This week was a whirl of graphing and digging deeper into our research writing.

We even started typing on Chromebooks!!

We had the great privilege of sharing our learning with the rest of the school, K-8, during the all school assembly this week.  Temescalians shared an interesting fact that they gathered from their research while a slideshow of the entire process played in the background.  From the audience, you could hear, “Whoa.  I didn’t know that…” as they reacted to the knowledge our experts shared with them.

As we are wrapping up our writing and publishing our research writing, we cordially invite you to a publishing party on Friday, March 27 from 8:30 – 9:30am.  You will be hearing more from Sherry and Logan for details on a nut-free breakfast potluck.

Our Cultural Studies and Science curriculums intertwine in the Temescalians’ research writing, but as we think about local plants and animals, we also connect to the people who lived here long ago.  Giving us a better idea of the Ohlone and their neighbors, we looked at a map of the Bay Area and how populated it with different people groups.  We talked about how where you live affects how you live and how the Ohlone would have boats as a means of transportation while the Miwoks (who used to live more inland, near Mt. Diablo) did not.  We also talked about how Ohlone people still live today, and they live as we do, with modern conveniences, but still holding on to their traditions of old.

We noted aspects of Ohlone life long ago, our lives now, and how we share common needs and ways to fulfill them.

In Math, we worked on bar graphs and line graphs this week.
Some important things about bar graphs:
– You need to label the top like a title for the graph, the left side (where you usually put numbers), and the bottom (where you usually put categories)
– Scale: to find this, look at the table and figure out the range.  The range is the greatest and least number from the table of information.  After you’ve figured out the range, let’s say it’s 0-25, we’d figure out the scale, which is what number you’d skip count by when you write the numbers on the left side of the graph.
– Usually show popularity or favorites in an easy to see way.

Important things about line graphs:
–  Label the title, left side, and bottom of the graph.  (The table usually tells you what to label each part of the graph.)
– Be careful about where you put the numbers on the left side and bottom because if you write the number in the center of each column, you won’t be able to easily plot the point.
– Trace with your fingers where the coordinates are first before drawing in the data point.
– Connect the dots, but in order, from left to right.
– Usually show change over time

Graph vocabulary
– Range: The greatest and least values from the table of information
– Scale: The numbers you skip count by on the left side of the graph
– Median: When you put all the numbers from the table in order, you see which number is the middle
– Mode : Which number shows up the most often?
– Mean: The average of the data points

We are making line graphs of the weather reports that we have collected from the beginning of the year.  Next week, we plan on making a class graph of the weather reports and begin to draw conclusions from it such as:
– Which month was the warmest?
– Which how does this relate to the seasons?

We’re also planning on making a line graph that compares the information all on one graph.  We’ll cover the importance of using different colors for that, and providing a key.

Applying what we know to create bar graphs

Shading in each column carefully

Labeling the parts of the graph is necessary!

Using different colors helps us draw conclusions faster.

Line graphs are frequently used to track change over time

Temescalians spreading out the month’s weather reports to organize them and enter the data into a table.

There are different ways to introduce spelling patterns and practice them.  Sometimes we have the kids try and figure out how the words/pictures in a stack of cards are related to one another.  We may have the kids come up with a word within that pattern, spell it out, and illustrate it.  Temescalians also write stories using words with a similar spelling pattern, play Hang Man to practice spelling, as well as play charades for kids to guess and practice a word’s spelling.  These different modes of practice help different types of learners connect to the spelling pattern.

A few other snippets from our week:

The Art Show opens on Thursday, 3/26!

Studio Habits Game board in process

Studio Habits game board.

A Temescalian’s weekly reflection showed how he envisioned himself fulfilling his goal for next week.

We made lemonade from the lemons we picked from the BYA garden.

We also harvested oranges from the BYA, and a few turned out to be blood oranges!

Since we were short on time, and the cups were freshly washed, we used straws to give kids a taste of the lemonade!

Upcoming Events:
March
25 – Owen music show
26 – Art Show opening
27 – Celebration of Learning (8:30am – 9:30am)
31 to 4/2 – Book Swap drop off (drop off gently used books you’d like to donate.  Each child from TBS will be able to bring 1 book home, and the rest will be divided amongst the libraries on campus and/or donated)

April
1 – Guest author visit
3 – Read-a-Thon (come in your pjs, bring stuffies and sleeping bags, but don’t forget your books because all we’re doing is reeeeeeead all day long!  Please let us know if you’d like to come in to read to the class!)
6-10 Spring Break (No School, Camp available)
17 – Coyote Hills field trip