Balance and Motion

In science we use the FOSS program, and in this unit we are focusing on Balance and Motion.  First we are focusing on balance in the unit, and we are discovering what the word balance means, how to make things balance using counter-weights, and predicting whether something will balance based on our past experiences.  

This week, we explored balancing two shapes - a triangle and an arch.  We taped a popsicle stick to our desk like a little diving-board and tried to balance these two shapes on our popsicle sticks using two clothes pins as counter weights.  

First, we simply explored the materials and got a sense of their abilities.  Then we followed the scientific method:

- First, we asked a question:  Will the shape balance?  

- Next, we looked at 9 different situations and made a hypothesis for each about whether it would balance or not.  

- Then, we experimented to see if we were correct or not for each of the 9 situations.

- Finally, we compared our hypothesis to the actual results and drew a conclusion about what had happened.

We will continue exploring balance during the month of November and begin focusing on Motion during the month of December.  

 

 

Writing Curriculum

This week we began a new unit in writing.  For the next few weeks we will be reading and writing nonfiction texts.  To begin this unit we read a lot of "All About" books.  An "All About" book tells facts and information about a large topic and is organized into chapters or sections with headings.  Before writing, we had to discover the characteristics of "All About" books.  After two days of reading and exploring the books, we created a list of things all of the books had in common.  Now we know what our "All About" books must have!

After we knew what an "All About" book had to look like, we began planning our own book.  In Social Studies we are studying New York City - so our writing will be about New York City as well!  

Our class is creating an "All About" book about City Parks.  We brainstormed titles and chapters for our book.  But since there are 22 of us - we ended up with a LOT of different chapters!  We wrote our chapter ideas on Post-It Notes and began to work together.  For the next two days we debated how to organize all of our chapters into four inclusive chapters.  

Should people's bug chapters go with the other animal Post-It Notes?  Or should it go with the plants, grass, and dirt Post-It Notes since that's where bugs live?  Or should they be their own chapter?  

The debate was wonderful!  We quickly learned that speaking louder or chanting our opinions did nothing to convince people - only by using our ideas could we change someone's mind.  We eventually got everyone's post-it notes into four groups and named our chapters:

1. Animals We See in Parks

2. Bugs and Nature You See in Parks

3. People in the Parks

4. Things We Use in the Park

Now that we have our chapters, we need to start the research!  Our first resource when researching is people - through both interviews and our own experiences we know a lot already!  We listed those ideas first.  Then we began reading lots of books, looking at maps, and viewing pictures to learn even more about our chapters!  We are now using webs to write sentences about our chapter titles in research groups.

One student's web for Chapter Three:

We will continue reading and researching on Monday.  Once we have lots of ideas, our group will need to start organizing them into paragraphs for the book's chapter.  Then we'll write, revise, edit, illustrate, and publish our chapter to be put into our large class book! 

Of course, this "All-About" book is simply practice for our own "All About" book writing in a few weeks.  We will be researching and writing about the transportation, monuments, buildings, bridges, and tunnels in New York City.  Resources have already begun being collected and hopefully some walking trips in the city will add to our experiences to help us in our writing.

When our "All About" books are done, we will celebrate our writing with a publishing party.  Once a date and time has been set, invitations will be sent out to families.

Updates on our book about New York City Parks will be coming over the next few weeks!  So be sure to check back!

For some, Choice Time may be Art Time

Every Friday we have a full period of Choice Time.  Choice Time is part of the Responsive Classroom program.  Students are given the agency to choose what they will do for the period of class time.  The choices range from block building to math games to painting to puppets - but all help students build social competency and foster a stronger classroom community.  Choice activities are all group based and encourage students to engage with one another.  

While some students sit in groups to write stories and read books and others work on building strong bridges out of blocks, many of the students choose to engage in an art project.  Last Friday, students made finger puppets using paper, scissors, tape, and glue.  Many children immediately began to create stories and personalities for their characters and had them interact with other children's puppets.  

a girl, a teddy bear, and a fairy 

 

an animal family and a zombie

This Friday, Sponge Painting was the art project of choice!  Students created patterns, new colors, and geometric scenes using sponges, paint, and their imagination.  While they all created their own paintings, students had to share materials with one another.

On Friday afternoons, ask your child what they chose to work on during choice time, why they chose that activity, and who they worked with.  I'm sure your child will have a lot to share!

Music and Spanish

Yesterday we began music class!  We will be using both drums and recorders this semester.  Music classes will be every Tuesday at 12:40pm.  Yesterday we learned about the difference between rhythms and beats and used drums to make different sounds.  Changing how our fingers were spaced, where we tapped the drum, and how long we kept our hand on the drum changed the sound it made.  Next week we will begin using the recorders.  At this time it is unclear if the recorders will be going home - I will let you know if they are sent home for practice.

