February 1 — Exploring the Arts
Music with Eyal Something to warm you up in this freezing weather:) Here is a fun video of 3rd graders learning a new chord and a new song on the Ukulele. The song is called, “Put the Lime in the Coconut” Click here to see the video! Art with Iviva Students have been working on Tu B’Shvat collages. Here are some pictures of them in action. General Studies with Hilary Dear Third Grade families, Happy February! We are gradually returning to our full third grade selves after a week of colds and flus. We hope you all a healthy start... Read More
February 1, 2019
Humanities In ELA, we’ve been diving into the rhetorical triangle – ethos, logos, and pathos. What are the mechanics used to persuade someone? How do we persuade someone in ethical ways? In the coming week, we’ll be researching a position and beginning to craft arguments that are well-researched and logical. We are in the midst of our second unit of vocabulary study, vacillating between Wordly Wise words and Greek and Latin roots. The most recent roots you should look out for are: Ars, Artis (art) Aoide (song) Canto/Cantare (to sing) Pingo/Pingere/Pinxi/Pictum (to paint, to embroider) In social studies, we are... Read More
Hello Kindergarten Families
This week was another busy one in Kindergarten. In Writer’s Workshop we began learning about informational books by reading books about penguins, animal feet, and germs. We then thought about topics that kindergartners themselves know a lot about. Topics included Lego, ballet, video games, scooters, iPads, cats, candy, toys, insects, Fortnight, and F 5 cars. The latter two are things the teachers will learn a lot about from the books students write over the next few weeks! In math we continued our number work playing games of One More and Two More. We did a problem solving activity called Which... Read More
Hello Fourth Grade Families!
General Studies with Mike: We are nearing the end of our unit on fractions. Students can now add, subtract, and multiply fractions. We spent the bulk of this past week solving real-world problems (word problems) involving fractions. We will end the unit at the beginning of the week with and in-class assessment. You can help reinforce new math vocabulary at home when helping with homework by using words and phrases like “numerator,” “denominator,” and “simplest form.” We are about halfway through our second read aloud, Rain Reign, by Ann M. Martin and have continued to chart a class list of... Read More
6th Grade News 1/21 – 2/1/19
HUMANITIES: This week in ELA, students began an exciting new writing unit related to research and debate. They chose “real world” questions that felt meaningful to them, including: Should schools punish cyberbullying? Should the U.S. continue giving foreign aid? and more. They are researching all sides of the argument using online and offline sources, and determining their own stance as they work. In order to ensure responsible research, we learned how to determine whether a source is reliable or unreliable. We had fun examining a wide range of websites — from amateur blogs to university publications — finding both trustworthy... Read More
Poetry, Tallit, and Vanishing Points!
Reading and Writing We have been making many connections between reading and writing as we have began our poetry unit. Second graders began to look at ordinary objects with a poet’s heart and mind. We studied poetry from several authors and noticed that poets make comparisons to help the reader paint a picture in their mind. We listened to poems with our eyes closed, talked about visualization, and of course began writing our very own poems. With bags filled with mysterious objects, we had to reach in and write poems using comparisons. Staple removers became ferocious sharks, paintbrushes became brooms... Read More
Kindergarten Hebrew / Judaics
Dear Kindergarten Families הורים יקרים, This week in Hebrew we continued learning about clothing. We collaged on paper with fabric and other scraps then cut the paper into clothing. We’re getting better at recognizing descriptions of our clothes and describing others, an important social step in recognizing and describing our peers. Next week we’ll be moving on to winter gear and things we need to keep warm. Vocabulary at the bottom of this post. In Judaics we began the story of Noah and the flood and learned a song (lyrics below). Here’s the story if you want to review it... Read More
First Grade News
To celebrate Rosh Chodesh Adar Alef we are having Crazy Hat Day! Students are invited to wear a crazy hat to school on Wednesday February 6th. First grade Mathematicians continued to learn about graphing. They learned how to read pictures graphs and use tally marks to make bar graphs. We noticed that we use graphs in our classroom, such as our tooth chart, and our independent reading graph. We’ve started a new writing unit: information writing. In this unit, first graders are working on writing nonfiction teaching books on a topic they already know a lot about. They’ve written books about soccer, gymnastics,... Read More
Hello Kindergarten Families!
Hello Families, It was another busy week in General Studies Kindergarten. We started the week with the exciting news that Liz had had her baby and immediately started making a baby quilt for her. Each child drew a square with a picture of a grown up animal and a baby animal. With the winter weather that is predicted for the weekend, I should be able to get it put together! In Literacy we introduced D and N. Daniella and Dawn didn’t dare eat the doughnuts and Nathaniel and Naomi never need naps! In Reader’s Workshop we looked at the many... Read More
5th Grade Week of 1/18
Please enjoy our classroom updates below, and have a relaxing and fun long weekend! Advisory: 1.This week in Advisory students talked about children’s responsibility towards social justice. http://facingtoday.facinghistory.org/digital-tools-to-explore-martin-luther-kings-legacy 2.This was the video that our lesson was based off of if you would like to view it. Please return your BAC permission slip via email if you have not done so yet. Humanities What a successful couple weeks in Humanities! We finished reading Homeless Bird, and have begun our essays on theme in the text. In Social Studies, we are studying Hinduism, and we are working on a Council of the Gods... Read More