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* The DeLay-Lace Link*

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DeLay-Lace Link

A Joint Newsletter from DeLay-Lace PTA and Mark DeLay and Lace Elementary Schools - December 2017

We continue to focus on the character traits of Caring and Sharing during the month of December at Mark DeLay. Our Bulldog Pride assembly will be held on Friday December 1st. We will continue to show our caring spirit this month as we collect food and soap for the Darien Lion’s Club, Darien Woman’s Club, and Darien Park District. Thank you for all of the goods that have been donated already! Our shared school activity this month that goes along with the Caring and Sharing theme will relate to the book One Winter’s Day by M. Christina Butler. In this story a little hedgehog braves a winter storm. He takes care of his friends along the way showing that he cares about others and they do kind things for him in return. Parents, you can watch a video of this book at home with your child using this link: https://vimeo.com/19543481 Stephanie Nash Social Worker Mark DeLay School 630-852-0200

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E

1 Upcoming December

Events 2 3

Message from PTA President Principals’ Columns

8 News from Mark Delay 14 19

News from Lace Building Readers

UPCOMING EVENTS December 1:

District Spirit Day Delay Bulldog Pride Assemblies

December 6: PTA Fundraiser Delivery PTA Reflections Ceremony 7:00 PM @ Herrick Middle School in Downers

Grove December 7: DeLay/Lace PTA Meeting 7:00 PM December 8: DeLay Giving Day- Wear your school spirit wear or school colors AND Bring something in for our Food and Soap Drive December 11: Lunch w/Principal @ Delay December 12: Chorus performance at Darien Rotary Meeting December 13:

ELL BPAC Meeting 6:00 PM DeLay WINTER Program at @ Eisenhower Junior High Esposito/Pudil, McShea, Frye, Wagner, Molina, Montague/Daly, and Whitt/Pudil

December 14: DeLay WINTER Program at @Eisenhower Junior High Winter, Polly, Barajas, Skweres/Pritchard, Knapp, Stocchero, and Hess/Senesac

December 15: DeLay/Lace PTA Movie Night at Lace 6:30 PM DeLay Giving Day- Wear your school spirit wear or school colors AND bring a

pair of new gloves or mittens to donate to a District Family in need December 19: Board of Education Meeting 7:00 PM December 21: Lace Chorus/Band Winter Concert 7:00 PM December 22:

Mark Delay/Lace PJ Day EJH Symphonic Band performs at DeLay 9:00 AM Last day of school before Winter Break

January 8: Students return to school


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Dear Delay/Lace families, Thank you to everyone who helped make November such a fun and successful month! We were happy to start off the month with a packed theater for our Bad Moms movie night. What a fun night! I really enjoyed spending time with so many district parents, while being able to raise a little extra money for the PTA. The momentum carried into our “Coin-a-day” challenge held by each classroom, followed by a successful Scholastic book fair! We also wrapped up the Great American catalog fundraiser in November. I cannot thank everyone enough for all of the support. Whether you purchased items, volunteered time or both, your generosity and time are truly appreciated. Although we are still awaiting the final profit totals from our Great American fundraiser, I can share that our online sales alone generated $1713 in PROFITS for the PTA! I am very excited to find out what our final profit amount will be, and will share that information as soon as I receive the total. One common question I often hear is, “What is the PTA raising money for?” Personally, I was pretty surprised when I first learned of all the budgeted items the PTA carried. A few of the line items off our budget include…. Education (Grade level money & Young Author Visits) $6,500 Class assemblies (Halloween & Spring) $2,900 Clubs (art club, lego club, running, Go Green, etc) $10,000 School Events (Art Fair & Field Days) $6,900 Student Hospitality (5th grade lunch, birthday books, safety patrol) $4,500 Teacher Hospitality (Teacher supplies, Conference dinner, Staff appreciation week) $13,000 As you can see, the lines begin to add up quickly! Aside from these few items, we also try to raise money for one of the special subjects each year. In the past few years, we have been fortunate enough to add to the library, music and physical education departments. Our students were able to benefit by enjoying new books, learning to play a musical instrument and using new and interactive gym equipment. This year we are supporting our Art departments for all of the wonderful projects and activities they provide for our students. Before we become lost in the hustle and bustle of the holidays, I want to once again thank everyone for their support of our schools through our PTA fundraisers and events. We would not be able to help provide this amazing learning environment without your help! I hope everyone enjoys their holiday season! Sincerely, Karen Buckels Upcoming dates…. Wednesday December 6th – Great American product pick up at Safety Village 4-7pm Thursday December 7 – PTA meeting at Lace 7pm December 8-10 – Five and Below fundraiser (must present flyer) December 15 – Lace movie night 7pm Lace gym December 10-17- Five and Below fundraiser (must present flyer) *January 11th PTA meeting has been cancelled

