I had a great time seeing old faces and getting to know new ones. I am sure this year will be another great one at Innovations Academy.

This week we spent most of our days with the seventh and eighth graders combined. Because Tony and I will both be seeing your students, we want to form a united front when it comes to classroom procedures, positive discipline and schoolwork expectations. We spent this week setting goals and expectations, finding out about each other, creating posters to promote a positive community and most of all, having fun!

Next week we will begin our first project and ease into "real" schoolwork! I will be assessing all students to place them into pre-algebra or algebra classes. Our first math unit will center around symmetry and patterns. We will kick off science learning about chemistry and chemical reactions.

Some reminders:

Kyle's birthday party is this Saturday at 6:30 at Corvette Diner

NO SCHOOL MONDAY! Happy Labor Day!

Please bring school supplies by Tuesday. Return any unfinished school paperwork to Donna.

School lunches begin Tuesday. You must pre-order a day ahead. Check out our school website for more information.

Back To School Night is Sept 16th

Have a safe and happy Labor Day weekend. I look forward to another great week next week.

2010-2011 Supply list

Hello Parents,
I hope you are having a great summer!

Here is the recommended Class Supply List (Don't panic if you don't have it all on the first day! This is a list of things used throughout the year)

I have already purchased 2 spiral notebooks(1 for math, 1 for science) per student. They were on sale for 6 cents each! Look for deals at Staples, Office Depot, Wal-Mart. Each week they have something different on sale.


· ONE large 3 inch binder(to be kept at school)

-Loose leaf notebook paper- College Rule preferred

· Dividers- 5 count

· Large durable pencil pouch or box

· Several #2 pencils

· Pencil sharpener with cover

· 2 blue or black pens

· 2 red correcting pens

· Highlighter (3 various colors)

· Thin colored markers

· Colored pencils-12 count

· Eraser

· Scissors

· Glue sticks

· One package lined Index Cards (3x5)

· Quad (Graph) paper

Day 6 Alcatraz and the Wharf / Day 7 Bus Tour and Bike Ride

(Notice the homeless guy in our group pic. He wouldn't move)

Day 7: This may be our last day posting. There is a rumor there is no cell or internet service at Big Sur. We will find out when we get there! We are loading up, doing a city bus tour and bike ride over the Golden Gate bridge. We should be on the road around 3:oo. Here are some pics from yesterday:



Day 6: Today we woke up early and made our way to the wharf by shuttling kids in one van. Yikes! The trip to Alcatraz was so fun. Much improved since I was a girl and took the tour. We watched a video about the origins of Alcatraz as a bird sanctuary, military base, prison, Indian land for 19 months and finally a national park. After that a ranger took us on a walking tour about the attempted escapes there by prisoners. Last we took an audio tour of the prison. It was narrated as if you were part of history, with the sounds of what it must have been like during that time. We got back on the ferry to drizzles so we decided to forego our bike ride til later and went back to the hotel. We left again for the wharf for dinner and a night tour bus(which ended up cancelling due to the weather) We ended up shopping for a few hours on the wharf, watching the sea lions on pier 39 and playing arcade games.

Day 5 Fairfield and San Francisco

Sorry no photos today. We are all tucked into our hotel rooms and my camera battery died. Will get em posted tomorrow. Today was all about relaxing. This morning we took off from Sacramento and hopefully left behind everyone's allergies. We had all been sneezing since we got there.

In Fairfield, we found the Jelly Belly factory. On day 1 of our trip, after driving for hours and hours I started imagining a place similar to McDonalds play place where you can play in the ballpit, except instead of the balls, it had Jelly Bellys. That would be my dream come true!
Anyway, we got to tour the factory and find out everything there is to know about Jelly Belly beans. They gave samples of everything including the gross ones like skunk scent and dog food. Lucas tricked me into eating what I thought was a peach one. Turned out it was barf flavor. Ick. We had a great time and left wired on sugar.

An hour or so later, we made it to our hotel in San Francisco. From the outside it doesn't look too great but the inside is pretty decent. The elevator looks as if it is the original. The hotel itself looks like it has been around for a hundred years. The only problem with this town is the parking. There is none. We did not add that into our budget and it looks like we will be spending about 25 per car per day and the same for the trailer. We are getting creative and having to shuttle kids in one car. Just adds to the adventure right?

