I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful and relaxing Spring Break! This week the Dragonflies were ready to return to school...full of excitement and busy as ever!
Wild About Whales: our class read aloud we have just finished reading the Magic School Bus Wild Whale Watch. The children loved this age appropriate chapter book with fiction mixed and non-fiction elements. They practiced reading for information, took notes, created an outline, and summarized each chapter. Each student then selected a whale they wanted to learn more about to conduct their inquiry project on. Right now they are in the process of creating a whale model to scale, along with a whale book full of fun and interesting facts!
Economics: In economics the children experienced their first weeks of "payday." As a community, the children designed and voted to determine which would serve as the official designs of the Dragonfly Dollars. They even determined the criteria for which they would be paid daily. These included completing classwork, demonstrating appropriate behavior (being mindful, respectful, having a positive attitude), and "Leaving No Trace" (taking care of the space/materials they used). Your child can earn up to 24 Dragonfly Dollars a day. The income earned can/will be used to purchase materials/supplies for their businesses, as well as used to purchase goods and services on Market Day. Last week, the children worked on establishing their businesses. They had the opportunity to either form a corporation (no more than 3 members) or be a sole proprietor. Students were also guided through a mini lesson and asked to think about products/services that would help fulfill a need/want. For Market Day, each group will be responsible for providing products/services to sell at Market Day. Time will given in class for production, so students are encouraged to bring in supplies. The only stipulation is that businesses can only sell one food/drink item. Market Day will take place on May 20. This will also be our end of year Open House and potluck lunch. Please be sure to mark this date on your calendars!
* Students will conduct a Market Survey on April 11. Protoypes are due on/before that day. Groups who opt to sell food/drink items can either have samples or a picture of the food/drink item they intend to sell at Market Day.
Writer's Workshop: The students have been hard at work writing their own original stories throughout the month of March. The final publishing will be done in hardcover form, with illustrations based on the work of Eric Carle. Upon their return from break, the children spent a morning of "Image Making" - creating beautiful paper to be used for their illustrations. This culminating piece will be part of our end of year open house on May 20. The Dragonflies are eager to share their uniquely creative writing skills with all of you!
Congratulations!
Each year, Dragonfly students have the opportunity to take part in the World Children Haiku Contest. It is a contest open to children across the world! This year I am pleased to share that we had several winners from the Dragonfly family. Grand prize winners were: Rylan and Mia. In addition, we had Japan Airlines (sponsor) winners: Siena, Jayden, Zara, Calista, and Asa. The theme this year was "Morning." Students were encouraged to write "from their heart" and watercolor an image to convey their idea of what what "morning" meant to them.
Inquiry:
Students embarked on their inquiry projects - asking questions and designing experiments to test their questions while searching for answers. We had crayons melting, decomposing plastics/food, and even the creation of rainbows! It is always exciting to hear the students design, test, and retest their ideas! Working in groups encourages the children to collaborate with one another, and at times having to negotiate and meet each other half way. Pricesless teachable moments!
May Day:
I hope you will all be able to join us for our K-2 May Day performance on April 29. The children have been hard at work learning their May Day dance with the help of Uncle Alan Kam (Nalu's dad), as well as finished creating their very own hala lei! I hope you have all received the handout regarding attire. The second graders have been asked to wear blue aloha wear and khaki colored (shorts/bottoms). Girls may wear dresses.
Wild About Whales: our class read aloud we have just finished reading the Magic School Bus Wild Whale Watch. The children loved this age appropriate chapter book with fiction mixed and non-fiction elements. They practiced reading for information, took notes, created an outline, and summarized each chapter. Each student then selected a whale they wanted to learn more about to conduct their inquiry project on. Right now they are in the process of creating a whale model to scale, along with a whale book full of fun and interesting facts!
Economics: In economics the children experienced their first weeks of "payday." As a community, the children designed and voted to determine which would serve as the official designs of the Dragonfly Dollars. They even determined the criteria for which they would be paid daily. These included completing classwork, demonstrating appropriate behavior (being mindful, respectful, having a positive attitude), and "Leaving No Trace" (taking care of the space/materials they used). Your child can earn up to 24 Dragonfly Dollars a day. The income earned can/will be used to purchase materials/supplies for their businesses, as well as used to purchase goods and services on Market Day. Last week, the children worked on establishing their businesses. They had the opportunity to either form a corporation (no more than 3 members) or be a sole proprietor. Students were also guided through a mini lesson and asked to think about products/services that would help fulfill a need/want. For Market Day, each group will be responsible for providing products/services to sell at Market Day. Time will given in class for production, so students are encouraged to bring in supplies. The only stipulation is that businesses can only sell one food/drink item. Market Day will take place on May 20. This will also be our end of year Open House and potluck lunch. Please be sure to mark this date on your calendars!
* Students will conduct a Market Survey on April 11. Protoypes are due on/before that day. Groups who opt to sell food/drink items can either have samples or a picture of the food/drink item they intend to sell at Market Day.
Writer's Workshop: The students have been hard at work writing their own original stories throughout the month of March. The final publishing will be done in hardcover form, with illustrations based on the work of Eric Carle. Upon their return from break, the children spent a morning of "Image Making" - creating beautiful paper to be used for their illustrations. This culminating piece will be part of our end of year open house on May 20. The Dragonflies are eager to share their uniquely creative writing skills with all of you!
Congratulations!
Each year, Dragonfly students have the opportunity to take part in the World Children Haiku Contest. It is a contest open to children across the world! This year I am pleased to share that we had several winners from the Dragonfly family. Grand prize winners were: Rylan and Mia. In addition, we had Japan Airlines (sponsor) winners: Siena, Jayden, Zara, Calista, and Asa. The theme this year was "Morning." Students were encouraged to write "from their heart" and watercolor an image to convey their idea of what what "morning" meant to them.
Inquiry:
Students embarked on their inquiry projects - asking questions and designing experiments to test their questions while searching for answers. We had crayons melting, decomposing plastics/food, and even the creation of rainbows! It is always exciting to hear the students design, test, and retest their ideas! Working in groups encourages the children to collaborate with one another, and at times having to negotiate and meet each other half way. Pricesless teachable moments!
May Day:
I hope you will all be able to join us for our K-2 May Day performance on April 29. The children have been hard at work learning their May Day dance with the help of Uncle Alan Kam (Nalu's dad), as well as finished creating their very own hala lei! I hope you have all received the handout regarding attire. The second graders have been asked to wear blue aloha wear and khaki colored (shorts/bottoms). Girls may wear dresses.