Winter Break Check In!

Hello Sixth Grade,
Just wanted to check in with you to thank you for the first four months of school and wish you all a Happy New Year!  I just finished reading The Danger Box and was really surprised at the ending.  I know several of you are reading it so I won't say any more.  I was equally surprised that the main character has Autism and OCD - two mental health issues that you do not find in YA books/characters very often.  Now I want read her other books!

I hope you are all enjoying fantastic vacation days and are doing lots of reading and resting!  See you in 2013 and Happy New Year.

Tamales

Sixth grade students had an amazing opportunity of making homemade tamales. Making tamales is a holiday tradition in Mexico and other Central American countries. It is a time when families gather together and make the masa, salsa de chile, and use hojas de maíz y hojas de plátano.  It's a family event where everyone has a task, joins the assembly line and makes tamales. The best part is enjoying the yummy tamales after a long day of hard work.

Thanks to Vicky, Ana Cristina and Ana Rosa for their help and guidance in making the tamales!

Wacky Word of the Week: Ramification

ramification

Noun A consequence of an action or event, esp. when complex or unwelcome. A subdivision of a complex structure or process.

Synonyms branch - fork - embranchment - offshoot

1800s Luncheon!

 6th grade class preparing for lunch...

 Lucy with her Indian Pudding

  Rabbit with root vegetables

  Taha enjoying waffles

  

 Kieley serving Hot Chocolate

 Almond cake, lemon curds and pie...

  Buffalo stew!

Miles to Go Drug Prevention Education

On Friday, the sixth grade welcomed back Kelly T. from the Miles to Go Drug Prevention Education program. She worked with the class at the end of last year, and they were excited to work with her again. This year, the class took on the Amazing Race Challenge. They worked in teams to learn about many of common drugs and traced their origins around the world. They learned about the drug's impact on the human body and the potential uses and abuses of the drugs.  They also took a Body Challenge where they had to identify which organs and body systems different drugs impacted.  Finally, they ended the day with the Social Challenge where the teams had to navigate a "sticky situation" and rationalize their decision. It was all very lively and engaging. 

This is a springboard for many upcoming conversations we will have about drugs in our upcoming CPR meetings. Thank you to Kelly for providing a great foundation for our future work!

EnviroSchool Comes to TCS

The TCS community had a rare opportunity today. The third through seventh grades participated in a wonderful program called EnviroSchool. We began the day with a visit from Dr. Zoolittle and Mother Meekat who shared a few creatures and challenged the students to a variety of games about animals and their habitats. 

We then broke up in to three groups to rotate through three stations: Splash Mobile, Green Machine and Recycling. Each involved making, doing, learning, exploring and thinking.

I think the most wonderful part of the day was watching students from different classes and grades get to know each other better, share knowledge, and have fun. Thank you to Denise P. for bringing the program to TCS and creating this wonderful learning and community building opportunity!

Math/Science Update 12 December 12

In math, the class is moving along at a steady clip. In recent weeks, we have been getting reacquainted with rational numbers. They have been practicing doing conversions between fractions, decimals, percentages. Some of us are still struggling to conceptualize these amounts and we will work on having a better grasp of them through the new year.  We are moving towards performing basic operations with these rational numbers.

In science, the class is really excited about making solar powered cars. We spent several classes learning out silicon and how it can be used to make solar panels. We discovered why solar panels are not currently a popular way to collect electricity and what variables may impact the effectiveness of our solar panel cars. We are in the early stages of construction. Be on the look out for images and information on our cars as they progress.

Wacky Word of the Week: Propensity

propensity
(noun) An inclination or natural tendency to behave in a particular way.

Synonyms

inclination - tendency - leaning - proclivity - bent

Lewis and Clark or Industrial Revolution?

