Singapore Math in Grade Three

Students in grade three have been using their Singapore Math textbooks and workbooks to complete addition and subtraction work. The students record their answers in their math journals. They have learned how to set up a page and record answers clearly, ensuring they show their work and thinking. A large focus for this unit in Singapore Math is finding the missing number. For example ____+ 25= 40 or 23 – ____ = 6. Students warm up their brain for math class and complete practice questions on whiteboards.The previous math units about patterns and place value are helping the students see patterns in numbers.

French at Pythagoras Academy

In grade 2, we listened to the song La poule Maboule. The song is linked to the play we are learning. It tells the same story, but in a different way. The students have sung the song several times. On Friday, we listened to the song again and wrote down all the words that we could hear. Students wrote down words such as: la poule Maboule, caverne (cave), ferme (farm) ciel (sky), ça va (it’s going), marche (walk), mal (bad), tombe (fall), loup (wolf), fou (crazy), and chat (cat). Wow! The students were very proud of all the words they were able to recognize and write down. C’est fantastique!

In grade 6/7, we did a similar activity. We listened to the song Qui a peur du méchant loup? It is linked to the play Les trois petits cochons. Students wrote down words that they recognized from the song. Students wrote down words such as: méchant (mean), grand (big) loup (wolf), entre (enter), fou (crazy), petit cochon (little pig), souffle tellement fort (blow so hard), tombe (fall), monsieur (Mr.), au revoir (good bye), sur le feu (on the fire), maison (house), je ne suis pas (I’m not), la soupe (soup), il est grand, il est fou (he’s big, he’s crazy), la maison ne tombe pas (the house does not fall down) among many others. Madame Severloh was very impressed with their writing.

Pumpkin Exploration

Prior to our field trip to the Pumpkin Patch, the Donatello class began a pumpkin investigation. Students explored the different properties of a pumpkin in order to learn more about pumpkins and practice scientific questioning. Students placed the pumpkin in a bucket of water to see if it would float, measured it with cubes to see how tall it was, cut it open to see what was inside, counted the seeds and the lines on the outside, drew a picture of the pumpkin and labeled the different parts.

Art, Art, Art!

Grade 2 students viewed and discussed artist Vincent Van Gogh and learned about still life. Students created their own still life image by observing flowers on a table and using chalk pastels to blend and smudge colors. The result is a beautiful impressionistic piece of art!

Miss Simpson’s grade one class learned about still life by carefully observing live plants and flowers and drawing using willow charcoal. Children had lots of fun learning how to smudge the charcoal to add shadows to their work.