Moon Gazing

Third graders have been hard at work studying the moon in our classroom, at home, and in science class this month.  As part of cultural immersion into the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, we have been learning about the moon through research, but also taking time to appreciate the moon’s beauty and majesty.   Last week, we noticed that the moon could still be seen in the morning.  “It’s a waning gibbous!” a few students exclaimed, as they walked into the classroom.  The muted and understated presence of the moon stood in wondrous contrast to the fiery red of the treetops above which the moon hung in the morning breeze.   That morning, we went to take a brief look at the moon, but then we decided we needed an extended time to gaze and commune with the moon.  

The next day, we wandered out into the dewy front lawn, eager to see the moon.  For the first 20 minutes, the moon briefly showed itself, but then stayed hidden among the clouds.  Still, we dutifully sketched the sky, trees, and clouds around it.  Then, all of a sudden, the moon’s brilliant edges shone through and we were all able to watch the moon for just enough time until it disappeared again.  After our game of hide-and –seek with the moon, we sat down together to reflect.  Students shared about different points in time when seeing the moon was meaningful to them – in the quiet of the morning when no one else was awake, or in their backyard in the open air of Oklahoma.  Logan shared about what a privilege it was to be able to go out to see the moon as a class.  “When I grow up, I know that I’m going to look back and remember that we did this together.”   All three of us teachers glanced at each other briefly – and we knew that we would also look back and remember our experience delighting in the moon together with this class.  

A Quilting Story

Second graders are sharing some of their own stories in squares - quilting squares to be exact. As we read some of the amazing books by Patricia Polacco, many of which are based on her own childhood stories, we are connecting to the literature through art and sewing. Each student has the opportunity to create a square with one of four themes: family, birthday, favorite toy, and something they enjoy. As we create the squares, we are reading about Ms. Polacco's family in The Keeping Quilt,  her favorite toy in Betty Doll, a birthday she remembers in Some Birthday and how she struggled to find her own talents in Thank You Mr. Falker. When we have four squares, we will sew them together to make a small quilt. Just the perfect size for a hand sewn teddy bear?

Lower school science and the first grade classes are delighted to be able to say we are forging through with our pledge to help save the monarch butterflies. Not only has first grade raised and released monarch butterflies in their regular classrooms but they have also planted and continue to keep watch over the health and growth of the milkweed plants they planted during science class and housed in our  classroom greenhouse.  In tune with helping preserve the monarch population, first grade learned the difference between harmful herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides and those that are non-harmful to the environment. They furthered their knowledge about safe herbicides by creating and testing a variety of natural herbicides made from salt, vinegar, water, and borax. The herbicides were tested in our science garden with the finding that over time the salt, vinegar, and water herbicide worked best.

 

Second grade is soaring through their study of birds in science.  It has become common chit-chat in class since completing our bird watching adventures to discuss the variation of birds we observe on a daily basis throughout our campus arboretum and within our classroom courtyard at the bird feeders. Most impressive was the massive red tailed hawk that landed in the courtyard seemingly in search of prey and the American Yellow Warbler.

  As we continue to learn about the evolution and adaptation of birds, the second graders have created and defended their own made up animal feather adaptations.  They have also learned about contour and down feathers and how they are gathered to use  in everyday household items. The students have experimented to learn about the effectiveness of using feathers as a form of insulation.

The Mid-Autumn Moon Festival is quickly approaching for the third grade class. In science class we are focussing on all things moon related. The students have learned fantastic facts about the moon's surface, craters, orbit and rotation, and also about its eight phases.  We have completed a cratering demonstration which enabled the students to simulate how meteors are able to create  many craters that are of varying sizes on the moon.  We learned about how the Earth's atmosphere helps keep the surface safe from most potential meteor impact. The students have also created  sun, moon, Earth models to demonstrate the relevance of the rotation and orbit of each in relation to one another. Each night students are looking into the sky to view which of the eight phases the moon is in and recording the information they gather into their Moon Phase Journals.

For EC - 3rd Grade - Book Orders Due!

Abington Friends Lower School Welcomes Stacy McAnulty!

On November 10, Lower School will welcome author Stacy McAnulty for a visit with students in early childhood through third grade. Stacy is a wonderful children's book author of both picture books and chapter books.  Some of her books include:

We look forward to learning more about Stacy and her work as an author.  To order books, please complete the form given out last week in the Friday folders and submit payment by MONDAY, OCT. 31.

Questions? Please email Ann at abotel-barnard@abingtonfriends.net

Second Grade Swedish Folk Dancing in Music Class

The second grade learned a traditional folk dance from Sweden called Fjaskern. Translated into English, the name means "Hurry Scurry." For fun, I asked the students to tell me if they could figure out why the song was called "Hurry Scurry" after I taught them the dance steps and the performed the dance.

Below is a video. See if you can tell how the dance got its name!

If you guessed that the dance got its name because the tempo (speed) of the music gets faster, you are correct!

