Inspired by our Heroes!

Ann BB shared the story of her hero, Matthew Henson, the first person to reach the North Pole. This is the true story of the first person to stand on the top of the world!  Despite unbelievable obstacles, and 23 years of adventures and challenges, this amazing story tells about how Matt's determination led the expedition and never gave up! 

 

Later that week some first graders enjoyed a challenge at free choice where they lined up dominoes for a domino rally race!

It continued to be a challenge as someone would accidentally knock one domino and they would all fall or someone would bump the table and parts of the maze would fall. A first grader said, “I’m so bad at this” followed by another first grader who said, “You shouldn’t say that. You should say,…” First graders began yelling out “Never give up”, “You can do this”, “Don’t stop trying” and then a first grader said, wait, what did Matthew Henson say? “Keep on!” shouted first grade! 

A few days later, Andrea visited our classroom to share a story about her hero, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. She read the story March On, The Day My Brother Martin Changed the World by Christine King Farris. This picture booked, like Ann’s, inspired us to keep using positive language, affirmations and attitudes when we face trials and challenges. Let’s keep inspiring one another, as our heroes did before us, to keep on and march on to equity and justice, kindness and love.

 

In honor of the Lunar New Year we read Ruby’s Wish by Shirin Yim Bridges, a true story about the courage, determination and independent spirit of a young girl who, in a time when only boys were allowed to learn to read and write and attended university, did not stop pursuing her dream and became one of the first female students accepted by a university.  

Our day could not have been more  inspiring, and then we went to the All-School Lunar New Year Celebration! We enjoyed various performances by AFS students and the Penn Lion Dancers and Instrumentalists. The program ended with a surprise video montage for the Upper School Chinese students sent by their parents and families wishing them the best for them in 2020! It was remarkable to think about Ruby and how her courage long ago contributed to the possibility of the female students here today, their journey from China to attend school here at AFS with the ambition and hope of their education here and beyond in college. The courage of these boys and girls to leave their home and family in pursuit of their education is truly inspiring. 

Thank you for supporting our first graders as they continue to research their hero. We look forward to learning about all of the first grade heroes in the weeks to come!  Happy Lunar New Year!

Second Graders Travel to the James Michener Museum of Art

On Friday the second grade classes took a field trip to Doylestown to visit the James Michener Museum of Art.  In class groups, each  led by  a docent, they learned how pieces of art can tell stories.  They looked at murals, furniture and even a very large door!  This story themed gallery exploration ties in with our year-long theme of story and inspired the children to create their own stories about what could be happening in a painting.  They also were given portraits and were asked to find paintings that they thought their person could be part of and shared their reasoning for why they thought they went together. Their ideas were clever and full of imagination!

Second Graders Read Biographies of Black Leaders from an Array of Fields

Second grade students have become immersed in reading biographies of Black leaders who have made contributions to their field and to the world. Students have built on their knowledge of the genre of biography from their hero study in first grade.  They began by reading a biography in small groups. After discussing and writing about the character traits that contributed to an individual making a difference in the world and learning about the important events in their life, second graders each selected a biography about a Black leader. Second graders were matched with a partner and had the opportunity to  preview an array of biographies. The biographies were a balance of people still alive and those that lived in the past. Partners chose two biographies they would be interested in reading and then teachers helped make the final selection. 

As students read the biography, they looked for character traits that enabled their person to meet their goals. They wrote the traits on sticky notes and placed them in their book. Charts of character traits were on the tables to allow students to enhance their vocabulary as they selected traits. Students will display their knowledge of the person they read about by making a poster that will include a picture, character traits and a paragraph about the contributions of their person. They will share their knowledge during Black History Month.

First Grade Explores Empathy

Black Lives Matter week is coming to Abington Friends School. In the library first graders will unpack the ideas of empathy and restorative justice. Today our young students are talking about empathy.  But what does that look like in first grade? What does it mean and why is it important?  We started by watching this video together:

We then checked in to see if everyone had a working definition of empathy. For us, we took it directly from the video, being able to imagine how someone feels. Students then shared why they thought empathy was important. Some of the responses included, "because then you can help them, " "then you will know when they are sad." and "because you want people to be happy."

First grade will continue to unpack this idea during out next class with the book "The Other Side" by Jacqueline Woodson. In this story two girls in a small segregated town go against the norm to become friends. We will talk about how the girls might be feeling and how we can tell. This will give us a chance to practice using picture clues and looking for clue words in the text.

Empathy will be our building block for restorative justice. Returning from winter break provides the opportunity for students to reflect on our community in the library and how we intentionally create a happy learning environment that works for everyone. What are the structures that we need in place to help everyone? What happens when we make a mistake? If we hurt someone's feelings what is the difference between restorative justice and punishment? These are big topics that our first graders will be working on together. Look for more updates as we progress through the unit.

Lower School Book Club for Adults Discusses Educated A Memoir

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!

Educated A Memoir by Tara Westover

Location: Lower School Library from 8-9am

Date: February 21, 2020

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: abotel-barnard@abingtonfriends.net

4th Grade Tables and Graphs

 Our fourth graders have been studying tables and graphs in math class.  We have learned how to use tables to organize and present data.  When describing tables, students use vocabulary words like, "row, column, and intersection." Line graphs introduced us to the vertical axis and the horizontal axis. 

 We are learning that our ability to synthesize graphs can be applied to the real world.  Students discussed how tables and graphs can be found in newspapers and magazines.   We look forward to using our newfound knowledge to create our own graphs and share our findings with the group!  

Second Graders Learn About Coins

Recently in math, the second graders have been exploring money. We began the process by taking a closer look at each of the different coins and challenging ourselves to see if we can correctly identify each coin. We have noticed that each coin gives us clues to help with this process.

We learned that the penny is worth one cent. We know that Abraham Lincoln is on the front of the penny and is facing right. The Lincoln Memorial is on the back and the penny is the only copper coin.

Add caption

We know the nickel is worth five cents. We also know Thomas Jefferson is on the front of nickel and his home, Monticello, is on the back. The nickel is silver. 

We know that the dime is the smallest size coin, is silver and is worth ten cents. Franklin D. Roosevelt is on the front and a torch with an olive branch and oak tree branch is on the back.  

We know that the quarter is the largest size coin out of the four that we are studying. It is worth 25 cents and is silver. The front of the quarter is always George Washington facing the left. There are also many different images on the back, one of which is the eagle. 

Second graders have also been practicing the skills of correctly identifying coin combinations and making change. The second graders seem to really be enjoying this study, especially when they can put their new skills to the test by playing games.