This website was
chosen as one of USA Today's Education's weekly "Best Bet" websites in
January 2004. It
was also Busy
Teachers Cafe's Site of the Month for December 2003.
Selected
and featured in Education World in March/April 2005.
On Tuesday May 17th, we will be going to Lake
Cunningham to do some Science activities and have lunch with our 2nd
and 3rd grade e-Pals from Valle Vista and Baldwin Elementary
schools. We have emailed students at those 2 schools to share
what we have learned. Now we will meet them. See their
photos and our joint project at http://www.sjteach.org/aaa.html<>
<>
<>
Students and Parents to
Check Out Middle School
During the week of May 16-20th,
both students and parents will have the chance to see what lies ahead
for them in middle school.
On Monday, May 16th, Vinci Park
5th graders will tour Piedmont Middle. On wednesday night,
parents are urged to attend the Piedmont Middle School Parent
Orientation Night from 7-8:30 PM in Piedmont's Multi-Purpose
Room.
Mr. Curry intends to be there to get used to his new environment for
next year as well..
Berryessa Festival May 7th
features our classmates
The 30th annual Berryessa Art
& Wine Festival was held on Saturday May 7th, with live
entertainment and fun for the whole family. Over 150 craft & food
booths were featured at the festival, located at Penitencia Creek Park
next to Berryessa Community Center, to benefit Berryessa Music Boosters
and the San Jose Neighborhood Services Department. Several of our
classmates will performed their Music
under the direction of Ms. Amador.
Tues. May 3rd: Visit of Berryessa Union School District
Superintendent, Dr. Marc Liebman, PhD. to discuss our 5th graders'
committment to the environment in Earth Day, Adopt-A-Creek and our Amazing Aquatic Adventures
Project. Wed
May 11th: GATE Afterschool BioSITE Trip 2:45-5:30PM
Day of the Teacher Monfay
May 16th: 5th grade trip to Piedmont Middle School Tues
May 17th: Field Trip to Lake Cunningham to
meet our 2nd and 3rd grade ePals Wed
May 18th: 7-8:30PM Parent Information Meeting at Piedmont Middle
School Thur
May 19th: Volunteer Tea June 8-10:
Vinci Park Olympics Wed June
15th: 5:30-7PM Room 31 Potluck for students and
families Thur June
16: 5th Grade Recognition 12-1:15PM at Outside
Amphitheater Fri June
17: 5th Grade Picnic at Flickinger Park.
Last Day of School.
Vinci Park Celebrates Earth Day
Recycling
Project: Our students helped collect, sort and bag cans. The
proceeds helped provide financial aid for Science Camp.
Friday
April 22nd: Earth
Day and Adopt-A-Creek Clean Up of Upper
Penitencia Creek Field Trip
8:45-11 and later we did a Project
Astro Planet Simulation with our Project Astro Partner, Mr. Bernie
Lin of Lockheed Martin.
Engineering
Week: We had 2 engineers from Lockheed Martin visit
our class and help us learn about engineers. We even built some
structures out of spaghetti!
Annual Star Party - "A Night of A Million
Stars"
On Tuesday, April 12th, local astronomy enthusiasts shared their
enthusiasm for astronomy with dozens of Vinci Park families. The
families, astronomers and teachers, braved the cool night temperatures
to get a great view of planets, stars and the constellations. One
observer was amazed by how clear the planet Saturn was. Room 31
was represented by Mr. Curry and one student, Zack.
Thanks ro the San Jose Amatuer Astronomy Association for
bringing out their telescopes and to 5th grade teacher Mr. Silva with
having organized the annual event.
Yes We CAN Make a Big Difference!
With the support of
almost every class in the school, our students gathered, counted and
sorted aluminum cans. This recycling project is good for our
environment. Since recycling pays, we even raised over $250 for
the Walden West Outdoor School scholarship fund. On April
22nd, Rooms 30, 31 and 32 will all go on a Creek Clean-Up trip to
Upper Penitencia Creek as an Eco-Action to celebrate Earth Day
2005. Chaperones are Needed! We are inviting the local press to come
with
us. See our Recycling
Yahoo! Photo page.
Projects
in March/April
Social Studies: "You
Are There" News Reports from the Revolutionary War, using video, with
our students as reporters and the people who made history!.
The video will be shown at Open House and OR at the end of the year
Class Dinner.
Reading/Language Arts: Spring Novels. Choice of
a book Dear Mr. Henshaw, Shiloh, or Holes
to read in small groups and to do book reports on (due April 8th).
Language Arts: Young Author's
Fair-- students are encouraged to create a book to enter in our
school-wide fair. Student entries are due by April 25th.
Last
weeks
of Stock Market Game
(through April 8th). Student groups will research
stocks and then invest an imaginary $100,000 and they will then manage
their portfolio. See Mr. Curry's sample
list of possible stocks.
