Second Graders Music Writing

The 2^nd Graders have been working hard at creating melodies and rhythmic chants. We are now working at writing these rhythms and melodies down on paper. We have then been playing these melodies on xylophones and adding addition percussion instruments like finger cymbals, tambourines and drums.

These are some of the rhythmic chants that the Second Graders wrote. They then turned these into do, re and me melodies.

This is an example of Rhythmic and Melodic dictation - listen and writing down the rhythm and then the melody.

Addition Fun in Kindergarten

Kindergarten has begun to explore the wonderful world of addition. Before we began to take a closer look at addition, we re-visited numeral formation with several multi-sensory activities- play dough and our mini chalkboards. 

Forming small numerals...

and large numerals!

   

We discovered that we spend so much time writing letters that we needed a little refresher with numeral writing before our addition work could begin. The children were excited to begin using numbers in a different way!




Our addition exploration began with  a read aloud called 12 Ways to Get to 11 by Eve Merriam. On each page, the children observed the many combinations of numerals and corresponding objects that could make the sum or total of 11.

The young mathematicians were eager to begin their own number story telling and used bear manipulatives to tell a story up to five with a partner, complete with numbers and the plus and equal signs. We were amazed at the understanding that the children shared of what the equal sign meant:

• "the total"
• "the same as the other side number"
• "those two small numbers are the parts to put together to get the bigger number at the end"   

 

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Next the children used unifix cubes to aid them in discovering all of the ways to make five. This time the challenge was to write the number sentence complete with plus and equal signs!

                                         

Over the next few weeks, we will continue to look at addition in many ways by creating more number stories, using dominoes to create number problems, and playing new math games to strengthen developing number sense and addition skills.

All Egypt, All the time!!!

As we have become further immersed in our study of ancient Egypt, our newest book groups reflect this learning. We have started to read two books, Mummies in the Morning, from the “Magic Tree House” series by Mary Pope Osborne and the non-fiction companion research guide, Mummies and Pyramids, also by the same author. The fiction text allows us to tag along with Jack and Annie as they are transported back in time (by the “magic tree house”, of course) to ancient Egypt. In this series, there is always a mystery to solve as well as lots to learn about a particular time and place in history. The research guide gives students even greater opportunities to research and build their knowledge about specific aspects of ancient Egyptian life. As they read both texts we are looking to solidify reading comprehension and to further develop inferential thinking through our discussions and independent written work.

We have also been reading several other Egyptian stories including, The Blue Faience Hippopotamus, by Joan Grant. This sweet tale about a love-sick hippo is the inspiration for this week’s Art project! Each student fashioned a small hippo out of clay and will glaze it after an initial firing in the kiln.



Our current chapter book read aloud is Boy of the Pyramids, A Mystery of Ancient Egypt. This adventurous tale has two children as the main characters, Kaffe and Sari. Second graders are not only enjoying this exciting story but they also are learning many details about life in ancient Egypt.


Egypt has also inspired some imaginative play during recess, complete with costumes!

This Friday, with the help of resources teachers, we made ancient Egyptian portrait masks.

To create the masks, students work in small groups of 3 or 4. While one person lays on the table, his or her partners put plaster strips on his/her face. After two or three layers, the mask quickly dried and was ready to be removed. In a future art class, the students will have the chance to paint the mask in ancient Egyptian style.

Portrait masks were sometimes put on a mummy because the ancient Egyptians believed that when a person died they had a Ba and a Ka. The Ba was the soul of the dead person and the Ka was a invisible copy of the person. In order for the Ba and Ka to recognize the mummy in the Afterlife, they made a portrait mask. Families will get to see these portrait masks as part of the extensive displays during Egypt Night, Tuesday, March 17th.

Science in the Spring!

There are a lot of science activities that are happening this spring so save these dates!

All School Science Night
Science Night is Thursday April 16th from 7 to 8:30 PM.  Join us for an evening filled with student presentations, demonstrations and activities.  Lower School activities will include special presentations by the Academy of Natural Sciences, Briar Bush Nature Center, Primex Garden Center and other guests.  There will be lots of hands-on science for everyone to enjoy!

Nature Build/Nature Playdate

Our 3rd Annual AFS/Briar Bush Nature Center Nature Playdate has an added dimension this year!  In addition to the nature play activities for young children there will be an emphasis on building and art activities for older students as well.  Join us on May 2nd for this very popular event from 10-12 in the morning.  Watch for the announcement of other environmental activities that will also be taking place at AFS that day.

PHS Tree Tenders Course
AFS is excited to be hosting the PHS Tree Tenders® program this spring. During three evening sessions, you will learn the basics of tree planting and care including tree biology, identification, stresses, planting, pruning and root care. You'll learn how to use these skills in your home landscape and in helping to restore the tree canopy in your neighborhood and the region. The course will be held in May in the Upper School 
5/5, 5/12 & 5/19 from 6-9 pm   Fee: $25.00  
Go to http://phsonline.org/greening/tree-tenders to sign up for the course!

