by Kristin Finch
The Hawks continue to grow and learn and it is amazing to see how much can happen over just a few months. We have had the pleasure of welcoming two new students into our class and it has given us the opportunity to focus on kindness, how to be leaders and the best ways to build a community. The class is working on a kindness chain where we add a paper loop for each time we catch someone doing something kind. Our goal is to make it all the way around the room!
The Hawks are expanding their science knowledge at every turn. They love animals and playing guessing games that help work on problem solving skills, test our knowledge of the animal kingdom and give us the opportunity to do more research. We are taking a lot of this knowledge and applying it while making non-fiction books. Most of our class chose to write about an animal or group of animals like reptiles. We are continuing to experiment with water. We tested the melting time of ice with different materials including sand, salt, sugar and baking soda. Most Hawks hypothesized that the salt would melt the quickest using previous knowledge and they were right! We are learning about the density of water and what makes some things float and others sink. We are working on buoyancy and how to make the best modeling clay boat to carry the most glass beads. The Hawks are working together and have created varying boat structures that can float while carrying up to 50 glass beads.
Math is one of Hawks’ favorite subjects and they have been working hard on word problems. We start our Math time with a word problem with multiple steps and they use addition, subtraction and some multiplication to figure out the answer. The Hawks practice their operation facts playing games with each other and these facts become really important as we solve more complex problems. One of our RFCS traditions is a full-scale celebration of the 100th day of school. The Hawks came up with varying projects that included drawing 100 pictures, creating 10 Lego structures that contained 100 studs (those little nubs that connect the Legos) and writing 100 math equations that equal 100. It doesn’t only take basic counting and creativity, but also a lot of thought in organizing, grouping and keeping track of all of the parts of our projects.
The Hawks are gearing up for the school play. Their excitement in the whole creative process is clearly visible. We are now working in groups to write the play and the creative ways in which they see the story unfold bring fun and lots of facts that we have been learning. They are incorporating conservation, the life cycle of the trout, and the ways that pollution affects our rivers and streams. We will move into rehearsing and props; I can’t wait to see the finished project!
“I love reading ULTIMATE BOOK OF THE FUTURE and it is fun. It has a super suit and future pets and cars of the future. I like the book.” - Luc
“First we split in teams. Then we play connect four. It is so fun. How to play connect four. First split in two groups. Then we answered some math questions to put x’s or O’s. We answered questions and if you get it wrong the other team gets to answer the math questions.” - William
“I went to the sand pit with Luke. We dug a big hole in the sand. Grant helped dig the hole. We dug the big hole so we could sit in the big hole. We made the hole wider and we are going to fix it. The big hole in the sand pit." - Sebastian
"I made frittata with my friends. I sautéed vegetables. I cracked eggs. It was yummy." - Luke
"My mom came for Read Across America. I brought Investigators Off the Hook to school because reading is fun. My sister came. People wear costumes from their favorite book. My favorite costume was mine which is Investigators." - Wolfe
"I am writing a book about animals. It is called Amazing Animals Facts. I am writing the chapter Sea Life. The other chapters are Dinosaurs, Baby Animals, Reptiles, Weird Plants, Historical Life, Mammals, Marsupials, and the Platypus. I really like animals!" - Phoebe
Explore. Discover. Learn
Some of our adventures this spring:
Winter Gathering 2024
Tasting maple sap right from the tree!
Testing our leaping skills on Leap Day!
Open Mic, Winter 2024