Hello Families,
We our last few weeks are packed! Here’s what’s coming up!
Sunday, May 19 – Day at the Park: Join us at Codornices Park from 10am – 2pm for community, connection, crafts, a photo booth, and performances by Grandpa Clyde (11:00 – 11:30am) and Emily Butterfly (12:00 – 12:45pm)!
Tuesday, May 21 – Step-up Day: Kids will spend an hour or so in one of the 4th/5th grade classrooms to get a feel for what’s to come next year! (Their placement on Tuesday is not a reflection of where they will be placed in 2024-2025)
Friday, May 24 – 8th grade Fashion Show (12:30 – 2:00pm)
Monday, May 27 – Memorial Day (No school, no childcare)
Thursday, May 30 – Library books are due! Please return them on your own!
Friday, May 31 – K-3 Beach Day at Robert W. Crown Memorial State Beach in Alameda. Look for a green permission slip for this trip in folders on Monday! We’ll need parent carpool to get there and back. Please join us on this last outing of the year together!
Friday, June 7 – Last day of school is a half day. We’ll enjoy lunch together before an early dismissal of 12:20pm.
Looking ahead, we are also going to have a celebration of learning some time the last week of school. Please look for information about that in upcoming emails.
Let’s dive into the last few weeks’ of learning!
We started a new unit of math and we’re connecting multiplication with division. Please practice multiplication times tables with your Temescalian! While we encourage the kiddos to skip count and really understand what they’re doing when they are multiplying, it is time for that to solidify and 3rd graders should be memorizing their times tables if they are comfortably skip counting by 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s, 6s, 7s, 8s, 9s, and 10s.
We are exploring fact families. Looking at things that come in 4s, we first wrote out multiplication number sentences. Then we wrote out the inverse and wrote corresponding division number sentences.
We listed things that come in groups of 4s: 4 tires on a car, 4 legs on a dog/cat/horse, 4 sides of a rectangle. The kids took a vote and decided to illustrate that there are 4 sides of an abacus. (Yep. Unexpected choice.)
We figured out that if there are 4 sides of an abacus, how many sides are there for 2 abacuses? 3 abacuses? 4 abacuses?
Having laid out the multiplication number sentences, we tried to figure out: If we know there are 16 sides, how many abacuses are there? If there are 20 sides, how many abacuses are there?
As we write our own story problems, thinking about the question will show the Temescalian’s understanding of multiplication and division. If they want the problem to be a multiplication problem, they’ll be asking for the total number of things in groups. If they want the problem to be a division problem, they’ll be asking for either how many are in each group or how many groups there are?
In Science, our current unit is focusing on patterns of motion. We’re exploring that by looking at a wheel and axle model. Kids were given 1 axle, 2 large red discs, and 2 yellow discs. They could make whatever combination they wanted, but notice what happened when they rolled it down a ramp. The kids noted that when they had a larger disc on one side and a smaller disc on the other side of the axle, it would roll towards the smaller disc.
Given what we learned from the wheel and axle model, we gave the Temescalians cups and they were tasked with trying to see if they could release the cup and have it roll under the ramp. Once they achieved that challenge, they were tasked with trying to make that happen when they had to connect 2 cups together, and finally when they were given a penny to connect to the cup creation.
They were able to connect the previous model and conclude that the cup would roll toward the smaller base. They were starting to see the patterns in motion!
Thinking about another type of pattern in motion, we took to the skies and made twirly/whirly birds. We were asked to see which direction it would rotate, when following the directions on the sheet. Then, they were tasked with trying to make it rotate the other direction. How could they make that happen?
After using the template, they were challenged to design their own twirly bird that could carry 3 paper clips. Some decided to make the “propellers” Â wider. Some extended the propellers. Temescalians noted that if the body were too big, the entire twirly bird would drop straight to the ground.
Our most recent foray into patterns of motion are creating tops. We watched a video on tops created by the Eames design company in the 1960s.
We noticed the shape of each top and how they might stay upright for the longest. Many Temescalians connected tops to dreidels and BayBlades. We gave each Temescalian a green axle, 2 large red discs, and 2 small yellow discs and they went to designing their own tops!
We went on two field trips within the last two weeks! The first was to our local branch of the Berkeley Public Library. The librarian showed us how the AMH machine sorted returned materials and how books are categorized. We were able to check out 2 books each, and they are due on May 30. You need to return the books on your own! If you are unable to do so, please go online and renew the books that you are not yet done with!
We also went to the UC Botanical Garden to learn about the plants that the Ohlone people used long ago. One of our Temescalians’ grandmothers was one of our docents and it was lovely to have 3 generations learning together!
We saw ceanothus in action and how you could use it as soap. (But be careful, it can feel sticky or irritate your skin if you don’t wash it off well.)
We got to grind/pound some acorns, play games that the Ohlone played long ago, and use clap sticks fashioned out of dried elderberry cane.
Last week was Teacher Appreciation Week, and we felt so appreciated! Erin coordinated daily treats including a tasty meal, having the Berkeley Humane Society stop by for some kitten and pup cuteness, flowers, beverages from Hidden Cafe, and massages!
We celebrated a Temescalian’s birthday! It was so nice to be able to celebrate on his actual birthday!
Finally, we have chickens incubating and hatching in the middle school!
Our days are jam packed with learning! Here’s to the last few weeks of school together!