A Message From Karen Buckels DeLay-Lace PTA President


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Dear Mark DeLay Parents and Families, Something happens right after Halloween, and I’m not sure exactly what it is, but…time seems to fly by faster than usual every November. Despite the speed in which it flew by, we were still able to pack in many fun and memorable moments. Here’s a brief overview of all that occurred…

Reached our 50th day of school Sent first quarter report cards and MAP scores home Invited our ECE/PK Families in for a Family Literacy Night Enjoyed having parents come in to read to our students during American Education Week Shared information with parents at Parent/Teacher Conferences Took time off to enjoy family and friends over the long Thanksgiving Day weekend

Too often we go through the days and forget that we have so many wonderful reasons to give thanks. I love this time of year because we can take a few minutes to share what we are thankful for with all of you. At Mark DeLay, we are always thankful for….

“I'm thankful for my family, special friends and my health.” Mary Andersen “I'm thankful for my students. They make me laugh and smile each day!” Brittany Polly “I am thankful for my growing family; friends, co-workers & jobs; for the food and all the Blessings, for

all the men and women retired or still serving, for our freedom and peace of our country and around the world.” Lourdes Rosete

“I am thankful for health, happiness, our new home, and family. Always thankful for my wonderful first graders!”~Jess Hess

“So grateful for my supportive workplace where I teach alongside amazing and inspiring friends!”~Mandy Bowers

“I'm thankful for supportive coworkers who feel like family.” Michelle Sleboda “I am thankful for being able to come back and work at Mark Delay again! :)” Lauren Markham “I am thankful for the simple things in life. I cherish the moments that bring a smile to my face and

laughter in my life.” Karen Pudil “I am thankful for the random acts of kindness that I see students do each day.” Liese Hearth “I am thankful to be working with wonderful staff that make everyday a great one.” Maggie Barajas “I'm thankful to work with such supportive people!” Becky Knapp “I am thankful for all wonderful students I get to teach every day.” Diane Nelson “I am thankful to have a wonderful Kindergarten team.” Whitney Schultz “I'm thankful that my students come to school every day excited to see me and learn English. They are

the hardest workers I know! :) “ Emily Heise


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“I am thankful for a learning community and principal who accepts me for me. I am thankful for a learning community where almost every single person gives just a little bit (or more) extra, making us that much better and stronger.” Kerry Senesac

“I am thankful for family, friends and kindergartners!” Julie Vallo “I am thankful for my family and all of the families who allow me to teach their children each year. I am

also thankful for my school family who is always supportive and helpful.” Kristie Lupella “I am thankful for the opportunity to be a part of this school and district this year, and also for the

helpful staff!” Dana Ruth “I am thankful for being a part of a staff that values each other as much as we value our students!”

Carlie Serritella “I am thankful to have a wonderful work family that supports me and makes me smile each day!” Ashley

Frye “I am thankful to work in District 61. Also thankful for all of the parents who volunteer at the school

and in our classrooms. We couldn't do it without you. I am thankful to all of the staff for their support as I learn things for the first time. I just feel very supported in my job, and I am very thankful.” Kathy Wagner

“I am thankful for family.” Dave Nash “I am thankful for my students, my colleagues, my family & friends, and my life.” Gail Stocchero “I am thankful for each day at Mark Delay because our students are full of energy and love to learn, our

dedicated staff work so hard to support our students by providing them with everything they need to learn in a creative, loving environment and our families who trust us with their most precious possession-their children. I am also thankful for my loving and caring family and friends.” Lisa Kompare

