Explorations of Elementary May 2017 Overview

Research

Our first-year students will present their Simple Machines to the class in small group lessons. Students will be invited to repeat these lessons as a work choice. First year students will also begin studying how animals satisfy their needs and how scientists classify animals. These students will create a chart comparing external characteristics of vertebrates and invertebrates.
Second year students will be focusing on many physical science experiments this month. They will experiment with surface tension, fountains, and a water pressure column.
Third year students will focus on internal systems of birds and mammals and will compare and contrast all the internal systems of vertebrates. Third years will also learn about the Roman Arch.
Students researching the human body will complete their project this month and have it available for display before the end of the school year.
Fourth year students will finish up research on the five kingdoms by comparing and contrasting all groups. These students will study etymologies and figures of speech.
We will be studying the continent of Antarctica. We will discuss the scientists there, learn about its flag, and create a self-test to assess our knowledge.
Math and Language lessons are given to children based on individual needs, instead of age level.

Reading Groups

One group is reading Ramona and Beezus. A second group is reading the first book from the Ivy and Bean Another group is reading A Series of Unfortunate Events: Carnivorous Carnival. The fourth group is finishing up Maniac Magee and moving on to The Phantom Tollbooth.
For Writer’s Workshop this month we will continue our work with “All Abouts.” Students will be writing about partners and themselves.

Spelling Groups

The first group will be working on /air/ and /are/ words, /ow/, /ou/, /oi/, and /oy/ words, homophones, and silent letters. The second and third group are working on compound words, words that end in y, and plurals. The fourth group is working on long I spellings, long o spellings, long u and /oo/ spellings, and r controlled vowels. The fifth group will work on tough short vowel sounds and challenging long vowel sounds. All groups will do a Spelling assessment at the end of May.
The homework for the month of May will be creating a Word Search. We will be sending home your child’s list of words and a sheet of graph paper for this search. Please assist your child by finding their words before each Monday!

Field Trips and Special Events

May 11: Grandparents Day 12:45-2:30
- Students will be playing recorder and piano, performing short skits from what they’ve learned in Latin, completing a class activity, and then can end the day at the Book Fair with their grandparents!
May 12: Moms and Muffins
May 29: Memorial Day – NO SCHOOL
June 1: Field Day, Last Day of School (No Aftercare)
June 2: Kindergarten Graduation