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Rounding the Corner to June!

I hope you all enjoyed a lovely Memorial Day with your family and friends. We also Celebrated Shavuot this weekend. As we continue to plug through the ABC countdown, please make sure to refer to it each morning to make sure your child has what he/she needs for the day. I have so many fabulous pictures to share from May. We can start with Special Visitor’s Day. It was such a pleasure to have family from nearby and faraway join us for the morning of math stations. The classroom was buzzing with excitement, collaboration and hard work.

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The third and fourth graders have been knee deep in the Rocks and Landforms science unit. We conducted an experiment with different types of rocks and vinegar to figure out the damage to the environment from acid rain. The children discovered that certain rocks were affected more than others.  We also ventured around our own schoolyard to experiment with different soil and various types of rocks. They had to categorize the rocks by shape, color, size and texture. Next week we will conduct tests on soil in stream tables as we examine deposition and we will find out how to detect the hardness of a rock or mineral using the Mohs scale of mineral hardness.

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We have spent many of our mornings together in open circle. We talked about the fourth graders hopes and dreams for fifth grade and they all wrote five paragraph essays to Mrs. Woods about next year.We discussed ways to be kind and support one another inside and outside the classroom. We also held many discussions about redesigning recess at JCDS.  I asked them  the following question:

“What would the perfect recess look like to you?”

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In math we are finishing up the geometry unit as we discuss the area and perimeter of many different shapes. We will be wrapping up the year with symmetry and measurement. I was so impressed with the final Newbery Award book reports and presentations. The students all had to design their own project to accompany the written report. Their personalities and creativity shined through!

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Dates for your calendar:

June 11th=Beatle Torah

June 15th=field Day

June  17th=Graduation and early dismissal

My Dog is as Smelly as Dirty Socks – take 2

 

Students in art and Lashon were inspired by Chanoch Piven’s work in the creation of their character portraits created during Special Visitors Day in a Hebrew-Art project.  Each student chose a person from real life or fantasy and described that person’s character: “my mom is funny, my friend is fast, my dog is smart, my sister is sweet, my dad is cool, my teacher is thoughtful, Batman is dark…”  Students brought in objects from home as well as using items that the teacher’s collected that represented these characteristics to create a portrait.  Each portrait includes the students’ writings in Hebrew and in English incorporated into the piece somehow.

Mrs. Bend & Rotem

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It’s finally May!

I think we can safely say that winter is behind us. We had an amazing STEAM week with a lot of workshops from Brown and RISD students. The highlight of the week for many was a visit by Sam Drazin. He spoke about acceptance and loving ouselves despite  our faults. You could have heard a pin drop when he spoke. He tied a lot of his struggles back to the book Wonder. He lived a life that had many similarities to Auggie’s life. His message was to be kind and that we are all in this together.

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We also celebrated earth day last week. The weather was cooperating and we planted, weeded, raked and watered the soil. The fourth grade plot is ready to grow!

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We continued experimenting with rocks and landforms in science class. We used water and force (shaking rapidly) to physically weather rocks. We also collected rock samples on our own playground and garden. We discussed terms such as acid rain, erosion and humus. The children are all very engaged in these hands on experiments. Next week we will explore chemical weathering.

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Just a gentle reminder that all Newbery book reports are due Monday, May 11th. Have a great week.

 

Melissa

Zimriyah Playlist!

Here is a playlist featuring some of the songs the students will be performing at Zimriyah. Please feel free to listen, practice and share at home!

 

Field Trip To Foxborough Regional Charter School

As we relax on our Passover break, I wanted to share some pictures from our field trip last week. The fourth graders visited Foxborough Regional Charter School to partake in their Holocaust stamp project. This project started with a fifth grade class a few years ago and was inspired by the documentary, Paper Clips. Their goal is to collect 6,000,000 stamps to represent the lives lost in the Holocaust. The students turn the collected stamps from all over the world into beautiful mosaics that are displayed around the school. They truly are works of art. The school aspires to create 18 (Chai) mosaics in total.

When we arrived, we had a tour of the school and then the children received stamps to cut, glue and put on a new mosaic. It was exciting to be part of such a special and meaningful project, especially after reading the novel, Number the Stars and listening to Holocaust survivor, Alice Goldstein. This is a powerful unit which I hope has touched all of the fourth graders in some shape or form.

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My Dog is as Smelly as Dirty Socks

Students were inspired by Chanoch Piven’s work in the creation of our Hebrew-Art project.  http://www.pivenworld.com/my-dog-is-as-smelly-as-dirty-socks/book-by-hanoch-piven

Each student chose a person from real life or fantasy and described that person’s character: “my mom is funny, my friend is fast, my dog is smart, my sister is sweet, my dad is cool, my teacher is thoughtful, Batman is dark……..”  In the week following Pesach break students will be representing these characteristics with items to create a portrait in art.  From the students’ writing, here are some ideas to get you started….

