Día de los Muertos

Sixth graders enjoyed learning about the traditional Mexican holiday, Día de los Muertos. They researched the meaning behind this holiday as well as investigated more about the traditions and uses of the calaveras and calacas. They also explored the drawings of José Guadalupe Posada, especially his most famous drawing of La Catrina. After students presented their projects, we celebrated Día de los Muertos by eating pan de muertos andmole. 

Authentic Assessment--Parent Education

At TCS we believe in real-world tasks, concept awareness, understanding, critical thinking and the application of learned skills. 

Our goal is to share with the world children who grow to be engaged and contributing members of their communities.

Come learn about what authentic assessment is, what it looks like and how it is an integral part of the educational program at TCS—allowing teachers to understand and document skill and knowledge acquisition from our emergent curricula while addressing the whole-child. 

Join Jennifer Harris Edstrom,

TCS parent and educational consultant:                                                    

Tuesday, November 19^th

8:30-9:30

in Kids’ Club

Please RSVP to Kelly Parisa at kparisa@tcslj.org

Friends and family welcome

October Update

This has been an action packed and exciting month! The students have moved on from studying early man and are now learning about early civilizations. After a quick stop in the Middle East to learn about the ancient Mesopotamian empires, we will move on to the highly anticipated Egypt unit. The students have also been writing prolifically. They have written numerous journal entries, created a chain story (at my expense and to their great joy), and are in the process of completing their short stories. In addition to their writing they have read four short stories and are working on their third chapter book for the year. Finally, after a period of intense work that resulted in a low survival rate, the students now have a taste of what it took to survive as a hunter-gatherer and evolve into a more civilized, community-driven human. 

Students presented their Every Bone Tells a Story Projects. 

Having too much fun writing chain stories. 

Socratic seminars work on debate skills and literary discussion techniques. 

Independent reading selections are grouped in book clubs this month to encourage discussion and enhance comprehension. 

Pumpkin Decorating

Technology Guidelines

Hello 6th Grade Parents,

Below are the new in-school technology guidelines that have been established through several discussions between students and teachers over the course of the last week. These guidelines will be followed in addition to those already outlined in the student technology contracts. This is to be seen as a "living" document, meaning that it can be amended to reflect the current needs of the students, teachers, and classrooms.

1. Minecraft, or any other computer game, is not allowed between the hours of 8am and 3pm, unless given specific permission by a teacher.
2. Computer usage is not allowed in the classroom until specific permission is given by the teacher. 
3. Headphones will be removed and music will be turned off during instructional times and are only to be used once permission is given by the teacher.
4. Music must be played at a volume that still allows the student to hear the teacher when their attention is needed. 
5. Music needs to be played through iTunes, Pandora, or some other music streaming program. Youtube or other players that stream music with videos are not permissible. 

Thank you for being supportive in this process. Please email us if you have any questions.

Best,

Justin and Tina

TCS Parent Education Updates

Hello TCS parents!

I wanted to share some updates, and reminders, about parent education opportunities at TCS in October:

• Jesse will presenting at our "Technology in the NMY" event on the morning of Tuesday, October 15th at 8:AM in the auditorium.
• In light of our Head of School candidate visits this week, we are going to be rescheduling our "Technology at TCS" parent ed session originally planned for Oct 18th. We are hoping to finalize a new date for early November.......stay tuned!
• Executive functioning involves all those important organizational, strategic and self-management skills that enhance learning readiness, focus and independence.  We are delighted to be partnering with La Jolla Learning Works for an evening presentation at The Children's School on Thursday, October 23rd from 6:30-8:00 in the auditorium. 
• Our Garden Committee invites you to "Nutrition and The Edible Schoolyard" on Friday, October 25th, from9:00-10:30 in the Elementary Science classroom. Come prepared to cook and taste, while learning about this exciting edible education program!

We encourage you to invite friends and family to our parent education workshops throughout the year.  Please email or call to RSVP for any (or all!) of the above events: kparisa@tcslj.org or 858.454.0184 ext #142.  

Warm regards and happy parenting!

Kelly

Sink Yer Mate!

The 6th grade students practiced their coordinate plane plotting in math last week by playing our very own version of Battleship! Check out some of the intense games being played. Who knew math could be so fun?!

Earth's Layers Project Models

Today was our gallery walk presentations for the Earth's Layers Project! The students came up with some very creative ways to make 3D models that depicted the layers of our Earth. Everything from clay and styrofoam to cake pops and rice crispy treats! To supplement the models was detailed research the students did with their partners. Check out some of the amazing models below! 

Next we're diving into and looking at plate tectonics, faults and the types of occurances (earthquakes, volcanoes, etc) that come from their movement.