Reconstruction

In February nine of the oldest students started a Reconstruction unit. First we went back to the Declaration of Independence and the students were asked to rewrite one section in their own words:
We hold these Truths
to be self-evident,
that all Men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator
with certain unalienable Rights,
that among these are
Life,
Liberty
and the Pursuit of Happiness

This is what the students wrote:
We consider this to be true (Sam)
And to as obvious as the sky is blue (Zerbie)
That everyone has equal rights (Savannah)
They were gifted by God (Martin)
With certain irrevocable rights (Andy)
Within these are (Emmy)
Living (Nick)
Freedom (Bobby)
Be happy is the most important thing to do because people cannot live if they do not enjoy their lives. I think that happiness is the goal of everybody in the society because it is the reason of life of people. I know that if I was not happy in my life I do not want to have a life. I am happy when I know that people are happy too. I think that to be happy we need to listen and to understand others. (Quin)

Then we reviewed when and why the document was written. After we started discussing the word “freedom” children were asked to think about what freedoms they feel are important. They each had to complete the following: Freedom to do…. Freedom to be…. Freedom to have… Freedom from…… This led to a discussion on what can a person own.

The History of US video series prompted great discussions and the children were asked to take notes on nine important events during Reconstruction: 14th Amendment, Emancipation Proclamation, 13th Amendment, Freedmen’s Bureau, Ku Klux Klan, 15th Amendment, Black Codes, Impeachment of Andrew Johnson and Jim Crow.

Finally each students was assigned a different historical character to research. At the end of the unit students took on the role of their character – presenting a brief biography and their opinions on the nine events they had previously researched.

Chicken Science

The Kindergarten and First Grade science class has recently been learning about chickens.  Students have explored the life cycle of the chicken, looked at and ordered the 21 days it takes to hatch a chicken egg, and named the parts of a chicken egg.  We've also read great books on chickens and had discussions on where chickens live, what they eat and how they reproduce.  Students have had a chance to read some chicken books to themselves and with their reading partners during silent reading.  As a fun break to our most recent science class about other animals that lay eggs, students engaged in a lively rendition of the "Chicken Dance".

Nature in the Neighborhood with Brett

On Friday afternoons all the children had a chance to make a microscopic slide, put it on the stage, focus the microscope and change the magnification of the microscope. They were then asked to draw the images they saw. Older children used stains (iodine and onion cells) to make their slides more visible. Our goal was for all the children to be able to use microscopes independently and self select things to look at.

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

During Read Aloud, the 5th - 8th graders listened to "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon" by Grace Lin. In this story Min-Li, a young Chinese girl, becomes a hero as she travels to find her family's fortune by talking to the Man in the Moon. Along the way she learns many good lessons about life and makes some wonderful friends.

The 3rd and 4th graders read this book in a book club and had many great discussions about the wonderful similes and metaphors that Grace Lin used in her writing. The book club also enjoyed drawing pictures of where Min-Li's travels took her during her journey.

Integer Class

The oldest group of students as well as a few 5th graders, participated in a three week integer class. We started with the basics of the number line and what lies to the "left" of zero. We then moved on to adding and subtracting with positive and negative numbers. When we moved on to multiplying and dividing with positive and negative integers, students realized that the same "rules" held true with relation to what type of answer would result with 2 positives, 2 negatives, or one of each. Students are now practicing their skill in their math books.

Solar System

The youngest students in Kindergarten and 1st grade learned about our solar system for the Science Celebration this year. As a class, we read picture books and watched two Magic School Bus videos. One video was about Comets and Meteors and the other about the planets. We had lively discussions about why Pluto wasn't considered a planet anymore and learned a Solar System song to the tune of "This Old Man." With partners, students studied more closely two planets, the sun, moon or stars. They used the information they gathered to make a poster for the Science Celebration held in the beginning of March. Students also created 3-D models of their planets with papier mache. Although the models weren't to scale AT ALL, students made very deliberate efforts to choose the colors they thought would fit their planet(s) best.

Sledding

Martin, a fifth grader, proposed a day of sledding at school. Teachers took his idea and made it a reality. During investigations the whole school took off to the golf course down the road for an afternoon of fun! When we returned, we had cookies (made at school by the children a few days earlier) and hot cocoa! Thanks for the good idea, Martin.