Art

• Kindergarten artists are working on an introduction to landscapes.
• First grade artists are making colorful fall leaves out of paper and will begin designing a dream house.
• Second grade artists are finishing some watercolor monarchs and will begin making 3-D paper animals.
• Third grade artists are finishing up cut paper food collages and will start making food drawings using oil pastels.
• Fourth grade artists are working on folk art inspired Virginia landscape drawings.
• Fifth grade artists are finishing cut paper landscapes and will begin making on animal morph masks out of cardboard.
• Sixth grade artists are making themed “squash” books and will then create on pop art inspired self-portraits.

Music

In Mr. Andert’s Class:

All students are using classroom instruments - 

Kindergarten is using non-pitched percussion instruments like tambourines, triangles and hand drums. 

1st graders are starting a unit on Introduction to Xylophones (so far we have been getting familiar with the mallets and playing games to learn how to hold them correctly). 

2nd graders are almost finished with a piece for xylophone based on “Jack and the Beanstalk.” Students learned a simple melody and are trying improvisation for the first time by choosing their own notes to a class-created rhythm. 

3rd graders are learning a piece for xylophone called “Bobby Shaftoe.” They learned the melody and are improvising a melody to a given rhythm. 

4th graders are learning a West African greeting song called “Funga Alafia.” Students are learning the syncopated melody, an accompaniment part and non-strings students are learning another ostinato pattern. This week we will be putting it all together. 

5th graders are starting to learn a piece called “Ding Dong,” which has several sixteenth notes in the melody. They will learn two accompaniment patterns to go along with the melody. The non-instrument students learned a canon called “Rain, Rain Canon” for non-pitched percussion instruments (hand drums, claves and triangles). 

In Mr. K’s music class:

Students in Mr. K’s class are learning about the singing voice and music notation.

Kindergarteners and 1st graders are singing action songs that go along with various movements and stories. They are also learning about music opposites such as loud/soft and fast/slow.

2nd graders are learning about and singing patriotic music including“This Land is Your Land” and our school song “Terraset Tiger Pride”. 

3rd graders are learning about music notation, including rhythms, lyric sheets, and lead sheets. They are also learning how to identify tempo, dynamics, and articulations.

5th and 6th Graders are practicing music similar to what we would sing in chorus. They are also learning vocal warmups and exercises to expand their vocal range. They will start singing two part harmonies this week.

LTC

In LTC all students have started  little by little with our projects in Spanish per grade level.

Please ask your kid about it. 

2 ANIMALS AND FEATURES

3 INSECTS AND HABITATS

4 METEOROLOGISTS

5 CONSTRUCTIONS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN

6 THE PLANET IS MY HOME

Physical Education

In PE students are working on Throwing and Catching skills and will participate in activities and games that reinforce those skills. (Below is a list of games they may play)

• K-3 (Flip Hoop, Pin Elimination, Next up)
• Gr. 4-6 We are finishing up our fitness testing for the 1st qtr. Students will be assessed on the Pacer, Push-ups and Curl-ups in the next 2 weeks.  We will continue with throwing and catching activities. (Modified Football Games, Team Handball)

Guidance

• Grades K and 1st grades will  begin the Kimochi Feelings program either this week or next week thanks to a grant from Educate Fairfax!

• Next week, 2nd-6th grades will be talking about Perseverance in their bi-weekly guidance lesson. 

The Fish Bowl- Kindergarten, 1st & 2nd grades

• The Fish Bowl is a busy place these days.  Kindergarteners had a crossover of language arts and math when they practiced identifying and writing numbers and letters.  1st grade showed their skill at counting up by constructing planet puzzles using sequential numbers.  2nd graders adopted the role of Ada Twist scientist using their senses to observe our room and creating questions asking why, how, what, and when.  All grades, K-2, celebrated Fall by weighing and measuring the height and circumference of different types of apples.  Students used rulers, scales, and measuring tapes as their tools.