Hosmer Specials Newsletter
March
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Monthly Update on Specials Classes
Art with Ms. Kim
Artists are learning about color and texture, exploring these elements of art through a variety of different materials and experiences.
- Kindergarten is making self portrait assemblages, demonstrating what our bodies look like when we are doing some of our favorite physical activities. We will use cardboard to create our assemblages, and add a variety of different materials including construction and patterned paper, felt, foam, buttons, ribbon, and yarn to transform them into self portraits in motion.
- 1st Grade has been a painting about an animal with a tail, choosing and drawing their animal using a felt tail as a starting point, to think about parts to a whole. We mixed some of our own colors of paint, based on our color mixing explorations, to paint our animal in their habitat.
- 2nd Grade has been learning about and creating artwork inspired by Brazilian contemporary artist Romero Britto's colorful and playful artwork. We chose an object to paint that represents us and our interests, using complementary colors of paint to add color and pattern to our work. Next, we will be learning about Japanese cherry blossom painting and experiment with mixing different tints of pink.
- 3rd Grade has been learning about and creating self portraits inspired by the quilted portraits of Bisa Butler, a contemporary Black artist. Using knowledge gained from recent color mixing explorations, we mixed their own colors of paint for different parts of the face and hair, and are combining these with a fabric background. Next, we will be learning about and creating art inspired by Georgia O'Keeffe's flower paintings.
- 4th Grade is learning about and creating artwork inspired by Invader, an anonymous contemporary French street artist, and making our own designs for paper mosaics inspired by his tile mosaic street art installations. Some of these paper mosaics will be "invading" the Hosmer soon!
- 5th Grade is starting a plaster mask project, where we will be learning about the history of masks from around the world and coming up with a design for our own masks. We will be using plaster to create 3D masks on a mold, which will then be painted according to our designs. These masks will eventually be on display at Hosmer with accompanying artist statements.
Library Media with Mr. Dubuque
Online Privacy: Students using Encryption and Decryption Using Caesar Cipher!
Fiction: Sulwe
Fiction: Rumpelstiltskin
Nonfiction: Sky High, The True Story of Maggie Gee
K-2:
Character Traits- I am learning to identify "heroes" and "villains" characters in Fairy Tales based on their actions.
Setting- I can describe how a setting creates mood and affects the story.
Problems and Solution- I can discuss the challenges fictional characters face in the context of a story.
Using the Online Catalog- I can locate books with some assistance.
Third and Fourth Grade
Machine Learning: I am learning about computers helping humans with easy and complex tasks.
Artificial Intelligence: I can communicate how robots sense an environment like humans and animals.
Predictive modeling: I can explain how neural networks create predictive AI to create image identification.
Fifth Grade:
Biography - I can research non fiction titles using the online database and the Dewey Decimal Classification System.
Call Number Shelf Location- I can locate a biography of my choice by researching Hosmer Library’s online catalog.
Machine Learning- I can communicate how robots can "sense" an environment like humans and animals.
Encryption and Decryption- I can use Caesar Cipher to encrypt a message and explain how encryption helps keep our privacy safe online.
Using the Hosmer online catalog to search for book titles
Creating a repeatable dance sequence in computer code
Identifying the actions which identify a villain in a fairy tale
Artificial Intelligence and Predictive Modeling
Using Symbols to Code a Teachable Dance Sequence
Music with Ms. Ritter & Mr. Boynton
Kindergarten I can play instruments!
Essential Questions: How do I move my body to music? How do music and dance bring people together? Why do people dance?
1st Grade I can play a steady beat on barred percussion. I can decode rhythms using stick notation.
2nd Grade I can read rhythms with whole notes, and can recognize and perform with different dynamics. I can play my own melodies using do and re, quarter notes, eighth notes, half notes, and rests on barred instruments.
3rd Grade I can play melodies using pitches B, A, and G on the soprano recorder. I can learn a new folk dance.
4th Grade I can play melodies using pitches B, A, and G on the soprano recorder, and earn my "white belt" for recorder karate. I can identify these pitches on the treble staff.
5th Grade I can play melodies using pitches B, A, and G on the soprano recorder. I can identify these pitches on the treble staff, and incorporate and perform musical elements such as staccato and legato in my playing.
BANDARAMA is right around the corner! This special performance of all band students in the district will be Tuesday, March 12th at 7 pm in the Watertown Middle School Gymnasium. There is a rehearsal for fourth and fifth grade band students on Monday, March 11th, from 3-4 pm in the Watertown Middle School Auditorium. Please scroll to the top of this newsletter for more details about the event.
