This week we revisited our leaf chromatography experiment, welcomed an educator from the Ohlone Herbal Center, launched our Patricia Polacco author study, started our subtraction with regrouping unit, and talked about Columbus Day vs. Indigenous Peoples Day.

It may not feel like it, but we have moved into Autumn and as the days shorten, the amount of sunlight decreases and chlorophyll in leaves begin to break down.  We revisited the leaf chromatography experiment from last week and noticed that coffee filter had browns, yellows, and oranges on it.  Typically, a healthy leaf will have enough chlorophyll to cover a leaf’s true colors.  However, when chlorophyll starts to break down, a leaf’s true colors are revealed.  So the beautiful fall foliage that we see in autumn are just glimpses of each leaf’s true colors.
We also looked at what is actually in a bean.  As the kids were taking the beans apart, they noticed that there was an outside “skin” that is actually called the seed coat.  There was a little “arm” inside of each bean which they figured out would eventually turn into a seedling.  Some kids were amazed to realize that beans are basically a type of seed that we eat.
We welcomed Mariah from the Ohlone Herbal Center and she continued to build on these ideas about parts of a plant and its uses.  She also brought in peppermint tea in to share with us.  We can expect to see Mariah twice a month and our partnership with Ohlone Herbal Center will give us a direct link between plants, growing them, and their uses for food and medicine that the Ohlone used long ago.

We dissected and took apart beans, thinking about each part that we found.

Taking apart a bean as a whole group.

“There’s a skin!”

Introducing ourselves to Mariah with our name, favorite plant to eat, and what part of the plant that item came from. For example, an apple is a plant’s fruit. A carrot is a plant’s root.

Stretching and reaching to the sky like a plant would.

There are different parts of a plant. Let’s put them on a plant!

A fruit comes from a flower so they would be at the same place on a plant.

The seed would be both on the ground and in a fruit.

Plant life cycle.

Putting together a plant’s life cycle.

Mariah brought in peppermint tea to share with us! “It’s just the mint leaves and water.”

In the month of October, Readers Workshop routines have been established and we launched an author study of Patricia Polacco.  Her stories center on family, traditions, identity, and struggles of growing up.  These themes perfectly lends to talking about our own traditions as we continue to build community.  We are modeling how to pull out and record characters, setting, and themes so that the Temescalians can eventually read their own Patricia Polacco book in groups and practice these same skills.

A few of the Patricia Polacco books we read this week.

Guidelines for Reading Workshop

We also moved from addition with regrouping to subtraction with regrouping.  This is a concept that some minds are ready for, and others are not.  This is span developmentally appropriate so while we are introducing these concepts and skills now, we will revisit them again towards the end of the year.  To help, we introduced a poem to help kids identify whether they need to regroup or not.  We also pair shared and shared out different strategies for subtracting.  It’s always helpful to hear how there are many different ways to solve a problem, and to see that everyone is an expert in their own way.  We also introduced the bead frame as a method to add or subtract.

Handy poem to identify when to regroup when subtracting.

Sharing our strategies to solve subtraction problems.

“I know that 16 + 3 =19 so 19 – 3 = 16” “19 is like 10 + 3 + 3 + 3… so that’s like knowing 16 + __ = 19 too.” “I counted on my fingers.”

Marcy Cook’s Plus and Minus Tiles is a great practice for addition and subtraction.

We also introduced a Montessori material to help us create numbers in its place value.

The bead frame helps us visualize numbers when creating a number as well as when we add and subtract them too!

Real Estate Math is a great practice for adding, strategizing, and a precursor for multiplication.

Since we have Monday off for Indigenous Peoples Day, it made sense to explore the holiday, as well as its counterpart, Columbus Day.  We learned facts about Columbus, his contributions to how world history was shaped, and the people he encountered in the New World.  We read Encounter by Jane Yolen, the story written from the perspective of a Taìno boy when Columbus arrived.  Some things we learned was “nobody thought that the world was flat.  Christopher Columbus thought the world was smaller than it really is.”  We also learned about the toll it took on the people native to the land.  “There were 300,000 people when Columbus arrived, and only 500 left after 50 years!  That’s 299,500 people who died because of Columbus!”  Kids had the opportunity to write about which to celebrate, Columbus Day or Indigenous Peoples Day, using the hamburger paragraph structure.

Some other views from our day this short week:

Signing a cast of a fellow Temescalian.

We have learned the letters “i”, “t”, “u”, and “w” thus far in cursive!

This Temescalian showing great handwriting posture and form. with a helper hand anchoring the page/book.

Kids playing “Animal Family”

We have strong Temescalians!

Finishing our “Grow Your Garden” pieces.

These are a type of self portrait that reveals one’s characteristics/traits, people who support him/her, activities that make him/her feel good, some things that might get in the way of being his/her best self, and a hope/dream for the year.

Working in small groups with Susanna during Spanish.

Bingo in Spanish.

Small group work in Spanish.

Information about upcoming events in October:

Scooping pumpkins (10/21)
We are planning on carving pumpkins with our 7th grade buddies so we need help scooping out the pumpkins on Wednesday, 10/21 from 1:15 – 2:15.  If you could come and help out, that would be great! (A signup will be on the door!)

Halloween Parade and Festivities (10/30)
-The K-8 Parade begins at 8:45 and lasts about 20 minutes.  Families will gather in the Solar System (central courtyard) to watch.
-We encourage children to arrive in costume since there will be little time to change prior to the parade.
-Students should bring a change of clothes to school; costumes can become a distraction or uncomfortable throughout the day.
-The parade at TBS includes young children. Guidelines for costumes are straightforward.

• Please, no masks, weapons or violence.
• Please make sure face-paint is not too scary for younger students.
• Characters from history or literature are strongly encouraged, as are those that are fun and just plain wacky.
• Please also be mindful of messages about different cultures when considering costumes.

After the parade, we hope to have a Halloween breakfast potluck followed by parent led Halloween crafts/activities.

There will be a sign up at the door for pumpkin scoopers and the potluck.  (Please email us if you would like us to fill out something for you!)

Check out the sidebar to the right to see upcoming events!

It was such a pleasure to have the time to chat with you about your Temescalian.  We have enjoyed getting to know them and you, thus far this year, and we can’t wait to continue to build our community throughout this year!