Weekly Reminders 6-4-12

Rockhopper Weekly Reminders
June 4- June 8


Mark Your Calendars:
• Wednesday, June 6 Open House (see note below)
• Thursday, June 7: Field Trip to the Exploratorium in San Francisco
• Tuesday, June 12: Volunteer Appreciation Brunch 9:50 am
• Wednesday, June 13: PSCO Meeting 6:30


Open House:
We are really looking forward to seeing you on the evening of Wednesday, June 6.
Your children have prepared a special night for you beginning with an art show in the multiuse room and then oral and technology presentations in the individual classrooms.
If students have younger siblings, you can view the art show at 6:00 before visiting the primary classrooms and then head over to the Rockhopper Village at 7:00. The students have worked hard and are proud to show off their most recent activities and can’t wait to show off for you! The Rockhopper schedule is below:

Grades 4 & 5 - 7 - 7:45 pm (Individual classrooms 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, and 24)
* Art4Schools Art Show* - 6:00 - 7:30 pm (Multiuse Room)

5th Grade Families ONLY:
We are excited to invite you to our Fifth Grade Recognition Ceremony that will be held on Tuesday, June 26th, beginning PROMPTLY at 8:15am. In celebration of the big move to middle school, a potluck will immediately follow the ceremony. Please plan on bringing a potluck dish to share with others. We also will need help with set-up and clean-up, too. More information to come later! Thank you for helping us celebrate our 5th graders!

Volunteer Brunch on Tuesday, June 12
Hooray for Portal volunteers! You give of yourselves, and you precious time, for the children at our school. Now, it's time we celebrate you and your efforts. The staff is making homemade goodies for this event. Truly, it takes a village to raise a child. You are a very important part of that. Thanks as always for your willingness and enthusiasm to help at school! Please come celebrate wtih us!
When: Tuesday, June 12, 9:45 – 10:30am
Where: The courtyard behind the school office
Who should come: Anyone who has volunteered in any
way at school!

Art Show Disassembly Volunteer Opportunity- Read On!
Hello There!

I am in need of a few more volunteers to help take down the art show. Volunteers can meet me in the Multi-Purpose room on Thursday, June 7th after 10am. Please email me if you're able to help.

Thank you so much,

Judy Schulze
judy.schulze@gmail.com
408-910-3349

Exploratorium Chaperones:
The Rockhoppers will be celebrating the end of the year by visiting the Exploratorium in San Francisco on Thursday, June 7th. This will be a full-day trip; both students and chaperones will need to bring a lunch from home. Chaperones will need to check in at the front office and have a negative TB test on file in order to join us. Thanks in advance!

A Note from our Great Librarian- Books & DVDs are DUE!
All Portal library books are due back to by JUNE 8th, Friday. Please begin the search in your rooms, under your beds, behind your bookshelves, under your blankets, between your pillows, and anywhere else you think you may have left your library book, and bring it back to the library!

ALL library books and MATH DVDS must be returned by THIS Friday. If your book is absolutely lost, please write a check to PORTAL SCHOOL in payment of a replacement for the amount that is due on your book. I'll be sending notices to all students who still have books or DVDS checked out beginning Monday, June 4 to help your student identify their errant books.

Thanks for helping us keep all Portal books safe and intact for the new school year!

Mrs. Lim






Curriculum Flash!


Language Arts:
We are currently finishing writing projects and working on our anthologies for the end of the year. Thank you to all parents who assisted us during our Literature Circle activities; you were terrific helpers! Now is a great time for some end-of-the-year blog submissions too from our classes- what a great way to reminisce about the year!


Math
4th grade: We are in the process of producing our own fair game! This is taking us several days of class time, and it is certainly a good use of our time :) When we’re finished, our class members will play the games and evaluate their fairness to all players- a great application of our content understanding.

5th grade: We continue with Biz World. Students have formed companies and are now working on incorporation. They will soon be working on their “pitch” to a venture capitalist for the purpose of raising money for their company. Students also continue to finish their final geometry project, Geometry Journey. Groups of students were given a list of geometry vocabulary words and need to wander the school trying to find real life examples of them. The take pictures using the ipad, upload the pictures to a Pages document, and explain the special features of each picture in a detailed caption. This allows students to put their understanding of geometry terms to the test and pushes their creativity to find unique and interesting way to exhibit each term.

Science:
In Rooms 20 & 21, we are preparing to give our families a brief presentation of our technology project for the Water Planet unit during Open House. We’ll also continue our Investigation 4, Part 3: The Pressure is On later in the week.

Social Studies:
We’re continuing with our Geography Wax Museum preparation. Students are finishing up their presentation boards and memorizing their speeches. Please be sure to ask your child if you have any questions about the project or their progress.

Mystery State Clues:

Although this state is the driest state, its lakes are home to many rare fish.
Gold and silver discoveries drew miners to this state in the 1860s.
This state entered the Union during the Civil War.
This state gets its name from a Spanish word that means "snowcapped."
Hoover Dam is in this state.
Which state is it?