Winter Sports & Arts Rotations
Thank you for your support of our winter sports program at Eldora. We are scheduled for two more days of fun and learning - Thursday 2/18 and Thursday 2/26. Please make sure your child comes to school on time, with appropriate clothing layers, gear (if applicable), lunch and snacks to power them through the day and their amazing positive energy! What a joy to see so many of you at our performances this month. Thank you for making the time to come support and celebrate the hands-on art, music and movement learning. Please see the schedule below for details about our last performance. Monday, March 14th, 2:30-3:20PM (this performance has been scheduled during the school day so all students can attend along with ⅚ families) @ Gym
Thank you for your generosity in funding our recent field trip to hear the Boulder Philharmonic. The performance was entitled “Cheers, Tears, and Fears: Music and Emotion”. We had a delightful time learning about how mood is conveyed through music; this was such a wonderful connection to our work on mood and tone in our Language Arts classes. Language Arts Our 5th and 6th graders continue to explore a wide variety of learning as readers and writers. We have been thoughtfully evaluating the importance of character in our reading by looking at character through a window (as a perspective that is new to learn) and/or a mirror (as a reflection of ourselves). Our students have completed some writing including evidence from the text to support their thinking. We also have been examining the use of mood and tone in the overall theme of a piece of writing. Together we are evaluating shared texts, (“All Summer in a Day” and “Space Oddity”), citing evidence to support our claims, and then students are/will be evaluating their independent reading for the same crucial parts of the story. Math In Rachel’s math class it’s fractions, fractions, fractions! Our study of fractions started with unit fractions (½, ⅓, ¼), moved into making equivalent fractions, followed by comparing fractions, and then into mixed numbers. This was all done with fractions with like denominators. Then we moved into the world of adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators, finding the Least Common Denominator, and using a mathematical graphic organizer to keep all of the steps organized. Currently, we are working with mixed numbers and improper fractions, putting all of the previous work together into very challenging multi-step problems. In Lynn/Bede’s and Julie’s math classes we have started our new unit (5.3) on addition and subtraction of fractions. This week we have focused our work on reacquainting ourselves with pictorial representations of addition of fractions with both like and unlike denominators. In Peter’s Class, one group and has been encountering various situations involving decimals. They decide which operations to use to find a solution. Students estimate to choose operations and check their work. The units include adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing with decimals. We will also investigate finite and infinite decimals as well as finding percentage of a number. The other group is sorting and classifying polygons, experimenting with rotational and line symmetry, measuring angles, and developing an understanding of transversals and the triangle inequality theorem. Lauren’s math students are exploring ratios and equivalent fractions. Students are learning to; Use ratio language and notation to compare quantities; Distinguish between fractions as numbers and ratios as comparisons; Use a variety of scaling and partitioning strategies to reason proportionally; and others. We have reviewed concepts and strategies for expressing improper fractions as mixed numbers, and multiplying fractions in academic lab. Students are moving toward comparing rational numbers on a number line, using absolute value and benchmark fractions. Science Continuing our learning of Earth’s spheres, we visited a local site—our pond —to observe and document connections between the four spheres. We visited the wastewater treatment plant for a two-hour up close and personal (and smelly) tour of the facility. Following the tour, children began a STEM project designing water filters in teams, selecting materials, justifying designs and testing. After testing the filters students wrote up a scientific reflection. We enjoyed a visit from Steve Noud, from the City of Boulder’s Keep it Clean Partnership, who worked with our classes on mapping Boulder’s watershed and looking at a variety of maps. This week, students moved through learning stations exploring forest fires and fire intensity. Friday’s lab will be a chance to explore further the ways in which different landscapes create different wildfire intensities and how are water is affected by forest fires. Looking Ahead:On Tuesday, we begin a dance project with Erin Turnbridge, an artist-in-residence from Boulder Ballet. Join us for a student-choreographed version of Dancing the Spheres on Friday, Feb. 26th at 11:30 am! Social Studies In social studies, we delve deeper into our study of the ancient civilizations of Africa through analyzing the film Africa: A History Denied. After examining Great Zimbabwe, we uncovered the kingdoms and civilizations that flourished on the Swahili Coast and Ghana. Through a series of activities, including a jigsaw reading, Socratic seminar, and role play, we are examining the importance of trade in the spread of ideas, religion, family structure, government, and other aspects of these ancient civilizations. In the coming week, we will be exploring the Arab world during the 1400s, paying particular attention to the impact and spread of Islam into Africa as well as the impact of learning in Baghdad had on the European world and our world today. Students will be taking their first assessment in social studies the next two weeks. We will be preparing for this “open notebook” assessment in class helping our students organize their many weeks of learning. Up next, we'll delve into a study of the Renaissance and the Scientific Revolution. Spanish: In Lynn’s Spanish class, we have finished our first formal oral assessment - a weather forecast entirely in Spanish. Students infused their knowledge of a Spanish speaking locale with grammar/vocabulary lessons including weather, clothing, numbers, days of the week and things to do as they worked on fluency of delivery and presentation of their forecasts. We are now moving into basic present tense verb conjugations and a second novela to put our skills to work. In Xandra’s Spanish class we’ve studied the word Ser and words to describe people. Students drew pictures and wrote to describe themselves and others. To review the vocabulary, they created their own bingo board and had lots of fun playing bingo. |
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