It is hard to believe that our Temescalian community has been together for 5 weeks already! This week started out as a scorcher but cooled down in time to bid September goodbye and welcome October!
As we continue to build community in Temescal Creek, we talk about tools that we use to support ourselves and others as well.
Zones of Regulation is a foundational framework used to foster self-regulation and emotional control. Building on the work that we did to identify different emotions associated with each zone, Temescalians worked together to write and draw things that they could do to move to a place where they could do their job as a learner in the Temescal Creek community. These Tools for Zones give kids options as they self-regulate and settle into learning. As we came together to share group brainstorms, we noticed that some tools overlapped and could be used when in different zones. Sometimes, they may need to “take a break”, but this may look different depending on the circumstances and the student. If a Temescalian is in the Blue Zone, s/he may take a body break to get reinvigorated and get the blood flowing. If a Temescalian is in the Red Zone, s/he may need some time alone at the Peace Table to cool off.
We also talked about “Strengths and Challenges”. We all have things that we feel good at that we could call strengths, and there are things that we also don’t feel as confident about that we could call challenges. We did pair shares and we found that our community is full of people who identify themselves as mathematicians, rock climbers, bakers, chefs, good friends, artists, and athletes, to name a few strengths! We then talked about what might feel hard and gave Temescalians the opportunity to share if they liked. Some felt that writing cursive, math, and spelling were among the things that did not come as easily. Teachers shared their own stories of their own strengths and challenges, and talked about how learning is a spectrum. We may not be good at it yet, but we are getting more familiar or better at skills every day. We need to be careful of everyone’s feelings and asked kids to share ways that they could support people who felt challenged by something. “You can do it.” “Ask if they needed help or time?” “Show them how I would do it.” “Not say, ‘This is easy!’ or make a big deal.” We hope this community of support continues and we create a safe space for people to take chances in learning and social situations!
We built on our Hopes and Dreams work and think about what or who support us as we reach for our hopes and dreams for the year. To visually display this, we do an activity called, “Grow Your Garden”. Temescalians are given an outline of a flower and asked to reflect about themselves and what helps them or hinders them. 4-5 petals: Personal characteristics/attributes, words that describe the Temescalian. 5-6 leaves: People who support the Temescalian. 4-5 roots: Activities that make the Temescalian feel good. 2-3 weeds: Things that get in the way of being the Temescalian’s best self. Sun: The Temescalian’s hope for the year. Butterfly: The Temescalian’s dream for his/her life.
This activity blended our study of plants in science with that of social and emotional work.
Our science this week continues to focus on plants, specifically parts of the plant. We dissected a few alstroemeria, or Peruvian lilies, and looked at its different parts. Some were very interested in the stamen and pistil. Some thought that the seeds would “shoot out of the pistil”. Others knew that “there are girl parts and boy parts of a flower.” We discussed that each part of a plant is essential. If a flower has a stronger smell, it will attract more insects to help pollinate it and result in seeds.
Temescalians had a chance to return to their plant chromatography observations and draw out what they thought was happening. As a reminder, we picked a leaf from 4 different plants. We ground up each leaf and put it in a separate cup with rubbing alcohol and placed a strip of coffee filter in each cup. The next day, we observed that the leaf chromatography had left layers of different colors on the coffee filter paper. When we returned to our observations, we noticed that the color copies of the coffee filters were more vibrant than the original paper that had been exposed to sunlight. We talked about how the green spots/sections were now brown. Upon further discussion, Temescalians concluded that the chlorophyll that been green were dead. But the real deep thinking came when we asked the children to draw what they thought happened on the coffee filter. What direction was the pigment moving? Why, on the grape leaf, were yellow carotenoids near the bottom of the filter whereas red anthocyanins resulted near the top of the filter? “I think that when the grape leaf was in the alcohol, the colors moved up the paper.” “I think that the the anthocyanins were lighter and were able to move further up the paper.” “I think that the carotenoids are heavier than anthocyanins.” A huge part of thinking like a scientist is not only coming up with plausible conclusions, but using evidence to back up claims. When asked to support their conclusions, a Temescalian thought, “Maybe it’s like lifting things up. When things are lighter, they are easier to pick up and move up. If they’re heavier, they move slower and stay near the bottom.” In their Science Technology Engineering Art Math (S.T.E.A.M.) journals, Temescalians chose one of the 4 leaves we used for leaf chromatography (grape leaf, pineapple sage, un-identified tree, plum tree) to draw in depth and show what they thought was happening.
Rebecca returned this week for Information Literacy and the Temescalians were tasked with alphabetizing words on cards. They also got in line according to their first names. This skills may seem simple, but is something that can be practiced in daily life. Ask your Temescalian to help you alphabetize the cereal boxes at your home or a small section of books on a shelf. Rebecca also talked about different genres and focused on the difference between fiction (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) and realistic fiction (Danny, the Champion of the World) and settled into a read aloud with the class.
We continued to work on addition with regrouping, as well as subtraction with regrouping. Ask your child to tell you the handy subtraction poem that should help them decide when to “go next door and borrow 10 more”.
Temescalians created their own greeting this week! Crouching and walking to the center of the circle, Temescalians greet one another and then pass that greeting along. It was so entertaining watching everyone take risks with their bodies as they moved safely to the middle of the rug to greet each other. We couldn’t stop laughing!
We finished our first round of Weekly Reflections. Temescalians select a few things to reflect upon from the week and set a goal for the upcoming week. All of this will be placed in the right side of the folder that says “Return to School”. These folders go home on Friday and grownups at home (“an adult who takes care of you”) will respond in the space on the back of their reflection. Please use words of encouragement and celebration! Goal setting is an ongoing work that may look the same week after week or be something that they have yet to truly invest in.
On Mondays, Temescalians will return their weekly reflections with your note on the back AND the 2-3 pieces of work that they reflected on. We will then place the reflection and pieces of work in their white binders (aka Portfolios) that Temescalians and grownups are welcome to peruse.
Book orders! We will occasionally send home Scholastic book orders. Please talk through book selection with your child. Feel free to give them restrictions if you would prefer that they select items that are not based on movies or video games. Fill out the paper order and return it to school, with a check, by October 12. You may also order online using the class code: FMQ8F Online, you may also make selections from other grade levels and collections. I will enter in the paper orders on October 12 and submit the online orders that you have input and we hope to get the book order by the end of the month! We will not be doing book orders every month, but perhaps a few times a year.
We have updated the Upcoming Events in the bar to the upper right of the screen (on a computer). Please note upcoming holidays, days that we have no school, as well as community events and field trips! We hope you had a wonderful weekend, and we’ll leave you with a few other glimpses from this week!
