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This Month in Enrichment

Spanish Class: January & February

Primary and LE: “Las formas”, “Los días de la semana”; UE: “La ropa”, “Los artículos”; MS: “Artículos definidos e indefinidos”, “Acuerdo entre el sustantivo y el adjetivo.” In addition FWM middle school students were able to work on listening, pronunciation and comprehension in different tasks given during class.

FWM students kept working on their usual conversation about feelings, Spanish greetings, calendars, and descriptions of the weather. They are continuously improving their Spanish listening and vocabulary. Students from Primary, Lower Elementary, Upper Elementary, and Middle School listened carefully to Spanish books and songs and participated in interactive games that were displayed during class.

Primary students focused on learning shapes such as Cuadrado (square), círculo (circle), triángulo (triangle), rectángulo (rectangle), and óvalo (oval). They studied “las formas,” “días de la semana,” and y los “meses del año” through Spanish Montessori lessons that were left on the language shelves of each class for the students to practice for the entire week.

Lower Elementary students also learned “las formas” such as: Cuadrado (square), círculo (circle), triángulo (triangle), rectángulo (rectangle), óvalo (oval), corazón (heart), hexágono (hexagon), estrella (star). They studied “las formas”, “días de la semana” y lo s” meses del año” through Spanish Montessori lessons that were presented in class and complemented with songs, games, and some worksheets to practice.

Upper Elementary Students put in hard work learning about clothing and some accessories in Spanish. They also learned how to properly use the articles (el, los, la, las) in Spanish, and they reviewed “Los números del one al 100.”

Middle Schoolers kept learning about personal pronouns, definite and indefinite articles, noun-adjective agreement, conjugation of the verb “ser y estar,” and when and how to use it.

All the students at FWM are enjoying and learning Spanish, and I am very pleased with their progress in accomplishing goals in my class.

Young Artists Make a Splash!

Both Upper and Lower Elementary students have been learning about the modernist art movement and abstract expressionism. Classes discussed American post-war artists Jackson Pollock, Helen Frankenthaler, Mark Rothko, and Lee Krasner and how they used non-representational abstract art as a form of expression. Students experienced creating spontaneous mark-making and using gestural movements to paint. While thinking of the paintbrushes as an extension of themselves, they created open-ended compositions. These activities provide opportunities for non-verbal expression and foster an understanding of how to create an active field of vision with no particular focal point.

Lower Elementary students are creating collaborative large-scale physical paintings on the floor with brush extenders. There was a clear sense of discovery felt when they could redefine painting. The students enjoyed building upon each other’s work.

Upper Elementary has been working on a series of abstract paintings exploring color, space, movement, and nontraditional processes like painting with magnets! Through unpredictable processes in artmaking, the students have been discussing the nature of creativity and authorship.


Young Artists Make a Splash!

Both upper and lower elementary students have been learning about the modernist art movement and abstract expressionism. Classes discussed American post-war artists Jackson Pollock, Helen Frankenthaler, Mark Rothko, and Lee Krasner and how they used non-representational abstract art as a form of expression. Students experienced creating spontaneous mark-making and using gestural movements to paint. While thinking of the paintbrushes as an extension of themselves, they created open-ended compositions. These activities provide opportunities for non-verbal expression and foster an understanding of how to create an active field of vision with no particular focal point.

Lower Elementary students are creating collaborative large-scale physical paintings on the floor with brush extenders. There was a clear sense of discovery felt when they could redefine painting. The students enjoyed building upon each other’s work.

Upper Elementary has been working on a series of abstract paintings exploring color, space, movement, And nontraditional processes like painting with magnets! Through unpredictable processes in artmaking, the students have been discussing the nature of creativity and authorship.


This Week in Upper El

We had a great time volunteering this week, assembling bags for the Brian O’Connell Homeless Project. We spent our morning loading individual bags with necessities. The children were very enthusiastic about helping their neighbors in need, and their spirits were high.

Autobiographies are almost complete! Students have been working hard to finish their chapters and have made incredible progress. We will wrap up the finishing touches on all of the chapters at the beginning of next week, make edits, and prepare oral presentations. We look forward to welcoming families to school on Thursday, March 7th, at 5:00. Students with siblings in Middle School will present first so families can attend the Middle School presentations at 6:00.

In our history lesson this week, we looked at characteristics that make us human. Our biology lesson focused on looking at one animal group and its vital functions. Students are now starting research on their chosen animal, using the information they have learned about vital functions, classroom books, and online resources to write reports on their animals. In geometry, fourth graders learned that all triangles having the same base and height are equivalent. Fifth graders learned one way to find the area of trapezoids. Next week, fifths will learn two other ways to find the area of trapezoids.

Wishing you a fantastic weekend,
Karen and Krystin


Ms. Marissa: All You Need Is Love

While last week was a short week, it was a busy one! We had Simone and Madison’s moms in to celebrate with us by making crafts for Valentine’s Day. The children exchanged valentines, and overall, it was a very exciting week!

