Message from the Director
Hello Kindians,
Happy Spring (sort of!) and Ramadan Mubarak!
I still cannot understand the speed at which time works! It seems that we just started the year only to be very close to ending it. If Einstein were to be alive today, he would’ve come up with a Theory on the Perception of Time! It’s just mind-blowing!
The coming few weeks are packed with activities from Field Trips, to IOWA Testing for grades 3 and up, Water Well(s) Project, Graduations and Award Ceremonies, Final Exams for Middle Schoolers, Teachers’ Appreciation Week, Summer Camp preparations, Eid Holiday, closing our STEAM and Soccer clubs, and much more. We will fold another school year with great success and many achievements.
Kindi is small in size, but BIG in deeds. We strive to make the school’s environment conducive to learning in exciting and enjoyable ways. At this time of the year, we are reaping the fruits of the hard work we invested in your children for all the previous months, and still going. At this time of the year, we celebrate the strides in learning that our students achieved this year. We are proud of seeing students go from not recognizing their sounds to reading well, from fearing to speak in public to performing on stage, from being lost in time and space to being on task and punctual, from being messy to being organized, from “Whatever” to “I care”, from self-centered to community-oriented and from behind to forefront, only to mention a few of the positive and wonderful changes we’ve seen shaping our students.
For all this to take place, teachers and students need time together. Full benefit only happens when a student stays in this upward-lifting environment for a few years in a row. This gives a student comfort and confidence in the classroom and a feel of ownership. This reflects naturally on boosting their learning tremendously in the years following their first. Generally speaking, children receive a setback, and may even regress, when moved from an environment they’re used to and love to a new one they need to adapt to and understand once again. Kindi’s unique environment is extremely appealing to children and makes them feel at home. Who doesn’t love to stay home?!
All our staff is looking forward to continuing this journey of nurturement and advancement with your children here at Kindi next school year. We started the enrollment for the next school year, and we’d like to see your children coming back and staying the course of success and prosperity.
I wish you all a happy and active month of April and a blessed month of Ramadan and may the Force be always with you!
Hatem Elagha
Executive Director
Kindi Academy
Happy Spring (sort of!) and Ramadan Mubarak!
I still cannot understand the speed at which time works! It seems that we just started the year only to be very close to ending it. If Einstein were to be alive today, he would’ve come up with a Theory on the Perception of Time! It’s just mind-blowing!
The coming few weeks are packed with activities from Field Trips, to IOWA Testing for grades 3 and up, Water Well(s) Project, Graduations and Award Ceremonies, Final Exams for Middle Schoolers, Teachers’ Appreciation Week, Summer Camp preparations, Eid Holiday, closing our STEAM and Soccer clubs, and much more. We will fold another school year with great success and many achievements.
Kindi is small in size, but BIG in deeds. We strive to make the school’s environment conducive to learning in exciting and enjoyable ways. At this time of the year, we are reaping the fruits of the hard work we invested in your children for all the previous months, and still going. At this time of the year, we celebrate the strides in learning that our students achieved this year. We are proud of seeing students go from not recognizing their sounds to reading well, from fearing to speak in public to performing on stage, from being lost in time and space to being on task and punctual, from being messy to being organized, from “Whatever” to “I care”, from self-centered to community-oriented and from behind to forefront, only to mention a few of the positive and wonderful changes we’ve seen shaping our students.
For all this to take place, teachers and students need time together. Full benefit only happens when a student stays in this upward-lifting environment for a few years in a row. This gives a student comfort and confidence in the classroom and a feel of ownership. This reflects naturally on boosting their learning tremendously in the years following their first. Generally speaking, children receive a setback, and may even regress, when moved from an environment they’re used to and love to a new one they need to adapt to and understand once again. Kindi’s unique environment is extremely appealing to children and makes them feel at home. Who doesn’t love to stay home?!
All our staff is looking forward to continuing this journey of nurturement and advancement with your children here at Kindi next school year. We started the enrollment for the next school year, and we’d like to see your children coming back and staying the course of success and prosperity.
I wish you all a happy and active month of April and a blessed month of Ramadan and may the Force be always with you!
Hatem Elagha
Executive Director
Kindi Academy
News from our 3-6 Class
Ms. Radhika & Ms. Heather's Class
“When children come into contact with nature, they reveal their true strength.”~Maria Montessori
We hope that everyone had a fun and relaxing spring break! The second half of the school year is flying by quickly; March went by so fast! We started off the month by celebrating Dr. Seuss’s birthday, which was on March 2nd. We discussed his life and why he is celebrated each year. We read several books written by Dr. Seuss and did a rhyming activity with the children. The greatest highlight of March was, of course, the wonderful spring program that all of the children participated in! Our kids sang two songs, “Seasons of the Year” and “One Small Voice.” They performed the songs with movements and doing sign-language! The children did a fantastic job, and their hard work definitely showed that night! We hope that you enjoyed the show as much as we did!
