4th/5th Week 23

by Sarah Segall | Feb 27, 2016 | In The Loop

Thank you so much for your outpouring of love at the “Welcome Baby Finn” shower today. I feel blessed beyond measure to be surrounded by such a warm and supportive community.

Language Arts

We celebrate reading in our 4th/5th grade class! Our students never cease to amaze me. We had a very interesting discussion this week about our book club. Part of the class felt that the book I had picked up, La ciudad de las bestias, was a little extra challenging. We all know that the beauty of our book club is to read for fun and share with our classmates and friends our perspectives and opinions. Based on this premise, we democratically decided to save Isabel Allende’s book for later. And when I say later I really mean later!(ask your child). I am very confident that our students will, eventually, get where they need to be, in order to fully appreciate the book. Maybe it wasn’t time yet! Big thanks to all my students for being so mature and flexible. The good news is that we had another title ready for our book club: El mundo de acuredo a Humphey! Students are very excited about this book and they are already doing an amazing job keeping up with their obligations.

Science

This week we introduced the first part of our investigation 3: Water Tolerance. One of the guiding questions we posed to our students was:  What are the optimal conditions for each of four plants: corn, wheat, barley, and peas? Students isolated one factor, water, in the environment of plants, and set up and experiment to determine the range of water tolerance for the early growth of four different plants. We also discussed the concept of Controlled Experiment. It will be very interesting to find out how the plants respond during this investigation!

Math

We started a new unit in Algebra this week. The students excitedly jumped in with two feet! At the end of this week the students have learned how to: use letters as numbers,simplify algebraic expressions, manipulate inequalities and equations, and solve real-world problems using algebra. We will dive even deeper next week!

History & Geography

The Students finished reading about Feudal Japan and have done various supplemental activities in class on the unit such as writing their own Japanese Haiku poems,  taking a reading comprehension test over Feudal Japan excerpts, and a Japanese mapping activity. Thursday they took home a new research report assignment about one particular aspect of life in Feudal Japan. This project will be due next Friday and the students will be presenting their work to the class.

Music

This week the class learned how to recognize music notes: quarter, half, eighth, dotted quarter, and dotted half. We then played a few rounds of of musical Yahtzee.  This was fun and the students are now more familiar and comfortable with their note recognition.

2/3 Week 23

by Sarah Segall | Feb 27, 2016 | In The Loop

Sharing a daily diary entry.

Language Arts 

Keys points of realistic fiction include:

• The characters behave as people do in real life.
• The setting of the story is a real place or could be a real place.
• The events in the story could happen in real life.

Grammar: This week we learned about the strength of words and the tone we use in our writing.  We

Everyone is proud of their daily writing and wants to share!

also talked about articles which accompany nouns. Articles indicate gender and number: el, la, los, las, lo, un, unos, una, unas.

Writing: This week we started writing our own realistic fiction. Students first made a plan, listing of things they have done, places they have been or would like to go, interesting people they have met. Then they made a rough draft using their notes.  We talked a lot about tone, point of view, and setting the scene by painting a word picture. Next week we will work on revising our writing pieces.

Math

Students worked on completing the elapsed time portion of their ALEKS pie while rotating in math groups. The other rotation went over the math packet, answering any questions. The students took their unit exam on Thursday and did a great job. We brainstormed everything we already know about fractions and made a class poster. We will start our fractions unit on Monday. A math packet will come home Monday. Students should begin working on the fractions portion of their ALEKS pie.

Social Studies  

This week we started off by doing an art lesson looking at some Kachina dolls and using geometric shapes to help a draw Kachina representations. We read about the Native Americans of the Northeast. We learned that they lived in longhouses, wigwams, and round roof clay and pole houses. We learned about the crops they grew, the way they governed themselves, and their belief system. The class was excited to finally be learning about the Iroquois whom we’ve been reading about in the chapter book The Children of The Longhouse. On Friday we began reading about Native Americans of the southeast and will go more in depth into their culture next week.

