On Wednesday morning, the 5th grade class had their Moving Up ceremony to mark their completion of elementary school!  Each student delivered a thoughtful speech reflecting on their past year and their entire elementary experience. Most importantly, they looked forward to their upcoming experiences in Middle School here at SDFAS.  Parents were invited to attend in-person or online, and the ceremony was held on the Ocean View campus behind the 5th grade classrooms.  We wish all our 5th graders the best of luck in their middle school experiences!

This week class 3B teamed up to bake bread in the classroom! Divided into small groups, they worked autonomously and used a scale to measure ingredients in grams and milliliters. A great way to apply already learned math skills! End result: delicious bread that was appreciated by all!

The ” Building Bridges” program allows 5th-graders to interact with Middle School classes. This week, our 5th-graders met their fellow students from 8th-grade.
This allowed them the opportunity to ask the 8th-graders questions about their time in Middle School. The 5th-graders also took advantage of the meeting to participate in an activity that groups students into “Houses”.
Here is what one of the 5th-graders found of the experience:
“In the beginning, we sat down in the field outside our class. We were waiting to be sorted into Houses. The 8th-graders told us about the Houses. Then, one by one we were called up to join a House. After everyone got their ticket and had been allocated a House, they were happy to answer our questions about how the Houses work.”

Graphs are visual displays of information.  It is important for students to learn how to collect, organize, and interpret information.  To make graphing more relevant and relatable, we surveyed friends and family members in and outside of the classroom.  Afterwards, we had a Graphing Museum Walk in order to share what we’ve learned.
Carrie Vo

This week was art and happy week for the Third grade B. They created a special painting following different steps. Lots of effort were made, different technics were learned and finally, the art looks beautiful.
Good Job! 3B

Je suis allée à la plage avec mes amis parce que j’ ai beaucoup appris en classe sur la protection de nos océans alors je voulais faire quelque chose pour aider. À la plage on a vu des animaux qui étaient morts à cause du plastique. On a ramassé beaucoup de plastique et on veut le refaire pour que nos océans soient en meilleure santé.

I went to the beach with my friends because I learned a lot in class about how to protect our oceans so I wanted to do something to help. At the beach we saw a lot of sea life that was destroyed because of plastic/pollution. We picked up a lot of plastic and we want to do it again to help our ocean be healthy again.

Notre maîtresse, madame Aka, a lancé ce projet pour nous sensibiliser à ce qui se passe dans la nature. La pollution affecte énormément l’océan et il faut que ça s’arrête. Le plastique prend 500 à 1000 ans pour se décomposer et vient dans notre assiette quand on mange du poisson qui a lui-même mangé du microplastique. On a aussi fait des expériences sur le pétrole et les liquides qui se mélangent avec l’eau et on a fait un field trip virtuel avec l’association shore buddies.

The teacher, Mrs. Aka started this project for us to sense what is happening in nature. Pollution is affecting the ocean enormously and it has to stop. Plastic takes 500 to 1000 years to decompose and comes onto our plate when we eat fish that have itself eaten microplastic. We have also done experiments with petroleum and liquids that mix with water. We went on a virtual field trip with the Shore buddies CEO and he taught us more about ocean pollution.

The group photo of us picking up trash at La Jolla shores. This picture was taken right before we found the most trash in a bomb fire area.

Nous ramassons les déchets à La Jolla Shores. Cette photo a été prise avant de trouver beaucoup de déchets dans la plage.

A sea lion killed by pollution or plastic; it washed up on shore.Then, we performed a funeral for the poor seal that died  by accident caused human nature. We are terrible.

Un phoque est sans doute mort à cause de la pollution ou du plastique.Il a échoué sur la plage. Après, on a fait des funérailles pour lui.

National Arbor Day was April 30th. The 3rd grade B planted a tree: a ponderosa pine in our little garden. It will be transplanted in a permanent location in the school landscape. 

It was a very special moment enjoyed by the group. Each student of the class participated in the plantation respecting distanciation of course.

It was followed by a moment of exchange and debate about the importance of trees. “Trees are important !” a student said. “It gives us oxygen.” another one added. “Trees also provide shelter for animals.

Murielle Brimaldi Jensen

We have been learning about energy transfers in 4th grade and the students modeled changes in potential and kinetic energy through the real life experience of a roller coaster. They demonstrated the Law of Conservation of Energy and enjoyed engineering their own roller coaster which required friction for the ride to end.

Cathleen Anderson

In fourth grade, students are learning about various Californian landmarks that reveal the history of California. They have chosen a landmark to research, and they used Virtual Reality to “visit” their landmark. Students were offered the chance to start constructing their Landmark using the virtual platform of Minecraft. Students enjoyed being able to “see” their landmark via VR and are excited to complete their research to learn more about its importance.

Cathleen Anderson

Fractions are one of the most critical and abstract concepts for third-grade students to learn in order to be successful in Algebra and higher math.  Third-grade students are learning how to compare and represent equivalent fractions.  Games such as Cover and Uncover are fun ways to make fractions more exciting.  In order to help students develop a deeper understanding of fractions, we need to make something that is vague and abstract more concrete and tangible–and this is why fraction strips are fun tools to build a conceptual understanding of equivalent fractions.  Using games to engage students in this tactile experience also helps anchor other math concepts that we are learning in class.

Carrie Vo