Continuing our exploration of fractions, we took a strip of paper and divided it into halves, quarters, eighths, thirds, sixths, twelfths, fifths, and tenths. Temescalians noticed that halves, fourths, and eighths were related. “They’re double of each other.” When digging deeper, they meant that it took two eighths to equal one fourth. This was driven home as they folded the fourths in half to create eighths. A way to practice fraction recognition and fluency is to play “Roll and Cover”. We roll 2 dice and the larger number is designated as the denominator. You find the image on the game board and cover it. The twist is that there are different ways to represent the same fraction! Thinking about fractions beyond circles and squares, we looked at pattern blocks and how they relate to one another.
1 hexagon = 2 trapezoids = 3 rhombi = 6 triangles
1 trapezoid = 1 rhombus + 1 triangle = 3 triangles
1 rhombus = 2 triangles
We discussed how depending on the original shape, the fractions differ. For example, 1 trapezoid is 1/2 of a hexagon while 1 triangle is 1/2 of a rhombus.
This week, we went over the 6s multiplication facts with 9 Lines.
For homework, we ask that Temescalians practice their multiplication facts. This basically means to practice your times table. We have gone over multiplication facts from 1 – 6. Here are some tips for how to practice!
We recommend trying out a variety of approaches and see which works best for your child. For example:
~Good-old-fashioned flashcards
~Multiplications chart and worksheets
~Multiplication and division fact families
~Songs and chants, make up your own or try Schoolhouse Rock.
~Online games galore!
We started a weather unit and kicked it off by creating a cloud in a jar. This is done with a jar, hot water, a match, and a bag of ice. Follow this link to see the experiment that we did in class! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44GH2gs8avo
Some observations that the Temescalians had…
“As time went by I saw the steam getting bigger and bigger.”
“There is water. That’s why the match isn’t lighting up.”
“I noticed steam coming down from the ice but something mingling from the bottom up.”
“Ice sometimes makes its own gas. [Like dry ice.]”
“Heat goes up but it like it is going down. Wondering if it’s from the ice.”
“When the match went out, some smoke went up but it didn’t go through the ice. The temperature is dropping which may make the smoke go back down.”
“From the steam/smoke, from water or match. It’s going up and the ice makes it goes down. It’s going in a cycle.”
This led to a conversation about what clouds are and how hot air and cold air meet to create wind, clouds, and, in essence, all weather.
An artist connection is looking at Berdnaut Smilde’s work called Nimbus, where he takes pictures of clouds that he has created indoors. For more information on this artist, please follow these links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRHWCcOktHI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3PxxEoW7ZA
We watched an illustrated version of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.
https://freedomsring.stanford.edu/?view=Speech
We split up the speech and the Temescalians interpreted, defined words, and illustrated sections of the speech.
Rebecca guided Temescalians as they wrote interesting book recommendations in Information Literacy! She mentioned that the best part of a book review, for her, was hearing how the book affected you and what connections you had to the book.
In Writers Workshop, we also had a chance to do Rocket Writes about our weekend. The point of this exercise is to write, write, write for 5 minutes straight, and then you can choose to continue writing or illustrate for 3 minutes. There were so many kids who wanted to share their writing in the Author Share Chair. Temescalians had a chance to respond to the writing with questions, comments, connections, and compliments too! Thanks for sharing your writing, friends!
We welcomed Craig Merrick back from his trip to Standing Rock and he shared about his time there. He experienced severe cold weather and said that the coldest temperatures he felt while he was there was -2 degrees Fahrenheit, but with windchill, felt like -24. The road into the camp was lined with flags of different tribes represented in the camp. He shared that during warmer weather, people would like the flag road to welcome people into the camp. The camp had 2 large insulated tents where kitchens were located and a large tent in the center of the camp that was storage for all of the food and supplies donated. He shared pictures he took while he was there and the work he did while he was there was mainly to help organize and maintain the camp grounds. He had initially planned to stay in his truck, but with the severe weather, Craig and his friends ended up staying 1 hr away in Bismarck. They would drive to Standing Rock before the sun rose and drive back to Bismarck as the sun was setting every day. He conveyed the gratitude and joy that our supplies and banners gave.
