Lower Elementary Newsletter - December 11, 2015

Dear RiverRun Families,

This week our Elders were working with the children from the Primary Class writing autobiographies, continuing the celebration of Tomie de Poala month as his books often recount his own experiences. The Upper elementary students provided guidance with this endeavor. Next week the Upper Elementary will be working with our First Years writing autobiographies as the rest of the class works independently writing theirs. Taco Tuesday was a big hit! The children can’t wait for next month’s fiesta. Thank you to the RiverRun Community Counsel for bringing our community together in such a fun and tasty way. The First Years were introduced this week to the adjective. This completes the Noun Family. They were also introduced to compound words. It is nice to watch the First Years begin to work independently, making choices of works to do and learning to manage their time. Our Second Years are using the Bead Frame to work on static and dynamic subtraction and the Elders are practicing word problems requiring their multiplication and division skills. We look forward to seeing you on Monday for Parent-Child Afternoon . Check your child’s folder for a list of works they would like to show you.

Best Wishes,
Amy, Tatiana, and Rachel

Primary Newsletter - December 11, 2015

Hello Families,                                                                                                December 11, 2015

The holidays are here! We had a wonderful visit from Middle School students for St. Nicholas Day, with ginger cookies and a good story. Thank you!! We’re also enjoying reading Hanukkah stories, working with the menorah, dreidels, and making latkes. They’ve been a big hit, mostly with applesauce, yum! After reading aloud Tomie dePaolo’s The Art Lesson, a brief autobiography (from when he was about 5 years old), the children met up with their elementary partners to share ideas on writing a short autobiography. It’s fun and another opportunity to work with the school’s elders! Number work and afternoon handwriting have also been part of the week, along with frequent creative endeavors in art, with inset drawings, and story writing. Also, Taco Tuesday is a success in Primary, with such comments as “I love these!” and disappointment to learn it is only scheduled once per month. Thank you, to the student RRCC! This warmer weather has us all having fun outside, around and on the playgrounds. Having found an intact orange just behind the playground, we continue our observations of plant debris left outside over time. Congratulations to Adelaide’s family. She is now a big sister to her new baby sister, Scarlett Helen! Cyndy is away now until January. It’s great Fatima can join us until the holiday school break. Monday, come see us and our building project at Parent-Child Afternoon (at your time, 3:15 or 4:15) ! May your week ahead be filled with restful moments at this busy time of year. Peace and take care,

Maureen, Jess, Rachel and Cyndy

Upper Elementary Newsletter - December, 4 2015

December 4, 2015

Dear Families,

            The RiverRun Community Council is having a Tomie dePaola month throughout December.  To introduce his stories and illustrations to the primary and lower elementary classes, we each had a one- on-one story time with our partner. Throughout the rest of December, we will meet about once a week with our partners to help them create one of their very own Tomie DePaola stories. We also have been finishing up and typing our compare and contrast essays for our parent education night on December 14. Debbie worked with each of us on revisions and to make sure our grammar and spelling is correct.

Emma and Abi sent out Taco Tuesday ingredient\permission slips and have gotten a great response. Almost everyone wants a taco! GO TEAM TACO! J

We have been practicing our fluency in writing about once a week. We practice our fluency by getting a topic from Debbie, such as, “Your biggest fear is… (or) The color blue reminds me of…  Then we each have to try and write a whole page about the topic while being timed. When everyone is done, you have a chance to read your fluency page if you’d like. When we did the topic of what your biggest fear is, we got into a really in-depth conversation about being home alone and being afraid of the dark. We barely noticed it was time to go home.

Abi and Architects

If you haven’t already, please take a look at this week’s Montessori at Home!

Important dates:

December 2015                                                     Visit to RE4ORM ARCHITECTURE, Schenectady

December 14, 2015                                                Parent Education     3:15p.m.             

