April 2024 (thankfully!) didn’t have many rain showers, but it was filled with post-Spring-break excitement about the eclipse, Earth Day, and our class election! We were so busy this month learning and preparing for our new class ‘government,’ watching the moon crawl across the sun (with our safety glasses, of course!), and making environmental awareness posters to hang up at the local park on Earth Day. . . that we didn’t even realize how quickly May was on its way!
Monthly Highlights:
- The Solar Eclipse – It was exciting to have our Monday class in session during the viewing of the eclipse! We donned our sun-safe glasses and got to watch the eclipse in real-time while working on some craftivities and reading pages! We also did a deep dive into the background and reasons why an eclipse occurs to broaden our learning and make the viewing more intentional.
- Earth Day & Park Clean-Up – After some Earth Day learning activities, our Monday class took to the streets of Bay Park/Clairemont! Armed with some trash picker-uppers, gloves, and garbage bags, we walked to the park and collected trash, each student having the goal of picking up the most to earn an Earth Day prize! After our trash collection, we enjoyed some lunch and recess at the park, which was a bonus for our hard work. 😜 (Watch our recap video here!)
- “Pit & Children’s Lit” – April was our FOURTH book reading event, and we had an intimate and fun time with some of the families from school! There was plenty of coloring, reading, and the temperature went from pretty chilly to very warm! A big thank you to Lily, Addy & Sienna (and parents!) for coming!
(PS: Our next ‘Pit & Children’s Lit’ is ‘reading with mom’ themed, on 5/11!)
Mondays:
- English & Language Arts: Our ELA this month was shifting towards informational reading and writing, specifically about plants, animals, and life cycles! While some of these topics are a (welcomed) review, we got to take our learning a step further in developing our vocabulary, practicing informational writing, and using transition words like ‘First,’ ‘Next,’ ‘Finally,’ etc. We also did some reading and writing about the eclipse and Earth-Day, too, because we were lucky enough to have class on both of these themed days!
- Math & Reasoning: Our big focus this month was clocks and specifically ‘half past’ and/or ‘thirty minutes before.’ We not only studied the language and vocabulary, but created mini ‘schedules’ for ourselves to practice (along with games, of course!). Other areas of focus this month were 2D and 3D shapes and defining the shapes by their characteristics.
Tuesdays:
- English & Language Arts: Our big focus this month was non-fiction reading and writing, specifically informational text. We read different informative text about life cycles and practiced our own ‘List Articles,’ with an introductory statement, “thesis” (or argument) statement, three reasons, and concluding statement. We also worked on our editing skills, did some ‘quickwrite’ practice, discussed contractions and homophones, and some eclipse/Earth Day reading and writing, too, of course!
- Math & Reasoning: In addition to our continued 2 and 3-digit addition and subtraction practice, this month we also focused on measurement. We specifically practiced using different measuring tools, estimating measurements, and learned how to measure the full distance (perimeter) of shapes by adding up all of the sides. We also practiced careful reading and breaking down of word problems, both in partners and with the whole-group.
Wednesdays & Thursdays:
- Foundations: In our Foundational Class, April focused on part-to-whole, fractions, and labeling fractions in math. We also strengthened our automaticity with adding and subtracting! For ELA, we created some Earth Day-themed writing, penned structured sentences, and continued in our phonics independent practice books.
- Social Studies: In Social Studies, we geared up for our election which took place on 4/25! Prior to the ‘official’ Election Day, students studied different governmental roles, created their own campaigns and posters, made speeches about their promises, and studied government vocabulary! A few highlights were our group activities where students had to work together to solve mystery vocabulary matching, the campaign poster creation (because they are just so creative!), and the kindness and empathy displayed on our Election Day. Seriously, I was so proud of how well each child handled the election results, encouraging and praising one another while simultaneously working through their own disappointment if they didn’t win. Congratulations to our new President Nari, Vice President Polina, and Secretary Willy!
STEM: In April, we finished our unit on adaptations and habitats with an exploration of the habitats around us (the grassy areas of our yard and the dirt in the garden). We compared and contrasted these areas, and talked about what environments are conducive to more plant and animal diversity (and why). Then, we shifted to learning about animal behaviors, particularly how (and why) animals often travel in groups—for food foraging/hunting, protection, warmth, and more! We also created some posters for Earth Day to help inspire others to take care of their environment! (See below!)
Other April 2024 Updates:
- Class Jobs: Another exciting part of this month was the official “launch” of our new class jobs! After realizing that some of our jobs were outdated or unused, we decided that having new jobs would not only be more useful but exciting, too! Our new class jobs include “Shoe Sorter” (someone who takes out the shoes from the bin and sorts them into the line when we’re getting ready to go out for lunch), “Clean-Up Crew” (who ensures our classroom is clean before lunch/end of day), “On-Task Manager” (who makes sure that everyone has their name/date on paper, brings water bottle outside for ‘Brain Break,’ etc.), and a bunch more! The students really enjoyed these new and improved jobs and custom signage! 🙂
- Our ‘Government Tree’: This was such a little, fun passion project! After studying the three branches of government over the course of several weeks, these ‘trees’ became the leaves of our new classroom tree! The ‘Government Tree’ was fun to put up and the students were so excited to see it, too!
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