This week we completed our “The Farm” topic. We learned about the pig and their products. We learned that pigs are mammals because they have hair and give milk to their offspring. Also, farmers usually raise pigs for their meat (salami, sausage, bacon, and ham). We learned the animal’s parts such as; head, eyes, snout, arms, tail, and hoof. We read “El Cerdo en la Granja” and “Vamos a la Granja” books. The kids did activities related to our topic: pigs in the mud, pigs paper plate. The kids tried some pig products like salami and sausage in our snack time. Most of them liked salami more than sausage . The kids did a great job doing “Thanksgiving” projects to round out a very fun month.
Words of the week:
Cerdo-pig,
Salami-salami,
Tocino-bacon,
Salchicha-sausage,
Carne-meat,
Granjero-farmer,
Cabeza-head,
Ojos-eyes,
Hocico y/o jeta-snout,
Hombro-arm,
Cola-tail,
Pezuna-hoof.
They did a great job learning the vocabulary and singing el cerdo song.
This week was an exciting one! ( It is always an adventure working with our children, isn’t it?). One of our goals was for our children to read words in spanish to practice their blending skills with vowels “A” and “E”. The books we are using this week to read in spanish are “Papá, mamá y Ana” and “ Pepe y Adela”, making emphasis on the words that had syllables that use the vowels of the week (A-E), and also working on their ability to recognize the words as a unit or meaning (comprehension).
Likewise, the book of the week was “La sombra de osito” (The shadow of bear). This book tells the story of a bear who wants to get rid of its shado. What a great activity since all children participated with their own opinions about why that was an impossible task. We continued working with the shadow theater (teatro de sombras) as we did before, as it is an activity that really motivates the children to participate in telling their own stories using their Spanish vocabulary. This has been a great way for them to practice and reinforce their knowledge.
The Spanish words of the week were Gracias (Thank you) and Dijo (he/she said). Because Thanksgiving is almost here, we did an activity where the children would reflect on things they are thankful for. For this, they used a Paper Cut turkey and they were asked to color and write what they are grateful for in each turkey feather. It was very interesting to see the effort the children made to write their ideas.
This week we made a video for you to see our children expressing in Spanish what they are thankful for.
For both words of the week (Gracias and Dijo) the children practiced creating and talking phrases using them and writing them in their notebooks.
Here is a video of the sound chart we use on a daily basis in class.
This week we practiced sums using “la recta numerica” (the number line), blocks, dominoes and tallies. We reviewed the concepts greater than and less than.
The numbers of the week were 53-57. We practiced recognizing when a number is even or odd and how many units and tens are represented.
We continue to practice counting in steps of 5 by 5 and 10 by 10 through 100.
Science
Illness prevention for Health
This week in The Five Senses science domain we finished learning about the sense of hearing and began learning about the sense of smell. The class had fun trying to guess what different smells in our sensory bottles were.
Our weekly objectives were to:
• identify the five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch
• identify each of the body parts associated with the five senses
• demonstrate understanding of the sense of hearing and smell
• identify the parts of the ear and nose and each of their functions
• provide simple explanations about how the ear and nose works
Making butter for our feast
History & Geography
Butter!
We finished our Native American unit this week. We learned more about the Native Americans of today, took our assessment, and did some fun Thanksgiving activities, focusing on Native Americans.
Our weekly objectives were to:
• understand that Native Americans still live in the u.s. today
English Sight Words of the Week
there, where, they, come
Character Education
During the month of November we have been focusing on Gratitude and what that means to us. We have talked about expressing our thanks when others offer us things (not asking if there is more or a different kind of the offered item). We have talked about being grateful for the time others spend with us, for the love of our families and friends, for the shelter provided to us at home and school, and for the food we eat. We talked about how not everyone has these things and how easy it is for us to take these things for granted. Sometimes it’s important to stop and think about all the wonderful people, things, and opportunities we have in our lives. Thanksgiving is the perfect time to reflect on these things and to give our thanks.
