- Daylight Savings Time Ends: Nov. 3
- SELS Hosts Site Seminar: Nov. 7 - 8
- Community Meeting: McMains Crew: Nov. 8
- PTC Coffee Cart: Nov. 8
- NO SCHOOL: Veterans Day: Nov. 11
- Community Meeting: Min-Borg Crew: Nov. 22
- NO SCHOOL: Thanksgiving Break: Nov. 25 - 29.
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The Telfer Crew hiked their way into fall, with four fantastic and challenging hikes. They used the SIERRA norms to overcome the challenges they faced during these outdoor adventures and learned “A Handful of Quiet” rock meditation to help them connect with nature and themselves. Students also reflected on each of these treks and turned challenges into goals. Telfer Crew completed their hikes and are now ready to move onto their study of the Sierra Nevada.
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October has been an exciting time of learning in the Bell Crew! Students worked as engineers to find ways to make a marble change speed and change direction. They collaborated with older SELS students to master the SIERRA norms, using the new protocol Back to Back/Face to Face. They explored the Truckee Roundhouse to learn about what a maker space is and how to use it. This tour of the Roundhouse serves as the kick-off to their second case study, Makers at Work, in which Bell Crew will become a community of creators.
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Through expedition, fieldwork, and reading aloud, the MinBorg Crew journeyed back to the mid-1800s. On their recent fieldwork to Sacramento, students concur that their favorite part of the trip was visiting the one-room schoolhouse in Old Sacramento. Students participated in an hour lesson where they read aloud from traditional readers, sang songs, practiced arithmetic on chalkboards, and learned about what would happen if students were naughty! In the classroom, students are reading Little House in the Big Woods. The crew has taken a particular interest in the book/series, and it has helped the students get a sense of life in the 1800s. Last week, the crew made butter using cream, mason jars, and marbles.
“Some old fashion things like fresh air and sunshine are hard to beat!”- Laura Ingalls Wilder
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STEAM Friday with the Welch Crew using Kiwi Crates was a huge success. Grant funds from Excellence in Education were used to purchase these hands-on activities to practice science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics. Students worked in collaborative groups and used design and engineering principles to build an arcade claw to pick up a pompom. Thank you, Excellence in Education!
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October was a fantastic month of exploring the how, what, and where prospectors lived and worked during the Gold Rush. The students had their second overnight with fieldwork to Coloma, where they experienced a living history day, explored the state park, and panned for gold. They came away very excited and ready to brainstorm how we can create a mining town in our room for our Celebration of Learning. We are now into our second case study, The Outliers. The students are learning about the people who mined the miners, each taking on one character from the gold rush to extensively study.
Akers Crew also had their first adventure fieldwork this month with a trip to school rock and NASTC. Students showed adventure, perseverance, and strength as many kids tried rock climbing for the first time! It was a successful day for all.
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The Brisbin Crew had a productive month exploring mining towns in the California gold rush! Students mined for gold, made poke pouches, and discovered Marshall Gold State Park for an overnight in Coloma. Also, students were able to participate in "Gold Rush Days," in which people dressed up and reenacted what a mining town used to be like back in 1849. Students in the Brisbin crew also have started a Friday Jersey Day, in which they show their team spirit! We are looking forward to Student-Led Goal Setting Conferences, and moving into the middle of our semester!
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How many people can actually say that they have had the opportunity to disemboweled, embalmed, and mummified their principle in front of the whole school? Well the Worster Crew did just that while leading a community meeting based no on the social structures of ancient Egypt. Who says you can’t have fun while working hard?
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Earlier this month, the Santos Crew took a trip to San Francisco to learn about sea navigation and what it is like to live aboard a ship. Students learned how to tie knots, map their location on a chart, and how to pilot the boat. The next day the crew explored the city by bus. Students had to navigate bus lines to arrive at landmarks throughout San Francisco. Later in the month, they led a community meeting tied to the crew's read, King Arthur. They matched characters in the story to the Sierra Norms and then led bear dens on a quest around SELS.
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This month's fabulous field experiences were directly related to their Power to the People expedition's case studies on historical Native American and Immigrant stories. At Indian Grinding Rock State Park, McMains Crew immersed themselves in the early Native American experience by sleeping in bark houses and cooking venison, bison, fish, and acorn pancakes over fires they built. As their service for being there, students washed all the park's picnic tables in preparation for their Big Time powwow.
Three days in San Francisco found McMains Crew exploring immigration and historical protest exhibits at the Oakland Museum of California, The Presidio Officer's Club, and ferrying over the bay to tour Angel Island Immigration Station. Keira was invited to crawl into a bunk, and Jesse and Joe read immigrant poems found carved in the walls. Students roamed the neighborhoods of Chinatown and Little Italy in search of authentic cultural experiences. They interviewed immigrants, photographed cultural icons, and tasted new foods, including blossoming tea flowers and spicy mealworms! Students ended each day watching the sun set on the beach near the Golden Gate Bridge.
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Please donate to the wonderful fieldwork program you see in this newsletter. This is only possible with your continued support.
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Sierra Expeditionary Learning School
Phone: (530) 582-3701
Fax: (530) 582-3703
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