Classroom Peek Week of 12/17-12/21

Take a peek inside to see what vibrant lessons were happening inside of TCS classrooms this week!

In this issue:

• 1st Grade used insects to practice alphabetizing by cutting out the different insect names and pasting them in correct alphabetical order onto a head crown.

• 2nd Grade finished work on their Christmas cards and framed sunflower paintings inspired by their lesson on famed artist Vincent Van Gogh.

• 5th Grade worked in pairs to complete an adjective challenge during an English lesson. Students also wrapped up their service learning project with Operation Gratitude by paying Brigitte a visit to learn how to use the electronic stamp machine so that they could mail all of their holiday letters to veterans.

• 6th Grade wrapped up their lesson on Greek mythology by giving oral presentations on the different Gods and Goddesses they encountered while reading Percy Jackson & The Olympians.

• 7th Grade did more work on their zentangle tiles in Science class.

Classroom Peek Week of 12/10-12/14

Take a peek inside to what vibrant lessons were happening inside TCS classrooms this week!

In this issue:

• Yellow Room mixed flour, salt, and water to make dough for homemade Christmas ornaments, then baked them in the oven before decorating them with paints and glitter.

• Kindergarten used oversized wooden domino blocks to play a fun matching game during a hands on Math lesson. Students also practiced sentence writing while writing in their journals.

• 1st Grade brushed up on their knowledge of "Sh-" words by playing a game of digraph bingo.

• 2/3 Combo students paired up with their 5th Grade buddies to create Christmas and holiday themed pictures.

• 3/4 Combo students used their bodies to create a trust project during a STEM lesson. Each student positioned themselves in chairs with their heads on another's knees in a square and little by little the chairs were slowly taken away, leaving students no option but to hold each other up. The class succeeded after 5 tries!

• 5th Grade students split into groups to create colonial settlement brochure that had to include pertinent items like the history, economy, geography, religion, and culture/family to catch the eye of settlers during the American Colonial period in Social Studies.

• 7th Grade continued their study on human anatomy by learning about the specifics of the heart in Life Science.

Classroom Peek Week of 12/3-12/7

Take a peek to see what vibrant lessons were happening inside TCS classrooms this week.

In this issue:

• Green and Yellow Rooms got into the holiday spirit by using blue paints and glitter to make dreidel crafts, then cut potatoes to make tasty latkes with sour cream and applesauce during a Hannukah themed lesson. 

• Kindergarten glued colorful paper scraps into the shape of mosaic-styled menorahs during a lesson about Hanukkah.

• 1st Grade wrote their own creative stories about what they'd hang on their antlers if they were reindeer during a Language lesson based on a reading of Imogene's Antlers by David Small.

• 2/3 Combo were busy celebrating Hanukkah this week, using colorful strands of yarn to make menorah projects, eating potato latkes, and playing the dreidel game.

• 2/3 Combo 3rd Graders crafted holiday snowmen showing different multiplication strategies in Math class. During a Language lesson students extracted character information, facts, and exaggerations to create their own tall tale stories.

• 5th Grade traced triangular shapes cut out of paper bowls then used vibrant paints to create large flower paintings in Art class.

• 8th Grade combined sodium, iron, and copper chloride, and cornstarch to compare and observe different substances and solutions during a Science lab.

Student Art Show

Our students took inspiration from nature to create their own beautiful art pieces that were professionally matted and displayed on canvas in the Kate Moriarty Gallery. All proceeds went to TCS and a great local horticulture initiative, Tree People. We thank all of the parents, staff, and community members who came by to support our students!

Classroom Peek Week of 11/26-11/30

Take a peek inside to see what vibrant lessons were happening inside of TCS classrooms this week.

In this issue:

• Green Room traced colorful blocks of different shapes to create their own animals during the beginning stages of Math concepts.

• Yellow Room used recyclable materials to make their own acorns and squirrels during Arts and Crafts. Students also enjoyed a lesson on plants and planting courtesy of Ethan, the Star of the Week, and his grandma.

• Kindergarten used a Christmas theme to identify the short E sound words during a Reading lesson by choosing the correct word ornament then cutting and gluing it to their holiday tree. 

• 1st grade used a Dreidl game to practice Math concepts in celebration of Hanukkah, and used beautiful hues of blue tissue papers and glitter to adorn Dreidl art projects.

