What are Students Learning?
K-1-This week in math the kindergartens learned about the Rekenrek, a math tool that students can use to count and recognize groups of five and ten. They also learned about the words fewer and more , something we will continue to work on. The first graders continued to work on word problems and they also worked on money and recognizing the different coins and how much they are worth. They also played a game called Tri- Facta . A game that helps practice addition and subtraction equations. In literacy we have started a unit about museums! This week we learned about a clay army that was discovered in China. Thousands of statues of Chinese warriors were under the ground, and a group of farmers discovered them while at work. We learned the words statue, museum, archeologist, and China. We also had a class pajama day, complete with a movie and snacks!
ELA
2/3 ELA
We have started on our adventure of learning about Native American tribes in the Plains. Our first book is about the Lakota, who continue to see themselves as tied intricately with the buffalo (American Bison). We have learned that they used every part of the buffalo they killed during their hunt, including the skull. This next week we will reread the book and use videos to bring better comprehension to the subject. Please remember to ask you child each day what Lakota life was like.
In smaller groups we have continued to work on decoding (reading) and encoding (writing, i.e. spelling words that follow patterns, fluency, and sight word recognition.
4/5 ELA- We have continued our reading of Love That Dog by Sharon Creech, an author from Maine. Students are learning along with Jack, the main character in the book, what poetry is and how to write it. Many students have started writing their own poetry based on what they are learning.
6-8 ELA – Students are continuing their read of Esperanza Rising. They are investigating discrimination and displacement. They are also continuing to learn about literary devices, such as personification, simile, metaphor, and imagery. We noticed that each of the chapters is named (so far) by a fruit that is being harvested and taken to market or processed at the time.
Math
2nd. We have been continuing our work with double digit subtraction and addition with regrouping. This week we added story problems which always proves to be a challenge. We are working on how we can determine if we need to add or subtract. We have looked at them with manipulatives and by drawing pictures. They also are working on their fact fluency and looking at different strategies to help them find the answers quickly without counting.
3rd. We continue to work with multiplication and area. We started with squares and rectangles and now we are working with irregular shapes where the students have to divide the shapes into rectangles or squares. They find the area of the individual shapes and then add areas together to get the total area. They also are working on fact fluency.
4th and 5th. We continue our work with fractions. This week we were strengthening our ability to add and subtract mixed numbers. It amazes me how some of our students develop different ways to do this. It shows that they truly understand how math works!
6th. We continue our work with proportions. This week we worked with constant speed and determining the unit rate in regards to travel. We looked at it with number lines as well as figuring it out mathematically. They continue their work with fact fluency and fractions as well.
7th. This week we continued our work with graphing lines and looking at slopes. They learned how to write equations from lines and how to use the equations to make the lines. Next week we should be ready for a test.
8th This week we worked on graphs of proportional relationships. We looked at comparing different graphs and what we could learn from them.
Super Studies
6-8 Super Studies
The class did a few science labs to practice precise measurement and lab safety this week. They also learned how to balance chemical equations. Congratulations to Amelia, Millie, Imogen, and Alden for joining the competition team for You Be the Chemist! They will be participating in the challenge on March 5 and creating a video about understanding states of matter helps us understand the universe.
4/5 Super Studies
The class worked together to create a scale model of the solar system that will be displayed in the hall from one end of the building to the other. We were disappointed to have to postpone our trip to the Challenger Center (we hope to try again the week of January 24), but the students did a wonderful job that day designing models of Mars landers to pretend to land toy lizards on Mars by dropping them on the ground. On Forest Friday, we are all so happy to get out into the woods to build forts and explore… it’s been a while since we’ve been able to do that together!
2/3 Super Studies
The students have been learning about how water shapes the earth’s landscape. We’ve done activities to demonstrate how water flows downhill and how it breaks rocks apart into smaller pieces. On Forest Friday, the students did a fantastic job being safe, responsible, and trustworthy while exploring the woods. We’ve been discussing and practicing these skills while outside for a while, and the class has made so much progress!
Calendar
January
1/21 Chess Club 3-4:30 PM
1/24 Basketball game at Sedgwick 4PM
1/28 Rosanna’s Readers 9:20 AM
Early release 12:30 PM
1/31 Basketball game at Deer Isle -Stonington 4PM
February
2/2 Basketball game at Surry 4PM
2/4 Chess Club 3-4:30 PM
2/7 Basketball game at Home vs Deer Isle -Stonington 4PM
2/8 School Board Meeting 6PM
2/10 Basketball game at Home vs Surry 4PM
2/11 Chess Club 3-4:30 PM
2/18 Early release
2/21–2/25 Vacation