In the month of December we will be focusing on generosity. We have already spoken about being generous with our time, our words, our actions and our resources. Our tradition at SWS is to demonstrate generosity through a charitable organization. This year we are collecting gifts for the YWCA Family Shop, which allows families in need to shop for free. Tags can be picked up on the SPA bulletin board. It would be great if you could include your child in this process. All items need to be returned to the school by December 16th.
Art with Ms. Kelly
Turkey Drawings, Paintings and Sculptures
The kindergarteners made some really cute turkeys this month! Our goals were:
Look at photos of real turkeys
Follow a Directed Drawing of a turkey
Add patterns to the feathers
Learn how to use watercolor paints
Pinecone turkeys
Draw and cut out a beak and paper feathers
Attach turkey features to a pinecone
Learn about the difference between paintings and sculptures
Listen to stories about the First Thanksgiving
Houses in Winter
Cut rectangles and triangles to create houses
Use sponges dipped in white paint to create snow
Happy Thanksgiving! I am thankful for the kind, creative and fun children in this delightful kindergarten class!
This week we read El trencito cañero. Our objectives were:
to identify rhyming words during our first read
practice summarizing during our second read
write about what I, he/she, and we are thankful for
Las matemáticas
This week we finished our chapter on Shapes and Patterns. Our objectives were:
make patterns with solid shapes
decide what solid shape should come next in the pattern
demonstrate understanding on the chapter test
create a thanksgiving math placemat
Science
Illness prevention relay for Health
This week in our science domain: Animals and Habitats, we learned about the Sonoran Desert. The class had fun doing an experiment showing how cacti have adapted to the low rainfall in the desert.
Our weekly objectives were to:
• describe what a habitat is
• understand that living things live in habitats to which they are particularly suited
• identify the characteristics of the desert habitat
• explain how desert animals have adapted to the desert habitat
• classify animals on the basis of the types of foods that they eat (herbivore, carnivore, omnivore)
History & Geography
This week in our Three World Religions section of Early World Civilizations unit we learned about Islam. We talked about its significant holidays, symbol, and believes. We took our end of unit assessment and enjoyed some foods that represent each of the religions, and listened to prayer music from each religion.
Our weekly objectives were to:
• identify Islam as a monotheistic religion
• understand that Islam originated in Arabia and the followers of Islam are called Muslims
• identify that Muhammad is the great prophet of Islam
• demonstrate familiarity with important Muslim holidays such as Ramadan
• Define the crescent and star as symbols of Islam
• identify the Qur’ an as the holy book of Islam containing laws for daily living and the place of worship is called a mosque
English Sight Words of the Week
see, she, so, some, the, their, them, then
Character Education
During the month of November we have been focusing on Gratitude and what that means to us. We have talked about expressing our thanks when others offer us things (not asking if there is more or a different kind of the offered item). We have talked about being grateful for the time others spend with us, for the love of our families and friends, for the shelter provided to us at home and school, and for the food we eat. We talked about how not everyone has these things and how easy it is for us to take these things for granted. Sometimes it’s important to stop and think about all the wonderful people, things, and opportunities we have in our lives. Thanksgiving is the perfect time to reflect on these things and to give our thanks.
In the month of December we will be focusing on generosity. We have already spoken about being generous with our time, our words, our actions and our resources. Our tradition at SWS is to demonstrate generosity through a charitable organization. This year we are collecting gifts for the YWCA Family Shop, which allows families in need to shop for free. Tags can be picked up on the SPA bulletin board. It would be great if you could include your child in this process. All items need to be returned to the school by December 16th.
Art with Ms. Kelly
Turkey Art
The students made some wonderful Turkey Art this month! Our goals were:
Look at photos of real turkeys
Follow a Directed Drawing of a turkey
Add lines and patterns
Use watercolors to make a colorful turkey
Pinecone turkeys
Use sticker foam to draw and cut out turkey features
Make turkey “feathers” from pipe cleaners
Learn about the difference between paintings and sculptures
I hope you enjoy these beautiful, colorful turkeys during the Thanksgiving holiday!
