Welcome back from Winter Break!
We talked about our vacations and especially about how much we'd love to see some more snow!
Grade Pre K 3 through grade 2
Guiding Topics: Snow and drawing hopes for the new year on a January calendar.
We learned a "snow chant" in the hope that we'll get some snow to play in, and we read a story about a girl who made a big huge snowman.
"Snow, please come, snow (looking up to the sky with fingers sprinkling down)
Snow, please come, snow.
We want to pack a big snowball (throw!)
We want to sled (zoom!)
We want to build a great big snowman (hands packing three tall snowballs)
Snow, please come snow.
Pleeeeease?" (hands together, pleading)
The Biggest, Best Snowman, by Margery Cuyler
Little Nell's mom and sisters always tell her "No, you can't help. You're too SMALL!" But when Little Nell's friends, Reindeer, Bear Cub, and Hare, ask her to make a snowman, their group effort results in the BIGGEST, BEST, snowman that ever was! Now, her mother and sisters say that yes, she can help!
Grade 3
Guiding Question: How to other countries celebrate the New Year?
Students heard about customs from various countries, then took an online quiz to show what they remembered. For example, in Spain everyone eats twelve grapes as the bell chimes twelve strokes at midnight. In Colombia, families make a doll stuffed with old clothes, objects that bring sad memories, and firecrackers - then they burn it!
They also used the website "Earth Calendar" to learn about what holidays are celebrated around the world on any date. Students searched by date and by country.
Grade 4
Guiding Question: What is a perpetual calendar and how is it used?
We learned that a perpetual calendar allows us to find the day of the week for any date - historical dates as well as future dates. We used two calendars: a 100 year and a 10,000 year. On what day of the week did the volcano Mt. Etna explode on January 11, 1693? Why it was a Sunday! What day of the week will your birthday be on in ten years? Perhaps your grade 4 child can figure out it!
Grade 5
Guiding Question: What types of stories are included in the genre "Traditional Literature"?
We talked about the differences between the following types of stories, gave examples of each, and gave students browsing time to select a book in this genre.
Rhymes (such as Mother Goose)Folktales
Fairy Tales
Trickster Tales
Tall Tales
Fables
Myths
Legends