The students who had “Lunch with the Principal” at Mark DeLay are thankful for…

I am thankful for my family because they are always there for me and my friends who are there for me when I am sad and hurt. Madeyln W. from Mrs. Wagner’s class

I am thankful for my family because I love them. Ali F. from Mrs. Stocchero’s class I am thankful for my mom because she is nice to me. Marko H. from Mrs. Hess and Mrs. Senesac’s room I am thankful for my friends because they play with me and are nice. Logan L. from Mrs. Stocchero’s

room I am thankful for friends because they play with me. Faith S. from Mrs. Schultz and Mrs. Bowers’s room I am thankful for my family because they are nice to me. Katherine L. from Miss Dominguez’s room I am thankful for my mom because she takes care of me and my dog because I snuggle with him.~ Leo H.

from Miss Polly’s room I am thankful for my family because they take care of me. Armandas K. from Miss Polly’s room I am thankful for my teacher because she teaches me stuff I don’t know and my principal because she

puts in rules so I don’t get hurt. Jose G. from Mrs. Barajas’ room I am thankful for my family because they make me happy. Ria R. from Miss Toland’s room I am thankful for everyone in my family because I am happy when I see them. Jayla S. from Miss

Toland’s room I am thankful for my pets because they distract me when I’m sad. Kaia M. from Miss Polly’s room


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During conferences, our PTA held their annual Book Fair. We can’t thank the volunteers enough for all the time they spent planning, setting-up, taking down, and helping out during the fair. The kids love it, the teachers love it, and so do the parents! We also had the opportunity to raise money for our school library through our week long Coin Drive. Our students must have found every last dime because those cans were overflowing. Thank you! Congratulations to Mrs. Lupella’s class who raised the most money and won a “Popsicle Party”. We raised over $1200 at Mark DeLay. Don’t forget it’s starting to feel a lot more like winter out there. Our students have recess every day and will go outside as long as the temperature is greater than 15 degrees with the wind chill. Please send them dressed appropriately for the weather, including hats, gloves/mittens, scarves, boots, snow pants, etc. Even though we’re here for only 4 weeks in December, we have lots of great things going on at DeLay. Mark your calendars with the events below:

• Through December 8th- Food and Soap Drive!! • December 1st

Bulldog Pride Assemblies District Spirit Day- Wear your school spirit wear or school colors AND Bring something in for

our Food and Soap Drive • December 6th-PTA Reflections @ Herrick Middle School in Downers Grove @ 7:00 p.m. • December 7th-PTA Meeting at Lace @ 7:00 p.m. • December 8th- DeLay Giving Day- Wear your school spirit wear or school colors AND Bring something

in for our Food and Soap Drive • December 11th-Lunch w/Principal • December 13th DeLay WINTER Program at EJH (@Eisenhower Junior High)

Esposito/Pudil, McShea, Frye, Wagner, Molina, Montague/Daly, and Whitt/Pudil • December 14th-DeLay WINTER Program at EJH (@Eisenhower Junior High)

Winter, Polly, Barajas, Skweres/Pritchard, Knapp, Stocchero, and Hess/Senesac • December 15th:

DeLay Giving Day- Wear your school spirit wear or school colors AND bring a pair of new gloves or mittens to donate to a District Family in need

PTA DeLay/Lace Movie Night @ Lace School starting at 6:00 p.m. • December 19th- Board of Education Meeting @Lace School at 7:00 • December 22nd

EJH Symphonic Band performs at DeLay Last day of school before Winter Break PJ Day

• January 8th - Students return to school From all of us at Mark DeLay, we’d like to wish you a wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year! Sincerely, Lisa Kompare Mark DeLay School Principal (630) 852-0200 [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]


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Dear Lace Parents and Families,

