Glows in the Dark

Dear parents,

Angelica presented her experiment on things that glow in the dark.  Students learned about black lights and why things glow under them.  Every student got glow sticks to take home.  Thanks for the great experiment! 

Repectfully,

Rachel Sibick

Water

Dear parents,

Michael was the “Scientist of the Week.”  His experiment taught the students that soft water does not have minerals and hard water does.  Each child shook the 2 containers.  Both containers had dish soap added, but one contained hard water and the other soft.  Ask your child to describe his/her observations and conclusions. 

Respectfully,
Rachel Sibick

Nicholas Explains Miscibility

Dear parents,

Nicholas was the scientist of the week! Miscibility is a property of liquids to mix. He demonstrated how oil and water do not mix, thus they are immiscible. Then, he added several ingredients to test their viscosity (thickness). Thanks for the great experiment! 

Respectfully,

Rachel Sibick

Attract or Repel

Dear parents,

Mary Grace was the scientist of the week! She explained that magnets have a north and south pole. The opposite poles attract and the same poles repel each other.  Students watched how a metal detector worked. The class also played a "gold game," where student's fished for magnetic things. Angelica caught the most magnetic things!

Respectfully,

Rachel Sibick

In Class

Dear parents,

Students are investigating answers to our task analysis for our unit on farms. They are reading the pictures or the words to find answers to our questions. Soon, they will be working on a finished product.

Students are practicing beginning sounds and rhyming words through Clifford's interactive game on the Smartboard.

Victoria Falkowski was the scientist of the week! She made water xylophone. Each child got to come up and make their own music.

Ms. Maja read a story to the first and second graders. After the story, students wrote about the problem and solution using a semantic feature (graphic organizer).

Respectfully,

Rachel Sibick

October Trip and News

Dear parents,

Students have continued to learn about reading and math through games. In the pictures, students are learning how to make words through cubes and recording if they are real or pretend (nonsense) words. These words are CVC (consonant vowel consonant), such as mop. Other students are practicing additon through a car game or practicing the alphabet through an ice cream game.

The trip to Las Palmas Restaurant was fantastic. Students were taught how the tortillas were made and ate an authentic meal.

Victoria Puchyr was the scientist of the week. She demonstrated how flowers grow and explained what flowers need to survive.

Respectfully,

Rachel Sibick

October News

Dear parents,

Students are learning even more concepts! Similar to before, the students are learning about math through hands-on discovery and manipulatives. Students are moving the felt ice cream cut outs to match the quantity to the number. Students learn about math through an interactive math story on the Smartboard. A few volunteers come up to review AB pattern examples.

The Academy is assisting Northeastern Illinois University in training teacher candidates (college students training to be teachers). Ms. Maja has submitted her information to The Academy and will be working with Ms. Kim and myself to earn 100 professional hours for her college class. She submitted her philosophy of teaching and transcripts. She is a great addition to The Academy and will be another educator helping your child. There are some pictures of Ms. Maja with the class. The students and I enjoy working with her.

Grandparent's Day was a success! Thank you for everyone who came and helped. The grandparent's enjoyed answering the survey questions (what do they like to do, etc.) and having their grandchild record it. The grandparent posters created were fabulous! They are displayed in the hall and will be sent home with your child later.

Nate was the scientist of the week. He demonstrated how a tornado in a bottle works! He explained and allowed everyone a chance to try. Nate's grandma and grandpa helped him with the experiment. They enjoyed trying different experiments with him, as well as visiting The Academy. Thank you!

Respectfully,

Rachel Sibick