• 2/3 Combo enjoyed a special Christmas themed reading in the library courtesy of Aiden Montgomery's dad, Anthony, titled Santa Calls by William Joyce. 2nd Grade enjoyed a book, lesson, and oral quiz on sharks with Ben, their Friend of the Week. 3rd Grade worked on their journals with Holly, writing about the highlights of their Thanksgiving holiday! In Social Studies they learned about Caesar Chavez.

• 5th Grade did a fun writing project based on their reading of a storybook titled, The Word Collector by Peter H. Reynolds. Each student had to create their own word study box that includes a definition, sentence, synonym, and picture of a word of their choosing.

• 6th Grade wrapped up their study of ancient Mesopotamia in History by taking a closer look at Mesopotamian inventions such as the wheel, sail, and writing. 

• 7th Grade began their study of the human heart in Science class by watching a short video on the way a heart beats.

TCS Thanksgiving Feast 2018!

Our entire TCS community came together for our annual potluck feast in honor of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. We are grateful to all of you!

Classroom Peek Week of 11/12-11/16

Take a peek inside to see what vibrant lessons were happening inside TCS classrooms this week!

In this issue:

• Green Room practiced their cutting skills while making cut-outs of their hands to craft Thanksgiving turkey crowns.

• Yellow Room practiced kindness and gratitude by making crafty thank you cards for the first responders who risked their lives to save others during the recent California wildfires.

• Kindergarten studied the "tricky teens" in Math this week, using colorful clay and activities to help them identify "-teen" numbers.

• 1st Grade wrote notes of kindness on rectangular scraps of paper that they linked together into a giant kindness chain in honor of Kindness and Compassion Week.

• 5th Grade used wooden spoons and materials to make their cultural ancestor dolls based on their heritage as an art component to a bigger presentation in History class.

• 6th Grade used clay and pointed skewer sticks to transcribe symbols and letters from the language of Ancient Mesopotamia in History class.

• 7th Grade students brought in their own ingredients and calculated data to create energy bars that adhered to a specific content formula and budget in Science class.

• 8th Grade students created Zentangle tiles in Science class by following a process to create an individual nonrepresentational art piece without knowing knowing the end point, but by dividing the tile into several segments, and then following simple, meditative steps to fill the spaces.

• Upper school students enjoyed a special presentation of a new graphic novel, Deadlift, about a superhero born without legs written by Coach Jeremy’s brother!

TCS Celebrates Kindness and Compassion!

Classroom Peek Week of 11/5-11/9

Take a peek inside to see what vibrant lessons were happening inside of TCS classrooms this week!

In this issue:

• Green Room used folded paper plates, felt, and paper scraps to make their own taco art and trees based on their reading of Dragons Love Tacosand Dragons Love Tacos 2. Students then set up their own taco cart during dramatic play and took turns preparing and serving tacos to each other.

• Yellow Room had fun with a camp theme during share day and enjoyed a story by pretend firelight in makeshift mini-forts. Students also got to enjoy camp treats, such as s'mores and little rolled up sandwiches that resembled sleeping bags.

• Kindergarten had a special guest reader in the library (Holly!), continued their lesson on shapes by testing their knowledge during a shape scavenger hunt. They also learned about owls and made their own owl interpretative art projects.

• 1st Grade finished their Science lessons on rocks by reading the classic storybook, Stone Soup, then students brought in different ingredients to prepare their own stone soup in class. They also learned about the Scientific Method and used pennies in vinegar solution to make their own hypotheses about their penny's outcome.

• 2nd Grade started their Reach Leadership Program by introducing their class mascot, the giraffe. Based on a reading about the giraffe's leadership qualities, students made their own drawings and chose 4 of the 8 qualities to include on its long neck along with 1 quality of their own.

• 3/4 Combo learned about the skeletal system in Science and used tracings of their hands in crayon brushed with olive oil to create a luminous x-ray effect once placed against the window.

• 5th Grade crafted Art projects of their heads with ideas falling from them and a written component inspired by their reading of What Do You Do With An Idea?

• 6th Grade is working with Rocks and Minerals, designing their own lab to identify unknown minerals, calcite and quartz, with written Title, Purpose, and Procedure sections. They also created a Data Table at the end of the document, then printed out each lab to run tests using the procedures they created.

• 7th Grade began their exploration of Medieval West African societies by learning the geography of Africa, the make up of village life, and the importance and hardships of trade. Students ended the week by using their knowledge to become African gold merchants and salt traders to get the best deal in a trade simulation.

