MAGICAL CITY FOREST TOUR - Tree People Trip

Our Trip to the TREE PEOPLE'S MAGICAL CITY FOREST!

On Monday, April 28, 2008, Ms. Slater-Gilbert's 2nd grade class participated in a MAGICAL CITY FOREST TOUR at THE TREE PEOPLE where we were on a quest to win 5 secret rings! We ran up and down hills; learned about the city forest and guess what? We won the 6th ring....(because we found the first 5 of them) and found the secret to the MAGICAL CITY FOREST.

First we had to find the secret of the WATER!

We learned how water that runs fast from the schoolyard (or concrete in the city) is very polluted from CARS and other HUMAN GARBAGE and goes straight to the ocean where we kill the living things in the ocean.

We learned that if the city had more forest ground, the water would go through the MAGICAL CITY FOREST WATER SYSTEM!

Instead of dirty water running down concrete rivers to the ocean, in a CITY FOREST, water is ABSORBED like a SPONGE, into the soil and then it slowly trickles down, down, down, down, down to a big lake underneath our city. By the time the water reaches the underground lake, the water is clean! Then we can use a giant straw and suck it out!



It took 47 seconds for the water in our model of the Magical City Forest to reach the bucket.
But it only took 6 seconds for the water in our model of the concrete city to reach the bucket.

Then we learned about the soil from DOCTOR DIRT!

Learn More About CAVA - California Virtual Academy - Free Public School Online

Are you intrigued with the idea of using technology to support your child's genius?

Finally parents in Los Angeles have a couple of great choices.

Try:
CONNECTIONS ACADEMY
http://www.connectionsacademy.org

or

CAVA

Take a Look at a Big Sunday Partner - Turning Point School

As I write this blog I'm supposed to be at meeting Marian Lawrence, my co-chair, Big Sunday, to walk through our stock which will be delivered to school by volunteer Teamsters from the Hollywood Studio Local Union on Friday, May 2nd.

But, alas...I can't see a thing! My allergies have attacked me in my eyes, and I can't drive with blurry eyes...so instead I'm adding this cool link to TURNING POINT SCHOOL, so my students can "visit" virtually with the volunteers who will be working with us on BIG SUNDAY!

Hey, Hey, Collaboration is at Ha(nd! At LAUSD!sh

I was blown away when I read today on Marlene Canter's blogspot (she is our Nora Sterry School LAUSD Board Member and entrepreneur and social activist and, ....you get the picture!),

THAT collaboration is happening now in LAUSD!

LAUSD settled the Prop 39 lawsuit instead of litigating!!!!!!!!

(PROP 39 MANDATES THAT ALL CHARTER SCHOOLS BE GIVEN SPACE ON ALL PUBLIC SCHOOL SITES )

Perhaps those who are the decision-makers in the kingdom called LAUSD, are walking the talk finally, now that it is clear the children - must all be well-educated, globally-oriented, scientists , even the poorest of the poor and the weakest of the weak....for the secret to sustainability is the understanding that we are all one - all interconnected - and if one connection is broken, we are all DOOMED!

HOORAY FOR UNIT 5! COURAGE = GUTS = BRAVERY

I am so proud of the students in Room 11! We kicked off our COURAGE unit on Monday, April 21st, with students writing drafts of stories (narratives) about a time when they had courage and then another, completely opposite story, about a time when they LACKED COURAGE.

Mr. Gilbert was kind enough to sub on Tuesday, EARTHDAY, when Ms. Gilbert had to go downtown to represent LAUSD DEPT OF HEALTH SERVICES/NETWORK FOR A HEALTHY CALIFORNIA LAUSD & CSGN (CALIFORNIA SCHOOL GARDEN NETWORK) at a huge Earthday celebration. Everyone enjoyed seeing Leo and his new haircut.

But our week also provided us with a lot of emotional challenges. We had a lot of sad things happen, and scary things happen, and we also began to understand how COURAGE means COMPASSION and that WE ARE ALL ONE!

We spent a lot of time watching the memes on the internet (Global Mindshift) and are beginning to understand that we all must learn to get along right away, or our planet is in big trouble.

We had a lot of guest teachers in our class this past week, which was so cool! It's so great having two really good teachers collaborating to help all the students learn faster.

I want to thank Mr. Siry, our School Principal, for somehow finding the money to fund a second certified teacher in Room 11 for 2 days last week.

