News & Updates
1/25/22 Newsletter
PK Blue Hill Bay
What are we learning…..
Ms. Wilson
Brrr! The past two weeks we have had days that were colder outside than in a FREEZER! How do the Pre-K kids know? Because we experimented with water and ice; we put a bowl of water in the freezer and bowls of water outside at 8:30…. and by 9:25 our bowls of water outside had almost frozen over, while our bowl in the freezer was just really cold. Students experimented with melting ice using patience, salt and warm water. Each student was given a small block of ice with a plastic creature frozen into it, and then got to play with it in their large bowl of water.
When it has been too cold to be outside for our recess, we have been able to get to the gym or do some fun movement and music activities in our classroom. Students are loving fun tunes by Laurie Berkner: I know a chicken, Goldfish, and We are the dinosaurs.
Students are demonstrating strong story re-telling skills with puppets and by acting out favorite rhymes and stories such as: LIttle Miss Muffet, 3 Little Pigs and the GingerBread Man. We continue to work on letter sound/ symbol mastery and identifying high frequency words.
We are practicing counting backwards from 10-0 and counting by 10’s to 100, and looking forward to our 100th day of school, which hopefully will be before February Break.
K/1 Scenes from the Peninsula
Mrs. Baird
This week in literacy we continued our reading about museums. We learned about the National Gallery of art in Washington, D.C. and focused on the sounds /k/ and /o/. We searched for objects in the illustrations that began with those sounds. Another book we read was called Museum Cat, and it took place in the State Hermitage Museum in Russia. There is a cat named Alexander that protects the art! We focused on the sounds /k/, /a/, and /g/. We continued writing to Grammie Shirley about how cold it was lately and what we like to do inside or outside when it is so cold!
This week in math the first grade listen to a story called Lemonade in Winter , a story about counting money. They reviewed what the coins are called and how much they are worth. They also worked on story problems , comparing stories that have the same total but different parts to get that total. The kindergarten worked on the concept , is there enough , by comparing objects that line up with each other and ones that do not. We also talked about less than and more than. They also listened to the story The Snowy Day and we talked about what we noticed and wondered about the story.
2/3 Scenes from the Peninsula
2nd and 3rd Grade
2/3 ELA
This past week we continued our study of the Indigeonous Americans of the plains and the west. We read about the Lakota and their close connections to the buffalo or American Bison. We learned how they used every part of the animal. The hide to cover their tipis, the fur to fill their mattresses, the bones to craft their arrowheads and sledge runners, and their skulls to perform ceremonies, including thanking the buffalo for its life and provision.
We also read about the Hopi nation, who were called “The Peaceful Ones” because they tried to stay out of conflict with other nations. They hunted, but farmed corn, beans, and squash, as well.
Anything you can do to expand your child’s understanding of the indigenous peoples of the west is welcome. Their next study will be of the Nez Perce.
2/3 Super Studies
This week, since the class has been learning about how water shapes the surface of the earth, they finished watching Paddle To the Sea, a classic film based on the book by Holling C. Holling. They also practiced defining landforms. Mrs. Thoner got to work with the class during Super Studies one day, and was so impressed by how hard the students worked to learn where the states are on a map of the U.S. She encourages parents to work with their students on this skill.
2nd grade math – We continued our work with addition and subtracting with double digits. This week Mrs. Courtot worked with them while I was teaching remotely from home and I listened in. She focused on understanding word problems and did an amazing job! One of the days Mrs. Thoner worked with them and they did a great job doing their work quietly while the 3rd graders took a test.
3rd grade math – We continued our work with area and multiplication. The students took a test on the day Mrs. Thoner was covering. We will be starting a new unit next week. They continue to work hard in class.
You should each be proud of how well these students worked this week! The 2nd grade was absolutely quiet and polite while the 2rd grade was taking their test. They each worked really hard, independently, to complete the work they were asked to do.
6/7/8 Scenes from the Peninsula
Super Studies
6-8 Super Studies
The students will be making videos about chemistry, and they spent the week choosing topics, doing research, and making plans for their videos. Their videos will be about how matter behaves in space and demonstrations of different chemical phenomena.
4/5 Super Studies
The students will be giving presentations in class about different missions that NASA has conducted to study our solar system, and they spent the week researching their selected missions, gathering images, and writing a draft of their presentation.
2/3 Super Studies
This week, since the class has been learning about how water shapes the surface of the earth, they finished watching Paddle To the Sea, a classic film based on the book by Holling C. Holling. They also practiced defining landforms. Mrs. Thoner got to work with the class during Super Studies one day, and was so impressed by how hard the students worked to learn where the states are on a map of the U.S. She encourages parents to work with their students on this skill.
Math
2nd grade math – We continued our work with addition and subtracting with double digits. This week Mrs. Courtot worked with them while I was teaching remotely from home and I listened in. She focused on understanding word problems and did an amazing job! One of the days Mrs. Thoner worked with them and they did a great job doing their work quietly while the 3rd graders took a test.
3rd grade math – We continued our work with area and multiplication. The students took a test on the day Mrs. Thoner was covering. We will be starting a new unit next week. They continue to work hard in class.
4th and 5th grade math – We looked specifically at fractions through the lens of a ruler and learned how to correctly identify all the lines on the rulers. We measured items in the classroom and recorded it on a number line. I also had the opportunity this week to work with them in ELA, looking at poems. It was so fun to teach something other than math, I think they enjoyed it too!
6th grade math – We continued our work with proportions and unit rate.
7th grade math – We finished up a unit on proportional relationships and took a test. I think the students did really well and have a firm grasp on the relationships. I am proud of how hard they worked.
8th grade math – They continued deepening their understanding of proportional relationships. We will be moving into linear relationships this week.
Calendar
January
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
2/15 Basketball game Home at vs Castine 4PM
2/18 Early release
2/21–2/25 Vacation