Read-a-thon Week!
A very busy week That began with our April Self Portraits and ended with our long-discussed long-planned bake sale. In between we did a lot of Math, writing, celebrated two birthdays and two student holidays and immersed ourselves in books during the read-a-thon.
Estimation Jar
Students are asked to estimate the number of object in a jar. We later count them as a group and compare our estimates to the actual quantity. A child's ability to estimate accurately grows as their concept of number develops. We are getting better and better!
April Self-Portraits
Laurel Creek students took a line for a walk on Monday. Julianne demonstrated how to create a self portrait using one continuous line. This was a great challenge for the students and most took it on with aplomb.
Community Meeting
Kate joined us for our community meeting where we talked about rough and tumble play. She is facilitating a school-wide conversation about rough and tumble play and how it is different from aggression. The goal is to establish a set of guidelines for R&T play at recess.
Writing work
Readers Workshop
First Graders did work on long vowel sounds with particular emphasis on the "bossy e" which tells the preceding vowel to say its name.
Using geoboards and rubber bands to create letters
Terry and Tommy
This week Terry and Tommy were introduced to the "thinking sound", the letter u as it sounds in words like 'up' and 'umbrella'.
Zoombinis
Students enjoy playing this logic game during Siesta.
Math Workshop
We have continued our study of money and students were introduced to the Problem of the Month. The Problem of the Month is inspired by mathematician George Polya, who once said, “a problem is not a problem if you can solve it in 24 hours.” In this spirit we are challenging the children with problems for which there are not immediate answers. Instead they come to answers after some exploration with manipulatives, pencil and paper drawings, or some other form of modeling. There are several variations on the problem which allows all ability levels to be challenged.
various ways of getting to various numbers
Community service discussion
Director of Admissions, Paula Farmer, came in at the end of the day on Tuesday to talk about her experience performing community service. Students were able to make connections between her work and work they had done on their own or in our classroom (the penny drive, the bake sale).
The 1,000 chain
Nancy Lieblich came in this week on Wednesday to introduce the 1,000 bead chain to the class. Children marveled at its length and practiced skip counting by 10's and 100's.
Breathing
This is a mindfulness activity we do every day after recess. ask your child to talk about the routine.
Dolphin Day
We celebrated Cameron's holiday and her birthday on Wednesday.
Gallery of dolphin paraphernalia
Dolphin Day story play
Party Day
Before lunch on Thursday morning we celebrated Maya's Day (Party Day) as well as her birthday.
A presentation of assorted celebrations and parties throughout the world
Presenting the Treasure Hunt
Students were given an envelope which contained a clue directing them to a location on campus. Once there they would find a card and have to solve a math problem on the back. They then redeemed their answer for a prize.
treasure hunting
Book Swap
Students built/refined their personal book collections at the annual TBS book swap.
Bake sale preparation
Javanne came in to help us bake fruit tarts and oatmeal bars which were later sold at our bake sale.
A Blueberries for Sal breakfast
Read-a-thon
We had a room full of parents and children reading and being read to. A great day of bookwormery!
Middle School guest readers
Laurel and Strawberry Creek bake sale
We raised a handsome sum to give to the Marine Mammal Center.
Thanks to all who contributed time and bake goods!
Have a wonderful Spring break.
See you on the 16th.
Ben & Lyssa
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