The kindergarten students are becoming masters of sound in room 106. They have been exploring loud and soft sounds and have learned skills on how to identify and classify them. By using rulers, single string guitars and xylophones they have discovered several different ways to alter and stop sounds.
The students were able to apply the skills they learned in STEAM to construct leprechaun traps around St. Patrick’s Day, which was very exciting to create these projects in the classroom. We have had several Mystery Readers and Star Students in the classroom during the month of March.
Writer’s Workshop has been keeping us very busy as well. The kids are finally finishing their final drafts of their How-To books which will be hung in the hallway for your viewing pleasure during conferences.
From the Desk of Ms. Kaim:
It was a busy month as always in Room 104! In science, the first graders continued studying earth materials. The boys and girls investigated sand, silt, and clay. They also explored how scientists use fossils found in rock to learn about dinosaurs and other prehistoric life. This included visiting the Field Museum to explore the Evolving Planet exhibit and see Maximo the Titanosaur. On another field trip, the first graders completed a math mission with their fifth graders at the Chicago Children’s Museum.
Our continent of the month was Asia. The boys and girls created carp kites to fly in the classroom. The kites are symbols of perseverance in Japan. The class also created fish prints and read the book Crow Boy. We also read Gandhi: A March to the Sea. Guest speakers taught us about Persian New Year. A Grain of Rice, a mathematical story set in ancient China, helped us practice addition with lots of regrouping! After reading the book, we compared it to One Grain of Rice by Demi. We also created tangram pictures after reading Grandfather Tang’s Story. We ended the month with a Taste of Asia.
We continued our literary journeys with “The Land of Nod” in Junior Great Books, finished learning the proper formation of all the lowercase D’Nealian letters in handwriting, and improved our reading skills with Scholastic News articles. In math, we focused on addition with regrouping and practiced different problem solving strategies.
In honor of our class pet, Fluffy, we participated in a live streaming experience about tarantulas. Another special event during March was Meet the Authors. The first graders were thrilled to share their 100 Page Books with parents, fifth grade buddies, and other guests. Finally, the boys and girls returned to the computer lab to begin working on timelines of their lives for their autobiography projects.
We were happy to see that some of the tulip and daffodil bulbs we planted in the fall were beginning to peek out of the soil. The boys and girls made signs to remind visitors to the Butterfly Garden to be respectful of the space and the plants. The first graders will begin another exciting adventure involving growing and changing in April. Hint: it has something to do with eggs!
From the Desk of Ms. L Murray:
Where did March go?? Our Second Graders have really found their rhythm and we have been so productive!
In Language Arts, we continued to read the novel, Riding Freedom by Pam Munoz Ryan. The main character, a fictionalized version of the real Charlotte Parkhurst, chooses to live her life as a man in order to pursue her love of driving stagecoaches. Second Graders are discussing how freedoms such as the right to vote and own property were not available to women. Lastly, we read a play based on the experiences of the Lowell Mills' girls, who after being mistreated in a textile mill in the early 1800's formed the first permanent female labor union in the US - the Lowell Female Labor Reform Association or (LFLRA) in 1844.
In Math, we focused on Fractions! Second Graders learned to identify numerators and denominators as they name parts of a whole and "fractions greater than one" that are comprised of unit fractions to name fractions of groups of objects. Our math sessions have become so streamlined - it's amazing to watch our young friends dive into multi-step word problems and connect multiplication and division concepts to fractions.
In Social Studies, we began an "All About our Government" book to summarize information about the United States' three levels of government - local, state and federal. We discussed how laws are created to protect not only people but property and the environment. We are also connecting what we have learned about women's rights in the 1800's to identify how laws change over time. Lastly, we took a moment to look at some interesting laws that are still applicable in some states. Did you know that in Arizona, it is illegal to let your donkey sleep in your bathtub??
In Science, we finished our unit on "Force and Motion" with the creation of original projects highlighting a moving object. The purpose of the project was threefold, 1.) to move through the engineering design process and create a prototype, 2.) test the prototype and collect data, 3.) identify one variable that will change so as to have multiple data points. Projects vary from marble runs, to paper airplanes, to carts made of egg cartons to homemade spinning tops! Lastly, students are creating Power Point slides in the computer lab to display their data and summaries of their projects.
In Residency news, as part of our Financial Literacy Residency, students are learning about specialization and opportunity cost through hands-on activities. In our Civics Residency, students are collecting quarters for our "Quarters Count" campaign. Quarters will be used to purchase groceries to give to the Common Food Pantry at the end of the year. The residency also focuses on social emotional concepts related to common friendship issues. One such issue involves "trouble talking." This is where students spread rumors or overshare something that has been shared with them which can cause embarrassment for a friend.
I cannot wait to see what April brings!
From the Desk of Ms. Thiel:
Happy spring!
In math we continued to learn fractions as we learned to relate fractions to decimals. The students were able to relate fractions to decimals in tenths, hundredths and in equivalent form. We then moved into two dimensional figures. We studied lines, rays and angles as well as parallel and perpendicular lines. Lastly, we classified quadrilaterals and created a quadrilateral family tree.
This month the students celebrated Women’s History Month. They each selected one woman they thought was important, researched her and designed a “bottle buddy” in her honor. These are displayed outside our room. The children did an amazing job researching, creating their buddy and presenting their research. We began our new novel Bud, Not Buddy and focused on text structures including; cause and effect, compare and contrast, problem and solution, description, and order and sequence.
