Archive for category: Classroom & Curriculum

By Danette Sawn, Sweet Briar Creek Head Teacher

Talk and action around the election – both national and in class – and equity and inequity filled the air in Sweet Briar Creek. We talked about the right and responsibility of voting and really dove into the importance of voting. We said that electing different types of leaders ensures that different types of people are represented and that different types of people bring different ideas and perspectives. We also shared ways in which people try to deny others their voice by making it hard or even impossible for them to vote. We learned some of the ins and outs of voting and set out creating our own polling place!

We brainstormed names new names for our classroom blog and created lists, ballots, posters, and everything we needed to open the polls at 7:30 Tuesday morning. We even created an area where voters could sit and read about positive change makers while they waited for their turn in the booth. We made sure that every voice was counted and that we tallied every vote. We also shared some of the National Election ‘firsts’ with the class reading the names and sending up a cheer after each one. This fit nicely with our earlier conversation about different types of people and the celebration of diversity. Our little Sweet Briar election was truly a powerful experience that we hope will stay with them for a very long time. Stay tuned to see the new blog name in all its glory coming next week!

Later we screen-printed shirts with slogans like “Your vote matters” and “We don’t just believe women, we vote for them”. You may have a wondering about how we explained that slogan to the children. We related it back to our heroine, Ruth Bader Ginsburg. We had all been outraged as we read her story and learned that people thought that women should only be homemakers and mothers, both noble choices but only if that is the person’s choice! The children couldn’t believe that people didn’t think that Ruth should be allowed to get her law degree. We related that back to the shirts. While we know that the message in today’s climate speaks to a different situation around believing women, this explanation seemed to resonate with them. We decorated them with positive images of powerful women and many creatures and scenes from nature. We also referenced the message on the shirts when we celebrated the many firsts for women elected last Tuesday.The children were pretty proud of them!

WE Day is an unparalleled celebration of young people committed to making a difference in their communities both local and global.

You can’t buy a ticket to WE Day, you earn it through service. Through the WE Schools program, schools and groups take on one local and one global action and report back on their results to earn their way to WE Day.

This year, 26 TBS students earned a ticket to WE Day Los Angeles through their yearlong advocacy and dedication to these important causes: LGBTQ+ youth empowerment, aid for Puerto Rico, pet care for families in need, Malawi girls education, kids’ safety in combat zones, indigenous land protection, wildlife conservation, lung cancer awareness, footwear for kids in Mali, senior dog adoption, theater access for all children, and working for an end to human trafficking, violence against women, homelessness, and food insecurity.

We arrived at Henry Coe Park on Saturday morning, after driving through off and on rain. We ate a quick “camper” lunch, then got geared up for the trip. While gearing up, it started to hail – hard! While the kids were excited to see the hail – some were even running around trying to catch it in their mouths – I was a bit more apprehensive knowing that we were about to head out.

After a big introductory circle, we split into three groups and hit the trail – in a cold rain. All of the groups had three Outward Bound instructors and 7-8 students. Hiking on steep trails with a heavy pack is strenuous, and some of the students weren’t too much larger than their packs. The kids were instructed in how to keep up – how to call “red light, yellow light, green light” to the group to get them to stop, slow down, or go (with anyone who needed being able to call it with no judgement on the person who called it), and that the group had to stay together and take care of each other. My group figured out quickly to put the slower hikers in the front to set the pace. Even so, we stopped every 100 yards or so to adjust gear, drink water, or catch our breaths. This made the two mile hike to the camp site long – we arrived as the sun was setting. We set up camp, made dinner, and went to bed in the cold, wet, darkness.

When we woke up the next morning, everything had frozen (after it had rained for a few hours at night). The tarp hanging inches over my face had frozen solid, and all of the dew was frozen white. We dragged ourselves out of the warm sleeping bags (thankfully OB had provided us with quality gear) and set about making breakfast. We also got a lesson on pooping in the woods (we didn’t see a Porta Potty until the morning of the third day). As the sun came up, everything started to melt. We packed up our wet gear and headed out. The second day was my group’s longest hiking day – 4.4 miles to the next campsite. The trails again were strenuous, but beautiful, and it took a while to make any progress. Some of the kids started to suffer a bit. As their teacher, my instinct was to step in and help out, but the instructors asked me to step back and let the kids figure things out on their own. One of OB’s goals is to get the group functioning independently from the adult guides. To my group’s credit, by the afternoon they were functioning as a competent unit – leading, navigating, taking care of each other, and energized – singing, chanting (cadence!), and figuring out riddles as we hiked. Even the more physically challenged kids were keeping up now – and I and the instructors exchanged glances, surprised that the group had gelled so quickly. With a little prodding from me (“Let’s get to camp before dark this time…”) we made it to the edge of our campsite. First though, we had to do a stream crossing – which involved taking off our hiking boots, putting on camp shoes/sneakers, following protocol, and wading across the slippery rocks through the ice-cold water. We all made it and were at our campsite, which was next to the stream. The kids made camp, dinner, cleaned up, had evening circle, and headed off to sleep. By chance, Mia and I noticed a large shooting star. As we were gazing at the sky, the International Space Station flew by. I thought it might be the ISS, but wasn’t sure, but Randy’s email confirmed it!

