We really enjoyed performing and making cornhusk dolls with our Grandfriends!
In writing workshop we are putting the finishing touches on our Thankful Expositories and began writing About the Author before we publish these amazing five-paragraph essays. We studied About the Author pages by two of our favorite authors, J.K. Rowling and Roald Dahl, and then brainstormed what we could include in ours and how to design this page. We can’t wait to celebrate all of our hard work by sharing these writing pieces with our grown ups first thing in the morning on Thursday, December 18. During this celebration of learning we will also be enjoying an international potluck and holiday sing-a-long. You should have already received an email with details and a link to volunteer.
We combined cursive handwriting practice and mindfulness by focusing on breathing in on downcurves and breathing out on undercurves to form the basis of a, d, g, q, o, and c. We will be focusing on the cursive formation of these letters in the next couple of weeks.
In reading workshop we wrote a character study on someone we have met in a book this year. We described the character, explained why we like them and why they are important to the story, and listed their character traits. Then we drew a picture of how we visualize this character in our mind. Temescalians are connecting through book recommendations and cherish their time to settle in with their “just right” books in class.
Our multiplication and division unit is coming to an end, but students should continue to study their multiplication facts daily for 5-10 minutes. In our weekly fluency checks we can really tell that they have been working hard on memorizing their multiplication facts, and this work translates to more confidence and ease while approaching math problems in class. After teaching division with remainders we are ready to divide those remainders and talk about fractions! We continue to weave in whole glass games like Buzz, Sparkle, and Guess My Number to support our learning and to bring us together with numbers in fun ways.
In science we wrapped up our study of photosynthesis and dug into the science of snowflakes. We enjoyed Snowflake Bentley, a stunning picture book about a scientist’s passion and vision about snowflakes and his perseverance to continue to pursue his science. With Julianne we designed and created our own unique 6-branched marvels of science. We also observed and measured the rain and spotted a couple of rainbows over TBS.
For cultural studies we welcomed in an expert on the Ohlone people who showed us all about how the local people lived long ago. We saw first hand how they ground acorns with a mortar and pestle and how they had to cook the acorn into a mush while leaching out the poison. We also learned about how the Ohlone men and women worked, what they wore, and the different roles within the community. The Ohlone children worked really hard too gathering acorns and learning the trades of their grown ups.
For our social and emotion curriculum we learned new tools to help us speak up and get along, and we also discussed expected and unexpected behaviors. Next week Kate Klaire will be coming into the classroom to lead an interactive lesson on bullying/teasing/gateway behavior.
UPCOMING:
Holiday Craft-Making Fair, Sunday, December 7 (see Newsnotes)
Scholastic book orders (went home in backpacks) due by Friday, December 12 (For online ordering use Temescal class code: FMQ8F before due date)
Hour of Code, week of December 8th (see Newsnotes)
More peaks into TBS and Temescal Creek . . .
