Growing Our Own Healthy Snacks

We planted pea seeds in felt capsules that will be transferred later into the school's tower garden.  This photo was taken on Friday.

Early Release Day
This Wednesday, February 28th is an early release day.  Students will be dismissed at 12:52 PM.

EXPO Save The Date
Spring Expo is scheduled for the evening of Thursday, March 22nd.

Curriculum Overview
Science -  We have begun a project-based-unit on living things.  Last week, after reading the ingredient list on a box of Ritz crackers and studying healthy foods, I challenged the students to see if they could grow their own healthy snacks.  We planted pea seeds in felt capsules that can be transferred later into the school's tower garden.  We also continued our experiment to prove what plants need to survive.

Reading - Fiction books usually have story lines where a particular problem rises to a climax and then is resolved.  This week we will work on identifying and tracking those problems.  Ask your children about Owl Babies by Martin Waddell.

Writing - As we conduct an experiment trying to prove what plants need to survive, students will writing about their observations of the different groups of plants.  We will also continue writing personal letters.

Math - This week we will continue our study of measurement and use inches, and centimeters to measure the length and height of different items.  We will also begin learning about bar graphs, line graphs, and tally charts.

Word Study - We are beginning to practice hearing short vowels in different words.

We planted pea seeds in felt capsules that can be transferred later into the school's tower garden.  This photo was taken Today 2/26/18.

What do plants need to survive?

As part of our current project based learning unit, we started an experiment to prove what plants need to survive.

Early Release Day
Wednesday, February 28th is an early release day.  Students will be dismissed at 12:52 PM.

Snowball Party
A2STEAM is having a snowball party for grades K-5 this Friday from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM.  Usually there is family friendly dancing in the gym and other crafts and activities throughout the school.

Curriculum Overview
Science -  We have begun a project-based-unit on living things.  Yesterday we had a classroom discussion about what plants need to survive and I challenged the students to come up with ways to prove that plants need water, light, and air to survive.  From those ideas we started an experiment to prove what plants really needed in order to live.  You can see more pictures of the start of the experiment if you scroll down below.  The overall driving question for this unit is "How can we grow our own healthy snacks?"

Reading - Fiction books usually have story lines where a particular problem rises to a climax and then is resolved.  This week we will work on identifying and tracking those problems.

Writing - As we conduct an experiment trying to prove what plants need to survive, students will writing about their observations of the different groups of plants.  We will also continue writing personal letters.

Math - This week we will study measurement and use blocks, inches, and centimeters to measure the length and height of different things.

Word Study - We are beginning to practice hearing short vowels in different words.

There is also a 'no light' group hidden in a cabinet.

Bring in Valentines This Wednesday

Student's designed cars that can push or pull rocks.  More information on this project will be uploaded to Seesaw this week.

Music Informance - Thursday, February 15th
Thursday, February 15th our music instructor Ms. Huckabone is hosting an informance for the families of Room K-3 students in her classroom.  Come experience a performance and music lesson simultaneously!  The presentation is from 2:35 PM to 3:05 PM, you need to check in with the office beforehand.  This flyer has more information.

My Green School Art Contest
The My Green School Art Contest is open to all Michigan students grades K-5 and encourages young artists to show how their school is, or could be, green. Deadline for applications is March 31st.  If you child is interested check out this flyer for more information, the application is available here (scroll down). 

Chiptole Fundraiser Tomorrow
Every student has a small Chipotle flyer in their red folder today.  If you take that small flyer to the Chipotle at Briarwood tomorrow our school will receive a donation.

Valentine's Day is this Wednesday
Students will pass out valentines to each other this Wednesday, February 14th.  You can send your students Valentine cards in tomorrow or Wednesday.

Presidents Day Weekend
In observance of Presidents Day there is no school scheduled for this Friday, February 16th, and the following Monday, February 19th.

100th Day of School
Even though we had a couple of snow days, still try to bring in your 100th day of school project this Wednesday.

Curriculum Overview
Science -  This week are beginning a new project-based-unit on living things.  More information to come, this week we are thinking about what makes something 'living'.

Reading - Fiction books usually have story lines where a particular problem rises to a climax and then is resolved.  This week we will work on identifying and tracking those problems. Ask your students about the problems in It's Mine by Leo Lioni and Dumptruck Dash by Peter Bentley.

Writing - Students will learn to write personal letters and begin writing simple letters to their friends and family.

Math - In math we are learning about three dimensional shapes: cubes, cylinders, cones, pyramids, and rectangular prisms.  We will learn to identify those shapes and see how they compare to their 2 dimensional counterparts.  For example a cylinder has two flat surfaces that are circles.

Word Study - This week we are finishing up understanding long vowels sounds and specifically the silent e spelling pattern.   Look for a word sort on blue paper to go home tomorrow.  We will also begin listening for short vowel sounds in words.

Parent Involvement Day is Next Monday

Room K-3 students in the snow.

NAAPID Parent Involvement Day, Monday, February 12th
In honor of National African American Parent Involvement Day (NAAPID) A2STEAM invites ALL parents, guardians and adult family members to visit our school. You can come in for the whole day or just a few activities.  To sign up to attend lessons in my classroom go to this link, you do not need to enter in your email when you sign up.  The school also provides breakfast lunch and has different activities, like a cyber cafe where you can try out some of the apps your students use at school.  Check out my classroom schedule and the school-wide schedule and come in for as many parts as you wish!

Homework
Student homework was returned to students today with notes of encouragement from me written in green.  I do not want to send more homework home at this time because I know you are working on the 100th Day of School project and the Valentine's Day cards.  However, many of you have asked me for more homework.  If you would like more activities to do with your child at home you can download and print this assignment.

Earbuds
If you would like to send in earphones or earbuds your child can use with his or her iPad please feel free to.  It doesn't need to be fancy, I'm thinking about the old iPod earbuds you have stashed in a drawer somewhere.  I can help students label and store them.

Snacks
Thank you for bringing in so many snacks this past week! If you would like to bring in fresh snacks like carrots, use this fresh snack calendar.

Music Informance - Thursday, February 15th
Thursday, February 15th our music instructor Ms. Huckabone is hosting an informance for the families of Room K-3 students in her classroom.  Come experience a performance and music lesson simultaneously!  The presentation is from 2:35 PM to 3:05 PM.  This flyer has more information.

Curriculum Overview
Science -  Students will write about and create videos for vehicles the designed to move rocks using a push or a pull.

Reading - Fiction books usually have story lines where a particular problem rises to a climax and then is resolved.  This week we will work on identifying and tracking those problems.

Writing - Students will learn to write personal letters and begin writing simple letters to their friends and family.

Math - In math we are comparing numbers using terms like ‘greater than’, ‘less than’ and ‘equals to’ and discussing the symbols that correspond to those words.

Word Study - Students are identifying the vowel sounds found in words and looking at the spelling patterns of long vowel words.