February Flurries of Learning
Tally Lent
Lower School Head
Every month at Applewild is chockful of adventures, events, and excitement and this shortest month of the year is no different. I am particularly excited about two new events we have planned for this month, featuring science and math.
We’ve begun February with the long-awaited and wonderful evening performance of Lyres and Liars. Our fourth graders were terrific on the Orff instruments for the radio play; they wrote the music they performed, and they added a great deal with their walla sound and their original commercials. The fifth graders were simply outstanding in their retelling of four Greek myths, with their own unique and dramatic twists. The morning performance for the school was wonderful and the evening performance was superb. We enjoyed a community Pizza Supper before the play, and it was very nice to be able to talk and visit before our actors and musicians took to the stage.
Groundhog’s Day came along next and we are promised six more weeks of winter because the groundhog saw his shadow. Groundhog’s Day is the midpoint between the Winter Solstice in December and the Vernal Equinox in March. We are poised in the middle of the seasons, in the midst of change. Similarly, we are just past the midpoint of the school year, ready to celebrate our One Hundredth Day of School later this month. We are all immersed in tremendous growth, learning, and change. In the life of the school, we adults are fully present in this year, yet looking forward to the next, ensuring that our students will be ready for the challenges and triumphs that lie ahead. While I am reveling in the solid and spectacular progress of your students right now, and enjoying their plays, songs, reports, athletic prowess, and good citizenship, I am looking ahead to next year, and planning for opportunities for their success and happiness in school.
You received in the mail a packet of progress reports, with a checklist from your child’s homeroom teacher or the grade card in fifth grade, and checklists with some comments from special subject teachers. These were mailed home so that you had an opportunity to read over the packet prior to your conference with your child’s teacher. I hope your time with your child’s homeroom teacher was informative and interesting. Conferences are wonderful opportunities for parents and teachers to share information about children and to discuss their strengths and any areas of needed work. Our home-school partnership is a major factor in our students’ successes in school and their positive feelings about school.
We have other exciting events in February. We will celebrate Valentine’s Day, and each grade level may be taking different approaches to this celebration. In some classes, each child is asked to bring a Valentine card for each and every classmate; in other classes, there may be a “Secret Valentine” where one card is handmade for one child whose name is drawn out of a hat. In all cases, we stress the importance of every individual being included. Of course, we never want any child left out. As we celebrate this fun holiday in classes, I strongly request that contributions to class parties be healthy ones. In all celebrations, please keep in mind our peanut/ tree nut and nut-product prohibition. Many candies are made in plants that also use nuts or peanuts in their production; this makes a dangerous cross-contamination risk and we cannot allow those candies on campus. I appreciate your support of this policy and encourage us all to make our class celebrations both healthy and fun.
Also on Valentine’s Day our first graders will travel to Head Start to read books to the preschoolers there. Our second graders will see their “grandfriends” at Highlands, and the third graders will meet their ARC buddies for socialization and a project.
Fourth and fifth graders (and their younger siblings in second grade and above) will enjoy WinterFest after school on February 16, if we have snow. We hope to have good sledding on the front lawn of the Crocker Building and then pizza for supper afterward.
On Wednesday, February 22, Marcia and Mark Wilson will come to Applewild to present their Eyes on Owls program to our Lower School; this program is open to the public and children on public school vacation are welcome to join us in the Theater. The program for Kindergarten and first graders will be at 10:30 – 11:30; the presentation for students in grades two through five is at 12:45 to 2:15. The Wilsons present an exciting program featuring six live owls and wonderful photographs and natural history of this magnificent bird.
On Thursday, February 23 from 4:00 to 5:00 you will be invited to come to the Marshall Building to learn, firsthand, about math in your child’s classroom. Math games, activities and fun will be had in each homeroom, and the fifth graders will be down in Marshall, too. We hope families will be able to join in the fun for an hour of math with your children on this day. Upper School students will have math exhibits in the Marshall Foyer and Multi-Purpose Room, so you can glean a sense of the challenge and depth in store for your children as they grow through the years in the Applewild math program. The next day, February 24 fifth graders will head out to the Christa McAuliffe Challenger Space Center in Framingham.