Polar Bear Drawings
This Directed Drawing project goes along with the students’ study of Arctic Animals.
Our goals were:
Look at photos of real polar bears
Review facts about polar bears and their habitat
Learn how to use chalk pastels
The students did a great job on their Polar Bear art!
Henri Matisse
We read Drawing with Scissors by Keesia Johnson and Jane O’Connor. The students started a Henri Matisse art project by cutting out shapes without drawing them first.
Thank you for coming to share the Thanksgiving play with us! They were all so excited to be able to perform for you! We hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving break next week and are able to compare and contrast your own Thanksgiving traditions with the first Thanksgiving and with Susy’s family.
Please be sure to have the kiddos continue to ready daily during their week off. I have asked them to record their reading 3 times during the vacation. (Record in kidsa-z.com)
I’ve sent the Genius Hour folders home with the kiddos and asked them to start working on any props they plan to use during their presentation. Any posters or text should be done in Spanish. (Please note: there is no actual due date for their presentation. This is an open-ended project where kiddos are researching and planning at their own pace.)
Las Matemáticas
2nd / 3rd Graders will be more successful in our next unit of study if they start already comfortable with their Multiplication Facts 0-5. Here are some fun and helpful links:
We are finishing up our Ancient Rome unit and will start a new science unit when we return from Thanksgiving break.
We also worked on a personal essay about things we are thankful for. We focused on paragraphs with topic sentences and supporting details.
History & Geography
This week our objectives were to be able to:
Explain what the Temple of Jupiter is and the significance of its location in Rome.
Describe the activities that took place in Rome´s markets and the Forum.
Understand the meaning of the following vocab: gladiator and marble.
Recognize the Colosseum and understand its structure.
Describe how the Colosseum was used.
Describe the structure and uses of the Circus Maximus.
Understand the meaning of the following vocab: Colosseum, arena, and chamber.
Character Education
During the month of November we have been focusing on Gratitude and what that means to us. We have talked about expressing our thanks when others offer us things (not asking if there is more or a different kind of the offered item). We have talked about being grateful for the time others spend with us, for the love of our families and friends, for the shelter provided to us at home and school, and for the food we eat. We talked about how not everyone has these things and how easy it is for us to take these things for granted. Sometimes it’s important to stop and think about all the wonderful people, things, and opportunities we have in our lives. Thanksgiving is the perfect time to reflect on these things and to give our thanks.
In the month of December we will be focusing on generosity. We have already spoken about being generous with our time, our words, our actions and our resources. Our tradition at SWS is to demonstrate generosity through a charitable organization. This year we are collecting gifts for the YWCA Family Shop, which allows families in need to shop for free. Tags can be picked up on the SPA bulletin board. It would be great if you could include your child in this process. All items need to be returned to the school by December 16th.
Art with Ms. Kelly
Fall Still Life (continued from October)
Our goals were:
Observe real fruits and vegetables
Use overlapping to create depth
Add color and texture with tissue paper and water
Henri Matisse Collages
Our goals were:
Learn about the French artist Henri Matisse
Look at a variety of his artwork
Read Drawing with Scissors by Keesia Johnson and Jane O’Connor
Make a collage by cutting out shapes (without drawing them!)
The students did an amazing job cutting out birds, stars, flowers and leaves to create a collage in the style of Henri Matisse.
Pinecone turkeys
Use sticker foam to draw and cut out turkey features
Make turkey “feathers” from pipe cleaners
Learn about the difference between paintings and sculptures
The students created a variety of very colorful, fun turkeys! I hope you enjoy these during the
This week we started working on our new writing assignment: Biographies. We reviewed the characteristics of this expository genre. Students will be selecting and writing a biography about a scientist. We also started reading the biography of Ellen Ochoa. We will continue to work on this project after we come back from Thanksgiving break.
Establish purposes, audiences and the need for different genres: Biographies.
