Earth Day and Arts & Poetry

Hello!

It is so nice to end this week with a glorious, sunny spring-like day! It has been a busy week with our all school Earth Day celebration on Wednesday and Arts & Poetry night on Thursday. I was so proud of our children as they stood at the podium and shared the poetry that was inspired by their work with artist-in-residence, Lyn Hoopes. On Earth Day, our class pledged to REDUCE, REUSE, and RECYCLE. I am pleased to notice that our pledge from last year, to limit the amount of trash we create at snack and lunch times, has made a huge difference. Our class has been generating very little trash this year! Bravo to our students AND parents!

This week we began our Biography project. These are the people that our students are studying:

Ean: Barack Obama

Mira: Amelia Earhart

Ethan: Claude Monet

Sascha: Leonardo Da Vinci

We are utilizing the computer program Kidspiration to take notes as we read our biography books. This is a nice way to transition our writing and research skills to the computer, which is the main tool that students will use to research and write in later grades. Simultaneously, we are beefing up our typing skills through the use of the computer program Type to Learn.

Please remember that the Suitcase Project papers and props are due next Wednesday, May 4th. We will be sharing this project with our special visitors on Grandfriends' Day next Friday, May 6th.

This week we received an exciting trunk of materials from the Perkins School! Children explored writing in braille and were able to see some interesting materials designed for blind people. These included an edition of Harry Potter written in braille!

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

Warmly,

Lee

Hello! This has been a really fun week of learning. I am so proud of your children and the wonderful progress that they are making in all areas.

We continue to read the story of Helen Keller's life. As we learn about the challenges she faced, and the tools that she and Annie Sullivan employed to help her communicate and read, we are having very rich conversations about our own learning. The kids are fascinated to learn more about sign language and braille. On Tuesday, we will visit The Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, MA. This is one of my FAVORITE field trips! It is such an amazing visit that really can have a huge impact on students as they stretch their understanding of, and perspective on, life.

This week, we began constructing sarcarphagi, pyramids, and mummies in our integrated social studies groups. In class, we also began writing hieroglyphics and making our own cartouches.

In math, we have turned our attention to money, as children count money, learn about money words, and utilize their multiplication facts to count and compare change.

In writing, we have two projects underway. First, we started a "potato project"! Students were asked to pick a potato out of a pile, look at it carefully, and then take careful notes about the details they noticed about their potato. Then, we mixed all the potatoes up and each child had to identify theirs! Now, the potatoes have gone home and children are making potato heads! (See assignment.) These potato heads will serve as inspiration for fiction stories next week. Secondly, kids are working on their "One Monday" story utilizing green screen technology.

In other exciting news, Mr Felix recieved a grant to send 5 computers to Ecole Mixte Albert Choubert (formerly Ecoil Soleil) in Haiti! He brought them in for us to play with! They are really neat. Ask your child about them.

NEXT WEEK is a short one. Remember, there is no school on Monday (for Patriots' Day) or Friday (Good Friday). On Tuesday, we will travel to The Perkins School. On Wednesday, we will celebrate Earth Day at All School Meeting.

Have a wonderful, long weekend!

One Monday

This week we have been hard at work and play! We are fully immersed in our study of Egypt and have been learning about its rich history. The children have been fascinated to learn about all the things that originated in Egypt, including paper, ovens, balls, and checkers! Next week we will begin constructing sarcorphagi out of check boxes, mummies out of clothespins, and pyramids out of oak tag! Children will write about what kinds of things would be important enough to them to bring to an afterlife, and include these in their pyramids. If you haven't already done so, please send in an empty checkbox in for your child to use. Also, I have been told that it is very difficult to find non-"Dots" sugar cubes. I will do some investigation this weekend and try to find the traditional sugar cubes!!:)

Students have been working with Mrs. Donahue in technology to bring our version of "One Monday" to life. (Remember the challenge Mrs. Gangi's Kindergarten class gave to the school to continue their work? If not, ask your child!) After writing about what happened on a farm on a very hot week, Mrs. Donahue is helping us to use "green screen" technology to tell the story. We will post the finished product soon!

In Math, students have been diligently practicing their multiplication facts. This can be very difficult. Please continue to support this learning at home. Also know that children have access to a multiplication board and blocks when working through these problems at school.

Next week we will begin a fun writing project using potatoes! Stay tuned . . .

Have a wonderful weekend!

:)Lee

Spring?

Welcome back! I hope everyone had a terrific March break. On Monday, the children all eagerly shared about the adventures they had over the two weeks. It sounds like fun was had by all!

This week we began two new units of study. In social studies we are traveling to the continent of Africa. We are studying about the geography of the continent and it's placement on the world map. We will be focusing most of our attention on the country of Egypt. This week we explored the importance of the Nile river in Egyptian life, both modern and ancient. We learned about ancient Egyptian culture including pharaohs and gods and goddesses. Students have been enjoying drawing the important gods and goddesses and decorating our room with them. We need your help with some upcoming projects. Each child needs an empty checkbox as well as a box of sugar cubes (NOT sugar dots) by the Wednesday, April 6th. Thank you!

We spent the beginning of the week talking about the tragedy in Japan. It is still amazing to me that on our last day of Japan study the country experienced such a devastating earthquake and tsunami. Naturally, the children have had a lot of questions regarding the Japan situation, and are astutely drawing parallels between Japan and Haiti. Mr. Felix has helped to put us in contact with a program through which we can send letters and pictures of love and hope to children affected by the natural disasters in Japan. We will be working on that next week.

In reading, we have started reading Helen Keller by Margaret Davidson. The story of Helen Keller is so powerful! The kids have been fascinated by learning about her childhood and her differences. As part of this study, we will visit the Perkins School for the Blind on April 19th. We can take one chaperone with us! Let me know if you would like to join us. Preference will go to those who have not yet been able to chaperone.

In other news, we are looking forward to Arts & Poetry Night on April 28th. The evening will begin at 6pm in classrooms, where students will read their own poetry. Then everyone will move to the hallways to view art work. Also on May 5th at 6pm we will have our Spring Concert for grades 3 and up. More details to come.

Have a great weekend!

Fondly,

Lee