Thank You:

• PTF and Team for repairing the tent that had blown over and broke during last week’s storm.

Curriculum Updates

Pre-K and Preschool students have been noticing and discussing many of the signs of Fall: leaves changing and falling, colder temps, getting gardens ready for winter, and the first day of October- which of course is Halloween month. We have three student birthdays in our Puffin, Pre-K and K classrooms, and the countdown of “how many sleeps” until our friends’ birthdays has begun in earnest. Students are giving and receiving gentle reminders to “cover your nose” and asking for help adjusting masks with grace and kindness. I overheard one friend tell another, “If we wear the masks right then we won’t have to stay home for the virus!” This age group is amazingly resilient, kind, and capable of adapting to this new “normal”.

Pre-K and K author/illustrators have enjoyed sharing their illustrations and stories to their peers using a very cool tech tool: the ladybug document camera. The camera allows me to project a student’s work onto the large screen in our classroom, so everyone has an equitable view of the work, while also maintaining physical distance. Pre-K and K students have been introduced to the works of Michael Chabon, and we will be meeting him in person this Thursday!

In kindergarten math this week the students worked on coloring by number of objects and practiced color words. They also counted objects up to five and worked on number recognition. They also practiced writing their numbers in shaving cream. The first grade continued to practice one more than a number. They also worked on different ways to make six and seven with number bonds and writing number sentences. They also practiced writing numbers in shaving cream. In literacy, the kindergarten and first graders continued mastering their letter sounds and added a new sight word into their reading: like! In math, second grade worked on breaking numbers down to make 10, so that it is easier to add. 8+4=12, 8+2=10+2=12. They also explored their math boxes and played war with their cards. In literacy, second grade has been reading some reader’s theater! They are each assigned a part in a play, and read together, reading their “parts” aloud. This helps practice fluency in reading as well as following along silently as others read aloud. Along with fluency, they practice changing the way they read aloud based on the character they are speaking for.

3/4 ELA – Mrs. Thoner:  This week the 3/4 class continued the study of the power of reading and the great lengths people will go to in an effort to preserve books, distribute books, and encourage reading.  As part of this study, we read and re-read That Book Woman, and The Librarian of Bazra.

5/6 ELA – Mrs. Thoner: This week the 5/6 class continued their study of natural disasters and a literary analysis of Eight Days: A Story of Haiti.  We also spent considerable time working in groups [over zoom (since we have some learners joining us from home)], with the goal of helping students understand that their classmates are good resources when it comes to trying to complete assignments independently.

7/8 ELA – Mrs. Thoner: This week the 7/8 class continued their study of slavery with the goal of providing background information for the book, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.  Which is an autobiography by the runaway slave and abolitionist, Frederick Douglass.

3/4 Super Studies

This week the students were such enthusiastic scientists! They explored different types of energy: sound, light, heat, and mechanical. Students tested the range of frequencies their ears can hear, tested the translucency of different materials in front of a bright light, tried out different insulting materials, and examined which forces are at play on different pieces of playground equipment. For Forest Friday, we observed our outside environment using different senses.

5/6 Super Studies

This week the 5/6 historians learned more about the earliest human ancestors and how the conditions in their environment led to their ability to grow food, migrate, and eventually create the earliest civilizations. For Forest Friday, we weren’t in the forest, but in the garden! This summer community members used the school garden as a community garden, and the students harvested about 60 pounds of potatoes.

7/8 Super Studies

To start off the week, students participated in a simulation game in class where they experienced how difficult it is to decide how to distribute resources to a population without any form of leadership. They then learned about different types of government structures and ways that a government can have systems of checks and balances in place to protect its citizens’ rights. We watched excerpts of the presidential debate and discussed what to expect as the election—and our mock election—draws nearer.

Art 3/4 – We finished painting our camels this past week along with a desert background to complement their ELA work with the book, My Librarian is a Camel. In the coming weeks, students will begin a book mark project to celebrate a culture of their choosing with Ms. Thoner in ELA.  It will involve maps, information, illustrations, and cultural patterns and symbols.

Art 5/6 – This week we used color pencils to define the water from the land as an accompaniment to their ELA book, Eight Days: A Story of Haiti.  We are learned the subtleties of pencil, pressure, gradation and depth of hue. This week we will polish off our maps with a map key and the labeling of political and geographical locations. Next week, we will delve into art pouring forth from the ancient civilizations being examined in Ms. Bebell’s Super Studies class.

Art 7/8 – Last week, per student request, we will have a watercolor study of a Maine landscape.  This week we examine political campaign posters from history in complement to their work with Ms. Bebell in Super Studies. Particularly posters that message voting and voting issues from the past.  Students will reproduce one of these posters of the past and design their own to convey their own message about voting and civic duty.

3rd grade Math – We have continued exploring what multiplication and division means by using manipulatives and arrays.  We also learned about the communicative property of multiplication and explored how 3 groups of four is equal to four groups of three.

4th-grade math – We continued to deepen our understanding of place value by adding 100 and 1000 to numbers.  We also worked with rounding to the 1000th place.

5th-grade math – We are continually exploring place value by multiplying and dividing numbers by 100 and 1000.  We also worked with powers of ten and converting metric units.

6th-grade math – We continued our work with equivalent ratios.  We worked with solving problems with equivalent ratios using tape diagrams.

7th-grade math – We are working on finding proportional and nonproportional relationships in tables and graphs.  We worked with the constant of proportionality or the unit rate.

PTF News:

• Brooklin Backpack Program will be sending bags of food for the long weekend home on Thursday afternoon. You ARE ENROLLED AUTOMATICALLY in this program unless you opt-out. If you are enrolled please help us by filling this out. Thank you! https://forms.gle/PwAcghBrXE2rvwyY9
• Thank you to Becky and Robert Courtot, Rene Neuner, Ellen Landrum and Wilder, Tanya Prime, Jon Spivak, and  Ed and Lisa Depasquel for getting the school’s large outdoor classroom repaired and secured after last week’s storm.
• Brooklin School PTF is considering a children’s warm clothing swap. This event would be held outside. We are hoping the kids can be outside as much as possible this year but that can be cold and outdoor gear is $$$$. Hang on to your children’s outdoor gear that they have outgrown and in preparation, you could get it washed and ready to go. We will choose a date soon and send out the details.
• The next PTF meeting is outdoors, October 27th @ 3:15. We already have so many new members this year and we are hoping even more of you will join us!

Calendar

October

10/9                             Workshop Day—No School

10/12                           Holiday—No School

10/13                                                               Author Michael Chabon Visit

10/12-10/16                 Parent/Teacher Conference Week

10/14               12:00                                       Flu Immunization Clinic

10/16               12:00                                       Dismissal

10/23               12:00                                       Dismissal

10/27               3:15 pm                                   PTF Meeting

10/30               12:00                                       Dismissal

November

11/1                             Daylight Savings Time Ends

11/6                 12:00                                       Dismissal

11/11                           Holiday—No School