Last week, we had a special guest teach us the familiar story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears in American Sign Language--Alyssa’s mom, Sherie. Students also asked how to sign particular words related to their AOE projects like chicken, birthday and sun. Check out Alyssa’s blog for a video of students signing! alyssannelson.tumblr.com

This week in Kindergarten students will present their Area of Expertise Research Projects! The AOE student presentations will begin in the classroom promptly at 1:30 on Thursday, May 23rd. Please send your child to school on Thursday morning with their AOE hands-on project that they have completed at home. These projects will be on exhibit in the lunchroom for the entire community to enjoy after the classroom presentations.

In science, students have been studying beginning concepts of Force and Motion through the lens of the Rube Goldberg system. Students will continue to learn about Newton’s First Law of Motion: Every object in motion tends to remain in motion unless acted upon by an external force. This week, students will also participate in kinesthetic Rube Goldberg activities that include completing relay races, as well as working collaboratively in small groups to explore different ways to make an object move using force and motion.

We conclude our exciting study of coins this week, as we become vendors and customers of our classroom store. Each student will have a given amount of money and be challenged to spend it within 5¢. We will add more details to our coin books, and then share them as a class!

We look forward to seeing you all at our AOE presentations this week!

Best,

Alyssa and Cara

Important Upcoming Dates:

Thursday, May 23rd: A.O.E. Presentations, 1:30pm

Tuesday, June 4th: Rube Goldberg Presentations, 2:30pm

Sharing Schedule: Please note that this is the last week of sharing for the year.

Monday May 6th: Josefin, Nora, Luca

Tuesday May 7th: Alec, Mira, Dante

Wednesday May 8th: Anya, Noah, Addy

Thursday May 9th: Wilder, Grant, Hana

Friday May 10th: Alex, Miles

Homework

Monday: Play the following interactive math game, Fruit Shoot Coins, by selecting the “nickels, dimes, and pennies” link and the “relaxed mode” option. Have fun!

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/mathgames/earlymath/Fruit_Shoot_coins.htm

Reminder: Library books are due tomorrow (Tuesday).

Tuesday: At school, students have been learning about and experimenting with Rube Goldberg projects. Students should watch the following Rube Goldberg video with a parent and find one example of a change in direction used in the structure. Write your answer in the homework binder and bring your work to school. Have fun!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ve4M4UsJQo

Wednesday: Put the finishing touches on your AOE hands-on project, which should be brought to school tomorrow morning. Make sure to also get a good night’s sleep so you’re well rested for your AOE research project presentations tomorrow!

Thursday: Tonight at home, students should share with a parent one thing that they feel proud about from today’s AOE presentations. If possible, we also ask that parents share something that they learned from the AOE presentations - it’s important for kids to realize that grown-ups also have new things to learn!

Friday: Enjoy the weekend!