Sixth graders have been learning about our country's westward expansion and have learned about the great adventures that a large group of men and one, strong woman took in the early 1800s.  Be sure to ask them about the Lewis and Clark Expedition.  This week, they will learn about the Industrial Revolution in America, and then they will complete a project on one of these American events or times.  They will decide which holds more interest for them, and they will also have some say with the project itself.  Either way, all students will take home a recipe from the 1800s to prepare and share with their classmates.  I have a couple of authentic recipes from which the students may choose.  We will have our 1800s feast Tuesday, December 18th.  I have encouraged the students to be adventurous, as Lewis and Clark were, and taste each of the dishes.  Naturally, this activity is meant to expand their horizons and understanding of the time period, but special diets or allergies will be honored.

The sixth graders also spent time this week honing their proofreading skills and increasing their grammar knowledge.  This small grammar unit which included comma rules, homophones, contractions "tricky" words like a lot versus alot will culminate with a quiz on Tuesday or Wednesday of this week.

Here is a web site that features a fun Lewis and Clark Expedition game.  Try it to see if you have the knowledge and skills to survive a trip from Missouri to the Pacific Ocean and back again!  "O the Joy!"


http://www.nationalgeographic.com/west/

Wacky Word of the Week: Lugubrious

lugubrious
(adj) Looking or sounding sad and dismal.

Synonyms

mournful - sad - dismal - gloomy - doleful - funereal

Courtesy of MHS

The Big Turkey by CL and LC

Almost every week different classes "lead" an event called Community Meeting. Usually, classes share what they are doing in class, or what they did on a certain field trip. This year, the sixth grade decided that they wanted to recreate a play the kindergartners usually do every year called the "Big Pumpkin". We choose the Big Pumpkin because for some reason, the Kindergardeners didn't do the cute little play about Halloween this year, and we wanted to keep the tradition going. But, instead of making it exactly like the original, we decided to retell the story with a Thanksgiving theme because it was around that time. First, we rewrote the script, using the original songs and lines, but twisting them so they can be Thanksgiving related. Then, everyone picked their parts, got their costumes, and we all started to practice. During this process, someone thought of an idea to make a song to go with it, and we would sing it at the end. We all thought it was a great idea and we created a song, and we created a dance to go with it. The song was called "Gobble Gobble Style." It was based of the popular song,"Gangnam Style," by the artist, PSY. The impressive part about this process was that we were able to do all of this in about 2-3 days. On the first day, we had no idea, and on Friday we sold it! When we presented it in front of everyone, they loved it and all the kids were humming "Gobble Gobble Style" for the rest of the day. Then the following Tuesday, we presented it in front of the Grandparents on Grandparents' Day, they loved it. We had a great time thinking about the ideas and picking the parts! 

If you would like to see our skit, please check it out here! 





Written and report by CL and LC.

Wacky Word of the Week: Formidable

Formidable 
(adj) Inspiring fear or respect through being impressively large, powerful, intense, or capable.

example: "a formidable opponent"; "the challenge was formidable"

Courtesy of CS

Word of the Week

Back in September, MDS taught me a new term, "caddywhompus" while we were stacking chairs in the auditorium. I was tickled by the term and shared it with the class. We decided we would try to use the word throughout the day. That turn of events has lead to the sixth grade's "Wacky Word of the Week." We have a box where anyone can deposit words and once a week, we pull a new word. Our goal is to use it in our daily lives and we acknowledge each other when we do so successfully. This is something we all enjoy and grew organically out of their interest in words.

Here is a list of the previous words of the week:

1) caddywhompus
2) yokefellow
3) sundry
4) vivacious
5) erinaceous

We will attempt to post the word of the week for all of you who would like to play along!

USA Flag

Earlier this year, the sixth grade class was talking about flags and how countries used them to symbolize common history or events that the country had experienced.  I took the class to the flagpole and we realized that TCS was not flying a flag.  Upon investigation, we learned that we had not flown a flag for quite some time, and in fact, our school needed to purchase a new flag.  As a result, we have a new flag and are now responsible for putting it up and taking it down each day.  We learned how to fold the flag properly and how to raise and lower it on the pole.  Here is a picture of our new TCS flag!

