K:
The Kindergarten team is wrapping up our Wants
and Needs planner this week. Your kids should be able to tell you the
difference between a need and a want and identify different wants and needs in
their own lives. We have had some great discussions about scarcity, as
well, as we read books and watched videos about other places in the world where
it may be difficult to meet ones needs. For example, we all need water to
survive, but many people in the world do not have access to clean water and
their only source of water may be miles away! We learned about how people
around the world and even in our own community are showing empathy and taking
action to help.
When we come back from Spring Break, we look
forward to starting our new planner, Living Things. We have an
opportunity to be worm scouts as we observe live worms in our classrooms and
we’ll be venturing out to observe nature at the nearby creek. This
planner fits in perfectly with our nonfiction writing unit, where we will be writing
informational pieces about some of our favorite things, including our favorite
animals! We can’t wait to share our learning with you!
Have a safe and enjoyable break!
Primary:
Spring is finally here! We are so excited to have
a bunch of new units to work on. In writing, our students are working
hard on writing narrative stories AND opinion pieces. One way you can
support this work is ask your child how they feel about things and discuss why
they feel that way. For example, ask how dinner was and follow it up with
asking why they feel that way. Have them give you their reasons for liking or
disliking. Also, ask what was their favorite part? The more
practice students have supporting opinions with evidence the easier the writing
of those opinions will be!
In math, both older and younger friends are working on using different forms of
measurement tools. Older friends are measuring with an actual ruler and
younger friends are starting to collect, organize and read data.
The last new unit is our planner! The primary students will be starting
"What an impact." We will be discovering how living things are
interdependent and different ways we can make the world a healthier
place. This is perfect timing with Earth Day this month.
We are so happy the sun is coming out. Please make sure your children get
a lot of time outside playing, but also get some time to settle down with a
good book!
Elementary:
Our elementary students
continue to amaze us! Our IB Planner entitled Powering Through the Fair
is in full swing in our classroom as students explore science concepts related
to energy. In
Powering thru the Fair, students take a virtual field trip to the NYS Fair to
investigate the energy used there. They follow a map to visit the roller
coaster, ball toss, bumper cars, and more, all the while exploring ideas such
as speed, collisions, and energy conversions. As a final performance
assessment, students will create exhibits to be displayed at the fair
suggesting ideas for making it more eco-friendly. During this time of the
school year, many classrooms have also begun an opinion or argumentative
writing unit. Students read debates focused on a variety of topics and
learn how to state their opinion and support their thinking with clearly stated
reasons supported by evidence. Its also testing time! Both older
and younger friends will be taking the New York State English Language Arts
test as well as the NYS Mathematics test after spring break. Our oldest
friends will also be taking the NYS Science test in May and June.
The final months of school are busy
and exciting ones for intermediate students!
We are wrapping up our Spatial Relationships planner. Students
learned about many interesting aspects of our world, our solar system, and our
universe. We investigated the reasons behind many patterns experienced in our
daily lives including hours of daylight, shadows, the varying appearances of
the moon and stars in our night sky. It was a fun and informative planner for
sure!
Currently, our sixth graders are immersed in exhibition
projects. They have created central ideas and lines of inquiry around topics
that are near and dear to their hearts. Students are engaging in various
experiences such as research, interviews, and actions around their exhibition
projects. This year, students will be deciding on how they will present their
learning. The week of May 16th will be Exhibition Sharing Week.
While the sixth graders work through exhibition, our fifth graders
are engaging in several interesting and meaningful learning experiences such as
inquiry projects, biography work, novel studies, and coding.
Thank you for your continued support at home.
Reminder: QUEST 6th Grade Graduation
will be held on Tuesday, June 21 at the Hilton High School.
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