by Sarah Segall | Mar 3, 2018 | In The Loop
“It’s time to say good bye winter and hello to SPRING” I can’t believe spring is almost here!
This week we worked with the astronauts/astronautas, rocketship/cohete and spaceship/nave espacial. They learned that astronauts explore space in specially designed spacecraft called spaceships. We talked about what they wear, how they breathe in space, and what they eat. The children did a motivational activity: We became astronauts, pretending to put on astronaut costumes, astronaut suits, boots, helmet and gloves. Everyone on board! We put on the belts and then we counted 10 to 0 and take off!… It was a fun activity where the children used their imaginations, flying through space, contemplating the planets, the stars, the comets, and they were ready to go to the moon. It was very fun to see how the children played being the astronauts. Also, to finish the week, we reviewed that in our solar system we have 8 planets that orbit around the sun. The fourth nearest planet of the sun are Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars, and Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are the farthest of the sun. The earth is the only planet with liquid water and Jupiter has more than 60 moons.
Letras
This week we reviewed the letter Vv/ letra Vv. The English letter V, can be pronounced as (vi). While the Spanish pronunciation is; V (ve, sounds like b). and letter Kk/letra Kk, the English letter K can be pronounced as (kei). While the Spanish pronunciation is; K (ka). Some examples
letter V:
Vibora/snake,
Vaca/cow,
Vaquero/cowboy,
Ventana/window,
Violin/violin,
Vela/candle.
Letter K
Kayac/kayac,
Karate/karate,
Koala/koala.
Números
This week we went over numbers 1-10/números del uno al diez. Children did different classroom activities, such as recognizing the numbers and matching numbers. We also did a dice game where the children used their gross motor skills to do things like jumping on one foot, balancing and then, throwing dice, counting the number and finally they threw rice bags inside a gray square.
La Figura y Color
This week we finished with the heart shape, while at the same time we were reinforcing the figures that have already been seen such as: circle, square, triangle, rectangle and oval. We also reviewed the colors seen as, red, yellow, green, blue, purple and pink.
Have a good weekend!
Macky J
by Sarah Segall | Feb 26, 2018 | In The Loop, Preschool
Monday, February 26th
2-hour late start due to weather conditions.
Classes start at 10:45.
There will be no AM preschool.
by Ivary & Paola | Feb 24, 2018 | In The Loop
100th Day of School!
100th Day of School!
Literatura
Students working collaboratively on a language task..
Students working collaboratively on our language task..
Students working collaboratively on our language task..
This week we continued to work on Spanish language literacy routines. One of our class’ favorite activities is always writing! This week we used Ezra Jack Keats’ wonderful piece Un dia de nieve, as a mentor text. We explored the different literary elements. We were so moved by the beautiful simplicity of this piece. We were impressed by the beautiful illustrations. Students were assigned to write their own Un dia de nieve stories. We cant wait to publish!
Ciencias
This week we concluded our Plant Nutrition investigation. This was such a fun and interesting investigation. Students experienced first hand the action of chlorophyll and its role in the manufacture of sugar- the plant food. We also talked how a food pyramid describes the levels in a feeding relationship involving producers, consumers and decomposers. Lastly we discussed, described and gave examples of heterotrophs and autotrophs organisms. We are hoping to get the human digestive system next week.
Taking advantage of the snow, we did a fun little experiment. Students were ask to predict the amount of water that will be in the glass jar, after the snow melts. Predictions are shared! We are excited to find out the results week.
History & Geography
Building our “tents” on the 100th day of school!
Our finished “tents”!
This week we finished our Early Russia unit by completing a project.
Our objectives were:
- students will collect, organize and interpret information from appropriate sources and communicate their findings by completing the Czar Research Project
Mathematics
Building our “tents” on the 100th day of school!
Building our “tents” on the 100th day of school!
Building our “tents” on the 100th day of school!
This week we started working with multiplying and dividing decimals. Students already showed mastery of adding and subtracting decimals!
Our objectives were:
- Multiply tenths and hundredths by a 1-digit whole number
English Word Work
Blind Sort test!
100 seconds of pretending to be a tree blowing in the wind!