To tie into our study of the weather and what we know about landforms, we did a landform demonstration of what landforms are called, and when. For example, when there is no water, land is just called land. But as the land gets more water, the more elevated parts may stay exposed and eventually turn into an island if it is completely surrounded by water. We talked about the flow of water and how it’s pulled down by gravity. We then introduced sponges as a demonstration of what wetlands do. We noticed that the “wetlands” kept the soil from flowing all out into the ocean, it kept trash from flowing straight into the ocean. We also talked about what a landfill is and how one definition is bringing dirt from elsewhere to create more useable land.
Images from last year’s 1,000s Project display
An upcoming project that is coming up is our 1,000s Project to celebrate the 100th Day of School. At TBS, the classes from K-2 create a collection of 100 things. To tie into our study of the local ecosystems, we will split the class into 4 different ecosystems (Bay/Coast, Wetlands, Grasslands, Forests).
https://sfenvironment.org/article/ecosystems/san-francisco-bay
https://sfenvironment.org/article/ecosystems/salt-water-wetlands
https://sfenvironment.org/article/ecosystems/fresh-water-wetlands
https://sfenvironment.org/article/ecosystems/grasslands
https://sfenvironment.org/article/ecosystems/oak-woodlands
Since we have 20 students and 4 ecosystems, each group will have 5 Temescalians in it. Since each group needs to total 1,000 items, each Temescalian will be responsible for 200 items.
The collections do not need to connect with one another to make one large scene of the ecosystem. Instead, each Temescalian has the freedom to create a collection according to what would be found in the local ecosystem. For example, if Lisa, Julia, Jeff, Iris, and Hannah have the Bay as their ecosystem, their projects could be as follows:
Lisa – Uses Sculpey to make 20 crabs because each crab has 2 claws, 6 legs, and 2 eyes. So (2+6+2) x 20 = 200 items.
Julia – Makes a scene of the Bay where there are 40 fish, 15 stalks of seaweed, 15 abalone, 10 sea otters, 15 sea stars, 20 sea gulls, 20 sand dollars, 5 sea lions, 20 hermit crabs, 40 sea anemone. 40+15+15+10+15+20+20+5+20+40 = 200 items.
Jeff – Gathers 200 pieces of kelp to make 1 large strand of seaweed.
Iris – Makes a model of a Brown Pelican with 2 eyes, 1 beak, 2 legs, 195 feathers. 2+1+2+195 = 200 items.
Hannah – Hannah finds different types of fish that live along the coast and prints out and colors pictures of 20 Coho salmon, 20 Three-spined Stickleback, 20 Tidewater Goby, 20 Pacific Halibut, 20 Pacific Jack Mackerel, 20 Pacific Herring, 20 Californian Anchovy, 20 Starry Flounder, 20 North Pacific Hake, 20 Spiny Dogfish. 20+20+20+20+20+20+20+20+20+20=200 items
In addition to the collection, please include a brief description of the project, what materials were used, and a number sentence that shows how your project displays 200 items.
Please keep in mind that these projects will be due the week of February 13. We will display them in the Depot Thursday afternoon and we invite families to take a look of our collections on Friday, 2/17 during Family Reading (8:30 – 9:00).
The groupings are:
Bay – Nathaniel, Lily, Grace, Frances, Lexi
Forest – Kash, Xander, Ali, Wyatt, Greta
Grasslands – Vera, Cole, Myles, Daniel, Sterling
Wetlands – Ayla, Hugo, Acara, Mino, Lilianna
To engage in a changing world, we viewed the 45th U.S. President and Vice President taking their oaths during the presidential inauguration. We focused on the oaths that they took, as leaders of our country, and compared and contrasted the content.
Temescalians noticed:
“They both promise to defend the Constitution.”
“They both solemnly swear.”
“The vice president’s oath is longer.”
“They vice president’s oath is probably longer because if something happens to the president, he needs to promise to take care of what the president promises to do too.”
As our country takes on a new president, we hope to give the Temescalians a fuller picture of what their roles is as citizens of the U.S. and how they voices matter.
Julianne also led us in a discussion of what it feels like to be the “other” in a group. She did so by making two circles. One larger and the other smaller. She first asked everyone to try and fit into the smaller one. It was a tight fit, but everyone seemed to be mindful of each other’s bodies and did their best to help each other fit. Then she asked people to fit into the larger circle. With more space, kids were more free with their bodies. Then Julianne selected a few kids to go into the smaller circle. Then she asked how kids were feeling. Some liked being singled out and going to the smaller circle on their own. Others liked staying in the larger circle because there was more space. This exercise in perspective taking is one to keep in mind in all walks of life.
A few other views of the class:
