Harvesting in our garden!

All of the spring rain has really helped our garden grow.  This past week PK and K students used small scissors to cut lettuce and arugula from our garden.  But cutting just the leaves off, the plants are left to regrow so that we can have even more to harvest!

Brookside Gardens

On Monday, May 16th, Kindergarten went to Brookside Gardens to visit their exhibit "Wings of Fancy" as part of their study of butterflies.  Thank you to all of the parents who came with us.  Below are a few pictures from the day - more pictures can be found in the Photo Gallery!

And that's a wrap.........

Giraffes Can't Dance....Or Can They?

The children have been working hard learning their lines, dances, and songs for our Pre-Primary Play, "Giraffes Can't Dance".  We have started rehearsing in Clifton to help the children get used to performing on the larger stage.  They are all doing a great job.  Remember our performance is on Friday, May 13th at 8:30 a.m. in Clifton with a cast party to follow.  If you are unable to attend the performance, you are welcome to come to the dress rehearsal on Thursday, May 12th at 8:30 a.m. Please check your email for important information about costumes!

                                                                        Planting and Growing 

The children have been busy learning about plants and how they grow.  Our own garden outside has really taken off and the children are excited to see how much our lettuces have grown.  Our bean and radish plants have sprouted, and we will soon see parsley.  In the classroom we filled a sensory table with dirt and are growing buckwheat and fennel.  

We have been learning the parts of the plant, and how each part helps the plant grow.  We did an experiment to show how water travels up the roots to the stem of the plant.  The children dipped the end of a paper towel in colored water and watched how it absorbed the water all the way to the top.  The children learned that water likes to "stick" to itself and that is what helps the water move up the paper towel.  

Life Skills - Connected and Respected

In Life Skills we have been talking about interrupting.  Sometimes it can be really hard to wait your turn to talk!  Lori read the book, My Mouth Is a Volcano and talked about how we can hold our thoughts until it is our turn.  We talked about how interrupting someone is like stepping on their ideas and thoughts.  It's not always easy to wait, but we can try!

Courage

Our spiritual theme this month is courage.  We read the book Sheila Rae the Brave  and the children shared stories of times they felt courageous.  Erin shared about the time she found her courage at the Adventure Park.  Her good friend Mary Anne helped her try the ropes course for the first time.  We learned that having courage doesn't mean that you aren't afraid.  Having courage means pushing through the fear and trying your best. The children all drew pictures of a time they had courage when trying something new.

Curriculum Highlights

Language Arts  - Reading Horizons - letter sounds /c/ and /k/, the rule for spelling with c and k (ask us!), Most Common Words - his, are, as, with, Writing Workshop - stretching small moments, sequencing events within a story, adding describing words to stories

Math - Finishing addition unit - creating multiple addition sentences for the same sum, communicative property of addition, working numbers 11-15, representing larger quantities, seeing numbers in the teens as 10 plus another number.

Science -  Planting and Growing - tending our outside garden, growing buckwheat in the classroom, learning about the parts of plants, labeling plant pictures, experiment to show how water travels up the roots, looking at seeds.

Social Studies  - Weekly Our Friends, first grade play "The Whingdingdilly", special playground time with Senior Buddies, stewardship with third grade buddies

Planting and Growing

Despite last weekend's snow, it is spring and it is time to plant our Pre-Primary garden! This past Thursday was Earth Stewardship Day and the PK and K classes worked together to weed, rake, and plant in our garden.  We planted different types of greens in one garden bed, and radishes, fava beans, and parsley in the other.  Adam Keller's Upper School advisory joined us as we worked and they were a huge help!  

We also learned about reptiles on Earth Stewardship Day.  For our education session, we visited our friend Ray - known as "Ray the Reptile Guy".  Ray is a herptologist who works with rescued turtles and snakes.  He brought several turtles and tortoises to show us and we were able to touch several snakes including an albino Black Rat snake!

Pre-Primary Play - "Giraffes Can't Dance"

The children are super excited about our upcoming play, "Giraffes Can't Dance".  Our play will be performed Friday, May 13th in Clifton at 8:30 a.m.  If for some reason you can't attend on the Friday, you are welcome to come to our dress rehearsal on Thursday, May 12th at 8:30 a.m. (also in Clifton). This past week the children learned their part in the play and have begun learning their lines.  We have many fun songs and dances in the play as well, so don't be surprised if you hear your children humming popular 80's songs at home! We will let you know soon about costumes, but the good news is they will be very simple! Keep your eyes open for emails as we get closer to the date of the play!

Life Skills -  Connected and Respected

In Life Skills the children have been learning about using "strong words" when attempting to work out conflicts with friends.  We have been talking a lot about the difference between strong words and being "mean".  Strong words are words that say how you feel and what you need in a tone of voice that is serious and strong.  Strong words are not meant to hurt feelings, but to advocate for oneself.  We have been doing a lot of role playing and practicing with each other, even the teachers role played using different tones of voice in front of the class (this brought some giggles!).  You can practice this at home as well.  Say something with strong words ("Stop it! I don't like when you do that!") and then say something with mean words, ("You are always so mean!  You're not my friend!").  See if your kids can spot the difference!

Curriculum Highlights

Language Arts  - Reading Horizons - letter sounds /qu/, /z/, /c/, and short vowel /i/, Most Common Words, handwriting.  Writing Workshop - "5 finger stories", stretching out small moments, using descriptive words when writing.

Math - Addition! Strategies for adding two numbers together, finding missing addends, communicative property of addition, ways to make number from 3-10.

Science -  Gardening!  Prepping the garden for planting, planting seedlings and seeds, working in our flower bed. Finding lots of critters in the soil! Stewardship of the earth - how can we take care of the earth.  

