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The students in 3rd grade created a poetry cube using poems in different styles and themes. Themes included nature, seasons, dogs, owls, redwood trees, baseball, and a panda. The students chose poems to represent their theme and presented their poetry orally to their classmates. The students learned about different types of poems, and they were creative in the process of creating their cube.

ube.

Our caterpillars are snuggled in their cocoons, and we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our butterflies! The class had so much fun making insect masks and learning all about butterflies!

Ms. McLaughlin's first grade artists studied George Seurat's technique of Pointillism and created a few masterpieces of their own. 

 

Ms. Hale and Ms. LaFauci’s kindergarten students have recently completed the Superkids’ Club reading program. They are now putting all of their newly developed reading/writing skills to work as they explore the many exciting books of the ‘Superkids’ Challenging Library'. Two of our recent favorites have been The Fitness Test and Top Dog. Students practiced their expressive reading and comprehension as they worked through the story and then completed a fun creative writing/art project to go with it!

 

Ms. Brandi's older 3s class is celebrating spring by planting seeds, and watching their caterpillars grow and turn into chrysalides.  In a few weeks they will become Painted Lady butterflies. It is so much fun to release them on a warm day!

In Mrs. Cavagnaro's 4th grade class, students are working on a poem unit.  So far, they have written a cinquain, a limerick, an acrostic, and they are currently working on an epitaph.  The poems in the photos are cinquains and limericks. The class is so amazing in the effort they put into the writing of each poem and then the creative illustrating that goes along with it.  So impressive!

Throughout the month of April, Ms. Wheeler and Mrs. Williamson’s second grade students have been learning all about Earth Day and the importance of taking care of our planet.

The students took a virtual tour of a recycling center and learned how recycling works, what the 3 R’s stand for (reuse, reduce, recycle), and ways we can protect the environment for people and animals. They also learned about landfills and how the smelly trash sits there for a long time, causing pollution.

The students also learned about composting and the decomposition of foods and different materials, natural climate control, what energy is and how we can help save it. Students also discussed how one person can make a big difference in helping our Earth.

On their virtual tour they learned how sneakers are a part of the plastic problem and what solutions are being explored. For example, big brands are experimenting with things like Biofabrication, using mushrooms to grow the materials for their shoes, and 3D printing, which significantly reduces waste during the manufacturing process. One example of this is the Adidas Furturecraft Loop. Here’s how it works: “If you have a shoe made of only one material, you can grind that up, take it back to pellets, melt that again, and turn it back into the same TPU [thermoplastic polyurethane] that the shoe was made of.”

Some of the fun activities that the students did with their partners were a collaborative “Love Your Earth” Earth Day poster and a Mini Earth Day research fact booklet. They wrote down three ways that their hands could help save the Earth, crafted a speech in the voice of planet Earth, and did a hands-on recycling sorting activity.

The students wrapped up the Mini Earth Day unit by creating a collaborative Earth Day 3D model showing what a polluted and nonpolluted Earth looks like. The students designed a face for each side of the Earth and cut out several examples for what things are healthy and harmful to our planet. We then placed all the pieces on the globe and in the ocean, which was made of tissue paper. The students really enjoyed seeing the cause and effects of both caring/not caring for our Earth during this activity. Our hope is that the students will share with others the importance of helping to protect our Earth.

Enjoy these videos of students presenting their Planet Earth Speech 1 and Speech 2.