History & Geography

This week we continued to learn about the Age of Exploration. Our objectives were:

• begin our history poster project: students will read a chapter in pairs and create a poster describing important events and people from that chapter
• Describe the effects of Spanish colonization on the indigenous peoples of the Americas, including
  the encomienda system
• Summarize the journeys of Hernán Cortés, Francisco Pizarro, and Vasco Núñez de Balboa
• Summarize the viewpoints and impact of Bartolomé de Las Casas

Mathematics

This week we began learning about Fractions and Mixed Numbers. Our objectives were:

• use the Least Common Multiple to change fractions so that they have common denominators
• add and subtract unlike fractions
• practice adding and subtracting unlike fractions by completing a Harry Potter escape room
• estimate adding and subtracting fractions using benchmarks (0, 1/2, 1)
• change division expressions to fractions

Lectura y Ciencias

This week we started unit 2, Our Corner of the Universe. Some of the essential questions for this unit include: What is our place in this vast universe? How much do we know about it? Through the study of a variety of genres and mediums, we will explore this fascinating topic. Students will have the opportunity to raise their own questions and go through and inquiry process to find answers and/or explanations. This week we read the expository piece,  El universo. After reading, we applied to skill of organizing information into different categories. Lastly, we finished our solar system art project. When working on this project, we had an opportunity to use the science vocabulary in Spanish.

 

 

Some of the objectives for this week included:

• Establish purposes, audiences and the need for  different genres: expository and fiction, for example. 
• Establish the purpose and audience to write an expository writing piece: Un articulo de revista. 
• Apply reading comprehension skills and strategies (making connections, clarifying,  visualizing)
• Understand the spelling patterns of words with h.
• Learn how to use relative pronouns in context.
• Apply knowledge of the use of capitalization and proper punctuation.
• Compare and contrast two objects or ideas, in oral and written for. Demonstrate understanding of how to compare and contrast texts.
• Cross-check different sources of information. 

Specialists

Art with Ms. Kelly

Apples Paintings

• Observe shape, color and texture of real apples
• Learn about our state’s apple orchards
• Look at Paul Cezanne’s paintings of fruit
• Draw overlapping apples on a plate (aerial view) or in a bowl (side view)
• Use only red, blue, yellow and white to mix a variety of colors
• Each class from K through 4th/5th made stunning apple paintings!

Owl Drawings

• Thank you Kate Westfall for sharing this great project from your teacher at Prune Hill Elementary!
• Look at photos of real owls
• Follow a Directed Drawing of a Great Horned Owl
• Use markers and colored pencils to create color, pattern, and value (shading)
• These beautiful owls are on the bulletin board at school!

Pumpkins and Still Life Art Project 

• Choose 3 different art styles to create 3 still life pictures
• Look at still life art by Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Georgia O’Keefe, Jackson Pollock
• Use a variety of techniques to add color and texture
• Some of these very creative Still Life projects will be on the bulletin board next week, and we’ll continue this project in November.

Ginkgo Leaf Rubbings

• Thank you Ms. Laura for gathering all these beautiful leaves for our art projects!
• Learn about ginkgo trees
• Incorporate ginkgo leaves into your still-life designs

Music with Ms. Nadia

Wow, has it been two months already?! This month flew by as we learned about the treble clef, triplets, and Beethoven.

At the end of September, each student chose a song to incorporate into our class. Each week I pick one to pair with an activity. This month we played a game of Old Town Road Madlibs, participated in an active drawing activity to I Can Only Imagine, performed House Party using everyday objects as percussion instruments, and beat drums to Don’t Let Me Down in a lesson about triplets. We learned the difference between pitched-percussion and non-pitched percussion as we played the notes of the treble clef on handbells and the glockenspiel. On music staff whiteboards, we practiced drawing treble clefs and notes on the staff. This is all in preparation for this coming month, in which we will learn the recorder!

Beethoven was a remarkable composer whose music expressed intense emotion. While he composed 9 symphonies, we focused on Beethoven’s 5^th. Through drumming out the rhythm, we engaged the piece and learned the difference between a triplet and three eight notes with a rest (Beethoven used the latter). In a game of Two Truths and a Lie, we learned that Beethoven wrote a song for Napoleon, but scratched out the title once Napoleon made himself emperor. We also learned that Beethoven’s birthplace has been turned into a museum, and music saved his life. There are many epic arrangements of his 5^thsymphony we enjoyed listening to, from acoustic guitar to metal, jazz to rock. I encourage everyone to keep exploring Beethoven’s symphonies!

Other class highlights include our improv games of Emotion Choir and Sound-ball.

 

Character Education

We had a great time with all our team building – cooperative activities throughout the month.  We really learned the value of sharing our ideas, listening to other’s ideas, and making a plan that everyone agrees on.