A Beautiful Commute!
Current Read Aloud:
Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan
Like many girls her age in India, thirteen-year-old Koly is getting married. When she discovers that the husband
her parents have chosen for her is a sickly boy with less than friendly parents, Koly wishes that she could flee.
But on her wedding day, her fate is sealed. Then Koly's life takes and unexpected turn. Finding herself in a city
of widows begging for food, this rare young woman sets out to forge her own future.
National Book Award Winner. An ALA Best Book for Young Adults. A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year. |
Reading
Both groups have been working on their individual pages for the book we are writing about Pakistan. in addition to learning about Pakistani culture, students have been practicing their research, paraphrasing, and technology skills. Look for the bound book in the Index School Library very soon.
In a departure from our usual read-aloud sessions, Ms. Carol and I combined the 2-3-4s with the 5-6-7s resulting in a really fun, collegial atmosphere to kick off the "Going Global" theme for the 2009-2010 school year. After we finished the young reader's version of the book, we invited the PK1's to a whole-school reading of the picture book version. In October, we had a discussion and tea. All of the students, the staff, and several guests from the community attended. Arlis and Steffany attended via email responses. Thank you to all who have supported our learning about the cultures of Pakistan and Afghanistan by sharing in our "one book, one community" effort.
A special thanks to Nora for providing the wonderful food--authentic dal and naan--and for helping us promote this worthwhile activity!
We are collecting pennies for Pennies for Peace. http://www.penniesforpeace.org Please help us in our efforts to promote education (especially for girls) in the mountainous regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Our collections will continue until the night of the Winter Program, December 10, 2009.
Author and Central Asia Institute founder, Greg Mortenson will be attending a book signing December 15 from 7:00-10:00 p.m. at Elliot Bay Bookstore in Seattle. We hope to present a check in the amount of the proceeds of our collection. http://www.ikat.org/
Pennies for Peace receives Mom’s Choice Award
Pennies for Peace is the 2009 recipient of the Mom’s Choice Award!
The Mom’s Choice Awards® is known for establishing the benchmark of excellence in family-friendly media, products and services. This annual competition recognizes authors, inventors, companies, parents and others for their efforts in creating quality family-friendly media products and services.
For more information, visit http://www.momschoiceawards.com
Math
We continue our study of fractions.
Math I : adding and subtracting fractions
Math II : multiplying and dividing fractions; writing and solving equations with fractions; fractions in real life (see below)
Students like the idea of participating in a simulation of dealing with money and finances. Mirroring the popular trend of "reality television, we are planning a "reality" segment in math in which students "earn" money and engage in decisions they will need to make in real life as they get older. In addition, some students will be "buying" Northwest stock and taking a look at how that aspect of our economy works.
Homework:
The majority of homework assigned this year will be in Math. I would really appreciate your support in this area. If you could take a quick look to see that homework is completed, I would be very grateful. Strong school-home partnerships are important to me.
Please encourage your child to keep practicing their facts. I cannot emphasize enough the important of automaticity and retention of facts as we move on to math concepts that are more difficult and rely on knowing these facts well. Fifteen to twenty minutes a day will make a huge difference in your child's achievement and help them avoid the frustration that comes with getting "bogged down" when recall of facts isn't automatic. Have your child practice on this website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize/maths/
*We continue to use a great website - http://www.internet4classrooms.com/k12links.htm I encourage you to take a look. These activities have been invaluable as we seek to reinforce learning in many modalities in math class.
Science
Currently, we are designing and engaging in experiments to determine the best method to clean pennies. The Pennies for Peace project has provided a perfect opportunity for us to apply scientific methods such as making hypotheses and determining independent and dependent variables.
Check back on this website to see our collected data and conclusions.
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Earlier in the year, our class brainstormed possible units of study to be encompassed in our school-wide theme "Going Global."
Ideas include:
- fossil fuels, hydropower, natural gas and alternative energy such as solar, wind, geothermal, nuclear, hydrogen, bioenergy, tidal power, and fusion
- endangered species around the world
- global warming
- resources (renewable and non-renewable) and consumption
- what it means to "go green"
- climate in other regions of the world
Social Studies
Veteran's Day, November 11th:
The day before Veteran's Day, our class viewed part of the video "When We Were Kids, We Went to War," a collection of 140 interviews with veterans from Washington state who served during WWII. Students were reminded of the sacrifices that these men and women made (and continue to make) in service of their country. Discussions about the video will continue this week and next.
You are welcome to borrow the video if you would like to see these powerful recollections.
Our class brainstormed possible units of study to be encompassed in our school-wide theme "Going Global."
Ideas include:
- culture study of countries in each continent including geography, language, customs, beliefs, celebrations, food!!!
- world economy
- focus on similarities instead of differences
- world relations--war and peace
- economy and standard of living
- human rights, prejudice, and discrimination
The 5-6-7 class gets together with the students in Ms. Carol's class once a week for discussion, lessons, and projects that will take us around the world. We have recently moved on to Europe and are looking at Culture Grams from France.
P.E.
Although our unique crabwalk balloon volleyball in the classroom is very fun (and tremendously amusing), it is great to have access to the gym again. We are now working on volleyball skills, particularly bumping and setting. "1,2,3 Over" is our adaption of a game designed to utilize these skills and encourage cooperation, teamwork, and sportsmanship--our main goals in P. E.
Next week, we will begin serving and playing actual games. Please help your child to remember to wear sturdy lace-up tennis shoes on Tuesdays and Thursdays--our P.E. days.
Music
Welcome back, Karen! A big thank you to the individuals who have made it possible for our beloved Mrs. Sample to return to make the Winter Program a reality. It's just not the same without her and we hope that we can have her back in her usual capacity soon!
Our class brainstormed possible units of study to be encompassed in our school-wide theme "Going Global."
Ideas include:
- research music from different countries around they world and find samples we can listen to
- research musicians from different countries around the world
- research and possibly construct instruments from different countries around the world
