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Salt Water Biome – the Ocean

Students in grades 1, 2 and 3 were part of a unit that recently studied the ocean. Students working with a partner explored the characteristics of a specific layer of the ocean. They researched and wrote a short paragraph describing their assigned layer and the animals that inhabit it. Students selected and illustrated two animals from Read More >>

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Math Class

This class began the year with “equalizing”. That means we started with making “unequal” amounts of objects. They couldn’t be the same or “equal”. Over time the children came to know we were going to change unequal amount equal amounts by adding or subtracting to one side or the other. As the year has progressed Read More >>

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Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS)

Visual Thinking Strategies provides for open-ended discussions of visual art, increasing students’ critical thinking, language, and literacy skills along the way. We had two groups using VTS this year, one Kindergarten-1st grade students and the other 2nd-4th grade students. Students look at a work of art and consider a question such as “What’s going on Read More >>

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Paper Airplanes

How do airplanes fly? That is a question that our younger students (K-1) explored during Investigations by making paper airplanes and testing them. First they made the classic Dart. They tested it to see how far, how high, and how straight it could fly. Then they made a second airplane, the Lock-bottom, a variation of Read More >>

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Printing Class All Year

At the start of the school year, children in kindergarten worked on writing upper case letters of the alphabet.   We have now moved on to lower case letters! During each class, we use sign language, the sound of the letter and printing pages to practice on two letters.                 Read More >>

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Read Alouds

Listening to books read out loud is a favorite part of our day. At the end of each day children free draw in their sketch books as they listen to great stories by great authors. This year the youngest children have listened to: Dan the Pawn, Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White, Lafcadio by Shel Read More >>

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Amelia Bedelia Take Two!

Students in kindergarten and first grade have been enjoying the silly antics of Amelia Bedelia all year.  During class, we read a book, discuss the “mistakes” that Amelia makes about the English  language and then draw about some of them.          Each child is working on making their own Amelia Bedelia book to Read More >>

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Word Stretch

  Our youngest students graduated from Picture Stretch to Word Stretch in the early part of the year. In Word Stretch the children number sections on their page from 1 – 6, and then one student is called upon for a topic or theme for all the words they are going to write. For example if Read More >>

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Math Centers for Kindergartners

Over the last two months the Kindergarten students, twice a week, explored counting, coins (pennies, nickels and dimes), measurement using non standard units, coins and classification. Students compared lengths. For example which is longer 7 links or 4 unifix cubes? Using a balance they compared the weight of various objects using units such as unifix Read More >>

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Mrs Piggle Wiggle Play

Students in fifth, sixth, and seventh grade working with a partner are writing plays based of the Mrs. Piggle Wiggle Books. These books are filled with short stories where Mrs. Piggle Wiggle cures children from tattletaleitis, being a cry baby, and even destructiveness. Each pair of students picked one of the stories and they are putting their own Read More >>