Karen Girardi

Hi, I'm Karen Girardi, and I have been teaching

in the Bakersfield City School District for 25 years. My husband and I moved here from Stockton in 1983, where I taught 4th grade for five years. I then taught 2nd and 3rd grade here in Bakersfield at Mt. Vernon Elementary for 11 years and was their Program Specialist for my final 2 years there. This is my thirteenth year teaching in the wonderful One-Day G.A.T.E. Program. When not teaching, you can probably find me reading or playing with my beautiful 3 year old granddaughter!

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What goes on in One-Day G.A.T.E. ? Just keep reading!

SEPTEMBER-2007

"Apples and Oceans"

Students are engaged in finding out just how much of the Earth is habitable land and how much is productive coastal zone by using an apple as a model of Earth; then create a circle graph to illustrate their findings.

OCTOBER-2007

Students learn about the amazing artist, Georges Seurat, who developed "Pointillism", then work patiently to apply this technique to their own artisitic creation. Students also discuss which concepts of Depth and Complexity are relevant to each artist they study. These paintings will be a part of an art collection, which will be on display at the G.A.T.E. Fair in May, 2008.

Study Trip !

Our One-Day G.A.T.E. students enjoyed their visit to the Bakersfield Art Museum the week of October 22 -26. While there they toured the current exhibits, which included the Renaissance and Baroque periods, then were able to participate in an art lesson.

Learning about Henri Matisse

Students work in cooperative groups to research the artist, Heni Matisse.

Students work together on a "teaching" poster about Matisse from information they gathered during their research.

Students present their findings about Matisse to the class and work on their public speaking skills.

November-2007

As we come to the end of our Oceanography study, students switch gears. Instead of being scientists today, students looked at sea creatures from a different perspective and became Food Critics for a day. They tasted bits of seafood including crab, shrimp, tuna and seaweed, then rated each on taste, texture, looks and smell, using a scale of 1 - 4 STARFISH. Students were divided on their favorites but everyone had a great time!

See more pictures on the Food Critics link!

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Samples from 2006-2007

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BIOMES & BOTANY

Our students have been increasing their knowledge of desert, rainforest, arctic, river, grassland and wetland biomes this quarter. They've each become an "expert" in one of these areas and reported their findings to the rest of the class. Among several experiments we have completed in class was one in which students looked at three different types of soil and their capacity to hold water. A more recent study had the children"reading plants". They learned how to tell which leaf shape adapts better to which biome, such as deserts and rainforests, and why.
Some examples of our Language of the Discipline this quarter are: ecosystem, biology, adaptation, saturation, chlorophyll, stoma, transpiration, carbon dioxide.

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CENTERS !!!

We're into our second quarter now and everyone is enjoying the new "Centers" activities. Students are able to choose one specialized center per week. Their choices include Art, Drama, Entomology, Creative Writing, Ecosystem Webs, Espanol, "Creativity" & JigSaw Puzzle. Students have to work independently for approximately two hours, which includes reading and following directions, staying focused and on-task in order to finish their project on time, then completing a self-evaluation. Projects are shared with the class, then taken home. More Centers will be added after the Christmas break.

Spanish Fun & Games

The Clothing Game: A race to see who can get dressed the quickest in clothing named in Spanish!

Trying to get dressed is difficult when you're laughing so hard!

Singing songs in Spanish can sure be fun!

girardikOwep News

Hi, I'm Karen Girardi, and I have been teaching