Laurel Creek visits The Maker Faire

Today Laurel Creek (K/1) went on a trip to the annual Maker's Faire down in San Mateo. This was a fantastic opportunity to see connect their current study of Simple Machines with the DIY creativity and ingenuity of folks out in the world. Word is the electronic giraffe was a big hit! Check out the great pictures below, courtesy of Sherry Hsi.

Images from my day

In Kindergarten math, students practiced skip counting by 25 using a sequence of motions to develop body-concept connection. 

Next came a visit at the Laurel Creek General Store, where students went shopping for items, paid for their purchases,  counted their change and checked their receipts!

Some students did self-correcting puzzles to match coin shapes, names, and values.

Other students practiced adding sequences of coins.

Over in the Art Room, parent volunteers helped silk-screen on Walk-athon logos for next week's event.

In a combined Spanish/Music class, Rennea and Kim taught children songs and dances from throughout Central and South America.

In the Depot, tables were set up nicely for Temescal's Family Day Tea event.

Strawberry Creek (4/5) students worked on building memory boxes for their  Oregon Trail unit.

In Blackberry Creek (K/1), students continued working with the "size of the problem" concept from the Zones of Regulation curriculum. This sequence of lessons helps children match their emotions and reactions to the events and issues they encounter.

Middle School students worked in the art room to prepare for their upcoming Fashion Forward year-end event. This was a massive hit two years ago, and we're all thrilled to see it return!

Back in the Depot, families enjoyed the aftermath of the Temescal event.

Yeah, Bike-to-School Day!

Over at the Chaparral House, Laurel Creek students delivered plants they had germinated in pots they had painted, and sang a few songs to bring some sunshine to the residents.

The pictures on Blackberry Creek's blog from their field trip to the Shorebird Nature Center at the Berkeley Marina last week only tell part of the story - be sure to click on the link and read the text from the teachers. In the words of multiple parents and teachers, "Best. Field trip. Ever."

This week's field trips

We had some pretty darn cool field trips happening this week at TBS! In K/1, Blackberry Creek spent the day at the Hiller Aviation Museum in San Carlos, as part of their emergent curriculum unit on flight.

In 4/5, Cerrito Creek spent a soggy day at the U.C. Botanical Gardens and Tilden Park, doing field work to extend their Lewis And Clark cultural studies work...

...while Strawberry Creek spent a sunny day in San Francisco at the Exploratorium, learning more about their current science studies of electricity and magnetism (as well as all the other fun exhibits, like cow's eye dissection).

Photos by Youval Dar, Katy Grannan, and Jeff Grether.