With spring, comes new life, warmth, and an overall transformation in our environment. This is the time of the year where we introduce life cycles to the children. So far, we have talked about the life cycles of a butterfly, frog, and chicken. We will also present the life cycles of bees, turtles and anything else the kids find interest in! As the world around us starts to bloom, we will take our children on a nature walk to show them the budding trees and flowers as well as any signs of new life. We will read a book about growing plants and discuss how the germination of a seed works. Along with that, we will talk about the parts of a plant and how each part has an essential “job” to help the plant grow.
Finally, the Bubble Show in March was awesome! The kids had a blast and couldn’t believe the size of the bubbles that were created right in front of their eyes! Every child had an opportunity to stand inside a bubble! Our April in-school field trip will be a visit from Mary Macaroni! She puts on a fun, entertaining show filled with songs, dancing, and even scarves for the children! Your child won’t want to miss it!
Ms. Krystyn & Ms. Nosheen's Class,
In classroom 102, we started March off with our first tasty pizza party for Eli’s 4th birthday! Next was an even bigger celebration, our Spring Recital! The children practiced so hard for the big day. They followed stage cues, remembered to smile, and most importantly, remembered the lyrics along with movements to their songs! I was so incredibly proud of them that they were rewarded in munchkins upon returning to school. The whole school did a wonderful job!
Another highlight of March was the Bubble Show in-school field trip! Bubbles of all shapes and sizes were seen along with some cool tricks and different bubble wands. The music flowed well with bubbles and fueled the excitement all around! At the end of the show, each child was put inside a bubble! The best part of these field trips is the wonder and amazement seen in each child’s eyes.
In math, the children have been working on harder concepts such as money, clock, and the introduction of subtraction for kindergarten. They have also been learning less than and greater than when comparing numbers. We are drawing their attention to working with bigger numbers and really understanding place values. The children love working in math, especially with fun new themes for the spring season!
In the cultural area we introduced and talked about the map of Europe. The children studied photos, money, and famous landmarks of different parts of Europe. At any given moment I find one of them walking around with our Eiffel Tower or drawing pictures of it. They also enjoyed learning about the different animals in Europe. In addition, we introduced some different landforms, such as an island and a lake.
In language, the children have been learning about nouns! The kindergarteners are also focusing on verbs and soon being introduced to adjectives. The children are all flourishing in language. I am so proud of all their hard work in learning letter sounds, blending, reading and new phonics concepts. We also had a guest visitor from the library that came and read to us! We followed her book with a craft about the four seasons; the children had a blast making it!
We ended the month with a nature walk to enjoy the beautiful spring weather! Then we all prepared for Spring break. I traveled to Mexico and posted photos of me riding on a ferry to Cozumel, driving a moped, sea trekking, and enjoying the many sites of Mexico! We hope you enjoyed your spring break too!
Ms. Brooke, Ms. Sabera, and Ms. Huda's Class
Welcome back from our spring break! I hope you all had a safe and enjoyable week. This is an exciting time as we inch closer to summer with end of the year field trips, and graduations.
Spring is a time for reflection and as I reflect on the past month we’ve had, it was filled with accomplishments, hard work, and many fun times. The Spring Performance was an absolute success! Our class endured everyday practices and of course, the anticipation of having to perform on a stage in front of many people. On performance night, everyone came in beautiful attire and I was so impressed to see the grace and courage each child brought to a beautiful show. Well done 103!
For our in school excursion this month, we had a wonderful visit from the Bubble Show! The gym was filled with, “Oohs and aahs,” from start to finish watching bubbles upon bubbles! Different shapes, sizes, with jazzy music held everyone’s attention as we sat and watched the Bubble Man create his magic! Soo much fun! A librarian from The Indian Prairie Public Library came to host a group read for the class. Her theme talked about seasons changing. She read The Magic Tree which depicts each tree’s special appearance and changing ways that nature reveals with seasonal change. The class then made a windsock craft to wrap things up.
Next month, we look forward to our field trip at Cantigny Park. With the weather on its warming trend, this will be a nice change as we will venture the outdoors and explore nature! KG will be gearing up for their graduation ceremony with more details to come. We are also planning a kindergarten picnic. We’d also like to wish all of those participating in the Quran Competition, a good luck! Last, I’d like to wish all celebrating families a much Blessed Ramadan! Happy Spring and thank you all for your continued support in your child’s most valuable 3 years of life!
