Grady Gazette

The second grade completed their bug research books! The students worked very hard learning about their bugs and writing and illustrating their non-fiction books. They were excited to share their published copies! We will begin our next unit on animals when we come back from the break.

In math we just completed 3 digit addition with and without regrouping. We will begin subtracting 3 digits with and without regrouping next.

The 2nd graders had many visitors this month! The 5th grade ambassadors came to each class to read with the 2nd graders. The students really enjoy having the older students come in to read with them. They also had some time to talk about what they are learning about in their classes. The 4th grade came in to do a puppet show on a fable. We also had a mystery reader, Mrs. Joseph, who read "Aunt Flossie's Hats (and Crab Cakes Later)".

Third grade students were able to see a presidential debate where 3 president candidates and 3 vice-president candidates answered questions on how they would better support our school. Students were then able to vote for who they wanted to be president and vice-president. We also were able to watch a presidential inauguration where a judge swore in the Leadership Council members. We also had a wonderful Sharing Day! Students were very excited to share their weather phenomenon projects.

Thank you so much for joining us this month!

During this month, we celebrated some March Math Madness as we practiced addition and subtraction of fractions and mixed numbers. We also continued making connections between energy and phenomena in the world around us during Science.

In Humanities, the students were also involved in reading informational texts based on the many challenges women in history have faced. Through reading these engaging texts the students have been practicing determining the main idea and supporting details of the text. They also learned how to utilize context clues to help them make meaning of unknown words when reading informational text.

Lastly, the 4th grade did an incredible job sharing their Harlem Renaissance Magazine Projects on Sharing Day. They were beaming with pride as they shared their knowledge of this “cultural explosion” that occurred in the 1920s. Thank you Grady families for joining us for this learning celebration.

After a restful spring break we will be coming back to school ready to learn and practice for our State exams.

Cultural Studies

These past few weeks in Cultural Studies we have researched the Ancient Civilizations of Mesoamerica and analyzed how cultural diffusion played a major role in the development of these civilizations. Our explorers went on to create civilizations of their own for their small group project. They followed the G.R.A.P.E.S. criteria to ensure they were incorporating the key elements of a civilization. Our students did such a wonderful job! Next we are beginning the unit on European Exploration and Mesoamerica. Students will explore the various reasons why Europeans came to the Western Hemisphere. Also, we will discuss the significant long-term impacts these global interactions had on different groups of people.

Math

We are nearing the end of our unit on fractions. In addition to adding and subtracting fractions with like/same denominators, students have been finding common denominators for unlike fractions. Students are making sure their answers are in simplest form and changing improper fractions to mixed numbers and mixed numbers to improper fractions. We have been multiplying and dividing fractions and applying these new skills and strategies from this unit to multi step word problems.

ELA

In ELA, we are working on Unit 3: Our Future, Our Past. We are actively reading and responding to our novel, Chains, by Laurie Halse Anderson. We are focusing on several reading skills and strategies, such as the narrator's point of view, sequence and cause and effect. We are writing well-developed constructed responses with relevant supporting details. We will start working on paired passage essays.

Science

Students will review the key concepts regarding Earth’s systems/spheres and their interactions.. The Science and Engineering Practice (SEP) of Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information has students obtaining information from ‘media’, which includes video, text, and visual. We will be looking at weather issues and how the 4 spheres interact.

In Math, our mathematicians have continued our study on Measurement and Geometry, expanding to Surface Area. In the upcoming months, we look forward to analyzing volume, as well as statistics and probability.

In ELA, our readers are learning that courage is the ability to put the needs of others ahead of their own needs. We are examining various individuals who have displayed courageous behavior. Our readers are also enjoying our class novel "La Linea" by Ann Jaramillo.

In Social Studies, our 6th grade historians have been learning about Ancient Greece Civilization. They have written about the Geography and Greece, created Wanted Posters on gods, goddesses and mythical creatures and will be completing Travel Brochures after Spring break.

The 6th grade participated in their monthly Junior Gardening Club, where winter sowing was observed and plant growth was quantified and graphed. We will continue monitoring the greenhouses in the upcoming months and plan for spring transfer.

A huge congratulations to Alice E. Grady's President Jack Rodriguez and Vice President Kayla Nisbett as they were inaugurated into office at Village Hall by Mayor Williams. We are looking forward to their leadership and help during their last months at Grady.

Grady Art students have been working on completing their unfinished work and starting some new projects!

Bulletin boards, throughout the school, are adorned with the most recent landscapes, collages and brightly colored Pop Art drawings made by the students. They look incredible!!

All of the classes have been finishing up their journal entries that go along with completed work.

3rd graders have been busy completing their mixed media projects of plates of foods, and 2nd graders are working on an interdisciplinary project about Communities.

