Monthly Specialty Class Newsletter
April 2019
Chinese with Mrs. Ma
The students at all levels have made great progress in their pronunciations and pinyin reading proficiency. We have been focusing on the initials and finals (eg, j q x, üe, ai, ) by utilizing fun games.
In TK and K Chinese, the students expanded their vocabulary in farewell expressions, colors, and food. We applied the new words to the new sentence structures, such as “Who+sentence”, “ What+ sentence”, “Please+sentence”, and “I like +sentence”.
In 1st, 2nd and Multi-Age Chinese, the students learned more new phrases related to days of the week, month, and calendar dates. The students worked on the grammar rules, eg sentence + “LE了”. The students showed great interest in Chinese characters. For the fun part, the “Chineasy” method was introduced to the students to help them understand the formation of characters. While learning new lessons, we periodically reviewed the previous lessons learned in the last few months through quizzes and worksheets.
Spanish with Mrs. Thompson and Miss Kelley
It is with excitement that I share that both our 1st/2nd grade students and Multi-Age students have successfully completed their most recent units and have taken all the necessary quizzes to advance to the next unit! They all did so well on their quizzes, and were really able to show off all they've learned. One thing I love about our curriculum is the technology aspect that allows students to log onto their iPad or Chromebook to access the quizzes and respond electronically. Students take both listening and reading quizzes on the vocabulary they've learned, as well as a culture quiz that allows them to show what they've learned about the specific country we've been studying over the course of the unit. Over the last few months of the school year, our 1st and 2nd grade students will be working through Unit 5, and our Multi-Age students will work through Unit 6. I am looking forward to watching them expand their Spanish knowledge and continue growing in their understanding and confidence in another language!
Students in both Transitional Kindergarten and Kindergarten are currently learning vocabulary terms for "la familia" (the family) and family trees. They are learning the necessary vocabulary to name the members of their family, which will help them when listening and speaking to family members and will help them build confidence in using their newly learned words with their family members. If you have a student in Transitional Kindergarten or Kindergarten, don't forget to ask them what they've learned recently and have some conversations at home using their new vocabulary for "la familia".
Music with Ms. Zhang
Good job! TK and K students had an amazing performance in March, and they are learning more music skills in April. They are learning songs from Little Mozart books, such as “If you are happy and you know it,” Do you know?” “The Itsy-Bitsy Spider,” “Racing car,” and “Giant’s Lullaby.” Additionally, K students are learning more piano skills. They are learning 2 black keys and 3 black keys, and including piano solos: “Right and Left,” and “Left and Right.” They start to learn theory such as quarter notes, half notes and whole notes.
1st grade students are learning voice warm up, and they sing in 5 notes scale. Additionally, they are learning two songs, “Check Out the Weather,” and “Place Value Song.” In theory, they are practicing quarter notes, half notes and whole notes. They are able to clap and sing with a good and steady tempo. They have rhythm ear training as well. Additionally, they are learning keyboard skills, for example, learning piano solos such as “Merry We Roll Along,” and “Jolly Old Saint Nicholas.” Additionally, they start to learn white keys, with all music alphabets: A, B, C, D, E, F, G which preparing them to play on C position.
2nd Grade students are learning voice pitch training by singing Super duper double gum, Zoo, and Lou-ee warm up. They are learning two songs: “Counting Coins song,” and “The Map Song.” They learn theory and piano skills on C position, including treble clef, bass clef and grand Staff. Piano solos include “Rain, Rain,” Look at me,” “Mrs. Murphy’s House”, and “A Happy Song.”
3rd and Multi-age are learning pitch training by singing “Super Duper Double Bubble Gum,” and “Mary Had a Little Lamb Variation.” They are singing two songs: “Schoolhouse Rock- The Preamble,” and “3 States of Matter Song Science Songs for Kids.” They are learning piano solos including “ Morning Prayer,” “See-Saws,” “Lightly row”, and two poplar songs: “Imagine,” and “Over the Rainbow.”
STEM With Miss M
Our students have been busy little bees in STEM over the last month. Everyone completed and submitted their OC Fair projects. Each child received an award for their participation and a group of our Multi-Age students won an award in their division for their motion media entry. Congrats!
TK and K have been focusing on plant and animal superpowers. In one experiment, the children were asked ‘why are polar bears white?’ Through their Moth Hide and Seek activity, students were able to explore the many different ways that certain animals protect themselves from predators with their camouflage capabilities! Miss M hid camouflaged moths on trees with various patterns throughout the STEM Zone and sent everyone on a mystery moth hunt.
First grade has also been participating in some super cool plant adventures like their ‘fly your own seed’ exploration experiment. Students had the chance to construct three unique paper aircrafts: Spinner, Glider, and Rotocopter. They tested their designs and played the ‘Zone of Darkness” game while learning how one tree could possibly travel halfway around the world!
Second grade was able to practice their cartography skills during their Work of Water experiment. Each group was directed to construct their own mountain range and experiment with various water patterns. The big question that was posed for this project was ‘If you floated down river, where would you end up?’ Students shared some great ideas and were able to come to an AMA-zing conclusion at the end of their exploration.
Multi-age students started this month out with a big bang! They jumped right into their Chemical Magic activity with the Bag of Bubbles project. Each group agreed on a hypothesis, combined their ingredients, ran their first test, shared their results, and improved their project design in order to create the ultimate explosion. They had a blast!
Art with Miss Jordan
April's end brought us back down to Earth and springing into a new project with still-life sketches of potted Tulips in celebration of Spring! Our students took this one back to the drawing board, so to speak, with some tools they're a little more familiar with -- plain, old pencils and paper! We talked about simple curves and lines and how we can put them all together to create something more complex - gorgeous Tulips! Students followed along to a directed drawing before drawing in their own personal touches to their artwork. They even included items they might find on their very own kitchen table -- everything from yummy fresh fruits, to Mom's favorite coffee cup, to Dad's laptop left out on the table. They capped off the assignment by adding a splash of contrasting watercolors to brighten up their still-life world.
No matter what territory our students venture into, they are ready to tackle new ideas and fresh techniques! They face each project with fearlessness, resilience, and creativity and imagination abound. As their art teacher, I couldn't be more proud!
Extended Care with Miss Jordan and Miss Chelsea
Extended Care has been spending some quality time collaborating and getting to know one another better with some cool projects! During one activity, each child had the opportunity to pair up with another student and interview them on their likes and dislikes. They used the information they collected to make beautiful diversity bracelets. They have been using these bracelets as a tool when pairing up for other games and projects. If certain students have a matching color on their bracelet, they are encouraged to link up as partners for their indoor and outdoor activities throughout the week. Students have also been introduced to new, exciting games like Swamp Monster Spud Giants!