March 2 is Dr. Seuss’ Birthday and we will celebrate that day with our annual Pajama Day in the Lower School. All students and teachers are invited to wear school-appropriate pjs – collars are not required!
From Greek myths to owls, from community service to math, from sledding down the Crocker hill to traveling in space, February is a fantastic month at Applewild School!
Ginger Sauer
Sharon McGowan
January has zoomed by, even though weather-wise it may not have been identifiable. From past years we know that February moves at even greater speed, with many exciting stops on the way.
We celebrate Valentines Day with all the hoopla it deserves. Reading and writing often get a boost this month as children write each other’s names on cards, read their cubby labels to accurately deliver messages, and try to decipher messages on cards. Our rule is that if you give a card to anyone in class, you must give one to each child (and adults welcome these delightful missives, too!), so that there are no Charlie Brown hurt feelings. These messages of friendship, whether homemade or store-bought, show that you have been thought about in an extra-special way, and we will make some cards in class.
Our 100th day of school is also approaching, and should be towards the end of February, depending on snow days. Stay tuned for the exact date. For that day, we ask each child to bring in a collection of 100 items. These can be similar items put together to make a project, or they can simply be 100 items counted out and bagged. The whole grouping should take up no more space than a standard grocery bag and must be able to be carried by the child. That day we will have a 100th Day snack, which includes ten different snacks, of which they must take ten each. Whatever cannot be eaten by each child will go home in a baggie. Counting by 10’s -- who knew it could be so yummy?! Please remember to check ingredients lists if you are sending in treats; foods prepared in a facility that processes tree- / and or peanuts may be tasty, but can be life-threatening to some. It is vital that we adhere to this standard!
I enjoyed conferencing with you about your Kindergartner. I marvel at the distance each has come at this mid-year point. Even looking at pictures from early in the year we see that the changes are vast! I relish sharing my perspective and observations and hearing yours; I find this taking stock often helps to refocus on strengths and areas for work. We have worked on laying a good groundwork of work habits and personal and social skills, and in this second semester will continue to capitalize on those skills and the foundations of reading, writing, math, and creativity we have developed.
Children are becoming adept at naming letters given individual sounds, and are piecing together picking out individual sounds in order in words. We have also begun work on syllabicating. Now we can work in a more focused way on segmenting words in order to increase our skill at encoding all sounds in each word. (E.g., the word blue has three sounds: /b/ /l/ /oo/--and at the Kindergarten level that last sound is ‘correctly’ represented by –ew, -oo. or –ue. The reverse of this skill involves blending, which calls for saying each sound represented by letters in a word, and ‘smooshing’ them together to name the word, e.g., /c/ /a/ /t/ is cat!
We will also continue to build our fund of “trick words” to use in writing and reading. Children are now asked to write two sentences for each journal entry, and we will move towards more frequent journal writing -- an increase from the once-a-week pace we have held, following the wise adage, “if you want to be a writer, write!” We look forward to children rising to the challenge of independent writing; as long as sounds get encoded, we can read the intention of a word, and that is good Kindergarten writing. In First Grade, when children are doing more reading, they will become more aware of conventional orthography, and ‘correct spelling’ will matter.
In math we continue work on place value, tens, and play around with addition. Dice, cards, and dominoes all come in handy in this pursuit, and most table games you play with your child offer practice at this skill. With the 100th day celebrated this month, we will look past tens and ones, and enter the world of hundreds, and notice the patterns involved in counting and calculating. Counting by 2’s, 5’s, and 10’s continues and we will continue work with coins. We will also work with concepts of measurement prior to the March break.
Have a great month—short though it is, and enjoy the longer daylight each day offers!
