The Elementary roll out schedule welcomed Kindergarten, Grade 1, and Grade 2 students back to campus this week for in-person instruction. Ms. Walters made great use of the new outdoor learning spaces while teaching a self-portrait lesson!...
Even with the off and on showers, it's been a fun week in P.E.! Early Childhood and Elementary P.E. classes have been centered around the topic of nutrition and healthy food choices. Following guidelines from the USDA and MyPlate.gov, students have been grouping foods based on the MyPlate chart and deciding between healthy and unhealthy choices. Grades 3-6 are also wrapping up their exciting volleyball unit this week. Passing, serving, setting, and hitting have all been practiced and...
In music class this month, our Prekindergarten students have been learning how to read music notation. Pre-K through Grade 1 students have been playing xylophone and learning various songs. This picture captures students reading and playingย โTwinkle Twinkle Little Star!โ This month has a continuation of our exploration of new styles of music. Over the past few months, we have learned about โThe Carnival of the Animalsโ by Camille Saint-Saรซns. Recently, we have started our journey into blues...
What is the best way to organize our classroom library? How might we reduce food waste at our school? How can we combat pollution on the La Jolla coastline? In what ways could we address the homelessness issue in San Diego? Questions like these, whether small or big, drive the work of students in classrooms that take a project-based approach to learning. They also look a lot like the types of questions adult professionals face daily...
In Grade 2, students are studying Physical Geography, specifically changing landscapes. Students have learned how various landforms and bodies of water are created, where they are found on earth, and how they are connected/intertwined. Working in groups, they are creating islands that demonstrate the landforms they've been studying. Not only is this project a fun way for students to apply their learning in a hands-on way, it's a great way to practice and develop strong collaborative and communication...
One major goal of our media literacy program is to instill and support a lifelong love of reading in our students. Since reading is the core of both academic and personal competencies, we aim for all of our students to think of themselves as readers. To that end, our media literacy course includes regular library visits. In the library, reading is not just a quiet, solitary activity. Students listen to a story read aloud, which builds student...
Grade 1 students have been using our Design Thinking model during science class with Mr. Belsha, and this week they were on theย MAKEย stage. Students were given simple materials like popsicle sticks and Play-Doh and were asked to use these items to design a structure. After their hands-on session, they reflected on what went well and what challenges they faced during theย MAKEย stage. Some students noticed that creating smaller structures as the building blocks for their larger structures was effective. Others...
It has been over a decade since Gillispie first rolled up its sleeves and hosted the first blood drive, and the tradition continues with our annualย Grade 3 Blood Drive and Bake Sale February 11, 2020. An event that was organized to support a former Gillispie family affected by childhood leukemia has now turned into our blood drive--a life-saving, annual event that our local community depends on. Over the past ten years, our Gillispie blood donors have saved...
This week, Early Childhood students enjoyed increasing their hand-eye coordination skills by tossing and catching rags in the air. The use of rags allows the child additional time to focus on the object as it slowly falls. Elementary students played โGaga,โ an Israeli dodgeball game that incorporates striking and quick reflexes. It's a student favorite! ...
This week, Grades 5 and 6 students held a musical theater performance for their peers and parents! Bringing their techniques to the stage, they performed two songs from โHamiltonโ and a song/scene from โThe Lion King." They did a fabulous job! We can't wait until they have a beautiful new theater space to perform in! Click here for a video of one of the songs from Hamilton!ย ...
