History & Geography

This week we continued to learn about England in the Golden Age. Our objectives were:

• Describe Sir Francis Drake’s activities and his importance to Queen Elizabeth and England
• Summarize British exploration during the Elizabethan era, including voyages to North America.
• Summarize the defeat of the Spanish Armada.
• finish reading A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and continue practicing dissecting the language of Shakespeare

Mathematics

This week we wrapped up our unit on decimals. Our objectives were:

• round decimals to the nearest hundredth
• rewrite decimals as fractions and mixed numbers in simplest form
• demonstrate mastery and understanding of decimals to the thousandth place on the chapter test

Please remind students that their homework is to complete 30 Prodigy questions by Sunday night! I have also offered students a chance to make up missing homework by completing extra Prodigy questions, if needed.

Lectura

 

Over two days, student took our end of the unit assessment. During this time, students had an opportunity to show their understanding of the spelling, grammar, syntax, reading and writing concepts seen this unit. Everybody has worked really hard –  we are all so proud of their efforts!

 

 

 

 

Ciencias

Nutrient Systems – Plant Nutrition

Students thought about how to break the dormancy of another organism, the wheat plant. They planted wheat seeds in containers of soil and placed half of the planters in a lighted environment and the other half in a dark environment. Students read about the action of chlorophyll and its role in the manufacture of sugar. Based on previous investigations and their background knowledge, they made an hypothesis about what will happen to the seeds. Students will be observing, monitoring and documenting their their wheat plants development.

 

Art with Ms. Kelli

Basket Making

Goals:

• Learn how to measure, cut, and assemble a basket framework
• Use natural reed and yarn to weave a basket
• Add decorative beads

The students made a variety of beautiful, creative baskets which are on the top shelf in the 1st Grade classroom. We’re saving these for their Art Display at graduation in June.

Pop-art Valentine cards

The students used markers to create a fun heart design similar to their foil hearts on their classroom bulletin board.

Weaving

Goals:

• Learn weaving vocabulary: loom, warp threads, weft threads
• Create a small woven wall hanging
• This project uses similar skills as basket weaving and the students are creating some beautiful weavings which will be on display next week!

 

Music with Ms. Nadia

Happy February! What better way to celebrate than by learning about Romantic composer Felix Mendelssohn and his symphonic accompiament to William Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream?!

As music prodigy compared to Mozart, Mendelssohn wrote the overture for this famous play at 17 years old. The rest of the orchestration came later in his 30’s, a few years before his passing. We first listened to the overture while drawing our own stories following the emotions of the score. Stories included a chasing cat, a friendly ghost, and a chicken skiing. (Listen to the overture at home and see what stories you can come up with!) The story is in fact about fairies, magic flower potions, mistaken identity, and love triangles, which we learned through a short video summarizing the whole play. Perhaps the most famous song from Midsummer is the Wedding March. While we listened to it, the class was split into two teams and challenged to create wedding dresses out of toilet paper. (Enjoy this video this memorable moment: https://youtu.be/OTdva-aU5A8) This past week, we learned about the scherzo, which is a vigorous, light, and playful movement. While we listened, students took turns acting out scenes from the play in a game of charades telephone. It was hilarious!

This month in recorder, we continued honing sight-reading skills, discovered more about sixteen notes, and learned two more notes (high C and high D). Other highlights include hangman, meter re-designation (taking a music piece in 3/4 time and turning into 4/4 time by moving the bar-line), and dancing like lions and walls.