Science

In science this week we did an experiment on gravity and watched a short video. We read some trade books and reviewed what we’ve learned so far in our astronomy unit. On Friday we wrote a poem about space. Because we have so many passionate astronomers in our class that provide a wealth of information, I proposed an extra credit activity for anyone who wants to.  Students may do a short research paper on any subject that has to do with space, besides planets. We’ve already done planet research. Students may work at home and in class when they are finished early with their seat work. They will have an opportunity to share this with the class when they are finished.  Papers may be turned in any time during this unit.

English Spelling/Writing

We’ve been mixing things up a bit for spelling activities this week students can study with a partner in class and get points, they can also do a word word search for 10 points and then solve somebody else’s word search for another 10 points as long as the search is from their sort list. Thank you Jesse and Jack for giving us a word search template that we can now use in class. For grammar this week we worked on past and present verbs tenses.
We had fun going outside and writing in our journals on Thursday, we wrote about comparing and contrasting what we see in the nighttime sky to the daytime sky.

     “If I were president” by Evan
I would stop war so no one is hungry and have better safety. I would also invest in a moon base for earth’s resources, because they are running out. I would also stop crime, stop letting guns hurt anyone, and making sure everyone has an education.  

Music

This week the class learned how to recognize music notes: quarter, half, eighth, dotted quarter, and dotted half. We then played a few rounds of of musical Yahtzee.  This was fun and the students are now more familiar and comfortable with their note recognition.

First Grade Week 23

by Sarah Segall | Feb 27, 2016 | In The Loop

Reading to our preschoolers.

Language Arts 

This week we read a poem called El trenecito cañero/The little Sugarcane Train. Afterward we reviewed the the skill of categorizing items by grouping the like items in the poem together, as a reading comprehension strategy. We also read Al rededor del mundo, that talked about transportation around the world. Ask your kiddos if they can tell you what it was about.

In writing we practiced using words that indicate order. The kids learned to use words in their writing like primero/first después/next, luego/later, por último/finally. To demonstrate this I played charades with the kiddos. I acted out a task that had four steps. First I pretended to dig a hole, then I pretended to put seeds in the hole, later I pretended to cover the hole with dirt and finally I watered the area. As the children guessed each step, I wrote it on the board using the key words that indicated order. The students then separated into groups to act out something that required four steps. The class then had to guess what they were doing. It was a lot of fun kind of like playing charades! Later the kids wrote in their journals how to do something in four steps, again using the order words. Some kids wrote about the steps it took to get ready in the morning.

We also discussed the importance of answering the questions of who/quién, what/qué, where/dónde, when/cuándo. The kids learned that a good writer will always answer these questions when they write. Ben said that writing without answering these questions would be like a weather man announcing what the weather is going to be but leaving out the time and location of when and where the weather will be occurring.  Good analogy Ben!

Math

In math we worked on our addition and subtraction strategies and incorporated them into the solving of word problems or problemas cotidianas. We discussed some math vocabulary such as the word for resolve which is resuelve. We took a math quiz which everyone did a great job on! We closed the week by playing a game using unifix cubes to add and subtract two digit numbers. The kids also took turns playing the maestra/maestro drilling the class with math flash cards.The class had to express their answers in number form and tens and ones. They loved pretending to be the teacher!

Social Studies & Science

This week we started off by hearing the legend of the Viracocha which was the Inca’s story of how the world and all of the things that live on it were created by the being called Viracocha. We reviewed last week’s lesson on who the Incas were and we got to look at some artifacts and pictures from Peru. We also read a story about a little Inca boy and his llama. On Tuesday we heard about how the Incas had runners who ran all over the Empire delivering messages for the Emperor. On Thursday and Friday we learned about the Andes and what the Inca civilization had to do in order to survive in this high altitude environment.  We also learned about the incredible archiological find of Machu Picchu.
In science this week we we talked about the day and the night and what AM and PM mean. We did an activity where each child represented a different planet and we demonstrated how the orbits of each planet worked around the Sun. The class made an orbit book and they learn the poem Twinkle Twinkle Little Star by Jane Taylor. They read it both on their own and as a group, and then sung it through. On Friday the class had a chance to examine and look through  a telescope. We also did a lesson on stargazing and constellations.

