Week of September 23-27

Science

Our field trip to Cypress Gardens last Friday was an amazing addition to our insect and butterfly studies!  The students experienced mini classroom lessons about the parts of the body of the butterfly. We were so proud of their ability to share their prior knowledge.  This was followed by a visit to the butterfly house to gaze in wonder at the beautiful butterflies and moths in all stages of life. 

Their studies continued with a lesson on insects followed by an activity that allowed them to be scientists. They took kits containing the tools of an entomologist to a section of the grounds where they worked in teams to roll over logs to find insects and place them in collection boxes. They returned to the classroom where the insects were projected on the screen to let them see in real time the body parts they had learned at school–a wonderful experience!

Purposeful Movement

Miss Lizl and Miss Savannah constructed an experience showing the children how hard life would be if they were hunter-gatherers of the ancient past. The two teams of students gathered wood for “fire”, searched for food (including frogs and snakes!), “cooked” the food, carried water cooperatively, and celebrated a hunt.  All the while, they were using muscles they had learned about thus far this year!

Reading

Reading Goals were established this week!  This process helps our scholars maintain focus on the skills necessary to becoming fluent readers. Comprehension is built as a result of this focus. The goals introduced included taking a peek at the beginning of their books to predict what might happen, checking to see if the predictions were correct, reading more and more, keeping track of what they had read (Reading Logs), and rereading. These skills are practiced every day in Reading Workshop.

Important Dates:

Monday, October 14th Fall Break; No School

Thursday, October 31st Halloween Carnival (11:30 Dismissal)