• 8th grade studied inequalities and how this concept can help plan for a fundraising event and determining how to reach a goal in Math class.

Classroom Peek Week of 10/29-11/2

Take a peek inside to see what vibrant lessons were happening inside TCS classrooms this week!

In this issue:

• Green Room got into the Halloween spirit by studying the sensory characteristics of a pumpkin before carving it.

• Kindergarten was all about shapes this week, as they took turns in their different groups using shape cut outs, colors, and bingo games to test their knowledge.

• 1st Grade enjoyed some time outside with a game of Spelling Hopscotch to help students identify their latest spelling words.

• 2nd Grade decorated treat bags and used paint and other materials to decorate pumpkins in anticipation of Halloween.

• 4th Grade began creating art components to an ongoing creative writing assignment. Each student has been testing their knowledge of nouns and adjectives to create a real estate ad to sell their own haunted house.

• 5th Grade made their own skull art pieces adorned with colorful paper and designs during a Social Studies lesson about Dia de los Muertos.

• MS Art completed the Dias de la Muertos banner this week and hung it up on the wall beside Rita’s office. This was a collaboration between the art class, who created their skeleton paintings, and the elementary students who adorned the banner with marigold paintings. 

• MS English worked mechanics by writing descriptive paragraphs using sensory details to describe an item they own. 

Classroom Peek Week of 10/22-10/26

Take a look inside to see what vibrant lessons were happening inside TCS classrooms this week!

In this issue:

• Red Room practiced their counting skills during a skeleton art lesson using strips of paper and glue sticks.

• Blue Room used glue, pipe cleaners, and googly eyes to craft their own spooky creatures in anticipation of Halloween.

• Kindergarten practiced spelling, counting, and sorting during a Halloween-themed word scavenger hunt, and worked on their Halloween journals telling the story of visiting the Pumpkin Patch.

• 1st Grade used flour, water, and cooking oil to mold their own volcanoes during a Science lesson. In Art, students learned about sugar skull Art in anticipation of Dia de los Muertos, then used white and colorful paints to create their own sugar skulls.

• 2nd Grade read Halloween-themed books then constructed book reports to show the beginning, middle, and end parts of the story. For their “Friend of the Week” assignment, Cree’s dad came to teach basketball skills to the students outside on the Dream Court.

• 4th Grade used pairs of dice and the erasable white boards to practice their multiplication skills during a Math lesson.

• 5th Grade broke into groups to create their own golf courses as an art component to a lesson on professional golfers Nancy Lopez and Lee Trevino in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month. In the spirit of competition students broke into groups and used painted pumpkins, clay, and other art materials to make mascots that represent the class.

• 6th Grade continued their lesson on Ancient Mesopotamia by creating their own comic sketches and fact trading cards in History class, and in English they presented the culmination of their Fairy Tale projects and dioramas to the 5th Grade and Administration.

• 8th Grade enjoyed recess time, playing games of Magic!

Classroom Peek Week of 10/15-10/19

Take a peek inside to see what vibrant lessons were happening inside TCS classrooms this week!

In this issue:

• Red Room used beans, fuzzy cotton balls, and other items to learn about different textures and how they apply to our senses.

• Blue Room practiced measuring and using glue with different pieces of Halloween-themed scrap paper during a collage experiment.

• Yellow Room had a visit from a scientist & participated in a fun lab using food coloring, hydrogen peroxide, and yeast during Science Week. In Music class students studied composers and were fascinated by a tour of the inside of teacher Courtney's piano.

• Kindergarten had a fun visit from Wylder's dad, Jeff, for their weekly Super Hero Training lesson, and each student got their own personal camping preparedness kits and enjoyed a wilderness walk around campus followed by a cookout of grilled hot dogs on a portable stove.

• 1st Grade used q-tips and skull cut outs to make their own spooky skeleton projects.

• 3/4 Combo wrote ways that they plan to show kindness to others at school and in their communities on strips of paper then connected them together to create a class-sized kindness chain. In Art they painted flower portraits for their Square One Art projects.

• 5th Grade did a Halloween "Mad-Libs"-style grammatical poetry assignment to study their use of adjectives, predicates, and subjects.

• 6th Grade continued their History lesson on civilizations by studying Ancient Mesopotamia.

• 7th Grade studied the digestive system in Life Science and drew life size diagrams of the inside of the torso.

Classroom Peek Week of 10/8-10/12

Take a peek at the vibrant lessons that were happening inside of TCS classrooms this week!

