Fractals are mandalas

Naturally occurring fractals are a miracle of nature.  An Italian mathematician Fibonacci, figured out the mathematics behind fractals.  He was so fascinated by this recurring pattern in nature that he came up with a formula to explain this pattern.  You can google Fibonacci if you are interested in this study.

      

other, another, others

Hi - here's a little explanation of these three similar words:

Other and another act as determiners - they modify nouns.

Others acts as a pronoun and stands in place of a noun.

Another can only be used with singular countable nouns.
Examples: I'd like another glass of wine.  She goes to another school.

Other is used with singular and plural countable nouns and non-countable nouns.
Examples:  I like the other book better.  We like the other books more.  The other rice was better.

Others stands on its own, since it acts as a pronoun.

Example:  Where did the others go?
(The others refers to the other people.)
Here is a pen, here's another one and the others are in the drawer.
(The others refers to the other pens.)

Hope this is useful!  See you tomorrow -

bird songs

Just as flowers are mandalas and are spiritually uplifting, the songs of birds are a source of divine inspiration for me.  How delightful their continuous singing is.

I would like to post a little audio file of bird songs that I hear everyday, but I don't have time to figure this out right now.  I will figure it out during the Christmas break.  Turns out podcasts can be inserted onto our blog!

lovely Native American chant

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zA65KmOBTDw

An Inconvenient Truth and small vocabulary mini lesson

Hi - Today we watched an Inconvenient Truth, by Al Gore. For those who have not seen this movie, I really recommend renting it, it is a classic documentary film about global warming. I have probably seen it at least 10 times and each time I see it, I learn something new!

At the end of today, we discussed the meanings of a few words and idiomatic expressions and here they are:
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- The word volition is a high register word for the word will.

Volition = will - these are nouns

Ex.: She left of her own volition. She left because she wanted to.

Common expression using the word "will": When there is a will, there is a way! This means, if you really want to do something (you have the will to do it) you will find a way to make it happen! I love this expression especially because it reminds me of my mom who said it a lot!
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- That doesn’t cut it.

Verbal phrases:

To cut it – to make the grade – to pass inspection

If something doesn’t cut it, it means that it’s not good enough.

Ex. The food at the restaurant didn’t really cut it for me. It wasn’t good enough for me.

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-to step up to the plate

baseball reference, we saw the design of the baseball field, often called the baseball diamond. The batter steps up to the plate to bat, so he's ready for action!

In figurative language we use the expression, to step up to the plate, to mean, to move into a position where one is ready to do a task.

For ex. It's time for Tom to step up to the plate and take on his share of work.
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It’s important to connect the dots –

To make sense of things – logical conclusions - If I connect the dots I begin to see patterns and make some deductions.

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I hope this is helpful for you.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving break. Don't forget to read an article, or a short story over the break - be ready to tell us something about it. Next, you will write a summary about what you have read.

Till Monday ;)

Warm blankets and jackets donation

Warm blanket and jacket donation

to MASC - Multi Agency Services Center

Please donate any clean, warm blankets or jackets to level 4 by Tuesday, December 15^th. We will have a box in our classroom for your donation. We will be making this donation on December 16^th to MASC, a support center for the homeless, located on Center St. in Berkeley. Please make people happy during the winter season!

If you have any questions, come talk to students in level 4.

Thank you for your interest!

Thank you for a lovely potluck

I want to thank those who brought food, it was so wonderful to share what we prepared together. Let's have another potluck before we go on holiday in December!