This was a great exercise for maintaining a sense of the steady beat internally which is fundamental in developing young musicians. It also helped encourage large motor skills and self-control, with both the increasing tempo, and the quick changes in direction based on counting the number of beats and the musical form cue. Finally, students had to rely on their active listening skills in order to be able to follow the musical form and keep up with the tempo.

Ask your second grader to teach you the Fjaskern. You can find the music here.

Bill Peet Study in Second Grade

During Read Aloud, we have embarked on an author/illustrator study. The students are enjoying the stories of author/illustrator Bill Peet, who wrote many picture books for children during the 1960s and 1970s.  His writing and drawing styles are quite distinctive and the students are beginning to notice themes in his work. 

After reading each book, we discuss the setting, characters, story message and the language Bill Peet uses.  These conversations have given us the opportunity to introduce literary devices such as personification and alliteration, and to make connections to other books and to our own lives. This has been especially exciting as the students discover how his story messages relate to our leadership work!  

The students have also noticed that often Bill Peet makes up his own unusual words like “whingdingdilly.” (Ask your second grader what that is!). To keep track of these wonderful books and our conversations, and as a way to share what we are doing, we are creating a chart in the hallway to record details of each book.  

Kindergarten Wonders About Animals: From Fiction to Facts

The kindergarten students have been fascinated by animals since they walked through the classroom doors in September. Did you know that we have had lion and panther families playing in the dramatic play area, animals floating on icebergs to get to Pennsylvania and many magnatile habitats to house precious stuffed animals from home?

Animals floating on icebergs to PA

Farm Day at a Step Up Academy           

 Just by coincidence, A Step Up Academy, invited us to join them for a special Farm Day to visit some animals up close. On that morning our children were seen loving the animals full force- from baby chicks to ducks to a baby calf. The gentle love and respect for the animals was a warm experience to witness. The kindergarten's obvious love of animals, vivid imaginations and creative, cooperative animal play, easily showed us where our next study exploration was taking us- the wonderful animal kingdom! 

Kindergarten Animal Study Web

                                         

How would we move the students from the fiction world of animals to facts? Actually, this was very simple for passions were clearly evident as the students were asked two questions:

What do you know about animals?

What do you wonder about animals?

The initial list of already known facts and questions was long. Every day the list continued to grow as the children added facts that they had already learned from books, science class, a nature show and their own observations. This brainstorm of sorts lets us know about some of the background knowledge the students have and allows us to think of all the possibilities that may evolve and what the students really want to know about animals. 

We used our problem solving skills to make a visual web of individual ideas that connected with broader ideas. It seems as if our kindergarten animal enthusiasts are wondering about the types of animals, food, habitats, animal babies, what they look like and what they can do, and how we can help animals. Some deeper questions arose out of what to do when we find an injured animal and why some people are not always kind to animals. Our animal researchers also have very big hearts, and it will be interesting to see what we do to answer some of our wonderings.

        

           Adding finishing touches to a tiger costume

Trying on a baby chick hat

The next step of moving from fictional thoughts about animals to factual work appeared when the class decided to be animals for our annual Halloween parade. Each student selected an animal that they were interested in learning more about. Using non-fiction books, the students looked for details about ear and tail shapes, fur or feather colors, and other facts about their animal's appearance. The creative and realistic looking animal costumes they created were amazing!

Next week, after the animal menagerie parades, our kindergarten researchers will begin their factual work to create individual animal books. This project will combine the love of books our students share with an authentic opportunity to read and write about animals using non-fiction books. All good animal researchers also need to do some field work so a trip to the Elmwood Park Zoo will be necessary! Stay tuned as the facts begin to come together to answer our animal wonderings and as new questions will certainly arise as our study progresses.

       

A few of our initial research animal topics

      

Jump Rope for Heart! This Friday

Dear Families:

Students in grades 2, 3, and 4 are going to be participating in Jump Rope for Heart this Friday, Oct 28th, at 9.45-11am.

Jump Rope for Heart is a national education and fundraising event sponsored by the American Heart Association and the Society of Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE); empowering students to improve their own health and help other kids with heart-health issues.

All students should have taken home a collection envelope with a permission form which is to be completed and returned to school before the event, preferably by Thursday. Students can also raise money online. Information on how to do that is here.

We are encouraging all students to raise some money for this important cause, no matter how small, and encouraging them to even donate some of their own money if this cause speaks to them. Every student will receive an identical prize regardless of how much they raise.

Please email Nikki Kent nkent@abingtonfriends.net  if you have any further questions about this event.

Thanks for your support!

The Physical Education Department

Halloween Parade this Friday - Information

We are looking forward to our annual celebration of fall and Halloween.  This Friday will be a busy and joyful day! At 8:30am students in grades K through 4th will participate in the Halloween Parade. Students will walk around the driveway circle in front of the Faulkner Library accompanied by music and the cheers of older students.

By 9:45, students in third, fourth and fifth grades will be gathered to participate in the Jump Rope for Heart.  If the weather is good, we'll be on the tennis courts next to Smith Field, if it's rainy, we'll move our jumping to the gym!

At 10:00 our EC and K students will participate in the Harvest Festival on the Redbud Playground.

