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September 28, 2007
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PHS Historical Photos: 1940's/50's Farmer's Market
Upcoming Events 09-28-2007
ALL SCHOOL EVENTS:
• October 4–Dialogue Circle - 6:00-8:00 PM Childcare by res.
• October 5–Professional Development Day - No Classes
• October 8–Fall Holiday, School Closed
• October 16–School Photos: All school and class pictures
• October 17–School Photos: Individual Portraits Day 1
• October 18–School Photos: Individual Portraits Day 2
• October 19–Walkathon
Click here for a downloadable calendar of events for September
Click here for a downloadable calendar of events for October
Announcements 09-28-2007
DIALOGUE CIRCLE
Join us at our very first Dialogue Circle of the year (October 4, 6:00-8:00 PM), where we will discuss parenting and raising children in the 21st century. We will discuss topics raised by the three summer reading books: The Blessings of a Skinned Knee, A Whole New Mind, and The Price of Privilege. Even if you haven't read the books, please come. Childcare is available by reservation only on Thursday, October 4 from 6-8pm. A light snack will be provided. Please RSVP by Tuesday, October 2 by contacting Raymi Orozco at raymi_orozco@presidiohill.org or at x.130.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT DAY
Childcare is available by reservation only on Friday, October 5 from 8-3pm for a fee of $65 when reserved by Wednesday, October 3 and $85 for late reservations. Regular ASR rates will apply from 3-6pm. Please RSVP by contacting Raymi Orozco at raymi_orozco@presidiohill.org or at x.130. Also, please remember to provide lunch for your child(ren).
WALKATHON!!
Each year the entire PHS community, most notably our students, bands together to raise money for PHS financial assistance in the annual PHS Walkathon. Last year students raised $32,000! And we hope to raise even more this year. This event is unlike any other because it's the kids that do most (if not all) of the work. From planning and soliciting pledges to collecting money and walking, students are really helping students. And in the process they are learning about the importance of participation and philanthropy, social awareness and activism. This year's Walkathon will be held on October 19th at Julius Kahn Park and like last year, 100% of the proceeds will go directly to financial assistance for families in need. If you need an extra copy of the materials that went home with your children, you can download them here:
- Walkathon Flyer
- Instructions for Getting Sponsors and Collecting Donations Sheet
- Walkathon Sponsor Form
As always, if you have any questions about the Walkathon or would like to volunteer with the event, please contact Namrata in the Development Office at 415-751-9318 ext 106
High School Placement 09-28-2007
Ann Meissner Jennifer Franklin (Seventh Grade Humanities Teacher)
High School
School shadow visits are happening. Open Houses are being attended. Students are engaged in preparing for the SSATs. Parents and students are comparing notes on their experiences with the various schools. Now it is time to turn to the application and begin to think about answers to the essay questions, perhaps writing some first drafts. Jennifer and I are both available to read first drafts and offer our editing suggestions. By the middle of November, PHS will need a written list of the schools to which you would like teacher recommendations and transcripts to be sent.
Here at school students are receiving some test preparation advice from learning specialist Lisa Mackey and sitting in on presentations from the admissions offices of a variety of schools. We have already met with Stevenson School, Lick Wilmerding, Drew, Urban, and Marin School. In the next few weeks we will have visits from Stuart Hall and Convent, Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep, Woodside International and International High School.
As many of you have probably noticed the web sites for the public schools do not have current dates listed. I would encourage you to contact the individual schools by phone rather than rely on the web sites for the public schools.
As always, don’t hesitate to ask Ann or Jennifer for guidance.
From the Lower School Dean and Librarian
From the Lower School Dean & Librarian
Have you visited the library’s blog yet? I hope you’ll make it a weekly habit – along with reading this Friday letter each week. I update it regularly with literature-related news from the Bay Area, descriptions of what’s going on in the library program here at school, cute photos – is your child there? -- book reviews, and more. Go to www.presidiohill.org/books/ or www.presidiohill.org and click on Library. Not only will you find recent entries I’ve added, but you will also have access to a variety of research tools and other great links.