We got our wharf passes for tomorrow and spent the evening near Union Station eating at Buca di Beppo (in the Pope room at a huge round table) and window shopping. Everyone is wiped out and refeuling for a fun day at the wharf tomorrow. First on the itinerary, Alcatraz Island.

Day 4 Capitol Building and Old Schoolhouse

Yes we went to school today too! An old schoolhouse

Today we spent the day in downtown Sacramento. The capitol building was fun to see. We had a tour guide who took us through the different floors of the building. We got to see a live session in the assembly chambers and see bills get passed. We went into the Senate chamber and saw where the governors office was. We learned a lot of history about the capitol building and California.

Later we went to an old schoolhouse from the 1800s. We all agreed it didn't sound fun. Kids were in the same room from first thru eighth grade. You had to sit at your desk with your hands folded in front of you. When you answered a question or were called on, you had to stand up, curtsy or bow and then speak. Teachers had switches and weren't afraid to use em! You would get 4 lashes if you played with someone of the opposite sex on the playground or climbed higher than three feet up a tree(1 lash per foot). A student would NEVER sass a teacher. Teachers had to get to school at seven to heat up the classroom with a wood stove so it was warm. Female teachers were not allowed to marry or frequent ice cream parlors!

We tried to go to Sutter's Fort today and remembered the reason we were going to go yesterday....It was closed today. Due to budget cuts of course!

Rai getting a lashing

Day3 Sacramento Civil War Reinactment

We woke up this morning at our camp site a little tired and took our time getting to the civil war reinactment.

We traveled back in time again and got to walk through the campsites of the Confederate and Union Soldiers. We saw what life was like on the battlefront. We got to play games and even practice skills learned during our Edudance MAPS class. Warren and Clarissa got to show off their talents doing the Virginia Reel. We met Abraham Lincoln and he told us his history before becoming president. He was quite the storyteller and poet. After he gave the Gettysburg Address, we witnessed a battle scene. It was loud! The cannons were deafening. We called it an early day after the battle and spent the rest of the day lounging around the campsite.

Day 2 Panning for gold

We woke up at the crack of dawn to the sounds of the neighbor's donkey. I was amazed at how wide awake and talkative the kids were, especially because it was three hours before the start of a regular school day and usually I don't see that type of animation until noon! Rob started us off with a history and science lesson about how gold is formed and where. Did you know we are in the third gold rush right now? The second one happened during the great depression when more gold was found then than by the 49rs.

We were on a private claim and were the only ones around. It was absolutely beautiful and warm. We found out last weekend was freezing and hailing. We lucked out. The kids learned how to pan and sluice. Almost everyone found something. (ask about "fly poop"!) Rob was so kind as to leave us with a parting gift each of a piece of gold worth $15-25.
We had a great time. As we were packing up to go to Sacramento, Ken, our other gold teacher, suggested we stay a little longer in town and visit Columbia State Park. Not doubting a local's suggestion, we followed his advice, postponed our trip to Sutters Fort til tomorrow, and found ourselves traveling back in time to a part of town left in the 1840's. Main street included shops with pioneer stuff, old fashioned candies, a blacksmith and livery shop and historic artifacts.

We finally got on the road around 1:00 and made our way down the beautiful mountain landscape into endless grape vineyards and fruit trees. On arriving in Sacramento, we found our campground, argued over whether boys or girl got the "better" campsite. (Girls won this time...) We spent a relaxing afternoon unpacking, paddle boats, swimming, playing cards and eventually winding down for a new day tomorrow.

Sacramento trip Day 1

After a few technical difficulties, we finally got on the road around 10:30. We spent the next 10 hours blasting music, snacking and many pitstops. One of the highlights of the road trip was the ranch that we passed that had llamas, cows, goats, ostrich and.... a camel! At around nine o'clock at night, we arrived at our destination 49rs Gold Mining Supplies. We drove up a dark dirt road with nothing but woods around us(and a few bats). Reminded us of a great place to tell ghost stories or a scene from a horror movie. At the top of the hill we met Rob, our gold mining guide. He graciously welcomed us into his home, warning us of wild animals and showing us a vault full of gold(and the artillery to protect it and his family..yikes!). We were wondering where the last car of our caravan was when we got a call that they couldn't make it. Rob had to come to the rescue to tow Sondra up the remainder of the hill. After a small scare when the key to the trailer with all of our luggage disappeared, Gil found it lodged in the drink holder. We set up our sleeping bags, cots air mattresses in the huge storage supply shop on his property (pictures coming tomorrow). The air is so fresh out here, the stars are amazing. The kids are conking out and aren't that excited to get started at 5:45 in the morning!!!! We will be going deep into the mountains to a place called Woods Creek to pan for gold. Can't wait!