And now....for the first ROOM 11 HERO OF THE WEEK......
may I present.....


Here is the speech he is memorizing this weekend to present to the class (and Mr. Siry) on Monday, April 28th!

Hero of the Month!

Our Hero's Speech for Monday, April 28^th!

I am sorry, class, for giving a really, really bad example. I shouldn’t be doing this. Now I realize that what I did might happen to me! And someone might tell everybody something bad about me sometime, and it would hurt my feelings, too.

I realize how bad it feels to get embarrassed.

By: ^2nd Grader
Presented to Room 11 in honor of his classmate, who helped his friend to understand how it feels to be hurt by words and actions of others.

Urban Farming at Nora Sterry School- After School Program

Do you stay after school on the yard with Beyond the Bell coaches? Well...get ready for a great new after-school program being planned for you as we speak!

Urban Farming (http://www.urbanfarming.org) is collaborating with CSGN (California School Garden Network-LA) and Nora Sterry School's after School program called BEYOND THE BELL.

Students will be encouraged to participate in a variety of activities all designed to raise awareness of the need to rapidly reduce humanity's harm to our planet.

The program will be holistic in nature, patterned after the principles set for by the Center for Ecoliteracy and will eventually become a breeding ground for green-based micro-businesses on LAUSD campuses where students and their parents can begin using public property to raise organic produce and use it for their own consumption or as a means of making money at local certified organic farmers markets throughout the community.

Invite Your Relatives, Friends, and Nora Sterry Supporters!

It is with great joy that the community at Turning Point School and New Horizons West, along with Manatt Phelps, Mayor Villaraigosa, and all the other BIG SUNDAY sponsors and supporters invite the entire school body of students, parents, staff, and alumni to come share in the celebration of work and play and most importantly, community building at Nora Sterry Elementary School.

We have about 500 students and parents coming to Nora Sterry on May 4th 2008 to paint the outside of the schhool and to help build 20 new planter boxes so that each class can be growing their own food!

HEY, HEY, IT'S NOT FARAWAY!
BIG SUNDAY IS QUICKLY HEADING OUR WAY!

Get ready to party on BIG SUNDAY! MAY 4, 2008 12:00noon - 4pm

Sign up to volunteer for PROJECT #0171 Nora Sterry
12noon - 4pm
BRING YOUR OWN PAINT ROLLER AND PAINT TRAY (Not Required, But Desired!)

We are PAINTING OUR SCHOOL'S EXTERIOR WALLS TO PREPARE THEM FOR NEW MURALS!

OUR NEW MURALS will represent our school's
ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP mission as one important component of
TEACHING GLOBAL CITIZENRY
THROUGH COOPERATION,
NURTURING,
COMPASSION, AND
CONSENSUS-BUILDING.

Remember...Sign up for PROJECT #0171 at http://www.bigsunday.org

MEETING DAVID WILSON - A MUST SEE FOR ALL!

"MEETING DAVID WILSON". a "Conversation About Race"
must be seen in students, teachers, staff, parents, in LAUSD immediately...

EVERYTHING IS INTERCONNECTED!

Our meme for the day is called "SENSE OF SELF" where we can explore the concept of global interconnectedness!

Homework - Room 11 April 7-11

This week we're working on "Monster Tracks" and our homework is located at the Opencourtcresources.com website under 2nd grade Fossil Unit Homework.

Welcome to a New Week in Room 11!

Last week an extraordinary potato was given to a Nora Sterry student who shared it with our class. This potato is real and it is shaped like a heart. We wanted to do an experiment with it, but the student wishes to save it for posterity by preserving it with some kind of sealing solution.

The experiment our class would have liked to do is this: We wanted to cut it up, and plant parts of the potato to see if the new babies produced by the mother would look just like her or not.

What do you think would happen if we planted pieces of the mom?

MEMES - One a Day Keeps the Shift Happening!

Global Mindshift is an international organization which is ever-evolving with a mission of helping homo sapiens of all ages to SHIFT THEIR THINKING about WHO IN THE WORLD we are - making the shift to GLOBAL PEACE and SUSTAINABILITY as quickly as possible.

As part of my daily practice as a classroom teacher I incorporate these memes as appropropriate, to help my students SHIFT THEIR THINKING to understand that we, as humans, have the BRAIN-POWER to control the older parts of ourselves....and find PEACEFUL WAYS TO RESOLVE ALL CONFLICTS.