Science Literacy Night is This Wednesday!

It was nice having all that snow before Thanksgiving!

I hope you all had a wonderful and relaxing Thanksgiving.  Here is a quick overview of this upcoming school week along with a note about snow clothes and Wednesday's Science Night.

Snow Clothes
Although all of our snow has melted please keep in mind what students need when we get more.  The biggest problem we had at Ann Arbor STEAM last week was snow boots.  Snow boots are wonderful to have for recess but when students wear snow boots to school they need to bring a spare set of shoes.  We go to the gymnasium for gym class twice a week, we also go to the gymnasium if we ever have an indoor recess.  Snow boots cannot be worn in the gymnasium so it is important to have a pair of athletic shoes available to change into.  Additionally, if your child has a small backpack it will be necessary to get them a larger backpack to accommodate their shoes and other gear.  I know from my own family that there is already a lot to purchase during the holiday season and that it is often hard to find time to do such things, but as winter comes it would really help for each child to have a backpack big enough to accommodate winter clothes.

Science and Literacy Night
This Wednesday, December 2, from 6:00 - 8:00pm, the Ann Arbor Hands On Museum will host a casual, self-directed evening of fantastic, science-based fun. They will provide a wide range of science and math activities — a little bit of everything — physics, chemistry, biology, math, earth science! STEAM provides 20 volunteers and the Hands on Museum folks will fill 20 of our tables with creative hands-on activities for grades K thru 8. Come shop at the Book Fair in the Media Center and enjoy fun science activities in the Multi Purpose Room.

Volunteers Needed for Science and Literacy Night!
As I wrote above this Wednesday the Ann Arbor Hands On Museum will host a casual, self-directed evening of fantastic, science-based fun. The PTO needs 20 volunteers (arrive at 5:30 for set-up) to run 20 tables filled with creative hands-on activities.  The museum will provide instructions for volunteers!  Click here to sign up.

Curriculum Overview

Science - We are starting our first Project Lead The Way (PLTW) module on structure and function.  Structure refers to the way something is built, including shape, size, and the way the different parts work together (for example, a chair has four legs, a seat, and a back).  Function is what something does or is intended to do (the function of a chair is to give people a place to sit).  We start this unit on Tuesday. More information to come as this module gets going.

Math - This week we will work with numbers beyond ten and see how a number like 12 is a combination of ten and two more.  We will also review what we know about graphs and then shapes.  The children will make graph showing the favorite colors of their classmates.  We will also discuss what makes a square different from other shapes like a rectangle.

Literacy - For the next few weeks we will be reading different versions of the well-known Gingerbread Man story.  We will be studying the similarities and differences between the different versions.

Writing - Students will be writing about the different experiences they have with our Project Lead The Way unit on structure and function.  They will be sketching and writing about the beanstalk they build, as well as the house they construct.

Word Study - Identifying the beginning and ending sounds of words.  For example ‘dog’ begins with a /d/ and ends with a /g/.

Have a Great Thanksgiving

Students practiced for STEAM Expo night by rehearsing their stations with 5th and 7th grade students.

Thank you so much for attending our STEAM Expo night.  The students were absolutely ecstatic to share what they learned with you.  I really appreciate you coming out on a weeknight to see the learning here in Room K-3 and at Ann Arbor STEAM.

Report Cards
Report cards go home tomorrow, Tuesday, November 24th.  They will be in a 9 x 12 manila envelope.  The envelope needs to be signed and returned to school on Monday, November 30th.

Thank You For The Donations
Thank for for all the donations you have made of hand soap, hand sanitizer, tissue, and wipes.  These items are really helpful and are being used in the classroom daily!  Thank you as well for those who have donated Legos, the students will really enjoy those when the snow picks up and we have more indoor recess time.

Curriculum Overview
Science Weather Project - After our Expo we need to reflect as a class on what went well and what me might do differently next time.  We also have some thank you notes to write.

Math - This week we will review numbers and sorting.

Literacy - We are reading some books that discuss Thanksgiving and thankfulness in general.  Next week will begin comparing and contrasting Gingerbread man books.

Writing - Students will write about something small they are thankful for.

Thanks again for coming out to the Expo.

The students and I wrote this note to post outside our room.

STEAM Expo night is this Wednesday, November 18th!

Room K-3 students prepare for our EXPO.

STEAM Expo Night
Our Fall Expo will take place this Wednesday, November 18th, from 4:30 PM - 7:00 PM.  The night will be broken up into two different blocks of time: Grades K, 2, 4, and 6 present from 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM.  Grades 1, 3, 5, and 7 present from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM.  In between, from 5:30 PM to 6:00 PM, there is time for transition and dinner.  This flyer details all the EXPO times and presentations.  Room K-3 students need to be in our classroom as presenters from 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM.  If your child has siblings that present during the same block, the final fifteen minutes of that block can be used to visit the sibling’s room.

