Estudio de baile en 4º Grado / Dance Study in 4th Grade

To provide the fourth graders an opportunity to learn more about Latino culture, a dance study has taken root and the students are ecstatic to take part. To start our journey, the students watched introductory videos such as “Chuck Vanderchuck / The History of Salsa” by PBS Kids (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfrA0S9A-70) and “Latin Music” by BrainPOP (https://www.brainpop.com/artsandmusic/musicalgenres/latinmusic/). These videos introduced the fourth graders to some of the many different styles of Latin music, where Latin sounds come from, and what cultures they draw on. They also familiarized the students with some of the most popular categories of Latin music such as salsa, merengue, bossa nova, ranchera, and tango.

After the viewing, the students were invited to break into groups of four. Then, each group was asked to pick from one of three Latin music genres; salsa, bachata, or merengue. Once the group agreed to a specific genre, a video by “ArtsEdge; The Kennedy Center’s Arts Education Network” was introduced that included a demonstration of the basic steps to their dance of choice. 

The goal? To learn the steps for their chosen dance and demonstrate it to the class with a culminating activity of presenting in an assembly to our Lower School community.

A portion of the Estudio de baile (Dance Study) is a written component where the students research the history of the dance including the country of origin, the types of musical instruments used, and some of the famous Latin music artists. Their found facts will also be shared with the larger group.

The fourth graders have been working very hard at learning these steps, even being creative by including their own sabor (flavor) to their dance. If you are able, please join us this Friday (3/10) to watch them perform their learned skills during our morning assembly at 8:30. Come feel el ritmo latino!!

Spring into Family Reading Time

Spring is a great time to revitalize your family reading time. The number one tip is to make reading aloud a priority. All ages of children can enjoy hearing a variety of stories read aloud. Perhaps the time after dinner is the perfect opportunity to take fifteen minutes while your children are still alert and institute a tradition of reading aloud. If you have a child in early childhood classes and an elementary school age child you can include your older child in reading aloud a picture book to your younger child. Often the younger child will enjoy playing nearby while you read a chapter book aloud to your elementary age children. 

When reading aloud, the following strategies are helpful in bringing the book alive for your children and increasing their engagement in the reading experience.

• Preview the book by exploring the cover and looking at the pictures in the book.

• Set the purpose for reading the book by stating whether the book is nonfiction or fiction and having your child make a connection to similar books.

• Have fun as you read and use different voices for the different characters.

• Your child can echo lines from the book that contain rhyming words or patterns. 

• Pause after every couple of pages to talk with your child about the characters, setting or plot when reading a fiction book. If the book is nonfiction, have your child talk about facts that they already knew and facts that are new for them. Then have them generate questions that they hope will be answered as they read the book.

• When finished reading, ask your child, what part of the book really stood out for them or what was their favorite part and why. 

Bedtime reading is a time to be treasured. This is a time where reading a book will allow your child to follow the story in a more relaxed manner as they prepare to fall asleep. Families and children who read at bedtime often remember these encounters with books as a wonderful experience.

The following links are for booklists that offer great suggestions and include age suggestions.

http://www.readaloudamerica.org/pdfs/2016BookList.pdf

http://www.scholastic.com/100BestReadAloudBooks/

https://www.goodreads.com/list/tag/read-aloud

Take a moment and remember some of your favorite books to read or listen to as a child. These books are wonderful selections to read with your child. They will be very excited to listen even more closely knowing that you loved this book when you were a child.

Singing, Cannon, Audiation and Movement in Second Grade

"Sally Go Round the Sun"

Singing, Cannon, Audiation and Movement

Second Grade

"Sally go 'round the sun

Sally go 'round the moon

Sally go 'round the chimney top

Ev'ry afternoon, woo!."

Second graders delighted in learning the song and game for the popular English children's song called "Sally Go 'Round the Sun".

First, students learned the song. We then got into a big circle and walked in one direction for 16 beats (the length of the song) and then switched directions to do the same thing again going in the opposite direction on the 16th beat when we exclaimed, "Woo!" Students were then directed to perform the same movements again while audiating the song and only speaking the "woo!" part. Audiating occurs whenever you are able to hear a song in your head. Students stepped more purposefully to the beat, which made this process easier. 

Next, students moved into pre-assigned groupings to create two concentric circles. They performed the entire song in cannon also known as a round, where one group begins the song and the other group joins in a few beats later, creating harmony. Harmony is when two or more notes are played or sung simultaneously. You will notice that the groups do not start moving until their part begins, creating canon in movement as well as in singing. 