100 seconds of pretending to carefully cross a river!
This week we began our rotation.
Our rotation days were:
- Word Search: Students received a word search with their new spelling words. They were tasked with finding and sorting their new words.
Our spelling test will be on Tuesday, March 6th!
by Jill & Sarah | Feb 24, 2018 | In The Loop
100th Day of School!
100th Day of School!
Spanish Language Arts
Reviewing vocabulary
100 licks lollipop game for the 100th day of school!
100 licks lollipop game!
How many times can you jump in 100 seconds?
Can you do a wall sit for 100 seconds?
This week we read Picasso. Our objectives were:
- students will familiarize themselves with the spelling words for this lesson
- students will gain an understanding of the digraph ch and how the ch sound is not separated when sounded out
- to use comprehension strategies such as asking questions and summarizing to construct meaning from the story
Math
$100 monster receipts
Buying pieces to make $100 love monsters for the 100th day of school!
Buying pieces to make $100 love monsters for the 100th day of school!
Buying pieces to make $100 love monsters for the 100th day of school!
Measuring how far we can toss a ball.
What can you do in 100 seconds?
This week we began our metric length unit. Our objectives were:
- Use kilometer and meter as units of measurement of length
- estimate and measure length
- convert units of measurement
- use meters and centimeters as units of measurement of length
History & Geography
Social studies with Ms. Marci
Social studies with Ms. Marci.
This week we in our unit on the Viking Age the class retold events from the previous lesson using sequence words such as first, next, then etc. We found Iceland on the map and discussed the reasons why our characters were relocating to this land. We are breaking up into two groups to work on our Viking play scripts and puppets for our puppet show plays coming up soon.
Our objectives were to:
• explain how and why the Vikings travel to other countries
• explain the the Viking people were shipped many gods and goddesses
• explain that the Viking people built and used ships for different purposes
• identify and express the mental states and emotions of the characters in our lesson
Social Studies with Ms. Laura
GREEK DAY! We finished our long unit on Ancient Greece! We dressed as our favorite Greek god or goddess, traded our homemade goods at our agora (marketplace), and enjoyed a celebration with ambrosia, nectar, olives, figs and popcorn with olive oil. We reviewed and had our assessment for the unit. For our next unit, Making The Constitution, we will travel across the Atlantic Ocean to America and advance 2000 years and appreciate Athens gift to the world: democracy! We talk about how winning the Revolutionary War did not solve all of the problems facing a young America.
Science
This week we introduced are new science domain: Astronomy, Our Solar System and Beyond. We learned that astronomy means the study of the stars and all objects in space, which are referred to as celestial bodies. We talked about how astronomers are scientist who study all of the objects in our space and that most of what we know about outer space we have learned from the observation, measurements, and thinking of astronomers. The class began to generate a KWL chart that we will reference and add to throughout this domain.
Our objectives were to:
• review what we know about astronomy
• contribute to a KWL chart for this domain
by Sarah Segall | Feb 24, 2018 | In The Loop
Literatura
This week we didn’t have a lot of time but we were able to start our new story in our new unit: El tiempo (the weather). This will be a fun unit and it was especially fun to start reading our story about storms. The students wanted to know what kind of storms there are so we talked about rain storms, wind storms, SNOW storms!
We did some dictation on the diphthong /io/. The students are getting better and better with their dictation! This is such an important activity and will lead them to be more confident writers, instead of always asking, “How do you spell….”
Our Friday journal writing activity combined our new story and our recent SNOW DAY experiences! Students wrote 1-3 sentences about what they like to do after a big snow happens. (First graders were required to write 3 sentences.)
All students read with me this week. Please remember to have your child reading on a nightly basis!!
Matemáticas
This week we did not have a lot of time for math due to the holiday and then the snow days!! Argh!!!! Students did take their 4 minute timed addition tests on both Tuesday and Friday.
Please be sure to play games, do flashcards, or have your child sit at the computer and do some quick drill games. I showed them one game from a link I put in another newsletter a couple weeks ago. Here are some more links for ideas:
https://www.splashmath.com
http://www.abcya.com
https://www.mathgames.com/grade1
History & Geography
This week in our Early American Civilization unit we again to read about the Inca. Together we worked on a map to show where the Inca empire was and what countries are in this area now. We looked at some items from this region today, and we illustrated one of our lessons for the class bulletin board.