Last Week: May 3-7

We spent most of the week in STAR testing but still managed to fit in some hard work too!

8th grade:

• Algebra class included learning about quadratic equations (parabolas) and the role of "a", "b" and "c" when determining the shape and size and location of parabolas. Julian D. was a great peer tutor working with the Pre-Algebra students this week. He taught them geometry basics of lines and angles.
• In Physical Science, we started our buoyancy unit, "Walking on Water" . We hope to design a device that will allow us to walk over water using concepts of Archimedes' principle, buoyant force, water pressure, and fluids.

7th grade:

• We have been brushing up on the pre-algebra concepts of percentages and probability. For the rest of the year, our math concepts will be presented using food! We have a field trip to the grocery store on Thursday to plan a meal for an end of the year beach party. Students will use their math skills to determine costs, price per serving, doubling or tripling recipes, conversion factors, etc.
• In Life Science, we learned more about food webs in the Mono Lake ecosystem. They organized individual organisms as producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers, tertiary consumers and decomposers.

Both 7th and 8th graders are well into the construction phase of their Solar Oven Project. Students completed a webquest to learn about solar ovens, solar energy, transmission, absorbtion and reflection of the suns rays. In groups, they created designs for their solar oven. The next phase includes creating a marketing plan for their oven, preparing a meal and assembling a class cookbook with their recipes. It has been so fun watching the construction process. Students have gone above and beyond, even getting Skip (our resident woodworker!) involved in cutting plywood. I am interested in seeing how the reflective properties of music cds help to heat up one of the group's ovens!

Update

We are in charge of Taco Night on Thursday.

Food Assignments( for about 125-150 people):
Beans and Rice: Lisa
Taco Shells(small flour): Nick (100), Arturo (100), Rai (100)
Taco Meat: Hunter , Warren
Cheese: Canelle, Clarissa
Chopped Lettuce: Ben (5 heads)
Chopped Tomatoes: Amanda
Salsa: Lucas, Julian D
Chips: Julian V. , Adrian, Maston

Don't forget, bring your luggage on Thursday night. We will leave on Friday around 9:00 am instead of 6:00 am, otherwise we are stuck in LA morning traffic.

Sacramento Trip Itinerary and Packing List

Itinerary for 8th grade educational field trip to Sacramento

Thursday May 13
During family night (our class is providing taco night), drop off luggage.

Friday May 14 (Arrive by 6:00am)
· Drive from Innovations Academy to Columbia, California.
· Sleep in the 49er Mining Supplies shop (free)

Saturday May 15
· Early AM panning for gold excursion on private claim.
· Drive from Columbia, CA to Sacramento KOA
· Sutter’s Fort Reenactment: Visitors have the opportunity to meet pioneers who left their homes and braved the journey to Sutter’s Fort at the dawn of the California Gold Rush. Hands-on activities led by experienced docents change daily and include blacksmiths, bakers, doctors, vaqueros and more at this midtown Sacramento historic park

Saturday May 15 & Sunday May 16
· Civil War Reenactment all day · Participate in the 1860's: tour Civilian, Yankee and Confederate Camps, enjoy music, food, battle re-enactments (complete with canon fire), interact with living history·

Monday May 17
· Tour State Capitol
· Old Sacramento Living History Program lead tour
· Empire Mine Historic Park

Tuesday May 18
· Jelly Belly free factory tour (Lisa's favorite candy)
· Free Sticker Factory Tour
· $3 Each Cheese Factory Tour
· Double Decker City Tour
· Fisherman’s Wharf
· Night double decker tour

Wednesday May 19
· Alcatraz Island
· Book Bindery/printing press tour
· Fortune cookie Factory tour
· Pier 39 Aquarium
· Ride a Cable Car
· 2 hour bike ride :)
· Wax Museum
· Tour Sourdough bakery

Thursday May 20
· Drive to Big Sur campground

Friday May 21
· Hang out in Big Sur
· We will rent inner tubes and float down the river (bring swim suits, water shoes, and goggles) ·

Saturday May 22
· Drive home to San Diego late afternoon/evening ·


What to bring:
Basic clothing for a week(we will do laundry at campsites with washing machines)
Sleeping Bag
Pillow
Air Mattress(optional)
Swim Suit
Water shoes
Sun Screen
Shade Hat
Jacket (San Francisco can be very cold, even in summer)
At least 2 pairs of shoes
a towel (or two)
toiletries
spending money
a book
ipods, cell phones AND chargers
camera and extra batteries (maybe an extra sim cards)



Each student can bring a small to medium sized suitcase.

