March 3, 2023
Preschool
Outside in just a light jacket on the first day of March? Sign us up! HES preschoolers love having fun and we’re ready to ditch the gym and welcome Spring (in eighteen days but who’s counting)!?
We’re decking the halls with all things shamrock this week and learning about how things outside our windows are starting to change from brown to green. During the day we’re building and exploring as well as learning new letters and the sounds they make. We’re also mastering writing our names. And of course we’re looking forward to spring break! It’s safe to say our littlest learners are off to an exciting spring! Let’s Go Tigers!
Dr. Suess fun in preschool!
Kindergarten
This week is Read Across America week. We have enjoyed celebrating reading with our peers and dressing in fun ways each day.
In OG,
- We are learning about the letter Vv.
- We are learning how to blend and segment words with the letter V.
- We are reading, spelling and writing words with the letter Vv.
- We are learning the red words: give, black
- We use Mindplay on our chromebooks to extend and review what we have been learning during our OG lessons.
In Math,
- We are comparing quantities and using the words fewer than and more than to discuss the quantities with our partners.
- We are learning +0 and +1 math facts. We are taking math fact timed tests.
- We use Iready math and IXL on our chromebooks to review and extend what we have been learning in math workshop.
In Writing,
- We are going back to read our writing to make sure that we can read it so it is easy for others to read it, too.
In Reading,
- We are helping our partners to figure out tricky words or tricky parts in the books they are reading.
- We use Kids A to Z on our chromebooks to read digital books at our reading levels.
1st grade
First graders celebrated Dr. Suess’s Birthday on Thursday.
First graders began learning about realistic careers this week. After learning about several different careers that fall in the realistic category, they were able to choose careers that they were interested in learning even more about!
We had so much fun reading books with our friends and stuffed animals.
2nd grade
2nd graders have been working hard this week. In reading, we are reading the mentor text “TickTock Banneker’s Clock” as we continue our study of historical events. In math, we are still working on telling time, but focusing on elapsed time. Students in Mrs. Baughman’s class love playing Kahoot answering questions about time! Mrs. Bailey’s class is playing Blooket to review telling time to the five-minute intervals. In phonics, we are working on three-letter blends with diagraphs. We kicked off our Book Blast this week and are excited to see where our voyage in books will take us!
3rd grade
This week third grade students learned all about being a chef and a professional athlete. We had a special guest come to share about her career as a ice cream chef, or as she called herself, the “Blizzard Wizard!” In writing, students are turning their informational reports into a slide presentation. Students are learning to use google slides by adding text, images, and captions. Students are recording their presentations on flipgrid. In reading we are working on test taking strategies as we prepare for the upcoming iRead test. We will be getting our next update on our cow Darcy, very soon! Stay tuned!!
4th grade
Mrs. Joy’s class wrapped up their Geometry unit by making lines and angles on their tables. They had to make parallel lines and perpendicular lines. They had to make their lines specific lengths, so they were also practicing measuring with a ruler. Then, they measured all the angles they made.
This week in Mrs. Middleton’s 4th grade, students read a play about the Revolutionary War. They learned about the Boston Tea Party, King George’s taxes, Samuel Adams, and Paul Revere. They were so excited to perform they even rehearsed at recess! We will invite another class to watch them perform next week!
5th grade
This week, the 5th graders were able to get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather! We took advantage of the sunshine and warm temperatures, and practiced our spelling words outside. Each student had to write their words and draw pictures to represent them with chalk. While we were outside, we also started our gardening project. Every student planted a handful of seeds of their choice. We then took the plants back indoors where some will be transplanted to a mobile greenhouse, while others will be put in the tower garden. This gives students a fun opportunity to see the differences in how they grow based on the amount of light and water that the plants receive.
Science
Scientist of the Week: Addie Schwenk
In science this week fourth grade students were introduced to electricity as a form of energy. They investigated how electrical energy requires a circuit and made their own flashlights using LEDs, button batteries, and aluminum foil. They also learned about the anatomy of a battery and began to see how circuits work. Students also discovered how handy an on/off switch can be!
Second grade students worked in PLTW in their Materials Science: Form and Function unit. They learned about pollination, seed dispersal by animals, and seed germination. Students worked in partners and practiced transferring pollen from the anthers of one flower to the stigma of another flower using pipe cleaners and flour as the pollen.
Speech and Language with Mrs. Williams
Preschoolers worked hard in speech-language therapy this week! Guess how? By playing!!!! Play is a great way for students to gain language skills and for adults to support a child’s language development. Play (especially dramatic or pretend play) is a natural way to introduce and practice vocabulary, concepts, narrative skills, and grammar. And what better way to practice those skills than while playing zoo and ice cream shop!!!!
5th grade Ambassadors
The student ambassadors have picked a project for March! This month, we will be collecting pop tabs for the Ronald McDonald House in Indianapolis. We will have a collection box in the hallway where students can donate any pop tabs that they have. At the end of the month, we will take all of these to the Ronald McDonald House where they trade them in for money. This money is used to provide meals, resources, and places to stay for families whose children are at Riley Children’s Hospital. We have several families here who have been helped by Riley Children’s Hospital, so this cause is one that is near and dear to our hearts! We encourage you to start collecting those pop tabs at home, family gatherings, or even at your workplace!
Art with Mrs. Schwenk
This week in Art class, students continued finishing up Art show work and also worked on Macaw drawings for our March jungle bulletin board.
Beable and the World of Work
Mrs. Joy’s 4th Grade is doing a park naturalist simulation through Beable. Students are learning all about the career of a park naturalist. Then, they are exploring lots of national parks. They will choose one, research it, create a park naturalist presentation, then present it to the class as if they are park naturalists. We are having a great time exploring!