Our objectives this week were:
• understand that the Inca established a far-ranging empire in the Andes Mountains of Peru and Chile many, many years ago
• understand that the Inca had leaders (emperors)and a religion
• identify the area in which the Inca lived
• retail the legend of Viracocha
• understand that legends are like folktales that are past down from one generation to another, they often help explain things in the world.
Science
In our science unit on matter this week we took our end of the unit assessment, the class did very well. We celebrated the end of this unit with a Root Beer Float States of Matter investigation. The students enjoyed mixing the matter and identifying what state of matter the root beer, ice cream, and foam were in. We made predictions on whether there would be more foam if ice cream was added before or after the roof beer. This we we concluded our investigations from last week; we learned that oil and water do not mix, that the water from our salt water mixture evaporated leaving salt behind, and that liquid in a freezer changes its state but a solid in the freezer does not.
• understand there are three forms of matter; solid, liquid, or gas
• understand that matter can change or be a mixture.
• explain that matter can change in different ways, some changes are reversible and other changes are irreversible
• measure matter and observe changes over time.
English Word Work
This week we got our new sorts for spelling. Green group had another short vowel words with ending blends. Blue group reviewed “an”, “in” and “un” word family words (they should have brought a copy of their sort home to work on), Red group had “ad”and “an” word family words.
Word wall words were: way, one, won
Vocabulary words were: possessions, folktale
by Sarah Segall | Feb 22, 2018 | In The Loop, Preschool
All SWS classes are cancelled for Thursday, February 22nd due to inclement weather.
by Ivary & Paola | Feb 15, 2018 | In The Loop
Literatura
What a fun week! When we were not doing Valentine’s Day art, crafts and creative writing or playing 100 days of school games, we did have a chance to introduce our last project of this unit!
This week we started to wrap up our unit El nacimiento de una nacion. Working in small groups, students are puting into practice the reading comprehension strategies and skills we have learned. Each group was assigned a reading selection (expository piece), along with a rubric that states the expectations. They will have several days to work on the different pieces of the project. Students will present their final project to the rest of the class next week. Reading selections assigned: Dia mundial de la independencia , ¡Silencio! Estamos escribiendo la constitución.
Congratulations to all our students for doing such a fantastic job on their Revolucion Estadounidense writing project and presentations! It is going to be really hard to top this!
Ciencias
We have multiple on-going investigations in our 4/5 grade class.
- This week we observed our composting containers. We made sure we checked how our decomposers are doing.
- Plant nutrition was the main focus this week. We spent the week reading some non-fiction literature about the topic. After that, we had a small comprehension quiz to check for understanding of the concepts. Lastly, we checked our plants to find some evidence of the photosynthesis process. We had some interesting findings. The conditions of the environment that the plant were, made an impact in their development. Ask your child to tell you about the production of chlorophyll ( green pigment)and how plants get their nutrients.
- We were so excited to find that our painted lady butterflies were in the chrysalis stage!
History & Geography
This week we continued studying Early Russia.
Our objectives were:
- Describe what Ivan IV was like and why and explain how he built an empire
- Summarize how Ivan IV ruled.
- Summarize what Peter the Great was like and describe his goals for Russia.
- Summarize how Catherine the Great became ruler of Russia.
- Describe Catherine the Great’s policy on serfdom.
- Identify what Catherine the Great did for Russia.
Mathematics
This week we completed a Valentine’s themed ratio project and celebrated the 100th Day of School!
Our objectives were:
- demonstrate an understanding of ratios by creating Mondrian inspired art and labeling the ratios within the art
- have fun celebrating the 100th day of school by completing is STEM activities and a 100th-day math review packet
English Word Work
This week we completed our rotation!
Our rotation days were:
- Vocabulary Day: This week our lesson was about compound words. The vocabulary words we will be adding to our wall are
- Writer’s Workshop: This week students could choose between writing on our prompt (you find a mysterious door with a key what happens next?), revising past writing, or reading their writing to a classmate.
