The week before Spring Break is literacy-centric and often involves an Author Visit, the Book Swap, and ends with the Readathon! We managed to squeeze some other subjects in there too!
Our study of quadrilaterals continued as we crafted our own quadrilateral riddles. After choosing a quadrilateral, we listed different attributes about it, then organized our clues so that the “dead giveaways” would be towards the end of our 4 clues. Amidst our geometry work, we practiced number strings for multiplication. We used a ratio table to think about number of cars in one column and number of tires in the other column. If we know that 1 car has 4 tires and 2 cars has 8 tires, how would that information help us figure out how many tires 4 cars has? “We can double the number of tires 2 cars has.” What if we were trying to figure out how many tires 6 cars has? “You can add the tires 2 cars have plus 4 cars which are 8 + 16 = 24 tires.” Practice this type of thinking with your Temescalian at home!
Students from California College of the Arts (CCA) returned with another iteration of their prototype. As designers, the students shared about their creative process. Their task was to create a teaching tool that Julia and I could use in the classroom to enhance the learning experience about the Ohlone people. They talked about initial ideas and how it had morphed as they talked to us and sought to meet our needs and saw the way that the Temescalians interacted with the materials.
Temescalians had more time to interact with the prototypes of the teaching tools. One teaching tool is a map and 3D shapes of animals and resources that could be found in the area where the Ohlone people once lived. Part of that learning experience is making tule huts, tule boats, and dressing small figures the way that the Ohlone people once dressed themselves. The other teaching tool is a trading game that involves different roles that yield different resources.
April is Poetry Month and we asked the Temescalians to choose a poem they have already written to put into a class collection and recite. We also asked them to choose a poem by a published poet to memorize and recite. Popular poets that Temescalians chose from were Shel Silverstein and Jack Prelutsky but if there is a poem that your Temescalian enjoys, please encourage him/her to try to memorize and recite it! We hope for the Temescalians to share these poems at the last Family Reading of April! Please plan to come and celebrate poetry month together with us as we close out the month!
A highlight of this past week was the Book Swap. Thank you for donating books! The Temescalians, and the greater TBS community enjoyed bringing home a new book!
Our Authors Visit was from Laura Atkins and Stan Yogi, authors of Fred Korematsu Speaks Up. Atkins and Yogi spoke from their own experiences and connection to people who were confined to internment camps and talked about Fred Korematsu, an individual who spoke up against Japanese internment. The authors shared historical facts and focused on how unfair the internment was, and how after many years of fighting, this injustice was recognized. Atkins and Yogi also highlighted how Korematsu’s efforts did not end with the injustices that directly affected him. He also spoke up when there was talk about creating a Muslim ban, and then again the more recent travel ban. Korematsu was steadfast in his fight against injustice.
Celebrating a Temescalian’s birthday!
We closed out the week with our Readathon. Our Temescalians were so excited to bring in their sleeping bags, stuffies, pillows, etc. and snuggle in as they read to themselves, each other, and grown ups.
We have an author in our midst! We first heard The Mouse and The Moon read by the author’s partner, and then the author came in to share about the writing process. He wrote the book for his children and took their input as he crafted his story. For the illustrations, he first sketched them out in pencil before painting them in watercolors.
Other guest readers were Randy and Carmen! Randy read a non-fiction book about astronomy and Carmen read poems from a Shel Silverstein collection.
The “Wheel of Genres” was a fun way to encourage Temescalians to try different genres. A special day calls for a special treat of popcorn!
Other happenings in Temescal Creek:
Upcoming Events:
We have many field trips coming up and parent drivers & chaperones are needed! Please look at the Upcoming Events in the bar to the right, at the top of the page, to see if you can join us for any of these upcoming field trips!
If you are using a mobile device to view this page… here’s immediate upcoming events!
April
25 – Field Trip to Regional Parks Botanic Garden (in Tilden) from 9:00 – 1:00pm. [Drivers and chaperones are needed!]
27 – Poetry Coffee and Tea House from 8:30 – 10:00am, in lieu of Family Reading. (Potluck signup should be a button on the top of the blog!)
May
16 – Field Trip to MLK Shoreline in Oakland with 7th grade buddies from 8:30 – 12:30pm. [Drivers and chaperones are needed!]
24 – Field Trip to Exploratorium from 9:00 – 1:30pm [Chaperones are needed!]
