“The Barber of Seville”
On
Monday, we went to Bakken Auditorium and saw “The Barber of Seville.” It was a
short (40-minute) presentation of a longer (3-hour) opera. RB was able to go
onstage and be a musician in the opera! The audience was asked to hum/sing
along with two songs. Everyone enjoyed it! When we returned to the classroom,
we wrote in our journals – What was your favorite part? What did you learn
(about putting on an opera)? How was “The Barber of Seville” the same or
different from “Kahalaopuna?”
At
our April assembly on Thursday, we heard an update of our “Kahalaopuna” opera
production. KF represented our costume committee, along with Mrs. Bailie’s
class, and reported that an adult donated fabric to make the capes for the
students playing the ocean, sand, and mountains. One of Mrs. Bailie’s students
modeled a cape for everyone to see. We saw the winning art projects which will
be the banners, posters, and tickets used for advertising the opera. Four kindergartners from Ms. Hitomi’s class had painted a poster of Kahalaopuna
during atelier. Their painting will be on the banner that will hang on
University Avenue!
Later
that morning, the preschool through 2nd grade classes enjoyed an 8th
grade puppet show in our Dining Hall. The 28 students made their own puppets
and wrote the dialogue for the 11 plays that they performed. The topics were sharing,
magic words, getting along with each other, telling the truth, being nice to
each other, animals and the alphabet, and how to make friends. After the show,
we wrote in our journals – What was your favorite play? What was your favorite
puppet? What did you learn from the puppet shows?
The kindergartners
are practicing being more descriptive in their writing and drawing. Instead of
just saying, “I liked ____,” or “My favorite part was ____,” we ask them to say
why they liked it, or why it was their favorite part. They even practice this
when commenting to friends after they share their journal writing. With their
drawing, we ask the students to focus on small details in their pictures –
hands and feet (not just arms and legs), color of clothing, noses and ears
(which are frequently forgotten), and background (What is in back of you? Are
your people floating above the ground?).
This
week in math, we practiced making arrangements of six tiles. The rules were
simple – use only six tiles and all tiles have to be touching another tile.
This is a great exercise for conservation of number – realizing that the number
of tiles stays the same no matter how they are arranged. We also used this
activity to practice addition – a 2x3 rectangular array could be written as
3+3=6. There were two “L”-shaped arrangements, which could be written as 1+5=6
or 2+4=6. We extended this activity to include numbers 5, 7, 8, 9, and 10. The
students are still working to make two arrangements of each number. As a
challenge, they are writing number sentences to match their arrangements.
We’ve
started using the SmartBoard with our morning messages. The teachers write a
message with spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors. The students find the
errors and fix them on the message. It’s a great way to introduce them to this
new technology, at which they will become more adept as they move on through 5th
grade.
This
week, the students began to sketch pictures of their ideas of their specific
topics:
-
The
clothes group thought that sheep gave people wool which was then spun on a
wheel to make it soft. The string was then dipped into paint. As we talked,
they decided that the color came from the juice that was squeezed from fruits
and vegetables. The group is now thinking about what fruits and vegetables were
used and will experiment with them next week.
-
The
natural-surroundings group learned that there is a spring that was here 100
years ago. They will add that to their pictures of mountains, coconut trees,
and flowers. They notice that the beautiful view that once was (which is
depicted in their drawings), is now obstructed by school buildings.
-
The
plant and animal group will also benefit from visiting Wailele Stream,
investigating the plants and animals that are living in the stream.
-
The
manmade-surroundings and shelter groups visited Kawaiaha’o and learned that it
was made of stone. The shelter group will go back to see if they can tell what
holds it together. Their first guesses were glue, tape, and a little cement.
The manmade-surroundings group, which has a focus on school, will go back to see what students are studying there today
and investigate what was studied there 100 years ago.
Besides visiting sites on campus, our research is gathered
mainly through pictures of old Manoa. If you have any pictures, or know of
helpful websites or books, please let us know. We have exhausted several
resources already – Manoa Public Library and our middle/high school library.
The kindergartners are practicing for 1st grade in many different ways.
We notice that:
-
attention
and participation during group activities and lessons are improving.
-
writing
is improving, with attention to detail and grown-up spelling.
-
the
students are becoming more and more confident and independent as they move
about the classroom, requiring fewer promptings and reminders from the teachers
and performing or leading classroom routines.
The
teachers acknowledge these practices daily to encourage the students in their
performance. Way to go, Kindergarten!
Kite
Day for the elementary school has been moved to Thursday, May 1. We will be
putting our kites together the week before and will need some assistance. More
information will come to you as we receive it.
REMINDER!
Newsletters and family-learning activities will now be posted on Fridays. If
you subscribed to the blog, you will receive an email notification when the
blog is updated.
All
of our math games are available in the Math Center daily. Also, if you are
interested in learning how to play any of these games, let us know, and we’ll
be happy to send a game board home. You may either make your own game
materials, or you may borrow our classroom materials. Your child will be able
to explain the rules and objectives of the games.
If
you have any recyclable items we can use in our art center, please send them
with your child. Items need to be stored on a shelf in our classroom, so
please, no bulky items. Suggested items include paper towel/toilet paper rolls,
styrofoam pieces, and fabric/wallpaper squares. Thank you!
The new set of Family Learning Activities has also been posted. Some items have been removed,
but that doesn’t mean you can’t go back to them and complete the activity.
Remember, these activities are optional; please enjoy them as your family’s
schedule and available time will allow.
Our Students-of-the-Week are JM
and TS. Please bring in things you would like to share about yourselves.
Everything needs to be able to hang on a bulletin board. Parent volunteers or
teachers will assemble the board as the items come in to school. Every child
will be “showcased” for at least one week.
The following dates show when the new bulletin
boards will be assembled for display. The initials of the Students-of-the-Week
are listed after each date.
4/23 – JM, TS (Items may be brought in from 4/16)
4/30 – LY, WC (Items may be brought in from 4/23)
Posted on April 18, 2008 9:32 AM | Permalink