The Friday before vacation we had a visit from a giant inflatable whale! The students learned some information, traveled inside to see some body parts, and made connections between the whale body and our body.
Make sure you watch the video until the end!
We had a delightful day on Tuesday celebrating Valentine’s Day and Anna’s Birthday and card making, warm sentiments, and rainbows abounded!
The LE’rs welcomed a potential Acera student on Thursday, and they demonstrated great kindness, courtesy, and he received hugs as he left! We are so very proud of your children!!
A few weeks ago for Science, Ms. Ashley taught a lesson about constellations. This week, we mentioned to a few students that the Starlink satellites would be visible for a few nights this week. Ms. Lisa saw them last night, and it was pretty cool. There were over 40 satellites and they looked like a string of stars, moving through the sky. On Friday night, at around 5:52pm, if you look up, you can see them moving from West to East. They look just like the picture above – we hope you get to spot them!
The LE’rs have been having a lot of fun on the playground, especially on the obstacle/ropes course. We have also been observing tag games that start as exciting and fun, and then turn scary. The teachers and staff look for the moments when actions turn dangerous or when words become hurtful. Games like Lion Pride, Cops and Robbers, and other ways of Playing Tag have been around forever and are an important part of early child development. It is an essential part of their learning at Acera and we take full opportunities to teach important lessons when these “teachable moments” arise.
In 5-6 weeks the LE Block Area will be set-up on the wooden platform. The blocks are ordered, and the space will create an area out-of-the-fray from older students for our class (and possibly others) to build and construct houses, mazes, and other structures! We can’t wait!
We have started a unit on fractions this week and it has been really well received thus far! We started by introducing the different fraction families… the 1/2 family, the 1/3 family and so on, and explaining that fractions are equal parts of a whole. The students then made their own fraction family books by tracing the metal fractions, making them into characters, and learning how to write “one part of two”. We introduced fraction equivalents such as 2/4ths is the same as 1/2, by manipulating the fraction pieces. We will work more with equivalents next week and move on to addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
The students have made wonderful progress moving through the 10 metal inset exercises, so much so that we have to come up with an extension on the activity! Starting next Monday the students who have finished all the exercises will get to make designs with felt shapes. They will be beautiful!
Each Wednesday our Rest and Read time is shortened due to Creativity Afternoon. So, on this day we Partner Read. We selectively make successful partners and for 1/2 hour, one student reads to another. This week, after reading” The Titanic, Lost and Found” the two partners did a Titanic reenactment by throwing “life vests” off the loft. We had pillows everywhere but appreciated the connections that the students were making with the story.
On one rotation a trimester, each student, working at their individualized reading level, will be able to use iPads at Rest and Read, using the app Learning Ally. The program has over 8,000 books all read aloud by real people with text and pictures. As the book is read, the text is highlighted so the students can follow along. We have been experimenting with the app’s success by having the students follow along with the story being read, and then pulling them individually to read to a teacher. It has been really interesting to use this new technology!
For the last two weeks we have been working with the Hundred Grid. The Hundred Grid is a valuable learning resource to help young children with counting to 100, counting by 2’s, 5’s, 10’s, multiplication, and seeing counting patterns. The students used our tile board and after they completed that, for a treat, they were able to use an iPad with an application in which you can fill Hundred Grids with increased level of complexity.
We have been playing counting games with students based on the Hundred Grid each morning which includes counting by 1’s, 2’s, 5’s, and 10’s. We all stand up and toss a bean bag around the circle, switching out the movement as we toss and count. This week a student suggested one hop and a toss while counting by ones. The game has endless possibilities!
As we fill our Hundred Grid in our morning meeting each day, we put a clear colored “window” over the 2’s, 5’s, and 10’s. Students started noticing the patterns almost immediately! “All the greens have a 5 or a 0! All the blues have a 0 at the end. All the oranges have a 2, 4, 6, 8, or 10 in them.”
With increased difficulty, this week the students have been filling in the missing blanks or “mystery boxes” for themselves and for their friends. This involved a great deal of problem solving!
