Monthly Archives: November 2010

After working with science teacher Mr. Edwards and sustainability teacher Mr. Candra to develop a solar oven, Antonio D. and Max C. use a mobile temperature probe to orient their cooker in a way that will maximize solar heat gain.

Prekindergarten Room 6 has brought the outdoors inside this month with a beautiful and meaningful tree of thanks.

Yes, your children will eat their veggies, especially if it's lettuce they've grown themselves as facilitated by Grade 1 science teacher Mrs. Kerr!

Ms. Ludington has been helping children beat the heat during these prized few days of late summer. Today, Grade 3 and 4 girls enjoyed a water relay race with sponges as the transport method. Pretty quickly the girls decided to throw the soaked sponges back and forth instead of running them from one bucket to another.

Beginning in January, Gillispie's landscaping will be maintained by Clean Air Lawn Care, a local green business that only uses electric tools that can be recharged by solar cells mounted on service trucks. In the photo above, Gillispie's sustainability teacher Mr. Candra meets with a Clean Air manager to review the details.

Many Spanish speaking countries celebrate the holiday "Día de los Muertos" (Day of the Dead) on November 1 and 2. This month Gillispie elementary students learned about this tradition. Several Gillispie parents helped to erect an alter using crafts made by children during Spanish class. The altar honors Miguel Hidalgo, known as the "Father of the Independence," as Mexico celebrates its bicentennial this year. The altar will be on display tomorrow in the conference room and shows in vivid color one cultural component of our Spanish curriculum. Señora Radchik

Recently, Grade 6 students visited the science lab to continue their study of the brain and how it relates to the type of learners they become. By carving watermelon "brains," the students became intimately familiar with the physical structure of our gray matter. The unit includes Gillispie's first-time use of the software-based Brainology self-assessment program.

Camila displays the brain she and her partner created.

Aidan and William get into the Halloween spirit a bit early by devouring their watermelon "brains." Who says learning can't be fun and satisfying?!

"The children earn "wish tickets" for good behavior in speciality classes or when they use Wordly Wise words in sentences during class discussions. When they earn 30 tickets, I grant one of their wishes--a beach clean-up day won this time. We walked to Marine Street and started collecting trash. Here are a few of the unusual items we found: a frisbee, kayak paddle in perfect condition, dog leash (no dog attached), empty cream containers, ketchup containers, and many empty aluminum cans and glass bottles. I am proud of the students for wanting to help their community. One thing they noticed on our walk back from the beach was that there was as much or more trash on the sidewalks as we found on the beach. That will have to be a project for another day." Ms. Haas Grade 4 Teacher

Last Friday, Prekindergarten through Grade 2 students enjoyed a 45-minute assembly visit from a Bishop's School performing arts group, which included the Indian tale The Tiger, the Brahman, and the Jackal. Third from left, Gillispie alum Harrison F. (Class of 2007) embodies a river that enters into conversation with the Brahman. Also featured was alum Aemon J (Class of 2007).

This year's Western Family Roundup was a big success, with about 320 adults and children attending. Sofia B. and Isabel R. sport their western wear as they enjoy a cookie.

Grade 4 teacher Mrs. Shieh questions Douglas A. about the physical features of California as Joey P. paints green on his relief map. Grade 4 has been working on the maps as a cornerstone geography component of their social studies curriculum.

A student's clay map of California includes major mountain ranges, important rivers, and even coastal cliffs.

This student takes extra care when painting sections of her map.

These pictures speak for themselves. Kindergarten Room 7 had a wonderful fire-safety field trip to the fire station today.

Preschool Room 2 students recently completed dramatic black and white collages using recycled materials from around campus. In addition to honing fine motor skills, the children considered color, shape, texture, relative size, and composition. And the green message about re-use and sustainability is as clear as black and white.

Grade 4 students Jacob, William, and Caroline cooperate to move a marble down a make-shift PVC marble chute during a P.E. teambuilding activity.

During last week's assemblies, Mrs. A., mother of Tana in Grade 5, danced a traditional Mexican dance to celebrate the 200-year anniversary of Mexico's independence. Spanish teacher Sra. Radchik was on hand for the Grades K-6 assemblies to show a video clip of the President of Mexico ringing the bell and waving the flag to mark the occasion.