Observational Drawings

During our first Art session with Ms. Camilla, we did an observational (or scientific) drawings of butterflies. Since then, we have been making observations of our classroom animals! Dulce the bird, and Taffy the turtle posed for students during our thematic choice time. The students noticed many details in color, shape, texture…. others embellished with smiles and included a happy polliwog!

 

Thematic Choice: Power

The most popular choice by far at the beginning of the school year has been the block area. Children working independently, in pairs, and in large groups to build museums, railways, and marble runs. The addition of white beach rocks, silvery gems, and more window blocks embellish the structures. In the middle of the session, I asked about POWER. They responded, “We have the power to build! We use the power of gravity! We can build structures that are strong, stable, and beautiful! We have the power to walk around structures without knocking them over.”

 

 

Math Group

Each day this week, we have been warming up using the book Each Orange has Eight Slices by Paul Giganti, Jr. and Donald Crews. In the book, we have to use addition, subtraction, multiplication and division to solve the problems. The use of pictures and using multiple strategies to get the same answer has led to interesting conversations. This week the children were able to explore their interests in numbers more individually with the addition of several more materials. One child “built” the number 1,000,000+99= and them we were able to have a discussion about the use of zeros and place value. This led to an exploration of even bigger numbers.

 

Writing Workshop

 

Writing notes to friends, sorting vocabulary cards, dictating and acting out stories, drawing and writing in hardcover books, and practicing handwriting have made writing workshop very dynamic!

Upcoming Events

• Thursday, October 4: APPetizer Social 6:30-8:30pm
• Friday, October 5: ILP Writing Day (no school)
• Monday, October 8: Columbus Day (no school)
  
• Thursday, October 11: Gifted 101-Robbins Library, Arlington  7:00-8:30pm
• (tell a friend!)
• Thursday, October 11th at Parlee Farms(https://parleefarms.com)