Pine Class News
January 17th, 2016
Celebrating the life of Martin Luther King
At BAM...
In Prospect Park...
Freedom Songs and Stories with Tammy Hall
2 - 3 pm Lefferts Historic House, Free
Join us at the Lefferts Historic House this Martin Luther King Jr. Day for Freedom Songs and Stories with Tammy Hall. A masterful storyteller, Tammy Hall weaves together diverse tales from around the world to create a rich experience for all.
At the Brooklyn Children's Museum...
Trip to the New Victory Theater
It would be lovely to have some family members join us! Please let us know if you're interested.
Thursday, Jan 21, 2016, 09:00 AM
209 West 42nd Street, New York, NY, United States
Brooklyn History Interest Groups
Building a house that the Dutch may have built in Brooklyn...
Constructing a clay map of Fort Greene...
Building a train track and trains...
We shared quiet time together listening to some instrumental David Bowie.
On our way to the Museum of the City of New York for a workshop on the Lenape Native Americans.
We saw giant Icicles through the bus window!
We took a brisk walk in the Conservatory Garden across the street.
We admired a glass sculpture in the lobby of the museum. "It looks like the Brooklyn Bridge at night!"
Once in the workshop with our guide, Fielding:
We talked about the environment of New York in the past, the resources that were here, and the needs of the people...
We interacted with some raw materials and some artifacts...
We discussed what materials we used to make these objects...
We figured out what the artifacts were used for:
A water dipper to get water from a pot or stream...
Moccasins to keep feet protected and to walk very quietly...
A corn husk doll for children to play with...
Each small group presented their thoughts to the whole group
On the walk to the train we saw more of New York in real time...
...a tree wearing a sweater.
...the delicate ice on the water in Central Park.
...a hawk in a tree.
In reading this week we focused on working with a partner...
When sharing with partners the focus was on several different methods of sharing:
Retell what happened.
Think ahead! What might happen next?
Reread together to see even MORE.
Introduce Characters to each other.
Show Big Feelings.
All of these methods are now in our reading folders so we can always look back and find a strategy!
We used Mercy Jackson to the Rescue to practice some of these strategies together.
Learning from master writers to make our own writing stronger...
Stretching out tiny moments into a story:
This week we read Owl Moon and discussed how Jane Yolen "stretched out one very small moment into a whole story"... We worked on taking ideas from our Tiny Topic Notebooks and stretching them out.Planning:
We also focused on some of the PLANNING aspects of writing:
-brainstorming - in our tiny topics notebooks
-note taking - writing key words in the corner of each page of our booklets
-planning each page - writing the beginning, middle, and end on each page
Rehearsing/revising:
Once done with the planning stage, students practiced reading their writing aloud, or rehearsing it, to see where more details could be added.
1/2 group trips make for efficient one-on-one assessment time!
This coming Friday the Chickadees will go to the Museum of Natural History and the Sparrows will be at school to crank through the assessments. It is very helpful to have extra adults at school during this time to help with the independent work and on the field trip extra adults are always a plus. So please let us know if you're interested in helping out!
The Sparrows visit the Brooklyn Museum Trip to see the Coney Island Exhibit...
Back at school the Chickadees did some great work!
-Making a cover for our class's book about Brooklyn that they titled Brooklyn Now
-Working on their "tiny moments" stories
-Practicing problem solving
-Cleaning up the whole block area and dramatic play area
-Creating lots of beautiful sewing projects - including some pants for a cat!
(photos of all of these things are needed...sorry! It was a very productive day!)
In math we're continuing to work on problem solving...
Ask your Pine to show you how they would solve a story problem like this:
Paul has baked 36 cookies. He just put 12 more in the oven. How many cookies will he have baked altogether?
or
Michelle had 65 cents on her desk. She gave 24 cents to a friend. How much money does she have now?
Extra Clothes Reminder
Paul - paul@brooklyncompass.org
Anna - anna@brooklyncompass.org
Feel free to reach out at any time with questions, concerns, comments!
We love hearing from our Pine families!