News & Updates
4/4/22
What Students are Learning!
Art–Mr. Kennerk
PK—the students cut out pre drawn shapes and glued them to create a flag of Maine. They also cut out 2 concentric circles from construction paper…one primary and one secondary colors. The kiddos have been working on colors with Ms. Wilson.
K/1–we finished our white birch trees by using black colored pencils to create characteristics of the bark. We also made Kandinsky trees in crayon…look below.
2/3–we finished our salmon drawings off with a bit of watercolor. Ms. Bebell has been teaching them about the local salmon runs. We also made Kandinsky trees in crayon…look below.
4-8–the upper half of the grades have been examining contrast and working with it in duality of black/white or the more gradual shift between darkness and light.
K-8–All student contributed a unique petal to the flowers on the bulletin board to celebrate Spring! Thanks to the 6/7/8 graders for putting it all together and to 4/5 for making little creatures to populate the grass and sky.
PK—the students cut out pre drawn shapes and glued them to create a flag of Maine. They also cut out 2 concentric circles from construction paper…one primary and one secondary colors. The kiddos have been working on colors with Ms. Wilson.
K/1–we finished our white birch trees by using black colored pencils to create characteristics of the bark. We also made Kandinsky trees in crayon…look below.
2/3–we finished our salmon drawings off with a bit of watercolor. Ms. Bebell has been teaching them about the local salmon runs. We also made Kandinsky trees in crayon…look below.
4-8–the upper half of the grades have been examining contrast and working with it in duality of black/white or the more gradual shift between darkness and light.
K-8–All student contributed a unique petal to the flowers on the bulletin board to celebrate Spring! Thanks to the 6/7/8 graders for putting it all together and to 4/5 for making little creatures to populate the grass and sky.
Congratulations
CONGRATULATIONS to Amelia Watters!!! Her picture of Blue Hill Falls bridge has been chosen for the cover of the Blue Hill Peninsula Chamber of Commerce yearly publication.
Ms. Wilson
This week in Pre-K we discovered what secondary color is created when red and blue are mixed, and then how mixing white lightens the shade of purple to almost pink! Pre-K students practiced making “take away” or “subtraction sentences with quantities within 10 and showing friends their work. We are learning how to give each other compliments and appreciations, and how to work together. Extraordinary Egg by Lio Lionni continues to be a much requested book due to the humorous situations created by frogs believing a chicken would hatch from an egg they discovered. Subsequently an alligator hatched from the egg, but the frogs (and story narrator) refer to the alligator as a chicken.
On Friday we learned a fun little April Fool’s prank, and pranked many teachers and staff in the building, each other.. and then our families!
Mrs. Baird
This week in math both kindergarten and first grade continued to work on e-spark and grow as mathematicians. Both classes worked on teen numbers and subtraction worksheets. Both classes practiced counting by twos and fives to figure out how many acorns were in a picture from a book called Mashed Potatoes. The first grade worked on 10 more and 10 less than a number by using a hundreds chart and also practiced place value. They also heard a book called Show a Little Kindness.
In literacy, we worked on writing and manipulating words, changing one sound at a time. Kindergarten continued solidifying their letter sounds and both kindergarten and first grade practiced the sounds on our sound wall, such as oi, al, ar, and or. I worked individually with each student to update their sight word lists, and every single student improved on the number of sight words they know, from just 6 weeks ago. They are working so hard!
Mrs. Thoner
ELA 2/3
Students continued learning about the westward movement. They also learned about the actions to reduce racism, including reading about a little black girl whose parents helped her fight all the way to the Supreme Court in Brown v. board of education; learning about a black American woman who endured discrimination, but won the adlib speech contest at the national level; and learning about the “Black Code” laws that followed the Civil War. These readings are part of the curriculum we have been using. The next set of readings are about food choices and nutrition.
ELA 4/5
Students presented their projects and research about the Civil War. I will email each parent the project completed by their child. Some of the presentations were at the level of “exceeding” the standard, some were “working toward the standard” and most were at meeting the standard. I have provided many students with a copy to bring home to share with their parents. If your child does not have one, I would be happy to share an electronic copy.
ELA 6-8
Students completed a final assessment and a project to complete our study of Esperanza Rising. There were three choices for the project, but each required the student to examine the character traits Esperanza developed throughout the novel. The final assessment was an informative essay which analyzed the growth of the character of Esperanza from the beginning of the novel to the end, using evidence from the text. If your child does not share their work with you, please let me know and I will.
Mrs. Sproul
2nd math
The students have been continuing their work with adding and subtracting on the number line. We also are working with money and counting coins. Next week we will be starting a token economy where the students will earn money and be able to purchase items once a week. The goal of this is to get them comfortable with counting and using coins.
3rd math
This week we finished up our unit on adding and subtracting within 1000. Half of the class took the test and the other half will be taking it next week. We also are working with money and counting coins. Next week we will be starting a token economy where the students will earn money and be able to purchase items once a week. The goal of this is to get them comfortable with counting and using coins.
4th and 5th math
This week we have been working with larger numbers, place value and rounding. They are struggling a bit with this, but we will keep working on it until they understand. We also are working with money and counting coins. Next week we will be starting a token economy where the students will earn money and be able to purchase items once a week. The goal of this is to get them comfortable with counting and using coins.
6th math
We are continuing our work with rates and percentages. We are also going back and working on areas that they may have missed due to Covid.
7th math
The students are continuing working on figuring out percentages. They. are looking at increases and decreases. This is a real life skill that we all use often.
8th math
The students are continuing their work with solving linear equations.
Ms. Bebell
6-8 Super Studies
The students have been working on applying their recent understanding of international diplomacy to real examples of conflict between nations. They are doing research on conflicts such as those between Russia and Ukraine and North and South Korea and will be presenting what they have learned to the class next week. Since we didn’t have Boatbuilding this week, we made time for a walk in the woods, where we found several salamanders near a vernal pool along the nature trail!
4/5 Super Studies
This week, the students learned more about what daily life was like for Civil War soldiers and how women supported the war effort in both the North and the South. They also read about and discussed the roles of Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, and Ulysses S. Grant. We checked on the development of our salmon eggs and drew pictures of our observations to compare with our observations two weeks ago. The eggs are developing right on schedule and should start hatching soon. For Forest Friday, we went on a walk on the nature trail to look for amphibians, but didn’t find any – yet! They are just starting to emerge so we’ll have to look again soon.
2/3 Super Studies
This week the students focused on food chains. They played a card game to match up organisms that eat one another and made a “bug wheel,” which is a tool they can use to quickly access information about small invertebrates they might find in and around ponds and streams. The class also wrapped up Read Across America month, during which we read a picture book every day about a different state and practiced locating all of the states on a map.
Calendar
April
4/8 8-10 AM Swimming for grades K-3
4/12 6:00 PM School Board Meeting
4/15 8-10 AM Swimming for grades K-3 (Last Class)
4/15 12:30 PM Early Release
4/18/–4/22 April Vacation