Fourth graders are beginning an investigation into rocks and minerals. Enlisting their hands and their creativity, they are seen here working on a learning tool that we’ll be able to refer back to as we progress through our unit of study. This cutaway Earth model is made of air-dry clay and marked with colors to indicate the different layers of our planet’s interior. Complete with the color key, these models will serve to concretize the concepts...
Sometimes, the best, deepest, longest-lasting learning comes from doing (as opposed to, say, hearing about) something. In Science, students very often manipulate materials to create physical expressions of the concepts being addressed in class-- “making,” for short. There is a well-defined thought process called Design Thinking that guides us through our maker projects--it’s a topic that merits its own discussion. Every maker project takes time, which results in a meaningful relationship to the underlying concepts, and...
The San Diego Museum of Art’s biennial exhibition “Young Art: My World, Our Planet” features four Gillispie School artists. The theme of Young Art 2021 is the environment and sustainability. Landon (K), Maddy (Gr 2), Abigail (Gr 5), and Sydney (Gr 5) are the Gillispie students whose artwork was selected by the jurors. Young Art is a ninety-year-old children’s art celebration and tradition at the museum. The exhibit is on view through May 9 and admission to Young Art is free (the entrance is by Panama...
For Elementary students who LOVE stories, this Online Summer Book Club with Ms. Long will meet virtually for an hour each week to read and discuss a collection of grade-level appropriate books through the eight weeks of summer session. Students will engage in reading throughout the break from wherever your family may travel, and Ms. Long will keep them captivated by her curated list of tales. You can sign up for this club online at www.gillispie.org/summer!...
Gillispie is proud to partner with the Jacobs & Cushman San Diego and North County Food Banks to sponsor a Food Drive this April 21-23. Before COVID-19, the San Diego Food Bank provided food assistance to 350,000 per month or about 11% of the county’s population. Since COVID-19, the Food Bank has been feeding 600,000 people per month, or closer to 20% of the population. From mid-March 2020 through October 2021, the Food Bank distributed more than 37...
Mountain Lake Chess Camp is now offering online afterschool chess lessons taught by Larry Evans through Zoom. They have 55-minute classes M-F scheduled at 2:00, 3:15, and 4:30 p.m. Click here for more information! ...
We are always in awe of the way our students shine inside AND outside of school. Just this week, we saw Emma in Grade 4 highlighted in the San Diego Union-Tribune as the winner of Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist Steve Breen's caption contest. Over the past two years, we have had other budding creative writers published. Emma was a K-12 Winner with her witty caption, "So who wants to top off this meeting?" for Breen's illustration of congregating condiments (see above). We also...
I wish each of you family time and lots of “game-on” fun as we head into the Holiday Break. Below are resources shared by parents at our Early Childhood and Elementary check-ins. Some of these bring out the competitive edge while others require a team effort (for example, see games by Peaceable Kingdom). In addition to your great suggestions, our fifth and sixth graders, as our on-campus experts, added a few of their favorites. Besides their choices listed below,...
As Gillispie finishes up the first month of this very different school year, I’m struck by how ‘normal’ certain things seem. Nobody’s curiosity has waned, and the world remains a place of wonder to the young minds I’m surrounded by. Second graders have just planted some seeds as part of our look into the basics of life science. The next step will be to design and conduct an experiment to answer a question about these seeds. Third graders...
Hola familias de Gillispie! Bienvenidos a un nuevo año escolar. It is my greatest pleasure to teach Spanish to Elementary students at Gillispie. There are many layers to learning a language. I like to focus on inspiring students to associate positive memories with Spanish and the language acquisition process. In Spanish class, we reinforce grammar and vocabulary through music, movement, games, food prepping (when possible), and a variety of activities the incorporate reading, writing, and the use of technology. I believe that...