We hope to see you there!

Lower School Book Club for Adults Reads The Turner House

Join us for our 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: The Turner House

Location: Lower School Library

Date: Friday, November18, 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

Angela Flounoy’s debut novel is both funny and poignant as she tells the story of multi-generations of one family. You will find yourself laughing, crying and rooting for these finely drawn characters. This novel is a finalist for the National Book Award.

Taking Art Outside

On a brisk autumn morning, the second graders bundled up in their jackets and instead of heading to the art room for art class, they headed outside! The second graders were invited to observe some of the hundreds of trees that we have here on campus which comprise our very own Abington Friends Arboretum.

After selecting a tree to investigate further, the second graders settled in with their chalk and oil pastels to begin an observational drawing. By practicing their observational drawing skills, students are able to look closely and carefully at the world around them, noticing and appreciating the unique characteristics about the things that they are observing. These skills help students to be mindful in their work and their ability to notice unique details translates to work they do in science class, in their writing and in all facets of their education.

As the second grade artists used oil pastels to create outlines for their drawings and then added color using chalk pastels, they noticed the difference between the two materials and appreciated the clean hard lines of the oil pastel and the ability to blend colors and create vibrant textures with the chalk pastels. 



The second graders did beautiful work on their drawings and their final step was to record the arboretum tree tag number on their trees, so that soon they will be able to learn more information about their trees and upload their drawings to the Abington Friends Arboretum website! http://abingtonfriendsarboretum.org/

Fourth Grades Design-Build Longhouse

 This fall the fourth grade has been studying the history of the Lenape, the indigenous people that inhabited the area known as Lenapahoking and later renamed as DE, PA, and NJ. After visiting Churchville Nature Center and having the opportunity to examine and sit inside the walls of a longhouse the students were asked to draw up designs and instructions on how to build one. The exercise of explaining how to build was challenging as they quickly realized the level of detail that was needed in explaining through their writing and drawings how to go about building a longhouse. 

On the first day of construction, the dimensions were determined and using tape measures, pegs, mallets and string they made the outline of the shape. The students learned the 3 x 4 x 5 method of creating square corners and much time was spent on measuring and precision. 

Once the shape was established the students worked in teams of two with designated tasks. They worked to pound and set the corners, measure and then cut the sticks. All the children spent time creating cordage, which is wet raffia twisted between forefinger and thumb to be used for the lashing. They used garden loppers, saber saws and scissors to cut their materials to length. The children were taught how to lash two to three pieces of wood together so the structure would be sturdy to stand up to nature’s storms. All of the activities helped to reinforce the children’s dexterity and familiarity with tools. 

We have roamed the campus collecting additional sticks when our supplies have run low. As the longhouse develops groups of students decide on features they would like to add and then set about building them. Currently a door is being built, as we do not have a deerskin, which was used traditionally.  Another group is working on a small bed. The enthusiasm and imagination that the students have brought to this project is infectious and their joy at seeing their ability to plan and build something has been empowering.

Second Grade- Rushton Woods Preserve Field Trip

This week second grade took flight into their new study of birds.  Students began their first exploration by going on a field trip to Rushton Woods Preserve Bird Banding Station. On the trip the second graders had much to explore as the preserve is the home to the bird banding station, organic farms and herb gardens and vast woodlands. Once we arrived at the preserve, the second graders met Blake Goll, the Nature Education Coordinator. Blake started our visit off exploring their extensive woodlands. During our exploration, the second graders pretended they were birds that were in search of food. While walking through the preserve, the students were asked to collect specimens of different berries and leaves, as if they were birds exploring for food.  On our walk Blake taught us about many different types of leaves and plants. There were two that stood out the most. The first was a leaf that was from a tree called the spicebush. When you crush the leaves of the spicebush, it gives off a “spicy” fragrance. Our second favorite specimen was from different seeds called hitchhiker seeds. The second graders discovered these seeds because at the end of our walk, we noticed that there was a bunch of seeds stuck to our clothes. Blake explained that the seeds are called hitchhikers because when an animal or human rubs up against the plant, they stick their seeds to the animal, so as the animal or human moves, the seed falls off and re-grows in another area.

After the exploration of the woodlands, we headed off to the bird banding stations. First we learned about the nets that catch the birds each morning. We were lucky enough to watch a bird fly into the net and land in one of the pockets. The nets are very delicate and are designed to catch the birds, so they do not get injured. Next, the volunteers placed the birds into cloth bags.

Once we collected a few birds, we headed over to the banding station. . Here we learned about the different size bands that are used for the different types of birds. We also leaned about all the different tools that are used in the banding process. Next, we observed as the birds were weighed and measured.

After all of our measurements were taken, we learned how to safely hold a songbird. Each student was able to practice their new learned technique by holding their very own bird before it was released.

Before our trip was over, we had the opportunity to explore and taste the herb garden. The second graders were able to go around and taste the many different delicious herbs and tomatoes.  After our stomachs were full, we settled in for some quiet reflection. By writing and drawing in our journals, we recorded our favorite experiences from the day.