In Social Studies we began Unit 2: Building the First Colonies. We examined the Spanish, Virginia, Plymouth and French and Dutch Colonies. We discussed why each of the groups settled in North America and what hardships they encountered. Next, we will move onto a study of the thirteen colonies.
Our Energy unit in Science led us to investigate magnetic force with many hands on activities. The children experimented with how magnets interact with each other and other materials. We learned how the poles of magnets can both repel and attract one another. We discussed the magnetic field and how it can act through space and the relation to the Earth’s magnetic field.
In writer’s workshop we began to work on persuasive writing. We began to think about problems both globally and on a smaller scale and how we could change these things. We brainstormed ideas for topics and narrowed it down to one, by stating our position. We then created a graphic organizer with reasons to support our positions. We listened to many different introductions and discussed ways to hook in our readers. We then wrote our introductions and will begin working on the body of our essay.
A few highlights from this month were our paper cutting activity and folk dancing in Chinese! Ask your children to share their experience.
From the Desk of Ms. Milstein:
The 4th graders in Room 208 were engaged in many great things during the month of March. We finished a science unit on Living Systems by studying various nutrient systems. The class loved the hands on experiments and creating scientific lab reports during this unit. A favorite experiment was the yeast activation experiment during which the young scientists tested which ingredients would awaken yeast from its dormant state.
Our study of fractions continued in math, moving from addition and subtraction, to multiplication, and finally onto the division of fractions. While the class is always eager to get down to the “quick and dirty” skills of each operation, we take time at the beginning of each unit to use visual and hands-on models to represent the math. This slows down the mind and demonstrates for the students what is actually happening to the fractions when we add, subtract, multiply or divide with them.
In our social studies unit on the Civil War, before studying the events during the war, we took time to learn about what was going on in the years leading up to it. This way the students were able to get a deeper understanding of how and why the Civil War started. The final lesson in this portion of the unit was on the election of 1860. We heard speeches, presented by peers, from four of the candidates to understand their views on important topics of that time. We also discussed the varying perspectives around the country and who might support which candidates. We had a mock trial and analyzed the results of the actual election.
The class finished our writing unit on personal essays and typed up their final drafts this month. The students have worked so hard over the past weeks to develop ideas, draft supporting stories, revise their work, make final selections and use all the pieces to compose their essays. One of the most powerful workshops we had was when students went through all their work to find the parts that most strongly supported their theses and topic sentences. Through this process they streamlined and strengthened the impact of their writing.
This month in literacy, the class has been reading The Watsons go to Birmingham - 1963. In this historical fiction novel it is extremely important to have background knowledge on the historical context. Before beginning to read, the class spent a week studying the Civil Rights Movement. Students viewed primary resources from the years 1865-1969 that created a timeline of civil rights. After reacting, responding, and discussing during this week, the students all began the new novel with perspective that made the story so much more meaningful as we read all month.
From the Desk of Ms. Caskey:
317 was busy this month despite IAR testing. We took a field trip with our buddies, where we helped them explore collections and groups. We also wrapped up our world music residency with Fulcrum Point. We explored music from China, India, Latin America, and parts of Africa. It connected well to our geography unit at the beginning of the year.
During Reading we read the memoir entitled Red Scarf Girl and we've been supplementing the text with a lot of propaganda analysis, including Chairman Mao's "Little Red Book", which is one of the most published works in history with over five billion copies printed. This memoir has given us great exposure to primary sources and critical analysis. Language Arts learning has included wrapping up verbs and adjectives/adverbs units in grammar and exploring roots that mean write, origin, birth, build, and work, as well as attaching suffixes to these stems. We will continue learning mostly math and science connected roots as we continue. Writing has continued with our memoir unit. We will move on to opinion writing next month.
We explored perimeter in two dimensional shapes as well as surface area and volume in three dimensional shapes during our Geometry unit called Covering and Surrounding. The unit culminated with either a partner or a choice project. Students are making coordinate puzzles, designing the perfect lunch boxes, rockets, or geometry quizzes. It's sure to be fun during our project walk.
Science has 317 beginning to explore the origins of rock layers, sediment, and soil. We modeled erosion with a stream table, and explored different variables with our table. We also formed sandstone. We observed soil samples and compared that to our collected rock sediment.
And, finally, students wrapped up their city business in early March and headed into ancient history for social studies. Here, we learned about early hominids, created our own essential questions for lessons, and learned about the innovations that led to early civilizations.
From the Desk of Mr. Klein:
In sixth grade physics, the work regarding force and motion has been completed. The students are currently employed on making observations, raising questions, formulating hypotheses, designing and conducting investigations, analyzing and interpreting results of scientific investigations, communicating and applying the results of scientific investigation in the area of heat conductivity.
Seventh grade literature featured the class conducting a study of short stories that are humorous in nature. Stories were chosen by individually as were groups. The work associated with these stories concerned the development of interpretive questions, the crafting of responses to those interpretive questions, and the creation of a visual project that centered on the theme of a particular tale.
Experiments in seventh grade chemistry completed the study of characteristic properties and the implications that those properties have for the overall study of chemistry. The students are now moving forward with a look at analyzing and interpreting data on the properties of substances before and after the substances interact to determine if a chemical reaction has occurred.
In addition, the seventh graders travelled to the Museum of Science and Industry to explore the causes and the effects of diabetes. The class also viewed the exhibits at the International Museum of Surgical Science to better understand advancements being made in the field of medicine, especially as it applies to amputation.
The eighth graders in their study of biology focused on the introduction of animals and its relationship to the theory of evolution with special emphasis on the dissection of earthworms, grasshoppers, and crayfish.