English Spelling

We got our new spelling sorts this week and have been working hard on understanding how to sort them. Some of the students have been a little confused between words that make the short a sound as in “cat” and those that have an ar combination to make the sound  in “star”. The class has been creative in doing different kinds of activities with their words this week. Everyone has completed two activities so far. Our next spelling test will be Friday March 4th.
In journals we continue to underline and look for word wall words in our writing as well as vocabulary words.  This week we wrote about our favorite subjects in school as one of our entries and we also wrote sentences about star, meteor, and   moon as another entry. On Friday the class had free choice to write.

Kindergarten Week 23

by Sarah Segall | Feb 27, 2016 | In The Loop

Language Arts 

We began our new language arts unit: Rojo, blanco, y azul. This unit started with a story about the history of our flag. This unit coordinates perfectly with Ms. Jill’s social studies unit!

Students did a fantastic job in their dictation this week. We worked on initial phoneme replacement. We also took our Que llueva song and changed the words to other rhyming words. This was very fun and a great activity.

Natalie did a great job leading as our Super estudiante. I somehow got off on the schedule. Next week our super student will be Andres.

The students do such a great job leading the class for calendar time. This is a great experience for them and lays the groundwork for public speaking.

Math

This week we worked on identifying coins. Students were given money amounts and then identified the correct coins and/or coin stamps. We talked about all the different combinations we could use to make an amount: 13 cents could be: 13 pennies, a dime and 3 pennies, 2 nickels and 3 pennies, 1 nickel and 8 pennies.  There are lots of possibilities!

We started working with subtraction this week. We used the number line to help us count backward. We used pennies to take amounts away from the group when making a purchase. The students used tens frames and 2-colored circles to show the oral subtraction stories I told them. They also wrote and said the equations to accompany these stories.

Social Studies & Science

Music

This week we worked on identifying the quarter note in music. The quarter note has one beat. We did several different activities to reinforce recognition of this note. Many students were also ready to identify the half note and the whole note.

4th/5th Week 22

by Sarah Segall | Feb 20, 2016 | In The Loop

Language Arts

Most of our time during Literacy was devoted to writing. Students not only did a stellar job carefully crafting their pieces, but also sharing their stories aloud with the class with expression and fluency, as well as self confidence and pride! Be sure to stop by our Spanish bulletin board and delight yourself with our students’ fine writing pieces.

The class was presented with a sneak peak of our new book club project! In two words, Isabel Allende. I don’t know who is more excited!

In connection with science, we also spent time reading our book El maravilloso mundo de las plantas, which talks about the plant’s life cycle and reproduction.

Remember:

We will be having a comprehension quiz of  book El maravilloso mundo de las plantas on Monday.

We will be having our Spelling quiz on Thursday (words with h in de middle). Make sure you practices your sentences!

Science

This week we spent time reviewing some of the concepts we have discussed during our science investigations. Students continued to record their observations of their terrariums and they have come to insightful conclusions regarding their maintenance choices , particularly the water factor. We talked about how organisms have ranges of tolerance for environmental factors and how they have specific requirements for successful growth, development, and reproduction.

Math

We spent more time reviewing how to simplify fractions and did a skittles activity to reinforce the process. At the end of the week we took a test over the fractions unit. Many students expressed enjoyment this week about all that they’ve learned about fractions in recent weeks.

History & Geography

This week we started our new unit on Feudal Japan. We have read some basic facts and ideas all week and will dive a little deeper next week. On Monday or Tuesday students will be bringing home some added requirements to be worked on outside of school in our Feudal Japan studies.