Where has this year gone? The month of November flew by…although the weather has held up…seems as though Fall is not ready to let go just yet! This past month we hosted our annual Veteran’s Day assembly to honor all the brave men and women who have fought and continue to fight for our freedom here in the USA. Mr. Jeffery Old, father of Lucy Old, joined as our guest speaker, and shared a wonderful message with our Lace School students. A number of members of the Darien VFW also joined us in our celebration. The chorus did a remarkable job singing some patriotic tunes, and Mr. Bonanotte played “Taps” for the school. Our Student Council officers presented “America’s White Table.” It was a breath-taking assembly, and I am very proud of the respect the students showed throughout the assembly. During the Week of November 13th, Lace School celebrated National Education Week. Many guest readers visited our classrooms and shared their love of reading with the children of Lace School. Thank you to all who volunteered their time to join our classrooms. We always welcome opportunities for parents to join us within the classroom, to support the learning of all students. It was also wonderful to see so many of our families during our Parent-Teacher conferences. This is a great time for teachers and parents to collaborate to ensure all students are as successful as they can possibly be. I want to reiterate the importance of the home/school connection. We strive every day to ensure every child has the opportunity to grow, learn, and be successful. It is our hope that all students grow to be the best they can be! We want to thank our families for assisting at home. It is imperative that students see the importance of education, not only at school, but also at home. The intermediate grade levels are a time for such amazing growth, not only in academics, but growing in to independent learners, and finding the balance of responsibility. Our students work hard every day—and it shows! Thank you for being such a vital piece in helping us educate your children. Thanksgiving is my favorite time of year, as we are given the time to celebrate and give thanks for the many wonderful blessings in our lives. I wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of you, the Lace School community, for the continuous support you give to the teachers, staff, and myself on a daily basis. Thank you for sharing your amazing children with us on a daily basis. It is such a joy to watch them learn and grown.


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I also want to give thanks to the amazing Lace staff, fellow administrators, district administration, and Board of Education. It is because of all of these individuals that we are able to provide the amazing opportunities to our students of Darien School District 61. They truly give their all to support EVERY child! Thank you to our PTA for hosting our annual Book fair during parent-teacher conferences. It was amazing to see the number of volunteers who assisted, ensuring the fair was a success…thank you! December is a quick month for our students; but the learning does not stop!! Please mark your calendars with these important events: *Friday, December 1- District Spirit Day *Wednesday, December 6th-

*PTA Fundraiser Delivery *PTA Reflections Ceremony 7:00 PM

*Thursday, December 7th- DeLay/Lace PTA Meeting 7:00 PM *Tuesday, December 12th- Chorus performance at Darien Rotary Meeting *Wednesday, December 13th-ELL BPAC Meeting 6:00 PM *Friday, December 15th- DeLay/Lace PTA Movie Night at Lace 6:30 PM *Tuesday, December 19th – Board of Education Meeting 7:00 PM *Thursday, December 21st- Lace Chorus/Band Winter Concert 7:00 PM *Friday, December 22nd- *Lace PJ Day *9:00 Student Assembly—Chorus/Band On behalf of the staff at Lace School, I would like to wish all of you a safe, happy, and healthy holiday season! Take time to relax and enjoy family and friends! Sincerely, Erin E. Dwyer Principal, Lace School (630) 968-2589


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December is one of the most magical months in kindergarten. To help keep this spark alive, we have chosen themes that include many gingerbread stories, lots of reindeer related activities and we share different holiday traditions. Our month also includes a Laura Numeroff author study.

Our gingerbread theme is filled with a variety of gingerbread stories. Sometime the gingerbread man/girl gets away, and sometimes the gingerbread man/girl ends up as crumbs. We love listening to the different stories and comparing the events.

We also read stories about reindeers, and we use our imaginations to visualize what it would be like to be a flying reindeer. We make reindeer food and take part in many reindeer center activities.

Our holiday theme focuses on winter celebrations. We will spend time fine tuning our addition skills during this busy month. We love to find ways of tying our math skills to our theme activities, so we will be adding pretend cookies as a math activity.

