Newsletter 3/29/21

Mar 30, 2021 | 0 comments

Thank you

While I was out last week, a donation of 2 large boxes of books came in for the Brooklin School kids.  I apologize that I do not know who dropped them off.  Thank you to whomever made the donation! They are greatly appreciated!

**Update:  The books came from Heidi Julavits.  Thank you so much!!

Curriculum Updates

Performing Arts

PK/K – This week in music classes we continued to work on learning our songs for our virtual spring concert. We worked on the second verse of our song “Dip and Sway” and continued working on the Chorus for our song “One Small Voice”. We did such a good job humming inside that we went outside at the end of class so that we could sing “Dip and Sway” out loud!

1/2 – This week in music classes we continued to work on learning our songs for our virtual spring concert. We started working on learning the second verse for our song “Dip and Sway” and started working on the first verse and chorus for our song “One Small Voice”. We did such a good job humming inside that we went outside at the end of class so that we could sing “Dip and Sway” out loud!

3/4 – This week in music classes we handed out Ukuleles and talked about how we would be playing the ukulele while we sing our song “Don’t Forget to Sing” for our spring virtual concert. Each student got assigned their own ukulele to use at school and they were able to explore the instruments for the last few minutes of class. We are very excited to start playing.

5/6 – This week we talked about how for the next few weeks we will be splitting our time in class between working on our media project to finish learning about the music of the holocaust. For this project, students will be choosing a poem from the ones that I posted in their google classroom. They will then create music whether they use an instrument like piano or guitar and record themselves playing or create music on garage band. They need to have at least 16 bars or one minute of music, enough to cover their whole poem. Then they will choose images that match the theme and tone of their poem and they will create videos using iMovie. The other half of class we will be working on a show choir show of Choral Highlights from the movie The Greatest Showman!

7/8 – This week we started class by working on our music for The Greatest Showman! We split students up into the part they would be singing in the music and worked on the first song in the medley. Then we continued working on our holocaust music projects.

PreK-K

Pre-K and Kindergarten naturalists celebrated the arrival of spring with a “signs of spring” hike to discover mud, buds, and even some stray snowbanks and ice that haven’t melted yet. We loved finding and observing salamanders in the fall and are looking forward to seeing our slimy little friends again this spring.

Pre-K Mathematicians are exploring measurable attributes of various objects in terms of length, weight, and capacity. After reading Inch by Inch by Leo Lionni, students compared the lengths of various objects to the length of their yarn “inchworms” and used longer than, shorter than, and about the same as statements.

Pre-K and Kindergarten students continue to work towards mastery of letter symbols /sounds for both uppercase and lowercase letters and sight words. The children love sharing their drawings and stories with each other during authors/illustrator time.

1st and 2nd Grade
The first-grade mathematicians continued to work on addition and subtraction and using strategies to help make it easier. They were also introduced to the RDW process when doing word problems. In literacy, they worked on vowel teams and more common tricky sight words, along with practicing reading with fluency. They practiced fluency by reading a sentence one time through for the first time, slowly, and then reading it a second time smoothly once they knew the words in the sentence. The second-grade mathematicians worked on the number of the day and writing it in different ways. They also continued to use the RDW process with word problems. They also practiced double-digit addition and subtraction. In literacy, the second grade practiced spelling patterns to write longer words. They are getting better and better at writing about reading, answering questions in writing after listening to a story.

Art from 7/8

Curriculum Updates

3-8 ELA

3/4 ELA: This week the 3/4 class worked on finding the main idea  and supporting details of a nonfiction piece.  They will continue with that this week, with the ultimate goal of writing a short essay on a nonfiction piece.  We are using the book: Iroquois : Six Nation Confederacy.  We are continuing to learn about Native American groups, longhouses, and unity.  Did you know a longhouse could be 400 feet long???

5/6 ELA: Students completed and shared their plays based on specific chapters of the book, The Story of Gilgamesh.  That was the culminating project for this unit.  The next unit is The Invention of Hugo Cabret. We will also be involved in the Voice2Voice Poetry work (through April) provided by the Stonington Opera House.  Each student has or will choose a poem from the provided packet to memorize and perform.  If you would like more information, please let me know!
7/8 ELA: We have gotten into full swing with To Kill A Mockingbird.  Class discussions are lively and thoughtful!  Please be sure to ask your student what they think of Scout so far.  And, what about that Atticus guy?
6th Grade Advanced ELA: Will be working on unit 6 of their Greek and Latin roots books and reading the short story ‘The Most Dangerous Game.’
7th and 8th Grade Advanced ELA: Will be sharing their interview-based stories with their grandmothers/great aunts via Zoom and preparing to read: Their Eyes Were Watching God.’
3-8 Super Studies

3/4 Super Studies

This week was a memorable one in science class! Each day, we demonstrated the formation of igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks by creating edible versions with candy. Then for Forest Friday, we sampled the maple sap we collected outside and compared its flavor, viscosity, color, and sweetness to maple syrup.
5/6 Super Studies
This week, the students continued studying ancient Greece. They learned about the rise and fall of Greek civilization and how the ancient playwrights, philosophers, and and historians still influence people today. On Forest Friday, they started making plans for rebuilding the bridges on the nature trail later this spring.
7/8 Super Studies
The students have been learning about the court system, so we had a guest speaker on Tuesday. John Steed talked to the class about how trials work and what it’s like being a defense attorney. Later in the week, we watched the film adaptation of “12 Angry Men” to see how a jury might deliberate a case and discuss issues related to justice, bias, and racism.
3-8 Math

3rd-grade math – This week the students looked at the distributive and associative property of multiplication with larger math facts.

4th-grade math facts – We continued our work with division looking at the area model and how it compares to the standard algorithm.
5th-grade math -Students continued her work with fractions.
6th-grade math – The students continued their work with negative numbers looking at the opposite of numbers.  We also worked with the absolute value of numbers and started working with adding and subtracting negative numbers.
7th-grade math – The students continued working with understanding equations and looked at different ways to solve problems.  We worked with identifying the unknown and writing equations based on that unknown.
8th-grade math – Group A working with systems of linear equations and word problems. Group B finished up the unit focusing on slope and started working with systems of equations.

5/6 Greek Parthenon

PTF NEWS:

Here is a link to the zoom coffee social on Friday at 8:15. This is a great chance to quickly visit with Doctor Blake, see other parents, and ask questions about Brooklin School and our awesome community.

https://zoom.us/j/97642341600

There is also a Facebook event set-up for it which is great if you need a little reminder as I do! https://fb.me/e/3nYen4ymJ

If you are shy or can’t make the meeting and still have questions please submit your questions anonymously right here. https://forms.gle/tbY2HaCN95ka9GGK8

These conversations help us all stay connected during this time when connecting is really hard! Even dropping into the meeting for a few minutes is great and it is really nice to see everyone’s face. I promise! Soon we will share some coffee and donuts outside and in person but I would like it to warm up a bit more. 

We also have a great fundraiser coming up! Don’t miss getting some good DIRT! https://fb.me/e/1gHZTw2Zz

–Molly

Calendar

April

4/2                                                       Coffee Social via Zoom

4/15                                                     Town Public Hearing and Information Night  at 6 PM in school gym

4/17                                                     PTF Compost/Garden Fundraiser

4/19—4/23                                          April Vacation

May

5/7                                                       Coffee Social via Zoom

5/15                                                     Town Meeting at 9AM in school gym

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