Last Friday, we had an amazing field trip to Mission San Juan Bautista. The kids learned so much about missions and how they operated. This information will be vital to the kids as they are currently in a social studies unit on California Missions. To visit San Juan Bautista Mission up close and personal was an experience I am sure the students will not soon forget. Wanted to personally thank all of our parent volunteers (Sharon Singer, Vera Yank, Nancy Larocca Hedley, Nick Gracia, and Amy Traum) for taking time out of their busy schedules to chaperone the kids on the trip. Enclosed are some highlights from the month of March.

As I mentioned above, the class is currently working on informative reports on California Missions. We have assigned one of the twenty-one missions to each of the kids. Currently, they are researching their mission so they will have the necessary information to write a report on their particular place. It will be important for students to pace themself so they will complete their report on time. We will have our Missions Night on April 20^th. Hope to see you.

In reading, we have been going through the novel, Esperanza Rising. This novel tells the tale of a 14 year-old girl, Esperanza, whose family completes an emergency migration from Mexico to the United States to escape the heavy-handed ways of their uncles, Luis and Marco. Esperanza Rising is the classic Cinderella story, but with the twist of being told in reverse. Esperanza is the daughter of a wealthy landowner from Mexico, but is forced to move to California and becomes a migrant worker in the San Joaquin Valley. Esperanza uses grit to rise above her circumstances and reshape her life in a surprising and new way.

In writing, we have been working on our autobiographies. The kids have writing on the following subtopics: family members, places lived, hobbies and interests, physical description, places traveled, proudest moment, and a life motto. I look forward to reading the kids life stories. The due date for the autobiographies is Friday, March 25^th.

In math, we have been working on the math strand of fractions. The kids have learned to add and subtract fractions with like denominators, add and subtract mixed numbers, and multiply a fraction by a whole number. The class will have a math test on Tuesday, March 29^th.

In closing, I want to remind everyone that report cards came out this week. Please take the time to look over the areas where you see real growth in your child. Remember to think back on the goals that you set in the portfolio and celebrate the successes they have had, as well as looking for areas of growth. Best of luck! Finally, please remember to keep bringing in your building materials for the Mission Building Project which is coming up April 11^th – 15^th.

Professionally,

John H. Fuller (4^th grade, Oak Knoll Elem.)