Lower School Book Club

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: 10:04: A Novel by Ben Lerner

Location: Lower School Library

Date: Tuesday, March 22, 2016 from 8:00-9:00am.

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

Description: In the past year, the main character/narrator of this novel, has been diagnosed with a potentially fatal illness, written a well received first novel, has been given a substantial advance on a second novel and has been asked by his best friend to father her child. Ben Lerner explores a young author’s questions of identity, worry about bringing a child into a precarious world, and the ability of an author to move and touch a reader’s heart through the form of a novel. Ben Lerner incorporates humor and brilliance into his writing and the reader will certainly experience the diverse and complex world created through the eyes of the narrator.

100th Day of School!

Third graders marked our 100th Day of School in style, with an assortment of fun and challenging math, language arts, and physical fitness activities.  On Tuesday, we greeted each other with a special 100th Day greeting at morning meeting and then involved ourselves in all things 100!  In math, we came up with equations that equaled 100, including using our new conceptual understanding of factorial and sigma.  We also measured 100 feet from our classroom, finding out the shortest way to library, science, or the art class.  We timed ourselves for one hundred seconds to say the alphabet, or count to 100, or to do jumping jacks.  Kindergarten also joined in the festivities and participated in one hundred fitness activities before chomping down on a well-deserved One Hundred Day snack.

The 100th Day of School is an important milestone for us.  We are proud of what we have accomplished and learned about so far and are looking forward to much, much more in the next 75 days!

Happy New Year!

Third grade has had a blast celebrating the Chinese New Year for the past few weeks!    In class, we've been learning about the history and many of the traditions of this important holiday.  We've also been engaging in a variety of fun and exciting activities and events to help us ring in the new year!

Last week, third graders hosted the New York Chinese Cultural Center who performed dances and acrobatics for the Lower and Middle Schools at assembly.  Students were amazed at the strength, flexibility, and artistry of the 5 performers who did everything from fan dancing, to lion dancing, to martial arts.

Afterwards, we had the opportunity to participate in a special workshop to learn ribbon and fan dancing.  Third graders took to each type of dance with aplomb and skill and showed off their talents in new dances.   We learned about the proper techniques for holding our fans and ribbons and also several moves designed to look like dragons, butterflies, or water.   Take a look at our beautiful dances below!

Sentimientos en Primera Infancia – Feelings in Early Childhood

An area of interest that our youngest learners have been expressing is the concept of identifying their feelings....en español! “I’m tired today! Hey Alicia, how do you say tired in Spanish... How do you say happy... excited?” were a few of the comments and questions the children have been asking during Spanish class. So, to start we read Janan Cain’s, “The Way I Feel / Así me siento yo”. This book uses words and situations familiar to children to describe a wide variety of emotions. The illustrations are fantastic as the color and scenes really portray the emotions that are being introduced. 

 

After an introduction to the vocabulary, the students were invited to pick an emotion to demonstrate. A photograph was taken of each student expressing a feeling and flashcards were created. 

triste / sad                      enojado(a) / angry

decepcionada(o) / disappointed

chistoso(a) / silly

aburrida(o) / bored

These flashcards were then used to play many games of los matamoscas (the fly swatters) using the small and big swatters.

We also played with  el dado (the die). Each child was asked to toss the cube with clear pockets holding the flashcards, and when it settled, they identified the feeling and asked everyone else to join in expressing it. ¡Qué divertido!

Another fun game that was crafted using the students’ photographs was Bingo. The flashcards were placed in a bag and each child took a turn at pulling out a card with a feeling picture, identifying the feeling en español, making the expression on their face, and then placing a marker on the appropriate face on their Bingo card. This one was a big hit! We wonder in what direction this study will lead us...

Lower School Book Club

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: 10:04: A Novel by Ben Lerner

Location: Lower School Library

Date: Tuesday, March 22, 2016 from 8:00-9:00am.

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

During this last year the main character/narrator of this novel, has been diagnosed with a potentially fatal illness, written a well received first novel, has been given a substantial advance on a second novel and has been asked by his best friend to father her child. Ben Lerner explores a young author’s questions of identity, worry about bringing a child into a precarious world, and the ability of an author to move and touch a reader’s heart through the form of a novel. Ben Lerner incorporates humor and brilliance into his writing and the reader will certainly experience the diverse and complex world created through the eyes of the narrator.

More Exploration of Ancient Egypt

Second grade continues to explore all things ancient Egyptian!  We are immersed in a variety of reading and projects that connect to this intriguing study and help us build our knowledge about this time and place in history.   We are learning about the many Gods and Goddesses worshipped, specific details about the process of making a mummy and reading many great stories.

Here is a link to the British Museum's website.  There is a section about gods & goddesses as well as other information.  http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/menu.html

This is another website that has lots of information about ancient Egypt:
http://www.historyforkids.net/ancient-egypt.html

And there is currently an exhibit at the Franklin Institute called Lost Egypt that would be great for a family outing.   https://www.fi.edu/lost-egypt  

Fourth Grade Shares Expertise of Colonial Trades

The students have been deeply engaged in all things colonial for a while and their investigatory skills were put to the test while researching their individual colonial trades. 

They spent weeks reading and pouring through books, looking at photos, and watching videos of historic interpretations of how different colonial tradesmen went about mastering their crafts and how they conducted business in their communities. 

This past week students wore period costumes while presenting their knowledge at booths outfitted with props and handcrafted wooden signboards of their own making.