Upcoming events

• STAR testing is this week and next:Please make sure your students are there. Because of the 8th grade Sacramento trip, we won't have time to makeup tests later.

Tues May 4:

10:00-11:30 Language Arts Part 1(7th and 8th grade)

1:15-2:45 History Part 1 (8th grade)

Wed May 5:

10:00-11:30 Language Arts Part 2 (7th and 8th grade)

Thur May 6:

10:00-11:30 History Part 2 (8th grade)

Tues May 11:

10:00-11:30 Math - Part 1 (7th and 8th grade)

1:15-2:45 Science Part 1 (8th grade)

Wed May 12:

10:00-11:30 Math - Part 2 (7th and 8th grade)

Thur May 13:

10:00-11:30 Science Part 2 (8th grade)

• Sacramento Trip WE ARE SO EXCITED FOR OUR TRIP! During class council on Tuesday, we will go over the itinerary and packing list. We are scheduled to get on the road bright and early Friday morning May 14 and will return Saturday May 22. Parents will also be receiving a final itinerary, packing list and other important info in an email by the end of this week. We will be sending daily updates during the trip! Those students who are not going will be staying with Tony's class with eighth grade work provided for them.
• Fuddruckers hamburger coupon booklets are still for sale. For $10 dollars they get 8 buy one get one free and 8 buy one get one half off coupons. We get to keep $5 for each coupon book sold. This is a great deal. Will help fund Magic Mountain grad nite (Friday June 11) and Eighth grade promotion (Thursday June 17 at Adrian's home)
• Family nite Thursday May 13

Science news

We have been having tons of fun in both 7th and 8th grade.

Seventh graders have been learning about populations and ecosystems. They started by learning how to identify items as individuals, populations, communities, and ecosystems. They learned the difference between biotic and abiotic factors.

We used chips to learn how to create a dichotomous key. The best part was eating them afterwards. We learned another classification technique (cladogram) that helped us to determine how a platypus, a whale, a cat and a human relate to one another. Students were able to take what they learned to classify the students in our class.

We learned about aquariums and terrariums by creating mini ecosystems. They are thriving(with the exception of a few unfortunate guppies). We will be observing the changes to the populations throughout the next month. We hope to see babies soon!

Eighth graders are finishing up their rollercoaster physics project. As one student observed, my classroom looks like it is on life support with all of the tubing connected to walls and chairs for their rollercoasters. They have learned how to determine velocity using measurements from their tracks and the time it takes to complete the track. They predicted and observed how changes to their tracks affect velocity. We learned about the physics of rollercoasters in order to understand potential energy, kinetic energy, gravitational force, centrifugal force, Newton's laws of motion, inertia and momentum. We also learned about how these concepts relate to the physical changes that happen to our bodies when these forces are put on them. The kids are excited to go to grad night at Six Flags and experience firsthand the physics they learned.

Help! Drivers needed!

DRIVERS NEEDED! (This is an all day field trip. Takes about an hour and a half to get there). On Friday the seventh and eighth graders will be going to Blair Valley for a field trip to see the ruins of the home of Marshall South. He and his family lived at the top of Ghost Mountain in a home built from the earth. They had no electricity or running water. This trip will culminate our unplugged project. We will have 34 students going so the more help the better. We plan on leaving at 9:00 and coming back at 3:30.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/slworking/sets/72157603562436150/

Busy Week! We have Spring Fever!

Last week's events:

Field Trip to Science Tech Fair in Del Mar:
(A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR PARENT DRIVERS! WE COULDN"T HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT YOU)
Seventh and eighth graders got the opportunity to visit over 50 science exhibits from various companies around San Diego. They had fun hands on experiences and learned a lot of information. There were seven different science strands so students were able to choose what areas they were most interested in:

Biotech / BioMedical: The science of using living things, and components of living things, to produce goods and services. It involves manipulating and modifying organisms, often at the molecular level, to create new and practical applications for agriculture, medicine and industry.

