Friday, June 18, 2010
Picture Perfect!
What fun Mrs. DeLorbe and I have had this week spending time with these precious girls!
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Guatemalan Worry Dolls
On Day #3 of camp, the Darling Dolls campers created worry dolls. Worry dolls are from Guatemala, and are used to help people (especially children) shed their anxieties. As folklore explains, in telling one worry to a worry doll and placing it under your pillow before you go to bed, the doll will take the worry from you. Worry dolls date back to Mayan traditions.
A variety of media was utilized to create these special dolls, including long pipe cleaners, beads, fabric, string, markers, glue and sand.
We began this project by stringing a large bead through a pipe cleaner. By twisting the pipe cleaner we were able to form the outline of the doll's body.
The girls then wrapped colored yarn (and later fabric) around the pipe cleaner body.
Doll faces were created with fine tip markers. To create hair, the heads were dipped in glue and then colored sand.
What fantastic work!
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Russian Nesting Dolls
On Day #2 of Camp, Mrs. DeLorbe and I taught the campers how to make Russian nesting dolls. These hollow wooden dolls come stacked inside one another. As each doll is opened, a smaller one can be found inside. The dolls are called matryoshkas (ma-TROSH-kahz) in Russian.
Here is a picture of the girls studying the Russian nesting dolls on loan from Mrs. Strand.
Many intricate patterns cover each doll. To accurately produce similar patterns on each doll, the girls practiced painting with cutips.
After practice, the girls used watercolors to paint a dress or shirt on each doll.
Once the paint had dried on our dolls, we added faces with red and black markers. We initially practiced drawing faces on yellow scrap paper.
Here are the finished products! Great job, girls!
On these particular sets, the girl had a set of twins in her family. The front face of one doll illustrates the one twin, while the back face of the same doll illustrates the other twin. Very clever!
Here is a picture of the girls studying the Russian nesting dolls on loan from Mrs. Strand.
Many intricate patterns cover each doll. To accurately produce similar patterns on each doll, the girls practiced painting with cutips.
After practice, the girls used watercolors to paint a dress or shirt on each doll.
Once the paint had dried on our dolls, we added faces with red and black markers. We initially practiced drawing faces on yellow scrap paper.
Here are the finished products! Great job, girls!
On these particular sets, the girl had a set of twins in her family. The front face of one doll illustrates the one twin, while the back face of the same doll illustrates the other twin. Very clever!
Thank you, 6D!
What a terrific year 6D has had! You have all grown in so many ways and are now ready for 7th Age. Thank you for making me smile every day and for your hugs and love. I will miss you next year but I hope you will come back for visits often! Keep reading this summer, and I'll see you in the fall! xoxo Mrs. Armstrong
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Geography Play
The Geography Play was on May 19 and was a huge success! 6D studied South America and recited a poem titled "The Rainforest Grew All Around". Lots of energetic singing and dancing was reflected in many performances. Awesome job!Track and Field Day!
Track and Field Day was a huge success!
The Sixth Age had orange shirts. The beginning of the day started with a faculty/ staff competition on the Brown Field. We were all supported by the lower school students- they cheered us on!
The remainder of the day included games and competitions! My favorite to watch was the potato sack race. Good job, friends!
Summer Reading Ideas
I have posted summer reading ideas below for my reading class. Keep your skills strong for Seventh Age in the fall!
Summer Reading Suggestions
(15-20 minutes)
1.Read to your child every day! If you are not available, a babysitter or older sibling can listen!
Choosing the right book: For reading material, please look to the summer reading list created by our Calvert librarian, Tina Thomas. (The reading list is linked to the Calvert website: www.calvertschool.org.) For additional materials, take your child to the public library and let him/her help you choose 5-10 books each time you go. Ask him/her what interests them. Then you can help guide them to books they will like. Start with books that contain short vowel words and a few sight words. You can increase the level of reading difficulty as your child’s comfort increases. FYI- your child has been reading short vowel and long vowel words, as well as words with blends and digraphs. Books with rhyming words or repetition are good choices. As a guide in choosing a book, a good rule of thumb is as follows: if your child misses more than 2-3 words on a page, it is too difficult (5 words to a page for books with lots of text).
There are 3 types of books for your child:
• Books to be read TO your child- these include picture books with a complicated vocabulary and plot that you can discuss as you read. These books increase vocabulary and understanding of more complex stories.
• Books to be read WITH your child- these include I Can Read and Hello Reader series (beginning or level 1books). You can take turns reading and even take more than one sitting to read the book. These help your child to be successful with more difficult books without getting too frustrated.
• Books to be read BY your child independently- these include books that are picture supported, repetitive, and easily read by your child. These books help them practice strategies and vocabulary independently.
