Pumpkins for Kindergarten
The kindergartners went on an all-day field trip to Half Moon Bay. At the Tunitas Creek Family Farm, each k'er got to pick out a "just right for you" pumpkin.  The only limit was that they had to be able to carry it themselves.  Farmer Richard took the children and parents on a hayride, which included a stop to feed the goats.  Afterwards, they went to Half Moon Bay State Park to enjoy a picnic lunch and fun by the ocean.  This week the k'ers are busy at work, measuring weighing and drawing their pumpkins in a learning center called "pumpkin math." 

Kindergartens are Sophisticated Sorters
Sorting took on new meaning for the kindergarten in the math lab this month when they began to look at “attributes.” Attributes are used to classify or identify a characteristic of a group. The kindergarteners learned how to illustrate rules using Venn diagrams. They used the attributes of color, size, and shape to sort their colored shapes of varying sizes into Venn diagrams. For example, the pair on the left has found the group of shapes that is both red and not square.

Please take a look at some online resources you can use to practice math with your children at home.

Halloween Inspires 1st Graders
In keeping with the Halloween theme, the first graders have created collage images of themselves in Halloween costumes. We will use these during a creative writing activity next week. They are writing stories that begin with “I like Halloween because...” or, “One scary Halloween night I...” in which they are encouraged to use inventive/best guess spelling. When teachers are asked how to spell a word, we ask them to use their knowledge of sounds and letters, explaining this process helps them become even better spellers.

3rd Grade Experiences the Wow Factor
The 3rd grade culminated their study of Muir Woods by visiting the national monument in Marin County. Both classes, along with teachers and parents, spent a drizzly morning walking along the coastal redwoods and enjoying the wildlife among them. The rain didn't dampen spirits as the children walked along elevated trails and viewed many animals, from banana slugs and stellar jays to enormous clusters of thousands of lady bugs. Many were lucky enough to spot a blue heron feeding in a stream! "Wow, look at that!" was echoed amongst the enormous trunks thoughout the day.

4th Graders Become Mapmakers
The 4th graders made maps in science, an involved project which takes three weeks because every aspect of a real map is included in their imaginary maps. They built an island out of clay and gradually flooded it, tracing the submerged outline to map the contour lines. Then they traced their island on white paper where they colored & named places, created a legend, and designed a compass rose. Finally, they marked the lattitude and longitude which signals where their island is in the world.

8th Graders Make a Coat of Arms
The Coat of Arms project is a longstanding SFDS tradition in which eighth graders create a personal Coat of Arms that visually depicts their past, present, and future. In addition, they include a quotation that represents themselves. The Coat of Arms Projects for the class of 2008 will be displayed outside the Upper School Music Room.

Artist of the Month
Catalina Delgado-Trunk visited the Day School and gave a slideshow presentation during an upper school assembly. She discussed the history and evolution of the Dia de Muertos celebration which goes back to Pre-Colombian Mesoamerica, The European High Middle Ages. Her presentation included slides of the celebrations in Mixquic, D.F. which is a small town on the Southeastern edge of Mexico City. In the lower school she led six workshops on cutting traditional Day of the Dead, papel picado.

Summerbridge is in Full Swing
After strenuous rooftop play, students work diligently in small groups to organize their homework and complete assignments with their tutor. In addition, the fifth graders have been exploring pendulums in their science classes, taught by Heidi Erbe (Program Associate) and Liam Aiello (SFDS 5th grade Associate), and the sixth graders are exploring figurative language through reading The Phantom Tollbooth in Caitlin Gordon’s (SFDS Kindergarten Associate) English class.

Varsity Soccer Final Match Approaches
Varsity soccer has accomplished many goals this year. In fact, Mr. Roberts predicts they will finish the season with a 7-1-1 record. His forecast remains to be seen at the semi-final match next week at Marin County Day School. The team has bonded as classmates, teamates and friends and they are determined to put on their best performance next week.