3rd Grade Does Chinese Acrobatics (and Some Other Cool Things too!)

Coping Saw Progress in 3rd Grade Art

The third grade artists have been busy creating a new woodworking project in the art room. The third graders started their project by selecting an animal from the Chinese Zodiac. They created sketches of the animal, focusing on the main shapes of the body and head and adding details from there.

They then cut out their sketches in anticipation of transferring their drawings to wood. The cut-out drawings were traced onto pine wood and the third graders were introduced to the tool of the coping saw.

Remembering their use of the straight saw in second grade, the third graders soon caught on that the advantages of the coping saw are that the blade can be turned to tackle tricky angles and that it is possible to create curved cuts. Positioning their wood on the workbenches, securing the wood with the c-clamp and adjusting the position of the coping saw blade, give students the opportunity to engage in independent problem-solving.

The third grade class were quick learners and put a lot of muscle power into their projects! Over the course of three class periods, they have seen the fruits of their labor and are excited to add drawn and painted details to their animals.

Growing Up in a Challenging Time- Fourth Grade Book Groups

This spring fourth grade book groups are exploring how children face challenges during World War Two.  The two books chosen for this round of book groups are Lily's Crossing by Patricia Reilly Giff and Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. Both books are beautifully written and are Newbery recognized, one with an honor and the other with an award.  Our discussions have been rich as we explore the historical background and the reasons for our country's involvement in World War Two. 

The two novels focus on children and their families and how ordinary people show courage, friendship, loyalty and growth during challenging times. Time flies in our book group sessions as discussion is lively and rich. As each session ends, we look forward to the next one. It is impressive to note the deep thinking that fourth grade students are able to do and the investment they each have to their book group experiences.

Lower School Spring Program

Please join us for our Lower School Spring Program:

The Story of the Great Wood: A Fairytale

Friday, May 27th

1 p.m.

Muller Auditorium

Will the three friends, Orion, Skip and Jade, be able to save The Great Wood? Will the people and the magical creatures learn to love and cherish each other again?

Featuring music from cultures around the world and that spans generations! Dancing from the traditional to the latest moves, choreographed in partnership with lower school students! Premiere of an original song with lyrics composed by the 4th grade and more!

COSTUMES: Please send your child to school with long BLACK PANTS AND LONG BLACK TOP.  This attire is for ALL GRADES.

We look forward to seeing you and taking you on an adventure through the magical Great Wood!

Please direct all questions to Keisha: khirlinger@abingtonfriends.net

Rain Garden Planting

The weather of late is certainly helping the 'rain' garden live up to its name! Since we planted on April 20th, we have had nearly two inches of rain according to our AFS weather station!!

But that day was a picture perfect, beautiful spring day!! The first graders had a lesson on how to plant the assorted rain garden plugs by a TTFWP (Tookany/Tacony-Frankford Watershed Partnership) member and Rosanne, and we were ready and excited to get to work.  First we had to cut a small hole in the mesh netting, then soak our plug in water while we dug the planting hole, which was not an easy task! The ground was quite hard and rocky and required some real muscle to dig the holes. (There were some soft spots as we can attest when one wiggly worm was discovered and had all of us running to see and touch it!!) Then we placed our plant and covered it carefully with soil and watered it again.  There were thousands of plugs and plants to be planted and we set the pace!

While half of our class planted, the other half had a lesson from Amanda on creating a visual representation of the rain garden using a brand new kind of crayon. This was also very exciting! And then we switched places so that everyone planted and everyone drew.

Be sure to stop by the rain garden and see how all our plantings are growing.  Rain or shine!!

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Learning to Tell Time in Second Grade

We are learning to tell time in second grade!  Students will be learning to use the minute and hour hand to show and tell time to the nearest minute. They will also be learning how to determine elapsed time.

Students are at a variety of levels in their knowledge of telling time, and we'd like for their practice to match where they are.  A great practice game for telling time is called 'Stop the Clock.'  There are three different levels so that students can progress when they feel ready.

The links for the different levels of Stop the Clock are below.

Stop the Clock- the hour and half hour

Stop The Clock- to the quarter hour

Stop the Clock- to the minute

Exploring the World of Coding

Third grade is exploring and comparing various coding sites. From Tynker to Scratch, to using Ozobots, the third graders are entering the world of code. We began with Tynker, an online program that preps students to think logically through games. Next we played with Ozobots, small robots that can be coded through markers or online. 

Students quickly realized how frustrating and limiting it was to attempt to create intricate or more detailed codes with markers, so they are now investigating how to use the online program in order to make their robots accomplish more sophisticated tasks.