HI All,

Welcome back! I trust you all had a fun, stimulating vacation!

Hopefully, most of you received the email regarding our field trip on Wednesday, January 20.  We will be going to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  We will leave first thing in the morning, about 8AM. We will not return to school until approximately 1PM. Unfortunately, it's a Restructured Day, so students will be missing the bus. Please make arrangements for your child's transportation, and send a note if they will be riding home, or to an after school program, with another parent. Currently, I have these volunteers: Skyla (5), Michelle (3), Julie (5), Heidi (3), Dawn (5), and Lori (5). As you can see, that's enough seats for 26 kids and we have 34 students, so we need a few more drivers.

This week we are beginning some interesting and fun material!  First of all, the class will be reading By the Great Horn Spoon, which is a terrific historic novel set during the Gold Rush. The audiobook is linked on Mr. McMillan's website, and many kids enjoy rereading (or relistening) to the chapters after school.  In addition, we are beginning a short math unit on Geometry.  While we will review the plane figures and terminology, the big focus of the unit is angles.  We will be using a protractor in class, as well as a ruler, and it will benefit your child to have their own tools for homework. I will make copies of a protractor for kids to take home, but a real one is much better!

In Social Studies, we will be advancing through California history, and learning about the rancho era, and other events leading to the Gold Rush and California statehood. We will not be doing a big report on a California mission, although any students interested in the topic may work on a model or presentation for the class. We will be going on a field trip to Mission San Juan Bautista in the middle of February.

Finally, this week's Homework Packet will be for the next 2 weeks.  The spelling words and homework questions will not be due until Friday, January 22.

Take care,
Carroll Mayer