January 5, 6, 7, 2016                                              STEAM Program: Explorations in Engineering

                                                                                K’NEX for Alternative Energy

January 26, 2016                                                    Tour of NYS Capitol, Art Collection, Meet         

                                                                                Assembly member Phil Steck & Senator Hugh Farley               

Lower Elementary Newsletter - December 4, 2015

12/4/15

Dear RiverRun Families,

              This week in our class a group of five children started to read their first novel for Readers’ Workshop. They are reading The Facts and Fictions of Minna Pratt. Together we named the characters and analyzed their personalities, discussed the setting, looked up challenging vocabulary and predicted what may happen next. Science demonstrations for this week were on gravity. Using a container, sand, ping pong balls, metal, and human force (see the picture below) we shook a container and watched the balls rise and the metal sink. Next, we observed hot water dyed red, rise when introduced to cold water. Our First Years completed the lesson on the political map of Oceana. Upon completion they will be set home. The Middles and Elders were introduced to our large biome map used to learn the waterways, mountains and deserts of Australia. Some of the First Years where introduced to the multiplication bead board and our Elders are using the checkerboard to do more complex multiplication problems. The Middles are now using bead bars to work on their multiplication facts. Rachel gathered the children for their next art project. Martha Sutro leant us a Tapa Cloth. These cloths are made from flattened bark. They originate from the islands of the Pacific Ocean like New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. They are used as gifts or as clothing for ceremonies. The children learned the custom to making the designs. Ask them about it! They will be making their own type of Tapa on cloth rather than bark. The RiverRun Community Council is putting forth their Taco Tuesday initiative. The menu was sent home in your child’s folder. We look forward to this community gathering. They also acted upon the Tomie de Paola Month initiative. They read Tomie de Paolo books to the community in groups of two, engaging their children by asking questions and comparing different books he wrote and illustrated. Later this month they will be leading art projects.

For those families celebrating Chanukah, enjoy your first night!
Have a great weekend, Amy, Tatiana, & Rachel

Primary Newsletter - December 4, 2015

Hello Families,                                                                                                           December 4, 2015

After making our stone soup and feasting together, we continue with other cooperative projects, as building extensions with the pink tower and brown stairs, taking care of our classroom and plants (dusting, sweeping up, leaf cleaning), and the afternoon building work.  Using consensus, the student RiverRun Community Council (RRCC) decided on a Tomie dePaolo December.  Upper and lower elementary students partnered with primary children, reading aloud to them Thursday.  What fun to work with the older students and there’s more next week too!  Consider another RRCC idea, Taco Tuesday!  Evsen and Lila, Daphne’s mom and baby sister, joined us Friday.  We could see what Lila can do and is learning, how to be gentle with a baby, what she eats, etc.  Thank you for your visit Evsen and Lila; we enjoyed our time with you!  As it’s colder now, thanks also for providing your child’s boots, mittens, and hat for recess.   

Happy Hanukkah, to those who are celebrating.  Peace be with you all. 

Maureen, Jess, Rachel and Cyndy 

Upper Elementary Newsletter - November 20, 2015

Dear Families,

          For the past several years the Upper Elementary Newsletter has been written using the plural pronoun “We” to describe the weekly activities. I’ve done this to represent the whole community in the classroom. However, today the letter is just from me. This Wednesday, I attended the very first RiverRun Community Council meeting run completely by the students in the upper el classroom. The other RiverRun classrooms were invited to send a representative for the meeting. It was an amazing experience for me to witness the leadership skills your children practiced during the meeting. Abi was the facilitator, Patricia the timer, Emma the note taker and Nadia the assistant facilitator. Nadia was responsible for the stack and the parking lot. (Ask your child what her roles were!) The meeting was productive, and all members were respectful of each council member’s ideas. Three proposals were formally shared with the group. Discussions were held and timed after each proposal, and all three proposals were accepted by consensus! I am very impressed and proud of your children and their accomplishments since they decided to create a school government. We will have a wonderful dialogue with Assemblymember Steck and Senator Hugh Farley when we meet them in January. The class went to PUZZLES in downtown Schenectady for hot chocolate today. Sara Mae Hickey, the business owner, took us on a tour of the café. Sara inspired us with her mission to have a place where everyone can feel welcome.