Welcome back from our spring break! I hope you all had a safe and enjoyable week. This is an exciting time as we inch closer to summer with end of the year field trips, and graduations.
Spring is a time for reflection and as I reflect on the past month we’ve had, it was filled with accomplishments, hard work, and many fun times. The Spring Performance was an absolute success! Our class endured everyday practices and of course, the anticipation of having to perform on a stage in front of many people. On performance night, everyone came in beautiful attire and I was so impressed to see the grace and courage each child brought to a beautiful show. Well done 103!
For our in school excursion this month, we had a wonderful visit from the Bubble Show! The gym was filled with, “Oohs and aahs,” from start to finish watching bubbles upon bubbles! Different shapes, sizes, with jazzy music held everyone’s attention as we sat and watched the Bubble Man create his magic! Soo much fun! A librarian from The Indian Prairie Public Library came to host a group read for the class. Her theme talked about seasons changing. She read The Magic Tree which depicts each tree’s special appearance and changing ways that nature reveals with seasonal change. The class then made a windsock craft to wrap things up.
Next month, we look forward to our field trip at Cantigny Park. With the weather on its warming trend, this will be a nice change as we will venture the outdoors and explore nature! KG will be gearing up for their graduation ceremony with more details to come. We are also planning a kindergarten picnic. We’d also like to wish all of those participating in the Quran Competition, a good luck! Last, I’d like to wish all celebrating families a much Blessed Ramadan! Happy Spring and thank you all for your continued support in your child’s most valuable 3 years of life!
Updates from Our 6-9 Classroom
6-9 Classroom
"Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think!" - Albert Einstein
Our first year students are diving into new concepts of word study (compound words, synonyms, antonyms) which will form a deeper understanding of language mechanics. Furthermore, reading and comprehension skills are being embedded across the board. They are enjoying their descriptive writing prompts in their journals with a focus on penmanship, spelling, and punctuation. New mathematical concepts of multiplication and division using 4 digits with our special Montessori equipment was taught. In social sciences, students are exhibiting their creativity with pleasure through project-learning about geography and scientific concepts.
The second year students are demonstrating high quality work. They are focusing on lessons that build new vocabulary and practicing using these new words in the correct context. Editing and proofreading work is training them for higher level discovery - based work. Advanced math materials have been introduced for multiplication and division. The social sciences projects provide them the opportunity to develop their research skills tied to reading comprehension.
Our third year students' creative thinking is greatly influenced by the "Montessori Way of Learning". They are taking pride in their reading comprehension skills, editing and proofreading, grammar, and creative writing. The introduction of pre-algebra is being actively received by the students. The abstract practice of advanced multiplication and division is being practiced. Students are engaged in understanding the angles and their measurement. They are being introduced to the measurement units using both the U.S. Customary and Metric systems. Projects of social sciences include a study of food chains, systems of the human body, and timelines through U.S. History.
Student Spotlight:
We are proud to announce that Haniya Khan, student of Grade 3, is playing hockey for Windy City Jr. Storms, which is AAA team. The AAA team is the highest level of youth hockey. Every hockey player dreams of reaching AAA level. Haniya has been acknowledged and appreciated by her goalie coach with amazing goalie instincts. Way to go, Haniya!
Three cheers for our students for a wonderful performance on stage during the Spring Recital! 6-9 students were shining stars with beautiful songs and talented acting! Thank you families for supporting your student; it was wonderful seeing everyone!
2nd and 3rd Grade Coding Class
The 2nd and 3rd Graders are continuing to do a great job in Coding Class!
2nd graders have all moved on from our first unit on Programming Basics with Angry Birds on Code.org. They are now learning about how to debug a code.
3rd graders have finished their unit on Debugging Codes and on Events in Coding. The kids got the chance to program a simple Basketball-style game on Code.org and are now working on programming their Star Wars themed-games!
Thank you for your continued support! Let’s end the year on a great note!
Best,
Sevim Memisovski
Technology Teacher
Updates from upper elementary classrooms
4th Grade English Language Arts and Reading
Students have been enjoying reading nonfiction books to better understand the past. Students read the classic book Johnny Tremain to help them get into the thoughts and feelings for the people of Boston during the Boston Tea Party, and the Battles of Concord and Lexington. Students then watched the movie to see the difference between the novel and the Happy Disney Movie. Students will be reading Number the Stars as their next novel.