Steam Expo Attire
As I wrote last week, the goal for our STEAM Expo is to have all students dress up and look nice.  Students are presenting the learning they have done and we want them to feel the importance of the night.  After school on Wednesday, have your students change into dressier clothes but don’t feel like you need to be super fancy; a nice pair of slacks, a collared shirt, blouse, or dress etc. are all good choices.

Mini Spirit Week
Starting on Wednesday of this week we will have three spirit days.  On Wednesday, during the school day, students should wear A2Steam clothes or the A2Steam colors, blue and white.  On Thursday students will relax with pajama day.  On Friday we will have hat day.

Curriculum Overview
Science Weather Project - We are preparing for our STEAM Expo!  This week students will review what they have learned and practice the different stations that we will have for the Expo.  On Thursday and Friday we will reflect.

Math - This week we will continue our work on building and representing numbers in different ways.  We will work all the way to the number 20 but our focus will be on the numbers 1-12.

Literacy - We are reading fiction books discussing the characters, setting, problem, and resolution in each book.  Next week will begin comparing and contrasting Gingerbread Man books.

Writing - Students will use drawings and words to finish writing about the anemometers we made and to reflect on our Expo.

Word Study - This week we are spending more time with words from the -ing family like ring, sing, king, running, etc.

STEAM Expo night is Wednesday, November 18th!

Room K-3 students building their own anemometer.

STEAM Expo Night
Fall Expo for the 2015-2016 school year will take place on Wednesday, November 18 from 4:30-7:00pm.  The night will be broken up into different blocks of time which I will detail next week.  I recommend that you plan on coming for the majority of the night as there will be a lot of exciting learning to experience.  There will be dinner options for sale as well.  Our kindergarten students will be presenting what they have learned about weather.

Steam Expo Attire
The goal for our STEAM Expo is to have all students dress up a bit and look nice.  Students are presenting the work they have done and we want them to feel the importance of the night.  Have your students dress up but don’t feel like you need to be too fancy; a nice pair of slacks, a collared shirt, blouse, or dress etc. are all good choices.

Sharing Email Addresses
As I wrote last week a couple of Room K-3 parents have approached me asking me for a class email list so they can propose meet-ups and playdates.  I think it is a great idea but wanted to get your permission first.  I have set up this survey, if you tried it last week and couldn’t get in, please try again, I fixed the settings Tuesday afternoon.

Curriculum Overview
Science Weather Project - We are preparing for our STEAM Expo!  This week students will review what they have learned and practice the different stations that we will have for the expo.

Math - This week we will work on building and representing numbers in different ways.  We will work all the way to the number 20 but our focus will be on the numbers 1-12.

Literacy - We are reading fiction books discussing the characters, setting, problem, and resolution in each book.

Writing - Students are using pictures and words to write about the anemometers we are making.

Word Study - This week we are focusing on the sight words: is, you, the, and.  We will also look at worlds from the -ing family like ring, sing, king, running, etc. 

A Room K-3 student building his own anemometer.

U of M Meteorologists!

Meteorologists from U of M came to teach us about different weather instruments.

Hi, I hope your children are having a good couple of warm days off.  Here are the notes for the week:

School Photos
If you ordered a key chain or other specialty item from the school picture company I will send it home in backpacks this Wednesday, November 4th.  If there is any need for retakes, this Wednesday is also picture retake day.

Sharing Email Addresses
A couple of Room K-3 parents have approached me asking me for a class email list so they can propose meet-ups and playdates.  I think it is a great idea but wanted to get your permission first.  If you are okay with me sharing your email address with other Room K-3 parents please fill out this simple survey.

Homework
I began sending home math homework last week.  Most of the math homework I will send home are games or activities that reflect work we have done in class.  If the math homework ever asks for something to be turned in please know you have the week to work on it-—no rush. Thank you for those families who got that last assignment done so quickly, I do appreciate it.

This week I will also give your students a blue and clear baggie of home reading books. These are simple books that are matched to your child’s reading level.  Please help your child read these books to you as part of their daily homework.  The goal should be that your child reads the books for 5 to 10 minutes each night, 5 nights a week.  You should be there to help them read and they should point to the words as they read.  Bring the books back on Monday for a new set.

Curriculum Overview
Science Weather Project - We are preparing for our STEAM Expo!  This week students will build their own mini-anemometer and practice the different stations we will have for the expo.

Math - This week we will continue working with the number ten to see how it can be broken up (5+5=10, 7+3=10, etc).  We will also be learning and using the terms longer, shorter, longest, and shortest.

Literacy - We are reading fiction books discussing the characters, setting, problem, and resolution in each book.

Writing - Students are using pictures, letters, and words to write about the anemometers we are making.

Word Study - This week we are reviewing rhyme.

Last week we began building our own anemometer, a tool for measuring the wind.