Rees Block S'more April
Art
Physical Education
3rd and 4th graders will continue to practice for our third and final testing window April 1st through April 11th. During P.E., we will continue to use pedometers to encourage our 3rd and 4th graders to get as many steps as they can during their P.E. block time.
Kindergarten through second grade students have been improving tremendously in locomotor skills! In P.E., we will continue to work on locomotor skills, and introduce game/ sports skills that will keep students motivated to improve their health and wellness. Skills that we will cover in March: Kicking skills, kickball, soccer, and teamwork.
Coach Grigsby: tony.grigsbyjr@aliefisd.net
Coach Fonseca: Michelle.fonseca@aliefisd.net
Music
Spring is here in Music!
Kindergarten will be fishing for rhythms and melodies, then creating music with them! We will also be learning songs about animals and Spring, with lots of fun movement and props.
1st Graders will be telling musical stories with words, rhythms, sounds, melodies, and movement.
2nd Graders are going to be continuing part-work with rounds and partner songs. They have also started performing on our barred instruments while we sing. These instruments include xylophones, metallophones, and various drums and percussion instruments.
3rd Graders are continuing “Mallet Madness” which is a unit on all of our percussion instruments. They will be playing melodies and rhythms, as well as reading note names on the music staff.
4th Graders have started our joyous recorder unit!
They have purchased and received their instruments and are learning to perform during music class. They will be starting a music challenge called Recorder Karate where they will play off leveled songs for a ribbon to tie onto their recorders. Please ask them to perform a song for you!
They are still preparing for the Alief Music Memory Olympics test! They will learn to aurally identify eleven pieces from throughout the year, and take a listening test. The highest scoring students will be invited to participate in the district event in May.
The Rees Choir is very busy this spring. They just performed before our March Alief Board meeting, and did an amazing job! They rehearse every Thursday from 3:30-4:40. They are working hard to prepare for our performance at the Alief Teacher of the Year celebration in April and our May 15th Showcase that includes Seussical the Musical, Jr.
Thank you for allowing them the opportunity to make beautiful music with me!
Jennifer Wilkins
Music Teacher
Follow me on X: @reesmusic1
Dance
Our Kinder through 4th-grade dancers are taking a deeper dive into the world of hip-hop, exploring its many styles and techniques! This unit, all students are learning the art of tutting—using sharp, precise hand and arm movements to create intricate shapes. Alongside mastering new skills, we’re also focusing on conditioning our bodies to build strength, endurance, and control, ensuring every dancer can perform at their highest level. Get ready for some high-energy moves and exciting growth!
Health and Technology
Computational thinking is like being a detective solving a mystery! It's all about breaking down big problems into smaller parts, spotting patterns, and coming up with smart plans to solve them. Just like detectives search for clues, we use our brains to figure out how to solve tricky problems step by step.
First, we need to break down the big problem into smaller parts. This is called decomposition. It's like taking a big puzzle and breaking it into smaller pieces to solve one by one. Then, we look for patterns, which are like repeating clues that help us understand how things work. Next, we use abstraction, which means focusing on the important parts and ignoring the extra details. It's like zooming in on the most important clues while ignoring distractions.
Once we understand the problem, we create a plan, called an algorithm, to solve it step by step. It's like making a recipe for solving the puzzle! With computational thinking, we can solve all sorts of problems, from planning a route to school to figuring out math puzzles.
Now, let's talk about applying computational thinking! It's like using the skills of a detective to solve real-life problems. With the help of a teacher, we can use what we've learned about breaking down problems and finding patterns to solve problems in computer science. We can write sequences of code, which are like sets of instructions, to solve simple problems. It's like writing a set of steps to solve a puzzle on the computer!
Rees students will have fun using Code.Org in Rees Tech Lab!
Mr. Williams