2A Highlights 10/31

Will: I liked losing my tooth today at lunch! I liked the Halloween parade and the nature walk. I also liked making a time machine at recess.
Asher: I liked the Halloween party, Giants dress almost all week, and recess.
Connor B.: I liked math, recess, finishing our Halloween baskets and making a mural in art, and science.
Frederick: I liked art and the Halloween parade.
Van: I liked Ms. Colgate because I got to sleep for 3 minutes, recess, art, costume parade (even though I was burning up), and free choice. I really enjoyed recess today because it wasn’t really crowded, you know how it gets?
Conrad: I liked art, playing at recess, making a block science lab, finishing our trick or treating baskets at art, the costume party, the nature walk, and Ms. Colgate because it felt like we got a nap. I liked making a time machine at recess.
Clyde: I liked the nature walk! I also liked the Halloween parade and Charlie Brown’s pumpkin!
Rohan: I liked the nature walk! I liked Charlie Brown, putting up our world map for our food stickers, Ms. Colgate’s breathing exercise because I slept for five minutes, recess even though it was wet, and Halloween parade! I also liked the nature walk.
Liam: I liked our nature walk in the Presidio, art when we did the poster, and recess in the rain.
Owen: I liked putting our food stickers on the world map, Halloween mural in art, wet recess, and Halloween parade.
Caspar: I liked recess, PE, and art.
William: I liked PE, recess, and art.
Connor M.: I liked the Halloween parade! The Presidio walk, wet recess, and art and finishing our Halloween heads.
Henry: I liked our nature walk in the Presidio, art, recess, and PE in the rain. Also, the parade!
Kekoa: I liked recess in the rain, PE, Halloween parade, and math.
Boden: I liked PE in the rain, finishing our pumpkin heads in art, the Halloween parade and costumes, putting food stickers on our map, and falling asleep with Ms. Colgate.
Axel: I liked everything! Some things I really liked were our costume parade, finishing our Halloween heads in art, and recess in the rain.
Alex: I liked second recess in the rain because we made a time machine, art and the haunted house mural, the Presidio nature walk, and PE today in the rain. I also want to add I liked Image of the Day.
Elliot: I liked everything especially the rain today! I liked our nature walk.

 We missed you Trey, Tanish, Kenzo, and Finn!

2B Highlights: 10/24

The highlight of my week was...

Jarett:  Slide Ranch

Adrian: Secret tunnel at Slide Ranch

James: Milking goats at Slide Ranch

Phil: Playing eagle eye at Slide Ranch

Ollie: Writing Celebration

Soren: Telling stories on the way to slide ranch

Theo: Diwali, Slide Ranch and Writing Celebration!

Taaran: Diwali, BOW,& Slide Ranch!

Asher:  Milking goats @ Slide Ranch

Jackson: Writing Celebration!

Dylan: Milking goats at Slide Ranch

Cole: Writing Celebration, Diwali and Slide Ranch!

Jay: Diwali, Slide Ranch

Alex:  Making Diyas for Diwali

Dyon: The whole entire week!

Lachlan: Building  bone creatures at Slide Ranch!

John: Milking goats at Slide Ranch!

Ryder: Milking the goats, drinking the mild and feeding goats Cypress!

Webb: Slide Ranch and Diwali

Jake: Secret Tunnel and everything at Slide Ranch and the Writing Celebration

Will: Slide Ranch, Writing Celebration and Diwali! 

Updates from 2B Boys: Dylan and Jarett

Dylan: My favorite part of this week was milking the goats.  So we got to milk a goat, when it was my turn I put a smile on my face then I milked the goat.  It felt smooth and slick and then I got to feed the goat.  It was awesome!

Jarett: This week I enjoyed reading group and the field trip.  In reading group you get to pick new books and read it.  On the field trip we went to Slide Ranch and at Slide Ranch you get to pick another name.

Hungry Planet: What We and the World Eat

This week spent a day getting dirty at Slide Ranch deepening our study of plants, and understanding where food comes from.  To learn a little bit about Slide Ranch's farm-to-table approach, check out this video clip (also embedded in our Digital Resources tab).  When we returned to school, we studied the contents of our own refrigerators.  What did we notice?  Did we eat similar food to each other?  Did we think people around the world eat similar food to our families?  Why or why not?  Check out our photos below.  What observations can you make?


 After sharing observations about our own food, we looked at food for families around the world in Peter Menzel's photographic series, "Hungry Planet: What the World Eats".  We then revisited our initial observations.  Boys agreed that food around the world varies greatly.  Flora Mugambi-Mutunga joined us to help us gain a global perspective about food and issues of access.  Together, the boys realized the factors such as climate, natural resources, cost, and culture all influence what we eat.

