Students had their first visit with our art docent on Wednesday, and did a wonderful project Picasso-inspired project. We are very fortunate to have Cathy Dial (a Rancho parent, but not with a child in our classroom--and a great art docent) as our art docent. It will be a great year for the art docent program in Room 14!

The restoration field trip is on Tuesday, Oct. 28. Please refer to last week's blog entry (or last week's paper copy) for information about the day. Most importantly:

• eat a good breakfast--there will be no time for a mid-morning snack
• dress in layers--it is supposed to be colder next week
• wear clothes and shoes that can get dirty or muddy
• BRING A LUNCH WITH A DRINK and A WATER BOTTLE
• wear a hat and sunscreen
• come ready to work and have fun!

We will leave at 8:35am so students must be at school on time. We don't want to leave without you, but if you are not here, we'll have to. We're planning to be back by 2:30pm.

We have the opportunity for another fun field trip--decorating one of the Larkspur ferry boats (in celebration of all December holidays) and then taking the ferry to San Francisco and back. Many thanks to Alex Thomson's family for making this field trip possible. Our date for this field trip is Monday, Dec. 8. The field trip is free EXCEPT that we need parent drivers to get us there and back (and they get to ride the ferry with us). Students will make the decorations at school (or also at home, if they chose to do so). Mrs. Dees' class will be coming along as well. She and I were hoping we could coordinate a potluck lunch afterward (we should be back at Rancho by 12:30) of holiday foods from different cultures and/or traditions. Sounds a bit ambitious perhaps, but it could be a lot of fun! The one potential problem is that both classes already have the field trip to the Chabot Space and Science Center scheduled for Friday, Dec. 12, and that cannot be rescheduled. It may be asking too much of parent drivers to help both classes get to both field trips in the same week, but hopefully it will work! Please contact Marianne Hill (or me) if you can drive on Monday, Dec. 8 (8:45am-12:30pm). Folks have already signed up to drive to Chabot, and Marianne will be contacting those people directly.
**Please contact our room parent, Lorena Garbarino, if you can help with the potluck lunch on Dec. 8. Again, I think the students would have a great time.

I appreciate all the parents who have sent back their parent-teacher confirmation forms. If I haven't heard from you yet, or if there is a problem, I will be contacting you again to make sure that we can find a time for this important conversation. If you have any questions, please contact me.

The test on all 50 states, their capitals, and their postal abbreviations is coming up on Thursday, November 13. If your child has not already been practicing at home, now would be a good time to start--say 10-15 minutes each day. Check out http://sheppardsoftware.com/web_games.htm for a fun website for states' practice!

Our class will have a Halloween party on Friday, from 1:30-the end of the school day. You are welcome to come and help out! Please contact Lorena Garbarino or Marianne Hill if you have any questions.

Have a great weekend.