Discovery 5/6
Top Overall Nest Winner for September: Tatum K-P from Saker!!
DCS Survival Tip: Science Camp Q & A
When is Science Camp?
Monday, October 29th to Friday, November 2nd. Students who attend camp will come to school at 7:30 and check in with Ms. T. All students will receive special luggage tags made out by the Outdoor Education Science Camp Staff for their belongings. Ms. T will also be collecting medication upon check-in. Returning time to campus on Friday may vary. We will be hitting Bay Area traffic, but I will keep Ms. Kay updated when we leave and when we hit the Pleasanton/Livermore area so she will know our ETA.
Can my child bring a backpack?
A small string backpack would be best, rather than a large backpack they typically bring to school. We will be taking county school buses (the traditional yellow bus) and there is not a lot of room for extra belongings. Also, on hikes and excursions, the kids may use the small backpack to carry their water bottle and a disposable camera with them.
Can my child bring their electronic devices?
Please do not allow children to bring cell phones or electronics to camp. There is also no reception for cell phones once at camp. Camp has a landline available, if there is an emergency. Please send disposable cameras (at least 2, because unlike phones, they go really fast when kids can’t see what they took pictures of and can’t erase digitally) with students if they would like to take pictures of their adventures. You may also have to teach your child how to use a disposable camera before departure.
How can I see how/what my child is doing at Science Camp?
I will have my camera with me so I will post pictures and general updates any time I can get reception. You can go to my website to find updates during camp week!
https://dcsmathwithmst.weebly.com/science-camp
What to pack clothes in?
Please remember that although it is important to be prepared, all students are responsible for carrying their belongings to their cabins from the drop off location. The bus does not do cabin to cabin drop off with their luggage because the busses cannot fit down all the trails. A duffle bag is the best piece of luggage to invest in for this trip, because a wheeled suitcase does well on solid ground, but not as well in muddy dirt trails and gravel.
Do I need to send bedding?
Cabins have twin mattresses, but students will be responsible for packing a sleeping bag and pillow. It is also a good idea to teach your child how to roll up their sleeping bags themselves, because it probably won’t come back in the same neat roll you sent them to camp with Monday morning. Personally, I find it helpful that sleeping bags and pillow go into a bag of some sort so that students are not holding multiple things on their walk to their cabins. If you send sleeping bags and a pillow in a garbage bag, send an extra one for the return trip, because the bags tend to tear.
A Glance into 5/6 Classrooms
Technology with Ms. Ferguson:
Both 5/6 Technology/STEM classes are currently working on a partner project that expands their knowledge on the difference between an invention and an innovation.
Music with Mr. Dougherty:
Please save the date for the Trimester 1 concert that will be held here on TLC (51 E. Beverly Place), November 7th from 6:30-7:30. Students participating in this performance are Ms. Sabedra’s Homeroom, Ms. T’s Homeroom and Ms. Christensen’s Homeroom.
Language Arts with Ms. Christensen:
This week in L.A. we finished our novel The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano. Next week we will be preparing for our final and working on a project for the book. In writing, we cooperatively wrote a summary as a group and learned about the different types of persuasive writing. For grammar, the students are learning to diagram a compound subject and predicate and showing their knowledge of helping and linking verbs with a project. We began our elements of art stations in Humanities. The students are learning about different art techniques and practicing them in small groups.
Anyone still wanting to submit a scholastic book order can do so by the end of this weekend, I will submit the order Sunday evening. If you are unable to order at this time, you can submit an order online at any time. My classroom code is H8KBZ, this year students can choose a free book with a $25 order.
Math with Mrs. Zuniga:
Varsity: In our class, students are beginning to add fractions with like denominators. Students are also learning how to find the greatest common factor and the least common multiple. We are looking forward to using least common multiple to begin adding unlike denominator fractions.
Scholastic: In our class, the students are finishing dividing fractions. We will begin reviewing for our fractions test next Friday. I have informed students that after fractions we will begin decimals and they are very excited.