Inside this issue:

• Blue Room practiced sharing and pouring while snacking on fresh orange slices, crackers with jam, and juice during a Farmer's Market activity with the Red and Yellow rooms. 

• Green Room started a lesson on emotions, and in addition to enjoying storybooks about the different types of feelings, students crafted their own paper dolls with corresponding facial emotions to show what emotions they were each feeling at the moment.

• Yellow Room centered lessons around their word of the week "Pumpkin", and students made their own edible pumpkin play dough and took turns learning how to trace the letters in the word.

• Kindergarten enjoyed an outdoor Math lesson using chalk 10-squares and hopscotch to practice counting and numeric patterns.

• 1st Grade also took their lesson outside for an "All About..." fortune teller buddy assignment with the 3/4 Combo class.

• 2/3 Combo studied bat facts and crafted their own bat art projects after reading Stella Luna, a story about a young bat who finally finds her way home to her mother and friends.

• 3/4 Combo used miniature sponges, leaf stamps, and brushes to create colorful Fall-themed paintings of trees.

• 5th Grade integrated Halloween into their lesson on compound words by crafting spooky bats with two Halloween-themed words combined into one compound word.

• Middle School History class smashed chalk with cooking oil to create their own paints, then used sticks and their fingers to recreate cave drawings from the caveman era.

• Middle School Science built their own miniature carts and used yard sticks to measure speed and the effect of release height during a lab.

• Middle School English continued to read Fairy Tales, as well as work on developing their own stories, while the Latin Class worked on conjugating verbs.
  

Spirit Week

This week our campus was filled with spirit! Monday's Pajama Day made for cozy classroom fun, while Tuesday's Sports theme and Wednesday's Rock T-Shirt day were major hits! The end of the week had our Eagles decked out in fashions from the various decades and we had a fun finish with Spirit Wear on Friday. What a fun week on campus! 

Classroom Peek Week of 10/1-10/5

Take a look inside to see what vibrant lessons were happening inside of TCS classrooms this week!

In this issue:

• This week, we welcomed our new Transition students to TCS! The little ones enjoyed meeting and mingling with their new classmates, teachers, and surroundings.

• Our Preschool classes enjoyed some time off campus this week to ring in the Fall season at the Pumpkin Patch.

• Blue Room used play dough and wooden blocks to practice making shapes during center time.

• Green Room cut and glued colored sheets of tissue paper to contact sheets to craft Fall leaf projects.

• Yellow Room got into the Fall spirit by cutting apples and mixing ingredients to bake fresh apple pies. Students also used a mock fruit stand and cash register to create a Farmer's Market. Students took turns shopping for fruits and veggies while other students operated the cash register and managed the stand.

• Kindergarten took turns dissecting apples during a Science experiment to learn the anatomy of fruit.

• 1st Grade celebrated the new month and Fall season by completing their October calendar projects.

• 2nd Grade was excited to use their new dry erase tables to solve math story problems. Each student had to write key words to help them remember to add "in all" or "how many are left". 2/3 Combo and 5th Grade came together during a buddy interaction assignment and conducted personal interviews to learn more about each buddy's favorite things.

• 3rd and 4th Grades enjoyed library time with a special guest reader, and worked on their student-led Art projects.

• Middle School Art classes fine tuned their painting techniques, while working on their Square One art projects.

TCS Student Council Elections

Our 5-8th Graders made their voices heard this week by participating in this year's student council election process. Our candidates worked so hard on preparing and promoting their campaigns, and the voters were really engaged in the process of choosing our 2018-2019 student council leaders.

Classroom Peek Week of 9/24-9/28

Take a peek inside to see what vibrant lessons were happening inside TCS classrooms this week!

In this issue:

• Red Room created colorful dotted art pieces with paint sticks during center time.

• Green Room used different types of apples to study metrics by creating an Apple Tree Chart. Each student tasted a slice of a red, a green, and yellow apple then metrics were polled on the chart based on which apple each student liked best.

• Yellow Room began their Square One Art pieces, and used Fall leaf and critter cut outs to practice tracing shapes.

• Kindergarten did a fun outdoor activity using graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows to make Solar S'mores. Each student wrapped their ingredients in foil, then set them in the sun to bake! In Art class, students began learning the basics in painting in anticipation of their Square One Art projects that they will begin crafting next week.

• 1st Grade used concrete objects to practice their lessons, and make them tangible. In spelling, they used wooden alphabet pieces, and dice to assist with addition and subtraction problems in Match. 

