We are so thankful for so many things! We had such a fantastic week full of learning experiences and sharing.
We started this week with a “field trip” with Google Expeditions. TBS was one of the schools selected from around the world to pilot Google Expeditions Pioneer Program. We got to do a test run of one of their expeditions using virtual reality technology on smartphones and cardboard box viewers they provided.
Tying in with our study of local plants and animals, habitats, biomes, and ecosystems, we selected the Biomes expedition that allowed us to see the landscape of a rainforest, tundra, taiga, desert, temperate forest, and savannah
We used this fantastic opportunity to give the Temescalians a touchpoint to explore each environment as we discussed the similarities/differences between the flora and fauna of each environment, and what impacted how they lived. As they looked in 360 degrees, they took in the experience and it really felt like we were on an expedition together!
Mariah visited and we planted calendula seeds. Because of their distinct shapes, the Temescalians were asked to draw the seed as an imaginary creature first, and then as a botanical print, drawing only what they saw. Afterwards, we planted 4 seeds. We hope that they will sprout while we are gone during the Thanksgiving Break!
In preparation for GrandFriends’ Day, we practiced our song with Owen, and boy were Julia and I blown away by how wonderful the Temescalians were! Their rhythm was on point, and those dancing in the back did so with grace and enthusiasm. They were so excited, and ready, for the show on Friday!
We also invited special guest educators, Jeff and Julie, from the Mummenschanz Show to further our experience with making creatures out of common objects. This time, we had them interact with one another and have “conversations”. This format allowed the Temescalians to really focus on the “body language” each creature was imbued with and zoom in on unspoken cues.
The Temescalians had a ball figuring out how their creature breathed, where its eyes would be, moved, and communicated. Some creatures floated and flew, others raspberried their emotions, while others shook and quietly rustled in a shower of toilet paper. All the Temescalians had a chance to introduce their creatures while being directed by Julie to breathe, look, show happiness/fear/sadness.
This creative and imaginary play is paramount to viewing our world with continued wonder and seeing the extraordinary potential in ordinary objects such as car window shades, toilet paper rolls, and balloons!
Connecting with reading unspoken cues, we looked back at the pumpkin carvings that we made before Halloweens and the possible Zone(s) that their pumpkin carvings were expressing. It is interesting the Zone that we may see in comparison to the one that we’re expressing. This opened up a conversation about different perspectives and perspective taking in a fun way.
We love meeting with our 7th grade Buddies and in this time of thanksgiving, we baked banana bread to share! (Here’s the recipe!)But first, we did a crab greeting where we shared things we enjoyed baking. The 7th grade buddies and the Temescalians had a smashing time measuring and mixing. We later enjoyed the banana bread during our handwriting time. (Our lower case r’s and s’s are coming along!)
We continued our foray into multiplication and calculated the cost of apples and potatoes. We used a T chart to help us keep track of our calculations and classroom money was helpful as well!
We practiced different spelling patterns and played different games to practice them. We also zoomed in on what makes a sentence? “It has an upper case at the beginning of the sentence.” “It has a period at the end.” While those things are true, a sentence must answer: Who/what is doing something? and What is it doing? We took some sentences and found the subject and verb and played “Two Word Sentence Smack Down!” Some sentences can be just two words, “Matt ran.” or much longer, “Squishyface laughed as he waved his light saber around.” The Temescalians had a great time breaking down the sentences, but ask your Temescalian to play “Two Word Sentence Smack Down!” with you!
We finished testing the boats we made out of straws (to represent tule), popsicle sticks (to represent wood or redwood bark), and raffia (to represent cordage). Before fashioning the crafts, the Temescalians were told that they needed to float and hold weight. To test the weight, we initially thought we’d use rocks, but further discussion led us to talk about how the rocks were all different sizes and it wouldn’t let us know the boat’s capacity. To normalize this, we decided to use paper clips to see each boat’s capacity. All of the boats passed the buoyancy test and the number of paper clips varied from 22 to 85 paper clips. We noticed that the boats with a lot of raffia bound around it may have been able to carry a lot of paper clips, but we asked if it would be the most comfortable to travel on? We noticed that the boats that had straws with exposed ends on the lower layer of the vessel soon filled with water and talked about ways to improve those vessels. As with all scientific experiments, you apply what you know and have observed to problem solve. Just like Thomas Edison said about the many attempts to create a light bulb, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
We wrapped up this week with GrandFriends Day! We first read Giving Thanks: A Native American Good Morning Message. It was a pleasure having grandparents and friends join us and partake in writing a thankfulness poem. We loved getting to meet the extensions of our Temescalians’ families.
A few other snapshots of our week:
Remember that we have a field trip to Zellerbach Hall on Monday! Please bring a packed home lunch that does not contain any glass jars, candy or gum.
Have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving Break!
