Let The Volcanoes Erupt

As part of the third grade classes’ journey toward this year's Mid Autumn Moon Festival, the students created volcanoes. Although we usually briefly discuss volcanoes in third grade, the decision to create the volcanoes and erupt them emerged from an excited discussion one of the third grade classes had about Pompeii.  

The unit began with third grade studying the Earth and it’s layers. After discussing the depth and make up of each of the layers and creating a diagram, we discussed the tectonic plates and their movement. It was impressive to hear the students share information they had previously learned elsewhere about the names of volcanoes and their eruptions.

In groups of two or three the students followed a recipe to create play dough from flour and then molded it around plastic flasks to form their volcanoes. When the play dough dried the students used paint and other natural materials to make their creations look more realistic.

          

During the final step of the project, the students used their imaginations to write stories about a time when their volcano erupted and read them to the class as they erupted their volcanoes.

Happy Thanksgiving

During a conversation about the Quaker theme of collective purpose, the first graders talked about doing things that are helpful for the community as being one goal/purpose of our first grade collective.  We had brainstormed a number of 'collectives' that they are part of including AFS, sports teams, their neighborhoods, afterschool activities and our own first grade class.  We decided to do a project to support the Breathing Room Foundation (our neighbor in Jenkintown that supports families dealing with cancer) with their Thanksgiving baskets by creating little turkey bags and filling them with sweet treats.  It was so joyful to hear the chatter as they planned and decorated their bags.

 We read several books about giving thanks and being grateful and decided that we would join the third grade gratitude chain that drapes over the maker space.  Each student wrote one or two things that they were grateful for on a paper strip and we linked these together and added them to the chain in the hallway.

 In connection with our monarch-Mexico study, we read Pat Mora's book, Gracias, Thanks. The text is written in Spanish and English and reflects a young child thinking about the things in his life that bring him joy and have special meaning to him.  Each reflection ends with the word, thanks.  As we read through the book, the students called out, "¡Gracias!" each time we read the word thanks.  In response to this book, each student wrote in their journal about something that they were thankful for.

 Each of these activities provided thoughtful discussions about the many blessings in our lives and how important it is to hold them in our hearts and minds.  They were times of quiet reflection that are so important to developing a healthy mindset.  In our first grade class we are grateful to have opportunities to reflect on what's important to each of us.  We hope this Thanksgiving provides times for thoughtful reflection and gratitude to our AFS collective!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

3rd and 4th Grade Independent Work in the Art Studio

The 3rd and 4th grade artists have been engaging this fall in independent work time in the art studio. Inspired by the Teaching for Artistic Behavior or TAB philosophy (https://teachingforartisticbehavior.org/index.html), different art media stations are set up and introduced with inspirational ideas or techniques. Students are able to design and execute their own art projects. They are familiar with what materials are available and can access reference pictures, books and objects in the room.

The students are tasked with the following artists' responsibilities:
- Have an idea or find an idea
- Gather resources for the idea
- Explore and make mistakes
- Decide when you are finished
- Take care of materials and clean up
- Reflect and share about your work
- Choose what is next

Students are given the opportunity to reflect and share through group sharing, pair shares and in written and dictated formats. The young artists are engaging deeply with the artistic process and the independent work time is built around building proficiency in the 8 Studio Habits of Mind, as identified by Project Zero from Harvard University (http://www.pz.harvard.edu/projects/the-studio-thinking-project)
- Develop craft
- Engage and persist
- Envision
- Express
- Observe
- Reflect
- Stretch and explore
- Understand art worlds

In engaging with the studio habits of mind, students are working through their own artistic ideas, learning from a variety of sources (teacher, peers, experience, reference materials) and reflecting and re-working their ideas.

In 4th grade, students have been working with drawing, collage, painting, sculpture and clay stations. Many students carried themes or ideas from the drawing station through to the sculpture station. They learned to apply different modes of attachment, using hand-drills and awls to create holes and insert brads and wire, cutting and folding pieces to create slots, as well as using glue and tape. After noticing that many students chose to make structures that incorporate rectangular prisms or cylinders, I chose to introduce a slab-building clay lesson.

The students decided if they wanted to use a rectangular prism or cylinder for the base of their clay structure, and planned their design by creating a drawing and then creating a paper template. They learned the traditional technique of rolling out a slab and cut pieces of clay to match their template and scored and slipped, or "scratched and attached," their pieces together. The 4th grade artists chose to make everything from model airplanes, to a boat, train, miniature houses with furniture, fairy houses connected by rope bridges, a dragon, a bridge and a dressmaking mannequin. The instruction and materials were informed by student interest and the variety of their responses to the project represent their interests and artistic pursuits.

Rolling clay slabs

Working together

In 3rd grade, students have been working with drawing, collage, painting and sewing stations. Inspired by their experience sewing teddy bears last year, the third graders were interested in sewing this year. Students were first taught how to do embroidery with yarn on burlap, how to use embroidery hoops, thread the needle and tie a knot, then more advanced materials such as felt, buttons and thread were introduced.  Some of the third grade artists had previous experience with sewing outside of school as well, and were able to bring their expertise to the classroom and took on a leadership role in instructing and helping their peers.