SMART things: ruler, computer, calculator, owl, Albert Einstein, dictionary

FUNNY things: smiley face, clown, joke book, Tina Fey, book, feather

FAST things: cheetah, train, lightning, bat

PRETTY things: princes, sunset, flower, spring, summer, sun, mom

SWEET things: candy, sugar, lollipop

CRAZY things: monkey, sugar rush

LOVING things: dog, dad, puppy, friend, heart, bear

WARM things: stove, fire

HELPFUL things: tools, internet

COMFORTING things: bed, pillow

LOUD things: megaphone, whistle, fireworks

SHARP things: knife

BUSY things: squirrel, soccer ball, maid, sprinter

STRONG things: gorilla

COOL things: skateboard, sunglasses

After the Pesach break each student will create her/ his person in art class. The people in the art work will be made out of items. Therefore, we ask the help of all the 4th and 5th grades’ students and families to gather the items/ things listed above and bring them to school.
Please don’t limit yourself to materials!

Toda, Mrs. Bend and Rotem

A Pyramid of Passover Books for Kids

A “get up and dance” favorite! (comes with a CD)  passbook4

Visit our Pinterest site for great book selections as well as yummy Passover recipes! https://www.pinterest.com/jcdsri/passover-books-for-kids/ pinterest

We love books by Tami Lehman-Wilzig , who has been a Visiting Author at JCDSRI. Her website  has  children activities and more. http://www.tlwkidsbooks.com/ You will enjoy the recipes in her book passbook7

JCDSRI library suggestions:

passbook8 passbook6

passbook5 Passbook1

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Ring in Spring

We began last week with a spring activity with our kindergarten buddies. We listened to The Lorax, by Dr. Suess, and then collaborated to create paper mache pictures of trees and flowers. Even a little snow on the ground can’t stop our spring thoughts! As always, we cherish the time spent with our special little friends.

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We are deep into our next two class novels. Blown Away is a historical fiction story about the 1935 hurricane in the Florida Keys. The Magic Half is a story of Miri, a middle child caught in between two sets of twins (Hello Mrs. Davis). We are also beginning our new class read aloud, Out of My Mind, by Sharon Draper. We are practicing book talks and literature circles with the children facilitating the discussion by themselves. Different roles include discussion director, passage picker, connector and word finder.

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In social studies, the third and fourth graders are working in cooperative groups to research and design a travel brochure about a city in the USA. They were assigned a region and they had to narrow down the state and city. We are learning about New York City, Denver, Cape Cod and Philadelphia just to name a few. They are conducting research using the library, Ipads and the computer lab.  They will be presenting and sharing their information with their peers.

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We finally finished our fourth grade picture books, the largest writing assignment of  the year. The children are so excited to show off their finished work to their classmates tomorrow. We have drafted, edited, typed and illustrated these masterpieces.

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Our next writing unit involves all aspects of Greek Mythology. We are reading myths and finding common traits of the heroes and the Gods. We created our very own Greek monsters which are proudly displayed on the class bulletin board. We are performing Greek myths in our upcoming readers theater and we will be working on writing our very own Greek myth in a few weeks. This is such a high interest and creative unit and the kids are enthralled!

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Upcoming Events:

April 1=Field trip to Foxboro School for Holocaust Project

April 2-10=Passover Break

April 15=Conferences

April 22=Wonder guest speaker Sam Drezin

May 7th=Zimriyah

May 8th=Special visitors Day

 

 

 

What’s Happening in Design Lab?

You might be wondering what’s been going on in our much talked about design lab.  Based on student motivation, developmental ability, and classroom-connections, projects will look quite different from grade to grade.  Here is a taste of some of the projects we have been working on most recently:

For the 100th day of school, kindergarteners worked to create the tallest structures they could using 100 toothpicks and 100 marshmallows.  They noticed what shapes are structurally stronger than others.  They also realized that sometimes you need to start a project over again in order to do it better the next time.  Mistakes are what help you get better!

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First graders have been learning about simple machines.  They have been introduced to levers, pulleys, and wedges.  Students experimented with all three of these machines then were tasked with the following challenge:  Create an invention using at least one of these simple machines that could help someone with a problem.  They have come up with some fascinating tools!

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 Check out a video of one student’s creation here:

2015-03-13 11.22.14 from Jewish Community Day School RI on Vimeo.

Second graders have been studying balance and motion and have created various tools and inventions such as musical instruments, cars, and marble coasters.

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Third graders have been creating digital content to go along with their fantasy stories that they wrote with Mrs. Davis.  They have learned how to navigate between apps, to pull pictures from the internet, and to record their voices in order to create powerful digital content.  Soon you will see their work in the hallway near the computer lab.  Please download a QR code viewer on your mobile device to be able to watch their projects.

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Fourth and Fifth graders have been tirelessly working to create a Rube Goldberg machine.  They have learned so much about creating ideas, testing, making mistakes, and trying again.  Their grit and tenacity has been apparent as they tirelessly strive to make a successful machine.  Stay tuned for the final video.

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Here is one student talking about the process of creating the Rube Goldberg:

2015-03-16 14.02.15 from Jewish Community Day School RI on Vimeo.

Grades 4 and 5: African American Studies-Slavery (K.White, librarian)

Via the triangle trade route, an estimated 8 to 15 million captive Africans were brought to America between the 16th and 19th centuries. Using primary and secondary materials, as well as fiction, we are exploring slavery-the life of slaves on southern plantations and the Underground Railroad.

Students acted out a slave’s day noting what the slave quarters were like; what food they ate; and the work of picking cotton. We learned about the cotton plant and the importance and value of cotton. coton slave-family slaves kids

Students studied the life of the very brave Harriet Tubman. We were amazed to discover she returned 17 times to the South to help slaves escape on the Underground Railroad!

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