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2nd Quarter Update 2024
DRAMA
We sincerely hope that you enjoyed the drama performances earlier in December! We teachers were so pleased with the actors, the sets, the props, and the audience! What a fun four nights!!
Now we are intensely reading scripts and books as we prepare for our young actors to return in January! It’s a process that we always approach with renewed optimism and excitement. We look forward to “hitting the ground running” in the new year, passing out scripts to the bigger kids and listening to storybooks with the youngest. We also are happy to have extra time early in the semester to play some of our favorite games–on the schedule are “Fruit Basket Upset,” “Kitty Wants a Corner,” and “The Queen of France,” to name a few! If you are curious or want to double check, the May performance dates are listed on the website: https://www.wdmcs-hsap.org/
WRITING
IDEAS
ORGANIZATION
WORD CHOICE
VOICE
SENTENCE FLUENCY
K/1 Writing
The Kindergarten students have been on a gingerbread man run! We have read aloud several different versions and enjoyed comparing and contrasting them. They had fun adding their special writing to their Writer’s Notebooks. In January, we will begin our special unit on author Jan Brett focusing on The Mitten. If you have any of her books at home, please feel free to share or send them with your child to Rex. Our First Graders have taken their writing to the next level, and I couldn’t be prouder! We have continued to add words to our Spelling Dictionaries in class. Please feel free to use those at home as well and add any words. They are found in the “sleeping bag” pocket in their Writer’s Notebook. We have also enjoyed our winter writing and learning how to complete self-assessments with mini rubrics (we call them tickets). The students check off if they included capital letters at the start of their sentences, details, and a period at the end. They are doing an amazing job. Please be sure to check out their work in their Writer’s Notebooks!
2nd-3rd Writing
At the beginning of November, the second and third graders wrapped up the Organization Trait by writing excellent endings and paragraph writing. They are now learning about the Word Choice Trait of Writing. They have listened to a few great mentor texts, such as My Dog by Angela Joy, which focuses on many adjectives describing dogs, and Mole’s Sunrise by Jeanne Willis, a book that uses great descriptions to describe the sunrise. Most recently, students decorated a gingerbread house and wrote a descriptive house for sale listing. Please check out their listings. They did an impressive job! In January, the students will continue working on descriptive writing with awesome adjectives and vivid verbs.
4th/5th Writing
We’ve been learning about the writing trait of Organization. Your student learned about using transition words to keep their ideas flowing smoothly from beginning, middle, to end. We wrapped up this unit with impressive How-to presentations. Please ask your child to tell you about the many things they learned “how-to do” from their classmates. We were quite pleased with both the variety of presentations, the confidence of the presenters, and the responsibility students demonstrated in remembering their items on their presentation day.
In January, we’ll focus on our Word Choice. Students will be given several resources to assist them in trying out new words in their writing. We’ll refer to these new words as Awesome Adjectives, Vivid Verbs, and Sensory Details that Strengthen. We’ll also read Saturdays and Teacakes written by Lester L. Laminack. This author does a nice job of demonstrating not only the Memoir genre, he also uses sensory details and descriptive words that bring his writing to life. Students will reflect on this book, record sensory details, and practice using their new words in their own written or typed Memoir that they’ll present to their class at the unit’s end.
6th-12th Writing
We just finished up with our Personal Narratives. (Mrs. Nichols is working on reading each one and providing feedback.) Students shared their writing with each other in Canvas using Canvas Discussions. Canvas is a great tool for this and I loved reading all of the supportive comments they gave to one another.
When we return in January, we will start Argumentative Writing. Students will be taking a position on a topic, offer reasons for their position, and refute the other side of the position. In the process, students will conduct research, evaluate online sources, and craft a compelling argument. Students will then use this research and knowledge to create infographics on their subject to then present to the class.
ART
Hello from Craven’s Corner! Here is what has been happening in the Art Room this second quarter~
Grades K/1 CLAY!
In conjunction with our Art theme of “CONNECTIONS” for this year, we read a couple of books in The Rainbow Fish series. After discussing how the fish in the stories are like friends in a “School of Fish,” We made comparisons to how we here at HSAP are like the fish. Friends and Learners in a community. First up, we painted a beautiful 2-D watercolor painting with a fishy theme and may have even added SALT as a special effect or white crayon as a watercolor resist. Recently, we have just completed constructing our own CLAY slab built fish adding textures with miscellaneous tools and will plan to finish them off with a little color, sparkle, and shine in the New Year! The projects are currently in the “bisque fire” phase of completion. We are excited to bring them home soon!
Grades 2/3 CLAY!
It has been a fun filled, exciting time switching from our 2-D works focusing on “Pete the Cat, I Love My White Shoes” drawings to our 3-D clay works. Each 2/3 student has created their own miniature SHOE of choice.
They are SO cute! Some students made tennis shoes like Pete, while others chose to design their own flip flop, high heel, bunny slipper, soccer cleat, etc.. We are currently in the “firing” stage of our clay process. In January, we will complete them by adding some color and shine. Look for them soon!