The first couple of useful tools are links to the library catalogs that will be most helpful for your children: our own PHS Library Catalog and the SFPL catalog. Click on either of those to find out which libraries have what you are looking for.
There are also links to several subscription databases available to anyone in our PHS community – and you can easily access these from your home computer with internet access. Looking for a magazine or newspaper article about a particular topic? Click on either eLibrary or SIRS Discover and gain instant and free access to thousands of newspaper and magazine articles (full text), relevant photos, maps, and even video and audio clips. Please take some time to familiarize yourself with these resources, especially if you have children in the upper grades. They can be very helpful when a child has research-dependent homework to complete. Also, check out Culturegrams if you’re looking for accurate, up-to-date, and child-friendly information on any particular country or state. Recipes included! Here’s my new mantra - Step one: PHS library website. Step two: Google if needed.
All of the above are available here at school and from home. If you access any of these from home, you will be prompted to enter a username and a password. For ALL databases provided on the PHS library’s website, the username and password are the same: USERNAME is presidiohill and PASSWORD is research.
Also available on the library’s blog – free access to vast amounts of information on fiction for children. Try out NoveList K-8 to find picture books and chapter books on various subjects, or books by certain authors. We also have a brand new source of information for children’s literature: TeachingBooks.net, most useful for teachers, perhaps, but many book-loving parents might also enjoy perusing this extensive resource. Feel free. Dive in and explore! Both of these databases also use the same username and password.
Lastly, try out one of my favorite links: the International Children’s Digital Library. Need a new book to read at bedtime? Grab your laptop and connect to this site. You’ll be amazed at what you have access to. Give it a try.
Curriculum Spotlight: 5th grade 09-28-2007
September 28, 2007
Curriculum Spotlight—5th Grade
Our kids want to be like us adults, which is why the 5th grade U.S.-road-trip simulation garners such enthusiastic student investment. Given license (no pun intended) to “drive” from San Francisco to various self-determined U.S. locales, the students get a feel for the lay of the land they’ll study this school year. The 5th grade social studies curriculum focuses on United States history, geography, culture, economics, and current events, so the road trip project allows them to develop a working knowledge to launch such studies.
The students take on very grown-up responsibilities—balancing a daily budget, researching various destinations, arranging accommodations, planning daily itineraries, reading maps & determining routes, and addressing various obstacles like flat tires along the way—in the simulation. They’re charged with selecting what kind of car to drive (hybrids are overwhelmingly the favorite), and they’re allowed options like the accompaniment of a pet for which they have to care along the way. In the end, the students have enough knowledge under their belts (about what the weather’s like in different parts of the country, what cities lie in what states, which states border which others, what dialects are particular to a region, and so on) to use as a solid foundation for the other social-studies units this year: immigration, European explorers & indigenous peoples, colonial America, the American Revolution, federal civics, and U.S. current events. Plus, they practice newly-acquired skills with decimal-number operations.
The photo was not taken during school/class-time hours, but rather before school. The eager 5th graders, while most other students at school are playing/socializing on the yard, came in early to progress and share their work on the road trip project.
Here are some quotes from the students’ road trip journals:
“On Thursday morning, I had a nice sleep and hardy cup of coffee, so I was ready to start on a big road trip.”
“My Honda started up all right (to my surprise), but in LA it started to make weird noises. That could have been my dog Billy Joe, but I think it must have been caused by the LA smog.”
“I stopped in Phoenix… it was about 83 degrees… [In Albuquerque,] I was standing in the hotel gift shop looking at the Albuquerque snow globes; I wish it would snow!”
“On my way to Needles, I thought about going to Joshua Tree, but said ‘no’ because it was out of the way.”
“It was very good weather, and we saw a lot of mountains past Sacramento. As we started climbing into the Sierras, we saw pines, fires, and cedars… In Nevada, there was a lot of sagebrush and wide open desert. I stopped in Winnemucca and worked in a library for an hour.”
“I stopped in Salem [Oregon] to visit the capitol building…We saw some people who claimed to have seen a bear, but we knew they were lying…I felt kind of sick after having blueberry pancakes you just add water to for breakfast [camping]… In Miluakee I hit traffic because of a Brewers game.”
Christopher Warner, 5th grade teacher