Thank you for the pleasure of working with your children each day,
Debbie

Primary Newsletter - November 20, 2015

Hello Families, 
            
            A walk at Lisha Kill Preserve, what a wonderful way to start our week together!  As you know, we touched on fungi and algae and their roles in the forest, took note of forest details around us, and marveled at Eastern Pine over 200 years old.  Parents, thank you for taking us on this trip, a fun time for all.  It’s time to look at Thanksgiving and the culmination of harvest next Tuesday, with our Stone Soup feast.  We baked muffins and will make our soup this next Monday. We continue to talk and read about all families, and the pets that are part of them, as well as our towns and the people in them (i.e., fire fighters, veterinarians).  This has led to much sharing among the children about their own experiences.  In the afternoon, we’ve started a large cooperative building project, which will involve all the children.  It’s exciting to see their ideas and creativity.   Some children are making world maps, and language and reading work are also popular.  Thanks for looking at Montessori at Home activities in folders on Mondays.  We touch on these at circle too.
We wish Eliza all the best in her new class, Lower El, with Amy, Tatiana, Rachel, and all the children. So happy we’ll see Eliza from time to time around school.  Enjoy Thanksgiving! 

Peace to all,

Maureen, Jess, Rachel and Cyndy

Lower Elementary Newsletter - November 20, 2015

Dear RiverRun Families,  

              This week Tatiana finished the read aloud novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick.  The children really loved the book.  It ignited their imaginations and allowed for lively conversation.  I am sure they would love to talk with you about the story.  As follow up to the Cosmic Story, demonstrations are out on the science shelf.  There are three works out for the children to explore magnetism, one demonstration where they can see that air occupies space and two works demonstrating gravity.    While at the THINQubator we made zip lines, catapults out of spoons and popsicle sticks and slingshots out of rubber bands.  We had a tour of their wood shop, metal shop, welding area, and saw one of their many 3-D printers at work.  There are a lot of great things happening at the THINQubator for children and adults. Go on line and check out what they offer.    In class we talked about volume, mass, force and gravity. I had two balls the same size, they had the same volume. One ball was heavier than the other, but they hit the ground at the same time when I dropped them from the same height (gravity).  To demonstrate gravity I also dropped a whole apple and a half of an apple at the same time from the same height and they hit the floor at the same time.  Lastly, I took out six marshmallows.  We weighed three marshmallows on each side of a balance scale, making sure they were equal in weight and very similar in size. I squished three the marshmallows and showed that although their size changed their mass stayed the same, the scale balanced.  Lastly, to demonstrate force I showed that it took more energy for me to move a lot of marshmallow then it would for me to move just one.


We had a great week together and hope you have a wonderful weekend,

Amy, Tatiana, & Rachel

Lower Elementary Newsletter - May 22, 2015

5/22/15

Dear RiverRun Families,

            Every afternoon we have been working on El Mago de Oz.  The children are learning their lines and working on blocking (when to come in with their line and where to be when on stage).  I hope you are all having fun coming up with costume ideas.  Fatima has brought in many books for the children to see how different artists have illustrated the characters over the years.  Most of us picture the characters as they are in the film, but we can have the flexibility to be creative. 

            I want to thank Camar, Evio’s mother, who has been coming in to volunteer on a consistent basis to help with the play.  Jessica has spent a lot of time re-writing the play, making it easier for us. I hope her transliterations are helping you at home.  Stephanie, Natalie’s mom, is also coming in to help.  We really appreciate volunteering your time. 

            A few children decided they are interested in researching an animal.  This has caught on and now many children are interested in research of their own.  If your child wants to bring some books from home we can keep them separate from the school books while they are using them for their reports. 