SNAPSHOT: CPR on 15 Nov 2012

 Circle of Power and Respect is the way we start our day in the NMY. It is a vital component in our program and allows us to create community, deal with issues, discuss life skills and to have some fun. At this point in the year, the sixth graders are running our circles. They are leading us in a greeting, discussion/share, and an activity. They must manage their time, their classmates and keep the circle flowing. They try on different leadership styles and find what works best for them. We also give each other feedback on how the circle was run and ways to improve for our next circle.

Today, MG lead us in an exciting and unique CPR. He designed his whole CPR around using the giant parachute from PE class as his theme. We all enjoyed the new environment and applauded his creativity and planning. This is our second well-run student meeting and I am excited to see what else the students in store for the coming weeks!

Community Meeting Film and Latest Explorations

Hello from Film and Photography.  It's been a busy month.  If you have not been following on TCSfilm tumblr, take a look at all our work from:

Week 4: "Why, Why, Why?"

Week 5: "Screenings and Specifics" - and if you want to see those films again, they are posted as well:

Train Arriving at La Ciotat, The Imp, Street Scene, R's Keystone Cops

Week 6 "Set Patter" and "Montage"

Week 7 "Wok Talk"

Week 8 "Scriptwriting and Editing"

Week 9  "Day for Night" and "Congratulations to AQ"

Also, if you missed our presentation at community meeting, or just want to see it again, here is our compilation film.

Community Meeting October 2012 from NMY FILM on Vimeo.

Enjoy, and see you next week.

SNAPSHOT: Science 7 Nov 12

I had a fun today with the sixth graders trying to answer two questions: what is a volt? what is a watt? It may sound peculiar to call this "fun," but it is what I love about my job. The class was asked to do some homework to explore and find their own definitions of these terms. What came back were very intense Google/Wikipedia answers. We put them up on the board and we took them apart word by word until we had constructed our own understanding of the terms. I came up with a strangely useful analogy using football and one of our wonderful seventh graders, AH. We learned, we laughed, we wrestled with complex concepts and walked away more knowledgeable, thoughtful and content with a class well spent. 

Thank you, sixth grade for a great class!

SNAPSHOT: Science 30 Oct 12

Excited about Circuits
 The class jumped feet first into exploring electricity. We defined what electricity is and then looked at the two types of electricity: static and current electricity. Developing an understanding of these categories, the students were eager to get into the lab and get their hands on some electrical equipment. Students have had several class to experiment and dig up their understanding of how circuits work. They were challenged to make various circuits: two-battery circuits, parallel and series circuits, and circuits with motors.

Note from Kelly

We are pleased to offer both speech screenings and occupational therapy consultation at no charge here at TCS.  Screenings for speech will be on November 8th and OT consultations will be arranged individually.  

If you have interest in having your child screened, please ask your teacher for a permission slip that will authorize the therapists to see your child here on campus.  

Please feel free to call me at 858.454.0184 ext 142 if you have any questions!

Kelly Parisa

Coordinator of Parent Education and Student Support Services

The Children's School / 2225 Torrey Pines Lane / La Jolla, CA 92037

Día de los Muertos

Sixth grade friends learned about a traditional holiday celebrated in México and other Spanish-speaking countries. Students learned Día de los Muertos is celebrated on November 1 and 2. It is a time to remember and celebrate the lives of loved ones (including pets) who have passed away. Students learned it's not seen as a sad time, but rather a time to have fun and celebrate the individual's life with friends and family. Students also learned about ofrendas and which traditional items are displayed to honor the loved one.

Sixth graders also had the opportunity to work with one of the third grade Spanish classes in creating máscaras, papel picado y flores de papel. They even tried pan de muertos, a traditional and symbolic bread eaten on Día de los Muertos.

flores de papel

máscaras

papel picado

pan de muertos

Parent Ed: Connected Parenting

Connected

Parenting

Consequences that Work

&

Enhancing Your Child’s Self Control

Presented by:

Rebecca Lindsay & Kelly Parisa

TCS Social Curriculum Committee Members

&

Connected Parenting associates

Come together with other parents to hear about the importance of connections, empathic listening, and boundaries for your child.

Learn strategies to enhance the parent-child bond, to foster communication, nurture resilience and respectful behaviors that afford them confidence and rewarding relationships.