We are busy learning strategies to help us as both readers and writers. We are becoming stronger at knowing how to sound out words to help us read and write. If you have a kindergartner, we know that you have seen great growth since the beginning of the school year. Have a wonderful December, and make sure to take time to enjoy your family. This is the perfect time to pull out your favorite holiday stories to share with your child/children

The Kindergarten Team


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First Graders are excited to start their Holidays Around the World Unit. Students will be learning about how different cultures celebrate the holiday season. We will be have a special “Grinch Day”. On this day, students should wear green and red to school. We also will be having a Pajama Day in December. Please make sure to send your student in CLEAN pajamas. All first graders also be participating in our Winter Music Program in December. Look for more details about these special days in our weekly newsletters.

Make sure you are reading with your child EVERY night. Practicing their reading skills at home will reinforce the skills and strategies they are learning at school. We are also continuing to complete timed addition and subtraction tests. Students should be practicing their facts 1-12 at home, to help them become fluent.

The First Grade Team wishes you all a happy holiday season, and we hope you enjoy your Winter Break! See you in the New Year!

The First Grade Teachers


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Happy December! We can barely believe how fast this year is going! In reading, we are starting Unit 3 of our Wonders Reading Series. The essential question for this unit is, “What have you learned about the world that surprises you?” We will also be taking the week before Winter Break to learn about holidays around the world! During our writing time, we will be writing friendly letters to the Grinch persuading him that it is better to give than to receive. We will also be working on “how-to” pieces for our informative writing. We are finishing Unit 2, double-digit addition and subtraction. We will be post-testing this unit before Winter Break. Make sure to be practicing those math facts every night at home! We will be finishing our economics unit in social studies and starting our matter unit in science! As always, make sure to be reading every night at home! Please keep track of your reading and math fact practice on the monthly homework calendar and turn it in after Winter Break! We hope that everyone has a safe and happy Winter Break! The 2nd grade Teachers


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Thank you to all the hard working and dedicated volunteers who helped with the Scholastic Book Fairs at DeLay and Lace Schools. Because of your efforts, we were able to show our students that reading is important.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Scholastic Book Fair Coin A Day Challenge. We will buy Scholastic books with the donations.

Students in the second grade Computer Coding Club finished a four week course. We read about coding, played a board game called Robot Turtles, and worked on solving coding problems on an app called Cargo Bot. We also borrowed the Ozobots from Indian Prairie Public Library. Diane Nelson District Teacher Librarian [email protected]


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PE

We have been working hard on our different types of movements and basketball skills. With a lot of different types of movements we can perform we have made sure to perform each of them during game play. We had a great time performing them during our Scary activities themed week in October. We were able to dodge zombies by galloping and we were able to slide past witches on brooms. We have also started basketball and have worked on dribbling a basketball. We have focused on 4 things when dribbling: Use 1 hand, use finger pads, eyes up and keep ball at or below belly button height. Next week we will be working on passing and shooting.

I will be hosting a Parents week where parents can come in and participate with their child’s class during Physical Education. This is a great way to see what students are learning during Physical Education and get a little exercise as well. Parents week will be December 11-15. If you are interested in participating and want to come into your child’s class you can find me on Twitter @d61nash or email: [email protected].

Mr. Nash

Notes from Preschool

The preschool and early childhood classrooms are finishing up a fun unit on Pizza! The students enjoyed a variety of center based activities that revolved around the book Pete’s A Pizza by William Steig. Classes worked on literacy, sequencing and retelling skills with the book by acting out the story with everyone getting a different part. Students used a variety of visuals to retell the story retell the story and put the events in sequential order! Dramatic play centers were transformed into pizza parlors where Pizza making with dough was a big hit. The most popular place to order pizza from was Domino’s, on an old school phone with a new concept called a phone book. Through our program Handwriting without Tears we are moving through the alphabet to the introduction of curved lines and letters that have curved lines in in them for example C, U and O along with those letters we are also learning about the sounds they make. Next up December and a month of Jan Brett Books!

mailto:[email protected]


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Our students receiving ELL services have been working on Thanksgiving projects and being very creative. You should see wonderful work coming home. In 2nd grade, we are supporting writing and the Economics unit for Social Studies. Students are really enjoying this unit of study. The 1st grade groups are building their sight word recognition and we are supporting their learning about communities. We look forward to meeting parents at the conferences.


