General News
We had a great (we mean capital G-R-E-A-T!!!) first week! Considering the amount of change we’ve all ingested, it was actually a freakishly wonderful first week. The honeymoon may end, but we said that the entire last year and it STILL continues. Thank you!
- P&P is due on Mondays! Check your email for some details regarding changes to expect this year in the area of rigor and planning.
- Please return your signed Technology Agreement if you haven’t done so already!
Here’s a snippet from our first week’s student survey that will give you an idea of how the kids are feeling. (We’re off to a good start! ❤️)
Reading/Writing Update
Same as math, we didn’t have a ton of time devoted to structured ELA class this week as we were busy with community building and orienting ourselves to the new space. We took some time to go over P&P early in the week. We looked at what’s new and what’s familiar and discussed the new feedback style to expect on P&P in the upper school: ✔️➕mean outstanding work, ✔️mean good work, and ✔️➖means it will be returned home to redo with feedback from the teacher. Lots of kiddos showed me work throughout the week asking “does this look like it would be a check plus and the answer was a resounding yes! They are motivated! We started reading our novel A Shingle Shard by Linda Sue Park and they are loving it already! I got word from my potter friend that we should be able to wrap up the unit with a pottery lesson using celadon glaze! 🤞We ended the week doing a little research and exploration of what Korea was like during the Goryeo Dynasty (918–1392). We looked at class structure, culture, architecture, and arts and crafts during this time and began percolating on which of these topics might be most interesting to us as we prepare to research and write informational essays on a topic in these categories later on in the quarter. Next week we’ll continue on with this story and taste-test some typical Korean food!
Math Update
We didn’t have much devoted math time this week as we were busy with community-building and routine set-up! We did a fun activity where kids rolled 4 dice and made an equation to “Adopt a Creature” for their notebooks! (This is just a fun way to make the P&P folders more engaging to take care of!) Our first assignment is to give our new math notebooks some LOVE as the formatting/system for notes is changing this year and I think it will be a welcome change for students (and I hope you like it, too!) We’ll be leaving our math journals in class and I’ll be providing the kids with visually appealing stickers with the “steps” for each skill. Those same notes will be available on Whippermathers.com so kids can access an exact replica of the notes from home! (Only the nerds out there will care, but I’m super pumped about this new system!) The first challenge is for kids to decorate their notebooks with the numbers of their life (examples have been provided in the P&P packet) and they will also answer a ‘math interest survey’ so I have a feel for how they are starting the year, emotionally. Next week, 5th graders will dive into decimals and 6th graders will be introduced to integers. (This way, I can provide challenge materials all year for those craving a challenge! For example, I can give kids who want extra challenge the same practice—ie, mulitpliying fractions–but offer that skill with negative numbers! Coolio!) I taught 6th grade math when I worked in Eanes many moons ago, and I gotta say: I’m PUMPED to be returning to this very fun (relevant) curriculum!
Theme Update
Theme is already a blast! The addition of Mr. Steve to our teaching trio is going to be a huge win for our Deltas–He absolutely loves social studies and his energy/motivation has already spurred an eagerness that is super cool to see! YES–theme work will be a little more challenging! YES–there will be more structured at-home work (see your email!) BUT, it’s going great! The kids have made fast progress already beginning to understand the importance of understanding how we orient ourselves on this big, blue marble! We started by exploring the 5 themes of Geography! We’ll be exploring the globe–one continent at the time—and will culminate with a lovely end-of-unit *fun* project that you’ll hear more about soon! In the meantime, know that kids’ exploration of the Americas via P&P will prepare them for a fun totem pole research project we have coming down the pipe next week. Kids will be learning to manage both a Theme interactive notebook and binder. These organizational skills will be golden as kids move upward and onward! We are so excited about theme! We hope your child is, too!
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