Students are also making sure to practice their grammar and writing throughout the week. Writing has been a focus for fourth graders as they have been working on creating paragraphs.
4th Grade Social Studies/American History
Students continue on to learn about the beginning of America., as we venture through the creation of the 13 original colonies. Students learned about the creation and the difference between the New England, Middle, and Southern colonies. Students were given a colony to do research on independently. Students learned about famous people and events such as the Salem Witch Trials, Anne Hutchinson, William Penn, and Benjamin Franklin.
Students have been enjoying reading nonfiction books to better understand the past. Students read the classic book Johnny Tremain to help them get into the thoughts and feelings for the people of Boston during the Boston Tea Party, and the Battles of Concord and Lexington. Students then watched the movie to see the difference between the novel and the Happy Disney Movie. Students will be reading Number the Stars as their next novel.
Students are also making sure to practice their grammar and writing throughout the week. Writing has been a focus for fourth graders as they have been working on creating paragraphs.
4th Grade Social Studies/American History
Students continue on to learn about the beginning of America., as we venture through the creation of the 13 original colonies. Students learned about the creation and the difference between the New England, Middle, and Southern colonies. Students were given a colony to do research on independently. Students learned about famous people and events such as the Salem Witch Trials, Anne Hutchinson, William Penn, and Benjamin Franklin.
Happenings in the Science Room
In fourth grade, we have been working with energy and the different forms it exists, and how each form can be converted or changed into other forms. So they had a chance to explore energy transfer and engineering by building a chain reaction machine. They also explored how electricity works by building serial and parallel circuits.
In fifth grade we have been exploring how our solar system formed and how gravity helped form our star, the sun and the planets, all from gas and dust!
We continue learning about the different body systems, and different diseases and conditions that affect the body. This month, after learning about the skeletal and muscular systems, the sixth graders dissected a chicken wing. By doing so, they could observe and understand how all the structures come together to produce movement. They also learned about the circulatory system and had fun making “blood” with all its elements, and eating it too!!!
For the 7th graders this month has been all about stoichiometry. They have been working on the different ways to work with the relationships between the substances taking part in a reaction.
In 8th grade we have been exploring the different pathways of photosynthesis, and understanding how plants turn light energy for food for all living organisms.
In 8th grade we have been exploring the different pathways of photosynthesis, and understanding how plants turn light energy for food for all living organisms.
News from our Middle School English Classroom
English
Happy Spring to all the Kindi Families!
I hope everyone had a relaxing and restful Spring Break. I had a great vacation, but am excited to be back in school with the kids. We only have two short months left of school, but the students will be working hard. All classes will be starting new novels, reviewing for IOWA tests, and practicing test-taking skills. I am excited for them to be able to show you how much they have grown academically this year.
5th Grade
The 5th graders just finished reading The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. They will finish off this unit with a project this week, and then begin reading Among the Hidden early next week. The story will be the first time that students will read a dystopian novel, so to help build background knowledge, we will be reading about various government structures and rules, such as the Chinese one-child policy that existed in the past. I am excited to see what the class thinks are fair and unfair laws.
6th Grade
The 6th graders just finished reading a series of books about refugees. They read the books Refugee, Of Beetles and Angels and also watched a film, Lamya’s Poem. This video was used as a catalyst for writing poetry just before break. The students did a great job! Be sure to ask your child to share their poems with you.
They also finished their Spring Break reading of Restart, which they say they enjoyed. We will begin reading The Westing Game next week. I normally don’t mind if the students read ahead in our books, but I am going to ask for your help. Please try to remind your students not to read ahead with this book! The book is a mystery and even one student knowing additional information changes the reading experience for the class (plus it’s just fun to be able to figure out who is to blame for the various mishaps in the book). They are welcome to choose any other book in my library to read along with our class novel.
7/8th Grade
The 7th/8th graders just finished a unit about note-taking strategies in preparation for high school. They read about the cold war and current events while practicing their notetaking skills using textbooks, newspapers and internet articles. They finished off the unit by reading a graphic novel about a Chinese immigrant family (American Born Chinese). In addition to the reading, students also watched a film, Lamya’s Poem. This video was used as a catalyst for writing poetry just before break. The students did a great job! Be sure to ask your child to share their poems with you
Starting next week, we will be reading a Shakespeare play (The Twelfth Night). I am excited to share this with the students. It is difficult, but I know that they will rise to the challenge.
