PIONEER journals

Second graders have begun writing their pioneer journals.  They have some flexibility in choosing the characters and events involved in their adventure but the setting and details must be authentic to the time period. We have read quite a bit of historical fiction this year and the kids are excited to create their own works of fiction.  They will use information learned from their at home reading of If You Traveled West in a  Covered Wagon as well as our reading books and the many classroom resources, fiction and non-fiction including Diary of Sallie Hester A Covered Wagon Girl, a primary source.  

In an email last week we shared these two internet resources:

The Oregon Trail

Oregon~California Trails Association

Here are a few more:

Pioneer Children's Games

Westward Expansion : The Oregon Trail

Bureau of Land Management: Homework Helpers

Kids on the Trail

And this one is a list of primary sources: Overlanders Stories and Diaries

Please encourage your child to explore these sites.

FORAGING

It was gorgeous day and fourth grade took the opportunity to go and explore the campus and forage for natural matter to be used at the Nature Playdate. The students initially were quite upset not to get a regular recess on the playground. Once they were tasked with finding large sticks and tree limbs to make forts with and smaller items for building fairy houses, their chagrin turned to smiles as they set off to explore. 

They searched the grounds of the campus and found an abundant amount of interesting material. We ended up by the creek where they found a rather large garter snake and were thrilled with their discovery. The experience was a great success. One student shared that they were uncomfortable with the idea initially because they never play outside or do this kind of thing. I'm not sure we have a convert yet, but by the end of recess they appeared much happier.

A Mysterious Package!

The 2^nd graders shared in the joy of opening a package that was delivered to the music room! There was some speculation as to what was inside… ‘a box of mallets,’ ‘instruments,’ ‘food!’

We were excited to find a new soprano xylophone! Each child had the opportunity to put a bar on the xylophone.

Tree Tenders Training here at AFS.

PHS Tree Tenders Training here at AFS!  

During three energetic sessions learn the basics of tree planting and care including tree biology, identification, stresses, planting, pruning and root care - and how to use these skills in your home landscape and in helping to restore the tree canopy in your neighborhood and the region. This class runs May 5, 12 and 19 from 6-9 PM.  The fee is $25.00

Location

Abington Friends School
Upper School - Room 15
575 Washington Lane
Jenkintown, PA 19046

Register at this link: https://www.pennhort.net/treetenders

From Eggs to Kindergarten Chicks

  

Kindergarten students and others throughout our community loved the addition of our twelve eggs and an incubator to our space. Daily visitors would check in to see the progress of the eggs as we waited patiently and made predictions about which egg would hatch first. Many observational drawings were created to document this wonderful project focusing on the life cycle of a chicken.

After seven days of wonder and waiting, Monday morning arrived and so did the first hatches from our twelve eggs. The children were overjoyed! They watched in amazement as the newborn chicks struggled to take their first steps after working so hard for hours chipping away at the eggshell with their egg teeth. There was some initial concern that the chicks were not okay because they were wet and not moving much.  After the heat of the incubator dried their down, the baby chicks began to stir and began chirping and moving about with more ease.

Then it was time to move the chicks to the brooder box where they could be introduced to food and water for the very first time. The children watched in amazement as the chicks quickly acclimated to their new living space complete with a heating lamp and a multitude of siblings!

The chicks became the focus of our week as friends watched the growth and behavior changes as the days passed. The highlight of the week was when each child carefully held a chick. The baby chicks quickly became dear to the children as a variety of names were heard to name "their" chicks with names such as Fluffy, Fluffy One, Stubborn, and Samuel Jr. Our kindergarten chick project is something to look forward to each year and it is fascinating to see children in older grades return and share in the joy once again!

Parent Program, "What Color Am I?: Tips on talking to your kids about race"

For additional information and to RSVP please click HERE.

Eco Fest - May 2nd!

We need 2 liter soda bottles, as many as we can get!  Please help us collect so that we can build a special type of green house on May 2nd.  Donations for Eco Fest can be dropped off in the Lower School Lobby.  Thank you for all your help and support!

Science in the Summer

This is a great free science program at the Abington Free Library!  Registration starts online on May 4th.

Introduction to Strings Performance - Tuesday, May 26

Lower School Assembly

Featuring - Introduction to Strings

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

8:30 a.m. in Muller Auditorium

Throughout the fourth grade, AFS students study a string instrument in addition to their classroom music experiences. After several months of preparation, this year's fourth grade will be sharing a short performance at our Lower School Assembly on Tuesday, May 26, 2015. The assembly will begin around 8:30 a.m. All families are welcome to join us to preview the work of the fourth grade. 

We hope you can attend for this special celebration!

Spring Art Activities

The art room has been abuzz with springtime art activities. Student energy is high and as we delve into some complex art projects, students are given a chance to showcase they skills they have honed over the year and deepen their knowledge of materials and concepts as they revisit them in new ways.

In first grade, the students have been carefully observing signs of spring in nature, in particular, beautiful blooming daffodils. The first graders spent time using their observational drawing skills to create stunning daffodil drawings using  a new material, payons, or watercolor crayons. They will continue their daffodil exploration through poetry in their classroom.

In third grade, the students continue to gear up for the author visit from Grace Lin. They are creating puppets of characters from her book Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. During an integration time, the students cut and stitched puppet clothes, using their expert sewing skills. Soon they will be adding papier maché puppet heads and hands to complete their creations.

In fourth grade, the students have continued their study of Pennsylvania artists by learning about Andy Warhol. After viewing his repeated printed images, the students discussed his subject matter and the aesthetics of his work. They were eager to create their own linoleum printing plates by carving their images, and then printing them multiple times on background paper which they watercolored. The final results are very striking!

Osmosis

On Monday, the 4th grade finished the last stage of their osmosis experiment. They began the Growing and Shrinking Egg experiment by dissolving the egg shells in vinegar. The vinegar's acetic acid reacted with the calcium carbonate of the egg shell to produce carbon dioxide, calcium, and water. While you don't notice the water, and might not see the calcium, you definitely notice the bubbles of carbon dioxide gas form on the egg and release to the surface. The result is a shell-less egg with just the membrane left behind.

Once the eggs' shells vanished, the students started the growing and shrinking process with corn syrup and water. Corn syrup has a very high density that comes from a high concentration of dissolved sugar. These sugar molecules are too large to pass through the semipermeable membrane of the egg, but the water molecules from the egg can. These water molecules pass through the membrane of the egg into the corn syrup until the concentration of water molecules is the same on both sides. The water movement, from egg to syrup, results in the shrunken egg. The other eggs that were soaked in water grew, but why? Just as the concentration of water molecules is higher in the egg than in the corn syrup, the egg has less water concentration than that of the water. Water molecules are moving into the egg, instead of out. The increase in water results in the expansion of the egg!

Before saying goodbye to their eggs the students decided they had to give them a proper sendoff and made containers for their eggs to "travel" in. It was a fun and creative end to a very popular experiment!