News & Updates
2/14/22
6/7/8 2pt Perspective Drawings
What Students are Learning!
This week in Math, the Kindergarten and First Grade did a graphing math activity with valentine candy hearts. They compared which color they had the most of and which one they had fewer of . They also subtracted to find out how many fewer or more of one color. The first grade played a game of crazy eights and the kindergarten played subitizing Bingo.
In literacy, everybody continued practicing reading at their own level. Students began bringing a book home each night that is at their personal level to continue practicing at home. They were very excited to do this and to show off to the people at home what they’ve been doing!
The first day of swimming was a complete success! The students had a great time and could not wait to tell me about every minute of swim class!
On Friday afternoon they celebrated the 100th day of school by sharing if they brought in 100 of something from home and playing a race to one hundred game with a classmate. They also listened to a story called Ms. Goozenpop’s Crazy 100th School Day. They counted to 100 by doing different movement activities, like 10 sit ups, 10 wall pushes.
2-3 ELA
This week we learned more about the westward movement, including wagon trains and the transatlantic railroad. Students read two non-fiction pieces and watched a video to aid in the understanding of the text. Questions from students included how the wagon trains went over the mountains and what were spikes? I’m sure you realize that reading and reading comprehension are more than just decoding words. It is at the 2/3 level that students need to bring broad knowledge into their toolbox in order to truly understand what they are reading.
4/5 ELA – Students finished the book Love That Dog. They have been writing their own poetry and will publish an anthology of their work this next week.
6-8 ELA – Students have continued to read and delve into Esperanza Rising. As part of the study, they are learning about immigration, migrant farm workers, unionization, and deportation (or repatriation). We are watching as Esperanza falls from being a privileged member of Mexican society to being a member of the working class in California; and, how her character adjusts to these changes.
Valentine Mailboxes
Math
2nd grade – This week we worked on word problems with measurements. Word problems are a skill that needs a LOT of practice. It can be very challenging for students to understand when they need to add or subtract and later multiply and divide. However, we will continue to work on this skill in every level of math and eventually they will get easier for them. We also worked more with double digit subtraction using manipulatives. Again, this is a skill that needs a lot of practice and a lot of circling back to reinforce.
3rd grade – This week we looked at different ways to think about subtraction using place value. We will spend a bit of time on this as it is SO important for them to understand the concept of egrouping. They are becoming more proficient in it every day.
4th and 5th grade – This week we started work with decimals. I think they are enjoying thinking about something other than fractions, although we did look at fractions in relation to decimals. They seem to be really grasping how decimals work. They are going to do well with this unit!
6th grade – This week We took a short break from ratios and looked at how changing what we are dividing by changes the final answer. When starting with the same number, the larger the divisor (the number we are dividing by) the smaller the answer will be. We will be moving back into ratios and percentages next week.
7th grade – This week we worked more with ratios and fractions and looked at problems that have “half as much again”. For example, one day Clare runs 4 miles. The next day she plans to run that same distance plus half as much again. How far does she plan to run the next day? We worked with the distributive property to learn that (1 x 4) + (1/2 x 4) is the same as 1 1/2 x 4.
8th grade – This week we worked at understanding how to write linear equations from a graph when the line is not proportional. We learned about the slope intercept formula or y=mx+b. We also looked at types of problems when the slope is negative and what that looks like on a graph.
Super Studies
6-8 Super Studies
The class wrapped up Slime Week by explaining how the slimes demonstrated chemical changes or other physical properties. Then they worked on making their videos that demonstrate different chemistry concepts before sharing them with the class on Friday.
4/5 Super Studies
This week, the class learned about the different types of stars by comparing data of the stars in the constellation Orion. They also learned about black holes and played a board game developed by NASA that incorporates information about black holes and how we can observe and measure them. On Forest Friday, the class built nests in the icy woods with moss, branches, and other found objects.
2/3 Super Studies
This week, the students worked on writing about and making drawings of their selected Maine state symbol. Since they have been typing their information, we have also started practicing keyboarding to help the students be more comfortable and efficient with the keyboard. On Forest Friday, we noticed that the landscape isn’t as colorful in the winter as other times of year, so we made colorful drawings on the icy snow with markers!
Calendar
February
2/15 Basketball game Home at vs Castine 4PM
2/18 8-10AM Swim Lessons for K–3rd grade
Early release 12:30 PM
2/21–2/25 Vacation
March
3/4 8-10AM Swim Lessons for K–3rd grade
3/8 School Board Meeting 6PM
3/11 8-10AM Swim Lessons for K–3rd grade
3/18 Teacher Workshop Day/No School
3/25 8-10AM Swim Lessons for K–3rd grade
Early release 12:30 PM
April
4/1 8-10AM Swim Lessons for K–3rd grade
4/2 Town Meeting in Gym
4/8 8-10AM Swim Lessons for K–3rd grade
4/12 School Board Meeting 6PM
4/15 8-10AM Swim Lessons for K–3rd grade
Early release 12:30 PM
4/18–4/22 Spring Break//Vacation