New Year and New Beginnings! | Temescal Creek OLD

Hello Families,
This week has been one of transitions. Emily and Jackie helped me get to know the kids and curriculum and we picked up where we left off in December. I have enjoyed getting to know the Temescalians as a whole and look forward to getting to know each Temescalian as an individual in the coming weeks and months!

In Writing, we started this new year with writing new year’s resolutions. We talked about “SMART” goals in order to help third graders better visualize goals that were Specific Measurable Achievable Relevant Time-Bound. After brainstorming ideas, Temescalians were asked to flesh out their ideas with either steps to accomplish these goals or a reason or two about why they chose each goal. In Math, we did a combination of rounding and DreamBox. For Number Corner, we looked at fractions on a number line and equivalent fractions. During Reading, we reset and revisited how Readers Workshop should look/sound/feel like. It was comforting to return to the calm of a classroom full of engaged readers. In Science, we kicked off the “Water and Climate” unit. We looked at how water responded when dropped on waxed paper, paper towel, foil, and notebook paper. While this experiment may be something the kids are familiar with, we also emphasized that scientists need to have clear and organized notes. During Super Science and Art with Julianne, we split the class into two groups. One created marble print on paper while the other tried to see how many drops of water could fit on the surface of a penny.

We bid Emily goodbye on Friday. She has been such an integral part of each Temescalian’s third grade experience so far. Kids really enjoyed having her as their teacher, and Emily really enjoyed teaching this class so far this year.

Upcoming events to be mindful of:
Martin Luther King Jr. Day – No school on Monday, January 20
Field trip to the Exploratorium – Wednesday, January 29.
Jackie sent out an email about responding via email or printing out and signing the field trip slip to give permission to your Temescalian to join us. If you can chaperone, please click near the top of the page “Field Trip Driver Sign-Up”. While we will be taking BART to the Exploratorium, we need chaperones to join us to supervise the BART trip over, during our time at the museum, and our BART trip back. Temescalians should pack a sack lunch. (Please remember that there are peanut, nut, and mango allergies in the class and to keep those items at home. Also, please keep candy and gum at home as well.)
Thinking ahead, we will be starting homework in the coming weeks, and our 1,000s Projects will be shared on the 100th Day. We will roll out more information about both of these pieces in the coming weeks as well!

Rounding, DreamBox, and finding fractions on the number line and calendar in Math.

Science and Super Science and Art sessions where we looked at the properties of water on different types of paper, and then experimented with surface tension to see how many drops of water could fit on the surface of a penny and creating designs in paper marbling.