Specials Spotlight

The sixth graders have been working really hard on their agamographs, and they should be ready for the ART FAIR on APRIL 29. We studied about the artist Yaacov Agam and looked at his kinesthetic artworks. Agamographs are two images into one, but you can only see one image at a time. You have to move from one side of the artwork to the other to see the second image.

Artists could choose any images they want based on their interests, or they could pick from a variety of optical illusions to recreate. The two sides had to contrast in some way, whether it be contrasting in color, line, shape, team rivals, etc. It was really fun to see what they came up with! Sixth graders did a fantastic job tapping into their Studio Habits of Mind for this project. Agamographs require a lot of precision, slow, hard work and following directions. These young artists demonstrated the Habits of: engage & persist, envision, express, develop craft, stretch & explore, reflect, and understand the art world.

It’s been a whirlwind "short week" in the library, packed with creativity and innovation! Our 5th graders dove into The Mystery of the Radcliffe Riddleby Taryn Souders, even designing their own intricate treasure maps to track down the legendary Radcliffe fortune. Meanwhile, our 1st grade students enjoyed The Red Jacket by Bob Holt and had a blast designing custom superhero costumes for their very own seagulls.

In the tech lab, Middle School students are reaching the finish line of their latest projects:

• 6th Grade is mastering the power of electrical circuits.

• 7th Grade is putting the final touches on their creative stop-motion films.

• 8th Grade is utilizing the Sphero Blueprint Engineering kits to design and build their own interactive carnival games.

Finally, the countdown is on for our Scholastic Book Fair during the last week of April! If you and your children want a sneak peek at this year’s selection, click the link below for an exciting 360-degree virtual tour of the book cases: Explore the Book Fair Here

This week the elementary students have been learning folk dances in music class. This is a great chance to get to move our bodies after so many of them have spent months focused on their singing. As a teacher, I love using folk dances to promote steady beat and listening skills as students fairly quickly learn to listen to the music to cue the various moves of the dance. It is also just a fun, social activity to get to do together! If you have a student in preK - 5th grade, see if your kiddo can teach you some of the moves we have learned in class!

I wish you all the very best Holy Week and a happy Easter.

Middle School students on Friday will be engaging in a quick lacrosse unit focused on passing and handling of a stick and/or scoop. Next week Middle School students will begin our baseball/softball unit. We will start with hitting a stationary ball off of a tee using a bat. Students will transition to hitting an underhand toss and overhand throw. Fielding concepts will be centered around keeping the ball in front while anticipating angles.

PreK through 1st grade has done a great job demonstrating the ability to dribble a soccer ball using their feet. From differentiated speeds to maneuvering obstacles, students have modeled control. Next week we will be incorporating passing and trapping while also scoring goals.

2nd through 5th grade have continued to compete in 3-ball soccer this week. Although the scoreboard may not always reflect the overall improvement, there has been a significant shift in strategy and pace of play. Next week will wrap up our final round of Fitness Assessments. 2nd through 5th grade will complete the PACER Test and Timed-Lap Test. 4th and 5th grade will also determine how many push-ups they can do. A great night of sleep and a quality breakfast will go a long way to set students up for success.

I hope you all had a blessed Easter and time to relax and reflect. Just a quick update since we had a short school week!

Our Kindergartners made marble mazes. This is a fun, engaging activity that helps develop fine motor skills and an understanding of gravity and friction in an age-appropriate way. The students enjoy testing their mazes to see if the marble can pass through.

The 6th graders are continuing their circuit series. This week, we covered resistors, conductors, and insulators. It is helpful for students to understand the fundamentals of circuitry, and using the Snap Circuit sets makes it safe and fun!