The Readathon was such a fantastic day of exploring genres, welcoming guest readers, and lounging around in PJs with good books and great company. We enjoyed visits from special stuffed friends, 7th grade buddies, and a sweet canine. It was also a wonderful way to say goodbye before Spring Break.

Author, educator, and family advocate Brook Pessin-Whedbee, was our visiting author during Readathon week and shared her new book, Who Are You?: The Kid’s Guide to Gender Identity. She shared her book and engaged students in developmentally appropriate discussions on the topic of gender identity and diversity.

It was a rainy day, so our annual book swap that usually takes place on the solar system was relocated to the kitchen. Temescal readers were excited to walk away with not one but two books that called to them from the extensive collection donated  by the TBS community.

In math we wrapped up our unit on area and perimeter by calculating both of an irregular shape . . . one of our feet! We used grid paper and came up with different strategies to tackle this challenging work and to keep track of our calculations along the way. After that we started working with money: identifying coins, making change, and adding and subtracting with money symbols and decimals. At home and around town give your child lots of opportunities to handle money on their own, especially making amounts with the least amount of coins.

Birthdays are special times in Temescal to spotlight and celebrate each student being born. We especially enjoy learning more about the birthday boy or girl and their families.

Our local plant and animal research has moved into the drafting phase. We are learning that writing is a process and when you think “I’m done” there is usually more work to do: rereading, editing, and revising. With a partner we read our writing so far to check for holes. To truly become experts on our topics we are digging deep!