Kindergartners have been engaged in learning, while also having fun throughout the second quarter!  We have been learning sight words, building our phonological and phonemic awareness skills, noticing patterns in books, sequencing numbers and counting collections up to 20, just to name a few!  Students evaluated the life cycles of pumpkins and squirrels.  We also enjoyed welcoming a guest speaker, Mrs. Delong, to explain the tradition of Hanukkah!  Now we are looking forward to wrapping up our Gingerbread Themed Unit and have a Gingerbread Celebration before winter break begins!

It's always fun in 1st grade!  Check out what we have been doing!

-learning about 2D shapes, 3D shapes and patterns.

-made 3D shapes out of marshmallows and toothpicks

-practicing rhyming, syllables, blending words, beginning and ending sounds

-noticing and blending sounds we know in our books

-learning about being a good citizen and voting

-had a mock election

-writing non-fiction books about topics we are experts on

Second graders have been moving right along during this second quarter!  

Reading: 

- learning about print through nonfiction 

- learning about print through poetry

Writing:

- nonfiction: all about books 

- poetry unit

Math: 

- measurement

- conceptual development of addition and subtraction

- building base 10 concepts part 2

Content: 

- history: honoring people and celebrating holidays

- Lakota of the Plains 

- Pueblo of the Southwest 

- wondering about weather

We have been incorporating Book Creator, Wixie and EdPuzzle into our lessons as well!  Mrs. Williams' class wrote non-fiction books about animals.  Students had a choice of Book Creator, Wixie or Flipgrid to publish their work.  Way to go, authors and illustrators!

In Language Arts, 3rd graders have been applying/exploring word study through book clubs.

Excitedly we will be beginning our first Document Based Question Project called a Mini-Q.  In this Mini-Q  we will be examining the following documents; a map of Ancient Egypt, a chart of The Nile River Flood Cycle, an image of Transportation on the Nile, a tomb painting  called, “Field of Reeds” and finally a piece of music called Hymn to the Nile.  Our Q or question is How Did the Nile Shape Ancient Egypt?  Wait until you see our essay we will write at the end of our unit.  Did I mention we will be talking about mini-thesis statements?  Oh exploring, analyzing, and synthesizing we will go.

Go amazing third grade team!

In Ms. Carey's Math Class, we have been exploring very large numbers by building numbers beyond ten thousand, and working on place value understanding through millions, using games and tasks. Next, we will begin learning about how decimals are related to fractions. 

Fourth graders have been working diligently!  We ended our poetry unit with a gallery walk!  Students were actively engaged as everyone got to explore each others poems!  

At the end of our Colonial Virginia unit, we used EdPuzzle as a way to review with informative videos and embedded questions.  We loved it and are looking forward to incorporating EdPuzzle into further activities!

Students used Wixie to publish their non-fiction feature articles.  Creativity and perseverance are shining throughout 4th grade!

In fifth grade we have:

• published fantasy short stories.
• reflected on our fantasy book club journeys.
• explored ocean zones and the organisms that live in them.
• divided decimals (in Ms. Hawkins’ and Mr. Baier’s math class) or compared and ordered fractions, decimals, and percentages (in Mrs. Brewer’s math class)
• explored nonfiction text structures.
• researched an animal to write about.

This past week we enjoyed and virtually participated in our CFES Band Performance!  Our 5th and 6th grade musicians are so talented!

There's always non-stop, engaging and relevant learning in 6th grade!  Check out some of the activities we have done so far this year!

A former CFES student, Lillian Tso, shared about her current project with NASA, why she is studying engineering, and her experiences working at NASA in order to encourage the next generation of engineers.

6th grade team building activity. It takes a team! Planning, testing, failing, retesting = SUCCESS!

6th graders presented about life in the 13 colonies as they assumed the role of a 12 year old in England. They researched and identified which colony would be the most suitable for their family to move to in the early 1700s. 

Kindergarten - We spent time on drawing, paper folding and cutting techniques while working on a robot collage, self-portrait framed with the cardinal mascot, autumn trees and more. Every lesson begins with discussing a work of art or a short  ideo to get everyone inspired for the day's lesson.

First Grade - While working “Family Helper Robot Collage”, the first graders practiced making sketches, folding, cutting and gluing with construction paper. We practiced drawing a portrait of a family member and discussed some famous artist portraits. Every lesson begins with discussing a work of art or a short video to get everyone inspired for the day's lesson.

Second Grade - We have been learning about the tricks artists use to create depth in an artwork such as overlapping, size and placement of objects and figures while drawing our favorite place to visit in the community. With the theme of community, we have completed a project inspired by “Duck Architecture” while making sketches for and building our own pop-up collages.

Third Grade - While working on cultural identity self-portraits, third graders have begun learning about how to draw a self-portrait by studying the proportions of the face and looking at some famous artist portraits. They have also begun to explore paper cutting techniques for two dimensional designs while working on a collage of a place where they might experience a different culture.    

Fourth Grade - With “Time” as the theme of fourth grade we have been learning two-dimensional paper cutting techniques while working on a pop-up collage. In this project we designed our own future architecture. We are now looking at tricks artists use to create a sense of depth in an artwork while beginning to work on a time machine drawing in oil pastels.

Fifth Grade - The fifth graders have been practicing sketching and coloring along with two-dimensional paper folding and cutting techniques while working on a mini-booklet collage. The subject of the collage was inspired by a journey they would like to go on or a trip they have taken. The focus in this project also included looking at famous artworks with the subject of migration which goes along with the fifth-grade theme of globalization.

Sixth Grade - Sixth graders began exploring the theme of identity while sketching and completing a “Super Me” self-portrait imagining a superpower that they might like to possess. They then explored two-dimensional paper cutting techniques while completing a pop-up collage with the theme of “My Past, Present and Future”.