Read about what's happening in our grade-level and exploratory classes at MSES!
Preschool: In the afternoon class we continued with our animals domain. Ask your expert: What are an animal’s three basic needs? (Water, food, shelter.) What do you call an animal that eats meat? (Carnivore.) What does it mean when a cat laps water? (Drinks with their tongue.)
In Dinosaur School students sorted feeling pictures into comfortable and uncomfortable categories.
jlavigne@mssd14.org
Kindergarten: We finished up our Seasons and Weather domain! We have begun learning about Columbus and the Pilgrims. Ask your expert: What does severe mean? (Dangerous, bad.) What are some things you can do to be safe during a thunderstorm? (Stay away from windows, take shelter, not stand by tall objects.) If it is hot out, will the liquid in a thermometer be towards the top or the bottom of it? (Towards the top.) What are some kinds of severe weather we have in Colorado? (Blizzards, thunderstorms, flooding, hail.) What is the temperature it needs to be outside for liquid to turn into solid? (32 degrees.) Columbus Questions: If you are going on a journey, are you going on a long trip or a short trip? (Long trip.) What treasure did early explorers travel from Europe to Asia to find? (Spices, gold, and plants to make colorful cloth.) What is the name of the explorer King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella helped by funding his trip to the Indies? (Christopher Columbus.) Which way did Christopher Columbus want to travel to reach the Indies that was different from other explorers? (He wanted to sail west from Europe to get to Asia.)
1st Grade: This week, our first graders wrapped up their History of the Earth domain by studying fossils and dinosaurs! Ask your expert: What is a fossil? (A fossil is the preserved body or imprint of a plant or animal that lived long ago.) What do paleontologists study? (The history of life on Earth.) What are some names of dinosaurs that you heard this week? Did you have a favorite? (Tyrannosaurus Rex, Stegosaurus, Triceratops, Camarasaurus, Compsognathus) What does it mean when someone says that dinosaurs are extinct? (There are no living dinosaurs left.)
2nd Grade: Second graders are embarking on learning more about the cycles of all types focusing on the natural cycles of our planet. Ask your expert: What is a cycle? (A cycle is a sequence of events that repeats itself again and again.) What does our Earth rotate/spin on? (An invisible axis that goes from the North Pole to the South Pole.) How long does it take for the Earth to rotate/spin one complete cycle? (24 hours/1 day.) Can you feel the Earth spinning? (No.) Where does the sun rise? (In the East.) Where does the sun set? (In the West.) When it is nighttime for you, what is it for the people on the opposite side of the world? (Daytime.) What are the life cycle stages of a living thing? (Birth, growth, reproduction, and death.)
3rd Grade: We have been learning astronomical amounts of knowledge in 3rd grade as we keep exploring space. Ask your expert these riddles: I am a force of attraction that brings two objects together. What am I? (gravity) I orbit a planet. I can be natural, like the moon, or made by humans. What am I ? (a satellite) I am made up of stars, gas, and dust, and your solar system is a part of me. I am spiral shaped. What am I? (Milky Way Galaxy) Bonus questions: How can stars be characterized? (by age, color, temperature, size, and brightness.) What is another name for the north star? (Polaris.) Take one night and step outside, away from the lights, to look up at the stars. See if your third grader can spy the north star and/or any constellations or even connect the stars to create their own constellation design!
4th Grade: Fourth graders have been learning about weathering and erosion of rocks.
Ask your expert: What is erosion? (Any process or force that moves sediments to new locations.) How does wind cause erosion and weathering? (Wind picks up sediments and carries them away, depositing them on land and in water.) How are sediments and sedimentary rocks related? (Sedimentary rock is made of sediments. Over time, sediments are compacted and cemented together, layer by layer, transforming them into sedimentary rock.)
5th Grade: Fifth graders are still working through our CKLA Renaissance unit. Some of our recent chapters focused on Michelangelo and Raphael, very famous artists from that time. Ask your expert: What is Michelangelo famous for? (Sculptures such as “David” and “Pietà”, paintings such as the Sistine Chapel.) What is Raphael famous for? (Many paintings of the Madonna, painting the School of Athens.) Why is the Medici family so important at this time? (They were rich bankers that influenced the government. They were also patrons for many of the famous artists of that time.)
Art: Fourth and fifth grade artists are learning how to transform geometric and organic shapes into three dimensional (3D) forms. Fourth grade artists are transforming cylinders and rectangular prisms into cakes, cupcakes and slices of cake inspired by Pop Artist Wayne Thiebaud. Fifth grade artists are transforming organic and geometric shapes using one-point perspective developed by Renaissance artist, Fillipo Brunelleschi.
cdunlap@mssd14.org
Spanish: Second graders quickly learned the vocabulary from unit 5:
yo soy/I am,
listo/smart,
¿quién?/Who?,
amigo/friend,
grande/big,
pequeño/small,
izquierda/left,
derecha/right.
alillemon@mssd14.org
Music: Kindergarten students are beginning to explore African American influences in Music. This week, we’ll look at spirituals, jazz, work songs, blues, and gospel. Ask your expert which type of African American music they enjoyed most, and why.
elawson@mssd14.org
PE: First grade has started our volleyball unit. We begin with throwing and catching soft volleyballs and then progress into hand and arm positions, along with moving our bodies to where the ball is going. We have started passing, setting and spiking the ball. We will be putting these skills together in a mini-court, small net volleyball game.
rniebuhr@mssd14.org
TEAMS: Third graders have been studying light and sound in their CKLA unit. In TEAMS this week, students made a prism out of transparency paper. We reviewed that when light changes its speed, it is called refraction. Students then learned about holograms and reflection. We tested our prism in the dark as we reflected light off the iPads. This made the images on the screen pop up and become three-dimensional right before our very eyes!
abradbury@mssd14.org
Reading/Math Intervention:
Here are some easy ways that parents or guardians can help children become strong, successful readers:
Set a routine for reading.
Read at home.
Make a special reading spot.
Be a great reading partner!
Surround your child with books.
Bring books everywhere.
Set a good example; be caught in the act!