This past Thursday, we celebrated the 100th day of school with the kindergarteners. From the very first day of school, kindergarteners have been learning to count by 1s, 5s, and 10s to 100. They spent the afternoon going to different stations that revolved around 100. They drew pictures of what they would like when they were 100, what they would buy with $100, and what they wished they had a hundred of, made a 100 headband, and then played a game called Race to 100. They even did 100 exercises and learned how hard it was to sit quietly for 100 seconds. The highlight was bringing home a delicious 100th-day-of-school snack. As always, thank you for the behind-the-scenes help from all of our parent volunteers to make these memories possible.

Saturday, March 2nd, is National Read Across America Day. This is a day to celebrate our favorite activity—reading!!!!!!! This special day was established by the National Education Association (NEA) in 1998 to help get kids excited about reading. The day occurs each year on the birthday of children’s book author Dr. Seuss; on Tuesday, March 5th, the children can wear their pajamas to school and bring their favorite book and a stuffed animal in to share. It’s always a fun day for all.


Spanish Class January/February

Primary and LE: “Las formas”, “Los días de la semana”; UE: “La ropa”, “Los artículos”; MS: “Artículos definidos e indefinidos”, “Acuerdo entre el sustantivo y el adjetivo.” In addition FWM middle school students were able to work on listening, pronunciation and comprehension in different tasks given during class.

FWM students kept working on their usual conversation about feelings, Spanish greetings, calendars, and descriptions of the weather. They are continuously improving their Spanish listening and vocabulary. Students from Primary, Lower Elementary, Upper Elementary, and Middle School listened carefully to Spanish books and songs and participated in interactive games that were displayed during class.

Primary students focused on learning shapes such as Cuadrado (square), círculo (circle), triángulo (triangle), rectángulo (rectangle), and óvalo (oval). They studied “las formas,” “días de la semana,” and y los “meses del año” through Spanish Montessori lessons that were left on the language shelves of each class for the students to practice for the entire week.

Lower Elementary students also learned “las formas” such as: Cuadrado (square), círculo (circle), triángulo (triangle), rectángulo (rectangle), óvalo (oval), corazón (heart), hexágono (hexagon), estrella (star). They studied “las formas”, “días de la semana” y lo s” meses del año” through Spanish Montessori lessons that were presented in class and complemented with songs, games, and some worksheets to practice.

Upper Elementary Students put in hard work learning about clothing and some accessories in Spanish. They also learned how to properly use the articles (el, los, la, las) in Spanish, and they reviewed “Los números del one al 100.”

Middle Schoolers kept learning about personal pronouns, definite and indefinite articles, noun-adjective agreement, conjugation of the verb “ser y estar,” and when and how to use it.

All the students at FWM are enjoying and learning Spanish, and I am very pleased with their progress in accomplishing goals in my class.


Middle School: Week in Review

It was a great couple of weeks in Middle School. We had a small celebration of friendship with some special snacks on Valentine’s Day.

**Please have your MS student come to school ready for the outdoors (jacket, gloves, boots when snowy). We like to be outside daily when we can, and more importantly, when the students join their younger peers on Wednesdays for Social Impact, most of the classes are going outdoors. Thank you for your help with this.

Humanities
6th-grade Humanities students completed drafts of their research essays and also prepared the first run-throughs of their research presentations. They have been busy! This group has particularly been working to understand how to use citations and develop a works cited page. They will be revising their essay drafts as well. Additionally, students are continuing to learn about Ancient Mesopotamia and have focused on Sumer.

7th grade also completed drafts of their research essays and prepared the first run-throughs of their research presentations. Additionally, they have been continuing to learn about the continent of Africa, particularly the human geography and industry (mining, drilling, forestry, and fishing). The class began the novel A Long Walk to Water, and we have been working on it in class.

8th-grade Humanities classes with Mrs. Lamb began with a presentation of current events before moving to grammar. They are completing a unit of study focused on creating complex and compound sentences. Right now, they are identifying independent and dependent clauses along with subordinating conjunctions. This also helps them understand when to use commas in sentences that have both dependent and independent clauses (complex). With Mr. Newman, students are currently examining the reforming of American society from 1820 to 1850. This includes the study of slavery and expansion westward.

Science
6th-year Earth Science students are currently on the unit Tides. Objectives for this unit are for students to explain what tides are, what causes high tide and low tide, describe the difference between high tide and low tide, detail the relationship between the sun, moon, and Earth concerning tides, and describe how Earth’s rotation affects tides. Students will detail several main objectives of this unit through artistic representations.

7th-year Physical Science students are in the unit Chemical Reactions and Equations. Objectives from this unit are for students to list the indicators that a chemical reaction has occurred, identify the reactants and products in a chemical reaction, distinguish between endothermic and exothermic chemical reactions, explain the law of conservation of mass, and how chemical reactions are represented so that mass is conserved.