First Grade News
Milissa Cafarella
This month we hope to celebrate our 100th day of school, which ties in perfectly with our next math unit, “Counting to 100.” We will count with groups of tens, find number patterns, and skip count. We will estimate how many objects are in a group, what number comes “before, between, and after”, and recognize even/odd numbers. Many of these concepts will involve the use of digi-blocks to help strengthen our understanding.
In Phonics, we will learn about closed syllables. There are six types of syllables; closed syllables are the most common type. Whenever you have a short vowel sound, it will likely be a closed syllable. Next, we will blend and segment up to five sounds in a closed syllable word.
Guided reading groups will continue to provide students with strategies to decode words and gain meaning from texts. These strategies are necessary to help students recognize words quickly and automatically, aiding in the development of fluency. But fluency must also encompass phrasing and expression. Fluent reading is an essential reading skill necessary for comprehension.
Classroom Literacy Centers continue to reinforce these reading skills. This month our centers involve putting words into categories, reading the room for words with closed syllables, and creating compound words. We have also begun a new unit on fairy tales. I have read several fairy tales to the children and now they will be reading some on their own during center time and then answering comprehension questions about the stories.
If you have not enjoyed listening to your child sing the president’s song, please ask him/her to share it with you. We are learning a song that names all of the 44 presidents. We are also reading stories and discussing facts about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.
This month we have many exciting events to look forward to, such as Groundhog’s day, Valentine’s Day, President’s Day, a trip to the Head Start school and, of course, our 100th day celebration!
Second Grade
Kathie Grzewinski
We have a new addition to our second grade class. His name is Nicholas Parrella and he has just moved to Lunenburg from Wakefield, MA. Both Ben Franco and Mrs. Niose are neighbors of Nicholas! We are so happy to have Nicholas join us. Welcome!
I am always amazed to come to the point in the year when we have been in school for 100 days! This year, weather permitting, this landmark day will fall in late February. This is a time of pride for the children and me, to examine where we began and how far we have come. I can tell already that this has been a year of tremendous development in second grade. I feel so fortunate to have such a wonderful, eager group of learners with whom I spend my days. I am pleased with how far the children have come and I'm looking forward to their continued growth during the remainder of the year.
As I mentioned during our Curriculum Night way back in September, one of the primary skills taught in second grade mathematics is regrouping. With the acquisition of their math facts, the children have proven their readiness for this big step. They will be working hard learning how to "carry" in addition up to the hundreds, and even the thousands place. The children will also be introduced to "borrowing" in subtraction. The children enjoy the challenge of this new concept, as it is, to them, a rite of passage in second grade. They are also continuing with their math fact practice in the classroom, completing their "Rocket Math" facts individually, while timing themselves with a minute timer. The children then chart their progress with the facts. Continued support at home with the acquisition of math facts, addition and subtraction 0-18, is greatly appreciated. We are also working on problem solving activities in addition and subtraction, as well as learning how to "regroup" with our digi-blocks.
In reading, we will continue with our month-long unit on Aesop's Fables. As a culmination, we will be reading and acting out our versions of several of the fables we have already read, this time in play format. We are hoping we will then be able to perform them at a future Common Time! Stay tuned! After our break, we will return to reading of leveled trade books.
In Fundations, we are using the phonetic rules we have learned so far this year and applying them to more complex, multisyllabic words. We are also learning new concepts such as vowel-consonant-e syllables, vowel-consonant-e exceptions, open syllables, y as a vowel and syllable division rules. We are also expanding our spelling ability with new "trick" words.
Language Arts is as busy as ever. In Writing, the children will be writing their final drafts of their "Tacky" stories, typing them up, and then illustrating them. We will then put the stories into a book, as well as read the stories to the Kindergarten students. Next, the children will be writing their own fables, based on the Aesop's Fables we have been reading. Each fable is based on a real moral of Aesop's creation, but the stories are all their own! We will also spend time in Writing, as well as in Social Studies, working on teaching the necessary skills for writing a research report, since the Biography projects are upon us. Much of the project is completed at home, but we are modeling and practicing many of the elements of a well-written report in class. Now that we have completed Unit 2 in our G.U.M. (Grammar, Usage, Mechanics) program, we will go back and work on Unit 1: Sentence Structure. We will then stop there, as the children's G.U.M. books will follow them to third grade, where they will complete the book next year.
