Update from week of February 5th

Fort Ross
Fort Ross has been front and center this week as we prepared for our trip next week. The Commandant visited again to show the learners how to sew bags. Different role groups continued their specific jobs to prepare for Fort Ross, and many officers visited the school to meet their "employees". The learners looked at primary documents from the time of Fort Ross and had discussions about the importance of those documents in understanding how life was back then. They also used the primary documents to create word problems for math. The children were given rubrics for their background knowledge and journal projects to help them see the expectations for their work. Volunteer parents came in to help teach the kids embroidery. They all should have brought home embroidered belts that they can wear with their costumes. Several 5th and 6th grade veterans of Ft. Ross came to help demonstrate and teach the troika (a Russian folk dance). I believe that they are prepared to create a real environmental living experience next Monday and Tuesday.

Art Project
Irene and Winnie came with the owners of Skyline Ceramics to guide the learners into making amazing looking chess pieces for a very special chess set.

Women in Sports Day
Caitlin, Kali, Kailee, Maddy, Sierra, Selena, Sam, and Abraham spent some of their own free time this week studying women in sports for the official Women In Sports Day that occurred on Wednesday. They created posters with Christine's guidance to hang in the gym, so visitors to the gym can learn more about important women in sports. The assembly on Wednesday celebrated Women in sports.

Math
In math we are continuing our study of fractions. We are becoming quite good at ordering fractions. We are understanding that the denominator means the number of pieces and can be used to compare fractions. Learners know that it is better to have one out of two than 6 out of 18. Next week we will continue to look at how to compare fractions and begin to explore common denominators.