Art

In both 2nd/3rd and 4th/5th grades, the students continued working on their figure collages with a “quilt” border, as part of our Romare Bearden and Faith Ringgold art project. A few of them finished, and some of the 4th/5th grade work is on the bulletin board at school. I’ll hang up the 2nd/3rd grade work when everyone is finished. Everyone is doing a great job with this mixed­media project!

2/3 Week 22

by Sarah Segall | Feb 20, 2016 | In The Loop

HOMEWORK: Spelling homework is due Monday. Spelling test on THURSDAY. Math pack is due Tuesday.

Language Arts & Math

We were able to use our language skills to display our knowledge on the 100th day of school. Students were given the task to create a poster with 10 words (of their choice) to fill in the following topics:

• food
• family
• animals
• house
• verbs
• body
• math to make 100
• favorite words
• things in the class
• science words

This was a great activity, challenging the students to think back.

We were also able to combine our study of time with the 100th day. I asked the students to estimate how many times they could do the following activities in 100 seconds, and then we did them!

• jump
• applaud
• hop on one foot
• snap their fingers
• bump a balloon
• skip

These activities showed the students how much can actually be accomplished in 100 seconds! (They really got their heart rates up.)

We needed to rest and the students deserved a treat so they tallied how many licks it took to get through a little dum-dum lollipop.  It takes a lot!!!

Spelling/ ortografia (for Thursday, February 25th)

chapulín

hacha

cosecha

estrecho

chocolate

brocha

cuchara

corcho

chino

noche

charla

coche

Chicago

muchos

derecha

Social Studies  

This week we reviewed the Ancestral Pueblo of the southwest. We filled an information sheet about them and found where they were located on a map. On Thursday we read about the Hopi Native Americans. We learned that they were descendants of the Ancestral Pueblo we read about their homes their customs and the food that they grew. We talked about the idiom cold shoulder and how that was used by the Hopi as a form of punishment. The class is fascinated by the concept of the Kachina and are interested in seeing some Kachina dolls that I’m hoping to bring in next week.

Science

We finished up painting our planets this week, they needed another layer of paint. We read several books about the solar system galaxies and other celestial bodies. On Thursday we read about how gravity works and the gravitational pull of the Sun and black holes. On Friday the first graders joined our class and we partnered up to create space aliens. Each partner create an alien and wrote about special characteristics of the Raven. Our class really enjoyed working with the younger students.

English Spelling/Writing

Everyone did very well on their spelling test again this week. I think the students are studying their vocabulary words since almost everyone got at least one of the vocabulary bonus word correct. For grammar this week we reviewed possessive nouns, which was a piece of cake for everyone. In our journals we wrote about why we think the Ancestral Pueblo abandon their Cliff Dwelling homes and we also did an entry on what possessions we would take if we suddenly have had to leave our homes. It was interesting to hear the different items that students would take and their rationale for taking them.

     A Trip to Nana’s House  by Juliette

     At Nana’s house there’s not a mouse,  only  yellow butterflies that don’t tell lies

     Among the trees, there are bees that fly swiftly through the breeze.

     There is a fly but I don’t cry.  I like the pool, it’s nice and cool.

     The beautiful grass sounds like brass. Birds are flying nobody is crying

     It’s almost Valentines day and that is a big Hooray!

Art

In both 2nd/3rd and 4th/5th grades, the students continued working on their figure collages with a “quilt” border, as part of our Romare Bearden and Faith Ringgold art project. A few of them finished, and some of the 4th/5th grade work is on the bulletin board at school. I’ll hang up the 2nd/3rd grade work when everyone is finished. Everyone is doing a great job with this mixed­media project!

First Grade Week 22

by Sarah Segall | Feb 20, 2016 | In The Loop

Language Arts 

We worked some more on comparing and contrasting. We reviewed when we compare we are looking for similarities and when we contrast we are looking for differences. We also reviewed plural nouns.