In Social Studies, the children are working on their Junior Atlas program. In addition, and related to the biography projects, we are reading and studying famous leaders. This ties in nicely with President's Month and African-American History month celebrated in February, and Women's history month celebrated in March. As in Writing, class time is being spent helping the children learn the necessary skills for success with their first real research project. The children are excited about their project, and we are all looking forward to the culmination of this assignment with the Living Wax Museum. This is a tradition that is enjoyed school-wide and is a source of great pride for the second graders. I thank you, in advance, for your support of this challenging, yet fulfilling project.
We are also finding time to focus on our Lower School theme for this month, as well as continuing our Community Service project with our monthly visits to the Highlands Adult Day Care Center. The children and their "grandfriends" both anticipate these visits with great joy. We all continue to be touched by the caring and generosity the children show during our visits.
Whether the groundhog sees his shadow or not, we still have a few months of winter. Please remember to have your child bring the necessary cold weather gear to school, as well as their sneakers for P.E. Please be aware that even if it is too cold for outside recess (below 20 degrees), the children do have to travel outdoors for P.E. and P.A.
Thank you for your communication and partnership during our mid-year conferences, and, as always, please don't hesitate to get in touch with me for any questions or concerns.
Third Grade News
Michelle Janoschek
Katy Niose
The third graders have a lot to look forward to in February! The month of February brings the excitement of the 100th day of school, pajama day, and our celebration of friendship with classmates and our ARC friends.
One of the highlights of this time of year is our cross-curricular presidential unit. In Social Studies, the third graders will learn presidential fun facts, participate in an in-depth study of Thomas Jefferson, listen to and discuss the life of Abraham Lincoln, and map the birth states of the presidents. Each third grader will be assigned a president to research using multiple sources. They will use the information collected to design a board game highlighting facts about their president. Additionally, they will do a presentation describing their project to the class and then celebrate by playing each other’s board games. In technology, we will enhance our presidential study by viewing websites focusing on the White House, various presidential Brainpop videos, PBS Kids, and National Geographic Kids.
In Reading, we will continue our Junior Great Books program by reading “The Little Daughter of the Snow” and “Caporushes”. We will then read the biographies of Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and John F. Kennedy. The focus will be on teaching non-fiction reading skills while discussing the major accomplishments of each president.
In Math, the children will be learning about multiplication as repeated addition. While doing activities with the digi-blocks, they will learn how to use blocks to model and create equal groups. They will write multiplication sentences and the corresponding addition sentences as well as write and illustrate multiplication stories. They will use blocks to compare facts such as 3 x 4, 3 x 40, and 3 x 400. Students will look for and create arrays, which will then be used to design the third grade “array museum”. Due to the design of the digi-block program, the children will discover the meaning of multiplication on their own. This will aid them in the task of learning their multiplication facts through 12 x 12. The third graders are so excited to be starting multiplication and this unit will surely be filled with many exciting discoveries.
In Writing, the students will complete their Mayflower journals and finally get to paint with coffee! We will celebrate by having a “Mayflower Journal Celebration” where each child will have a chance to read their classmate’s Mayflower journals. The children have mastered many of the steps in the EmPOWER writing process and are ready to proceed with the final steps, which focus on editing and revising. We will continue to explore the six traits of writing and will use more detail to make each piece of writing interesting and fun to read. There are some wonderful picture books used to teach children the different traits of writing, including one of our favorites, Miss Alaineus, A Vocabulary Disaster. This is the story of a young girl who uses her misunderstanding of vocabulary words as inspiration for a vocabulary parade. We will combine this story with our study of wordly wise words to create some very funny definitions and creative stories.
We will continue our study of Fundations, G.U.M., and Daily Geography. We are happy to report that the third graders have almost completed the cursive alphabet! They will begin to write in cursive and gain experience reading cursive writing in class. We are so proud of all their accomplishments.
