Weekly update 10/25

 11/11: Veteran's Day - No School

11/12: Music Concert --Higley Center for the Performing Arts (4132 E Pecos Road Gilbert, AZ 85295)

• K-2 Concert will be 5:30-6:30 p.m. with students arriving at 5:10 p.m.
• 3-5 Concert will be 7:00-8:00 p.m. with students arriving at 6:45 pm

11/20: Kindergarten Thanksgiving Celebration - Email is coming with information

11/22: Spirit Wear Day, Treat Friday, Birthday Book Club

11/27-11/29: Thanksgiving Break- No School

12/16-18: Early Release days

12/18: Kindergarten Gingerbread Hunt

12/19-1/3: Winter Break -No School

1/6-1/8: Early release Days Parent-Teacher Conferences

1/11: Grandparents BINGO night

Check out what we learned this week:

Spalding:

This week in Spalding we continued working through new phonograms and have learned and practiced 1-37. We learned our first set of phonograms with a cue of "not used" which is because they have an i and "English words don't end with i".  We also added new spelling words go, at, on. Keep practicing your phonogram flash cards and your weekly sight words.

Literature:

We enjoyed continuing our reading of Mrs. Piggle Wiggle where she helped a mom with a "won't pick-up-the-toys-cure". She found some creative ways to help him learn to clean up his things. We also read another Tall Tale about a man named John Luther Jones, or Casey Jones. He was real person who was a train engineer who showed how to be a hero and show many virtues. We learned more about exaggeration as well. Finally, in Grammar, our full-day students continued talking about when to capitalize a letter. 1. When it is the first word in a sentence. 2. When it is a special naming word, proper noun. 3. When you use the word I.  

Math:

This week, we continued comparing numbers using many different vocabulary words. While pointing out which group has more or less, the students were comfortable giving their answers. However, when framing the sentence with "greater than" or "less than" it proved to be a lot trickier for our scholars. The students have used matching one-to-one and counting to check their work. Looking at the number alone seems too abstract for most scholars, so we will continue to develop that skill moving forward.

History:

The children have enjoyed learning about different Native Americans this week. We learned about the traditions of the Wampanoag and heard the story of the Bear, Gull, and Crow. The children learned how vital corn is to many different native groups. We also learned about the Hopi and Pueblos of the Southwest. The children were interested in learning about where people lived and how the Kachina represented things important to the Hopi people. 

Science:

This week, we continued our plants and animals unit by discussing where plants will grow. We remembered carrot plants are the root part of the plant. We began experimenting with the carrot by placing it in a container of water and food coloring. We will see next week what has happened to the carrots. We also discussed how all vegetables come from plant parts, such as leaves, stems, and roots, but fruits grow as supplemental parts. We applied our knowledge to understand which things we eat would be vegetables and which would be fruits. It was fun to learn that many things we thought were vegetables are actually the fruits of a plant. Finally, we predicted what would happen to four plants grown in different conditions. These conditions include a variety of exposure to sunlight, water, and air. We will record our observations as we notice any changes in our plants.