Hello Families,
Before I dive into a recap of our last few weeks of May and June together, I wanted to highlight the summer work that was sent home in the bags of your Temescalian’s things.
For kids who are returning, there should be a math workbook that has pages marked out that should be completed by the beginning of school in August. There is also yellow sheet with the summer assignments tucked in that math workbook. This sheet has the reading, math, and writing assignments for the summer. Please take time to locate that workbook and yellow assignment sheet and plan out when you might want to get started on that work. We also passed out a stapled copy of summer reading recommendations that have color copies of the cover of the books that are recommended.
Forgotten items:
Please pick up your 3D printed tops, serving plates/tray/utensils from the End of the Year Celebration of Learning, jackets, pictures, and books in the office.
Let’s dive into the last few weeks of school!
We had been talking about what makes a top spin for the longest and we used Tinkered to have kids design their own 3D printed tops! They could use any shapes that were available to them in the ready made shapes. They needed to group the separate shapes together to form one cohesive unit. The dimensions of the top had the maximum of 2.5″ wide, 2.5″ long, and 2″ tall. Temescalians used a plethora of different shapes that varied from using a cone and cylinder to make a more traditional top. Other kids used the ready made shapes of a bear with a cone on its back, a singer in the center of a disc, a lucky cat on top of a cone, a semi-circle and cylinder to form a mushroom, and a snowflake on top of a cone with a cylinder as the spindle. (For those who have yet to receive your top, they are ready for you and in the office!)
There were many moments of frustration as kids had to learn new technology, orient and use fine motor skills to position each shape in the desired place. But overall, it was a fun and rewarding experience.
We enjoyed the 8th graders’ creativity during the Repurposed Fashion Show. It is always exciting to see how the 8th graders will repurpose articles of clothing and found items in new and unexpected ways. One group used cardboard to make a dragon head dress. Another group used spray paint to change the skirt to a silver color. Another group incorporated crocheted rosettes into the design.
https://vimeo.com/959475180/05b9a28055?share=copy
We had our last Beach Day at Crown Beach in Alameda. The warm was close to the shore and the sun was out so we got to enjoy our time in the water. By lunch, the water had receded really far out and we got to enjoy the experience of “walking to San Francisco”. When we got back, we enjoyed cupcakes that a family sent into school.
Local Animal Research Writing Project
We finished up our local animal research writing and shared our informational texts to each other, our 6th grade buddies, and our grown-ups! This process started in February, soon after the 100th day of school celebration. Temescalians first selected a plant or animal from a list of local plants or animals.
We generated questions that were our guiding questions for what would be important to include in an informational text. We read The Pirates of Plagiarism and talked about how we could turn facts into our own words. By recording just the fact, we could then turn those facts into sentences and paragraphs in our own words. We found articles about each animal and the Temescalians started taking notes! They had a checklist to help them ensure that they had enough information before moving onto the drafting stage.
Once they were done with their draft, they used an editing checklist for a self edit and then a peer edit. We remind and reiterate that the editing process is a loop until writing conventions are included, spelling is corrected, and there is enough information included. Also, with a peer, they needed to use the “B.A.G” format where they Begin with compliments, Ask questions, and Give suggestions to improve the writing piece. Between each pass, the Temescalian was supposed to go back and make those edits before they moved onto the teacher edit.
In this final step, the teacher would check for writing conventions, spelling, and of course, content. To publish, Temescalians had to turn a blank book into their information text by drawing a cover image, title page image, make a table of contents, and include a picture, caption, and “Did you know?” for the appearance/habitat, offspring, and food sections.
This was a months long writing project, and the Temescalians have much to be proud about! Thank you for joining us and celebrating this publication!
We had a chance to go into CerritoBerry’s ocean habitat. The 4th/5th graders focused on a local aquatic animal to write informational pamphlets about, and created an immersive environment that featured 3D models of the animal they studied. It was a great experience learning from one another, and a nice peek into what they can expect when they’re 5th graders.
We got to celebrate our summer birthdays! It’s so wonderful to see what the Temescalians looked like from birth to now. Happy early birthday, Temescalians!
K-8 got yearbooks this year! Before handing them out, we talked about respecting both the people who made the book and the subjects of the pictures by keeping the images in the book as they were printed. They got to practice signing one another’s yearbooks, and some even ventured to write summer wishes for one another too!
We finished our last day of school with our annual assembly and dance party! Classes got to go up and share about our memories. Teachers and staff who are leaving got recognized by students. We danced!
Thank you for your kind words! I’ve been at TBS from 2012 – 2024, and for the entirety of TBS having a stand alone 3rd grade! Temescal Creek was my home for past the 11 years and it has been a blast being a part of this community of learners and educators!
Here is a comparison of the Temescalians from the beginning of the year, and now!
Thank you for a wonderful year, Temescalians! Have a safe and restful summer!