Between projects, students have been doing an extra fun art exercise -"Yoga Art". This is a series of drawings made by looking at and copying examples on cards. Students follow the sequence of steps, and use their eye hand coordination, to recreate the drawings. The activity is both challenging and relaxing at the same time.

I look forward to new projects and continuing our art-making, after the break!! : )

March was all about instruments in general music! 2nd graders participated in "mallet madness", their first introduction to barred instruments like the xylophone. This unit involves known rhythms and adds a new symbol, the quarter note rest. 3rd grade students worked in a "snowflake ensemble" using hand drums and triangles. Our 4th graders incorporated xylophone skills to learn a song from Ireland and we introduced the glockenspiel. 5th graders began unit using boomwhackers and they learned about the ascending and descending major scale in the process.

March has been a very busy month in the STEAM classroom.

2nd and 3rd graders explored light and shadows, learning about opaque, transparent and reflective materials.

4th graders have been engaged in an engineering challenge to build a better lunar lander after learning about NASA and a private company's joint effort to land a spacecraft successfully on the moon.

5th and 6th graders are working on an engineering competition to design and build a rubber band powered car that will travel the farthest. They are learning how to plan, build, test, problem-solve, and redesign to improve their cars.

Strategy of the Month: Cooking Up Good Speech!

Use recipes from a cookbook to address TONS of concepts like direction following, categorizing, describing skills, parts of speech, vocabulary building, comprehension, and articulation (for identifying and practicing speech sounds).

Don’t own any cookbooks? No worries! You can search the internet for an endless variety of recipes or head to the library!

After you choose a recipe and ask your child to help you make a list of items you need from the grocery store. Use sequencing and comprehension skills to follow the steps to complete the recipe. Have your child make predictions about what they think will happen before you start cooking! When you’re finished, see if your predictions were correct. Talk about how the food feels, looks, smells, tastes etc.

Enjoy and have fun!

Second Grade: The Second grade continued to build number sense and fact fluency during the month of March. The AIS groups worked on different strategies of addition with 3 digit numbers. The students practiced the different strategies learned in the classes as they prepared for subtraction.

Third Grade: The third grade students continued to practice and learn their multiplication facts. The AIS Groups worked on understanding fractions and how to compare them. Some students also revisited addition and subtraction skills as review.

Fourth grade: The fourth graders reviewed geometry and fraction content that was learned throughout the month. The students practiced adding and subtraction fractions, as well as converting mixed numbers. Additionally, the students are working on mastering their multiplication facts.

Fifth Grade: The fifth grade students have been working on fractions and mixed numbers. Students practiced adding, subtracting, and multiplying fractions. Students also practiced finding the Least Common Denominator along with strengthening their fact fluency.

Sixth grade: The sixth graders explored functions and the area of rectangles, triangles, etc. We also began spiral reviewing the topics from the beginning of the year. Touching on topics that were unclear or students felt they needed support.

W.I.N. (What I Need) is a daily educational period to address students’ academic needs. W.I.N. provides additional opportunities during the school day for reteaching, intervention, and extension activities in English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics.

Students will be placed in supplemental and/or enrichment groups, based on IRLA, iREADY and NYSED assessments, Aimsweb+ progress monitoring, progress reports, report cards and classroom performance on daily work and tests, and teacher recommendations of their current academic needs.

These placements are flexible, and will be reviewed every six weeks. Teachers will use data obtained from the sources listed above to determine the best interventions and enrichment services to provide differentiated instruction to all students.

The Grady Readathon has been rescheduled for Wednesday, April 3rd. We look forward to celebrating the joy of reading from 6 to 7 P.M. on that date!

Second Grade

The second graders are continuing to work on a variety of reading skills such as vowel teams. The students are reading longer and more sophisticated books and writing about what they have read. We are working on summarizing what we read. The children are digging deeper into understanding characters, setting, and plot.

Third Grade

The children are reading fiction and non-fiction books. The students are learning about fiction and nonfiction text features and how they help us understand what we are reading. The children continue to work on their reading comprehension and vocabulary with partner readings and discussions. We are focusing on writing and responding to what we read with short and extended responses.

Fourth Grade

The children are working on reading and understanding cause and effect relationships, point of view and perspective. We are also reviewing sequence of events and making inferences by gathering evidence from the text. The children verbally summarize information from sections of a text prior to writing. In writing we are also focusing on using the writing process to produce clear coherent writing. The fourth graders continue to work on phonics and comprehension skills using the IRLA Program and the Orton Gillingham Methodology.

Fifth Grade

The students are working on writing short and extended responses based on paired readings. We are also reviewing central (Main Idea), drawing conclusions, and inferences. The fifth graders continue to work on their phonics, comprehension, and writing skills using the IRLA Toolkit. The children are excited about the books we are reading!

Sixth Grade

The sixth graders recently created poems for sharing day. They chose a theme and included different poetic elements. The students wrote, proofread, and published poems that they shared with their families and the community. We enjoyed being able to read everyone’s work!