Weekly Update Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Here's What's Going on in the Beacons' World:

Friendship:

It seems to be that time of year... where Beacon friends are not being as friendly as they should. It's been many weeks since the holiday break and spring break is a long way off. We've taken some time this week to refresh our memories on being respectful and kind toward each other. Ask your students about some of the friendship activities we've done to reinforce this in our classroom. Sometimes all it takes is a friendly reminder of what to say to show you care in order to be a good friend.



Reading:
We're continuing reading assessments and reading myths together. They loved the story of Perseus and Medusa! I have ordered some new novel sets and we'll begin novel groups as soon as they arrive.

Writing:

We're been busy blending technology and typing skills to create final drafts of the creative stories. The Beacons have been working hard and are very proud of their final products.


Math:
Division skills continue as students continue to solve problems and connect division to multiplication.

Science:
The lunar space colony is almost completed! Next week we'll be doing some experiments that will walk us through the scientific process and reinforce the designs of the space colony. Students will then modify their designs based on the conclusions from their experiments.

Social Studies: We're off to learning about Greek currency and writing letters to each other in Greek! Pretty exciting stuff! We've been studying Greek and Italian geography, temples and tombs. The students are loving learning!


"I get by with a little help from my friends".-

John Lennon


Looking forward to another exciting week at Seabury!


-Tamara and Betsy

Weekly Update Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Upcoming Events:

Open House:

Friday, January 22, 2010 9-11 am

Thursday, Jan. 28, 2010 6-7:30 p.m.

Field Trips:

Monday, February1- Pacific Science Center

Wednesday, February 3-Asian Art Museum

Auction: March 6, 2010!

Science Fair: March 4th! Details to follow!

NO SCHOOL!

February 11 and 12- Teacher In service

February 15- President's Day.

March 11-12-Parent/Teacher Conferences

Spring Break! April 5-9

Here's What's Going on

in the Beacons' World:

Reading: We are currently assessing student reading growth. Everyone has been working hard on their reading skills and comprehension and we're already seeing lots of positive growth in the Beacon's room. We continue to read myths aloud and I've seen lots of Beacons reading myths on their own during silent reading! Very exciting. We've even seen some "gods" and "goddesses" playing on the playground!

Writing: We're deep in the heart of writing creative, fiction stories. Students are beginning to wrap up their final drafts and are beginning work on the revision, editing and publishing steps in the writing process.

Math: Division work continues as the students are amazing! They continue to make the great connection to the concept that multiplication and division is related. We will begin work on dividing by 6,7, 8 and 9 next week, so extra practice on those multiplication tables will be great. We've also spent some time this week solving problems by using a table. Other students are wrapping up Chapter 8 on algebraic patterns and problem solving.

Science: Space colony construction has begun! Enjoy the photos of your clever Beacons designing transportation, living quarters, food production stations, scientific equipment and health centers that they can "live" in for a year on the moon!

Social Studies: Wow! Your Beacon absolutely was outstanding in our unit on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Civil Rights. Aside from our incredible small and large group discussions, the students wrote an "I Have a Dream" paper. Friday we made our "Dream" mobile and the last ones made it home today in their backpacks. Here are their papers:

"I have a dream that the USA will stay one country. I have a dream that poor people will have more money. I have a dream that there will be no war." L.B.

"I have a dream that I will get an agent and have more fun and see my family in China." S.B.

"I have a dream that when I grow up I can be a sports player. I have a dream that politics will get better. I have a dream that the pollution in the world will also get better." P.S.G.

"I have a dream. I want there to be no bad people, no wars, no robbers. I want there to be no slaves. I want more freedom and more fairness. I have a dream for there to have no judging people by skin color." A.W.

"I have a dream that there will be no wars! I have a dream that the USA will give Haiti a lot of supplies! I have a dream that no one shall go hungry!" M.J.

"I have a dream that the countries, states, people are healthy and the earth is too! I have a dream that my family and I be healthy." A.K.

"My dream is to get A+'s and have a puppy I could share with Audrey and baby. My last dream is to stop people abandoning dogs and cats and killing animals for meat." A.L.

"I have a dream to be more mature and responsible to get a dog. I have a dream to be more responsible of my stuff and to keep my room clean." G.B.

"I have a dream to be respectful to my things and be nice to everyone and to be responsible by helping my family." R.J.

"I have a dream to have a pet store and a dog and a cat." M.T.

"I have a dream that I could have my guinea pig back!! I have a dream that back then they would not be mean to colored people!!!" N.E.

I am so proud of our Beacons! They are well on their way to becoming thoughtful stewards of the earth and helping make the world a better place.

Looking forward to another exciting week with your Beacon!

Betsy and Tamara

Weekly Update: January 13, 2010

Here's what's going on

in the Beacons' world:

Upcoming Events:

January 18- No school!

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Feb 1- Field Trip to

Pacific Science Center

Feb. 3- Field Trip to

Asian Art Museum

February 25th- Yoga starts after school

March 4- Science Fair

March 6- Seabury Auction

This Week's

Learning Adventures:

Reading: Students have been working more on building skill development this week. We are in the process of reassessing reading levels and redefining reading levels that are both independent yet challenging for each student. We've also been enjoying learning about Greek and Roman myths by reading independently and also reading aloud as a class.

Writing: We've made it through to the last of the writing traits, and the most difficult to teach, that of "Voice". This trait involves the author's style and personality. We did an experiment where we all started with the same plot formula. All the students had to have the same 7 elements common in many stories and movies: A good guy/girl, an ally, a bad girl/guy, the bad guy's ally, high stakes, the good guy always wins, and, of course, living happily ever after! The students noticed that most Disney movies followed this formula! (don't they- ad nauseam!?) When they had finished, I read them aloud and it was easy to guess who wrote which story. From 11 different authors, we had 11 distinct stories.

