Pennies For Peace

After hearing a reading of the book, Listen to the Wind, the child’s version of Greg Mortonston’s  true story Three Cups of Tea,  our students became inspired to collect pennies for pencils. Students in the Mixed Age Group have been collecting pennies by doing chores at home. This student-run fund raiser has been a great success! We will have a total amount of money collected soon!

Early American Day

Counting in Chinese

Joshua, Foote School's exchange teacher from China joined our class to teach a lesson on counting in Chinese. This was much more than memorizing the number words to 10! Joshua demonstrated how the Chinese number system incorporates place value when counting above 10. For example: The number 21 in Chinese is said two-tens-one (er shi yi). Before we knew it, the class was counting to 100 in Chinese!

The students listened intently as Joshua gave each child a Chinese name during his last class visit!

The Trick Crayfish

Using a crayfish shape and clothespins for the materials in this science experiment, the children continued with their investigative approach to learning about balance. Their assignment was to locate 3 different points of balance while utilizing the clothespins as weights. They mapped each point and the positions of the clothespins.

Some of the comments made by the children:

"I did it!"

"Try it this way!"

"Look, look! Come and see what I can do!"

"Weight helped with balancing. The tops balanced with more weight at the bottom and the crayfish balanced with weight placed at the bottom, too!"

Tops!

How does weight affect how long a top spins?

The children used a straw and a variety of weights to build different models of tops. After lots of spinning and analyzing their data, many students noticed that their tops spun the longest with the most weight placed towards the bottom!

Even Day!

Tomorrow we will celebrate "Even Day!"
The children have shown excitement as they shared how they plan to represent even numbers with the clothing they will wear to school tomorrow.
Perhaps your child will help in packing an "Even Day" lunch?

Poppy Map

The children worked together to create a map of the important places in the story, Poppy. They collaborated to plan, create, and map these story elements.

Save The Date

L-5 will be having a Solstice Celebration on Wednesday,December 16th after school. More information regarding time, etc. will follow!

Tableau

Tableau is French for “living picture.” The term describes a group of actors or models that carefully position themselves in a theatrical scene. After listening to the Chinese fairy tale, Mei-Ling and the Dragon the children were assigned a scene from the story. They worked in groups to develop and perform a tableau. While in their statuesque positions, the audience asked questions to determine the scene and characters being illustrated.

Study the photos with your children. See if they can re-tell the story using the tableau scenes!

A Perfect Day For A Halloween Parade!

Friday

I will be in at 8:30 today. Kim will cover the morning meeting.

Absent

I will be absent tomorrow, Wednesday, November 4th due to an illness. I'm sorry that I will miss the day.

Poetry

The students enjoyed this poem by Douglas Florian. Have your child show you his or her...stare, glare, gaze, or gawk!

The Hawk
By Douglas Florian

I stare
I glare
I gaze
I gawk
With keen mean eyes, I am the hawk.
All day I pray for prey to view.
Be thankful if I don't see YOU!

Wind Over Wings

Wind Over Wings visited with 4 of their birds of prey: a Red-tailed hawk, Saw-whet owl, Peregrine falcon, and a Great-horned owl. As your child what fascinated him or her about the presentation!

Bird Study

Patty Brennan shared her time and vast knowledge of birds with L-5. The children were captivated as she talked about the cowbird and how the female will drop its eggs in another bird's nest. The class studied the difference between a flying bird's feather and a non-flying bird's feather. They enjoyed seeing a variety of bird's nests and learning about their architecture. Students got to hold an ostrich and emu egg. They learned that they have microscopic holes in them that allow the growing baby to get oxygen. We looked at part of the shell under a microscope! Holding and inspecting a variety of bird specimens from the Peabody Museum gave the children opportunities to study the physical characteristics up close. Patty's presentation inspired the children to ask so many curious questions! She was kind enough to return so that everyone's questions were answered.

How Many Pumpkin Seeds?

The children estimated how many seeds in a small, medium, and large pumpkin. The class discussed their math reasoning for their estimates. Many students predicted the larger pumpkin would have the most seeds, and several students thought that the smaller pumpkin had the most.
The class worked together to scoop, group, and count the seeds in each pumpkin.
Ask your child what surprised him or her about the results from our pumpkin activity!
(Thank you Susie Metrick for donating the pumpkins and for helping with this Math activity.)

Number Bonds

First Graders are practicing their math facts through 5 using Number Bond bracelets. The student-made bracelets containing 5 beads are the manipulatives used to help children think flexibly about their facts up to 5. They have learned, "2 goes with 3 to make 5 and the turn-around is, 3 goes with 2 to make 5." The children then write corresponding number sentences.

Second Graders are reviewing the Number Bonds through 10.

Paper Collection

We can use your scraps of paper! The Mixed-Age Group will be working on a special art project and we would like to reuse your paper of all shapes and sizes. We will be collecting construction paper, tissue paper, stationary, wrapping paper, brown grocery bags, catalogs, magazines, and used gift bags through the month of November. So before you throw away, please think of us! Thank you, Melissa

Halloween Fair and Parade Information

October 26, 2009

Dear Families,

The Halloween parade and fair will take place next Friday, October 30. Because this is a special day, our schedule is different. Please read this note carefully and share it with any adult who will be supervising your child on the day of the parade.

· All children should be picked up at the classroom at 12:30. There is no after school program on the day of the parade.

· Children should eat lunch and change into costumes after they are picked up at school. Please do not send the costume to school in the morning.

· Plan to return to the classroom at 1:45. Your child should be fully dressed in his/her costume and ready for the parade. Keep in mind that traffic and parking can be challenging on this day. Leave extra time for parking so that your child does not miss the parade. We will leave the classroom promptly at 1:55. You will drop your child off at the classroom and assemble with other parents at the upper school field for the parade.

· We will parade around the field two times. Following the parade, you should pick up your child at the classroom. Please do not take your child from our group until we have returned to the classroom. Please make sure that your child shakes hands with a teacher so that we know your child is leaving. When the parade is over, your child will return to your care and stay in your care for the remainder of the day.

Some other helpful notes:

· Your child’s costume should not include any weapons or any item that needs to be carried in their hands.

· The haunted house can be very scary and may not be suited for all MAG students.

We hope that this information helps you to plan for and enjoy this traditional day at Foote School. If your child expresses any concerns about the day or if you have any questions, please feel free to let us know.

Betty, Melissa, and Kim

Force and Motion

We used the picture book, Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy Shaw to introduce our unit on force and motion. Later, the children were given a toy jeep and a variety of materials from which to explore this concept with.

Using an inquiry-based model, the children formulated their own questions from their exploration, and answered their question through hands-on experimentation. 

They applied their knowledge of "what makes a good experiment?" The answer...Using one variable or having only one change!

Our scientists ran trial tests to answer questions about how a toy jeep moves when a variable is changed. Some groups experimented with changing the ramp height others experimented with changing the floor surface material to bubble wrap or smooth plastic. 

They carefully measured distance using unifix cubes.

Next, observations were recorded as the children reflected on the results of their experiments. They shared their thoughts about how different variables can change the motion of an object!