Hello families! We had a week of many wet days but the Temescalians pulled through and approached each day with gusto and enjoyed each new concept and experience.
We started our week with a cello recital by two of our Temescalian musicians who performed a few duets that they have been preparing in their after school program.
The Temescalians enjoyed this private show and learned about the cello – “it’s similar to a violin because it is made of wood, has a similar shape, and has 4 strings. It is different from a violin because it uses the bass clef, has a deeper sound, is much larger, and you sit down to play it.”
We also had our monthly all school assembly. In this season of plenty, thankfulness, and generosity, there were many calls for donations.
Sweet Briar Creek is collecting toiletries until Thursday, 12/18 for women and children at a local shelter.
This month’s Showcase of Learning was from Strawberry Creek. Jeff and Iris started taxing the kids for necessities like using the door. This led to frustration and upheaval which gave them first hand experience to better empathize with early colonists when the British began taxing them for necessities like sugar and tea.
Our class participated in the Hour of Code and used coding to direct their Angry Bird through mazes to squash the pig! As each child fulfilled each level, they were actually completing lines of code! The kids had a great time with the games, and you can visit the website for more practice, information, and resources! http://code.org/learn
In Reading, we discussed the elements of fluency
– decoding smoothly
– using expression while reading
– paying attention to punctuation
“It’s sort of like acting.”
“It’s fun to use different voices when I read.”
Fluency is important as we read aloud because it shows that we have moved beyond just decoding words. We can now pay attention to the meaning behind the words that we are reading. Also, as our eyes grow more accustomed to reading, we are actually reading ahead and scanning so that we take into account the punctuation as we are reading and incorporate it into how we read a word!
We introduced Whisper Phones to help with this without have all the Temescalians reading aloud at once and creating a terrible din! Whisper Phones are tubes that are shaped like a phone that amplify sound so kids can hear how they are reading as they read to themselves.
The kids continue to build up their spelling strategies with the Words Their Way program. Kids sort words on cards to see how they are related to one another and create awareness for spelling patterns. We practice with sorts, by playing hangman, and illustrating words.
We wrapped up our multiplication and division unit and began our fraction unit.
As a final “show what you know”, the kids first were given word problems that they needed to solve on their own. Children proceeded through this work at their own pace. The next day, Temescalians tackled 1 problem from the work they had done the previous day and shared strategies of how they solved the problem. The children then selected a representative to use the E.L.M.O. to show different strategies to solve the problem.
When we asked about whether they preferred multiplication or division they said, “I like multiplication because it is repeated addition.” “I like division because it is complicated and interesting.” “I like multiplication because it is easier for me.”
We followed division with fractions because fractions use similar thinking as division. As we started our fraction unit, we used white boards to see what the children already knew about fractions. Some already knew that fractions always dealt with equal parts. The numerator is how many pieces are used. The denominator is how many pieces there are altogether. As they became more comfortable writing out the numeral form of fractions from given pictures, they expressed excitement and ease. “I could do fractions all day!”
We had a powerful conversation with Kate Klaire in conjunction to bullying and gateway behaviors.
Kate first shared with us a story about her chickens. She had a flock of about 7-8 chickens. Most of them got along.
Then Kate introduced 2 new chickens into the group. These two new chickens were pecked by the original flock. One was pecked more than the other.
Finally, Kate’s neighbor asked if she could take in 1 more chicken, and Kate did. When she introduced the new chicken, the two pecked chickens started to peck on it, and as the new chicken became the new target, the 2 chickens began to become more accepted in the flock. This went on until the newest chicken died.
Kate explained that chickens have a way of behaving, but they do not have the reasoning that humans do. In most bullying situations, everyone plays a role: bully (trying to gain power by repeatedly harmful/mean teasing), victim (someone who is a target of bullying behaviour), upstanders (I’m going to create change), bystanders (watching).
Something that may go by more unnoticed are gateway behaviors – behaviors that make you pause and say, “Ouch!” whether the behavior was directed towards you or not. We talked about what we can do as upstanders/bystanders. “We can tell that person to stop.” “We can check in with the victim.” “We can go get help from a teacher.”
We went a little deeper in this conversation and made connections with the ongoing protests that were going through Oakland and Berkeley. We highlighted that you could be a bully, victim, upstander, and bystander throughout a situation. For example, the people who are protesting are being upstanders. However, police officers who are trying to protect people’s shops but are having things thrown at them are victims and the protesters are being bullies. There are police officers who are participating in the protests so they are seen as bullies but are trying to be upstanders.
The conversation was rich and is foundational work for third graders. As we grow and mature, we see that there is less and less black and white in all situations, and we need to discern how to act when there is no clear right or wrong. By talking about it and practicing it in the safety of the classroom, we give Temescalians the foundation and perhaps the confidence to act when actually faced with uncertain situations.
To wrap up our soggy week, we invited Julianne in to help us create our own “snow balls” for Super Science and Art!
We first watched a video talking about how the hydrogen and oxygen of a water molecule interact to create snowflakes. As water molecules slow down and freeze, they are attracted to one another in a hexagonal shape. The key to the six sided shape is the points of the hexagon. The points poke out the furthest and are more likely to attract another water molecule than the sides between the points.
Julianne showed us how to create a sphere out of pipe cleaners. Using a solution of hot water and borax, we created our own crystals! We can’t wait to see how they turn out on Monday!
A few other views from the week:
Upcoming events:
Thursday, Dec. 18 – Celebration of Learning: Please come by from 8:30 -10:00am and hear the Temescalians share their Thankful Expository pieces in small groups and then have a time of tasting tasty treats and festive singing!
Dec. 22- Jan. 2 – Winter Break!
Jan. 5 – Class resumes
Please bring in kid-friendly magazines for a collaging project . . .
We can’t wait to welcome with our grown ups Thursday morning and celebrate the season, as well as all of our learning and hard work!
