Class of 2019 (5th grade) - Jewish Community Day School of Rhode Island

Second Grade Rocks!

September 25, 2015 by jdavis

*Check out how unique and special we are in the second grade! Can you guess who is who? Check out our Symbolic Self Portraits!

No Difference-

Small as a peanut,
Big as a giant,
We’re all the same size
When we turn off the light
Rich as a sultan,
Poor as a mite,
We’re all worth the same
When we turn off the light.
Red, black or orange,
Yellow or white,
We all look the same
When we turn off the light.
So maybe the way
To make everything right
Is for God to just reach out
And turn off the light!

Shel Silverstein

We are learning about so many fascinating things in the second grade! Ask your child about any of the following concepts/topics:

Around the World
The Thing About Georgie
Exploring New Places
Space Exploration
Bugsy and Gizmo (our classroom pets)
Stations in the Classroom
The Colors of Our Voice
Time Capsule
Kale Chips and Garden Ideas
Classroom Jobs
Second Grade Stars
JCDS ROCKS

First Week of Gardening

September 30, 2015September 11, 2015 by Kareesh Bour

Yes, it is one of the hottest days of the year. Yes, air conditioning is our best friend. But the students are begging to do gardening. Today was our first day in the garden. Due to the weather, we only were able to go out for 10 minutes at the most. Those ten minutes were amazing, though! The students in second and fourth grades went right to work in the early morning, weeding and watering. We identified edible plants, found baby peppers growing, noticed some spiders, and ate some new vegetables. The wax beans were a hit! The fourth graders were eager and excited to try the new vegetable. Everyone who tried it enjoyed it and wanted to eat more. The fourth graders brainstormed ideas for the garden this year, like utilizing every space in the garden for more plants. It has inspired me to research hanging gardens for the fence. Lastly, first grade learned about gardens from a picture book featuring the famous Winnie the Pooh and his friend Rabbit. They learned that gardening takes patience and hard work. Gardening is obviously a special activity that the students love, and I am proud and excited to lead them in their gardening adventures this year.

Summer Reading Lists for Students Entering Grades 1-5. K.White, librarian

June 15, 2015June 13, 2015 by Naomi Stein

THE JCDSRI SUMMER READING PROGRAM Link to all Reading Lists:

http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs182/1101781664576/archive/1121355100244.html

Dear JCDS Families,

Welcome to our summer celebration of books, the JCDSRI Summer Reading Program! The intent of our summer reading program is to promote reading skills. Research studies have demonstrated that students who participate in a summer reading program are more likely to read at their grade level or above than nonparticipating students and those reading above grade level are more likely to retain those skills into the next school year. (Evaluation and Training Institute). While an increase in reading promotes reading abilities and other skills, we want our students to experience the joys that reading brings through marvelous characters and adventures. Books introduce us to friends we will have for life. Reading is FUN!

We are asking students to read at least five books from our booklists. Hopefully, they will read many books.

Each student entering grades 1-5 receives a summer reading program folder containing a JCDSRI summer booklist of various levels and interests complied by Karolyn White, librarian.

The lists are sent to the following public libraries: Rochambeau, Cranston, East Providence, East Greenwich, Johnston, Lincoln, Pawtucket and the following bookstores: Books on the Square and Barnes and Noble in Warwick.

For 22 years, the summer reading program has been coordinated by Karolyn White, librarian. kwhite@jcdsri.com

We wish you a happy, healthy summer and wonderful reading adventures!

Farewell from Mrs. White, librarian

June 15, 2015June 13, 2015 by Naomi Stein

Dear Friends,

After twenty-two years as the JCDSRI librarian, I am retiring at the end of the school year. I have loved working with our students and enjoy keeping in touch with many alumni. I have been delighted to be the school librarian, where I can play with puppets, read fairy tales and sing pirate songs. Now, how good is that?

For twenty-two years, I have loved creating book fairs that have promoted reading and fostered wonderful memories for our students. Although running book fairs for twenty-two years was quite a job, I did it because the students loved it so much. The youngsters enjoy dressing in PJs and going to Clifford Family Nights to meet Clifford the Big Red Dog. This activity became a beloved event. Many students dreamed of “being Clifford” and were thrilled if they were selected. Recently, I met an alum who asked about the book fair dates and who would be Clifford at next year’s fair. Alumni enjoy sharing happy memories of the fairs. Over the years, we have sold thousands of dollars of merchandise at the fairs, which enabled us to get thousands of books, many supplies, classroom rugs, school furniture and more. I am delighted that the Scholastic book fairs have never cost the school any money. Thank you for your long time support of our book fairs!

Twenty-two years ago, I automated the school library-not an easy task. For twenty-two years, I have created summer reading programs. I certainly appreciate the positive comments my summer reading programs have received from school librarians throughout the country. For many years, I conducted public preschool story times, which I greatly enjoyed.

Thank you for all my wonderful memories. I will dearly miss everyone!

Sincerely,

Karolyn White

1st Grade “Steps-up” to 2nd Grade!