Of course, all classes will be reviewing grammar and vocabulary in preparation for Iowa testing next month. We will also practice some test-taking strategies in hopes of alleviating the nervousness that students are already expressing. Please continue to encourage your students to do their best to prepare, but not to stress about it. They have all been working hard throughout the year and I know they will do well! Thank you for your support and please reach out if you have any questions for me!
-Ms. Andrea
Happy Spring to all the Kindi Families!
I hope everyone had a relaxing and restful Spring Break. I had a great vacation, but am excited to be back in school with the kids. We only have two short months left of school, but the students will be working hard. All classes will be starting new novels, reviewing for IOWA tests, and practicing test-taking skills. I am excited for them to be able to show you how much they have grown academically this year.
5th Grade
The 5th graders just finished reading The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. They will finish off this unit with a project this week, and then begin reading Among the Hidden early next week. The story will be the first time that students will read a dystopian novel, so to help build background knowledge, we will be reading about various government structures and rules, such as the Chinese one-child policy that existed in the past. I am excited to see what the class thinks are fair and unfair laws.
6th Grade
The 6th graders just finished reading a series of books about refugees. They read the books Refugee, Of Beetles and Angels and also watched a film, Lamya’s Poem. This video was used as a catalyst for writing poetry just before break. The students did a great job! Be sure to ask your child to share their poems with you.
They also finished their Spring Break reading of Restart, which they say they enjoyed. We will begin reading The Westing Game next week. I normally don’t mind if the students read ahead in our books, but I am going to ask for your help. Please try to remind your students not to read ahead with this book! The book is a mystery and even one student knowing additional information changes the reading experience for the class (plus it’s just fun to be able to figure out who is to blame for the various mishaps in the book). They are welcome to choose any other book in my library to read along with our class novel.
7/8th Grade
The 7th/8th graders just finished a unit about note-taking strategies in preparation for high school. They read about the cold war and current events while practicing their notetaking skills using textbooks, newspapers and internet articles. They finished off the unit by reading a graphic novel about a Chinese immigrant family (American Born Chinese). In addition to the reading, students also watched a film, Lamya’s Poem. This video was used as a catalyst for writing poetry just before break. The students did a great job! Be sure to ask your child to share their poems with you
Starting next week, we will be reading a Shakespeare play (The Twelfth Night). I am excited to share this with the students. It is difficult, but I know that they will rise to the challenge.
Of course, all classes will be reviewing grammar and vocabulary in preparation for Iowa testing next month. We will also practice some test-taking strategies in hopes of alleviating the nervousness that students are already expressing. Please continue to encourage your students to do their best to prepare, but not to stress about it. They have all been working hard throughout the year and I know they will do well! Thank you for your support and please reach out if you have any questions for me!
-Ms. Andrea
Physical Education
PE NEWS: GRADES 1 -3
This month, students continue to participate in gross-motor challenges to develop a deeper understanding of spatial awareness and relationships to objects and people. We are also building our cooperation levels as we work with other students to share space or objects while developing sports skills. This month students got to engage in a friendly boys versus girls Ladder Toss competition. Each team shared victories! Students practiced safety and listening skills while they put a new spin on the classic game of bean bags! Students took turns, counted and tracked points/kept score, while tossing a ball to land on a sports ladder. As the weather continues to warm we will enjoy outdoor activities such as obstacle courses, kickball, and soccer skills!
PE NEWS: GRADES 4 -8
Through team building games and sports we work cooperatively with others to accomplish a set goal in both competitive and noncompetitive situations. This month 4-8th Graders enjoyed some beautiful weather with outdoor 6-Square (an extended version of 4-Square to incorporate more movement and rotational activity). We also visited the green space and engaged in friendly flag football games with mixed teams! Indoors, we enjoyed playing Dodge Ball, Hand-Ball, and Spike-Ball! We hope to continue with outdoor sports with upcoming soccer skills and kickball/softball!
ART NEWS: 3-6 Students
This month, students got excited for the prospect of Spring! Spring weather usually starts out a bit rough, but then brightens and warms us. We celebrated this change by making "Silly Spring Monsters". We used markers and crayons to create mixed media monsters to share a smile. Next month we will continue to engage in multi-step projects and listening lessons.
ART NEWS: 6-9 Students
This month, students have studied 1-point perspective drawing. We began by studying basic shapes along a horizon line and connected them to a vanishing point to show depth. Students created a 1-point perspective street and aquarium that we will color in! Get ready to "sea" a journey to new "depths"!
ART NEWS: 4 - 8th Grade
This month 6-8th grade art students successfully completed their grid self-portraits. They worked hard and turned out beautifully, you will see these displayed in the front hall! This month they are working with younger grades helping creating and hanging decorations for Ramandan.
