December 2 - 6th

Just before break, Owen's mom, Lisa Jeffries came in to talk to the class about being a doctor!  The children had an opportunity to watch a slideshow following a human embryo as it grows, which connected with our Life Cycles unit.  Thank you, Lisa!

This week we continued our Life Cycles unit with the focus on seeds, fruits, and plants.  We read the following book by Ruth Heller, which is a beautiful explanation of flowers and how seeds travel:

The children continued their studies with mini book clubs on the following three books:

The students worked in partnerships to research and record the facts they learned with the book they were given.  Next week they will share their findings with the class and make connections by comparing/contrasting the three books.

This week we were lucky to participate in The Agrarian Adventure's Farmer in the Classroom program.   Farmer Laura Meisler from the People's Food Co-op come to present to the class.  She taught us about all the edible parts of the plant.  The children played a guessing game about these parts: roots, seeds, stems, fruit, leaves.  We brainstormed all the edible varieties of these parts that we enjoy in our diets, and found out about some that we didn't know were edible!  The children had a chance to sample fennel (stem), turnip (root), and kale (leaf).  

Click  if you would like to learn more about The Agrarian Adventure.

 Adzuki Beans:

Our new math game for the week was Spinning for Money. This is a game/skill that can be practiced at home by finding equivalent amounts and practicing exchange. Ex.  2 dimes + 1 nickle = 1 quarter

Another game we learned this week was "Name That Number" where the students need to use as many cards as possible in a chain of addition/subtraction operations to reach the "Target Number".  

Ex.  In the photo below, 19 is the target number.  The student could take 3 cards:  "11 + 8 = 19" but they could take 5 cards this way:  "20 - 9 + 8 + 0 = 19"?

During Library time, the children have been using a program called Neighborhood Map Machine with Mrs. Trudell.  Each student has navigated the route from Angell to their home.  (I have blurred out home addresses in the photos!)

Cordelia shared some lovely Shakespearean Sonnets with us just before Thanksgiving:

Some students from Ms. Hepner's class have started sharing their Animal Reports from Reading Groups:

Friends!

November 18 - 22nd

This year as part of our Life Cycles unit, we will be studying human life and our own growth as individuals, from fall to spring. The children have been measuring each other's head circumference, height, foot length and hand length.  They have made predictions about how much they think they will grow over the course of the school year.

While studying rocks, we have been focusing on the three main kinds of rocks: Metamorphic, Sedimentary & Igneous.  This week the students highlighted the main clues to determine rock type when examining a new rock:

Each student received a rock specimen, sketched the rock and recorded facts about the rock:

In Social Studies this week we continued our map exploration by looking at a map of central Ann Arbor.  We navigated our way by answering questions such as "What is south of the stadium?"  and "Which park is north of Bach School?"

Arush shared his compass with the class, too!

This week in Math we learned the game "Making Change".  

This can easily be played at home!

Field trip to Ann Arbor District Library!

Thank you to Takuto's mom Satoko for joining us on this trip!

Pajama Day!