Ada Vista Specials Newsletter
October 2026
- Art:
Students in grades K-1 will be learning about “The Beautiful OOPS” and geometric and organic shapes. Grades 2 and 3 will be focusing on shape and form. Fourth grade will finish a radial balance project involving painting, color theory, and printmaking. They will also begin discussing toy making for our toy sale in December. Students grades 1-4 will all have begun sketching and our “Sammy Sidekicks” program! Thank you for your sketchbook donations! We could not do it without you!
Music:
In music, we will continue to work on singing voice development K/1 and singing in rounds 2nd-4th. Everyone will learn Pass the Pumpkin, a favorite for this time of year! The 4th graders have received their recorders and we will begin Recorder Karate soon. The 3rd graders have been working hard learning ukulele. 1st-4th are beginning their rhythm assessments and they are doing a great job!
PE: Kindergartners are exploring concepts of balance, kicking, throwing, whole body movement, introduction to gross motor skills, spatial awareness, midline abilities, and contralateral movements. Hand eye coordination is a focal point as well. We practice these through games and with introduction to materials and concepts of movement, all disguised as PLAY!. We still need reminders for listening and controlling our bodies in large group settings. We focus on the fun as we follow safety rules for our own bodies and for all classmates too. We are learning sportsmanship while trying to follow rules of games and how important it is to play by the same rules.
1st-4th are practicing fitness challenges through guided practice. We are noticing fundamentals of stamina, agility, power, speed, and coordination. We are learning new games that challenge our ideas of strategies both in an offensive and defensive setting and learning when those moments can occur. We had a blast during our “futbol” soccer unit 2nd-4th grade! We have new games to play and more grit to grow.
STEAM:
Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts & Mathematics. Even though this year being the first year of implementation and focusing on the “S” and the “E”, the young scientists are using so many of the other elements of STEAM. Kinder scientists have learned about pushes and pulls and trying to solve a problem that one of our characters, Mylo, has. He is trying to help his family put up a new swing set but he must first safely and quickly move a bunch of rocks in one corner of his yard. To help him solve that problem we’ve been going through the investigation process. They will be moving bins with varying amounts of rocks to help them think about how much force they need based on the weight of the bin. First grade scientists created a sun dial to observe the changes in shadows and to help tell time. They studied various examples and wrote down some times based on the suns location coming through our class windows. We will move into studying the moon and get the scientists to realize that the moon does not produce its own light but reflects it from the sun back to earth. They will get there through various simulations and experiments. Second grade scientists have been creating their own maps of a fictional park. They had to include several features. We reviewed key vocabulary including bodies of water and geographical features. The kids will move onto studying water. Third grade scientists have continued their study of traits and how they vary based upon their genetic make up. We talked about genes, cells and hereditary traits vs. multifactor traits. They will move onto completing a mini project on choosing an animal and describing the traits it has so that it can adapt to it’s environment. They will also get into alleles and Punnett Squares (Now who just had a blast back to their high school science days, right?). Fourth grade scientists have been exploring energy. They participated in some centers that included a supercar, some light sticks & flashlights, bowling and running some marbles down a track. The goal was to understand that energy is all around us. The kiddos will be moving onto the next activity that involves potatoes, LED’s, cables, marbles, generators, buzzers and hand warmers. Be sure to ask them about that in the coming weeks!
As a reminder, there is a link to the PLTW site in my S’more if you’d like to do any personal reading into the curriculum, their philosophy and what you can expect students to experience. Please reach out with any questions or concerns and I look forward to seeing some of you at conferences.
