Africa Open House a Great Success thanks to YOU!

Thanks to everyone who was able to attend our Open House this morning. I think students enjoyed their work and their learning about Africa as we went along. Their joy and pride in their work was so obviously amplified by sharing it with each of you today. Thank you for being inquisitive with your children, for your enthusiasm, and for your understanding that for the most part, these were individualized projects. The ideas came from the people who made them. They were given the opportunity to pursue their own interests within the general topic of Africa.

Another highlignt of our week occurred on Tuesday during our 3-4 science class. As you know, we have been studying pendulums. This week students were able to design, test, redesign, test and play with their own pendulums. They worked in groups of two, three and four collaborating to create a pendulum that would knock down objects below. After about an hour of design and building, we toured around visiting each group's pendulum set up. It was amazing to see the variety, the problem solviing thhe joy, and so on. We ended with a discussion of density in the context of two bobs with surprising attributes: one was clay, and the other brass. Please ask your child about this, and about their whole design experience.

In writing we are working on the Response to Literature form. Most students have completed a rough draft.

I hope you all will have a restful and fun week. Maybe we'll even get some snow!

Thank you for all your wonderful contributions to the Valentine's Day Snack Buffet last week. Students clearly did a lot of work on their Valentines, and the food was delicious. We had a nice party; thanks for your help with that.

School is going along nicely. We are working hard on projects and research about Africa. Our workshops ended last week. This Wednesday we will be setting up for our AFRICA OPEN HOUSE which will be Thursday morning from 8:00-8:45. We hope you will be able to come. We will end the event by singing two African songs.

Self discipline and responsible behavior have been topics we continue to revisit. Students are typcially very well behaved in this core classroom, when I am here. Things go less smoothly when I am away. We have been discussing this as a class, reflecting on and analyzing successful behaviors, unsuccessful behaviors and why self control matters. The greatest news is that I was in a meeting this afternoon, Ms. Simpson was here, and apparently all went well. They can do it!

In science we have continued our study of pendulums. Tomorrow students will design pendulum/bowling pin set ups.

For school wide information, please see the School Bell.

This week we have been working hard on writing a Response to Literature. We are writing essays that tell what we think about our last read aloud book The Gollywhopper Games. Students are writing a four paragraph essay telling two attributes that describe the book. They are doing fine work.

Today we listened to the tape of Peter and the Wolf and read the book in preparation for an assembly tomorrow. The Imani Winds will be here performing that piece for us. This is a special offer to us from the Flynn Theater because not enough tickets had been sold. We are very fortunate!

In my math class, we are wrapping up the geometry unit by looking at geometric solids and learning the vocabulary to describe it: face, edge, vertex, base. We have played Bingo. We have also been working on Problem Solvers that have focused on Area and Perimeter. Perhaps you have heard of The Puppy Pen or Old Faithful. We are also learning about dimensions: length, width and depth. These are difficult concepts to grasp!

You may have found a pink class list in the folder today. This is to help students make Valentines. Our party will be next Friday, February 12th. We'll have it right before the skiiers leave. We are working out the menu for the snack buffet and will let you know tomorrow who signed up for what.

I have some photos still to share, but have been unable to get them to the blog. It's an uploading glitch I hope to clear up soon. Thanks for your patience.