 The Second and Third Years have been working on fractions using fraction circles.  They are looking at fraction families and have learned how to make wholes out of parts of the circle families.  They have also had lessons on multiplying large numbers by a single digit multiplier using the Stamp Game.  The First Years are working on their comprehension skills and grammar. 

            The Upper El dissected goat eyes and squid this week.  Gregg, Nathaniel’s dafu, volunteered and worked with them.  He let us see the squid and told us a bit about squid prior to the dissection.

            May this be a peaceful weekend,

            Amy and Rachel

 

 

Lower Elementary Newsletter - May 15, 2015

Dear RiverRun Families,

I hope you all enjoyed the Authors’ Tea.  Although I knew all the stories, hearing them read to an audience so confidently was very exciting for me.  I am so proud of the children.  They have been reading each other’s book consistently during D.E.A.R time since the Tea; this tells me they also enjoyed the stories their peers authored. 

This week we continued to talk about air, how it has weight which exerts pressure on Earth.  We learned that where warm air rises the force is not so great and we call this Low Pressure and regions where cool air is falling and returning to the surface of Earth the force is greater, we call this High Pressure. We also learned how different, more predictable, wind patterns such as Trade, Variable, Horse Latitude, and Doldrums received their names. 

In our classroom we are observing air pressure using a homemade barometer. We are noting how changes in weather affect the barometer.  For the past three days we have been going outside in the morning to feel and observe the weather.   On Thursday it was sunny and clear.  The soil and grass felt warmer to us than the air.  The weather has been stable so we have not noted any big changes in our barometer.

            Our school play is fast approaching and will begin at 4:00 sharp.  After school the children will have a snack and get into their costumes ready to thrill you by show time.  At home, the children should be practicing their lines and finalizing the look of their costumes.

Dates to Remember:

May 25- No School  Memorial Day

May 29-30 – RiverRun Camping Trip (remember to sign up for the pot luck lunch)

June 11-  School Play, El Mago de Oz, the show will start at 4:00

Upper Elementary Newsletter - May 15, 2015

                                                                                                                                   May 15, 2015

Dear Families,

This week we had Patricia’s Birthday Walk; so we enjoyed making faces out of bagels, vegetables and a choice of cream cheese or peanut butter and another little special treat.  Also this week, Debbie got us some wonderful new paints and we used them making our own unique pieces of art. Throughout the week, we have been practicing our Spanish Wizard of Oz (the date of the play is below) and learning how to project our voices.  For breakfast with Johnny Tremain, we had crepes with an option of blueberries, strawberries or whipped cream, croissants with (optional) Nutella, and a beverage of grape juice, orange juice and milk. This week, we have been finishing up with the Nervous System and moving on to the Skeletal System and will be continuing to concentrate on it the following week. We are all moving on with our Author’s Tea stories which are coming along really nicely. Next week, with the permission of all the parents, we are going to be dissecting Octopi and sheep eyes.     

Have a nice weekend with all this nice spring weather!

Emma, Debbie, Tonya, Patriots & Tories

Important Dates:

Tuesday, June 9                    Erie Canal Cruises

Thursday, June 11                 Play 4:00 P.M.

Tuesday, June 23                  Moving Up Day/Portfolio Day 1:00 P.M.

Upper Elementary Newsletter - May 8, 2015

                                                                                                                                       May 8, 2015

Dear Families,

This week we worked hard to prepare for our Author’s Tea. This morning we welcomed families and friends into our classroom to present the process of writing, as well as excerpts from our stories. Afterward, we enjoyed cookies and tea with our guests.

We hope that those of you who attended enjoyed our presentations and our stories. We look forward to showcasing our finished books on Moving Up/Portfolio Day.

Happy Mother’s Day to all our mothers!

Debbie, Tonya, Patriots & Tories

Important Dates:

Tuesday, June 9                    Erie Canal Cruises (information will be forthcoming)

Thursday, June 11                 Play (time to be announced)

Tuesday, June 23                  Moving Up Day/Portfolio Day 1:00 P.M.