We are now starting to go begin the full writing process; brainstorm, rough draft, revise, edit, publish. The students will be asked to incorporate all the traits of good writing into their stories. Brainstorming began today and we already have flying iguanas, talking dogs, aliens invading space stations and much more!

Math: We have dividing machines in here! We've finished chapter 6 and are beginning chapter 7 which will tackle dividing by 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, and 12.

Other students are working on developing problem solving skills and working on chapter 8 from the textbook.

Science: Students have divided into teams and will be responsible for the design and building of their lunar colony area. We have teams for Transportation, Living Quarters and Food, Scientific Equipment, Power and Water and Health Care. We watched a quick video on how astronauts eat food in space and we've studied ideas for other lunar colonies. Yesterday, we organized all the amazing supplies the students have contributed and we are ready to start building next week! (We're all set with supplies -Thanks!!! )

Social Studies: Wow! What a week! Students are continuing on their virtual field trip to Greece and Italy. As we "traveled" to Greece, we saw an educational video of what the water and shore look like if you had just landed by boat and were actually standing on a Grecian shore! They saw Mt. Olympus as well as notable Greek temples to the gods/goddesses. They were amazed at what the temples looked like during Greece's ancient era, and how those same temples appear today. Students were fascinated by the segment on Socrates and Plato. We had a great discussion about, "Do you really find answers to questions if all you do is ask questions?" I love teaching here! We also learned about Alexander the Great. We worked on-line with our "quiz" about what we had learned from these segments. The entire class did exceedingly well! We are working away on our gods and goddesses flash cards with a boat load of information on the back! It's a great educational way to learn about these cast of characters.

In addition, we have spent time today, and will continue to do so for the remainder of this week and next week, learning about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his contributions to the history of this great nation and to that of the world. Be looking for your child's "I Have a Dream" mobile (so your Beacon can hang it in his/her room) on Tuesday. I hope to have completed their "I Have A Dream" essays so we can post them on next week's blog. Enjoy Monday with your Beacon as we all celebrate the federal birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King,Jr.'s birthday.

"I like to think that the moon is there

even if I am not looking at it."~

Albert Einstein

Looking forward to another exciting week at Seabury!

-Tamara and Betsy

Weekly Update1-06-10

Welcome Back Beacons and Happy New Year!!

We started out 2010 by writing some New Year's Resolutions. Here's what the kids have to say:

This new year I will keep moving forward! When I have a problem like math, science, and language arts I won't give up! - M.J.

This year I will keep my room clean by putting my clothes in my hamper and clean my toys off the floor. It will make my mom happy. My room will look just the way I like it. - G.B.

My new year's resolution is to keep my room clean and help my mom get out the dishes. This will make my mom happy and me happy too. I will do it every day. - R.J.

My new year's resolution is to write more because it is an area I want to improve. I also want to start playing soccer again because I need more exercise. - L.B.

This new year I will to improve myself. I will read 35 or more books because I want to read better. I want to have 10 RBIs this baseball season. I want to have ten or more goals to improve my soccer skills. I want to write three books to make my word choice better and my characters better. I will overall be a better person. - P.S.G.

My new year's resolution. This new years I resolve to exercise, clean my room, do more math. Why? To be healthy, smart and do more chores. -A.K.

This new year I resolve to be faster at my math facts. By doing 20 mins of addition and subtraction then 20 mins of multiplication and division. - A.W.

My new year's resolution is to try Snowboard Cross. Snowboard Cross is snowboard racing. You go off little jumps and you go sideways you go really fast.- N.E.

My new year's revolution is to clean to floor downstairs. Vacuum the floor downstairs. Mini babysit my baby sister. Make my mom happy.- A.L.

My new year's resolution. I will keep the playroom clean. The playroom is dirty. I will do it once a week.- M.T.

This new year I will be a better student. I will stop daydreaming in class because it will make me happy. I will concentrate more on schoolwork. -S.B.

I love their grand aspirations!!

Here's What's going on in the Beacons' World this week:

Reading: We're reading Greek Myths as a group. This week we're reading, "How Everything Began" which explains how Zeus got to be ruler of the universe.

Writing: In addition to writing new year's resolutions, we will be focusing on the trait of 'Voice' in writing. We'll compare authors with distinctive styles and determine how to write using one's own voice. We'll all begin with the same plot formula and compare how different the stories turn out.

Math: It's all about division this week. Most students are getting familiar with the concept how division relates to multiplication. Other students are beginning work on long division.

Science: We had a chance to listen to our panel of experts present their power point presentations on the planets, dwarf planets and moons that they researched. The students will vote which place seems the best to colonize and begin designs for a space colony. We will also research the effects of gravity on the body. Ask you student if they enjoyed wearing extra weight around!

**We'll be needed lots of "recycled materials" for our space colony. Please send in any 'stuff' you have lying around such as: TP tubes, Styrofoam, plastic bottles, aluminum foil (with no food), hangers, old wire etc... The more 'treasures' we have on hand, the more creative the kids can be. Thanks!!

Social Studies: Students will learn more about Greece and focus on how Greek Myths developed. They will be making flashcards with the major gods and goddesses of Mt. Olympus.


Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors and let each new year find you a better man.- Benjamin Franklin

Looking forward to great new year and another exciting week with the Beacons!
-Tamara and Betsy.