Angle Detectives

This past week, fourth grade has been busy studying angles. They took their search for angles outdoors where they were on the hunt for acute, right and obtuse angles. What could be a better hunting ground than sidewalks outside the lower school and gymnasium? We assigned students to color coded angle teams. Equipped with sidewalk chalk and a piece of paper for checking the veracity of a right angle, we headed out in search. Quickly, it was discovered that nothing seemed what it looked like. Students were quick to discern degrees of difference between right and obtuse angles. They decided on a key that would allow pedestrians to make sense of their findings.  One revelation they all came away with was that if an angle is obtuse on one side on a straight line it had to be acute on the opposite side. Quickly our campus sidewalks became a walking math puzzle waiting to be solved by passersby.

New Toy Collection and Gift Wrapping Party!

We invite you to help us bring children and families a more joyful holiday season and a happier New Year.

We are collecting new toys for Youth Service, Inc. a program that is dedicated to meeting the changing needs of children and families in Philadelphia.

 Youth Service, Inc. offers:

    * Emergency shelter for homeless and runaway teens

    * 24-hour emergency care for children

    * Foster care and placement services

    * Parenting skills and counseling

    * Truancy prevention

    * Family-based services in the home

A collection box will be located in the Lower School lobby entrance and in the EC common space.  Please refrain from giving video games, DVDs, or toys that are violent. 

Come to the GIFT WRAPPING PARTY!

On Friday, December 12^th at 3:15, students and families are invited to join us after school to create gift-wrap and wrap gifts that have been collected.  All are welcome and there is no cost to participate. Please e-mail Andrea at aemmons@abingtonfriends.net  if you’d like to attend!

 For information about Youth Service, Inc., please visit their website: http://ysiphila.org/

Deep Conversations in Fourth Grade Book Groups

Fourth grade has been reading Castle in the Attic and Into the Land of the Unicorns. Both of these fantasy books have the exciting plot that one would expect to find in a fantasy book, but along with the plot, these books include themes that students can grapple with and allow for them to engage in deep conversations. Early on in each book, the characters are faced with decisions about how to treat other characters or creatures in the book and as the plot evolves, the bigger issues that become the predominant themes emerge.

Students' preparation both in reading and writing in advance of the book group session, allow for students to share their ideas during discussion and most importantly tie their theories back to the text. As discussion evolves, a strategy might be to look closely back at a section of text and read it expressively looking for clues about the topic, or building on each other's ideas until a full picture emerges of the ideas being discussed. At times, a strategy such as creating a chart listing how events might help or hinder a character on their quest proves to deepen thinking. The social discourse surrounding a book is bound to inspire thoughtful conversation and fuel critical thinking.

Kindergarten Chemistry

In science class, we have embarked on a new unit which is one of my personal favorites - Kindergarten Chemistry!  Chemistry experiments are perfectly suited to young children, as you can carry out an experiment quickly, with very clear results.  The experiments can be very exciting and graphically illustrate an idea or concept. We've been working on chemistry for the past few weeks and will continue with this unit in January.  So far, we've discovered what chemicals combine to shine pennies, how liquids mix (and don't mix) and explored the chemistry of color.  After the experiments, the students are challenged to draw the experiment and illustrate what happened.  This helps reinforce concepts and gives them practice in recording their work.   

Do oil and water mix?  That was our first question that we asked.  The students were so surprised when the oil stayed on top of the water no matter how much they tried to mix it!  What came next was even more startling.  We added drops of food coloring.  The food coloring did not mix with the oil and in fact, became dozens of tiny, colorful drops suspended in the oil.  When a drop fell through the oil to the water, it definitely mixed with the water!  

 Is there any way to clean a penny once it gets dull over time?    We tried four different solutions to see if we could bring a shine back to our pennies.  Three of our solutions didn't work, but it was exciting when our last combination of vinegar, water and salt worked and made our pennies look new again! How does it work?  Pennies get dull over time because the copper in the pennies slowly reacts with air to form copper oxide.  When you place the pennies in the solution, the acid from the vinegar combines with the salt to dissolve the copper oxide, leaving behind shiny copper pennies. Take a look on the experiment page of my blog if you'd like the recipe.  

Next Adult Book Club Meeting!

                         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: The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

Location: Lower School Library

Date: Monday, December 8 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

Neil Gaiman’s novel transports the adult narrator back into the world of his childhood memories to the age of seven when he remembers the real events and the magic that shaped his life.

Time keeps on slipping, slipping, slipping into the future

Time plays a big part in our current reading unit, Historical Fiction.  We will be making a timeline that identifies when each event we read about took place.   In conjunction with this, we are also learning about time in Math.  We started using an analog clock and discussed the various ways the time can be expressed in words and numerals. Also, a top secret project is underway that uses days, weeks and months.  Shhh . . .no hints.

Here is a fun activity that can be used to reinforce time telling skills:

http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/stoptheclock/sthec1.html

As students improve, they can try the next level by changing the number in the web address as shown below.

http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/stoptheclock/sthec2.html

http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/stoptheclock/sthec3.html 

Seven Jumps - 1st Grade Music

One aspect of the music curriculum in 1st Grade is structured dancing.

Seven Jumps is a folk dance from Denmark. It presents a sequence of movements that are added on one by one through the seven actions. Each action is held for the duration of the sustained note which varies with each repetition.

 This is a great dance for emphasizing listening skills, balance, and body part identification as well as direction and learning left from right.  Enjoy the videos below!