*Each reading session should be at least 10 minutes but remember to keep it fun!
2. Continue to provide your child with small motor activities that will help later with handwriting. You could have them do dot-to-dots, mazes, puzzles, legos, drawing. Please DO NOT teach them any cursive because Calvert script is very specific. They will have plenty of time to practice in 7th age!
3. For additional reading materials including workbooks etc., Learning How in Kenilworth and Lakeshore in Towson are great places to seek out for games and activities. Depending on the difficulty, choose Kindergarten or First Grade. Remind them to work top to bottom and left to right.
Supporting Your Child’s Reading
When you are working with your child, there are certain things that you should do to support them. The key word is support. You can’t do their work for them. You want your child to become an independent reader but during this sometimes difficult process, both you and your child can become quite discouraged. The following tips should help as you both work together.
Before you and your child start reading: Look at the cover and talk about the book. What’s the title? Who’s the author? Have we read any of his/her books before? How about the illustrator? What do you think this book is about? Where is it taking place (What is the setting?)? Is it a real or make-believe story? How did you know?
*These questions and any others you can think of activate any prior
knowledge they might have about the subject and it also gives you
the opportunity to talk about possible vocabulary.
When you and your child are reading: Stop occasionally and ask what has happened. Ask for predictions as to what is going to happen. Ask for reasons for those predictions- AKA- What makes you think that?
When he/she comes to an unknown word:
Wait. Give them time to use one of their strategies. (If the word is very difficult, or a name they haven’t seen in the story yet- Give them the word immediately).
Ask them what they can do? Remind them that they have some strategies to draw from.
Think & Suggest- What clue could you give them so they can figure the word out? (Look at the picture; ask a question to which the answer is the unknown word. Ex.: The dog bit the man. I might ask, “What could a dog do?”)
Give them the word- If all else fails, don’t despair! Just give them the word and move on.
The most important thing to remember is that you want your child to enjoy reading. You want them to feel successful. Praise them often but sincerely. When they decode an unknown word- make a big deal of it. “Wow, that was fabulous!” “You’re so smart!” “You’re such a great reader!” Often children who are having difficulty in learning to read do not feel that they are smart. If the lose their self- confidence and have an “I can’t” attitude, a big battle has been lost.
After you and your child finish reading: Talk about what you and your child liked and disliked about the book. If you want to take it a step further, follow up with a suggested After-Reading Activity
After Reading Activities
(15-20 minutes)
Book Journal- Have your child draw a picture about their favorite part of the story. Then have them dictate a sentence that describes the picture. Please incorporate this writing at the top or bottom of the page.
Vocabulary Picture- Take a blank piece of paper and draw a big picture of something fun on it (ex. A pool, a present). The picture can even be an important item/ prop from the story. Then ask your child what words they would like to learn from the story you just read. Pick about 5 words. Write them on the picture. Each time, pick a different color marker and you can pick 5 more words to add to the picture. Review them occasionally.
Vocabulary/ Phonics Game- Take a blank piece of paper and draw a path or maze on it. Draw lines to divide the path into spaces for words and mark your “Start” and “Finish”. Use your vocabulary picture words or pick several word families (man, can, tan; fat, mat, cat, etc.) and fill the spaces with words. Add special messages to a few spaces such as “Go Ahead 1 Space”, “Go Back 2 Spaces”, or “ * ” means Go Again- anything goes! You will need a die and 2 markers. (I use pennies. One person is heads, the other is tails.) You are ready to play! Each time you or your child lands on a spot, he/she has to read the word. First one to reach “Finish” wins!
Concentration- Make 2 cards for each vocabulary word on your vocabulary chart. Only work on 10-15 words per game. As you play, make sure your child is reading the words as you turn the cards over rather than just seeing if they are a match.
Read Around the House- Take the word cards and make a path around the house or even outside. A start and finish sign can also make it fun. They can hop, skip, or just walk through the path and pick up each card as they read it.
Make a Sentence- Take the vocabulary cards from above and use them to make sentences. If you need extra words such as family member’s names or prepositions, etc, feel free to make them. Take turn with your child making sentences. You can write the sentence down and have them illustrate it as well.
Make a Book- Make a blank book of about 3-4 pages with a construction paper cover. Explain that the story has to have a beginning, middle, and an end. They can make up their own story or re-tell the story that you just read.
Vocabulary Go Fish- Go fish for vocabulary with a “fishing pole” (magnet attached to pole and to back of vocabulary cards).
Bingo- Make a Bingo game board from your vocabulary words.
*There are many other games you can play! These are simply a few suggestions!