Social Studies -  Our Friend project, assembly on Russian music and dance, assembly on the music and dance of Latin America, Life Skills

                                    

 Welcome Spring! 

We hope everyone had a wonderful spring break!  The month of March flew by and it's hard to believe we are almost in April.  Here's a recap of the past few weeks! 

In early March we enjoyed sharing our study of magnets at Celebration of Science.  The children helped create a board displaying their pictures and ideas about magnets, and they were proud to share their discoveries with others.  We visited Celebration of Science during the school day and we all enjoyed seeing projects from friends, families, and classmates! Here is a picture of Artin, Anjali, and George sharing their project about things that glow in the dark.

Early March also brought Dr. Seuss' birthday! We celebrated by learning more about Dr. Theodore Geisel - aka Dr Seuss - and reading many of his fun stories. We learned that he wrote the book The Cat in the Hat to encourage young children to read more.  Kindergartners had fun creating their own fun "Cat in the Hat" hats to wear around the classroom as we celebrated in style. Erin Ryan from Scott House came over to read us her favorite Dr Seuss book, The Foot Book. She helped the children learn which feet were right and which were left as they stomped along to the story!

Our geometry unit continued throughout the month of March as we studied both 2-D and 3-D shapes.  In the classroom, the children used a variety of materials such as Geoblocks, cubes, Pattern Blocks, Pentominoes, and Tangrams to create designs and patterns and to explore symmetry.  After learning the names of 3-D shapes such as triangular prism and sphere, we went outside on a shape hunt! The children took clipboards and tally sheets as they walked around campus.  They found many examples of 3-D shapes in the buildings, on the outdoor furniture, and in nature.  The children enjoyed this so much that they eagerly took home another tally sheet for "homework" so they could look for 3-D shapes in their homes.

Life Skills - Connected and Respected

In Life Skills we have been talking about "strong listening".  We first talked about the word "strong" and how it can mean different things.  When we are talking about "strong listening", we are referring to using our best listening skills and paying good attention to who is talking.  The Kindergarten classes made a list of what strong listening looks like.  Ideas included making eye contact, sitting still, focusing on what the other person is saying, and keeping our own thoughts to ourselves (not interrupting).  The children have been practicing strong listening throughout the day and are learning to recognize when they are being strong listeners and when others are listening to them!

Curriculum Highlights

Language Arts   - Reading Horizons letter sounds and slides with /v/, /w/, /y/, and short vowel /u/, reviewing punctuation, reviewing Most Common Words, focusing on small moments in stories, "seed" stories, publication and sharing of our work.

Math  - Geometry -  2 and 3 dimensional shapes, going on a campus shape hunt, building with different shapes,  KB - addition games with Zoe

Science  - finishing up our project on magnets, Celebration of Science, looking for signs of spring 

Social Studies  - Our Friend project, Guara Vani assembly, 2nd grade play

A Busy February!

It was a very busy February in Kindergarten.  Snow days, Wee Mail, Ice Skating, and the 100th day of school!  Kindergarteners were excited to process 4,009 pieces of mail during our Wee Mail week.  The children happily sold stamps, collected mail, canceled stamps, sorted mail, and delivered the mail with 5th grade buddies.  Running a post office is a lot of hard work, but it sure is fun! Go the main SSFS webpage and look in the photo gallery to look for additional pictures of Wee Mail 2016.

Our trip to the ice skating rink was a hit!  The children learned about the history of hockey and skated on the ice rink owned by the Wolfe family.  Erin even donned the goalie gear to demonstrate how the different pads can block a slapshot!  

On the 100th day of school, we had a special afternoon centers time.  We made special necklaces with 100 Fruit Loops on them, create our own 100's chart, placed the numbers on a hundred's board, and much more!.

A New Friend in KB

For the next several weeks, we are lucky to have intern Zoe Harmula with us in KB.  Zoe goes to Gallaudet University in Washington, DC where she is working on her Master's degree in Deaf Education.  Originally from California, Zoe has moved to the DC area to attend Gallaudet.  She is fluent in American Sign Language and the children are enjoying  getting to know her and learning some new signs.  Welcome Zoe!

Pattern Block Project

The children have just finished their work on the Pattern Block Project. This project is a  yearly tradition that is part of our geometry unit in math.  The children work independently on increasingly difficult puzzles.  They have to figure out how to use Pattern Blocks to fit in the outline on the paper. After completing this series of puzzles, the children then are given designs to replicate on a piece of black paper.  Everyone keeps track of their progress on a sticker sheet and there is much celebration when all of the puzzles are completed!

Life Skills 

In Life Skills we have been talking about helping each other.  We already have a good start on this with our Good Deed's chain!   The children thought about ways we can help each other at school - tying shoes for a friend, helping a friend when he/she is hurt or upset, helping a friend clean up, etc We then practiced helping each other with a fun activity.  Working in partners, one friend put a beanbag on his/her head while the other friend gave them tips and helped them keep it balanced. Whenever the beanbag fell, the other friend picked it up.  We also read the book Swimmy by Leo Lionni.  In the story, a group of fish work together to stay safe from a big fish.  The fish cooperated with one another and were successful!

Curriculum Highlights

Language Arts - Reading Horizons - letter sounds and slides with /r/, /s/, and short vowel /o/, Most Common words "that, is, it, you", the difference between statements and questions, stretching small moments across pages.

Math - Geometry, 2 dimensional shapes, The Shape of Things book and shape pages, Pattern Block project.

Science -  Magnet experiments - will magnets work through paper? Through wood? Through water?

Social Studies - Roots, Introduction of Our Friend, Continuation of maps study