The Season Of Giving

In this season of giving, it was most rewarding to see our 5th graders lead efforts to collect various food products for our annual food drive. We thank the entire lower school community for opening their hearts in such a benevolent manner this holiday season. Your efforts were much appreciated and will bring happiness to those in need. 

The Girls on the Run team was recognized for their completion of a local 5K on November 20th. The Girls on the Run organization's mission is "dedicated to creating a world where every girl knows and activates her limitless potential and is free to boldly pursue her dreams." 

Along with many 3rd and 4th grade girls, the following 5th grade girls participated: Zara, Diya, Hannah M., Samina, Sydney, and Anushka. An extra shout out must be made to the following five girls, who were members of GOTR for three straight years! Congratulations Zara, Diya, Samina, Sydney, and Anushka. 

I must briefly make light of some spontaneous debates that have raged on in class recently. It has become apparent that we have a group of eager learners who are adamant that their voice must be heard! I hadn't planned on it, but who knows where any class can go?

Most recent was the question "Do you believe the human race survive for 20 years without sunlight?" On the left, we have those who see no chance for survival. On the right, our optimists who certainly made some sound arguments based on the technological advancement of synthetic energy as a means as a substitute for the sun to state their case. It was fascinating, spirited, respectful, and unexpected! 

Our Stem classes continues to rage on, as we wind down our focus on coding. Students were recently asked to create codes for Dash to perform tasks within six commands. Mrs. Maciorowski has done a remarkable job pushing their problem solving skills to the limit!

Students have recently been working on the creation of their biome commercials in Science class. After being assigned a biome in groups, students researched each in depth in the hopes to create a commercial (for the Lubby Travel Agency) convincing potential customers why they should visit. 

Students were asked to create detailed storyboards with camera angles, dialogue, and a descriptive commercial shot by shot. Once their plans were set, students then used our green screen to film their commercials in various landscapes, on planes, on the top of famous monuments......all in the name of a little business!

No worries, everyone. Our heating system works just fine. These students seemed to step out to the tundra for a moment. 

And this one took a flight to the other side of the planet and returned without even asking her parents for permission! I even thought I heard one student say, "I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore." Of course it begs the question, "Were you?" Ah yes.....you have the grasslands.

Carry on!

We even had time to work out some city planning our weekly visit with our kindergarten buddies. This will come in handy during the engineering phase of our tech classes after winter break! This is just a preview of what's to come.

'til next time.

I am....

What are we? It is a question that reveals new answers daily. The picture above says what our 5th graders were in September, but time changes so swiftly and brings such new experiences so suddenly, I would venture to say this board would look completely different had it been done today.

Below, you will see photos of our owl pellet dissection, moments of care and leadership with our kindergarten, identification of the many species of trees planted on campus, a generous visit on Halloween from our Senior buddies, and a continuing focus and burgeoning understanding of coding. 

Above all else, we are a group of talented and confident individuals who ask ourselves daily, "How can I push myself today beyond where I ended yesterday?"

 We continue to collaborate, to inspire, to design, to take risks, all the while having fun with a smile painted on for good measure.

Keep up the good work 5th graders. You continue to impress those around you, as well as yourself.

We are curious.

We are organized.

We appreciate the humor in life.

 We collaborate.

We are patient.

 

We are amazed.

We classify.

 

We identify.

We are artistic. (And so are our parents.)

We imagine. 

We appreciate leaders. 

(Thanks, Senior buddies.)

We share.

We design.

We protect.

We care for one another.

We explore.

We challenge ourselves. 

And we smile. (Often.)

To laugh yourself is to love yourself.

'til next time.

So Much Time, So Little To Do!!!!......

Strike that. Reverse it.

Things have been moving fast and furious as always here in the 5th grade, so let's get right into it so that you don't feel left out. What better place to start than with Mr. Nicholls, who stays all hours of the night just thinking of ways to challenge these boys and girls as both role models and leaders of the Lower School.

Teamwork was the name of the game here, with patience, communication, and problem solving all at a premium in order to complete the tasks he laid out for them. And of course, smiling always helps as well. 

Once they conquered the gauntlet that is Mr. Nicholls teamwork unit, our 5th graders were relied heavily upon to be his assistants during our annual Lower School Spirit Day. 

Every so often, one of our 5th graders would jump for joy and bellow out "pink fluffy star" with sensational excitement. As seem below, Naomi happens to have perfected both her form and rhythm. She is a guiding light for all our future "pink fluffy stars."

A large thank you goes out to Mr. Nicholls and Mr. Howell, who put on a tremendous event. It has become a sort of "kick off" to fall fair weekend. The room, as Mrs. Granados put it, was absolutely oozing with green and gold. 

Students continue to be lead by Mrs. Maciorowski in exploring coding at a deeper and deeper level. They have been creating stories and phantom games through coding on the iPads.  As seen below, are coding longer sequences using a program called Cody which requires several stages of planning, problem solving, and retesting to achieve a desired command.

Students have also been also learning about how our government is run, have studied the roles of the members of the cabinet, and most recently watched the electoral college process in action. We held a mock election, where despite losing California's 55 electoral votes, "Hannah Heads" defeated "Tyler Tails" 320-218 to take the presidency. 

Our annual trip to the Raptor Trust and Great Swamp was a stunningly beautiful fall day. We began at the Raptor Trust, where we learned about several different types of raptors and both their behavioral and structural adaptations within their respective ecosystems.

We were even lucky enough to meet Winky, and owl who sadly has lost vision in one of his eyes. Not to worry! He is loved and taken well care of at the Raptor Trust, who help injured birds on a daily basis. It is truly a wonderful place to visit. If you have never been, I highly recommend. 

Below, you can see some students observing a rescued bird in its aviary. 

After our visit to the Raptor Trust, we took a short bus ride over to the Great Swamp. After a quick lunch, we were met by volunteer guides, who took us on two separate nature walks.

Both groups observed snakes, frogs, and even a snapping turtle! Students and their guides discussed all the decomposers we were seeing, swamp characteristics, animal adaptations, and seed dispersal (to name a few). As you can see below, one of our students may have discovered a new system for transporting seeds from point A to point B!

We simply could not miss an opportunity to get outside and around campus on these beautiful fall days. 

Bonnie Farrell, our resident botanist, is always willing to stop by and work our flourishing

garden at the drop of a hat. 

Below, you can see students learning about all the different plants that reside within the garden. 

We even got a chance to do a little sweet potato plucking! 

The array of colors on campus are stunning in mid-October. Below, you can see our students collecting leaf samples from around campus. They will be bringing them back to the classroom and while using the Leafsnap app, will be able to identify all the different types of trees out 37 acre campus holds.

We made sure to venture into our nature trail too, which not only serves as a wonderful nook on the far side of campus, but is also a path that has become a common place for our middle school cross country team!

It has been a wonderful few weeks here! 'til next time....