“When children come into contact with nature, they reveal their strength.” – Maria Montessori
This week we have really enjoyed the weather together. It was nice to record something other than “gloomy,” “cold,” and “snowy” each day at Morning Meeting. We have begun many projects this week. First year students have been working on Simple Machine projects. Our third and fourth year students have been working on a Geometry project called “Build My Block.” These students are building a neighborhood out of cardstock and will be taking the area, perimeter, and volume of their completed neighborhood this month! Our second, third, and fourth years have also started working on their “Imaginary Islands.” This project has students take their knowledge of geographic features and use it to create an island from their imagination. All students will write a history of their island and the third and fourth years will find the area of their island. We also are finishing up Writer’s Workshop with biographies and autobiographies! Check out our autobiography displays towards the end of the month!
Ms. Courtney let us borrow her classroom’s chicks for Community Meeting on Monday. Our students have been learning so much from Ms. Courtney about how to feed and handle chicks. What a wonderful opportunity we have been given to learn firsthand about being kind and gentle to nature! Thank you Ms. Courtney!These third and fourth year boys discussed different base systems this week. They learned about different base systems that have been used throughout history and what systems are still used today by different groups of people and professions. In this photo they have counted in base 5 (quinary)! Learning different base systems gives children a deep appreciation for other cultures and for math. It also could be very helpful for their future careers!A third grade student was inspired by her own shirt this week! Her shirt had the different layers of the ocean. She decided to make a poster, but also to involve each person in our class. She asked everyone what sea creature they would choose to be and then found where in the ocean that creature lives! Check out her work in our hallway!Our Lower Elementary students worked together over the month of April to research Australia. Students chose their own partners and got started! They researched each state in Australia, the currency, the flags, the history, and the animals. Here our students are sharing their animal research. Sharing research or work in front of the class is always a great learning experience for presenters and the audience! We often share constructive feedback to our peers to improve our public speaking skills.Our “Internal Systems of Birds” lesson had an appropriate visitor – “Penguin,” a chick from Ms. Courtney’s room. During our lesson about birds, we were able to see some of the external features we discussed and gained a deeper understanding of birds! Plus, we can always use an excuse to have animals in the classroom.
A Peek into Next Week
Next week, first year students will have another lesson with the Decanomial, will review Grammar symbols, and will discuss the parts of the flower. Second year students will begin their study of exponents, review Grammar symbols, continuing learning about quadrilaterals, and will discuss water pressure. Third year students will learn about the commutative and distributive laws of multiplication, discuss how to write broken quotes in paragraphs, will solve area word problems that include fractions, and will find the main characteristics of echinoderms. Fourth year students will continue work with integers and transitive and intransitive verbs, write their Early Humans research paper, and will study protists. All students will study Antarctica, including a virtual field trip to a science station!
REMINDERS:
Thursday, May 10 – Grandparents’ Day – Please have grandparents arrive by 12:45!
Friday, May 11 – Moms and Muffins – 7:00
We have ALL spots open for our FINAL “Bring Your Parent to ‘Work Time’.” Sign up here.
If you are interested in a final conference for the year, please sign up here.