Fourth Grade News
Jenn Buck
First of all, I must say how proud I am of the fourth graders’ success – and perseverance – in the Radio Play. The play was finally performed this past week and was just wonderful. Bravo to our multi-talented actors/musicians!
In Math, we will be working on Chapter 7, which introduces division concepts. We will cover such topics as using patterns to divide mentally, dividing with remainders, dividing two- and three-digit numbers, dividing money amounts, divisibility rules, finding averages, and dividing by multiples of 10. Once again, a solid foundation in multiplication and division facts will make the acquisition of these new skills much easier.
For the remaining weeks leading up to March vacation, we will put all other Social Studies on hold and begin the annual fourth grade States and Capitols Extravaganza. Students will use various methods to help them learn the placement of the states and the names of the state capitals. We have games, puzzles, websites, books, songs, and more, which they will be of help. A list of websites will also be sent home for extra practice outside of school. The final test will be given on Thursday, March 8. One more exciting opportunity coming up in Social Studies will be a fieldtrip to Olde Sturbridge Village on Thursday, March 1. We will need a few parent volunteers for this trip, so please be in touch if you are willing to help. Priority will be given to parents who have not yet had the opportunity to join us on a fieldtrip. We will begin with a 2½ hour guided tour, and then we will split into two groups and have the opportunity to experience hands-on studio activities. It is a full-day outing and promises to be a great day!
In Reading, as a spin-off to our Radio Play, we will do a short unit on Greek mythology during the month of February. We will explore various myths, as well as work on writing our very own Greek-style myth! Look for the results in the Apple Blossom, published at the end of the year.
In Language Arts, our spelling groups will continue, with each of the groups focusing on the concepts and skills that suit his/her spelling ability. Twelve word spelling tests will take place every week or so. We will also keep plugging away with weekly Wordly Wise lessons. We have finished our first tic-tac-toe board! In G.U.M., we will complete our unit on Sentence Structure that covers topics such as subject, predicate, direct objects, prepositional phrases, compound sentences, run-ons, and comma splices. A unit assessment will take place toward the end of the month. In Writing, we will use what we learn about the content and style of Greek myths to write our own. So far this year we have focused on expository writing, and it will be fun to switch to a creative genre.
Finally, thank you for coming to parent-teacher conferences last week. They are certainly time well spent!
Fifth Grade News
Kevin Brodeur
Mike Mullins
We all had a wonderful experience working on our class radio play, and we are now ready to get back into the routines that are familiar to us.
In math, we will be finishing up Chapter 4 and beginning working in Chapter 7 on Fraction Concepts. We’ll learn the importance of equivalent fractions and greatest common factors. We will compare and order fractions and mixed numbers and figure out the relationships between fractions and decimals. In history, we will finish our work with the Egyptians and set out to explore Ancient India where we’ll learn about the people of the Indus and Ganges River Valleys. We will read about the beginnings of Hinduism and Buddhism, and learn about the Golden Age of Maurya India. Our language arts lessons in Wordly Wise and GUM will continue, and we will find out what is in store for young Bonnie and Sylvia as we begin to read The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken.
Physical Education News
Diane Toolin
February is when we focus on Valentine's Day and activities that are heart related. We will work on cardio fitness and how important it is for us to be heart healthy. The students will understand how exercise, rest, food, and many other aspects of our daily lives affect our heart health.
Lessons also include a game that originated in Canada called Omni-Kin. The game is played with a large pink ball and three teams of four students on each team. This Friday we will play our 6th Annual Omni-kin Tournament combining the Fourth and Fifth Grades, playing during Sports period. The students love playing with this 48" ball and find the game quite addictive!
Remember to keep your heart healthy in February and every day!
Les Nouvelles Françaises
Liz Blake
Bonjour! Children in Kindergarten through third grade are learning about how the French settled Canada. We will begin a unit on a series of songs called Chansons a Repondre. These songs are old folksongs from France that have survived centuries and are still sung by children in France and Canada today.
