Tag Archives: Kindergarten

Cave Drawing in Kindergarten

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The Chauvet and Lascaux Caves in France aren’t the only places to see beautiful drawings of animals. Next week kindergarteners will be creating their own artwork inside of the Lascaux Cave in McKinne Lounge.

In preparation for this undertaking, students enjoyed the picture book The First Drawing, and pondered the importance of animals to early humans in prehistoric Europe. Our girls will explore the magic of the cave using chalk and special lights to make their depictions. Be sure to stop by for a visit inside!

Interview with Kindergarten Teacher: Jen Phillips

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Ms. Phillips is in her 7th year teaching kindergarten at The Hamlin School.

What do you love about teaching kindergarten?

So much, kindergarteners are so open, excited, and happy. I really enjoy teaching students to be good young people. We focus on social-emotional learning. How do you make a friend? How do you solve a conflict? How do you tell your friends what you need? Academically they are excited for everything, they don’t always get enough credit (because they are the youngest), but they are capable and ready to learn.

What do you love about teaching at Hamlin?

The girls are amazing. Every year you get this new group of bright and diverse students. I also love my co-workers. Hamlin is a supportive community. I’ve done many professional development workshops that have helped enrich my teaching practice. I love coming to work every day.

What is one of your favorite memories from elementary school?

I have great memories of reading and writing. I always loved reading books on a cushion underneath a table in the classroom; it was like my own little cocoon. I would read books like Baby-Sitters Club and Sweet Valley Twins.

Describe a favorite teaching moment.

I love when the girls take on the role of peer teacher, extending their learning and deepening their understanding. In these moments I often see the girls making connections between what they have learned and their own lives. When they begin teaching each other I know that I’ve done my job.

 

Hamlin Kindergarteners Make A Bakery

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A Hamlin Kindergarten class (Ortiz/Burnett) has been focusing their emergent class study on baking. This study is based on student interest through questions, observations, and curiosity. When possible, baking has been integrated into various aspects of class, including math, science, and writing. The girls have also been baking bread all year long with a bread-making machine.

Their study culminated with creating an actual bakery. Rainbow the Bakery opened June 1, and will be operating during the early part of this month. The girls have been busy refining their baking skills and are very excited to share their passion with customers.

The money raised from the items purchased at Rainbow the Bakery will be donated to Cake4Kids. Cake4Kids is a nonprofit in the Bay Area that provides birthday cakes for children in youth programs who would not otherwise have the opportunity for such a treat. Part of their mission is to: Bake and deliver custom birthday cakes to underprivileged children. We raise children’s self-esteem by simply showing we care.

To learn more about Cake4Kids please visit: http://www.cake4kids.org/

 

Kindergarten Visits Jane the Bakery

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A Hamlin Kindergarten class (Ortiz/Burnett) has been focusing their emergent class study on baking. This study is based on student interest through questions, observations, and curiosity. When possible, baking is integrated into various aspects of class, including math, science, and writing. The class has been baking bread all year long with a bread-making machine, but visiting Jane the Bakery (on Geary Street), provided students with an engaging firsthand experience.

Born from a deep-seated love of all things culinary, Amanda Michael founded JANE to satisfy her passion and deliver memorable experiences to the many loyal and transient guests who have come to love the institution. Amanda’ s career in food and hospitality spans decades and she has spent many years cooking and baking in a myriad of restaurants.

Amanda opened Jane on Fillmore in February 2011 with the mission of serving top quality coffee, pastries, breakfast and lunch. We serve healthy food with an emphasis on flavor and quality of ingredients. Everything is made fresh daily from scratch.

Jane on Larkin opened in 2013 and our expanded space allowed us to introduce our own line of breads in addition to our house-made pastries. We also introduced our full catering department.

In late 2016, Jane the Bakery opened, allowing us to expand our bakery program even more. We bake several dozen breads daily as well as a full line of laminated items and pastries. Our breads and pastries have quickly gained recognition as some of the best you can find.

As part of their Jane experience students:

-Watched the baking of baguettes

-Watched the baking of cookies

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Building Ballet Barres in Kindergarten

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Earlier this week, Ms. O’Brien’s Kindergarten class followed a blueprint, took measurements, and built two ballet barres with the help of Mr. Louie.

Ms. O’Brien shares:

Our class chose dance as their focus for the class emergent study. This study is based on the girl’s questions, observations, and interests. When possible, dance is integrated into all units of study (math, reading, writing, investigations/social studies, and social and emotional learning). In a ‘persuasive writing’ activity, the girls wrote a letter to Mr. Louie requesting his assistance in engineering a ballet barre for our classroom so the girls had a proper space to “warm up.” Mr. Louie accepted and guided the girls throughout the design thinking project.

Below is a photo of the written request from the students to Mr. Louie:

More about our Maker Program:

The Hamlin School Maker Program is designed to deliver moments of impact where girls engage in real world problem solving through Human Centered Design Thinking. Students become problem seekers, focusing on community empathy and collaboration, using ongoing client feedback to drive the direction of their projects. Through their Maker work, our girls work diligently with tools, while developing a new lens by which to see possibility, adaptation, and innovation.

 

 

 

 

Interview with Hamlin Alumna and Teacher: Helen (Fowler) Ortiz ’03

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Helen (Fowler) Ortiz graduated from The Hamlin School in 2003 and is now back with us teaching Kindergarten.

1) What are your favorite memories of Hamlin?

Outdoor Education (we sang songs to keep our morale up in the Yosemite sleet), cross-country skiing, Halloween (I loved making costumes), singing the song the Witches’ Brew, the 8th grade musical (Bye Bye Birdie), Famous American Women’s Tea, and Field Day, to name a few! My closest friends are my Hamlin friends, they are like family to me. Also, as a 7th grader I volunteered in a 1st grade classroom reading to the girls and playing games, that experience started me thinking about becoming a teacher. 

2) What is it like coming back to Hamlin as a teacher? 

It is exciting and inspiring, the longevity of the teachers is a testament to the Hamlin school community. Hamlin is a school that always strives to do more and a place where teachers help each other out. It is wonderful seeing all my old teachers: Ms. Aquino, Ms. Gustavson, Ms. Abbott, Ms. McDonald, Ms. Hillegas-Stommel, and Ms. Metcalf. I loved my Hamlin teachers.

3) How has San Francisco changed since you were a kid?

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