Curriculum Talking Points

For the Week ending 11/19/10

Kindergarten:

• LANGUAGE ARTS: Students met with their reading groups and read We Belong Together, by Todd Parr, in conjunction with their social studies unit on family trees. The class also continued with the Book Buddies activity, completed a weekly journal entry, and discussed pumpkin adjectives. Student’s November self-portraits captured this unique moment in time.

 

• MATH: The class continued to hone their number sense with a variety of games and activities. They ordered cards in a sequencing game, used pumpkin seeds and Unifix cubes to play Grab and Count, and completed three units of study: Roll, Record, and Build It. In addition, they were introduced to Taking Inventories and trinomial cubes.

• SOCIAL STUDIES: The class completed family portraits as part of the family tree unit, and in anticipation of the Thanksgiving holiday, students made Thankful Thanksgiving Turkey hand tracings and read a book about the life cycle of a pumpkin.

 

• ART: Students concluded their unit on Vincent Van Gogh by creating sunflowers out of cut paper.

• LIBRARY: Thank you to all who donated books to the library book fair.

 

• MUSIC: Students learned the community song for the Thanksgiving assembly, continued work on reading rhythm patterns, and took turns leading “The Nothing Song.”

• PHYSICAL EDUCATION: The class continued with a basketball unit. Students learned the skills of throwing, catching dribbling, shooting, weave dribbling, chest passing, and bounce passing.

 

• RELIGION: (This refers to the elective religious education that is provided upon request to Catholic families.) The class talked about families as gifts from God, and helping and caring for each other just as God helps and cares for us.

• SCIENCE: The class continued its study of measurement by learning about various tools of measurement; students learned how to measure value using a cash register, how to measure time using a stopwatch, and how to measure distance using their feet.

 

• SPANISH: The class learned new songs, adding to a quickly growing repertoire. Students practiced with vocabulary flashcards, becoming quicker at recognizing verbs and some important expressions.

• YOGA: In celebration of the season, students explored different fall themes. They improved their balance by practicing tree posture and learned postures that have the same shapes as leaves. The class worked on creating a yoga sequence that incorporated turning and folded leaf postures.

 

Lower Level:

The Lower Level is hosting an Open House to share in the students’ published stories, poetry, games, activities, and experiences from our classrooms. Please join us at one or more of these open house times:

• Franklin/McGregor

Monday, November 22nd from 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

• Power/Machado

Tuesday, November 30th from 8:30 - 9:00 a.m.
Thursday, December 2nd from 8:30 - 9:00 a.m.

• Rossano/Slepian/Woodruff

Wednesday, December 1st, from 8:30 - 9:00 a.m.
Thursday, December 2nd from 8:30 - 9:00 a.m.

• LANGUAGE ARTS: The class continued learning about nouns and rhyming, and began discussions about verbs and contractions. The class held daily read-alouds, and focused not just on general comprehension, but also on identifying a main idea and discussing the difference between fiction and non-fiction. Each student chose one of the read-aloud books to inspire an original board game. Students finished writing prompts and made a “How To” list of instructions.

 

• MATH: First graders continued to learn through math games. They practiced making combinations of a number while they played the Heads and Tales game. They also played Making Towers and How Many Am I Hiding? Second graders worked on number strings, doubling, and began regrouping. Students also continued to solve story problems and played Beat the Calculator, a computation game.

• ART: The class completed its unit on Rene Magritte. Then, after they discussed Paul Klee’s “Head of Man,” students copied the painting.

 

• COMPUTER: Students worked on typing skills with the program Read, Write & Type.

• LIBRARY: Thank you to all who donated books to the library book fair.

 

• PHYSICAL EDUCATION: Working individually and with partners, students used the gym’s new Hi-Li equipment.

• RELIGION: (This refers to the elective religious education that is provided upon request to Catholic families.) Second graders prayed the Act of Contrition. They heard the story of John’s call for all to “return to the Lord,” noting that we are to move beyond words into action. After acting out the Gospel story, the class reviewed the steps in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

 

• SCIENCE: Students presented their dinosaur timelines to their classmates. Showing their hard work like this was an essential part of the unit as it allowed students to ask questions and share ideas. Highlights of the discussions included their choices for dinosaur colors, selection of plants, and the unique details they added to their backgrounds.

• SPANISH: Students were introduced to the days of the week in Spanish. They then compared and contrasted a U.S. calendar with a Hispanic calendar.