Apply reading comprehension skills and strategies (asking questions, clarifying, summarizing, compare and contrast information)
Understand the spelling patterns of paronyms.
Identify synonyms and antonyms.
Apply knowledge of the use of capitalization and proper punctuation.
Compare and contrast multiple pieces of information or ideas, in oral and written for. Demonstrate understanding of how to compare and contrast texts.
Using the information gathered, accurately organize it into categories.
Cross-check different sources of information.
Ciencias
Focus question: What is air? What is Earth’s Atmosphere?
Using diagrams, photos from space, a video and a reading, students studied Earth’s atmosphere. They were introduced to the atmosphere as a mixture of gases with properties that change with distance above Earth’s surface. They identified the different levels of the atmosphere and worked on clearly and accurately name them (Troposphere, Stratosphere, Mesosphere, Thermosphere, Exosphere). Applying different reading strategies and skills, students read the expository piece “Earth’s Atmosphere”. They gathered and organized relevant information (sort into categories, compare and contrast).
After we come back from Thanksgiving break, we will take a close look at the troposfera, this is where weather happens. We introduced the concept of meteorology. Over break, pease take the time to look at the weather report with your child so they get familiar with the vocabulary.
Niveles de la Atmósfera
Ubicación
Temperatura
Otras propiedades
Troposfera
Estratosfera
Mesosfera
Termosfera
Exosfera
Air is a mixture of gases held by gravity near Earth’s surface.
Air has mass, takes up space, and is compressible.
Most of Earth’s air resides in the troposphere, the layer of the atmosphere closest to the Earth’s surface.
Weather happens in the troposphere.
Character Education
During the month of November we have been focusing on Gratitude and what that means to us. We have talked about expressing our thanks when others offer us things (not asking if there is more or a different kind of the offered item). We have talked about being grateful for the time others spend with us, for the love of our families and friends, for the shelter provided to us at home and school, and for the food we eat. We talked about how not everyone has these things and how easy it is for us to take these things for granted. Sometimes it’s important to stop and think about all the wonderful people, things, and opportunities we have in our lives. Thanksgiving is the perfect time to reflect on these things and to give our thanks.
In the month of December we will be focusing on generosity. We have already spoken about being generous with our time, our words, our actions and our resources. Our tradition at SWS is to demonstrate generosity through a charitable organization. This year we are collecting gifts for the YWCA Family Shop, which allows families in need to shop for free. Tags can be picked up on the SPA bulletin board. It would be great if you could include them in this.
Art with Ms. Kelly
Fall Still Life
We continued working on our Fall Still Life project, using a variety of media and styles. Several of the students’ very creative paintings and collages have been on the bulletin board at school. Our goals:
Choose 3 different art styles to create 3 still life pictures
Look at artwork by Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Georgia O’Keefe, Jackson Pollock
Use a variety of techniques to add color and texture
Veterans Day Heart Flags
As part of our Thanksgiving bulletin board, the students made red, white and blue heart “flags” to show their appreciation to all the Veterans who have served and are serving our country.
“Stars” by Sara Teasdale
We read this beautiful poem about the stars, to go along with the students’ Science Unit.
This week we continued working with “The Farm” topic. The kids learned that on the farm live different kinds of animals such as dogs, cats, cows, chickens, pigs, sheep and other animals. This week we learned all about the chicken and their products: eggs and meat. They learned that the chicken is one kind of bird because they have wings, feathers, and they lay eggs. They learned that there are more chickens in the world than any other bird or domesticated fowl, and that people keep chickens primarily as a source of food, consuming both their meat and eggs.We read “La Gallina en la Granja” and “La Gallinita Roja”. The kids did activities related with our topic such as the chicken life cycle, chicken paper plate, paper tractor, and farmer. Also, they tried the chicken products in our snack time with boiled eggs and chicken. Some of them like to eat eggs and others prefers chicken .
