January 23-27

This week we had our fifth and final Great Lesson on the coming of numbers.  Look for information to come home that tells more about the lesson.

We have been learning about the Fundamental Needs of Humans.  Many of the children are making collages and mobiles to show the fundamental needs.  We have discussed the evolution of human needs across time, from Prehistoric times, to Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece and Rome, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and Modern times.

We have learned that the Constitution is the highest law in the United States, more important than any city or state law.  We how the Constitution came to be written; about the meaning of the Preamble; that the Articles explain the branches of the government and what those branches can and cannot do; and that Amendments were added after the Constitution to give Americans several important rights.  The first 10 amendments are called the Bill of Rights.

We have begun a study of Pop Art and are learning about Andy Warhol.  Please help your child pick out a favorite cereal package, candy wrapper, or other popular part of every day modern life to bring in to school to create his or her own Pop Art next week.

February 8th we will be taking a trip to Chrysler Hall to hear the Virginia Symphony Orchestra present the Young People's Concert.   Please send $5 in to school next week and contact Ms. Katherine if you are interested in driving.

January 16-20

This week we continued our lessons on the Scientific Method.  The students reviewed the terms Research Question, Materials, Procedure, Hypothesis, and Results. and are continuing to carry out experiments on their own.

We began a study of political sciences with a study of the three branches of government.  We have discussed the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of the government and are learning different functions of each.  Balance of Power is an important term as the students are discovering that each branch depends on the other branches to carry out their duties.  The students are learning the Preamble to the Constitution, analyzing its meaning and beginning to memorize it as well.

We have also begun a study of poetry.  The students are beginning to learn types of poetry such as haiku and cinquain, and poetic terms such as ode, couplet, sonnet, verse, alliteration and meter among others.

January 9-13

Our school received a donation of museum quality prints, matted and bound, from a friend of a classmate at Museum Store Products.  This week we started our study of the Impressionist artists.  The students have heard and read books about Monet.  They looked at many of Monet's paintings in prints, books, and online.  Each child chose a painting to reproduce.  They will be working on their paintings over the next few weeks.

We have continued our study of biomes with a study of the fauna of the temperate forest.   The students have studied the behavior of earthworms and the parts of an anole.

Many students have been busy with independent research on various countries.  The class is starting to plan for a world's fair later in the year.

January 3-6

Happy 2012!
After a nice break spending time with our families it seemed everyone was ready to get back to work in our classroom!
Ms. Katherine shared her experience as a juror after she was called to jury duty this week!
Mark Stufflebeem came in to share with us about his upcoming deployment to Afghanistan.  We learned that people from Afghanistan and the United States have the same human needs that they meet in different ways.  We discussed language, food, clothing and religion.  The children had some wonderful questions and we are grateful to Mr. Stufflebeem for helping us to better understand the relationship between Afghanistan and the United States and we wish him the best on his deployment!
The third and fourth year students are busy with their Challenge 20/20 project.  Some students are researching how to get the salt out of water, others are learning where our water comes from.  We are all learning about water conservation and about how water usage has changed over the last hundred years.  Sadly, we discovered that the students are too young to have a tour of the HRSD, but the director of education is sending us some helpful information.  Next week the students will be building their own water treatment plant!