 

• YOGA: The class reviewed last week’s leaf postures and read a story called “The Leaf Man.” Students observed different leaf patterns shaped like animals and worked in small groups to create yoga leaf statues.

• MUSIC: First and Second graders worked with Mr. Davidson and Caedmon in Motion teacher, Ms. Killian, on choral movement for their two holiday pieces.

 

Middle Level:

• LANGUAGE ARTS: In language arts this week students continued reading groups for An Orphan on Ellis Island, The Hundred Dresses, and Pioneer Cat. Students read aloud to each other and engaged in discussions regarding their stories. Students also learned new spelling blends such as the -sk, and -ft blend.  In writing students are finishing up their published pieces and creating illustrated covers for their stories.  

 

• MATH: Third grade students have been reviewing how to tell time in their small groups.  As well, they have been taking a virtual road trip as a way to explore the addition and subtraction of distances.  They also are creating subtraction story problems in which they will show their work using multiple strategies.  Fourth grade students continued to practice their long and partial quotient division.  Homework focused on stories where math was an integral part of the problem solving process.  We also began our multiple towers project: working in partnerships to create long strips of paper that have 20-30 multiples of various numbers.

• SOCIAL STUDIES: Students are studying a timeline of migration of the human race from the earliest humans onward.  They are discussion reasons for why people were pulled toward new areas and why people were forced to migrate.

 

• ART: Students began modeling sculptures. Their only limitation was that the sculpture had to be less than four inches tall, stable, and well-crafted.

• LIBRARY: Thank you to all who donated books to the library book fair.

 

• PHYSICAL EDUCATION: The class continued its basketball unit. Students improved their dribbling form and worked to become comfortable using either hand. They also learned the jump stop, from which they can pivot, shoot, or pass.

• RELIGION: (This refers to the elective religious education that is provided upon request to Catholic families.) Fourth graders reviewed the symbols used in the baptismal rite. After hearing the story of Jesus’ baptism (Mt 3:13-17), students discussed why Jesus, who had no apparent need of “new life,” would insist that John baptize him.

 

• SCIENCE: Students learned how to read nutrition labels and discussed why it is an important skill to have. Students were encouraged to analyze labels from healthy foods, snack foods, candy, and beverages, and practiced with labels they brought into school.

• SPANISH: Students reviewed vocabulary and were introduced to classroom objects by using manipulatives to practice identifying them in Spanish.

 

• YOGA: Third graders continued getting comfortable on yoga mats and worked on their sun salute. The students created leaf yoga statues and practiced the three-part breath by blowing leaves to partners, an activity that builds breath control and stamina.

• MUSIC: Third and fourth graders prepared to play their respective recorder parts to "Butterfly" on their own for their classmates and Mr. Davidson.  Fourth graders are learning a percussion rhythm that is also a part of "Butterfly."  Third and Fourth graders continued to prepare for their choral piece "We Will."

 

Upper Level:

• LANGUAGE ARTS: Students were introduced to the grading criteria for their literary essays and learned how they can use it to help them look critically at their drafts. The class talked about the importance of revision as a part of the writing process, discussing proof reading and revision checklists. Students then used these various documents to help them edit and revise their own pieces before working on their final essay.

 

• MATH: The class began a study of decimals and explored the relationship between fractions and percents. Through class work and discussion, students learned about tenths, hundredths, and thousandths. In order to prepare for their first major semester test at the end of the week, the class discussed how to approach studying, making a list of all the topics and concepts they were responsible for and the possible materials and resources they could use.

• ART: Students used acrylic paint to add color to their clay canopic jars and shabti figures.

 

• LIBRARY: Thank you to all who donated books to the library book fair.

• PHYSICAL EDUCATION: The class started an outdoor games unit, and students took many of their skills from football and applied them to ultimate frisbee and team handball. They also continued their endurance run training, maintaining good running form while jogging for ten minutes.

 

• SCIENCE: As a part of their study of the periodic table of elements, students learned about the structure of an atom. They learned about the nucleus, protons, neutrons, and electrons, and discussed how our knowledge of the structure of the atom has changed over time.

• SPANISH: Students continued to review vocabulary and conjugated the verb ser in the present tense.

 

• MUSIC: Fifth graders prepared to play their respective recorder parts to "Ramadan Rhythms" on their own for their classmates and Mr. Davidson.  Fifth graders continued to prepare for their choral piece "We Will."