4-5th Grade students have been working on Ramadan decorations you will see throughout the halls as you walk through the school. Students have been coloring and cutting out elaborate starts, lanterns, moons, and more!
-Ms. Jackie
PE NEWS: GRADES 1 -3
This month, students continue to participate in gross-motor challenges to develop a deeper understanding of spatial awareness and relationships to objects and people. We are also building our cooperation levels as we work with other students to share space or objects while developing sports skills. This month students got to engage in a friendly boys versus girls Ladder Toss competition. Each team shared victories! Students practiced safety and listening skills while they put a new spin on the classic game of bean bags! Students took turns, counted and tracked points/kept score, while tossing a ball to land on a sports ladder. As the weather continues to warm we will enjoy outdoor activities such as obstacle courses, kickball, and soccer skills!
PE NEWS: GRADES 4 -8
Through team building games and sports we work cooperatively with others to accomplish a set goal in both competitive and noncompetitive situations. This month 4-8th Graders enjoyed some beautiful weather with outdoor 6-Square (an extended version of 4-Square to incorporate more movement and rotational activity). We also visited the green space and engaged in friendly flag football games with mixed teams! Indoors, we enjoyed playing Dodge Ball, Hand-Ball, and Spike-Ball! We hope to continue with outdoor sports with upcoming soccer skills and kickball/softball!
ART NEWS: 3-6 Students
This month, students got excited for the prospect of Spring! Spring weather usually starts out a bit rough, but then brightens and warms us. We celebrated this change by making "Silly Spring Monsters". We used markers and crayons to create mixed media monsters to share a smile. Next month we will continue to engage in multi-step projects and listening lessons.
ART NEWS: 6-9 Students
This month, students have studied 1-point perspective drawing. We began by studying basic shapes along a horizon line and connected them to a vanishing point to show depth. Students created a 1-point perspective street and aquarium that we will color in! Get ready to "sea" a journey to new "depths"!
ART NEWS: 4 - 8th Grade
This month 6-8th grade art students successfully completed their grid self-portraits. They worked hard and turned out beautifully, you will see these displayed in the front hall! This month they are working with younger grades helping creating and hanging decorations for Ramandan.
4-5th Grade students have been working on Ramadan decorations you will see throughout the halls as you walk through the school. Students have been coloring and cutting out elaborate starts, lanterns, moons, and more!
-Ms. Jackie
5th-8th Grade Social Studies News
5th Grade finished our study on Ancient Rome. This was a very exciting unit, where we compared and contrasted the Ancient Romans with the Ancient Greeks, looking at the government structure, geography, and more. The highlight was the STEM Project building the aqueducts! The kids did a great job. We are now moving into our next unit on the Islamic Empires and Ancient African Civilizations. We will then begin a Research Paper in May, which should be very exciting!!
6th Graders finished our unit on Sub-Saharan Africa. We explored the different regions and spent time discussing the similarities and differences between this region and others. We spent time learning about the Apartheid Laws in South Africa with a DBQ Activity. We will now be exploring countries in South Asia before exploring Southeast Asia, East Asia, and Australia! Students will also be introduced to their Research Project where they will be creating Adobe Spark Pages about a country of their choice.
7th Graders finished learning about the Progressive Era and World War I. We will start watching the movie War Horse and jumping into the 1920s and 1930s- the Roaring Twenties and Great Depression.
8th Graders have also finished studying Imperialism and World War I this past month. Students did a good job debating the role of Imperialism in the world and whether or not the Europeans were justified in colonizing Africa in the 1800s. Now, we are going to watch the movie War Horse during class and will continue on with a study of the Russian Revolution, Interwar Period, and World War II.
The 7th and 8th graders will be working on an Argumentative Research Project where they will become “Young Historians” and explore a topic of their choice from the class, dive into research, and form an argument based on historical evidence, diving into various primary and secondary sources. The Young Historians will then compile their research to create a webpage on Adobe Spark.
4th-8th Grade Technology News
Our Technology Classes have been working hard the past few weeks!
4th and 5th graders have been working hard on their typing skills and research as well. The kids researched their own state using digital sources. They also used Google Slides to make their own animation. They did an awesome job!
6th, 7th, and 8th graders have worked hard on their Subway Art Projects. They used Google Drawings to create their own Subway Art- a mixture of text and graphics all about a certain topic. They did a tremendous job. The 6th graders also learned about Pop Art and drew shapes to trace an image on Google Drawings to create their own piece of Pop Art. 7th and 8th graders created their own Comic Strips on Storyboard that is about an immigration story after learning about that in English class.