- Blind Sort Test: Students tested each other on their spelling using the Blind Sort method.
There is no spelling homework due next week!
by Jill & Sarah | Feb 15, 2018 | In The Loop
History & Geography
Social studies with Ms. Marci
This week we began our unit on the Viking Age. We read a book about Leif Erikson. The class had some time to explore Iceland on the chrome books.
Our objectives were to:
• describe the Viking people’s proficiency and legacy at sailors, raiders, and traders
• explain about the Vikings
Science
This week in our Light and Sound domain the class finished their Alexander Graham Bell biographies. Our Light and Sound Science Fair was a great success. The demonstrations were well thought out and very interesting. It was fun to have parents and the rest of the school came to visit our fair. 
Our objectives were to:
• describe the life and contributions of Alexander Graham Bell
• present our demonstration/experiment with an explanation including domain vocabulary.
English Word Work
Spelling and grammar:
We did not have a spelling test due to the large work load and shortness of the week. In grammar we are talking about similes and metaphors. In our journals we used the word “tranquil “.
by Sarah Segall | Feb 15, 2018 | In The Loop
Literatura
This week we completed our assessments and jumped into our new theme: El tiempo. In this new unit students will have the opportunity to investigate weather by observing, describing, and measuring it
Our learning objectives this week were to:
- Record our daily observations of weather using date and time.
- Create a weekly graph of our weather observations.
- Write about the weather and our weather-related activities using descriptive adjectives.
Matemáticas
This week we practiced our subtraction skills with new strategies. These might look to be more time-consuming, but they are meant to teach mental math strategies. We break it down for the kiddos with manipulatives and on paper but then they start doing it in their head as they get more proficient.
We also introduced our Time unit in conjunction to our Weather unit in Language Arts.
Our objectives were to:
- subtract 1-digit numbers from 2-digit numbers with and without grouping.
- subtract using doubles facts of addition.
History & Geography
We worked on our civilization chart and did a review of the Maya and Aztec civilizations. We read some trade books and revisited some of our favorite read a louds. Next week we will begin our last ancient civilization, the Inca.
Our objectives this week were to:
• compare and contrast the two civilizations we have learned about
• understand that the Aztec and Maya had a religion, towns, and farming
• identify the area in which the Aztec and Maya lived
Science
In our science unit our focus has continued to be on how matter changes and mixing matter. Next week we will be finishing this domain and beginning our Astronomy unit. On Monday this week, we reviewed how atoms behave in different states of matter and had fun using marshmallows to illustrate this. We also checked to see how our experiments from last week were coming along and if our predictions were correct.
Our Objectives were to:
• understand there are three forms of matter; solid, liquid, or gas
• understand that matter can change or be a mixture.
• explain that matter can change in different ways, some changes are reversible and other changes are irreversible
• measure matter and observe changes over time.
English Word Work
This week we continued to work on last weeks sorts for spelling. Green group had short vowel words with ending blends. Blue group reviewed “it”, “ot” and “at” word family words (they should have brought a copy of their sort home to work on), Red group had “at” word family words.
Word wall words were: land, love, all
Vocabulary words were: water vapor, ruins, legends
This week we worked with the astronauts/astronautas, rocketship/cohete and spaceship/nave espacial. They learned that astronauts explore space in specially designed spacecraft called spaceships. We talked about what they wear, how they breathe in space, and what they eat. The children did a motivational activity: We became astronauts, pretending to put on astronaut costumes, astronaut suits, boots, helmet and gloves. Everyone on board! We put on the belts and then we counted 10 to 0 and take off!… It was a fun activity where the children used their imaginations, flying through space, contemplating the planets, the stars, the comets, and they were ready to go to the moon. It was very fun to see how the children played being the astronauts. Also, to finish the week, we reviewed that in our solar system we have 8 planets that orbit around the sun. The fourth nearest planet of the sun are Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars, and Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are the farthest of the sun. The earth is the only planet with liquid water and Jupiter has more than 60 moons. 
letter V:
Números
La Figura y Color 
