Our class did so well with their Salsa Dance performance at the World Language Festival.  If you missed the performance, you can watch this recording of the show from Mr. Pournaras. We are so thankful to Senorita Gittleman for working with the students to produce this entertaining dance! 

In preparation for Family Heritage Night, the children have continued their identity exploration by reading The Name Jar, by Yangsook Choi. The story is about a young immigrant from Korea and her struggle to reveal her name to peers, leading us to study our own name story. We learned about South Korea, its language, and a bit about its culture, and discussed how we would feel if we were an immigrant in a foreign country. This also led to a larger discussion about belonging and kindness. In celebration of our names and identities, the children created self-portraits in the style of artist Nate Williams using watercolor and crayon, “filling their head” with words that describe them.

Our math curriculum spirals, meaning that we touch upon a topic and then reintroduce it with more depth.  Much of our math learning has recently been adding layers to already-introduced topics.  We introduced the subtraction symbol (-), and then used it with previously taught addition symbol (+) and equals symbol (=) to write number stories accompanied by a written equation.  To practice addition and subtraction concretely and symbolically, we played the game Growing and Disappearing Train.  The children took a deeper dive into analyzing and comparing measurable attributes of geometric shapes.  Finally, we practiced finding combinations that add to 10.       

For Language Arts, the children were introduced to the concept qu using a multi-sensory approach and the red words we learned and practiced were “do” and “are.”  We continued to develop our phonological awareness with games and exercises focusing on concepts of the spoken word, rhyming, onset fluency, blending words, isolating final sounds, segmenting words, adding words, and deleting words.  To review red words, we played a fun game in which teams had to put their heads together to recall the spelling of a red word and then hit the buzzer.  The teaching of “qu” is always fun, especially since we get to learn funny “qu” songs.  Children made up their own stories about “q” and “u” playing together and illustrated them.

Books Read Aloud: