Curriculum Update

October 29 Curriculum Update

Thank you parents for the amazing support and love we receives during Teacher Appreciation week! 

Social Studies

      During our social studies unit, our focus will be on learning about culture, society, and identity.   Students will compare and contrast the cultural characteristics of different countries.  Students will learn that different cultures meet human needs in different ways.  Most importantly, students will learn that despite our differences in language, religion, art, music, and food we are all part of one human family.

Language 

      Students have been immersed in traditional tales: fairy tales, folk tales, fables and more. They are working on understanding character development. Children will have opportunities to get to know many new characters and to use important reading strategies to understand text at a much deeper level. In addition, students will enjoy reading and writing adapted fairy tales from around the world. As always, we encourage each child to maintain an active reading practice at home and for families to discuss literature on a regular basis. We are encouraging children to read more narrative, text-based books as opposed to graphic novels in order to build their exposure to narrative voice and text-based inferring. 

Questions your children may ask themselves while reading:

• What traits does this character have? Which text clues make me think this?
  
• How does the character change during the story? How do I know?
  
• What is the theme, or message, of the story? What makes me say this?
  

Math Topic B - Measuring Weight and Liquid Volumes in Metric Units

Math Topic A - Time Measurement

"Rapunzel, let down your hair..." Ms. Kulikowsky / Ms. Takamura

 In Writer's Workshop students have been adapting fairy tales. In Reader's Workshop, students have been learning about what elements we can find in fables and fairy tales. Students have also learned to study characters and morals of stories.

At the Innovation Studio last week, students were able to test hair strength when challenged by "The Rapunzel Challenge": "Was hair really the best material to use to climb the tower? Perhaps the witch should have tested some other options using STEM!"

Here are some pictures from the challenge. Enjoy more on Instagram @3rdgradedpk

Lower School Update - October 28, 2019

Halloween

Halloween will be celebrated on Friday, November 1. Just a reminder that the preprimary parade will start at 10:00 in front of the LS office and the afternoon parade will start at 2:30.  All parents are asked to sit in the stands during the afternoon parade. Children will walk back to classrooms for their Halloween parties. Parents are welcome to join. Please remember that costumes should not be scary or violent-themed and students will change into costumes after lunch.

School Pictures

Ordering for school pictures will be a little different this year.  This week, you will receive a link through email and you will be able to place an order online.  

Intellectual Curiosity

The Lower School has had a great time focusing on intellectual curiosity for the last month.  Students have been asking questions, conducting research and initiating their own learning about a variety of topics.  If you’d like to continue to encourage intellectual curiosity at home, here is a list of books your young reader will love.   

Eagle’s Nest

Each week during our Eagle’s Nest on Monday mornings, two classes are awarded the “Golden G.”  Nominated by teachers, this class is chosen for exhibiting the Eagle Way around the school. This week, Ms. Julia’s class won for following the Eagle Way in the hallways and the classroom. The Green Club After School Activity won for showing curiosity and problem solving skills.

Upcoming Important Dates

October 28 to 30	Visiting Author - Peter Reynolds
October 29	8:30 am LS Parent Coffee: Visiting Author - Peter Reynolds (Innovation Studio)
November 1	Halloween Parade
November 7	Pre-primary Field trip to Jardim Botanico
November 9	PTA Thanksgiving
November 11 - 14	Kindness Week
November 15	Holiday - No School (Proclamação da Republica)
November 18	Holiday - No School (Observance Consiencia Negra)
November 19	LS Parent Coffee
November 26	LS Musical
November 28 & 29	No School - Thanksgiving

Around the Lower School

Lower School Update - October 21, 2019

Teacher Appreciation

It’s Teacher Appreciation Week at Graded!  Please feel free to show your thanks to our awesome teachers with a handmade card or a “Thanks!”  

Halloween

Halloween will be celebrated on Friday, November 1.  For specific details, please refer to the email sent to all Lower School parents today.

