The youngest students have recently begun a unit on electricity. We follow the same format we used for our Butterfly class. We meet once a week for 50 minutes. For the first half hour we read and talk. For the next 20 minutes we have a studio time where we break up into 4 or Read More >>
Snowflake Bentley
Inspiration for our Valentine Bags this year came from the picture book titled, Snowflake Bentley. The book tells the story of a man called Wilson Bentley who spent his lifetime studying snowflakes. He saw snowflakes as small miracles. Just as each snowflake is unique, so too are the designs created by our children. In the Read More >>
Dragon Books
Our kindergarten and first grade students have practiced several language comprehension skills while channeling an appropriate fantasy outlet through the book, “Brave Martha and the Dragon.” We practiced character analysis skills by using text evidence and inferential skills to describe characters based on both physical characteristics and personal character traits. Students practiced using a variety Read More >>
Bats
Our second through fourth graders have recently wrapped up a science unit on bats. In this unit we studied unique qualities and characteristics of specific bat species, compared bats to birds, learned about echolocation, and contributed to bat conservation. Some of our activities allowed students to create replica bat species using exact measurements and physical Read More >>
Dragonling Book Club
For the past several weeks our book club read Jackie French Koller’s fantasy chapter book, Dragonling. This book follows the relationship of a young boy, Darek, who goes against everything he knows and befriends a young dragon in hopes to return him to his homeland and find a replacement family. Each week we met to Read More >>
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach’s Concerto for 2 violins, the Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F Major, Suite for Orchestra No. 3 in D Major and the Concerto for 2 pianos and Orchestra in C Minor inspired us in many ways. After listening to his music we enjoyed learning about the composer by reading Tom Leonard’s “Becoming Read More >>
Sewing
Six of the oldest students just completed an exciting sewing project! First the children had to get certified by the Fayetteville Free Library’s staff. An hour long course taught them the parts of the sewing machine and how to thread it, fill a bobbin and more! Our second class involved designing a bargello patchwork quilt. The children selected fabric, donated by Read More >>
Bugsocopters 2018
Students in grades 3 and 4 enjoyed a unit on variables. To help them learn that in order to test a single characteristic in a design, you can only change one variable. Bugsocopters, fun paper twirling designs, came to the rescue. First the students were given a standard Bugsocopter to experiment with. They had to Read More >>
Measurement 2018
Students in grades 2, 3 and 4 were part of a three week measurement unit where we explored length, weight, temperature and volume. In each lesson students used tools to explore the huge world of measurement. After studying a thermometer and the two scales of measurement (Fahrenheit and Centigrade) students measured the temperature of some Read More >>
Math Centers with Calli
In math class over the last six weeks we worked on breaking numbers up to twelve into two parts, which helps the students start to develop basic addition skills. I used many different things in class to help the students see that numbers can be broken into two parts. They built block towers, drew cats Read More >>