Upper Elementary Newsletter, May 1, 2015

                                                                                                                                            May 1,  2015

Dear Families,

This week we have been working on cheek cells. Everyone gets a chance to make their own cheek cell slide. To make our cheek cell slides, we swiped our cheek with the flat end of a toothpick, and put the cells on a clean slide. Next we put methylene blue on our slide and mixed them together with the toothpick. We threw out the toothpick and then put a plastic cover slip on the liquid. We next put our slide on the microscope and looked at it through the microscope.

We have also been doing a book club with a book called Johnny Tremain. Our book club is a little different then you might expect. Our book club is a book club, but with it we also do a breakfast. It’s called Breakfast with Johnny. This week Emma, Grace, Maddy and Ben made breakfast. It is Grace’s birthday today. Happy b –day Grace! Happy May Day to everyone! 

Have a great weekend,

Courtney, Debbie & Tonya

Important Dates:

Friday, May 8                       Author’s Tea   9:15 A.M.

Thursday, June 11                 Play (time to be announced)

Tuesday, June 23                  Portfolio Day 1:00 P.M.

Lower Elementary Newsletter - May 1, 2015

5/1/15
 

Dear RiverRun Families,

            It is shocking that we are already in May and the Authors’ Tea is here.  The children have all completed their stories and are practicing reading to be ready for you.  I encourage the children to pick a nice and comfortable outfit to wear for the Tea.   

            Jessica has been working individually with the children on their lines for the upcoming play The Wizard of Oz or El Mago de Oz.  This is a good age for them to be exposed to a new language.  They do not seem daunted by learning how to pronounce the new words.  Their attitudes are positive and enthusiastic.

            The children continue to practice their Math and Language skills, at this time of year they work independently and demonstrate their understanding of what they have been practicing throughout the year.   We finished the lesson on How Numbers Came to Be.  We learned that the Ancient Mayan’s had worked out the concept of zero.  Their system was based on 20.  They borrowed and carried when they reached 20, not 10 like us.   The Ancient Hindu people used a dot to represent zero, they calculated the position of the planets and figured out a formula for the square root way back in around 500 CE. Pretty amazing!

            We Look Forward to Seeing You at 9:15 Either on the 7^th or 8^th ,

            Amy and Rachel

 

Authors’ Tea Schedule:

May 7, 2015          May 8, 2015

Parker                    Eliana      

Josiah                     Natalie

Donald                   Michael

Benjamin               Arielle

Srinidhi                  Amos

Evio                       Simon

Ava                        Nathaniel

Kaylee

As it gets hotter out please consider putting sunscreen on your child prior to school and have them bring in their own sunscreen for reapplication.  If you want bug spray on your child, please send that in as well with your child’s name on it.  I do not let the children share these items.

Lower Elementary Newsletter - April 24, 2015

Dear RiverRun Families,

The Authors’ Tea is approaching.  Below is the schedule for the day your child will be presenting.  We would love you to come both days to listen to all the wonderful stories the children have authored, but realize your busy schedules may not allow this.  Eliana, Arielle, and Nathaniel will be presenting last on Friday because their siblings will present first in our Upper Elementary classroom.  We plan to start reading at 9:15. 

Authors’ Tea Schedule:

May 7, 2015          May 8, 2015

Parker                    Eliana      

Josiah                     Natalie

Simon                    Michael

Benjamin               Arielle

Srinidhi                  Donald

Evio                       Amos

Ava                        Nathaniel

Kaylee

 

We have been working on illustrating for our Tea this week and have continued to talk about numbers and how ancient civilizations developed different systems to record numbers.  The ancient Greeks took their word for five (penta) and made their symbol for it their letter P.  The ancient Romans had no symbol for zero, this made it difficult to use place value to write large numbers.  No wonder Roman Numerals are not common today!