In addition to this, first grade will continue a unit on animals and different sounds that animals make.
Second and third grade will begin a unit that will focus on classroom and school vocabulary. We will also introduce prepositions dans, devant, sur, derrierre, a cote de, sous, dedans, and entre (in, in front of, on, behind, next to, inside, and between). Some of the folk songs we are learning re-enforce this new vocabulary as well.
In the fourth grade we are finishing our work on a unit on the French Revolution. We studied a brief history of France leading up to the revolution. We are exploring the time period by reading a journal written as a series of newspaper articles. We are comparing the French Revolution to the Revolution that took place in the United States.
We will begin a unit on likes and dislikes. We will learn how to express preferences for food and different sports. This also includes an introduction to subject pronouns and how to conjugate regular verbs.
In fifth grade we will be working on vocabulary that centers on how to tell time. This includes a review of numbers in French and how to ask and give the time. We will also cover units on vocabulary regarding daily routines. We will learn how to give relative information on times we perform such daily routines. We will also be working on a unit that covers clothing and how to ask for prices and purchase articles. We will then begin a new unit on the “Marché” and how to purchase food. We will begin preparing for a script that the students will write. They will create their own restaurant, menu, and dialog beginning with how to make a reservation and ending the meal by paying in Euros!
Music and Drama Notes
Erin Schlesinger
UPCOMING PERFORMANCES
Appleseed Play -
Thursday, April 12th 4:00 p.m.
Appleseed Play –
Friday, April 13th 9:40 a.m.
February is always such a neat month in Performing Arts. Appleseed Chorus members are all working on their Orff pieces while waiting with lots of excitement. What are we waiting for? Why, we are waiting to get started on our Appleseed play! Auditions for third grade are the second week of February, and once our cast and crew are set away we go. I’m saving more information until after our cast is set, but don’t worry… I won’t let the show sneak up and thwack you.
Fourth and fifth grades have finished up their stellar performances of Lyres and Liars, and are getting back to the business of making music. In fourth grade we will be beginning our study of chordophones, aerophones, and idiophones. In fifth grade we will be jumping back into our study of Blues and Jazz. We will be spending lots of time with the Orff instruments, lots of time singing, and lots of time listening.
This time of year is so very busy, and worth every second of effort we all put in. Stay tuned!
Fourth Recorder Ensemble & Fifth Grade Band
Frank Bonanno
In the Recorder Ensemble we are working on increasing the range by learning new notes. The students have had the challenge of covering the holes properly so that the notes come out easier. Recorder students are reminded of their hand position so that their fingers will be able to cover the holes.
In the fifth grade band, the Brass players are working on the high register, which involves playing certain warm up exercises that will help build their range. The Woodwinds are working on hand position and mouth position for a more controlled sound. The percussionists are working on playing more independently of each other by trusting their counting abilities. The Bass players are working on tuning their basses and to focus on the music and not to watch their fingers on the fret board. In both Recorder Ensemble and Fifth Grade Band, we will be starting 3-6 part arrangements.
Shop News
Julia Miles
Jack Bowen
The Kindergarten class practiced the slow and rhythmic motion of sawing using rulers last month before using the pull saws on their ring toss bases. This month they will finish sawing the bases and begin sanding them in preparation for a beautiful coat of paint! Measuring and cutting dowels will follow soon.
Painting is well underway in First Grade Shop! There are lots of bright colors to go around the shop. Students are practicing new skills to produce a balancing toy with just the right amount of paint – not too much, but not too little! We are also learning how to work and care for our supplies so that the paints stay mostly where they are meant to be.
Some in the second grade are sanding the decks to their cruise ship, others have cut their smokestacks, and still others are working to insure their hulls are well sanded. All of this hard work is in preparation for a beautiful coat of paint. Students will choose their color scheme this week.