In the coming weeks, we will continue working with Code.org to hopefully program games and apps by the end of the school year. Please remind your children to continue working on Typetastic to build their strong keyboarding skills!
Thank you for your continued support! Let’s end the year on a great note!
Best,
Sevim Memisovski
Technology Teacher
5th Grade finished our study on Ancient Rome. This was a very exciting unit, where we compared and contrasted the Ancient Romans with the Ancient Greeks, looking at the government structure, geography, and more. The highlight was the STEM Project building the aqueducts! The kids did a great job. We are now moving into our next unit on the Islamic Empires and Ancient African Civilizations. We will then begin a Research Paper in May, which should be very exciting!!
6th Graders finished our unit on Sub-Saharan Africa. We explored the different regions and spent time discussing the similarities and differences between this region and others. We spent time learning about the Apartheid Laws in South Africa with a DBQ Activity. We will now be exploring countries in South Asia before exploring Southeast Asia, East Asia, and Australia! Students will also be introduced to their Research Project where they will be creating Adobe Spark Pages about a country of their choice.
7th Graders finished learning about the Progressive Era and World War I. We will start watching the movie War Horse and jumping into the 1920s and 1930s- the Roaring Twenties and Great Depression.
8th Graders have also finished studying Imperialism and World War I this past month. Students did a good job debating the role of Imperialism in the world and whether or not the Europeans were justified in colonizing Africa in the 1800s. Now, we are going to watch the movie War Horse during class and will continue on with a study of the Russian Revolution, Interwar Period, and World War II.
The 7th and 8th graders will be working on an Argumentative Research Project where they will become “Young Historians” and explore a topic of their choice from the class, dive into research, and form an argument based on historical evidence, diving into various primary and secondary sources. The Young Historians will then compile their research to create a webpage on Adobe Spark.
4th-8th Grade Technology News
Our Technology Classes have been working hard the past few weeks!
4th and 5th graders have been working hard on their typing skills and research as well. The kids researched their own state using digital sources. They also used Google Slides to make their own animation. They did an awesome job!
6th, 7th, and 8th graders have worked hard on their Subway Art Projects. They used Google Drawings to create their own Subway Art- a mixture of text and graphics all about a certain topic. They did a tremendous job. The 6th graders also learned about Pop Art and drew shapes to trace an image on Google Drawings to create their own piece of Pop Art. 7th and 8th graders created their own Comic Strips on Storyboard that is about an immigration story after learning about that in English class.
In the coming weeks, we will continue working with Code.org to hopefully program games and apps by the end of the school year. Please remind your children to continue working on Typetastic to build their strong keyboarding skills!
Thank you for your continued support! Let’s end the year on a great note!
Best,
Sevim Memisovski
Technology Teacher
Updates from our spanish classroom
Spanish with Maestra Maria
¡Hola Familias!
Spring has finally arrived, and we have been very busy preparing for the start of this new season. The 3-6-year-old and first graders worked very hard to learn their songs in Spanish for the Spring Celebration. They were excited, and we really enjoyed it.
The 3-6 year-old, in addition to learning the song “La primavera ha llegado”, they have worked on a lot of other things. For instance, they have learned the names of some zoo animals through yoga postures. Besides, they have worked with vowel sounds in Spanish. On the other hand, we have worked the parts of the body to build a Leprechaun and we have worked the numbers by counting his coins. Finally, we have reviewed the colors, the family, the seasons, and the farm animals.
It has been a very musical month for the 6-9 year old. The first graders learned their song “Pequeño Planeta” and really enjoyed singing and dancing. In addition, all the grades have been working with the movie “Encanto”. They have learned not only the song “No se Habla de Bruno” but also, they have reviewed family relationships thanks to the characters in the film. At the beginning of each class, we work on spoken language through a question such as: How old are you? What is your favorite color? What is your favorite animal?... In this way all the students practice their speaking. Moreover, we also worked on the expression “Me Gusta” = “I like” reviewing the seasons of the year.
I am very proud of all of them, they have done a great job.
Spanish with Maestra Alicia
4th. Grade
Students had a great time as they reviewed/learned more about adding -s and -es plural endings to nouns and los and las and associate them with plural endings. They also review question words in Spanish, such as Que es? Que son? Quien es? Quienes son?. It is very exciting to see them gain knowledge on the structure of the Spanish language. We will continue learning the names of colors and shapes.
