September

Dear Parents,

How can it already be October?  The chill in the air assures me that summer has passed.  I can also judge that fall is upon us based on your children.  In just four short weeks the Spirit Bears have transitioned from a great group of individuals to a cohesive community.  Their work ethic is astounding, their enthusiasm boundless and their curiosity inspiring.  I welcome you to come watch them in action.

The Spirit Bears are prolific authors.  They have already published three pieces! They begin their work with a brainstorm, followed by a sloppy copy, then editing (both peer and teacher), revising and finally publishing.  If you haven't already, stop by the art hallway for some comedic poetry.  The "What I Didn't Do This Summer," demonstrates their first efforts as second-third graders.  We laughed ourselves silly in the author's chair while sharing these funny pieces.  The children embraced the next assignment which was inspired by our first read aloud, From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.  They each wrote several diary entries about a pretend run-away adventure. They chose a specific destination that they were experts on, ranging from the local library to Disney World, and created day by day, play by play entries about their experience.  They are adding "delicious details" to their work and implementing constructive criticism to make their writing go from good to great.  We are currently writing mysteries with an ominous mood.  This assignment was inspired by our new read aloud, Chasing Vermeer.  We also used the picture book The Mysteries of Harris Burdick.  The exquisite illustrations served as a springboard for writing.  The children capably created interesting characters and developed a mysterious plot filled with twists and turns.  This is a challenging assignment and I am thrilled by their response.  They are motivated to write and eager to share their work.  Several of the children have cited Writer's Workshop as their favorite time of day.  Our first publishing party will be on Grandparents Day! 

Your children are budding engineers!  The pasta tower building served as the perfect segue into thinking and planning like engineers.  The children begged, even after three rounds, to let them improve on their pasta tower designs.  They learned valuable lessons throughout the process.  According to Diego, "If you don't collaborate, your tower will fall."  Casey realized that the base of the tower needed to be wide and sturdy.  Laura and Jane learned that when it comes to tape, sometimes less is more. After building the towers we discussed that engineers first ask what the purpose of their project is, then imagine it, plan it, improve it, build it and finally evaluate it.  We will use this method each time we embark on an engineering challenge.  After the towers the children took part in an engineering rotation.  They read, recorded and reported on nine different types of engineers from civil to environmental, chemical to mechanical.  Ms. Stacey stopped by during the process and was amazed by their bank of knowledge.  Our most recent engineering feat involved building bridges using five sheets of newspaper, twenty paper clips, two chairs and a foot of masking tape.  We used our engineering method in pairs.  The most successful bridge held eighteen toy cars.  After testing the bridges, the children evaluated their own work as well as their classmates' work.  They were reflective and thoughtful with their evaluations.  Next week we will build our second round of bridges.  We will hopefully use our reflections to create an even more successful design.

Ask your children about Michelangelo,  Johannes Vermeer and Alexander Calder.  These three unique and powerful artists are featured in our reading.  We have been admiring, investigating and comparing them during our Language Arts block.  Several of the children painted underneath the tables, their paper taped above their heads, mimicking the process used to create the Sistine Chapel.  During the next couple of weeks we will be examining the work of Johannes Vermeer more carefully.  Many of his pieces were left unsigned.  Like Calder and Petra, the main characters in Chasing Vermeer, we will be examining and comparing these works, looking for discrepancies.  We will also design mobiles, using Alexander Calder as inspiration, while applying engineering principles to make them balanced.  We are hoping to visit the National Gallery in Washington, DC to admire some of the original works.

In math we continue to work on graphing while revisiting place value.  We begin each math block with a whole class game.  These games are designed to improve their speed and accuracy with math facts.  The Spirit Bears are incredible big picture thinkers.  Their understanding of math concepts wows me daily.  The project/game based approach used by Ms. Cope clearly had a big impact.  We will continue to celebrate their big picture understanding while fine tuning their number sense through daily practice.  Currently the class is divided into two flexible groups.  The grouping is based on their pre-tests, is flexible and meets the needs of each learner.  We will be comparing numbers through the ten-thousandths place, rounding, adding using re-grouping an subtracting across zeros.  Any opportunity to practice math facts is a huge help!

Thank you for sharing your children with me!  They are delightful.  Seeing the world through their eyes is refreshing.  Gabby asks me daily if I can do anything to make the school day longer!  I couldn't agree with her more! I look forward to our continued work together.  As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Warmly,

Karin

P.S. Below are photos of some of our poetry on display in the Art Hall. Check them all out sometime soon! Click on the photo to enlarge it.