Bhutan: The Namgay family of Shingkhey Village. Food expenditure for one week: 224.93 ngultrum or $5.03. Family recipe: Mushroom, cheese and pork.

Chad: The Aboubakar family of Breidjing Camp. Food expenditure for one week: 685 CFA Francs or $1.23. Favorite foods: soup with fresh sheep meat.

Kuwait: The Al Haggan family of Kuwait City. Food expenditure for one week: 63.63 dinar or $221.45. Family recipe: Chicken biryani with basmati rice.

Next, we'll meet with Chef Melanie of Acre Gourmet to learn more about kids' access to healthy food here in the Bay Area.  We'll uncover some serious needs and brainstorm ways that we can take action to help.  Stay tuned!

Updates from 2A Boys: Connor B. and Axel

Connor B.: I liked recess.
Axel: I liked science and learning choice. I played with Legos and I liked planting the cilantro. It's not growing yet but it takes time.

Narrative Writing Celebration

This week we had our first writing celebration in second grade!  We honored the process and growth the boys have made the past five weeks of writing, as we've learned about narrative writing in Writing Workshop.  The rooms were buzzing with excitement as boys proudly read their stories and parents gave supportive feedback.  Check out the action shots in our Instagram accounts!  Below is the a behind-the-scenes peek at all the work the boys did to create their narrative stories (click pictures to enlarge).

We are looking forward to much more thoughtful, creative, and impressive writing from the boys as the year progresses!

2A Highlights 10/17

Axel: I liked the function machine clone game we played in Morning Meeting and I liked everything that we did this week!
Caspar: I liked art when we did our paper mache, writing and recess.
William: I liked art, writing and recess but my very favorite was art.
Kenzo: I liked recess and I also liked our art project. I also liked our STEM lab visit when we saved seeds with Farmer Ben.
Will S: I really liked everything. The thing I really liked was Ms. Colgate because we got to express different emotions. I liked our science lesson in the STEM lab too.
Liam: I liked recess, art, lunch and Ms. Colgate.
Connor B: I liked recess. I also liked the STEM lab! I also liked math when we did the function machines.
Frederick: I liked art and recess.
Tanish: I liked paper mache in art and also recess. My favorite thing about recess is
playing soccer!
Finn: I liked art and I liked our special activity to celebrate Ms. Wechsler’s birthday.
Clyde: I liked recess, image of the day and the STEM Lab.
Van: I liked recess, lunch and the special activity for Ms. Wechsler’s birthday. I also really liked art. I also liked playing football with my friends and football at PE.
Conrad: I liked art, playing the math function clone game in morning meeting and image of the day.
Elliot: I liked the STEM lab science with Farmer Ben and I also liked the whole week. I liked planting the herbs and I just liked everything.
Kekoa: I liked kimochis with Ms. Colgate and I liked doing spelling and I liked doing math.
Boden: I liked reading group when we watched the video. I liked art and recess
Asher: I liked reading group, recess, and I especially liked science in the STEM lab.
Alex: I liked recess, art, spelling, writing and recess! I also liked image of the day and second recess on Friday.
Owen: I liked art when we painted our Halloween sculptures. I liked recess when I played football with my friends. I liked PE today because I got to play a big football game with Mr. Goldman and I liked reading group.
Connor M: I liked making the sculptures in art and painting them, I liked football at recess and PE and I liked reading group and image of the day.
Henry: I liked playing football with my friends, going to art and reading groups and PE.
Trey: I liked painting and sketching in art and playing soccer at recess. I also liked music.
We missed you, Rohan!

2B Highlights 10/17

My Highlight this week was…

Jarett:  painting paper mache in Art

Adrian:  writer’s workshop and finishing our stories

Will H: painting the paper mache in Art.

Jackson: parent volunteers in art

Lachlan: painting in Art.

Dyon: painting my skeleton red-eyed in art

Jay: Writer’s workshop

Alex:  Ms. Colgate and learning about regulation zones

Taaran:  learning more about plants and seeds

Cole; Learning the longest word in our dictionary

Webb: dodgeball

Jake: dodgeball

Phil: dodgeball

Dylan: Reading Groups!

Ryder:  planting cilantro with Farmer Ben

James: dodgeball

Mikhail: dodgeball

Soren: all day today (Friday) especiall dodgeball

Theo: the whole week especially today!

John: dodgeball

Asher: dodgeball

Cyrus: dodgeball

Updates from 2B Boys: Cole and Jarett

Cole: In art, 2B is finishing their paper mache Halloween sculptures.  You could choose a zombie or a red devil.

Jarrett: I enjoyed library this week because you get to listen to stories and check out books and when you are listening to a story you can sit on chairs.

Updates from 2A Boys: Caspar and Connor B.