Grades 4/5 CLAY!
Our 4/5 graders recently completed the construction of their clay mugs wrapped around a tin can. This project utilizes a lot of TEAMwork as we share space, tools, and ideas. Their masterpieces are now in the “bone dry” stage approaching the kiln fired “bisque” stage. This grade band will add color to the mugs with Amaco LG food-safe glazes, and their works will enter a second stage of firing in the kiln before their final journey home. 🙂
Grades 6/7 2-D TESSELLATIONS
In conjunction with this year’s ART Theme of “CONNECTIONS,” students studied what a tessellation artwork looks like, then created their own “tile.” Tessellations are a special kind of design which range from simple to complex. When traced, without gaps between shapes, the designs fit together- like a jigsaw puzzle. We have a mini gallery of these works lining the hallway at Rex Mathes. Some students have already taken their work home.
The 6/7 CLAY projects are underway~ This year, students will create a hollow form which may be turned into an “Ocarina / Whistle” or a hollow bodied Sculpture that may be functional such as a pencil / paintbrush holder.
Grade 8 - Thursdays & Grades 7-9 & 10-12 - Fridays
These groups created 2-D TESSELLATIONS and are currently in the “Ideation” phase of their CLAY projects. We will finish sketching and begin construction of these works upon returning to school in January.
Ask your student(s) how they have solved the design challenge answering the three questions:
What type of clay will you use?
What method(s) of construction will you use?
How does your work reflect our theme this year in ART of “CONNECTIONS?” specifically... Self, Family, Community, and/or Global.
SPANISH
K/1st:
Our littlest Spanish learners will continue our study of weather and
winter clothing. Our first week back, we will read and act out
Froggy Gets Dressed. Ask your child about the hiding game we play
called “Frio/Calor!” They love it!
2nd - 5th:
We will continue our alphabet/map/community unit by learning community locations and the names of professions in a community. The unit will culminate with a game of human twister (boys and girls separately, of course 🙂) using mapping coordinates (numbers and letters of alphabet). If they haven’t already, have your child sing one of the alphabet songs we’ve learned!
6th/7th:
Spanish A students are learning about activities they like to do and don’t like to do (using verbs in the infinitive form). This includes the phrases me gusta and te gusta! Following this, they will learn about adjectives and how adjectives “agree” with the nouns they describe in Spanish! Remind them to check my website to study for our weekly mini-quizzes: https://daya89.wixsite.com/homeschoolspanish
8th:
Spanish B students are learning breakfast and lunch vocabulary. This unit includes learning to conjugate -ER and -IR verbs, and talking about what foods they like and don’t like! Following this, they will learn about dinner foods and healthy living. Remind them to check my website to study for our weekly mini-quizzes: https://daya89.wixsite.com/homeschoolspanish
SCIENCE
K-1st Science:
We have been learning all about magnets and spent the last few weeks learning about electricity; both static and current. We had lots of fun with balloons and using two wires and a battery to make a light bulb light and a motor run. We also tested different materials to determine if they are conductors or insulators. We have also been observing and caring for our classroom painted lady butterflies. After break we will learn all about owls and have the opportunity to dissect an owl pellet!
2nd-8th Science:
After finishing our unit on magnets and electricity, we spent some time learning about The Periodic Table of the Elements. Students learned how to “read” the table by doing a scavenger hunt, learned how the table was designed/changed over the years and played a board game to practice using the table. We will spend time in January working through our dissection topics for each grade level.
Dissection topics:
K/1st: owl pellets
2nd/3rd grade: sea stars
4th/5th grade: grass frogs
6th/7th grade: bullfrogs
8th grade: fetal pigs
8th-12th Friday STEM/Science:
The Friday middle and high school students spent time in December learning about The Periodic Table of the Elements. They went through the process of looking at patterns on the table and completing a scavenger hunt using the table. We also looked at some specific details about elements and finished with a few periodic table games. We spent the last day of classes on a STEM activity designing and building snowmen and making snowball catapults. High school students will continue with STEM activities in January while the middle school group will spend time dissecting sea stars and cow eyes.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
The PE classes have been blessed with nice weather during 2nd quarter, so we were still able to get outside some. We likely will be in the gym full time for a few months. With that thought, please encourage your student to have gym shoes to wear for Physical Education.
During the second quarter, grades four and older have been keeping active. Students played some of the regular activities which so many enjoy– Capture the Pin, Newcomb, Scatterball Wiffle Ball, Kickball and Dodgeball. There will be opportunities to learn more sports skills in the upcoming class meetings.
Second quarter activities for the younger students included many forms of Tag, Parachute activities, Sharks and Lifeguards, Sharks and Minnows, and Statue in the Garden. There are also a few minutes dedicated for students to explore interests in other activities such as scooters, hula hoops, floor hockey, and throwing and catching balls.