Clean Technology / Energy: Clean Technology applies science and engineering solutions to three critical areas: reducing the consumption of energy and natural resources; reducing waste and harmful emissions; and harnessing renewable energy and materials for sustainable development.
Conservation/Environmental Science/Agriculture Technology: Focus on current and future conservation of our natural resources; the science and technology of sustaining our wildlife, forests, coastlines and oceans; and technological advances in farming that help better serve the needs of the public while protecting the environment and increasing output.

Engineering / Aerospace / Transportation: Focus on the application of science to practical uses such as the design of structures, machines, and systems.

Healthcare Technology: Focus on the systems within which health is protected and maintained, including prevention and rehabilitation, emergency medicine, medical devices, and technology for monitoring the health of a patient remotely. Dental technology is also included in this strand

High Tech / Computer Technology / Telecommunications: Focus on highly specialized, complex technology, including computer applications and telecommunications.

Robotics: Focus on the technology associated with the design, fabrication, theory, and application of robots.


Field Trip to Health Sciences High and Middle College:
Eighth graders visited HSHMC on Thursday. Two of IA's alumni from our first graduating class last year were our tour guides. I have information if you are interested in this school.


Parent Night Thursday Night: We had an awesome turn out from our eighth grade parents. Thank you for coming to get more information about the Sacramento trip and graduation festivities. My apologies for miscommunication to those eighth grade parents who went to the general meeting instead. Please contact me to get information you missed.

SCIENCE NEWS:
7th graders have been learning more about heredity and DNA. We should be recieving our chick eggs in the next week. We will be incubating and hatching them! This will coincide with our unit on populations and ecosystems.

8th graders have been learning about atomic structure and bonding. We will be finishing up our chemistry unit in the next two weeks. Coming soon... walking on water and rollercoaster physics!

Before our science field trip both 7th and 8th grade students created KWL charts to show what they 1) (K) Know about their selected science strand, and 2) (W)Want to know. After the trip we talked about 3) (L)What they Learned after the trip.

Feb 1 - Feb 5

UPCOMING EVENTS:

-FAMILY NIGHT:

• Thursday, February 11th hosted by the kindergarten class. FIRST check in at the front desk from 5pm-6pm to sign in and receive directions and a schedule for the evening.


• From 5pm-6pm chili will be served in the kindergarten classroom. Please bring it upstairs to be eaten in our classroom. If you are not purchasing food, after checking in please come to my classroom anyways.


• At 6pm the general parent meeting will take place in the commons upstairs. During this time students will go to DeeDee’s room for crafts.


• Parents with more than one child: I understand it is difficult to make it to each classroom. If you cannot make it please contact me so I can pass along any information to you.


• $3 chili, cornbread and drink (Vegetarian chili will be available)


• $3 hot dog, chips and drink


• $1 for 2 baked goods

-PRESIDENTS WEEKEND: No School Friday Feb 12th and Monday Feb 15th

-VALENTINES PARENT NIGHTOUT FUNDRAISER: Sunday Feb. 14

• 8th graders will be babysitting 5:00 - 9:00pm
  

LAST WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS:

• Special thanks to Adrian's mom for the In-n-Out run for lunch on Tuesday!


• We were on the news! During our buddy time with the 3rd graders, some of our 8th graders were on film. You can see it at: http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local-beat/Charter_School_Struggle_San_Diego.html


• Council member Donna Frye came for a visit and loved our school!


• Our Parent Night Fundraiser brought in $120! We had a great time! And we have lots of parents interested in the Valentines Night Out next Sunday.


• We got a lot of information about high schools for next year. I sent home Innovations Academy's recommended high schools list, as well as a booklet showcasing schools around San Diego that includes magnet schools. Many schools have a deadline to enroll. San Diego magnets(choice schools) need to be in by FEB 15. If you have questions, please contact me or Danielle.

In Math, students learned more about the coordinate system and the slope of a line with our giant floor coordinate plane. Next week we put it all together with the scale map of our school we made.

In Science, we finished Unplugged Science mini lessons. 7th graders are continuing with heredity and genetics. 8th graders are continuing their study of atoms and elements and the periodic table.

Wow January flew by!