They were tasked with creating an interactive exercise to share with visitors to allow them to experience first hand what was involved with each trade. Parents, teachers and students spent the morning listening and learning from our resident silversmiths, apothecaries, barbers, wigmakers, farmers, innkeepers, milliners, blacksmiths, shipbuilders, schoolmasters, surveyors, shoemakers, cabinetmakers and printers about life in the 18th century. The students' excitement was palpable throughout the morning. They concluded their trade fair with a trip to the music room for a fun and spirited dance of the Virginia Reel.

Malala Fund

Hello AFS Community,

I have an amazing opportunity for you all to help woman and children in the Middle East (and the surrounding areas) go to school!

The Malala Fund, partnered with Schoola, is an organization that helps girls complete 12 years of safe schooling and they need our help. They are asking us to fill a bag with clothing for toddlers, kids, and women. They appreciate things that are high-quality, well cared for, in new or like new condition, and freshly laundered and dry. 

What's appropriate? Baby clothes, dresses, jeans, skirts, tops, bottoms, handbags.

What's not appropriate? Sleepwear, undies, socks, infant clothing, items that are stretched/stained/faded/missing labels/homemade/altered/counterfeit/offensive. 

To donate an item (or items), drop them off in the box in the Upper School front lobby labelled "Items for the Malala Fund/Schoola." The box will be out until February 29.  If you have any questions, please feel free to email me and/or visit the above links for more information. 

Thanks for your help,  

Rachel Yakobashvili '16

Abington Friends School

575 Washington Lane,

Jenkintown, PA 19046

Exploring Light and Color

In kindergarten science class, we've been exploring light and color.  What is the color of light?  The students guessed white, yellow, gold, blue, and clear.  We took a walk with prism glasses to discover that all of the colors of the rainbow make up light!  The students then designed and created their own rainbow "kaleidoscopes."  Next, we did a few experiments with water jelly crystals.  We are exploring what happens when you put the red, yellow and blue crystals into a test tube. Will they combine to create a rainbow?  Stay tuned for the answer to this experiment next week!

Indian Classical Music Residency

Composing an Alap

Over the past several weeks, students have been practicing singing the raaga we learned from Janani when she first introduced Indian Classical Music to us. Students can now sing the Mohanam Raaga on their own reciting the swaras (notes) by memory. 

This week, students started creating their own improvisations based on the raaga. This is called the Alap. Since students are still new to this musical tradition, they will not perform the alap they way it would traidionally be performed, that is, like most improvisations-spontaneously and on the spot during a performance. However, students did do some exploring of the raaga, using Orff instruments which were prepared and labeled with the swaras. After exploring, students documented some of the improvisations. 

We will use a combination of their ideas to bookend a song we are going to learn and perform with Janani for our culminating assembly on March 18. 

Check-out the photos of these creative and hard-working musicians!

Getting Ready for Raku

The Abington Friends School Art Department is preparing for a very special visitor to our campus this April, ceramic artist Brett Thomas. Brett will be bringing his mobile raku unit to run raku firings of ceramic pieces created by lower, middle and upper school students. Raku firing is an outdoor firing method using direct flames and natural materials which burn on the surface of ceramic pieces to create a variety of finishes. To learn more about raku and Brett Thomas, visit his website: http://www.mobileraku.com/

      One of the goals of the art department in developing this event was to build community and create connections surrounding art across grade levels. As the Lower Schoolers have begun creating pieces that will later go in the raku firing, the 3- and 4- year old students have been paired with 3rd and 4th grade buddies to help them create their projects. Their buddies will also be responsible for firing their young friend's work on the day of Brett's visit.

                            

Photos by Alicia Fernández

3rd Grade's List of Traits of a Good Teacher

Before helping the early childhood students, the older students brainstormed some qualities of a good teacher. Friends agreed that good teachers listened, were joyful, helped their students without doing the work for them, made their students feel comfortable and encouraged their ideas. The 3rd and 4th grade students did a wonderful job of connecting with younger peers, guiding them in their work and sharing with them in the joy of art-making.

Every Lower School student will be making two pieces that will put in the raku firing. All grade levels have been very excited to start this momentous project!

Two Great Novels in Third Grade

Third grade students are reading either Ruby Booker and the Booker Boys or Alvin Ho Allergic to Girls, School and Other Scary Things in small book groups. Both of these books have vividly written main characters who develop friendships, face challenges and solve problems.

Lenore Look states on her blog https://lenorelook.wordpress.com/qa/ that she developed her character Alvin Ho from different boys that she knew. Lenore shared that she is Chinese American and that her parents, grandparents and great-grandparents emigrated to Seattle, Washington from China. She grew up speaking a form of Cantonese in her home and includes this connection in her books.

Derrick Barnes shared on his Scholastic author page:
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/contributor/derrick-barnes 
that the Booker boys are based on his three sons and the character of Ruby is based on the daughter that he and his wife always envisioned.  He writes, " To me, Ruby embodies every determined, intelligent, creative, beautiful, African American girl I've ever known.  But Ruby's not perfect.  Along with her sweetness, Ruby can be a little mouthy and hard to get along with at times. Thankfully, she's cradled in the arms of a strong and loving family, and even with her flaws, she would make any Booker Boy proud."  

Discussion is lively, as students connect, questions and share their ideas. Writing follows reading and discussions and allows students to further sharpen their thinking.