November 16^th

 6:30-8:30

At the home of

Mark and Martha Sottosanti

5936 Beaumont Ave

La Jolla, CA 92037

Please RSVP to Kelly at 858.454.0184 ext. 142

by November 9^th.

This is an adults-only event

Fall Festival Pumpkin by KK

This is our pumpkin. It has come a long way way from the very beginning. First, we formed  a Pumpkin Committee to decide what it would look like. The people KK, MR, KS, KG, LC, CL came together and decided that we would have a spider on a web as our theme. Then, it was brought to the class to get their approval. Next, we formed groups that were pulled randomly out of a cube: the light spider group and the heavy spider group and the web group. Everyone else made awesome bugs out of pipe cleaners and beads. The light spider group was MR and KK, the heavy spider group was SO and KS. KS, LC, KG made the web, then in Open Studio SW helped and glued the bugs on. We all admired it, it’s really awesome and we put a lot of work into it. A very lucky person will get it on Sunday at Fall Festival!

Written and reported by KK.

SNAPSHOT: Math on 16 Oct 2012

In math class, the students spent time identifying the words associated with the basic operations. They combed all their previous experiences in school to find all the different ways they had been asked to add, subtract, multiply and divide. All of this was in preparation for translating written words into algebraic expressions and equations.

Can you think of any more?

Parent Ed: Technology at TCS

Ever wonder what technology really looks like at TCS?

Have you heard about our new computer lab?

Curious about what your little tech wizards are doing?

please join us for a look at TECHNOLOGY AT TCS, a parent education presentation, to be held on Friday, October 19th at 9:00 in the NMY Common Room.  Jesse Brand and Jon Russo will be on hand to answer your questions and to show you what is happening in your child's classroom, and around campus, with various types of technology.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Sixth Grade Humanities Update

The sixth graders have been working on their Explorer research projects this week.  There are three components of research to the project; A two to four page written paper, a map that highlights the explorer's routes and a personal choice component.  Some are creating i-movie, others are doing key note presentations, we have time lines, and one that is considering dressing up as the explorer and making a presentation.  They also have been writing in their journals and have a creative story that they are writing.  Sixth graders are reading their second independent reading book which is due November 5th.  Here are some pictures from class today.

NMY Constitution 2012-2013

Update from Carwai

Can you believe that we have already completed one month of school?! 

CPR activity: Self-Portraits

We are finally getting into our routines and finding our rhythm with the schedule. In math, we have settled into a comfortable pace. It is a mix of review and new material. We have covered topics such as exponents, order of operations, absolute value, and introduction to algebraic expressions and functions. For the next few weeks we will be immersed in operations with integers.

In science, the students are researching a different type of energy. They have sorted themselves into smaller groups and will be teaching/presenting to each other so we are all more knowledgeable about these types of energy. You should ask your child about their research!

Here is some news from Janie in the Library:

"This week we have been learning about Destiny, the library software. This program has a lot of great capabilities and can be accessed from any web browser. Students this week learned to log on and check the library for books, see what books they have checked out, and "friend" people within our school community. We also briefly discussed on-line etiquette, safety and cyber-bullying. It would be great if you could discuss this with your kids and let them practice accessing our library website. We will be using it for research projects as well as library information, so practice is great. This is a safe site, among our community only, and 1st grade and up will be learning about it.  The website is library.tcslj.org and they click on The Children's School link and then log-in. "

The class made their first trip to visit the Preschool today. We will partner with the preschoolers this year.  We hope to spend time with them, create some activities and be a resource for them. Our hope is to build community bonds with different classes this year.

¿Masculino o Femenino?

Sixth graders are reviewing when a word in Spanish is either masculine (masculino) or feminine (femenino). They were reminded of the basic rules and then brought in objects representing one of the genders as well as searched articles written in Spanish to find words they believed were either masculine or feminine. 

Film and Photography Weeks 2 and 3

We've been busy this week and last working on an editing exercise.  Tomorrow we take a look at each other's scenes.

Check out the class tumblr and flickr for a synopsis of our work last week and this week.