UPCOMING EVENTS this week:

• Report Cards are out on Monday
• Visit from King Chavez High School (parents welcome) Tuesday 9:30-10:30
• 8th grade fundraiser Parents’ Night Out: Friday Feb 5 6:00-10:00
• Field trip to Health Sciences High and Middle College(next week): date TBD
  

The wet week of Jan 18-22 could be considered one of the strangest. We had a three day weekend and then we had a three and a half day weekend! The rain, although welcomed, wreaked havoc on our schedule! Some highlights:

• We welcomed a new student this week! Canelle: Hooray another girl!
• We started our math-graphing project. Both the 7th and 8th graders measured the upstairs area of IA. After all rooms were measured, students created a 2D scale model on graph paper.
• Continued working on our unplugged project. Students were preparing their pod casts and worked on an essay explaining what it would be like to live without the five “plugged in” things they absolutely cannot live without.
  

Last week Jan 25-29 seemed to fly by. We crammed a lot of things in that we missed out on from last week.

• Reading Buddies: On Monday mornings we meet with the 3rd graders for reading and fun.
• Edudance is in full “swing”. Not only are students learning how to dance, they are getting learning about manners and etiquette while they dance.
• Current events: students have signed up every other Wednesday for science and social studies currents events. Our first Wednesday started off slowly as not everyone who signed up was prepared. Those who were, did a excellent job!
• In order to catch up on our “Unplugged” project we took a short detour from ecosystems (7th grade) and chemistry (8th grade). We learned about energy, renewable and nonrenewable resources, pollution and conservation. On Friday, students were assigned to choose and complete ONE of the following activities using the 5 “plugged in” things they can’t live without:
  1. Create a graphical representation of consumption levels of common plugged in items.
  2. Research what happens to used “plugged in” items. Recycled? Dumped?
  3. Estimate the amount of money it costs to buy and/or replace your items over two years. We also started recording pod casts. Can’t wait to hear them all!

TWO concerns:

• My supplies are dwindling not from use but from misuse! This past week three of my rulers were broken. I started the school year with full drawers of markers, pencils, pens, scissors, etc. I bought most of it with my own money. I am down to hardly anything. I do not mind students using my supplies but I do mind when those things disappear or are destroyed. Talk to your student about how they can help to keep our classroom community running smoothly. Beginning this week, students can check out supplies from me, but they will need to return them at the end of the period.
• Cell phones and electronics: Students are allowed to use phones, computers and electronics during breaks ONLY unless otherwise cleared with Tony or I. I WILL take them away if they are used during classtime.

Happy New year!



A lot of changes have happened in our class since "last year"!

• Although we lost a couple of students, we gained three awesome new kids: Amanda, Nicholas and Lucas.


• We have a new schedule. We found that lots of time was being wasted with our old schedule and this new one seems to be working wonders.


• Our new MAPS classes include Edu-Dance(you should see their moves!) and Art(wire sculptures)


• We have a class pet. He is a ball python named Steve. He is the most loved reptile in the universe. Who would have thought kids would line up to hold a snake? His favorite place is on someone's wrist during class.

Morning Meetings:
Our morning meetings as always are my favorite time of the day. I love how tight knit our homeroom class is.

Math Skills:
7th graders have been working on mastering integers. 8th graders are working on inequalities in algebra. We have really focused on getting basic skills mastered. Next week both classes will start a graphing project that includes putting the entire school on a coordinate system. Seventh graders will concentrate on the coordinate system and plotting points on an xy graph. 8th graders will learn how to use graphing to solve algebraic equations.

Science:
7th graders kicked off our unit on populations and ecosystems. We are currently learning about genetics and heredity. Ask your student what a larkey is! We plan on incubating chicken eggs in the next couple of weeks.

8th graders kicked off our unit on chemistry. We are currently learning about elements, compounds and mixtures. Ask your student to tell you the difference between a metal and a nonmetal.


Our Unplugged project is well underway. Students are learning about the importance of electricity and what things we need to be "connected" to our society. All students should be done reading "the People of Sparks"by now. We are currently working on gathering information for their podcasts. Each student was to collect three articles pertaining to the topic they chose about energy, electricty or conservation. We will begin Podcast recording next week.

Upcoming events:

• 8th graders are planning a babysitting night fundraiser for Friday February 5 . We hope to turn it into a monthly event where IA parents and maybe parents from the community can drop their kids off for a date night while 8th graders babysit. More details coming in the Sunday nite IA call.
• We scratched the 8th grade Washington DC trip for this year and are planning to go to Sacramento instead. Details are coming! Look forward to a call or email from Clarissa's mom about how we can make this trip a reality.
• For February: Winter Olympics 8th grade Science Service Project. We will be learning about potential and kinetic energy, motion, velocity and acceleration. Hoping to involve the whole school in Winter Olympics games created by us.