We woke again on the third day to another frozen wonderland. Following the same routine, we headed out again, this time doing another two stream crossings immediately (more challenging in the cold morning). We stopped at the Porta Potty, and settled down in a clearing. The students then started on their “solos” where they spent about 45 minutes on their own, away from each other, being introspective, mindful, and writing letters to themselves. I went off, sat by the stream in the sun and blissfully read a book. We then ate lunch, and hit the trail, again a strenuous uphill to our next, and final campsite. We started to see other groups heading to the same group campsite at the top of a ridge. As we entered our campsite, a flock of wild turkeys scattered. We made camp, and headed over to another group’s area for dinner with everyone. After dinner, we headed back to camp, had our evening meeting, and went over responsibilities and the agenda for the final day. We were due back at the park headquarters at 9:30am, so had to wake up at 6:00am.

We woke up in the dark and started to pack up. The instructors motioned me over and told me what they had planned. Since our group was doing so well, it was time to “shipwreck” them. The four adults put on our packs and walked out of camp, leaving the startled and confused kids behind. We (the adults) hid close by (since we couldn’t really desert them) and watched. The group handled all of their responsibilities, ate a quick cold breakfast, packed up, policed camp (leave no trace!) and left on the planned route. We came out of hiding and followed discretely behind. The two other groups also appeared on the trail – heading back, though by slightly different routes. Our group stopped to fill their water bottles at a pond (and purified the water), and continued on.

We all arrived back and started to unpack. After lunch, we had our graduation ceremony, where each student spoke about another student in their group, noting their strengths and what they had contributed to the group. Everyone (including me!) was awarded an OB patch. We had finished! We piled into cars and headed back to school. The trip was great – a nice combination of strenuous exercise and camping in a beautiful natural setting, combined with team building, and learning outdoor skills. The main goals of OB – developing independence and resilience – were definitely accomplished!

The 100th day of school is a festive one at The Berkeley School! Students on our preschool campus spent the morning counting 100’s of objects… 100 drops of water, 100 buckets of sand, 100 hand prints, 100 Cheerios, and 100 minutes of fun! Kindergarten students in the Sweet Briar Creek classroom counted by 10’s to create their own snack sacks and make wearable 100-cereal ring necklaces. Yummy! They also compiled a list of 100 things that make them happy! First and second graders wrote books about what they could lift 100 of, and what they could NOT lift 100 of, same with what they could eat 100 of and what they couldn’t. The students also did numerous exercises that needed to be completed within 100 seconds and practiced jumping around a giant 100s grid. Third graders honored the 100th day tradition with stations in math that were all about 100. They wrote about what they would do with $100 and/or what it might be like to be 100 years old. They also competed in a race to complete 100-piece puzzles!

The week before our Thanksgiving break, students in the Explorers (Transitional K) classroom committed to a Kindness Pledge. The Kindness pledge comes from the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation, which calls for people to commit to a 14-week kindness challenge. Each week has a different theme inspiring us to different acts of kindness. Our first week was “Be Kind to Community.” We talked about who our community is and how we could be kind to them. We took a walk up the street to buy flowers then gave them out to passing neighbors and store owners. We got a lot of smiles!

The week of Fall Break was “Be Kind to Family” week. Before break, we talked about being kind to our family and what that means. Students reported that they fulfilled their pledge by washing dishes, cleaning clothes, setting the table, making bed and brushing their teeth. Others reported that they gave my tablet and legos to my brother, made cookies for my parents, gave hugs and kisses, let papa sleep. Amazing!!

This week the theme is, “Be Kind Online”. The Explorers drew pictures of things they appreciate about their families and wrote notes to them which we then e-mailed.

This week we also continued to be kind to our community by kicking off our annual food drive! The director of the Berkeley Food Pantry, Dharma, visited our class on Monday to talk about the food pantry, who it serves, why and what kinds of food we can donate. The Explorers then went to their respective classrooms and presented about the food drive, sharing wha they learned and gaining the support of their peers for the food drive. They also made the signs to put on the baskets in each class to collect the food. Look at our Explorers leading the food drive!