8th-year Life Science students are on the unit Influencing Inheritance. From this unit, students will be able to distinguish between two categories of genetic engineering, explain how humans can influence certain characteristics of organisms by selective breeding, explain why gene modification, animal husbandry, and gene therapy are examples of artificial selection and evaluate the impacts of human use of technology to influence the desired traits of organisms.

Math
Pre-Transition students are on Chapter 7, Using Division. Topics covered this week were the rate model for division, arrays, and divisibility, using factorization to make division easier, integer division, and short division.
Transition students are on Chapter 8, Multiplication in Algebra. Topics covered this week were multiplication as shortcut addition, rate factor model for multiplication, multiplication with negative numbers, multiplying probability, and combining percentages.
Algebra students are on Chapter 9, Quadratic Equations and Functions. Topics covered this week were functions with the equation y = ax^2, solving ax^2 = b, graphing y = ax^2 + bx + c, and quadratics and projectiles. Students have been able to use the program Desmos to provide a visualization of each quadratic equation.
Geometry students have started to learn about triangle congruence. They will explore the ways that they can prove triangles are congruent by looking at the corresponding angles and sides. By applying newly learned theorems, students will be able to prove triangles are congruent. These proofs will also include theorems/postulates from previous chapters to help with proving lines/ angles congruent: isosceles base angle theorem, parallel lines theorems, and vertical angles.

Lower El Research Night Information

You are invited to Lower Elementary Research Night on Thursday, March 7th, from 5:00-6:00 pm. 

The children have been working diligently on completing their research papers, posters, and presentation boards. The third-year students and returning seconds have done an outstanding job mentoring the younger children during this process. This will be a ‘fair’ event where students will stand at their stations, and parents will browse around, stopping to learn about each project. After the fair portion of the event, the third-grade students will give an oral presentation to the group. The children are so eager to share their work with their loved ones!

We hope everyone can make it! If you know that you will not be in attendance, please let me know.


Mrs. Doyle: All You Need Is Love!

 

While last week was a short week, it was a busy one. Last week, the children exchanged Valentines with each other and had the opportunity to decorate a cookie to take home. We asked the children what love means. Their answers are sure to bring a smile to your face. In similar posts that we’ve done in the past, we always say the world would do well to listen to these children. It rings true with this post as well.

This past Thursday, we celebrated the 100th day of school. From the very first day of school, the kindergarten children have been learning to count by 1s, 5s, and 10s to 100. They spent the afternoon going to different stations that revolved around 100. They drew pictures of what they would like when they were 100, what they would buy with $100, and what they wished they had a hundred of, made a 100 headband, and then played a game called Race to 100. They even did 100 exercises and learned how hard it was to sit quietly for 100 seconds. The highlight was bringing home a delicious 100th-day-of-school snack. As always, thank you for the behind-the-scenes help from all of our parent volunteers to make these memories possible.

Saturday, March 2nd, is National Read Across America Day. This is a day to celebrate our favorite activity—reading!!!!!!! This special day was established by the National Education Association (NEA) in 1998 to help get kids excited about reading. The day occurs each year on the birthday of children’s book author DrSeuss; on Friday, March 1st, the children can wear their pajamas to school and bring their favorite book and a stuffed animal in to share. It’s always a fun day for all. We will be enjoying some green eggs and ham for a snack. Please note that the other Primary classrooms will be celebrating this day the following week. Children who do not typically attend school on Friday are welcome to join us for the day.

Love Is……….

  • Ainsley–      Love is being kind to everyone.
  • Arya–            Love is building block towers with my Grandma.
  • Bodie–          Love is when someone is kind to you, and it makes you feel nice.
  • Ella–              Love is reading books with Mommy and Daddy
  • EmmaJo–    Love is caring for other people.
  • Hadley–        Love is giving hugs to my Mommy and Daddy.
  • Hannah–       Love is when my brother is nice to me.
  • Harper–       Love is when you feel happy inside.
  • Isla–              Love is being nice to people and making them happy.
  • Jacob–          Love is playing the game ‘traffic’ with Alex.
  • Jonathan–   Love is folding the laundry with Mommy and fixing the car with Daddy.
  • Joseph–        Love is watching Paw Patrol with Mommy and Daddy.
  • Leo–               Love is when someone is sad, and you give them a hug.
  • Maayan–      Love is building a pillow house with my sister.
  • Melina–        Love is cleaning the house with my Mommy.
  • Oliver–         Love is walking on the trail with my family.
  • River–           Love is when I give ice cream to my mom to cheer her up.
  • Ryan–            Love is playing ‘unicorns’ with my sister.
  • Saanvi–         Love is skiing and snowboarding with your family.
  • Tommy–       Love is watching ‘Transformers” with my family.
  • Zara–             Love is giving my family lots of hugs and kisses.
  • Zion–              Love is doing puzzles with Mommy and Daddy.

Wishing you all a week filled with peace and love.

Michelle & Maria