All the third graders have finished cutting the pipes for the glockenspiel! Many students have finished creating beautiful designs on the digi-block boards. As this project comes to completion, students will learn how to polish the copper pipes. Cutting the frame for the glockenspiel is next on the list of “Things to Do.”
Most fourth grade students can see their boxes starting to take shape. They are able to recognize the importance of a good, square cut in order for the box to come together nicely. Painting of the boxes will continue with emphasis on good painting technique to insure that the surface is covered well without streaks or blobs!
Thinking spring: Our talented young fifth grade artisans are hard at work on their birdhouses, which will be ready for spring. The birdhouses will have a pivoting pin bottom for cleanout. Saw kurfs will be on the inside so that the young birds will be able to get out easily. I am sure the birdhouses will arrive home in many spring colors. The fifth graders are mastering their hand tool skills. They are a very enjoyable group to work with.
February in the Lower School
Art Studio
Sara Sanford
The art studio is a busy space this as usual! In Kindergarten, we are studying the artist Piet Mondrian and learning about primary colors, vertical and horizontal lines, squares and rectangles. Their Norman Rockwell inspired work is hanging in the Marshall building. First graders are learning about Pablo Picasso and his various periods, such as the blue period, the rose period and cubism. The painting, “Hands With Flowers” is our current work for the genre of still life. Their Henri Rousseau rain forest inspired work is now on display. Second graders are studying the artist William H. Johnson in celebration of Black History month. Their portraits will be collage and mixed media. Grade three artists are working on the painting of their native sculptures as part of their unit on Plimoth Plantation and art. Their Mayflower paintings are on display in the Marshall foyer and are quite beautiful. Fourth graders continue to work on their paper Mache masks. We are finished with construction and will add the Mache this week. Fifth graders are adding clothes to their plaster sculptures and will begin their Egyptian Canopic jar sculptures later this month. We are working diligently to create beautiful work for Applewild About Arts, our celebration coming in April. More information to follow!
Library News
Amelia Herring
Welcome to February! It may be a short month, but we’ve got some meaty research to dive into in library class. Several classes are going to be starting research projects, and I will be using library time to augment and support these projects.
It’s a very exciting time to be a kindergartner, because we’ve just gotten a shipment of new award-winning picture books into the library. I plan on reading several of these, including 2012 Caldecott Honor winners Grandpa Green by Lane Smith and Me…Jane by Patrick McDonnell. This will allow for discussions about what makes a book “good,” and a chance to discuss our favorite illustrations.
The first graders are beginning their project on animals. They have already picked out some great books to help in their research, but we will also be learning about the basics of online searching. We will review some of the catalog skills we worked on at the beginning of the year, too. I will also be reading some fun animal-related books, including Me…Jane by Patrick McDonnell.
It’s Living Wax Museum time for the second grade. Students are beginning to select and learn more about their chosen historical figure, and I will be assisting them in finding great biographies. I will also introduce the second graders to an excellent online biography source for students called Sweet Search Biographies (www.sweetsearch.com/biographies). I have had selected a few great biographies to read aloud as well, including The Fabulous Flying Machines of Alberto Santos by Victoria Griffith, and The Bravest Woman in America by Marissa Moss.
Third graders are continuing their work on letter writing this month. We missed some class periods last month, so we will be finishing up a few stories and writing letters to pen pals this month. This will also be a chance to get more familiar with letter writing etiquette and format.
We’ve been working on book sharing in the fourth grade, and will continue to do so. Book sharing is a fun way for students to share a book they’ve read recently and enjoyed, and then receive recommendations on what to read next from their classmates. It’s also a great tool for learning how to talk about books, and describe them in terms of genre, characters, setting, and language. We may also play a few rounds of Dictionary Showdown, a game that lets the fourth graders flex their word look-up muscles. Students divide into two teams, and go head to head to see who can look up a given word the fastest. The game is meant to not only introduce and practice using the dictionary as a tool, but also serves as another way to practice alphabetical order, which is a key concept in the library.
The fifth graders can expect a booktalk—this month is free choice, so I’ll get a chance to talk about some old and new favorites of mine.