The 100th day of school

This week we celebrated the 100th day The kiddos all dressed up  in the most adorable costumes as people from  100 years ago. We also drew pictures of what the world would look like in 100 years. Some of the kids predicted that the world would be covered with ice! First, before they made their predictions they had to figure out what the year would be in a century. The kiddos figured that if you counted by tens you could find the answer or even more quickly if you simply added 100 to 2016. The children also drew pictures of what types of clothing one would wear if it were 100 degrees, 100 years ago and 100 years in the future. They also showed what types of activities were being done 100 years ago and in the future. One of the funnest things the students did was writing about what they have learned in the last 100 days.

Math

In math we continued our section on subtraction stragies. The kiddos practiced using the three different steps they learned last week. We also learned a similar strategy for subtracting larger numbers. They worked in groups and then independently were able to demonstrate their understanding of the concept!

Social Studies & Science

This week we started off by making an Aztec Sun for social studies. We talked about the importance of the Aztec Sun Stone that was found in Mexico City and how the Aztec used this as a calendar . On Thursday we took a pausing point in our social studies and reviewed the Maya and Aztec and what we’ve learned so far. We looked at the map and found where the two civilizations lived and we read a great book about the Aztec. We began our next section on the Incas, looking at a map to find where they lived in South America. The class compared the leaders of the Maya and Aztec to the Inca Emperor. The class was fascinated about how the Inca Empire would conquer areas and then move people from one area to another in order to have them assimilate  better with the Inca civilization.   We discussed how stressful this must have been for the conquered villagers.

English Spelling

We had our second spelling test this week and overall the students did great!  I am pleased that the class is putting effort into studying their words both at home and in class. I only tested them on ten of their words this week.  For sort practice this we did pyramid words, sorting, and practicing with a partner. Next week we will get  a new sort and I will send a copy home with the students.  We won’t be having a spelling test  until Friday, March 4. In our journals we wrote about the three different types of leaders from the civilizations that we have learned about thus far, comparing and contrasting their leadership and the effect it had on their citizens.  On Friday we had free choice writing. Seems like the week just flew by.

Art

In first grade, we talked about Romare Bearden and his collage artwork, as part of Black History month. The students learned how to cut out basic shapes to create a figure that shows movement, such as running, jumping, dancing, etc. The arms and legs had to have 2 parts to suggest knees and elbows. The students did a great job on their figures, and we’ll finish these in the next art class.

Kindergarten Week 22

by Sarah Segall | Feb 20, 2016 | In The Loop

Showing off a SUPER 100s cape.

Language Arts 

We completed our Perseverance theme this week with a rhyming poem about what we would like to be when we grow up. The students then wrote and illustrated their own dreams in their writing journals.

We worked on editing sentences. We looked for capitals that were supposed to be lowercase, for missing capitals at the beginning of sentences, and for missing punctuation. Editing simple sentences helps the students to be more aware of these common mistakes in their own writing.

We finally completed our long term project of the Abecedario. The students have been brainstorming all the many, many Spanish words they know that begin with each letter of the alphabet. They then picked one, wrote the word, and illustrated it to make their very own ABC book. We worked on the covers on Friday. They will keeps these at school for reference. It worked out just right to finish such a long project at the same time as our Perseverance theme!

Math

We have been counting the days of school since the very first day and the 100th day finally arrived on Tuesday!!! We did lots of fun stations to help us work on our counting skills.

• 10’s frames cereal 100’s day necklace
• 100’s day mask with stickers
• 100 cup construction
• addition to 10 crown
• 100 penny toss: Heads or Tails?

The penny toss was great because it tied right into our calendar pattern:

penny, nickel, dime quarter

Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, Franklin Roosevelt, George Washington

1, 5, 10, 25

Using 10’s frames to count out 100 pieces of cereal for a special 100th day necklace.

Science & Social Studies

 

Art

In kindergarten art the students learned how to observe, draw, and paint a pot of pansies. We looked at real flowers and talked about their shapes, colors, and size. The students made a drawing using black crayon, and then painted in the flowers using watercolor. These beautiful paintings are on display near the kindergarten room.