Best Wishes,

Amy and Rachel

 

                                                                   

 

 

 

Lower Elementary Newsletter - April 17, 2015

4/17/15

Dear RiverRun Families,

            This week we saw how land heats faster than water and cools faster than water.  Two jars were filled, one with water and one with sand.  Thermometers were placed in both.  We took them outside and measured the temperatures as they rose, close to every five minutes over time.  We did this again another day and then brought both the jars in to room temperature and watched them cool; taking readings about every five minutes again.  The children learned how to read a thermometer in both Fahrenheit and Celsius.   It seemed funny to the children that 70 degrees Fahrenheit, which we normally see as a pleasant temperature is called 21 degrees in Celsius.   

            Since we have been looking a lot at numbers it seems like the right time to explore how numbers came to be (another of the Great Lessons).  We all agree that numbers are important and that we use them every day. The children found many ways even prehistoric man used the language of numbers to communicate things like how many animals a hunter brought back or how long until the fruit on the trees come back.  We then jumped far ahead in time and talked about the Sumerians and how they recorded numbers using a pointed stick and clay.  Using clay and sticks the children copied the symbols (cuneiform) the Sumerians used.    

            The Physical Education trip to Flight was a lot of fun.  Mark, Tonya, Rachel, Heidi and Stephanie jumped around with the kids.  The rest of the adult’s walked around and monitored the action.  Thank you to all the parents who drove. 

Dates to Remember:

May 7&8 - Authors’ Tea

May 25 -  No School

May 29-30  - Lake Taghkanic Field/camping trip

 

 

 

 

                                                                     

 

 

Lower Elementary Newsletter - April 2, 2015

4/2/15

Dear RiverRun Families,

            A date for the Authors’ Tea has been set.  This year we will hold the Tea over two days.  Half the children will present their work on each day.  The presentations will start at 9:00.  All friends and family members are welcome both days, but are only asked to attend on the day your child reads.   We are in the last stages of writing, editing and illustrating.  The stories are coming together nicely and they are looking forward to sharing them with you.   I will send out the list of which day each child is reading as soon as possible.

             This week we started to look at air.  The children were able to see that air takes up space through a demonstration using a flask, funnel, plasticine, and water.  A tight seal was made between the flask and funnel.  When I poured water into the funnel the water was not able to flow into the flask because the air was taking up the space.  Once the seal was broken and the air was able to escape the water flowed into the flask.  A second demonstration showed how air rises when heated.  You will find pictures below of that demonstration. 

            We are all looking forward to Spring so we can get outside more often.  Let’s hope for a nice weather for the upcoming week off.

            For the families celebrating Easter and/or Passover we wish you joyous and peaceful holidays.

            Best Wishes,

            Amy and Rachel

Dates to Remember:

April 3-10  No School

April 15     trip to Flight (please initial and sign both pages of the consent form)

April 16     Open House

May 7&8   Authors’ Tea

Upper Elementary Newsletter- March 27, 2015

                                                                                                                                March 27, 2015

Dear Families,

Laura Hamor, author and illustrator, came on March 24 to help us with our stories and pictures. She taught us how to mix watercolor. She showed us that when you sprinkle salt on watercolor, let it dry and wipe the salt off, it looks like stars. She taught us how to paint with watercolor and draw details on the animal or thing that we are doing. She told us that we could cut out letters or words to make words from magazines. I am writing a story about a little girl who is always sad because she can’t hear well and her dad buys her a horse. She is very happy and in the end she is even happier, though she still can’t hear well. Tuesday was the last day Laura came.

We have been working on our cell project. We all took a test on the cells. We started reading Johnny Tremain.                                                                                                                    I have been very excited to see how the silkworms are doing. We are waiting for the mulberry leaves to come back so we can hatch the eggs.             

Have a great week,

Patricia, Debbie, Tonya, Patriots & Tories

Important Dates:

Wednesday, April 15             physical education class at the Flight Trampoline Park