PreK

Preschool students practiced their painting skills this week by making puffy paint monsters! They played outside in the morning and had a lot of fun. Each student enjoyed a nap! 

Kindergarten

This week students were learning about the letter A and the sound A. Students made an apple craft as a fun way to remind them that apple starts with the letter A and while they were making these we reinforced what sound A made!

Kindergarten students in Mrs. Li’s class learned how to choose just right books and fill their personal book bags this week.

First Grade

Ms. Forest had a wonderful lesson about “What I love and What I Wish” with the class. It taught that you can love something about someone and tell them what that is but also follow it up with something you wish they didn’t do. Separating the care for them and the behavior they’re exhibiting that might not be acceptable is gentler this way.

Carol Smith, who’s 92 years old, had her last day with Van Buren Elementary School this week. She’s loved on and helped our kids improve their literacy skills for such a long time. We will miss her so much!

Second Grade

This week, our students are embarking on an exciting adventure through world cultures in their English and Social Studies classes! They’re discovering the amazing diversity of foods, clothing, and traditions from around the globe. It’s heartwarming to see their enthusiasm as they learn about different ways of life.

Third Grade

In our reading unit we have been learning about how different cultures contribute to a community. One word we came across was cha-cha. So today we decided to take a brain break and practice our cha-cha slide schools.

Fourth Grade

Fourth gradeers were comparing numbers by creating 4, 5, and even 6 digit numbers using cards. Students drew the cards from the deck and had to create the largest number possible. Then, they compared numbers with their partner to see who had the greatest number.

Fifth Grade

We’ve got those “bear/bare necessities” in 5th grade ELA! Aftering comparing and contrasting the two versions of the story Jungle book, students used their real life connections to imagine what life would be like if they were raised in the jungle like Mowgli. Then as a quick STEM lesson, groups worked together to try and build the tallest tree possible using just 12 clothespins, 4 large craft sticks and one styrofoam tray. 

STEM

5th Grade has been learning all about germs and infection. We did a cool experiment where we used Glow lotion to represent germs. Then we washed with soap and without soap to see if we could get rid of the Glow Germs. Students used UV lights to detect the germs.

2nd Grade has been learning about animals and their habits and actions. One of our activities this week was looking at habitats and using a checklist to see how many types of animals were in a habitat and counting how many we saw of each type. We used this data to help us figure out why certain animals act the way they do. For example, some animals change locations when there is a higher number of predators during a certain time of day.