Each level of this activity called on a variety of aspect of the students' musical skills as well as those skills they are developing in their classroom including, rhythm and pulse/math, audiation/memorization, singing, ensemble and performing contrasting parts of a song creating harmony, not to mention working collectively and collaboratively in a g. All of these skills rely on higher order thinking for each level of difficulty, generating focus and a sense of accomplishment and joy when all the parts are performed. 

See if you can hear the harmony in the videos below. The students did a superb job!

Imagination in Kindergarten

"No, Baby Dragon, No!!!!"  A student runs across the playground, yelling after a friend.  Apparently, her baby dragon is not cooperating.  There is great joy in watching children immerse themselves in imaginative play.  There are also many benefits.  Imagination is the fuel for creativity.  There is range of important cognitive and physical development happening when our students engage in this type of play.  Pretend play allows children an opportunity to understand the world from multiple perspectives.  As they role play, they begin to feel what it is like to be a parent or a baker or a "bad guy."  They learn how to communicate more effectively as they negotiate and puzzle through novel situations.  They problem solve and create scenarios using various props.  They also develop their fine and gross motor skills.  As we exercise our imagination we become smarter, stronger, and kinder.  This "play" is very important work!

                                      A human mother with her fire breathing Baby Dragon

                                                                   Playing family

                                                                Bakers hard at work

                                                     I'm making a fire so we can survive

                                                      Keeping warm at "the beach"

                                                   "What are you girls pretending to do?"
                                  "Oh, we are not pretending we are doing something real."
                                                          "Oh what are you doing?"
                                                     "We are making genie bottles."

Here is a link to an article about Imaginative Play that might be helpful to read :-)

STEAM Night

STEAM Night

Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math

 is Thursday, April 6th, from 6:30-8:00 PM

This is the same night as middle school and upper school Science Night which runs from 7:00-8:30 PM. 

Bring the whole family to enjoy a fun-filled evening packed with hands-on activities and beautiful displays of student work. 

 

Highlights include:

Animals from the Natural Academy of Natural Sciences- Math games- Art activities- Ozobots and more!

Connections Near and Far

Throughout the year, second graders have worked to make connections in many different ways. Most recently we have done this with people near, far and in-between! 

Last Friday, both classes traveled once again to Rydal Park to spend time with the residents there. Keisha accompanied us this time and helped lead the students in song, including singing “Happy Birthday” to two of the residents! 

Also at the end of last week, the latest batch of letters were sent out to our family “pen-pals” with news of our ancient Egypt study and questions about what they enjoyed studying most when they were in school. The responses to each of the letters written by second graders get shared with the whole class, so we all enjoy hearing the stories contained in them. This makes us all feel more connected to each other and our families.

Our connection to our EC buddies continues to grow! We find time most weeks to play, share Meeting for Worship or read together. Recently, the second graders have extended their “pen pal” relationships to their EC buddies as a part of the first grade post office. 

In Sandy and Kyle’s class, Rasheeda came to do “Treasure” and students learned more about her through the story she told once her “treasure,” a track jersey, was revealed. Ask Rasheeda or a second grader to tell you more!

Colonial Trade Fair Draws Students and Visitors Into the Past

On Friday, March 3, fourth graders at AFS presented their much anticipated Colonial Trade Fair, the culminating event in the study of Colonial America. Several weeks prior, fourth graders chose a colonial trade which interested them.

Using a variety of nonfiction sources, they researched in-depth each of their trades, learning about the tools and skills required, what a typical day was like, with whom their tradesperson interacted and why a particular trade was important to a colonial community. Students created informational brochures about their trades, synthesizing the information into their own words and fashioning unique illustrations with watercolor paints. Art teacher Amanda assisted the students in fashioning signs out of wood that hung at each child's station.

For the event, students transformed the fourth grade classrooms into a colonial village, taking on the roles of their trades-people. Wearing historically accurate garb, students welcomed members of the community, tempting guests to visit their stations or booths with historically-themed interactive activities and demonstrations.

Woodworkers invited visitors to hammer nails, blacksmiths demonstrated the use of an anvil, apothecaries filled the classroom with the fragrances of freshly ground herbs and spices, innkeepers explained their central roles in colonial communities while offering fresh baked goods, and barbers offered straight razor shaves (in this case, the "razor" was a popsicle stick!) The day was rounded out with a lesson from music teacher Keisha on how to dance the traditional Virginia Reel.

Role-playing activities in historical contexts such as the Colonial Trade Fair draw students into the past while promoting engagement, imagination and improvisational skills. Students and visitors alike walked away from the event with new knowledge and insight into Colonial America.