Vinci Park
Recycling occurred in mid-April
. Otter
Pop sale after school every Thursday 1:15-1:30 and Friday,
2:35-2:50.
Proceeds will go towards our Science Camp Funds We will also have a
Vinci Park Day
at McDonald's fundraiser in early April.
Wed Feb 16th:
Field Trip to HP Pavilion for Reading
Is CoolThis is what I
learned on our trip to HP Pavilion. First, what I learned was to play
hockey and it was so cool because I got to shoot the ball thing (puck).
The next thing I learned was that I know how hockey players look like
because we got to dress up our captain and he looked funny. The last
thing I enjoyed was that we got prizes: tattoos, books, calendar,
poster and a Sharkie Reading Is Cool Frisbee to play with. That is what
I enjoyed and learned at the HP Pavilion. -by Iliana V. (Show Me
the Photos!)
In
May, we have been asked to take part in BizWorld's new program,
BizWiz.
Winter
Concert
The
Winter
Concert was on February 9th at Piedmont Middle School.
Fieldtrip
to Center for the Performing Arts on Friday, Feb 4th.
Performance of Chinese cultural dance, Music, Peking Opera and
acrobatics by Dimension Performing Arts.
Otter Pop
Sales Every Wed and Friday 2:35-2:50 for our Science Camp fund during
March and April
Coming In May: Completion of our
group Planet Power Point Projects
As
part of the 5th grade Science curriculum, all 5th grade students are
expected
to attend Science camp at
Walden
West. For this year, we will be
going in late April. We will have parent meetings to explain the
costs, fundraising opportunities and other details on February 16th.
Environmental
Eco-Action:Vinci
Park's 5th graders take part in an Eco-Action project to help clean up
our community. Our classes have taken part in the "Adopt-A-Creek"
program of the Santa Clara County Water District. Each class will
make 2-3 clean-up visits to Upper Penitencia Creek, just a few blocks
from
our school. Our first cleanup will be on Friday, September 17,
2004 from 10AM - 12 Noon.
Project
ASTRO:
We will once again team with a Lockheed Martin Space Systems volunteer
engineer, Mr. Bernie Lin, to do science experiments and to help set up
our annual Star Party.
Science-O-Rama:
We will once again have the annual science fair this Spring and
students
will enter individual projects. The Science-O-Rama will be on April
21st at the
school's Open House.
Reading
Is Cool:
Our
class will once again take part in the Reading Is Cool program to
encourage
students to read. Last year we gave out some neat Sharks prizes
and
we even got to go to the Shark Tank!
Newspapers
in
Education:Vinci
Park students in Room 31 will be getting weekly copies of both the San
Jose Mercury News and the San Francisco Chronicle to keep up on current
events and we will follow the stock market as part of the Chronicle's
Stock Market Game program. We
thank
both newspapers for their support for education.
Some of the Things we Have Done
2004-05
A
Review
of the School Year...So Far
First Day of School...only 180 days to go!
O'
Neill
Sea Odyssey Trip was on
Wednesday, October 27th
Our coolest
trip
of
the
year was in October.
We sailed aboard a catamaran out of Santa Cruz Harbor onto Monterey
Bay.
Selected
and featured in Education World in March/April 2005.
Week of April 25-29 : 
On Tuesday, April 12th, local astronomy enthusiasts shared their
enthusiasm for astronomy with dozens of Vinci Park families. The
families, astronomers and teachers, braved the cool night temperatures
to get a great view of planets, stars and the constellations. One
observer was amazed by how clear the planet Saturn was. Room 31
was represented by Mr. Curry and one student, Zack.
With the support of
almost every class in the school, our students gathered, counted and
sorted aluminum cans. This recycling project is good for our
environment. Since recycling pays, we even raised over $250 for
the Walden West Outdoor School scholarship fund. On April
22nd, Rooms 30, 31 and 32 will all go on a Creek Clean-Up trip to
Upper Penitencia Creek as an Eco-Action to celebrate Earth Day
2005. Chaperones are Needed! We are inviting the local press to come
with
us. See our 
This is what I
learned on our trip to HP Pavilion. First, what I learned was to play
hockey and it was so cool because I got to shoot the ball thing (puck).
The next thing I learned was that I know how hockey players look like
because we got to dress up our captain and he looked funny. The last
thing I enjoyed was that we got prizes: tattoos, books, calendar,
poster and a Sharkie Reading Is Cool Frisbee to play with. That is what
I enjoyed and learned at the HP Pavilion. -by Iliana V. (
nd Science camp at
Walden
West. For this year, we will be
going in late April. We will have parent meetings to explain the
costs, fundraising opportunities and other details on February 16th.