Caspar: My favorite part of the week was art because we almost finished our paper mache.

Connor B.: I liked math because we did number puzzles.

Image of the Day: Nobel Peace Prize

Why do think we chose this for our Image of the Day?

Image of the Day

As Tanish observed, it's a tower, and Boden elaborated, "It's in Sweden because the three crowns on the tower are on their jerseys."  What keen observations and connections!  The photo is of Stockholm City Hall, site of the annual Nobel Prize awards.  Last week, this year's award recipients were announced.  We took this opportunity to learn about the brave work being done by Malala Yousafzai, a young activist for girls' education in Pakistan.  From a previous Image of the Day, the boys had already learned that many girls can't attend school in parts of the world.

Previous Image of the Day

In connection to that, they had also already watched a clip of the Burka Avenger, an animated Pakistani series about a woman educator superhero fighting for equality and education.  We were impressed that they made connections to these previous learnings.

Burka Avenger

We shared a BrainPop video about Nobel Prizes to give some context and then introduced the story of Malala Yousafzai.  The boys were amazed at her courage and couldn't believe how passionately she fought for the right to education, something we all take for granted.  They also were impressed that she was such a powerful global changemaker as a mere teenager.  We hope she serves a role model to empower them to make a positive impact on their communities large and small, as well.

(Clips from these Image of the Day and others can be found in the Digital Resources section of the blog)

2B Highlights 10/10

Jarett: Planting the fava beans in science.

Adrian: Circling the parts on the Presidio Map.

Ollie: DEAR time and Reading 4 chapter books!

John: Painting our balloons in Art.

Taaran:  Painting in Art and our Reading Group!

Cyrus:  Hop on tag in PE.

Theo: Art, Art and Art!

Cole: Having 1st recess at alta plaza park.

Alex: Learning about the escape from Alcatraz.

Mikahil: Having recess at the park and painting in Art!

Lachlan: Painting in art and having recess at Alta Plaza.

Jake: Painting in art and picture day.

Webb: Going to alta plaza park for recess and painting in art!

Ryder: Planting our fava beans.

Sorren: Painting our paper mache halloween sculptures.

Will H: Painting in Art.

James: Painting in Art.

Dylan:  Painting in Art.

Phil:  Picture day.

Dyon: Reading in Reading Group and Art!

Jay: Art and DEAR time.

Jackson: Art and DEAR time.

Update from 2B Bloggers: Will and Cole

Will: We planted fava beans with Farmer Ben.

Cole: We went to Alta Plaza Park.  We went for picture day there.  It was fun because we got to go to the playground.

2A Highlights 10/10

Axel: I liked Farmer Ben and planting seeds, art, and recess and PE. I also liked art, writing, Picture Day, and Bill Nye!
Alex: I liked paper mache in art, playing instruments in music, writing, and basically everything. I liked reading, math, and Bill Nye!
Rohan: I liked Picture Day, Alta Plaza, paper mache, and Henry’s Boy of the Week. I liked learning about Columbus Day.
Tanish: I liked planting seeds with Farmer Ben and paper mache.
Will S.: I liked paper mache, music, and Picture Day.
Clyde: I liked Bill Nye “Plants”!
Boden: I liked recess, doing our Highlights, and Henry’s Boy of the Week. I also liked Bill Nye!
Finn: I liked art and social studies, because I liked the Presidio.
Trey: I liked Picture Day, Alta Plaza, Boy of the Week, planting seeds, and learning about the Presidio. I also liked Bill Nye and art.
Liam: I liked paper mache, Image of the Day, and Bill Nye!
Conrad: I liked the whole day, especially paper mache and doing Raz Kids in my reading group. I liked starting our Jack and Annie read aloud. I also liked writing.
Frederick: I liked writing, paper mache, and recess.
Connor B.: I liked reading, recess, and paper mache.
Van: I liked recess and writing.
Owen: I liked PE, learning about Alcatraz, today’s Image of the Day with the chalk art, and learning about the Presidio.
Henry: I liked learning about the Presidio, Alcatraz, being Boy of the Week, recess, choice, PE, art, and writing.
Elliot: I liked social studies, reading groups, Image of the Day, and Bill Nye!
Asher: I liked writing, Boy of the Week, and Bill Nye!
Connor M.: I liked writing, recess, Image of the Day, reading, read aloud, and Bill Nye!
Kekoa: I liked learning about San Francisco, art, planting seeds with Farmer Ben, recess, and Bill Nye!
William: I liked PE, art, writing, Picture Day, Boy of the Week, and Bill Nye!

We missed you, Caspar and Kenzo!

Update from 2A Blogger: Asher

Asher is our solo blogger this week since Caspar is out.  We missed you, Caspar!

Asher: I liked learning about the Presidio.

