Ms. Hartshorn’s Classroom News
December 14, 2010
Dear Families,
Forgive me, but this will be a lengthy newsletter. I have much to report to you about our busy school days.
Thank you all for your concern and care during my illness a couple of weeks ago. I'm all better now thanks to some powerful antibiotics. Your children were absolutely wonderful during this time. I heard many compliments about how they came together, and focused on their learning. This is great credit to Mrs. Harvey and Mrs. Chiapetta who subbed for me, Mrs. Werntgen (Mrs. W.) and Mrs. Orr who provided the daily consistency for each child. The get well cards Kathi had the kids write me were precious. One child wrote, “I'm keeping my fingers crossed you get better very soon and come back to us. Mrs. Harvey is doing a great job, so we're all okay.”
Science News:
Four Winds~ Thanks to the dedication of Sharon Stafford (Jack's Mom) and the addition of Lo Thamm's (Zuzu's Mom), we had another great lesson helping us learn about the Designs in Nature. The focus this month was on cones.
As with all of the designs in nature we've studied so far, cones have beauty and function. They come from the tree group known as conifers and serve an important function as a cradle of for the trees seeds. Sharon and Lo led us in several activities that helped us identify and match branches/needles with the correct cones, and learn about the life cycle from seed to tree to pollination to seed again.
Thank you Lo for joining us, and Sharon for your continued work. Without parent volunteers this fabulous environmental program could not happen for our children.
In an effort to help us build on each of the Four Winds lessons, and to grasp an overall understanding of Designs in Nature—the form and function that surrounds us in the natural world, I've begun a hanging display in the classroom that the kids will help me add to as the year progresses. Ask your child to describe it in words or a picture to you—it might be a fun review for your child about the designs we've learned so far: spider webs, leaves, and cones. What might be next? Are there any designs outside that you and your child find beautiful or interesting? What might be the function of such things? Is there a purpose in the natural world for such a design? How might that help keep the earth in balance?
Magnets~ We've begun a unit of study on magnets. I'll send home more about this in January, but for now we've been focusing on push/pull, repel/attract, magnetic fields, and setting up several hands-on experiments to explore what magnets can and can't do. We've also begun to learn about ways that magnets are used on a farm and in industry. "It's a little like magic," exclaimed one child, "but it's science."
We spent time with our 5th/6th grade Assembly Buddies in Mrs. Puffer's class this week, as we enjoyed a card-making craft project. The older and younger children worked together to create their own individual "blank" cards. They each will bring this "blank" card home and I encouraged them to think of a relative they would like to write to—maybe a grandparent, aunt, uncle, etc. I explained that adults often love to get mail from the children in their lives, especially if they don't get to see them often, or live far away.
It's that time of year again—to think about scheduling a cross-country ski/snowshoe time for our class beginning in January. I need two parent volunteers for this to happen. If you're interested in learning more, please let me know. We have to book a time soon, so that the equipment will be available. No skiing or snowshoeing experience necessary to help with this age group. It's a fun experience that often leads to outdoor exploration that supports the science themes and Four Winds lessons, too! We come across animal tracks, find evidence of seasons past or seasons to come, discover new designs in nature, and get some fresh air and exercise all at the same time.
Video tapes of plays/skits~
Well, your child is a videographer. Thanks to a grant and tech course that I took this past summer, we were able to get two Flip video cameras for CHILDREN to use in our classroom! Each child has learned how to operate the cameras with and without a tripod, learning specific techniques. Children took turns videotaping little skits and plays performed by their classmates. Some of the plays were silly and without much of a plot, but provided a great example of how we can use video to reflect on our work for making changes. We continue to use these cameras during Four Winds lessons and will eventually learn how to edit and create other video clips about things we're learning and that we find interesting. The Four C's of Creativity (and innovation), Communication, Collaboration and Critical Thinking (problem solving) were my guiding principles for bringing Flip cameras into the classroom.
Acts of Kindness~
Sarah Shackett, our guidance counselor, has begun a unit about kindness and friendship in the primary unit. She shared the idea of "filling up someone's bucket," with kindness and good feelings. She led us in an experience that helped us discover that when we fill up someone else's bucket, our own bucket gets filled with good thoughts, good feelings and a sense of belonging. We also learned that one act of kindness can actually fill up many people's buckets all at one time, like when child reads a story to the preschooler group. During this season of giving, Ms. Shackett's unit is helping us understand that giving also helps us receive—often in quiet, but meaningful ways. As an extension of this, Mrs. Orr and I have been keeping track of Acts Of Kindness we've witnessed, such as "Using Kind Voice, Using Kind Words, Offering to Help Someone, Offering to Include Someone if they need a Partner, etc. We set a challenge before the kids last week to have a combined total of 50 acts of kindness in order to earn some extra recess. They surpassed this number easily, and by Friday has earned an extra 15 minutes of recess, which they were delighted with—and felt very proud of their combined effort and group success.
The preschoolers and Mrs. Dow have also been working on the concept of giving. They spent time and thought in making us each a beautiful bookmark. In turn, we are making them special cards thanking them for their thoughtfulness.
Holiday gift-making~ Your children have had a fun time making a small family gift for you. This will travel home before the holiday break wrapped in tissue paper for you.
Please check out the new photos I've posted to the Shutterfly website. They are adorable, and give you more detail about some of the items I described in this newsletter. There are many, many of them! If you scroll all down past the calendar section in Shutterfly, you will see the Album archive folders. There are four folders labeled 12/15/10 filled with photos. The albums are arranged by themes of the photos: Holiday Traditions Writings and Drawings, Making Cards with Our 5th/6th Grade Assembly Buddies in Mrs. Puffer's room, Guidance Lesson with Ms. Shackett, and Four Winds: Cones. One more photo album will be uploaded on 12/16/10 (fingers crossed) with the rest of the Holiday Traditions Writings and Drawings, which I still have to scan and upload. I hope you enjoy viewing the photos and seeing your children in action.
About the Shutterfly site:
How is the Shutterfly site working for you as a way of receiving classroom newsletters and photos? I could go back to emailing the newsletters, but photos are not able to be attached or embedded due to the time it takes to upload and download on my end and your end. Parents often reported in the past that they couldn't access the photos. I could also go back to photocopying the newsletters and labeling each one with a child's name, but again, photos would be too expensive to photocopy, there would be no guarantee that the newsletter would always travel from school to home without getting lost, and it's less environmentally respectful than Shutterfly or email. I love the Shutterfly share site for classroom newsletters, but if it's not working for parents as a communication tool from me to you, then I am open to suggestions. Please let me know in a quick email if this works for you or not, and if you have any suggestions. I appreciate your time and feedback.
I am working on a separate newsletter with a math update for first and second grade. This will be sent home before the holiday break.
I wish each and every one of you a joyful season filled with warmth and love. It's always a juggling act to find a balance between the "have-to's" and the "want-to's" of the season. Sometimes they are the same, but often we feel rushed and overwhelmed with the list of chores that must be completed before we can sit back and enjoy the moment. May each of you find the gift of enjoying the moment with your child.
Peace~
Brenda