Honors: Our class has finished their Unit One Test. We will now begin reviewing for our Unit Two Test next Thursday which will include discounts, tax, mark ups, and tips. Parents make sure you are asking your students to find the discount amount or tip/tax when you are out eating or shopping. The students love that they can relate their math to real-life.
Geography with Ms. T & Mrs. Zuniga:
All classes have been working really hard learning the US states! So far we visited the heart of the US- Washington D.C. and then moved into the states of Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. As we visit each state, we also learn about top colleges there to prepare for our Career & College SWO that will start in January (after we return from winter break).
Some of our favorites have been Virginia Tech, Duke and John Hopkins!
Science with Mrs. Theall:
Last week we were working on experiments. It was a fun experience for all of us. Some of the experiments were making slime, rainbow color experiment with skittles and balloon blow up with a chemical reaction.
Math with Ms. T:
Varsity: We dove into fractions this week- we’ve mastered comparing fractions and finding equivalent fractions. We also made our way into adding and subtracting fractions with common denominators this week. Please look in your child’s math notebook to see what we have done and where we are headed next week. It’s a black composition notebook with rainbow colored duct tape on the binding.
Scholastic: We wrapped up Unit 1 (whole number review and fractions) and are moving on into Unit 2 (all things decimals and percentages) - most kids felt like decimals were a breath of fresh air after our intense unit of fractions! We will be moving quickly through add, subtract and multiplying decimals and will start dividing decimals. We will practice unit rate as a class and it would be great real world practice for students to calculate unit rate while your family is out shopping!
Honors: Our class started Unit 4, which is Exponents. We dipped our feet into Algebra with evaluating expressions, combing like terms and work with squares and cubes. We had a practice drill with 1 to 20 squared and 1 to 5 cubed - whole class against Ms. T for speed and accuracy – stay tuned for who the fastest person in our class is!
Langauge Arts with Ms. Rodieck:
All Language Arts classes will be reviewing our first novel and we will be doing final projects and have a final exam the week of October 15th.
Top Overall Nest Winner for September: Tatum K-P from Saker!!
DCS Survival Tip: Science Camp Q & A
When is Science Camp?
Monday, October 29th to Friday, November 2nd. Students who attend camp will come to school at 7:30 and check in with Ms. T. All students will receive special luggage tags made out by the Outdoor Education Science Camp Staff for their belongings. Ms. T will also be collecting medication upon check-in. Returning time to campus on Friday may vary. We will be hitting Bay Area traffic, but I will keep Ms. Kay updated when we leave and when we hit the Pleasanton/Livermore area so she will know our ETA.
Can my child bring a backpack?
A small string backpack would be best, rather than a large backpack they typically bring to school. We will be taking county school buses (the traditional yellow bus) and there is not a lot of room for extra belongings. Also, on hikes and excursions, the kids may use the small backpack to carry their water bottle and a disposable camera with them.
Can my child bring their electronic devices?
Please do not allow children to bring cell phones or electronics to camp. There is also no reception for cell phones once at camp. Camp has a landline available, if there is an emergency. Please send disposable cameras (at least 2, because unlike phones, they go really fast when kids can’t see what they took pictures of and can’t erase digitally) with students if they would like to take pictures of their adventures. You may also have to teach your child how to use a disposable camera before departure.
How can I see how/what my child is doing at Science Camp?
I will have my camera with me so I will post pictures and general updates any time I can get reception. You can go to my website to find updates during camp week!
https://dcsmathwithmst.weebly.com/science-camp
What to pack clothes in?
Please remember that although it is important to be prepared, all students are responsible for carrying their belongings to their cabins from the drop off location. The bus does not do cabin to cabin drop off with their luggage because the busses cannot fit down all the trails. A duffle bag is the best piece of luggage to invest in for this trip, because a wheeled suitcase does well on solid ground, but not as well in muddy dirt trails and gravel.
Do I need to send bedding?