Scene Study

The students who recently finished reading Yang the Youngest and His Terrible Ear in fourth grade engaged in a dramatic reading of scenes from the book. Each student picked a scene that included dialogue from a part of the book that they felt a strong connection. Their role was to be the director. In order to direct their scene, each student needed to know what characters needed to be cast. Each scene needed a narrator to read the lines that weren't part of the dialogue and the characters that talked to each other during the scene. The director gave the characters tips and showed them where to stand in the room. Each scene was then acted with book in hand. Every student was invested in this close reading and dramatic interpretation of the scene. As a final experience with this book, the dramatic reading and assuming the role of director helped each student to experience a deeper understanding of the book.

100 Days of Kindergarten!!

This slideshow made with Smilebox

We cannot believe that the 100th Day of School has already happened!  And, it happened on our Valentine's Day as well, making it that much more special!  We had been counting down, and counting up (by ones, fives and tens!) with great anticipation of this big day.

We were thrilled with all that happened!  Our third grade partners joined us in the morning to make all kinds of wonderful animals from a variety of one hundred hearts.  There were dragons, caterpillars, cats, birds, and whales to name just a few.  The creative energy was flowing at 100%!

We had fun seeing and hearing about all the different items that our classmates brought in:  M&Ms, pennies, pasta, toys, bottle caps, bracelet beads, marbles and so much more.  We set up a little museum display to have a closer look at the many ways we could show 100.  We even imagined what we would look like at 100 years old and drew self portraits!  They will sure be fun to look back on one day!

And of course all of our jobs that help us keep track of the days were awesome.  We filled our tens frames, our hundred's chart reached 100, we had 100 straws and we got to trade in ten dimes for a dollar bill!  How cool is that!!

But, to top it all off, we had a pizza lunch that made 100!  One rectangle pizza and two circle pizzas delighted us to no end!  We were very happy lunchers and loved our Valentine 100th Day of School!

Movie Night!

Extended Day Innovation, Collaboration, and Celebration!

Our Extended Day program has been innovating creative ideas as the chilly weather keeps everyone indoors.  Below is a peek into Kindergarten's creation of an obstacle course for our EC children.  Small groups of four worked with faculty member Jaime Katz to create challenging obstacle courses for our youngest students to study and engage with during the afternoon. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TV14XEPPAic&feature=youtu.be

Extended Day also recently celebrated faculty member Amelia Mraz as she ventures forward into a new journey as a Mental Health Technician working with children and adults.  Amelia has been a part of our program for several years and we are delighted that she is taking new steps in her career!  Amelia, along with the entire Extended Day family, enjoyed an afternoon of cake, celebration, magic shows, and fun for all.  We wish Amelia all the best in her new adventure, and know we will see her again as a substitute on our campus!

Collecting New Socks!

Los números en la primera infancia / Numbers in Early Childhood

Learning about los números is very important. It serves a foundation for young learners’ first step towards becoming budding mathematicians. In our Early Childhood program, math learning is about counting, number recognition, and one-to-one correspondence. In an attempt to foster their academic development, these skills have also been integrated with their Spanish language experience.

To reinforce their numeral skills, the younger students are being provided with many fun activities during their Spanish class. We began by reading Scholastic’s book, Números. 

Through familiar objects (e.g., puppies, kittens, apples, etc.) the young learners were introduced to the Spanish word for numbers 1 through 5.  On each page, the number symbol was shown as well as the written word and objects that represented the number. Everyone had a lot of fun calling out the number and counting the objects one-by-one, all in Spanish. After the read aloud, a quick entertaining game of los matamoscas (the fly swatters) was played. This is certainly one of the Early Childhood students' favorite games. Soon, we will be doing the same for numbers 5 through 10 and up to 20 with other activities.

Last week we celebrated the “100^th Day of School”.  The 100^th day of school is literally just that, we have attended school for 100 days since September. This milestone served as a wonderful opportunity to teach the 3’s/4’s to count by tens, in Spanish. A short read by Anastasia Suen, El día 100, introduced us to the vocabulary for the number 100. Then, we counted aloud by 10’s…

diez - ten

veinte - twenty

trenta - thirty

cuarenta - forty

 cincuenta - fifty

 sesenta - sixty

setenta - seventy

ochenta - eighty

noventa - ninety

cien - one hundred

…followed with a brief Bingo game. The children had so much fun as they heard the number and looked to match the symbol shown. There is an enormous amount of satisfaction that comes with yelling out the word, “BINGO!” and every student got the opportunity to do just that. What fun!  

Stay tuned as we continue to provide challenging activities to enhance learning the basics of mathematical thinking in our young learners in a second language.