During the week before our break we focused on what it means to be a friend, but first we needed to define what being a friend really means, what it looks and sounds like in Temescal Creek. We wrote words that describe a good friend on paper strips, and then linked them together into a chain.  Each day during Friendship Week we were focused on being a good friend to our secret pal, and everyone else! For snack we picked table spots at random and had a different conversation starter each day. We also read and replied to an email from our friend who is spending the rest of the year in Ecuador, and if you haven’t had a chance yet, please be sure to come say hi to our new Temescalian who joined the class in the new year!

We were really impressed by the creativity and depth of the thousands projects. Each was unique and reflected important attributes of our local ecosystems. Student presented their projects and processes and on Friday the grown ups were invited in to see them all on display in the classroom. We went on a gallery walk of the bay, wetlands, woodlands, and grasslands, and left compliments on post-its. We also got the chance to see the hundreds projects in the 1/2 classrooms. Later in the day we took a trip to Sweet Briar Creek to see the Kindergarteners work with the number 100.

The Valentine exchange is a sweet tradition where students have the option to give cards, notes, and other heartfelt tokens of friendship to everyone in the class. Thanks for all the love!

For the 100th day of school we honored this important number with stations in math that were all about 100. We also wrote our name as many times as possible, and sat in as many chairs as possible, both in 100 seconds. In writing we had the option to write about what we would do with $100 and/or what it might be like to be 100 years old. The day ended with a race to complete 100 piece puzzles. We loved hearing all of the encouraging words and seeing all the teamwork in action!

For the Secret Pal big reveal, each student delivered a heart-shaped cookie they decorated with the help of one of our amazing classroom coordinators. We also read appreciations of our secret pals that included their positive attributes and what they are good at and why we admire them.

The week wasn’t just hearts and flowers . . . we also learned about non-fiction texts in information literacy, multiplied in math, learned the art of Chinese painting in art studio, wrote poetry in writing workshop, and much more!