A Little Coding

First grade took their first steps into coding using Scratch Jr. The students were given a brief overview of how to use the program on the iPads and then encouraged to explore on their own. Students immensely enjoyed the program, sharing what they could do and becoming teachers for each other.

Scratch Jr. is an introductory program based off of its older sibling Scratch. Both programs were created in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for the purpose of teaching children coding. In Scratch Jr. students can create their characters and backgrounds, or use one of the characters or backgrounds that come with the program. The characters can be made to move, interact and even make sounds. When students have exhausted this program, they can move onto the more advanced program of Scratch. This program gives more options for students such as variables to further fine tune their projects. Scratch and Scratch Jr. are free to download. You can find more information about Scratch here and Scratch Jr. here.

Lower School Book Club for Adults -February Conversation

Join us for our next Lower School Book Club for adults led by Ann Botel-Barnard, our language arts specialist. We are excited to come together to share a love for a great story!

Book: Before the Fall by Noah Hawley

Location: Lower School Library from 8-9am

Date: Friday February 24, 2017

Enjoy a light breakfast and great conversation as we discuss what we loved about the book, what we had questions about and what we could connect to. Feel free to join us even if you have not read the entire book. You will still have a lot to contribute and the discussion will enhance your reading of the book. You are welcome to bring adult friends and relatives that are also interested in discussing this book.

RSVP: Ann Botel-Barnard  abotelbarnard@abingtonfriends.net

Before the Fall is a tale of suspense and one that is character driven. Once you begin to read this book you will have a hard time putting it down. Noah Hawley weaves an intricate web of intrigue, fate, human nature and the bonds that link characters together.

2nd Grade Ancient Egypt Printmaking in Art Class

        As the second graders embark on their study of Ancient Egypt in their classroom, they are becoming more familiar with imagery associated with the time period. In art class, they were introduced to the concept of a motif, or a decorative image, and quickly identified some motifs from Ancient Egyptian artwork and artifacts. The students began their first Ancient Egypt art project by drawing an Egyptian motif of their choice on paper. They then transferred their images to a thin styrofoam printmaking plate. 

 


        In the subsequent art class, they learned how to use a brayer to roll out printmaking ink and apply it evenly to the surface of their plates, then place paper on top and apply pressure using a baren, creating a print of their image. They then set to work, selecting different colors of paper and creating an edition of at least four prints.

 

         In order to prepare their work for exhibition at Egypt Night, they created decorative metallic painted frames and their prints were mounted to their frames. The second graders were thrilled to learn about the artistic practice of printmaking and enjoyed the magical moment when they peeled their paper off to reveal their design. As students had multiple opportunities to practice the technique, they noticed that being careful to apply ink evenly and using the baren to apply pressure all over the surface, resulted in clearer prints. They can't wait to see their work displayed in the hallways!

A 2nd grader reflecting in her sketchbook about the process

Pajama Day!

This coming Thursday(2/9), we will celebrate Pajama Day along with the Middle and Upper Schools - so get your PJ's ready!

Friday (2/10) is conference day, and there is no school that day.  

Historical Fiction Book Clubs in Fourth Grade

Fourth grade students reading Number the Stars, Lily's Crossing and Riding Freedom had their last book club discussions this past week. Fourth graders have been immersed in studying the structure of historical fiction, deepening their understanding of how a specific time in history can enable individuals to grow as they face challenges. As students walk in the shoes of characters from a different time in history, they are able to build empathy and gain insight into the personality and actions of the characters from their book. 

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry and Lily's Crossing by Patricia Reilly Giff take place during World War II. Number the Stars takes place in Denmark during the Nazi occupation. We see ten-year-old Anne Marie and her family help her Jewish friend Ellen and her family escape Denmark to Sweden. Readers learn how the population of Denmark joined together in a Resistance movement to enable their Jewish residents to escape harm during this time period. 

Lily's Crossing takes place in New York. In this book Lily's father is sent to Europe during World War II to help as an engineer, and Lily is alone with her grandmother at their seaside summer home in Far Rockaway.  Lily's best summer friend Margaret and her family need to move in order for her father to help the war effort. Lily is lonely until she meets Albert, a ten year old refugee from Hungary.  As their friendship develops we find out why Albert is so determined to find a way to go to France and rescue his sister. Lily knows his plan is dangerous but doesn't want to tell him the truth. Both Albert and Lily discover the true meaning of friendship and the bonds of family as this story unfolds.

Riding Freedom by Pam Munoz Ryan is the fictionalized biography of Charlotte Parkhurst.  Charlotte, known as Charley, is the only girl raised in an orphanage after the death of her parents. The woman who runs the kitchen wants Charlotte to stay at the orphanage in order to work for her and prevents her from being adopted. Vern, a former slave in charge of the stable at the orphanage, befriends Charlotte and teaches her to take care of and ride horses. After her only friend is adopted, she ends up running from the orphanage disguised as a boy with the help of Vern, and pursues her dream of being a stage coach driver, owner of a ranch and the first woman to vote- even though living in the 1800's in the West, she has continued to live her life as a man. The theme of friendship, loyalty, facing challenges and bravery is found in all three of these books. 

 

Author Stacy Anulty Friendship with Lower School Students and Teachers

In the fall, author Stacy McAnulty visited our early childhood classes as well as kindergarten through third grade. We all loved her presentation. In preparation for her visit, teachers started to read aloud the first book from The Dino Files series. Since then many students have listened to and read the next two books in the series.  Teachers and our librarians, Michelle and Doris, also read aloud her picture books and guided students in discussion. 

Kathy's class wrote a thank you letter to Stacy, and they were so excited when they received a letter from Stacy last week! She shared that she had just published her new picture book, Mr. Fuzzbuster Knows He's the Favorite. 

In fact, Stacy had mailed Ann this new picture book to share with the students in Lower School! Stacy wrote in her card, "Ann, Thank you again for inviting me to Abington Friends School last fall. I had a blast. I thought your students might enjoy my newest book. Happy 2017! Stacy"

We are filled with gratitude that Stacy had such a wonderful visit and has been so thoughtful in sharing her new book with us.

Multiplication and Division in Second Grade

We recently introduced multiplication to the second graders, a concept they generally have an understanding of and are able to grasp intuitively.  When I initially asked the class what they knew about multiplication, they were able to give some examples of multiplication number sentences that they knew, proudly stating, "3x5=15" or "2x4=8."  Through hands on practice with multiplication, the students have  expanded their understanding of multiplication to include the idea of equal groups as being an essential part of multiplication.  In fact at the beginning of of exploration of multiplication we say, "4 groups of 5" instead of, "4 times 5" when reading a problem aloud so that we can reinforce the understanding of multiplication as "groups of."

One of our initial multiplication activities was a game called "Circles and Stars," which helped students practice creating and answering simple multiplication sentences.  In this partner activity, each person would roll a die once and draw that number of circles.  He/she would then roll again and draw that number of stars in each circle.  They would then create an equation to go with their drawing.  This activity provides a strong visual representation of multiplication as repeated addition. 

After spending a few days working on multiplication, we connected our study to division.  Students were well aware that multiplication is repeated addition and quickly grasped that division is repeated subtraction.  Understanding that both multiplication and division deal with equal groups is important before they learn about the operations at higher levels.

To try at home:

Show your child equal groups of an object, for example, 3 groups of 5 beans. 
• Have your child count the number of groups and the number of beans in each group.
 • Have your child write the relevant addition and multiplication sentences. 
For example, 5 + 5 + 5 = 15  and  3 × 5 = 15 

You can also ask your child to teach you circles and stars- all you need is a die, paper and a pencil.