Breaking in the new STEM lab with Farmer Ben

After observing sprouting lima bean seeds with microscopes in the Upper School science lab last week, we got to be the very first Lower School students to test out the new STEM lab space.  Our initial verdict: AWESOME!

The space is intentionally designed to be flexible for hands-on building and learning.  The open layout has minimal furniture, mostly on wheels so it can be adjusted for multi-use.  The boys transitioned between rug with a board, as Farmer Ben reviewed parts of a seed, and the butcher block tables (on wheels-locked!) to plant seeds and record data.  They planted fava bean seeds which will be transferred to the rooftop garden in about a month.  We chose fava beans because their seed coats will help protect all plants from fungal growth.  In the meantime, we'll keep them in the classroom and track their growth on a sunny windowsill.  The boys planted seeds along the edge of the clear cups so we could see the germination in action.  In addition to documenting these changes in their lab books, these young scientists are taking photos with the iPads to ultimately chart the cycle of a plant.  We will do some seed saving and replanting with Farmer Ben next week.  Pretty cool stuff!

recording data

reviewing parts of a seed

data!  day one

his seed is on the edge of the cup to see the growth

measuring the right amount of soil. there should be enough room for your mid-digit on your pointer finger.

extra hands from Mr. D.

comparing soil

Update from 2A Boys: Alex and Asher

Asher: "I liked learning about the Golden Gate Bridge."
Alex: "I liked learning about the Presidio.  The Golden Gate Bridge is there."

2A Highlights 10/3

Frederick: I liked the pasta thing with Trey. Our bridge didn’t work but it could’ve if we kept going.
Boden: I liked doing the pasta bridges and everything about recess. I also liked art.
Elliot: I liked recess because I played a lot of soccer.
Asher: I liked the pasta bridges because the lasagna was pretty soft but we broke it down and taped it to make it stronger. Ours broke down twice but we figured out that the car was wide enough to go across.
Henry: I liked the pasta bridges, learning about the Presidio, learning choice, art, and recess.
Rohan: I liked recess and learning about the Presidio and pasta bridges. The car would’ve gotten across if we built a little longer.
Owen: I liked being Boy of the Week, beans experiments when we got to use the microscopes, pasta bridges, and learning about the Presidio.
Tanish: I liked the pasta bridges. Mine, with Connor and Axel, made it. I liked looking at the beans with the microscopes.
Liam: I liked the pasta bridges and the beans.
Trey: I liked looking at the beans with microscopes and building the bridges. I liked learning about the Presidio.
Alex: I liked art and recess and learning about the Golden Gate Bridge and Presidio.
Kenzo: I liked everything! One detail is the pasta bridges.
Conrad: I liked making the pasta bridges, it was funny because the car fell off our bridge.
Connor M.: I liked the pasta bridges, learning about the Presidio and Golden Gate Bridge, and Boy of the Week. Also, recess and reading and art and read aloud.
Axel: I liked the pasta bridges, recess, social studies, and PE. We played Toilet Tag.
Clyde: I liked the beans, Image of the Day, and Boy of the Week.
Kekoa: I liked Image of the Day, especially the eagle in Mongolia. I liked PE and the beans and making the pasta bridges and math and music. I also liked learning choice.
Will S.: I liked morning meeting, math, doing highlights right now, and recess.
Connor B.: I liked the pasta bridges. I liked that I got more chances to play soccer.
Caspar: I liked art, recess, and pasta bridges.
William: I liked the pasta bridges and recess.
Finn: I liked art because we did paper mache balloon things. I liked homework and mailbox.

We missed you, Van!

Kimochis!

Your son may have come home sharing stories about Lovey Dove, Hugs, and Cat and the way they use non-verbal communication to express feelings.  We added the link to Kimochis under "Student Resources" so they can explore the characters and play the games or sing songs to practice social-emotional skills we learn with Ms. Colgate.

Design Thinking Challenge: Pasta Bridges

We started the week by learning about the Golden Gate Bridge, answering many questions they posed last week. Building on our new knowledge of bridges, we read Iggy Peck: Architect, a story about a clever boy who builds a bridge modeled after the Golden Gate Bridge using found objects with his classmates to escape an island. This geared us up to tackle our first design challenge: build a bridge that a boat can fit under and a car can drive over using only dry pasta, tape and rubber bands! They boys amazed us with their creative thinking, teamwork, persistence, and flexibility.  While not all the bridge prototypes were able to meet both criteria of the challenge, the boys all agreed with some more time and design modifications, they could get there.

Take a look at how we launched the challenge here (#17).

Testing an arched lasagne bridge  

Exploring support designs

Bundling angel hair for strength 

Testing our designs!

Testing out different strategies

Team negotiations and strategizing