Before the Thanksgiving break, the Hoot Owls and Owlets in Ms. Jessica’s class considered some of the things they are grateful for. They read the book We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga, by Traci Sorrel. “Otsaliheliga” is the Cherokee word for expressing gratitude. The book taught the students many other Cherokee words, and showed some of the traditions and celebrations that members of the Cherokee Nation experience throughout the year.
After reading the story, the Owls made their own handprint Thanksgiving turkeys while sharing what they are grateful for.
The Hoot Owls and Owlets in Ms. Jessica’s class have been showing a lot of interest in building marble tracks.
This became such a popular classroom toy that they decided to try creating their own marble tracks. Instead of plastic pieces that fit together, the Owls used peg boards, foam tubing, and brass fasteners to create unique paths for their marbles. The class was able to cut the foam tubes into different shapes and lengths to get the exact pieces they wanted. The Owls noticed how fast and far the marbles traveled depending on how they placed their tubes. It was an exciting new way to do one of their favorite activities, and to introduce basic physics concepts!
The Hoot Owls practiced their early science and math skills by estimating how many seeds were inside a large pumpkin. Their guesses ranged from 4 to 100,000! After determining their estimates, the Hoot Owls needed to collect data, so it was time to start scooping out the insides of the pumpkin. While not all students participated in the messy job of getting the pumpkin seeds out of the pumpkin, all the Hoot Owls helped in the data collection by counting out at least 10 pumpkin seeds into muffin tins.
Once all the seeds were sorted by tens, the class worked together to count by tens all the way to 367! After all the seeds were counted, Ms. Traci roasted the pumpkin seeds, which the Hoot Owls enjoyed tasting during their Halloween celebration.
The Hoot Owls have been curious about trees. They learned about the parts of trees and different types of trees. The class read The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein and learned about the many things that trees give us. The Hoot Owls also read the book Sticks by Diane Alber which taught them about objects that are made out of trees.
The Hoot Owls then created their own giving trees, which was a multi-step activity. First, the Hoot Owls collected sticks that had been piling up on their playground. Next, they painted a beautiful fall background, and then glued their sticks to it the shape of a tree. The students also added some pieces of felt to the trees to represent autumn leaves. Ms. Traci asked the Hoot Owls, “What does your giving tree give you?” Responses included:
“My giving tree gives me oxygen, shade, maple syrup.”
Elliott
“My giving tree gives me some of its apples. My giving tree would let me climb it.
Ruby
My giving tree gives me leaves and apples. I will gather the leaves and eat the apples. I’ll climb up too.
Leo
Check out pictures of the Hoot Owls creating their giving trees below.
Student’s in Ms. Jessica’s class have been learning about collaboration, which is their social and emotional learning theme for October. The Owls learned that collaborating means working together to make or do something. It also means using teamwork and listening to each other’s ideas. The students tried out their collaborative skills with a few activities. The first collaborative activity was to build a structure together during circle time. Each student took turns adding one or two blocks to the structure until it was complete. Sometimes pieces fell when they tried to add them, but they encouraged each other to try again!
The children also made a multi-step, collaborative art piece to celebrate fall. First, the Owls used eyedroppers to drip red, orange, brown, and yellow watercolor paint onto giant coffee filter paper. They were surprised to see the color spread quickly over the paper and blend together! Next, each Owl helped cut out leaf shapes from the painted paper. They chose whether they wanted to cut out pre-drawn leaf shapes, or create their own unique shapes.
Finally, the leaves were attached to the tree bulletin board in their classroom. The Owls were proud to see how their individual contributions helped create one big masterpiece!
The Hoot Owls and Owlets in Ms. Jessica’s class noticed that it has started to get windier outside. The call decided to do some research after one Hoot Owl asked “Where does wind come from?” They learned that research is a good way to learn more about something, and that there are many different ways to do research. The class found a book from the library about weather, as well as a video from the internet featuring an expert. Both resources were helpful in teaching the students that wind is a result of air changing temperatures combined with the way the Earth rotates.
After finishing their research, the class made windsocks. Using paper and streamers each student created a tool to help them see which direction the wind is blowing. The Hoot Owls and Owlets enjoyed testing out their windsocks on the play yard!
The Hoot Owls have been talking about their skin. They read the books The Skin You Live In by Michael Tyler and The Colors of Us by Karen Katz. In The Colors of Us, a little girl notices all the beautiful and different skin colors of the people in her community. Her mom is an artist and teaches her how to mix black, white, red and yellow paint to make the skin colors of the people that she sees for a collection of portraits.
The Hoot Owls worked on self-portraits and mixed their own skin colors trying to get as close as they could to their own shades. We found out that the black paint had too much green and blue in it so we tried brown paint instead. Next, the Hoot Owls looked in mirrors and added their eyes, nose, ears, mouth and hair. They also talked about the importance of their skin. Some Hoot Owls said, “It keeps your blood and bones inside.” Some Hoot Owls have broken bones and told us their harrowing tales!
In an effort to do a little something fun with our Friday Flag, we asked families to create their own version of Happy by Pharrell Williams. This video certainly made everyone smile and happy this morning!
Special thanks to Noah M. (8th grade) for putting the video together!
Ms. Jessica’s Hoot Owls & Owlets have had a fantastic first week of school! They spent this week exploring our new outdoor learning spaces and getting to know some new friends, as well as reuniting with old ones. They began talking about our neighborhoods and the important people who work in our communities. They looked at and drew maps of our own neighborhoods.
During their conversation about Moraga, one student told a story about a skunk they once saw. Turns out the class had a lot to say about skunks and even more questions to ask! They delved deeper and learned some facts about skunks. They even danced like skunks do when they are about to spray! It was an unexpected but fun way to discover more about some of the nature around us. Our students and teachers have been so thrilled to be back on campus learning from each other!
FRIDAY BLOG 
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