Students in Kindergarten and PreKindergarten recently had an author visit from local author Juliana Anthony Hernández, who read from her bilingual picture book Between Friends: Entre Amigos. The book celebrates friendship with beautifully vibrant illustrations and text in both English and Spanish. To purchase a copy of the book, please visit the author's website. You can also purchase paperback copies from Amazon....
During Spanish class earlier this month, students visited the school's altar for Día de Los Muertos! Each grade level worked on one aspect of the altar decorations. First graders made paper skeletons, second graders colored and decorated paper skulls, third graders made papel picado, fourth graders made “alfeñiques,” which are little edible sugar figurines, and fifth graders made paper flowers. And, all students were able to taste some Pan de Muerto during their visit! Our wonderful parent volunteers helped put...
Thanks to our terrific students, teachers, and parents, for making our Veteran’s Day card-making project a rousing success! So many of our students took time from their recess to create beautiful and heartfelt cards for local veterans, and I have no doubt they will brighten the day of so many of the men and women who have faithfully served our country. Gillispie students are wonderful at showing gratitude! ...
The Gillispie Library serves all students on our campus. Early Childhood students enjoy songs, fingerplays, and activities related to the books they hear during library storytimes. Students in Kindergarten, First, and Second Grades have been listening to a series of books by award-winning author/illustrator Christian Robinson and sharing their responses with partner classes as part of the Global Read-Aloud. Upper elementary students recently learned how to search our Library catalog and how to use Google Book Preview...
Recently, Ms. Fleming visited the Kindergarten students to read aloud the book “How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin” by Margaret McNamara for a science and math activity that reinforces counting skills. In the book, the main character, Mr. Tiffin, and his students explore skip counting and estimation as a fun pumpkin-themed classroom experiment. After the reading, the students used the same technique to make their own estimations on a pumpkin Ms. Leard brought to the classroom. Thanks for visiting, Ms. Fleming!...
Students in Grade 1 held an Author Share this month where they chose their favorite stories they'd written to share and worked on reading smoothly and clearly to classmates, teachers, and parents! We had such an amazing time having our visitors on campus to experience the progress being made in Grade 1 reading and writing....
Every Elementary cycle, I display an image of a work of art in our art class. These are selected from across a broad spectrum of countries, cultures, artists, media, and time periods. We have a short discussion about what we see, the significance of the artwork, and the connections we can make with our own experiences. Images shown this year include The Great Wave by Hokusai, The Listening Room by Rene Magritte, The Forest by Gustav Klimt,...
Students in Kindergarten, First, and Second grade recently had an author visit from veterinarian and author Dr. Ruth MacPete, who read from her picture book Lisette the Vet. Dr. MacPete also spoke to the students about her career as a veterinarian and answered some student questions. If you would like to purchase a copy of her book, please visit her website....
Elementary students kicked off Running Club this week with over 30 students participating. They began with dynamic stretches, followed by running laps, and finished with a cool-down stretch. Running Club will meet each Wednesday morning on Pirtle Field at 7:30 a.m. until December 7, and all Elementary students are welcome to join! Cheyenne Kibblewhite & Ed Whelan, Physical Education Teachers...
Pretending to be cartographers conducting research, Gillispie third graders visited the Map and Atlas Museum of La Jolla to investigate various types of maps and map parts. Students identified maps and used their iPads to document their findings!...