6D and 7A Book Club

Our book club this afternoon was a blast! Thank you, Ms. Pontier, Mrs. Stewart, and 7A!

Helen Keller

After recently learning about Heather Whitestone, a student recommended we add Helen Keller to our Activist Timeline. This student even brought in a chapter book about Helen's life, which we have been reading to the class.



Helen Adams Keller (June 27, 1880- June 1, 1968) was an American author, political activist, and lecturer. Born in Alabama, Keller became deaf and blind after an early childhood illness. She was the first deafblind person to earn a Bachelor's degree.

Mother's Day Self Portraits

The 6D students finished their self portrait Mother's Day gifts today. Aren't they incredible?

Chia Pets

Do you remember Chia Pets??!

I do! What fun they were!

Mrs. McClernan came in today and taught 6D how to make Chia (or grass) pets of their own!

The steps were basic and the materials- cheap! You can make your own grass pet at home- all you need are:

(1) a yogurt container (for the base or "planter" part of the pet)

(2) 1 stocking or pantyhose leg

(3) grass seed

(4) potting soil

(5) any decorative materials- we used sticker buttons and gems, and plastic sunglasses.

We positioned our grass pets on the window sill so they would receive ample sunlight. More pictures will come soon once the grass has begun to grow.

Thank you, Mrs. McClernan for planning such a fun springtime activity!

Heather Whitestone

We added Heather Whitestone to our Activist Timeline today.

Born in Alabama in 1973, Heather lost her hearing when she was only 18 months old. In fourth grade she learned about the story of a young woman, also from Alabama, who would forever change her life- Helen Keller. Keller became Whitestone's role model.


Heather is a former beauty queen who was the first deaf Miss America title holder. She started the S.T.A.R.S program- "Success Through Action and Realization of Your Dreams". Program participants believe in a dream and work on having a positive attitude. The have a willingness to work hard, face obstacles, and build a strong support system. Heather has increased the public's awareness of deaf issues throughout her life.

Princess Diana

We recently added Princess Diana to our Activist Timeline. We learned that she became a princess after marrying Prince Charles and had two sons: Prince William and Prince Harry. Princess Diana was an activist because she helped to keep others safe. We talked briefly about her work with landmines in Africa.

Book Club

Did you ever think that a book club would be feasible for 6 and 7 year olds? I recently went to a teaching conference and had the pleasure of learning about how to implement this activity into my own classroom. With guidance and planning from Ms. Pontier, 6D and 7A are gathering for a book club this week. Read the details below to see how it will work!

Students from 6D and 7A met yesterday to learn more about this week long book club experience, as well as to choose a book from a wide selection. Multiple copies of each book were available, so that more than one student would be reading the same book at once. Books were checked out in the library and sent home with discussion questions.

These books can be read to a parent or by a parent. Friends can gather together to read books.

On Friday, both classes will gather together to discuss their books in a smaller group setting. Here is an idea of some questions which will be discussed:

Who is your favorite character and why?

Does the story remind you of something?

What do you like most about the story?

Do you think you would like another story by this author?

What do you like about the illustrations?

I look forward to Friday's discussions- HAPPY READING!

Spring Party

The 6th Agers celebrated spring with an Easter egg hunt on the Castalia lawn this Thursday! Parents gathered with cameras in hand as the students took off on a festive search for eggs.

Afterwards, all students gathered for parties in their classrooms.

Thank you to all parent volunteers for your help and support of this special occasion!

Baltimore Museum of the Arts

The 6th Agers visited the Baltimore Museum of the Arts this morning!



Docents met us at the entrance, where the students were broken into small groups and were able to tour the museum. They viewed multiple works of art and had time to share their feelings and first impressions. Thank you to the BMA staff and parent volunteers. The students had a great time!

Young Visitor

We had a small visitor during sharing time yesterday- a younger baby sister! Thank you to this student's mom for bringing her in (we were even allowed to tickle her toes!). Isn't she adorable?

Mother's Day

6D moms are in for a real treat this Mother's Day! The students recently began creating self portrait paintings. They are fabulous works of art! The class utilized mirrors during the drawing process. Afterwards, they added skin color paint for the face and neck.

I am looking forward to seeing the finished products in the next couple of days- stay tuned!

Playdough Sight Words

The readers reviewed their sight words by making them out of playdough last week. Modeling the dough also strengthened our fine motor skills.



We then used the letters from the sight words to make new words. Check out this change below!

These changes to....

....sheet!

Nice job!

Chilean treat

We have had the pleasure of spending Wednesday afternoons with Miss Lillian, a Loyola University student. A native of Chile, she is majoring in education. Along with spending time with 6D, Miss Lillian has also been teaching us a lot about South America in preparation for our upcoming geography play.

Last week she made us panqueques, a traditional Chilean treat, which we filled with jam. Before you eat them, you lay them flat, spread on the filling, and roll, roll, roll! They had a crepe or pancake-like consistency and were absolutely delicious!


Thank you, Miss Lillian!