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.

Happy Rosh Hashanah!

Today was a busy day in Room 205!

It was our first Town Meeting of the school year.  All of the classes at EVCS gathered together in the auditorium at 10:30am to join together as a community and sing some peaceful and powerful songs.  Soon a schedule will be posted so that families can join the Town Meetings.
Our first song was Down By the Riverside.  The kids learned the song quickly, and by the end everyone was clapping and singing like pros!
If you want to sing together at home, here's the "million dollar quartet" - Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis - singing the song!

On the last day of the week (so usually Fridays) we have a full period of Choice Time.  Today, students built with blocks, played with puppets, explored with dominoes, designed patterns with pattern blocks, and created their own paper-bag puppets.

Unfortunately, most of the pictures I took of the awesome creativity going on had the kids in the pictures - so I can't post them here.  I hope to have them available for Wednesday's Curriculum Night, though!

Pattern Blocks!

 

Hand-made puppets!

We also did a great deal of writing this morning, a lot of reading this afternoon, and played some math games as well!  And of course we visited Roberta's art room too!  It was an eventful day full of explorations, learning, 

I hope you all have a restful and wonderful holiday weekend!

September!

I can't believe September is almost over!  Thank you so much for making my first month at EVCS so wonderful!  I am really looking forward to the next nine months together.

I apologize that it has taken me so long to get this up and running.  On this blog, I will be posting classroom updates, project reports, homework comments, event reminders, and other great information!  Please check here often to see what we're up to in room 205.

Below is our class schedule.  Soon, we will be adding Music class to our Tuesday afternoons!  Hopefully more exciting events will be coming up for me to share!

- Events in green are procedures that we must do to make our class run smoothly or things that take place outside of our classroom.
- Events in orange are part of the Responsive Classroom program.  This is a program used throughout all of EVCS.  
- Events in blue are academic periods.  Lessons are structured using the Workshop Model for all subjects, allowing students to spend most of the academic time exploring the concepts independently or in groups.


Again, I am really looking forward to a fun-filled year of learning and growing!

-- Liz