We hope you can attend!
Please email me with any questions at allison.ritter@watertown.k12.ma.us.
March's Musician of the Month: HAIM
Click here to find out more about all female pop/rock band HAIM!
First Grade Uses Popsicle Sticks to Notate Rhythms
Ms. Salvucci's first grade class decodes rhythms and creates their own rhythms using popsicle sticks and stick notation.
Student-Led Performances with Fifth Grade
Students in Ms. Casazza's class sing, play Orff instruments, egg shakers, and rhythm sticks, creating their own accompaniment for a Polynesian folk song.
Physical Education with Mrs. Bartlett & Mrs. Fitzgerald
This past month students have been practicing volleying skills! Volleying is trying to keep an object in the air without it hitting the ground.
Students in grades 3-5, have been introduced/reviewing the skills in the game of volleyball. Students have been practicing skills like the bump, set, and serve. After reviewing these skills, students were put into modified small-sided games where they would put these skills in a game-like situation. In these games students were then taught the rules of the game, how to rotate on the court and how to keep score! The students did a phenomenal job using these skills and enjoyed the small-sided games. It is a great start for a sport that may turn into a life-long activity for them!
Students in grades K-2, were working on volleying as well! Students practiced the skill by trying to keep the balloon in the air using their hands. After the students accomplished this, we moved them into trying to keep the ball up in the air with a partner! The students were so successful with this, we had them volley back and forth over a net or a noodle. Some of the students even progressed to using a beach ball instead of the balloon! They did a great job with the skill!
All groups worked so hard at the volleying unit, we were able to fit in a few Valentine’s Day and friendship activities before vacation. We worked on respect and kindness during these activities. It was a great month!
Here is a summary of the skills we have been working on this month!
K-2
Volleying
Respect and Kindness
3-5
Volleyball skills
Bump
Set
Serve
Rules of the game
Teamwork and sportsmanship
Volleying
First grade students practiced their volleying skills over a noodle!
Volleyball Games
3rd graders practice skills in their modified games!
Helping Hearts
Students complete their friends "hearts" by saying something kind about them so they are able to rejoin the game!
Spanish with Sra. Navas, Sra. Olafsson, & Sra. Bogdanovic
¡Feliz marzo!
Kindergarten: In kindergarten, we are working on our body parts and clothing unit. Students have been working on describing what articles of clothing they put on different body parts and describing using numbers and colors. "Ponte tus zapatos" is a fun song students have been learning at school they can practice at home!
First grade: Students are having fun talking about what activities or hobbies they like, don’t like or love! First graders enjoy singing along with the video ¿Qué te gusta hacer? and have made a little booklet and shared it with a classmate to express their opinions about what activities they like and don’t like.
Second grade: We have been talking about families and have enjoyed watching this video. Who is in our family? Is it a big family or a small family? How many people are in the family? Students drew pictures of their families and shared with a classmate to describe who is in their family. We have started reading the wordless book Faltan 10 Minutos para Dormir (10 Minute Till Bedtime) about a boy who unexpectedly hosts a bedtime tour of his house to a group of hamsters to connect what we’ve learned about family to learning about the rooms in the house. Students have had fun describing the funny things they see happening in the book and practicing the rooms of the house and activities you do in each room en español.
Third grade: Third graders are in the midst of their alphabet unit and have enjoyed singing along with this video. We have been practicing the letters and their sounds and learning different words that start with each letter, how to spell different words, and have been practicing the letters through many different songs, games and activities. Ask your child to spell their name for you en español!
Fourth grade: Fourth graders are in the midst of their houses unit. Students have learned about famous houses in the Spanish-speaking world, rooms in a house, objects in the house and what activities different family members do in each room of the house. Students can practice the rooms of the house, activities and family members at home with this song.
Fifth grade: In fifth grade, our “Health” unit is in full swing! Students are working on saying what healthy habits and activities they do and the frequencies in which they do them, for example, “I always sleep 8 hours/ Yo siempre duermo 8 horas. I sometimes play sports/ Yo a veces juego deportes. I never meditate. Yo nunca medito.” Students are also learning how to say different foods in Spanish! Click this link if your child would like to practice the foods at home through some fun games and activities!
4th Grade: "Las casas"
Ms. Mattson's class brainstorming description words for different houses.
1st Grade: "Mi escuela"
Last month's presentation in first grade: students sharing their school books with the class which showed the places in the school and the activities you do in each room of the school.