Intellectual Curiosity

A great way to feed a hungry mind is to listen to podcasts.  You might have your favorites but are your children listening to any?  Here is a great podcast for curious kids to start with.  

Eagle’s Nest

Each week during our Eagle’s Nest on Monday mornings, two classes are awarded the “Golden G.”  Nominated by teachers, this class is chosen by exhibiting the Eagle Way around the school. This week, Ms. Kulikowsky and Ms. Takamura’s class won for following the Eagle Way in the hallways and the classroom with two teachers.  Ms. Fernanda R’s class won for getting ready so promptly in the morning to go to class.

Donations

The Global Issues Network Club, run by high school students, is hosting a basic necessities drive this semester. The aim of this drive is to collect items like toothbrushes, shampoo, conditioner, soap or any other item which could potentially improve the hygiene for those less fortunate. The team has placed cardboard boxes throughout the whole school, including the hallways, near the office and in the student center so that depositing donations takes only a second. They will be accepting donations all throughout October and November and will package the donations for the upcoming holiday season. On behalf of GIN, we thank you for your participation; we can all make a difference.

News from the Library

We hope you can join us for this special opportunity with world-renowned author/illustrator, Peter H. Reynolds. In this interactive session, Peter will explore how families can promote creativity in their homes. There are limited spots, so please RSVP today! CLICK HERE TO RSVP. Livro Facil will have several of his most popular books for sale if you'd like to get autographed copies. His books have important messages and kids love them! The bookstore already has copies of Say Something, as well as the Portuguese translations of The Dot and The Word Collector. They also have English copies of The Dot, Going Places, and Ish. Get yours while they last! 

Upcoming Important Dates

October 21 to 25	PTA - Teacher Appreciation Week
October 24 to 30	Visiting Author - Peter Reynolds
October 29	8:30 am LS Parent Coffee: Visiting Author - Peter Reynolds (Innovation Studio)
November 1	Halloween Parade
November 7	Pre-primary Field trip to Jardim Botanico
November 9	PTA Thanksgiving
November 11 - 14	Kindness Week
November 15	Holiday - No School (Proclamação da Republica)
November 18	Holiday - No School (Observance Consiencia Negra)
November 19	LS Parent Coffee
November 26	LS Musical
November 28 & 29	No School - Thanksgiving

Around the Lower School 

Math Module 2 Newsletter

The Pig House Challenge - Ms. Kulikowsky / Ms. Takamura

We went to the Innovation Lab to work on The Pig House Challenge. Students used The Design Process to build the strongest house possible to protect the little pig from the big bad wolf.  

Students worked in teams and put on their engineering hats to design, build, and test their houses. Students were given 5 minutes to design the house and then 20 minutes to build the house using a given amount of materials: modeling clay, toothpicks, popsicle sticks, straws, a piece of tape and scissors. 

Enjoy the rest of the pictures and videos on our Instagram account @3rdgradedpk.

The Pig House Challenge

The Design Process

The Big Bad Wolf

The Three Little Pigs

The Houses

Leitura ficcional

Ah, a leitura!
Que momentos de prazer ela nos proporciona!
Ao ar livre, então! É pura inspiração para mantermos esse hábito tão importante para o nosso desenvolvimento intelectual, emocional e criativo.

A hora da caipora

Com a leitura desse livro sobre a lenda da protetora das matas brasileiras, estudamos a concordância nominal. Nada como um pouco de aventura para aprofundarmos a gramática!

3rd Grade Music Program

The third-grade music program focuses on developing music literacy through the reading, listening and writing of melody. The course includes a thorough treatment of the descending and ascending diatonic scale, treble and bass clefs, discrimination of adjacent notes, hearing and recognizing descending minor thirds, and engaging in short melodic dications on the staff. Kodaly hand signs are applied to singing and interval training, and opportunities are provided for students to apply their new skills through engagement with melodic percussion instruments. Students are also taught to distinguish timbres by listening to dictations from a varied set of instruments: flute, recorder, various types of xylophones, and the piano. 