Words of the week:
Gallina-chicken,
Pollo-chicken (white meat),
Huevo-egg,
Perro-dog,
Gato-cat,
Raton-mouse,
Trigo-wheat,
Pan-bread.
They did a great job learning the vocabulary and singing la gallina song.
This week we read the book “Nada se pega como una sombra” ( Nothing sticks like a shadow ). The children focused on using the words from the book to do rhyming games. This way we introduced them to a new strategy to find the right spanish words for “El teatro de sombras” ( The shadow theater ). A recurring strategy that we often use is to ask our children to use words making rhyming sentences as a strategy to generate vocabulary. The shadow theater game develops interest in vocabulary study as an enjoyable activity. Children have to create a story with the characters in the theater using Spanish words.
Some of the words that were used were:
Sombra (shadow)
Conejo (rabbit)
Sol (sun)
Luz (light)
We also discussed what it takes for a shadow to exist and the different shapes a shadow can have.
We continued practicing blending with “a”. This week the children worked with words like Caja (box), Jarra(jar), masa (dough) and so on.
Using the words of the week “Cinco” (Five) “Seis (six), students practiced the writing process with drawings in their notebooks. Each sentence that little ones make using words of the day will be followed with a drawing related to the sentence. This will help the child to better understand the literacy process.
As in all weeks, we continued practicing writing letters, drawing their shapes and saying their sounds. The letter of this week was S.
Las matemáticas
This week we continued practicing “La recta numerica” (Number line) We use this activity to continue doing sums and helping the children to acquire the addition concept visually. The numbers for this week were 48-51 and we practiced drawing their strokes, amount, concept of tens and ones. As all weeks we continue practicing counting the numbers in multiples 5 by 5 and 10 by 10.
Covering seeing and hearing this week
Science
This week in The Five Senses science domain we drew the eye and labeled its parts. We began to learn about the sense of hearing and played a game using our hearing to identify different recorded sounds.
Our weekly objectives were to:
• identify the five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch
• identify each of the body parts associated with the five senses
• demonstrate understanding of the sense of hearing
• identify the parts of the ear and their functions
• provide simple explanations about how the ear works
History & Geography
Student of the month
In our Native American unit this week we finished learning about the Wampanoag and read about Native Americans today.
Our weekly objectives were to:
• understand how the Wampanoag tribe lived
• describe the food, clothing, and shelter the Wampanoag
• understand that Native Americans still live in the u.s. today
We would like to invite parents to come see our Thanksgiving Play on Friday, November 22nd at 2:30. The play is divided into three parts and students are encouraged to dress their ‘part’. They can practice reading at home (and count this toward their reading minutes).
This week we have really continued to focus on our reading strategies with the Thanksgiving play. We have worked on word identification, cause & effect, inference, and visualization.
Please be sure to have your child continue to read at home, using their bookmark to help them with comprehension strategies.
Las Matemáticas
We completed our 4th unit of study, subtraction to 10,000, with a chapter test. The students did a great job and are ready to move on to our next (super short) unit of study: Bar Models.
Math in Focus Chapter 5: Using Bar Models: Addition & Subtraction
Big Idea: Using bar models to solve 2-step real-world problems involving addition and subtraction.
Apply the part-whole concept in addition and subtraction to numbers to 10,000
Use strategies, such as adding on and taking away sets represented by bar models, to add and subtract
Compare two sets using bar models
Key Visuals/Activities:
Use of bar models & what they represent
Use bar models to solve 2-step real-world problems involving addition and subtraction
Chapter Vocabulary: sum, difference, bar model
Lesson of the week:
5.1: Real-World Problems: Addition and Subtraction
Sporting our skeleton t-shirts last week.