Today we started Spanish class!  Mary will be teaching Spanish classes every Wednesday at 2:00pm.  Here is what she wrote about the class:


Spanish at East Village Community School:
All the Spanish language learning at EVCS is done through interactive games, songs, art, activities, and projects that are often related to other parts of the academic curriculum. Throughout these experiences, we encourage children to hear, see, and use the Spanish language in ways that are relevant to their lives, their interests, and appropriate to their stages of development.
In all our Spanish classes (K through 5), students begin to learn the basic elements of grammar and vocabulary, how to use Spanish as a means of communication and self-expression, and about Spanish-speaking cultures. We believe that all students can and want to learn a language other than their own and our approach reflects the way children learn their first language -- that is, in a natural, communicative context. The curriculum provides a number of opportunities for children to listen and guess at meaning, to interact with and observe others, and to see many examples of the printed word. These informal experiences with Spanish lay the foundation for speaking, reading, and writing in another language.
Spanish at EVCS emphasizes meaningful communication. In class, a curriculum project becomes a medium through which we teach language, whether it is telling a story, creating a restaurant, singing a song, or learning about Day of the Dead or the Spanish conquest of the New World. We encourage students to listen and respond to Spanish using the method best for them--it may be through acting, giving one-word answers, or simply repeating the teachers words. Once they become familiar and comfortable with the sound system of the language, students can hear and comprehend more complex grammatical structures. We give grammar instruction, whenever possible, as an exploration of patterns and rules.
Culture plays a huge role in our Spanish studies and is integral to the whole experience of learning a foreign language. Classroom teachers are encouraged to integrate Spanish into the ongoing program and this demands a lot of collaboration between the Spanish teacher and the classroom teachers. Throughout the program, the Spanish teacher reinforces content areas, such as the family, neighborhood or market investigations, which provide a rich source of vocabulary and exposure to Spanish-speaking cultures. When young children learn a new language in this playful and integrated way, they easily acquire vocabulary and simple phrases. They are eager to use the words they know and to learn words that are important and relevant to their lives and interests. And they become more curious about and interested in Hispanic customs, traditions, and celebrations.


We certainly are a busy bunch this week!

The Library!

Yesterday was our first visit to the school's library!  It was a really wonderful time in such a great space.  We met Dorothy who will be helping with the library's circulation and monitoring book check-outs.  She welcomed us to the library and taught us where things could be found and how to return a book we no longer wanted.  Then we got to read!  We explored the library and then chose a book to read somewhere in the comfortable library.  Benches, cushions, chairs, and rugs were covered with readers yesterday afternoon!

We will be visiting the library every-other Thursday from 12:40 until 1:25.  This means that books your child checks out from the library will be his/hers for two weeks.  Books can then be returned or renewed.

I have had some questions about books for at-home reading.  I found a wonderful resource that can help you know if the book your child is reading is really just-right for them.  Your child should know what level of book he/she is to be reading in school.  Using the Scholastic Book Wizard  you can see if a book is the right level.  To use it, simply follow these steps:

1.  Go to www.scholastic.com/bookwizard
2.  In the drop-down menu that says "Grade Level Equivalent" change it to say "Guided Reading Level"
3. Search for books by title, author, or interest to see if the book is a level H or a level J - which can make a huge difference in your child's confidence and interest when reading.

Many books say they are for "Grade 2" or are a "Level 2" book, but that doesn't mean it's just-right for your child.  The books may be too easy or too hard.  I really recommend using the above website to help you out.  If you need further help with this, please let me know.

Today we are bringing our class-written library to the Pre-K students.  We have published our first narrative piece of writing and will be traveling down the hall to Georgia and Kofi's classroom to share our writing with the students there.

We are truly readers and writers in room 205!

This Land is Your Land

In Social Studies we are learning about the United States through music!  Using the lyrics of Woody Guthrie's folk song "This Land is Your Land", we are learning about the weather and landforms across our country!

Yesterday we listened to the song for the first time and analyzed the lyrics to figure out the metaphors and descriptive words being used in the song.  What does it mean to have a ribbon of highway?  Or diamond deserts?

Today we listened to the song again and began to illustrate the song lyrics.  We know that good writers create pictures in their readers' minds using words, and through Woody Guthrie's writing we are taking the pictures out of our minds and making pictures on paper!

Next week in Social Studies we will begin writing our own East Village verse to the song to describe our piece of the United States!  I can't wait to hear all of the creative lyrics next week!

Here are the original lyrics we have been reading and singing this week:

This land is your land, this land is my land

From California to the New York Island

From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters

This land was made for you and me.

As I went walking that ribbon of highway

I saw above me that endless skyway

I saw below me that golden valley

This land was made for you and me.

I roamed and I rambled and I followed my footsteps

To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts

While all around me a voice was sounding

This land was made for you and me.

When the sun came shining, and I was strolling

And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling

A voice was chanting, As the fog was lifting,

This land was made for you and me.

This land is your land, this land is my land

From California to the New York Island

From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters

This land was made for you and me.