Our last week of school was filled with celebrations, appreciations, and cleaning up!
We kicked off our week with a celebration of learning and grownups were invited in to see the Temescalians share their local animal research books. The format of the celebration started with a gallery walk where you could write comments, compliments, or questions about another person’s book. Then we broke up into smaller groups where each author shared his/her book. They explained the writing process that involved finding books on their topic, taking notes (without just copying down whole sections), and then organizing these notes into sentences. Each Temescalian became an expert of their research animal and we were so proud of everyone’s effort in this project!
We spent time reflecting on our hopes and dreams from the beginning of the year and tracking our progress over the course of the year. We also went through our cubbies and cleaned them out!
Susan helped Temescalians learn how to use Tinkercad to design boats with these goals in mind: (1) Does it float? (2) Can it carry weight? (3) Is it balanced? (4) Does it move through water (when full)? This week, we put our 3D printed vessels to the test!
3-D Boat design challenge
Things to look for a successful boat…
| Shape | Does it float? | Can it hold weight ? (in small paperclips) | Is it balanced? | Does it move through water when full? | |
| Abby | Heart | yes | 190 | Yes but tilted with paperclips in it | Yes, and sort of goes straight! |
| Amelia | Twisted septahedron | yes | 24 | yes | Yes but it spins |
| Anthony | Canoe with two points | Titled to the side a little | 55 | yes | It overturned when full of paperclips but does move in water |
| Benji | Canoe with two points (but hole in the bottom) | Yes, but filled with water | 13 | yes | Yes, but empty and it spins |
| Charlie | Canoe with two points | Yes but tilted to one side. | 55 | More even when paperclips were inside. | Yes, it works better with paperclips in it |
| Dash | Canoe with one point | Yes, but it’s tilted to one side | 13 | no | It moves straight through the water |
| Emme | Star | Yes | 21 | It started tilting with paperclips in it | Yes but it spins |
| Finnve | Upside down pyramid | yes | 100 | yes | yes |
| Grace | Triangular prism with sections cut out | Yes | 30 | yes | Yes, but water started going in |
| James | polygon | yes | 194 (not its max) | yes | It spins in water |
| Max | hexahedron | yes | 194 (not its max) | Yes | It goes in circles |
| Mirella | Twisted septahedron | Yes | 194 (not its max) | Yes | It spins and moves in circles |
| Noah | House with a fence and doggy house | yes | 20 | No, house side is heavier | It floats |
| Rosie | Triangle with a curved bottom | yes | 51 | yes | Yes, it spins in the water |
| Vivian | pentahedron | Yes | 194 (not its max) | Yes | It went straight-ish! |
| Yoshi | Oval | Yes | 194 (not its max) | Yes | yes |
| Susan | Canoe with two points | yes | 70 | yes | Yes |
This design challenge was fun and connected to our aim to introduce the Temescalians to Tinkercad so that they have the skills to design their own models to solve problems. We talked about what shapes worked best to carry weight vs. moving straight through water. We asked the kids to pair share about what they might do to change their design.
We invited Iris and her baby in for the last time. Z was born at 8lbs and 20 inches long. She first visited us when she was 5 months old and was already 14 lbs 8 oz. and 26.5 inches long. When we first met her, she could sort of sit but not completely support herself just yet. When she was on her belly. she was able to support her neck and head and was able to do the full cobra yoga position for 5 minutes! At that time, she started looking around and tracking people. She liked being read to and was starting to make noises and “talk” even though it wasn’t in English yet. By this last visit, she was 11 months old and weighed 19 lbs! She more than doubled her birth weight in a year! She could now say “hi” and sometimes “bye”. She was interacting with people a lot more. She could crawl quite quickly and could now go over and investigate things that interested her. She would often put items in her mouth. Z has two teeth! She is able to stand a lot more but still needed support. We loved watching this little baby grow this year and we can’t wait to see how she continues to grow and develop!
We finally made it to our local branch of the Berkeley Public Library. The librarian there, Nora, showed us around the library and talked about how to use our library cards. The Temescalians were very interested in the graphic novel and fiction sections. There is also a section where the library puts aside a few copies of books that may be very popular that are up for grabs to check out!
Temescalians and the books that they borrowed. They should be due next week so check in with your Temescalian about whether they want to renew or return their books! There is always an option to renew your books online!
On the way back, Julia and I surprised the Temescalians with an ice cream cone from Fosters Freeze!
We celebrated two summer birthdays, one of which was Julia’s!
We closed our year with an assembly appreciating people in our community who are moving on, including our very dear Julia! She has made such an impact on our lives, and we will all miss her!
We ended the day with our annual dance party and class appreciations in our Temescal Creek community for the last time this year!
It has been a pleasure learning alongside each and every one of you this year! We’ll miss you! But as the saying goes, “Once a Temescalian, always a Temescalian!” Please feel free to stop by any time next year!
Our 5th year teaching 3rd grade together! Bye! Have a great summer!
