Field Day 2007!!! Muita Diversao!!

Our Field Day was a lot of fun for children and adults alike. I took some snapshots of our students enjoying themselves.

Tchau,

George

Some Illustrations!!!

Life Science!! We are studying Flowers!!

The children have been studying the different parts of a flower and the function of a flower in a plant's life cycle. In Kindergarten and First Grade the children have had many opportunities to learn how plants grow; witnessing this firsthand and seeing what plants need in order to grow successfully. In Second Grade, we are focusing specifically on the flower and its role in the reproductive cycle of plants, basically the why's, where's and how's of seed and fruit production.

The children have seen two videos that show how pollinization works and the different roles the parts of a flower play in making it happen. These are: Anther, Stigma, Pollen, Sepal, Ovary, Petals. I have given them varied opportunities to identify and think about them. In Science Circle we dissected a Hibiscus flower and identified its parts. The children were fascinated to see a pollen tube travelling from the stigma and connecting to eggs inside of the ovary!!

In order to celebrate our work, I asked the children to put on Hawaiian Flower Leis to make our Science Bulletin Board look festive. Here are some of the results. In order to see them all. stop by the classroom to take a look and see more of the children's work.

All the best,

George

More from Our Library!!

Tia Socorro and I take advantage of our Library time to oversee the children's reading choices. We also use this time to remind students of important reading strategies and skills. The children practice their reading and we are there to help and guide them.

The children use this time to explore book collections other than the A.R. books. In the second photo some students are exploring writing in codes!!

Talk to you all again soon,

George

Accelerated Reading!!

Our students use the Accelerated Reading program on a daily basis. At the beginning of every school day, almost one half of the class is either reading, testing or checking out A.R. books, as we call them. They are also highly encouraged to read these books at home.

We are helping them to become independent at taking tests at both our classroom computer and those available at the Library. These tests are basic comprehension tests and require only that the reader understand the story or content.

The children visit the Library every Friday at 12:50 pm to deal with A.R. responsibilities and also to check out other books, both in Portuguese and English. They also enjoy the video and DVD selections. I would like to take this opportunity to ask parents to really help their children to be as responsible as possible with their Library materials because our school goes through a much longer process to replace lost or missing materials than regular schools in the United States.

Talk to you soon,

George

Music Class with Miss Metha!!

If you ask the children what is their favorite class at school, many of them will answer Music class with Miss Metha. They not only learn songs to sing but explore movement, dramatic play and play instruments. I loved it when the new Music room was not ready because Miss Metha would come to my classroom and I could see for myself how much the children enjoy themselves. She creates a cooperative and fun environment. We love Miss Metha!!