5th. Grade
Students have been having fun while practicing and reviewing a TON of Spanish! We have been using IXL Spanish. IXL lays the foundation for Spanish fluency with interactive questions, engaging audio, and real-world narratives that put a fresh spin on vocabulary and grammar skills. They were able to use and expand their knowledge of telling time in an entertaining way.
6th. Grade
The students have been very engaged as we read a book Las aventuras de Isabela. Isabela is a precocious 8 ½ year old girl who can't seem to keep herself out of trouble on a visit to Guanajuato, Mexico with her mother.They loved each chapter along with their English translation to retell the story. I was amazed about their level of Spanish comprehension.
7th. 8th Grade
Seven and eighth graders have become official achievers with our Unit 3 Lesson 2 culmination. Now they can use comparative words and possessive adjectives to describe their families and friends. Soon we'll start working on a project called “ Nuestras Conversaciones” . They will incorporate all the things they have been learning over the past year in Spanish. I can't wait to see their presentations.
¡Hola Familias!
Spring has finally arrived, and we have been very busy preparing for the start of this new season. The 3-6-year-old and first graders worked very hard to learn their songs in Spanish for the Spring Celebration. They were excited, and we really enjoyed it.
The 3-6 year-old, in addition to learning the song “La primavera ha llegado”, they have worked on a lot of other things. For instance, they have learned the names of some zoo animals through yoga postures. Besides, they have worked with vowel sounds in Spanish. On the other hand, we have worked the parts of the body to build a Leprechaun and we have worked the numbers by counting his coins. Finally, we have reviewed the colors, the family, the seasons, and the farm animals.
It has been a very musical month for the 6-9 year old. The first graders learned their song “Pequeño Planeta” and really enjoyed singing and dancing. In addition, all the grades have been working with the movie “Encanto”. They have learned not only the song “No se Habla de Bruno” but also, they have reviewed family relationships thanks to the characters in the film. At the beginning of each class, we work on spoken language through a question such as: How old are you? What is your favorite color? What is your favorite animal?... In this way all the students practice their speaking. Moreover, we also worked on the expression “Me Gusta” = “I like” reviewing the seasons of the year.
I am very proud of all of them, they have done a great job.
Spanish with Maestra Alicia
4th. Grade
Students had a great time as they reviewed/learned more about adding -s and -es plural endings to nouns and los and las and associate them with plural endings. They also review question words in Spanish, such as Que es? Que son? Quien es? Quienes son?. It is very exciting to see them gain knowledge on the structure of the Spanish language. We will continue learning the names of colors and shapes.
5th. Grade
Students have been having fun while practicing and reviewing a TON of Spanish! We have been using IXL Spanish. IXL lays the foundation for Spanish fluency with interactive questions, engaging audio, and real-world narratives that put a fresh spin on vocabulary and grammar skills. They were able to use and expand their knowledge of telling time in an entertaining way.
6th. Grade
The students have been very engaged as we read a book Las aventuras de Isabela. Isabela is a precocious 8 ½ year old girl who can't seem to keep herself out of trouble on a visit to Guanajuato, Mexico with her mother.They loved each chapter along with their English translation to retell the story. I was amazed about their level of Spanish comprehension.
7th. 8th Grade
Seven and eighth graders have become official achievers with our Unit 3 Lesson 2 culmination. Now they can use comparative words and possessive adjectives to describe their families and friends. Soon we'll start working on a project called “ Nuestras Conversaciones” . They will incorporate all the things they have been learning over the past year in Spanish. I can't wait to see their presentations.
Updates from our Arabic Room
Dear Parents, مرحبًا وأهلاً بكم
Marhaba!
Ramadan Mubarak!
Our Arabic classes were very busy last month between preparing for our spring celebration practicing hard and preparing for the month on Ramadan.We are covering this holy month during our Arabic classes studying the Cultural and the festivals related to it.
Besides that our classes were practicing oral conversation using the target language applying the new vocabulary that they had learned.
Learning a new language is like traveling to a new world, in our Arabic class we travel every day.
Wishing you all who celebrate this month a blessed wonderful one!
مع السلامة!
-Ms. Hayat
Marhaba!
Ramadan Mubarak!
Our Arabic classes were very busy last month between preparing for our spring celebration practicing hard and preparing for the month on Ramadan.We are covering this holy month during our Arabic classes studying the Cultural and the festivals related to it.
Besides that our classes were practicing oral conversation using the target language applying the new vocabulary that they had learned.
Learning a new language is like traveling to a new world, in our Arabic class we travel every day.
Wishing you all who celebrate this month a blessed wonderful one!
مع السلامة!
-Ms. Hayat