Fiddler on the Roof

This weekend, Greenhills School presents a production of Fiddler on the Roof .  Lisa, Melissa's mother, will be acting in the musical as "one of the crowd".  Tickets are $5 for students and $10 for adults.  

Dates and times: Friday. March 27 at 7:30 and Saturday, March 28 at 2:00 and 7:30.  

You can find more information right here.

Strawberries

Today we transplanted strawberries into a strawberry pot.

Thank you to Noah and his family for donating the plants, Mrs. Carpenter for donating the strawberry pot, and to her class for harvesting the rich compost for us to plant them in.  

Things for the playground

Last week new toys arrived for the playground.  The children are taking turns riding a new tricycle and playing in the sand with new buckets and shovels.

 

Making tiles

Recycling is a very important component of life at SK.  Friday

 turned into a day of recycling fun.  After using recycled material to make creatures at the Scrap Box, we learned how to make tiles at the Ann Arbor Art Center.  And guess what!  More recycled materials.  The clay used to make the tiles was, recycled clay.  

The children rolled out slabs of clay and then texturized the clay with items (pine cones, bark, sticks, pine needles) found on the nature walk we took on Wednesday.  Suzanne, the potter who assisted us, then cut the slabs into tiles.  She will glaze the tiles, with recycled glaze, and fire them for us.   Then the tiles will grouted into a table and tray.  And you guessed it, the table and tray are recycled furniture.  

These two masterpieces will be up for bids at the school's auction.

Trip to the Scrap Box

Imaginations were whirling with possibilities as the children viewed all the recycled materials they could use to make a rainforest animal.  After a story about recycling, each child started to create an animal out of scrap materials.  Then, with a bag in hand, they went into the warehouse to collect more materials, so they could complete their animal  at school.  The project is on hold till Monday due to our afternoon field trip.

Busy Friday

We will have two field trips on Friday.  

In the morning, we will go to the Scrap Box with Mrs. Carpenter's class.

In the afternoon, Heidi (Freya's mother), has set up a trip for us to go to the Art Association.  We will learn to make ceramic tiles during our visit.  

Botanical Gardens

The trip to the rainforest at the botanical gardens was fabulous.  It was great to see first hand the plants we have been reading about in books as well as larger versions of the plants growing in our room "rainforest".  On our tour, we saw orchids and bromeliads, ferns and venus flytraps.  One of the most fascinating things was to be able to see bananas and cacao beans growing on trees.

Beyond the rainforest, we went through the temperate room and the deserts room.  It was interesting to experience the temperature and humidity changes as we walked from one "climate" to another.

Our tour guides said they were very impressed the children's knowledge of the rainforest and plants.  They also enjoyed the enthusiasm and joy of learning the children displayed.

Chapter book

I am currently reading 

James and the Giant Peach

to the class.

Parent/teacher conference times

I will be holding conferences at the end of March and the beginning of April. Conferences are an opportunity for us to sit down for 20 uninterrupted minutes and discuss your child's achievements this year.

If you would like to meet with me, please email me or sign up on the list posted by the classroom door. 

Monday, March 23 7:45-8:05

8:10-8:30                                    

                                2:20-2:40

                                3:40-4:00

  

Tuesday, March 24 7:45-8:05

8:10-8:30

Wednesday, March 25 7:45-8:05

        8:10-8:30

        3:40-4:00

Thursday, March 26         7:45-8:05

        8:10-8:30

        2:00-2:20

        3:40-4:00 

Monday, March 30        7:45-8:05

       8:10-8:30                

                                       2:20-2:40

       3:40-4:00

Tuesday, March 31 7:45-8:05

8:10-8:30

Wednesday, April 1 7:45-8:05

8:10-8:30

3:40-4:00

Thursday, April 2 7:45-8:05

8:10-8:30

2:00-2:20

3:40-4:00 

Monday, April 6      7:45-8:05

8:10-8:30

                                2:20-2:40

Tuesday, April 7     7:45-8:05

8:10-8:30

Rainforest Unit

March is Rainforest month, and it started with a bang or at least a screech, as rainforest animals came to visit.  The children were filled with stories and knowledge about the animals. 

"The snake wrapped around his neck and will grow to be as long as a school bus."  

"Did you know there is more than one kind of sloth?"   

More than half of the world's animals and two-thirds of the world's plant species live in tropical rainforests, therefore plants and animals will be the focus of this month's theme.

Plants are first on the list.  When I came back from my prolonged vacation,  a small rainforest was growing in the room.  (Thank you Joanna!)  If you haven't seen it yet, please come in and look at the bromeliads, ferns, and venus fly traps.  

Friday, we will be going through a rainforest at the conservatory at Matthaei botanical gardens.

Math update

Working in math books is just a small portion of our math curriculum.  Some of the topics we have been exploring recently, beyond those covered in our books,  are: measurement, fractions and money.   

Measurement:

We watched and recorded the growth of an amaryllis bulb.  Soon we will take the results and make a graph of the results.

Fractions:

We learned to read and write fractions and were introduced to new vocabulary words: numerator and denominator.

There were various hands on activities the children did to help them understand fractions.  My favorite was one in which each child received a wedge from a circle.  Then they went around to find the other children who had the pieces to complete the circle.  

Money:

We have just started a unit on money.  The children are learning, or reviewing, the names of coins and their values.   During Friday's" math explorations",the children sorted, investigated coins with magnifying glasses, and used rubber stamps to make their own money. adding various coins to find their value.  They have also tried to count change.  So far we have only tried counting a few dimes, nickels, and pennies.  To enhance your child's ability to count money, you might make a game in which they have to count a handful of coins from your pocket at the end of each day. 

We are also learning a bit about money history.  We had a brief discussion about why the nickel is bigger than the dime even though it is worth less.  See if your child remembers the answer.

March trips

Friday, March 13 Tour of the Conservatory at Matthaei Botanical Gardens

Friday, March 20, 9:30-11:00, Trip to the Scrap Box

Friday, March 27, 10:00-11:00, Wild Swan Presentation of "Jack and the Bean Stalk"

Monday, March 30, 10:00-11:00, Dan Zanes and Friend at Hill Auditorium

We need parent volunteers to assist with driving and chaperoning the trip on March 13.  Parents are of course, welcome to any or all the other events, too.  Just let me know.

Skating trip

Thank you to all the parents who assisted during the ice skating trip.  Experienced skaters and novices, all had a great time. As we left the rink,  there were cries of, "when can we do it again".