Jen & Lisa
Olivia and her Mum arrived one Monday morning, with about ten dozen bunches of flowers and a selection of vases which lead to a wonderful, impromptu flower arranging class. Ms. Jen showed the children three steps to creating their floral arrangements and explained the use of “fillers, thrillers, and spillers!” A student noted that there were also some “Droopers!” They had to use math skills such as measuring the stems to make sure they would fit in the vase, and fine-motor skills including using special scissors to trim the stems. It was such a lovely way to spend our morning and we hope you all got to enjoy your beautiful flowers. A huge thanks to Olivia’s aunt, who is a florist, for providing such a generous amount of flowers.
Students have been working very hard in math over the past few weeks, learning about coin identification, counting coins, adding and subtracting, and playing fun games such as the Trading Game and Top It. After spending time practicing, students created their own store, added items they were going to sell, priced them, and then visited each other’s stores to “buy” their goods. We used the “bank” to learn about trading pennies for nickels, dimes, and eventually quarters. Providing a number line also helped students with the directionality of numbers and counting. If you are looking for some fun, empty your pockets of coins and see what your student can show you!
In LE, literacy is part of every single day and in many ways. Each morning in our Writer’s Workshop, we have a task based in literacy including metal insets, handwriting, vocabulary, word sorts, journaling, and grammar. In small groups, students say particular words, build the word using wooden letters in both conventional and cursive, write the word on a dry-erase board or iPad, and then use it in a sentence. They choral read, read to a teacher, and to each other. It is amazing to watch the progress as everyone’s confidence grows.
While Core Classroom teachers spent many hours working on Progress Reports, the field trip to the aquarium was a big hit! We heard about the bus ride, Myrtle the Turtle, electric eels, an octopus, sea anenome, penguins, and that the Touch Tank was closed. In their journals, students wrote about their favorite part and how much fun they all had. We were a little envious that we couldn’t go!
We wish you all a happy and healthy winter break and will look forward to seeing you all in 2023!
Warmest regards,
Jen and Lisa
For the last couple of weeks, we have been learning about our turtle, Taffy. Taffy is an Eastern Painted Turtle who is decades old! However, she still likes to play games! In the “Escape” game, the students sit in a circle and we put Taffy in the middle. We then observe Taffy as she paces in circles, trying to find an opening. We asked one child to create an opening in the circle and watched as Taffy made a run for it! The kids loved it!
We watched an informational video about painted turtles and how they make the best pets. We also learned many facts about all kinds of painted turtles, including:
First, students used a sharpie to draw their turtle. Everyone wanted to make an old turtle so they drew a lot of scoots! We then learned how to use watercolor pencils to blend the turtle’s many bright colors. The illustrations are stunning, and you are welcome to stop by and view them for yourself! They are hanging outside our classroom on the bulletin board.
We have started a new book at our Read Aloud in the afternoon, called “The Magic Treehouse” by Enid Blyton. As part of our theme and learning about places, we went on an expedition to the Fells to collect sticks, twigs, and other items that we can use to create our own magic treehouses. It was a mile walk, each way, and it was such a beautiful day! We wandered through the fallen trunks, climbed over rocks, searching for the “just right” stick.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Ms. Lisa and Ms. Jen
All of the time together learning, talking, eating, and partnering has led to many budding friendships! Our class has a wonderful sense of humor, and can be found sharing jokes, riddles, and just being silly. The joyful classroom environment has also settled down from the beginning of the year as everyone gets into the flow of learning.
Last week we were invited to sit outside the Clancy Group, and they even put out picnic tables for us! We learned the reason the business has a big red bulldog out front… The owner LOVES bulldogs and sculptures… and continued to develop community.
Please come to our Literacy Curriculum Night next Thursday, October 6th from 7:00pm-9:00pm. Lisa and I will explain all the aspects of the Literacy curriculum, and share with you all the components that lead to reading and writing fluency. We hope that everyone can make it!
We have a very hands on manipulative based curriculum. We have started the study of place value, exploring ones, tens, hundreds, and thousands. Using base ten blocks and corresponding cards we played around with making very big numbers and reading them… 5,322! In partners and pairs the students worked together to make 2 big numbers, collect the blocks, and then added the numbers together! Today and tomorrow we are playing a Trading Game where students roll dice to acquire ones, training them for tens, and finally trading tens with a hundred and next week we will add another twist.
We continue to explore the classroom and are learning to work together cooperatively. The class is becoming so comfortable knowing where all our materials and supplies are kept, can set-up activities for friends, and clean-up responsibilities!
Happy Weekend!
Jen, Lisa, and Susan
Ms Jen's & Ms. Lisa's Classroom Blog 