Hello Families!
It was a pleasure to welcome so many of you into our classroom last week. We enjoyed showing off your children’s work and explaining how they spend their day learning. If any additional questions come up, please send us an email or catch us in the breezeway. We strive to create a strong community and sense of partnership with all of you.
Monday morning begin with a whole class math game called Skunk (which can also be called Cat or Ox depending on how much time we have). Skunk is played in teams of two partners, each team has a whiteboard and marker for scoring. Each letter in the word skunk represents a round of the game. The purpose of the game is to emphasize numeracy and mathmatical reasoning, as well as strengthing our student’s quick math facts. We are also modeling good sportsmanship and playing for fun rather than competition in all of our group games. The kids LOVED it.
In preparation for BTSN, students worked hard to make maps of the classroom, which showed the parts of Temescal Creek that they like best. This reinforced map-making and map-reading skills. We plan to give the letters you wrote to your children once we have gotten emails from those of you who were unable to make it (check your inbox!). This way, each student receives a letter and feels included.
Our first Writer’s Workshop gave students a chance to use their new journals. They were asked to pick one of two questions to answer: If you could be a veggie, which one would you be? OR, If you were to move to a deserted island, which three items would you bring with you? The task was to describe your veggie/items using adjectives but not using the items’ name. We brainstormed ideas for descriptive categories, including texture, size, purpose, shape, taste, color, and many more. Afterward, each student was directed to meet with one classmate to try and guess each other’s veggie/item. They were having so much fun, they spent at least 30 extra minutes checking in with as many classmates as possible. We will continue on with adjectives during Writer’s Workshop next week.
Our science lesson this week focused on the external parts of plants. We began with a partner share out of what we already know about plants. Students have lots of prior knowledge to pull from. After this, we passed around seven different foods from Emily’s kitchen and decided which of the following categories they fit into; leaves, roots, flower, fruit, stem, or seed. Next week’s plant study includes celery and food coloring. Can you guess what we will be learning about?
We rounded out a busy week with an extremely busy Friday. Julianne reinforced our science lesson with a project of drawing botanicals. We watched a quick video of artists who draw botanicals for scientists. They talked about how they have to look very closely at the plants to replicate them in the most exact way they can artistically. Our class drew sunflowers using colored pencils and photocopied dictionary pages. We love Super Science and Art!
Jackie shared cultural traditions surrounding the Autumn Moon Festival. Everyone made paper lanterns (great for multi-step directions), shared delicious Asian pears, and read several picture books to learn more. Celebrations are a great way to round out a very full week.
We have two new nine-year-olds! Happy, happy birthday!. What a treat to hear about your interests, see pictures of you as babies, and have the chance to appreciate your uniqueness!
Finally, here are two local events you may be interested in:
- As you read in Newsnotes, TBS will participate in the Global Climate Strike next Friday in San Francisco with the Bay Area contingent of students. We want to make sure it’s clear that TBS is only taking 4th-8th graders over to the city for the march. If you’re planning to attend as a family, that’s great, and it will be an excused absence for your child from school. You’re encouraged to meet up with the TBS delegation down in San Francisco. A presenter from Youth vs. Apocalypse spoke to us about the march during our morning assembly today, and your child may talk to you about that. Please email Kate Klaire, Director of Civic Engagement, with any questions about our participation in the march.
- Coastal Cleanup Day along the Berkeley Waterfront, 9-21-19, 9am-12pm. Print the beautiful poster by clicking this link: Coastal Cleanup poster_Berkeley
Warmly,
Emily and Jackie