• 2nd Grade started their first "Friend of the Week" assignment and enjoyed learning all about their fellow classmate, Destiny, who shared her photo board with the class.

• 3rd Grade worked on their interactive notebooks in Social Studies, and in Science they did a lesson on landforms on the Sun.

• 5th Grade played an interactive game of Morning Yoga Flow charades to test their knowledge of different poses they learned about during a reading on Yoga in the library.

• 6th Grade began their "I'm An Expert" group projects in Spanish class. Each group chose a country and studied the historical, political, geographical, economical, and cultural aspects of their country of choice.

• 7th Grade enjoyed learning how to write in algebraic and geometric expressions in Math class, using the new whiteboard tables in their classroom. They also finished work on their Bridge Projects using popsicle sticks and Elmer's glue.

Classroom Peek Week of 9/14-9/21

Take a look inside to see what vibrant lessons are happening inside TCS classrooms this week!

In this issue:

• Red Room was immersed in interactive play this week, using legos and play dough to create their own imaginative characters and structures.

• Blue Room mixed bright neon paints with gold glitter to create bold art pieces to display in the classroom.

• Green Room used plastic fly swatters to make colorful painted pieces inspired by fruit flies!

• Yellow Room used sound blocks to play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star along with teacher Courtney in Music class.

• Kindergarten visited the Art room for the first time this year and used various-sized leaves and white paint to create silhouetted nature pieces. During a Science experiment, students mixed different solutions to see what the different combinations created!

• 1st Grade studied the illustrations of Syd Hoff, and used his book, The Young Cartoonist: The ABC's of Cartooning, as a guide to sketch their own dinosaurs.

• 3rd Grade worked on their addition assessments together in Math class.

• 5th Grade learned the value of mistakes during a lesson on "The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes" by Mark Pett and Gary Rubenstein, then wrote short essays on their own past mistakes and created motivating mantra pieces to be displayed around the classroom. They also did their 2nd STEM project of the year so far, using construction paper, one piece of tape, and scissors to measure their own paper strips that were combined into a paper chain.

• Middle School Art students wrapped up their first project, a watercolor painting based on the work of Russian Artist Wassily Kandinsky. His use of shapes, line and color to create abstract works was a natural connection to our participation of International Dot Day, a celebration of the creativity within all of us. From there, they moved on to the exploration of different watercolor techniques. 

• 7th Grade Science testing different medicines and tracked the healing effects of each throughout the classroom during a lab. In Math class they were each given a budget and set amount of materials to construct their own group suspension bridges using popsicle sticks.

TCS Celebrates International Dot Day!

Inspired by the popular children’s book, The Dot, by Peter H. Reynolds this special day celebrates creativity and making your mark! Art teacher Matt (and his puppy Chanel) got the entire TCS community involved all week with creating projects centered around the dot, culminating with each class forming rings of circles around each other. In the words of the book, “make your mark and see where it takes you!”.

Classroom Peek Week of 9/10-9/14

Take a look inside to see what vibrant lessons are happening inside TCS classrooms this week!

In this issue:

• Blue Room got into the spirit of International Dot Day by decorating their own cut-outs of small colorful circle shapes, and spent time mixing colors during a painting activity.

• Green Room did an emergent lesson on shapes using ice cream as a theme. By mixing shaving cream, glue, and different color dyes students crafted art projects in the flavor of their choice (vanilla, chocolate, or strawberry), and drew their own ice cream cones using the different shapes they are learning.

• Yellow Room took their first campus field trip to the library this week, stopping off at the pond to discover the different insects and rocks that their TCS community offers.

• 1st Grade started work on their family books and used a vintage toy turntable to create colorful spin art.

• 2/3 Combo began working on their I-Charts to assist the students with generating meaningful questions about a topic and organizing their writing by using a structured guide while researching.

• 5th Grade presented their summer vacation travel projects, a STEM assignment. Each student had to construct their own geometric buildings using index cards and pictures from their Summer travels.

• 6th Grade crafted projects in celebration of International Dot Day in Art class and began to get familiar with Google Classroom and Khan Academy.

• 7th Grade learned the difference between historians and archaeologists and how the two work together to develop our understanding of the past in History class.

• 8th Grade English began their study on the classic tales of morale by the Greek storyteller, Aesop and his series of Fables. In Science, they learned about the types of hazardous materials, specifically magnesium which they used to created fire during a lab.