Lower School Update - October 14, 2019

Parent-Teacher Conferences

On Wednesday and Thursday this week, we will have Parent-Teacher Conferences. This is an opportunity for parents to meet with the homeroom teacher to discuss strengths, areas for growth, and next steps. Please be sure to review your child’s report card on Veracross before attending the conference. 

There will be no school for students on Wednesday and Thursday. There will also be no supervision on campus on these days. If children come to campus, they must be directly supervised by a parent and are asked not to interrupt conferences of others.  

Graded Glow Run

Don’t miss Graded’s first Glow Run!  This is the fifth year for Run Against Cancer but this time it’s in the dark! Register now to take part in this exciting event.  

Intellectual Curiosity

The core value of the month for the Lower School is intellectual curiosity.  We know that this means having a “hungry mind.” Here is a list of apps for curious kids.  

Eagle’s Nest

Each week during our Eagle’s Nest on Monday mornings, two classes are awarded the “Golden G.”  Nominated by teachers, this class is chosen by exhibiting the Eagle Way around the school. This week, Dona Sandra’s fifth grade Brazilian Social Studies class won for working hard to investigate concepts and explore new ways to understand the material presented in class.  Ms. Keane’s class won for following directions when their teacher was busy and the students were flexible and attentive to the new teacher with a different routine.  

Donations

The Global Issues Network Club, run by high school students, is hosting a basic necessities drive this semester. The aim of this drive is to collect items like toothbrushes, shampoo, conditioner, soap or any other item which could potentially improve the hygiene for those less fortunate. The team has placed cardboard boxes throughout the whole school, including the hallways, near the office and in the student center so that depositing donations takes only a second. They will be accepting donations all throughout October and November and will package the donations for the upcoming holiday season. On behalf of GIN, we thank you for your participation; we can all make a difference.

Student Council

This October, Graded Lower School will embark on a new initiative with our grade 3, 4 and 5 students. We will be holding elections for Class Representatives to serve on a Student Council. Our StuCo (nickname) will be tasked with supporting and creating activities related to the promotion of school spirit and community. Some ideas include special activities for Kindness Week, School Spirit Challenges and much more. Please encourage your son or daughter to try their leadership skills in this new endeavor! Applications are due on Friday, October 18. 

News from the Library

We hope you can join us for this special opportunity with world-renowned author/illustrator, Peter H. Reynolds. In this interactive session, Peter will explore how families can promote creativity in their homes. There are limited spots, so please RSVP today! CLICK HERE TO RSVP. Livro Facil will have several of his most popular books for sale if you'd like to get autographed copies. His books have important messages and kids love them! The bookstore already has copies of Say Something, as well as the Portuguese translations of The Dot and The Word Collector. On Oct. 20, they'll have English copies of The Dot, Going Places, and Ish. Get yours while they last! 

Upcoming Important Dates

October 14	4:00 pm Report Cards 0nline for Parents
October 16	No school - Parent-Teacher Conferences
October 17	No school - Parent-Teacher Conferences
October 18	Graded Run Against Cancer (Night Run)
October 21 to 25	PTA - Teacher Appreciation Week
October 24 to 30	Visiting Author - Peter Reynolds
October 29	8:30 am LS Parent Coffee: Visiting Author - Peter Reynolds (Innovation Studio)
November 1	Halloween Parade
November 7	Pre-primary Field trip to Jardim Botanico
November 9	PTA Thanksgiving
November 11 - 14	Kindness week
November 15	Holiday - No School (Proclamação da Republica)
November 18	Holiday - No School (Observance Consiencia Negra)
November 19	LS Parent Coffee
November 26	LS Musical
November 28 & 29	No School - Thanksgiving

Around the Lower School