History & Geography
This week our main objectives were to:
•Locate the Roman empire on a world map
•Identify the countries that occupy the area today
•Identify the dominant nature features of the Roman empire
•Understand the meaning of the following domain – specific vocabulary: continent, mountain range, strait, and kingdom
•Describe ancient Rome as a crowded and busy city
•Explain what the temple of Jupiter is in the significance of its location in Rome
•Describe the activities that took place in rooms markets and the Forum
This week we began reading “Voy con mi familia a casa de mi abuela”. We also began our new unit From One Place to Another. Our objectives were:
finish our pumpkin writing story (they will be displayed in the classroom window!)
use the comprehension skill making connections while reading the story the first time
understand and use the vocabulary bicycle (bicicleta), trolley (tranvía), and abuela (grandma)
our high frequency words this week were: le and sus
Las matemáticas
This week we continued to learn about plain and 3D shapes. Out objectives were:
to find 3D shapes within the classroom and within pictures and label them
to group 3D shapes into categories based on whether they can slide, roll, or stack
begin creating double patterns (color and size)
We also began using Prodigy in class this week! The students have been loving using the computers and it has been a great tool for those kiddos who finish an activity early. If you have any questions about Prodigy please let me know!
Blubber experiment
Science
How tall is a polar bear?
This week in our science domain: Animals and Habitats, we learned about the Arctic Ocean. The class had fun doing an experiment showing how blubber protects animals from the cold.
Showing our tusks
Our weekly objectives were to:
• describe what a habitat is
• understand that living things live in habitats to which they are particularly suited
• identify the characteristics of the Arctic Ocean habitat
• explain how arctic animals have adapted to the Arctic Ocean habitat
History & Geography
This week in our Three World Religions section of Early World Civilizations unit we learned about Christianity. We talked about its significant holidays, symbols, and its origins relating to the Hebrews and Jesus Christ.
Our weekly objectives were to:
• identify Christianity as a monotheistic religion
• identify Easter and Christmas as to important holidays
• understand that the religion of Christianity developed after Judaism
• identify that Christians believe Jesus Christ to be the Messiah and the son of God
• recognize the cross as a symbol of Christianity and the Bible as its holy book.
• identify the Christian house of worship is called a church
This week we finished our Age of Exploration poster project. Our objectives were to:
create a poster that presents information from the assigned chapter concisely
add illustrations to your poster to make it visually appealing
check for poster rough draft for spelling and grammar before creating final draft
Mathematics
This week we wrapped up our chapter on Adding and Subtracting Fractions. Our objectives were:
review concepts from the chapter by playing Trashketball
demonstrate understanding and mastery on the chapter test
correct and retake any missed questions from the test
complete the quick check questions for our next chapter Algebra
Lectura
Students took home a fun art project. Work on it over the weekend and bring back to school next week to share!
This week we continued to work on our literacy routines such as spelling and grammar. We read a fascinating expository piece about how natives peoples in the US looked at the skies to understand time and seasons. We also continued to work on our writing project, Una crítica de libro. Students have done a great job going through the writing process to develop their pieces. We are in the final stages to be able to publish and print next week. Stay tuned!
Ciencias
Focus question: What is air?
Students took a close look at the air surrounding us. They explored the properties of air by working with syringes and tubes to discover that air takes up space and is compressible. Students discussed evidence that air is matter and has mass. After that, students study Earth’s atmosphere, using diagrams, photos from space, and a reading. They are introduced to the atmosphere as a mixture of gases with properties that change with distance above Earth’s surface.
Air is a mixture of gases held by gravity near Earth’s surface.
Air has mass, takes up space, and is compressible.
Most of Earth’s air resides in the troposphere, the layer of the atmosphere closest to the Earth’s surface.
Words of the week:
This week was an exciting one! ( It is always an adventure working with our children, isn’t it?). One of our goals was for our children to read words in spanish to practice their blending skills with vowels “A” and “E”. The books we are using this week to read in spanish are “Papá, mamá y Ana” and “ Pepe y Adela”, making emphasis on the words that had syllables that use the vowels of the week (A-E), and also working on their ability to recognize the words as a unit or meaning (comprehension).
This week we practiced sums using “la recta numerica” (the number line), blocks, dominoes and tallies. We reviewed the concepts greater than and less than.