June 11, 2015June 7, 2015 by Sarah Shay-Davidson

Every year around this time there comes a moment when I get that feeling that my heart might explode with pride. The moment when I witness my students taking giant steps of maturity and the hint of them as 2nd graders floats before my eyes. Wednesday was “Step-up Day” for First graders to visit 2nd grade and to spend one on one time with Mrs. Guttin. It is so important for First graders to have the opportunity to process what they can expect next year. Making time for them at the end of the year to get a taste of the year to come will help enormously in September when we begin the school year. We spent the past week writing letters and “Math about Me” booklets for this activity. Students wrote about themselves, how they learn best, their family, what they love about school and what they like least about school and other facts they want their future teacher to know about themselves. While each student was meeting with Mrs. Guttin, the other students spent the time exploring the 2nd grade classroom with the current 2nd graders.

Fill your bucket First Grade!

June 7, 2015 by Sarah Shay-Davidson

For our last field trip the First Grade went to Conimicut Point Beach on Friday .We had a fantastic time searching for beach objects. We divided up the students into teams armed them with clipboards and a list of objects they needed to find. Each student recieved a end of the year gift of a special colorful bucket with a very special message:

Fill your bucket First Grade

June 2015

A reminder to collect these moments like drops of water when they feel good about themselves and when they do something thoughtful and kind for others until their buckets are overflowing.

And yes, they filled their buckets!

The weather was perfect and it was a joy to watch our students jumping waves, digging, searching, singing, exploring…….

First Grade hosts “Kindergarten Buddies”

May 26, 2015 by Sarah Shay-Davidson

The roller coaster ride of May and June has commenced!

As the end of the year draws to a close, the Kindergarteners were matched up with our First graders for “Reading Buddies”. Every Friday, from now until the end of the year, K will come for a visit to our classroom which will give them a chance to taste a bit of First grade magic .

There have been so many moments which I have dubbed “Teacher’s Gold” in my past blog entries but this past Friday was the gem stone moment. The First graders were thrilled to be the older buddy and took their responsibilities very, very seriously. Each First grader was assigned a Kindergartener and given some suggestions as to what books might interest them. In preparation for their visit, they gathered books from our extensive library and decided where they wanted to sit with their buddies.

Ready, Set, Read!

I am in awe of my students and how much they have progressed this year both in their reading skills and their maturity in a multi-age environment!

Each student showed patience, gave encouragement and support to their buddies. We the teachers could not stop smiling!

Next week, it will be the First graders’s turn to “step up” to 2nd grade. We are busy preparing for our visit to 2nd grade in Writer’s Workshop and in Math by writing The 2nd grade teacher friendly letters about themselves and writing a “Math About Me” book. They will be presenting their work to her during our visit and have time to visit and experience a taste of what an incredible year they will have next year. (Sigh…..I am going to miss them so!)

Stay tuned for our 2nd Grade visit next week!

A very Special Friends and Family Day in First Grade

May 18, 2015 by Sarah Shay-Davidson

There was so much joy, love and fun to be had on Special Friends and family day. Work stations were set up and the students and their guests worked together to complete each one.

Center #1-

Students picked book from a huge collection of books about families or friendships then discussed and wrote an answer together to “What can you do to be a good family member or friend?”

Center #2-

Our guests helped the students make “Mom ROCKS” for Mother’s day out of beach stones, gems and pastels.

Center #3-

Students painted their rocks to give them an extra special shiny appearance and made Mothers’s day cards.

Center #4-

Students worked together to draw a Special Friends and Family Tree and their hands to create the leaves of the tree.

All of the work came together on our Bulletin board. Come check it out!

What a blessing it was to have our guests visit.

All Kinds of Families-Books K.White, Librarian

May 1, 2015 by Naomi Stein

Our school will welcome many family members and friends next Friday, May 8, our annual Special Visitors Day. It is such an awesome happy day! While reviewing books about families, I discovered some great stories that reflect the diversity of families. Families come in all shapes and sizes and are more diverse than ever before. Today’s picture books provide insight into interracial families, families with non-biological children, same-sex parents and intergenerational relationships.

Enjoy this thoughtful book list: http://bit.ly/1GAZASK

Some of our favorites: (NOTE We love Todd Parr’s books http://www.toddparr.com/index.html )

?הידעתם- Did you know? Yom Ha’atzmaut fun facts

April 26, 2015 by Sarah Shay-Davidson

We learned cool facts for Israel’s Independence day.

Here are some of the facts that some of the kids announced over the intercom.

Jacob-” Did you know that a favorite food of Israeli children is schnitzel? Which is kind of like a big flat chicken nugget.”

Ella- ” Did you know that at the end of the day in Pre-K, students eat Lechem ve chocolate which is a bread and chocolate sandwich.”

Ruben- “Did you know that in Israel the clock is based on a 24 hour system? So 3:15 is written 15:15.”

Ari Lev- ” Did you know that on Yom Hazicharon (Israel’s memorial day) all Israelis stop for 2 minutes of silence when a siren goes off to remember the fallen soldiers.”

Aviva- ” Did you know that on Pessach, the people of Israel can’t buy chametz in the supermarkets? The aisles are covered with fabric so you can’t buy it!.”

Yeal-” Did you know that in Israel, students go to school from Sunday to Thursday?.”