Reading Vocabulary
Sight Words from Mrs. Armstrong’s class
up use says
put very now
too buy could
help when friends
she gives got
every oh with
people and play
your walk new
there down don’t
yes of they
out night he
in that was
said her make
so want day
from gone two
eat grows or
Mr. need right
be try saw
time our good
air animals around
fly live soon
turns
Digraphs and Blends
th (as in think and that)
br (brown)
fr (frown)
ch (church)
fl (flower)
gr (great)
pl (plate)
sp (spoon)
sh (shut)
tr (trap)
sm (small)
cl (clown)
wh (when, what, where)
Punctuation Marks
? (question mark)
. (period)
! (exclamation point)
“” (quotation/ talking marks)
Summer Reading Suggestions
(15-20 minutes)
1.Read to your child every day! If you are not available, a babysitter or older sibling can listen!
Choosing the right book: For reading material, please look to the summer reading list created by our Calvert librarian, Tina Thomas. (The reading list is linked to the Calvert website: www.calvertschool.org.) For additional materials, take your child to the public library and let him/her help you choose 5-10 books each time you go. Ask him/her what interests them. Then you can help guide them to books they will like. Start with books that contain short vowel words and a few sight words. You can increase the level of reading difficulty as your child’s comfort increases. FYI- your child has been reading short vowel and long vowel words, as well as words with blends and digraphs. Books with rhyming words or repetition are good choices. As a guide in choosing a book, a good rule of thumb is as follows: if your child misses more than 2-3 words on a page, it is too difficult (5 words to a page for books with lots of text).
There are 3 types of books for your child:
• Books to be read TO your child- these include picture books with a complicated vocabulary and plot that you can discuss as you read. These books increase vocabulary and understanding of more complex stories.
• Books to be read WITH your child- these include I Can Read and Hello Reader series (beginning or level 1books). You can take turns reading and even take more than one sitting to read the book. These help your child to be successful with more difficult books without getting too frustrated.
• Books to be read BY your child independently- these include books that are picture supported, repetitive, and easily read by your child. These books help them practice strategies and vocabulary independently.
*Each reading session should be at least 10 minutes but remember to keep it fun!
2. Continue to provide your child with small motor activities that will help later with handwriting. You could have them do dot-to-dots, mazes, puzzles, legos, drawing. Please DO NOT teach them any cursive because Calvert script is very specific. They will have plenty of time to practice in 7th age!
3. For additional reading materials including workbooks etc., Learning How in Kenilworth and Lakeshore in Towson are great places to seek out for games and activities. Depending on the difficulty, choose Kindergarten or First Grade. Remind them to work top to bottom and left to right.
Supporting Your Child’s Reading
When you are working with your child, there are certain things that you should do to support them. The key word is support. You can’t do their work for them. You want your child to become an independent reader but during this sometimes difficult process, both you and your child can become quite discouraged. The following tips should help as you both work together.
Before you and your child start reading: Look at the cover and talk about the book. What’s the title? Who’s the author? Have we read any of his/her books before? How about the illustrator? What do you think this book is about? Where is it taking place (What is the setting?)? Is it a real or make-believe story? How did you know?
*These questions and any others you can think of activate any prior
knowledge they might have about the subject and it also gives you
the opportunity to talk about possible vocabulary.
When you and your child are reading: Stop occasionally and ask what has happened. Ask for predictions as to what is going to happen. Ask for reasons for those predictions- AKA- What makes you think that?
When he/she comes to an unknown word:
Wait. Give them time to use one of their strategies. (If the word is very difficult, or a name they haven’t seen in the story yet- Give them the word immediately).
Ask them what they can do? Remind them that they have some strategies to draw from.
Think & Suggest- What clue could you give them so they can figure the word out? (Look at the picture; ask a question to which the answer is the unknown word. Ex.: The dog bit the man. I might ask, “What could a dog do?”)
Give them the word- If all else fails, don’t despair! Just give them the word and move on.
The most important thing to remember is that you want your child to enjoy reading. You want them to feel successful. Praise them often but sincerely. When they decode an unknown word- make a big deal of it. “Wow, that was fabulous!” “You’re so smart!” “You’re such a great reader!” Often children who are having difficulty in learning to read do not feel that they are smart. If the lose their self- confidence and have an “I can’t” attitude, a big battle has been lost.
After you and your child finish reading: Talk about what you and your child liked and disliked about the book. If you want to take it a step further, follow up with a suggested After-Reading Activity
After Reading Activities
(15-20 minutes)
Book Journal- Have your child draw a picture about their favorite part of the story. Then have them dictate a sentence that describes the picture. Please incorporate this writing at the top or bottom of the page.
Vocabulary Picture- Take a blank piece of paper and draw a big picture of something fun on it (ex. A pool, a present). The picture can even be an important item/ prop from the story. Then ask your child what words they would like to learn from the story you just read. Pick about 5 words. Write them on the picture. Each time, pick a different color marker and you can pick 5 more words to add to the picture. Review them occasionally.