First and Second Grade Science
Tally Lent
First graders are busy exploring the properties of solids in our Solids and Liquids Unit. They are using the properties of those solids to be engineers and are constructing towers and bridges. We will observe the properties of many solids and liquids, comparing how different solids and liquids are alike and how they are different, organize the results of our inquiries, and communicate both orally and in writing the things we discover. These processes (observing, communicating, comparing, and organizing) are the basic thinking processes students need at this age to develop a scientific understanding of the world around them.
Second graders are immersed in the Balance and Motion Unit and have been very actively exploring balance, counterweights, and gravity. We are going to get into the motion study now. We will explore rotational motion, slope, wheel-and–axle systems, weight, pushing and pulling. We will culminate our study with the construction of a large marble run. Second graders are movers and shakers!
Third, Fourth, and Fifth Grade Science
Maura Lyons
Wow! We are cruising through the New Year and on our way to spring!
Third grade students are having fun observing the magic of magnets and the interaction of permanent magnets with a variety of materials. They’ve discovered that magnets display forces of attraction and repulsion. Soon we will identify materials as conductors and insulators and then understand how to construct simple, open, closed, parallel, and series circuits. This knowledge will be applied to making an electromagnet. Our students are turbo charged with this unit!
Fourth grade students learned much about sound effects and the value of Foley artists during their preparation for the Radio Play. Recently, students had an “ear-opening” experience as they compared how sound travels through water, solids, and air. Working in collaborative groups, students recorded and discussed their observations and explored Go Further challenges.
Students continue the exploration of sound by exploring their own sound receiver, the human ear. The ear’s anatomy is covered in depth as students draw, label and record the function of the structures that make up the ear. Ways to protect their sound receivers from injury are discussed.
Fifth graders continue to prepare for their Voyage To Mars adventure at the Christa McAuliffe Challenger Center. Job applications and letters of recommendation are due on Feb. 13 and a Crew Manifest will be posted shortly thereafter. Through NASA resources and excellent, updated online sources, we have generated many facts about Mars and explored the past and fascinating future of the Red Planet! We will watch “Eyes On Mars”, an amazing movie about our ongoing quest to fully understand the mysteries that are Mars.
Students have organized much useful information that will be used in many exciting activities such as Mission Survival, Who Should Go To Mars?, Designing a Spacesuit, Navigating a Spacecraft, Is There Life On Mars?, Mars Geological Mapping, etc. We will practice building critical skills necessary for teamwork, effective communication, reading and following directions on task cards, and operating under pressure, as we approach our departure date (field trip: Feb. 24). Please do ask your child about the Egg Drop activity scheduled to take place just prior to our trip!
Winter Clothing Required!
This has been a strange winter, weather-wise. It has not been as cold as last year’s, but it has been cold enough to warrant coats, hats, mittens, and boots. Please send your children to school with winter clothing so that recess times and travel times on campus are safe and comfortable. We do require that students are dressed appropriately to be outside in the winter and appreciate your partnership in this.
Important Dates to Remember:
February 1: Fourth and Fifth Grade Radio Play and Pizza Supper
February 7, 10:00: Historical Perspectives presents Amelia Earhart
February 9, 2:30: Wonders and Smiles
February 10: Buddy Activity
February 13 – 17: Book Fair in Marshall Foyer
February 14: Valentine’s Day
First graders to Head Start
Second graders to Highlands
ARC Buddies to Third Grade
February 16, 4:00 – 6:00: WinterFest,
(Weather/Snow depending!)
February 20: Presidents’ Day; No School
February 21: Professional Day; No School
February 22: Eyes on Owls, students on vacation welcome to attend.
10:30 Kindergarten & Grade 1
12:45 Grades 2 - 5
February 23: Monday schedule
2:30 Wonders and Smiles
4:00 Family Math Afternoon
February 24: Fifth Grade to the Challenger Center, all day.
March 2: Dr. Seuss’ Birthday: Pajama Day K -5!