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4x4=16, 4x5=20, 4x6=…..We sure do hope this has been a familiar sound around your home. In third grade our goal is to have our multiplication and division math facts memorized from the 0s-10s by the end of the year. This will come over time, however please practice with your child now in order to avoid frustration later. This month we will use our knowledge of multiplication as we launch into understanding division. “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go!” These wise words from Dr. Seuss could not ring with more truth! Did you know that children who read for twenty minutes a day learn an average of 1,800,00 words per year and typically score within the 90th percentile on standardized tests? As always encourage your child to read at home every evening. Please feel free to contact your child’s teacher for a book recommendation! We enjoyed meeting with all families during Parent Teacher Conferences in November, and would like to wish you all a happy and healthy holiday season!

The Third Grade Team

Multiplication facts are our top priority in Math as we begin to explore the relationship between multiplication and division. Keep practicing your multiplication and division facts! We will also continue to develop problem solving skills.

In Social Studies, our focus continues to be on the landforms, resources, and climate of the Northeast region. In Science, we will investigate the relationship between sound waves and vibrations.

Please remember that your child needs winter outerwear including hats and gloves for outdoor recess.

We wish everyone a healthy and safe holiday season!

Your Fourth Grade Teachers


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For Language Arts, we’ll be continuing our work in Unit 2 of our reading series, Wonders, which incorporates stories into a theme of “What does it take to put a plan into action?” Students will also continue to work on informational writing and research.

In Science we'll be learning about Earth's place in the universe, space, stars, and our solar system. We'll be investigating some pretty "out of this world" mysteries on Mystery Science.

Thank you to all the parents who will attend or did attend parent teacher conferences. These always allow an excellent opportunity for us to sit down and talk about your child’s progress and make a plan together on how best to help your child achieve his/her goals. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

The Fifth Grade Team

Reading

We know that all of our Lace students have been working hard to improve in all academic areas, and we thank you for your help! As we approach the winter break at the end of the month, we want to make sure your child continues to grow as a reader.

One way to help your child do this is to read with them as much as possible, and encourage reading over the long break from school. You might decide to make a plan with your child about how and when reading can be a part of their break, and make it a priority to fit some sort of literacy activity into each day. Read a recipe while baking cookies, make a shopping list of presents to buy, or cozy up with a book on the couch together.

Having your child read over the winter break will help them maintain all of the skills that they have acquired throughout the first part of the year, so please encourage them to make reading a priority over the holidays.

When we return in January, the community of readers at Lace will be starting an adventure together as we kick off our Lace Reads Together program. Look for more information once we’re back in 2018! Have a fantastic winter break filled with family and books!

The Lace Reading Team, Mrs. Koney Mrs. Reyes Mrs. Schultz


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Enrichment

The 5th grade advanced math class is focusing on all operations with decimals. We will be exploring several methods to compute decimals. We will also be modeling operations with decimal using base 10 blocks and bar models.

The 4th grade math enrichment class will be working on dividing whole numbers. We will be using several methods to divide whole numbers including using the Distributive Property, partial quotients, & the long division algorithm.

The 3rd grade math enrichment class finished their ultiplication & division unit. The kids explored several strategies to multiply & divide numbers. Please have your child practice their multiplication & division facts each night. Currently, the student began working on the 4th grade curriculum. The students are working on adding & subtracting numbers through 1,000,000.

The 5th grade Discovery class is focused on architecture. The students did a wonderful job using google classroom to create a slide show on their Chicago Landmark. We are currently working on building straw towers that will hold cans of soda. After Thanksgiving break, the students will be building structures out of newspaper and tape. The goal is to build a free standing structure that each child can fit into.

The 4th grade Discovery class is focused on Systems & Change. Students will identify systems in our world and look at how natural disasters effects the systems in our environment. The students are currently researching a natural disaster of their choice. The students will be creating presentation boards or a slide show to be to share their findings with our class.

The 3rd grade Discovery class is focusing on Higher level thinking skills from Bloom’s Taxonomy. The students completed projects using each level of Bloom’s taxonomy. We will studying the brain and its functions in late November or early December.


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