After a time of initial exploration of the stations, the third graders have begun planning a "WOW" or "Work of Wonder" project that is a culmination of things that they have learned or explored. The students planned their projects before they began and will dictate a written reflection after they are completed. Their reflections will be displayed with their pieces in a gallery display of their design. These practices help students to have ownership over their work and gain confidence in their voice and ideas.

3rd Grade WOW Project Plans & Works-in-progress

Please ask your 3rd or 4th grader what they have been working on in the art room this year!

Literacy Activities in Kindergarten

Kindergartners are fascinated by the mystery of writing and reading. It is a complex puzzle that is best learned by incorporating a variety of literacy experiences. The four domains of literacy development are speaking, listening, reading, and writing. We scaffold the acquisition of speaking skills by giving our students opportunities to speak in front of their classmates. When sharing a book from home or our library, the students get a chance to be the teacher. They speak to their classmates about their book, and then call on friends who are raising hands to offer comments or questions. 

During play, the social interactions are rich with verbal exchanges that increase connections in the brain that are essential for the development of literacy skills. Listening is a complex process that is practiced daily. Our study of the sense of hearing at the beginning of the school year is strategic in the way that we frame conversations around attention with our students. Activities like Morning Meeting, mindfulness exercises, and read-alouds involve the development of comprehension, attention, and physical/emotional self-regulation skills.

We also teach the children how to actively listen to each other during times of conflict resolution. One of the best ways to teach reading in kindergarten is through writing. As the students sound out the words they want to write, they are learning about how the letter sounds fit together to create words and how words fit together to make sentences. During writing activities, the students develop fine motor skills, phonemic awareness, letter formation skills, and the acquisition of sight words. Reading skills are taught daily during Morning Meeting, as we read the schedule together and reinforce short vowel and consonant sounds. We practice tapping out words together to show how consonants and vowels fit together to make words, and we model the joy of reading during story times. Here are some examples of the fun and engaging activities we employ to develop the rapidly growing literacy skills in our kindergartners.

Kindergarten Learns a Music Game Favorite-Cicle Round the Zero

Kindergartners learned a fun music game that has been around at least since I was a child in Kindergrten (we're talking the 80's here!). This game involves spatial awarenes, using a musical cue to perform specific actions and to stop and go. Here are the lyrics to the song:

"Circle round the zero
Find yourself a zero
Back, back, zero
Side, side zero
Front, front zero
Tap your good ole zero!"

Students stood in a circle while another student walked or skipped around the circle. As soon as the group sang, "back, back zero" the student stopped at the closest student to them and put their back to theirs. With each direction sung, the student had to move their body accordingly (side, side; front, front) around their friend until they were facing them. They then gently tapped their friend's shoulders and the next student started the cycle once again. We had a great time!

4th Grade Math

Math is Fun!

Our most recent chapter in math has been an exciting one. We have discussed estimation, factors, prime vs. composite numbers, array and area models, and multiples.  Students have used their basic math facts to solve more complex problems.  We have even had the opportunity to apply what we learned to real life situations in story problems!  Once students answered these problems, they were provided the opportunity to explain their reasoning to the class.  This allowed for our fourth graders to see and hear not only what other students were thinking, but how they arrived at the same answer using a different method.  They loved teaching the class their new approaches!  

Fall into the Library

First graders make monsters.

Fall has been a very busy time in the library. Amongst monster building, community creating, reflection and inquiry, our students have been deeply immersed in the business of learning.

First and second graders have continued to read books that highlight different emotions and how these emotions play out in our lives. Both grades read Anh's Anger and discussed what anger feels like, and how we navigate our anger.

First graders created their own anger monsters, giving their thought concrete form. In the story, Anh's Anger comes to him as fuzzy red being. The students particularly enjoyed the visual representation of the anger, which started out so large, and became smaller and softer as Anh danced, banged the floor and then sat quietly breathing. We discussed how we handle anger.

Navigating big feelings.

Second graders also enjoyed Anh's Anger, but they are in the midst of gathering their thoughts into a book about emotions. This book also gives students the opportunity to reflect on fear and worry, sadness being silly, joy and surprise. Once the students have completed the written reflections, we will take selfies of our faces showing how the emotions look on us. This will give students time to strengthen their computer skills and explore effects in PhotoBooth. This is a much loved lesson in second grade, so stay tuned for a future blog post.

Organizing information.

Third grade recently finished creating posters on the computer to share information gained from interviewing a classmate. This was the culminating activity of our unit on exploring questions. We discussed the different types of questions and how to develop these questions. Once they finished interviewing their friend, they were able to develop a poster online using a template of their choice. Students had the opportunity to change the template to the their liking including colors, font and images. This was our first tech project and the focus as on understanding how to manipulate information through layers on a page. Students will return to this skill over the course of the year.