Vocabulary/ Phonics Game- Take a blank piece of paper and draw a path or maze on it. Draw lines to divide the path into spaces for words and mark your “Start” and “Finish”. Use your vocabulary picture words or pick several word families (man, can, tan; fat, mat, cat, etc.) and fill the spaces with words. Add special messages to a few spaces such as “Go Ahead 1 Space”, “Go Back 2 Spaces”, or “ * ” means Go Again- anything goes! You will need a die and 2 markers. (I use pennies. One person is heads, the other is tails.) You are ready to play! Each time you or your child lands on a spot, he/she has to read the word. First one to reach “Finish” wins!
Concentration- Make 2 cards for each vocabulary word on your vocabulary chart. Only work on 10-15 words per game. As you play, make sure your child is reading the words as you turn the cards over rather than just seeing if they are a match.
Read Around the House- Take the word cards and make a path around the house or even outside. A start and finish sign can also make it fun. They can hop, skip, or just walk through the path and pick up each card as they read it.
Make a Sentence- Take the vocabulary cards from above and use them to make sentences. If you need extra words such as family member’s names or prepositions, etc, feel free to make them. Take turn with your child making sentences. You can write the sentence down and have them illustrate it as well.
Make a Book- Make a blank book of about 3-4 pages with a construction paper cover. Explain that the story has to have a beginning, middle, and an end. They can make up their own story or re-tell the story that you just read.
Vocabulary Go Fish- Go fish for vocabulary with a “fishing pole” (magnet attached to pole and to back of vocabulary cards).
Bingo- Make a Bingo game board from your vocabulary words.
*There are many other games you can play! These are simply a few suggestions!
Reading Vocabulary
Sight Words from Mrs. Armstrong’s class
up use says
put very now
too buy could
help when friends
she gives got
every oh with
people and play
your walk new
there down don’t
yes of they
out night he
in that was
said her make
so want day
from gone two
eat grows or
Mr. need right
be try saw
time our good
air animals around
fly live soon
turns
Digraphs and Blends
th (as in think and that)
br (brown)
fr (frown)
ch (church)
fl (flower)
gr (great)
pl (plate)
sp (spoon)
sh (shut)
tr (trap)
sm (small)
cl (clown)
wh (when, what, where)
Punctuation Marks
? (question mark)
. (period)
! (exclamation point)
“” (quotation/ talking marks)
Math Scavenger Hunt
The mathematicians rounded out the year by learning how to use the digital cameras and then going on a math scavenger hunt around Calvert!
On the first day of this project, Mrs. Delorbe's math class and I gathered together to learn about how to use the cameras. We worked in groups of two and practiced taking photos around the room. We learned about how to hold the camera (putting the camera string around our wrist), as well as how to view previous pictures taken.
Mrs. Frederick came over from the middle school and instructed us how to use the cameras. Below are pictures of some math friends being creative!
On day two, groups of four or five friends were paired with an adult faculty or staff member and given a camera along with a list of measurement tools. Some examples of items to find on the hunt included "An object 10 paperclips long", "An object as high as your waist", as well as "An object as wide as your fist". There were ten items total on the list. Some friends walked through the hallways, into Kiddie Calvert, and over to the middle school to hunt for items on their list and then document them with a photograph. WOW! I was impressed by the teamwork and creativity on part of all of the students (and adults) involved. Nice job!
On days three and four, each group presented their photos in front of the class with help from the projector. Each team member took a turn using the pointer and describing the objects they photographed, as well as where they found each item.
What a positive way to end the year! I am proud of your hard work, math friends! Keep practicing your skills this summer!
On the first day of this project, Mrs. Delorbe's math class and I gathered together to learn about how to use the cameras. We worked in groups of two and practiced taking photos around the room. We learned about how to hold the camera (putting the camera string around our wrist), as well as how to view previous pictures taken.
Mrs. Frederick came over from the middle school and instructed us how to use the cameras. Below are pictures of some math friends being creative!
On day two, groups of four or five friends were paired with an adult faculty or staff member and given a camera along with a list of measurement tools. Some examples of items to find on the hunt included "An object 10 paperclips long", "An object as high as your waist", as well as "An object as wide as your fist". There were ten items total on the list. Some friends walked through the hallways, into Kiddie Calvert, and over to the middle school to hunt for items on their list and then document them with a photograph. WOW! I was impressed by the teamwork and creativity on part of all of the students (and adults) involved. Nice job!
On days three and four, each group presented their photos in front of the class with help from the projector. Each team member took a turn using the pointer and describing the objects they photographed, as well as where they found each item.
What a positive way to end the year! I am proud of your hard work, math friends! Keep practicing your skills this summer!
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