3.24.08

Dear Parents,

Thank you so much for purchasing the students’ artwork. With your help the fourth grade raised over $2,000 for the school!  The students are very proud of their work and were very excited to take it home today.  Many thanks to the Middle School for providing the beautiful bags in which the artwork was sent home.  

Our study of the gold rush continues as we study the routes to the Gold Fields.  The students researched one of the three routes and then taught what they had learned to others in the class. For homework this week the students have been asked to make a poster advertising one of the routes.  Tomorrow we will further discuss the attributes of an advertising poster and the specifics of the assignment.  If the students have any questions, please encourage them to ask me over the next few days.  This project is due on Friday.

Tomorrow we will begin our next literature book which, of course, is all about the Gold Rush.  By The Great Horn Spoon is one of my all-time favorite children’s books, as it describes life in the gold fields through humor, hyperbole, and historically accurate facts.  More information on this book will be sent home along the way.

Also, we started reading about some of the interesting characters of the Gold Rush period, including many of the pioneering Jews of the day.  This information will aid the students in choosing their Gold Rush character.  Hopefully, this process will be completed by next week and the students can start thinking and planning their Gold Rush character!  Again, more information will come home as we move through the unit.

Finally, we have a field trip on April 15 to Mission Dolores and Temple Sherith Israel.  The permission slip for this event will be sent home within the next few days.  Please consider driving on this trip, as it is a wonderful opportunity to experience the beginnings of religion in San Francisco.  

That’s all for now,

Debbi