Creating a radio commercial.

Fourth graders began the season reading for information. We worked on reading non-fiction for specific information. Students were introduced to identifying important information and highlighting it so they could easily pick it out again. This is a skill they will continue to develop. We then moved into our first tech project which is a radio commercial. Fourth graders imagined new communities and then created radio spots to entice people to live there. Students are working in iMovie to record their voices and add sound effects. It is a refresher for our fourth graders and will prepare the students for creating a similar commercial inspired by the fourth grade social studies curriculum.
It has been a busy past few months in the library in Lower School, and we are only just beginning!

Kindergarten and Third Grade Connect

During the beginning months of kindergarten we have been going to Meeting for Worship (MFW) in our classroom and in the lower school music room. A few weeks ago we began attending MFW in the meeting house across campus. The students have been excited to experience this shared time together with the rest of the lower school as they have been able to expand upon their time sitting in silence and reflection, listening to messages, and understanding more about message sharing. The next step in creating a shared community experience is to spend more time together with other lower school students beyond kindergarten! The students were ready to get together with their third grade partners that they will  eventually walk with to the meeting house and sit with in the pews.

Making a new friend

Our class has been eagerly awaiting to connect with our third grade partners who we see daily in  our shared hallway. Sometimes kindergarten students have been even seen peering into the "big kid" classroom  door windows! This week our classes got together to formally introduce each other and to begin forging some partnerships over a shared love of creating art and talking.

Kindergarten and third grade art creations

After introductions, third graders and kindergartners sat side by side to water color, draw, make paper bracelets, and design paper airplanes. Some students created based on a similar idea such as rainbows or shapes. Others created individual pieces of art while talking and getting to know one another more intentionally.

Pokemon balls and initial paintings

It became quickly evident that there were many shared interests in reading books, sports and creating art.  Smiles and laughter were heard throughout the room as the students become more comfortable interacting with one another.

Sharing a moment of humor

Powerful moments of connection happened, and social and emotional lessons were inevitable. Intentional partnering with an older grade supports growth as students take risks making new friends and trying new experiences. Developing social skills grow when making eye contact and when practicing listening, and  asking and answering questions. Patience and empathy coupled with positive role modeling supports our budding third grade leaders. We will find other opportunities throughout the school year to continue developing these new partnerships.

Paper bracelet making

Painting rainbows

  

The roots of the school community deepen as kindergartners feel known, heard, and feel part of something bigger beyond the kindergarten classroom walls. What a joy it is to see a young child's face light up when they are acknowledged and greeted in the hallway by their "big" third grade friends!

Paper airplane building

We look forward to going to Meeting for Worship (MFW) with our new third grade friends. Please note that there is an open invitation to join us on any Wednesday for Meeting for Worship, if you can. On the first Wednesday of the month we have MFW in our classroom. On the other Wednesdays we walk to the meeting house. Next week is our Thanksgiving Meeting for Worship.

Keeping track of the Monarchs

      Monarchs, Mexico and Maps

First grade continues to keep track of the migration of the Monarch butterflies. As we get updates from Journey North, we were thrilled to hear they have begun entering towns and forests in Mexico, resting in the Oyamel Forests where they will spend the winter. Below is a picture of children in Michoacàn, Mexico, eagerly awaiting their arrival!

First graders have enjoyed learning about geography and the countries and states involved in the monarch migration. Their maps of North America show one possible journey of a monarch from Canada to central Mexico. They show where some monarchs began, near Lake Ontario, Canada and one path they may take to travel south. One of their favorite sites was the Okefenokee Swamp near the boarder of Georgia and Florida. From there, they show how the monarchs change their direction and head west into Texas and then south again crossing the Rio Grande, into Mexico. They mark the end of their journey once they reach central Mexico and the sanctuary in the forests of Michoacàn. Zaria and Hart's maps pictured below are an example of one activity created in the map unit we explore in first grade. 

Below is also a photo of our classroom map where each student contributed a necessary part of our town. They continue to develop it and play with it when they have free choice! 

This is our town map named Smallville. 

Next is a photo of the Butterfly forest and then one of a few friends driving around town!

El Rosario Butterfly Sanctuary is one of Mexico’s monarch colonies protected by the UNESCO Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in Michoacán in central Mexico. There, millions of Monarch butterflies begin to cover the many thousands of fir trees in the mountain forests, escaping the cold until March, when they migrate north and continue their journey and life cycle.

In our Monarchs and Mexico research, through videos and picture books, we have been exploring some of the culture of Mexico. Last week we learned about a beautiful craft called Papel Picado and enjoyed making our own to decorate our classrooms!

We look forward to continuing our exploration of Mexico, noticing what things we have in common while gaining an appreciation and respect for what is unique and beautiful in some of the towns and cities the monarchs pass through on their journey south. 

Below is a link to video we enjoyed in our research and exploration of Monarchs and Mexico:

https://youtu.be/xDqZdgtN28I