FRIENDSHIP WEEK
Next week is a very special time when we recast a holiday about romantic love into one that focuses on friendship and belonging. We use this time to delve deeply into what is involved in having friends and being a friend, and to practice the skills of friendship in a fun, and conscious way. Instead of candy and flowers, we will be focusing on compliments, appreciations, and acts of kindness and generosity. We are encouraging the kids to do something kind for a randomly assigned Secret Pal each day and will end Friendship Week with a big reveal. Next Friday, February 10, we will also be decorating heart-shaped sugar cookies and reading appreciations about our Secret Pals. Help your child think about ways to be kind without giving or re-gifting things. We will be discussing ways to show empathy, kindness, respect, and care to our Secret Pals in super sneaky ways. If you can volunteer to pre-make 40 heart-shaped sugar cookies and a container of frosting and deliver it Thursday morning please let us know. We have plenty of sprinkles!
VALENTINE’S DAY GUIDELINES
If your child decides to participate in handing out Valentines on Tuesday, February 14, we have two guidelines:
1) If someone wants to give Valentines out, they must be 100% fully inclusive of all students in the class. A list of names went home with this week’s homework packet. Please help your child keep cards age-level appropriate and non-gender specific. Handmade cards are always appreciated, but not necessary.
2) No candy or sweets should be attached to (or in place of) Valentines.
1,000s PROJECT
Last week the information introducing the 1,000s Project went home in a letter on green paper and was also on the blog. Please let us know if you have any questions. It sounds like many Temescalians have already been brainstorming, researching, and collecting materials for their project. This week in class students drew their vision and wrote out a list of materials and steps and those will be going home in the next couple of days. Projects are due Wednesday, February 15.
Lisa shared with us about the Lunar New Year through stories, books, and treats. She told us about her family experiences and traditions like getting haircuts, cleaning the house, and scaring away bad spirits with firecrackers. She served us potstickers and tangerines. Saying tangerines sounds like the word for “gold” in Mandarin and Cantonese and symbolizes prosperity for the new year. She also gifted everyone a red envelope with chocolate coins inside. Julianne lead us in making felt roosters, because it is the Year of the Rooster. Of the Zodiac animal signs, the rooster is hardworking and trustworthy. Lisa is a rooster!
In math last week we continued to learn our multiplication facts through the 9 Lines method with Katherine. We are up to the 7s and your child should be practicing nightly for 5-10 minutes. Katherine taught them one way to practice, with tried-and-true flashcards! We also had a special visitor and math consultant come teach a lesson about fractions through an interactive story on sharing chocolate bars. Fractions were related to measurement and we discussed rulers and units of measurement.
In science we have started to learn about weather and the layers of the atmosphere. Amazingly, on the same day we discussed different types of precipitation (rain, snow, sleet, hail) and how each are made, it hailed! Ask your Temescal scientist what they know about hail and the water cycle. In writing workshop, we launched into a Rocket Write using the setting of our atmosphere and weaving in as many facts as possible through the storyline.
Middle Schoolers and Ashoka representatives came into Temescal to share with us about the Wear Out the Noise campaign. Faculty and students can participate by wearing a Black Lives Matters t-shirt on Fridays. More information is in the most recent Newsnotes and you can read posters made by the middle schoolers to educate the community about this important cause in the display cases by the front gate.
Friday morning we welcomed in grown ups to read with their child or look through his/her portfolio, play math games, and look around at all of the great work being done in Temescal.
Susan continues to work with our class on “Digital Citizenship.” Last week we discussed bullying and name calling online and what to do if you encounter it. Common Sense Media is a great resources for more information and to check out movies, apps, and web sites to see if they are appropriate for your child’s age level. It’s also a great place to find and screen books.
There have been a lot of illnesses going through our classroom and school. We have been reminding students to wash their hands, cover sneezes, drink lots of water, and get plenty of sleep. If your child has a fever or is throwing up, please make sure it is 24 hours before they return to school. Also, please continue to check for lice and nits daily.
