COMMUNICATIONand

CLASSWORK

This newsletter is an effort to communicate what we are doing in the classroom to our families. I am planning to include a lot of photos taken while the kids are engaged in different activities. I am hoping that these pictures will serve as a springboard for families to engage in conversations with their kids .

We start third grade science with the study of seeds. We analyze their properties, we sprout them, we make observations on their changes, and we plant them in the garden in front of

room 9. Keep an eye out as the weeks go by and they happily grow and mature to complete their life cycle. We planted the beans and peas on Friday, September 20. Hurray!!!

Structures of Life

ALEXANDRA AND VALERIE take apart fruits to count how many seeds they have and to describe their properties. The asian cucumber is loaded!

We sprouted eight different seeds. Some, like the pea and the bean, changed quite a bit in 24 hours. Others, like the cilantro, hasn’t changed at all in five days! Still waiting...

“CASEY AND FATIMA are looking at wheat grass and seeing how it changed. It changed a lot. It sprouted, and there were roots. It was cool.” - Casey

THE SECRET WORLDOF ROOM 9

MATILDE MERELLO October 15, 2013

ROSA PARKS ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE MAGNET SCHOOL

Thanks to the Rosa Parks PTA

for the Ipad that makes it

painless to take pictures while

learning and painless to include

them in our newsletter. THANKS!

THE WRITING CONNECTION

Most of the text included in the newsletter is written by

our students. I will start by asking them to write the captions to the pictures, especially the ones where they appear. They will also

have to write the translation. As you can imagine, not every student will be featured in each newsletter, but I will keep track and try

to make it even. We will try to credit the authors or translators when possible. We will email a copy to families with internet and

print a copy for those who need it.

-Ms. Merello

OUR SEEDS

“In this picture we are creating a chart. It is a chart of how many seeds are in a bean pod. In my bean pod I had five beans and two baby beans.”

— Amalia

“In this picture we are looking for seeds in fruits. We are gathering information on seeds because we are learning about seeds in science.

— Jack and Sayen

SPROUTING SEEDS

These pea seeds sprouted a lot faster than most of the other seeds.

These wheat grass seeds are just beginners, but some day they are going to be a plant and have their very own wheat grass seeds to reproduce.

In the picture below, Joaquin is holding sprouted bean seeds. In these sprouts you can see the roots. The beans have transformed into seeds with roots. The seeds are green and the roots are white. Joaquin was hoping that his cilantro seeds would sprout, but it turned out that his cilantro seeds did not sprout. Ms. Merello gave Joaquin two bean seeds from the class sprouter.

-Joaquin and Sayen

It’s going to be fun!TIE-DYE

PROCESSFirst: Write your name on the T-shirt tag with a Sharpie.

Second: Wrap it with rubber bands.

Third: Soak it in soda ash overnight.

Fourth: Spray the t-shirt with the colors.

Fifth: Let the colors soak in during one or two days.

Sixth: Cut the rubber bands off.

Seventh: Wash it .

Eighth: Let it dry

Ninth: Put it on.

-Naima

TIE-DYE COMMENTS BY ANGEL, MICAH, AND, AMALIA

On Friday, we were so excited, because it was tie-dye day! It was so cool because we could make other colors only out of fuchsia, yellow, and blue. We couldn't wait to see and wear our shirts. We made tie-dye because we will study the history of

Berkeley. Lots of parents helped us make the tie-dye. We want to thank the parents.

UPCOMINGFIELD TRIPS

OMCA Oct. 10

Zellerbach Nov. 13

Zellerback Nov. 25

NUMBERSTie-dye T-shirts

made

65Primary colors

3Parent volunteers

8

Math ModelsA TAPE DIAGRAM has three labels. There is a number of groups, with a certain amount of things inside. For example: 7x4 You would make a large rectangle and put seven boxes in it. You would put four shapes in each box. Then you would count by fours until you have counted seven times. Finally, you would write the total at the bottom with the number of groups.

-Jack and Isla

How to Solve Math Problems1) Read problem and circle *known *unknown2)Draw something and label it *tape diagram *array *number bond, etc.3)Solve it using +, -, x, or division4)Write the answer using a complete sentence5)Explain your thinking step by step

-Nate and Cristofer

A NUMBER BOND looks like an octopus.

It has a total number on the big circle. It needs as many arms as groups

breaking up the big number. It also

has numbers inside the groups that altogether equal the big number on the

top. Then you count by the number in

the groups until you get to the big

number. -Isla and Jacky

TAPE DIAGRAM

NUMBER BOND