Cabins have twin mattresses, but students will be responsible for packing a sleeping bag and pillow. It is also a good idea to teach your child how to roll up their sleeping bags themselves, because it probably won’t come back in the same neat roll you sent them to camp with Monday morning. Personally, I find it helpful that sleeping bags and pillow go into a bag of some sort so that students are not holding multiple things on their walk to their cabins. If you send sleeping bags and a pillow in a garbage bag, send an extra one for the return trip, because the bags tend to tear.
A Glance into 5/6 Classrooms
Technology with Ms. Ferguson:
Both 5/6 Technology/STEM classes are currently working on a partner project that expands their knowledge on the difference between an invention and an innovation.
Music with Mr. Dougherty:
Please save the date for the Trimester 1 concert that will be held here on TLC (51 E. Beverly Place), November 7th from 6:30-7:30. Students participating in this performance are Ms. Sabedra’s Homeroom, Ms. T’s Homeroom and Ms. Christensen’s Homeroom.
Language Arts with Ms. Christensen:
This week in L.A. we finished our novel The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano. Next week we will be preparing for our final and working on a project for the book. In writing, we cooperatively wrote a summary as a group and learned about the different types of persuasive writing. For grammar, the students are learning to diagram a compound subject and predicate and showing their knowledge of helping and linking verbs with a project. We began our elements of art stations in Humanities. The students are learning about different art techniques and practicing them in small groups.
Anyone still wanting to submit a scholastic book order can do so by the end of this weekend, I will submit the order Sunday evening. If you are unable to order at this time, you can submit an order online at any time. My classroom code is H8KBZ, this year students can choose a free book with a $25 order.
Math with Mrs. Zuniga:
Varsity: In our class, students are beginning to add fractions with like denominators. Students are also learning how to find the greatest common factor and the least common multiple. We are looking forward to using least common multiple to begin adding unlike denominator fractions.
Scholastic: In our class, the students are finishing dividing fractions. We will begin reviewing for our fractions test next Friday. I have informed students that after fractions we will begin decimals and they are very excited.
Honors: Our class has finished their Unit One Test. We will now begin reviewing for our Unit Two Test next Thursday which will include discounts, tax, mark ups, and tips. Parents make sure you are asking your students to find the discount amount or tip/tax when you are out eating or shopping. The students love that they can relate their math to real-life.
Geography with Ms. T & Mrs. Zuniga:
All classes have been working really hard learning the US states! So far we visited the heart of the US- Washington D.C. and then moved into the states of Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. As we visit each state, we also learn about top colleges there to prepare for our Career & College SWO that will start in January (after we return from winter break).
Some of our favorites have been Virginia Tech, Duke and John Hopkins!
Science with Mrs. Theall:
Last week we were working on experiments. It was a fun experience for all of us. Some of the experiments were making slime, rainbow color experiment with skittles and balloon blow up with a chemical reaction.
Math with Ms. T:
Varsity: We dove into fractions this week- we’ve mastered comparing fractions and finding equivalent fractions. We also made our way into adding and subtracting fractions with common denominators this week. Please look in your child’s math notebook to see what we have done and where we are headed next week. It’s a black composition notebook with rainbow colored duct tape on the binding.
Scholastic: We wrapped up Unit 1 (whole number review and fractions) and are moving on into Unit 2 (all things decimals and percentages) - most kids felt like decimals were a breath of fresh air after our intense unit of fractions! We will be moving quickly through add, subtract and multiplying decimals and will start dividing decimals. We will practice unit rate as a class and it would be great real world practice for students to calculate unit rate while your family is out shopping!
Honors: Our class started Unit 4, which is Exponents. We dipped our feet into Algebra with evaluating expressions, combing like terms and work with squares and cubes. We had a practice drill with 1 to 20 squared and 1 to 5 cubed - whole class against Ms. T for speed and accuracy – stay tuned for who the fastest person in our class is!
Langauge Arts with Ms. Rodieck:
All Language Arts classes will be reviewing our first novel and we will be doing final projects and have a final exam the week of October 15th.