The Art of Pablo
3rd grade was introduced to the work of a local painter who uses bold colors in his paintings of figures. Drawing the figure can be both challenging and intimidating so before beginning their own projects, the students cut out paper figures.
Then they teamed up for an activity, taking turns posing and placing the paper figures in the shape of their partner.
This was a silly way to begin looking at the way the body moves! The students used ere fully engaged as they studies the awkward placement of paper limbs before finding the proper pose!
Second graders at LaPerche are learning about their social filter and when to keep thoughts in your head, when you should say it out loud or when to filter it by changing your thought to something that can be said. Students were given a partner and a variety of situations to discuss. The students were very aware of what was expected and unexpected and made a commitment to stop or change the unexpected comments. Students felt unexpected comments included complaints, answers to a test, mean words and play date/party discussions when the whole class is not invited. Our second graders are accountable for their words.
Kindergarten students work hard to learn word families. When the students understand that changing one letter in a word makes a new one, they can read so many new words. On Wednesday, students practiced the at family. They listened to the new word and determined which letter had to be exchanged. Everyone had their own white board they used to demonstrate their thinking. Students were asked to manipulate the letters so all could see the new word. Kindergarten students are word detectives!
During intervention time, LaPerche kindergarten friends worked on letter formation. The students used lined fundations white boards. At the start of each line is a symbol the teacher references when instructing letter formation. Symbols include the sky, a plane, the grass and a worm. On this day, student were prqcting the letters j and k. Beautiful handwriting takes practice!
Our new xylophone program for 5th graders (in place of the band program during the pandemic) is designed to keep students engaged in the world of instrumental music. Through learning to read music, practicing performance techniques, and developing fundamental playing skills on their instruments, students are building skills to help them achieve success in future music endeavors at the middle school and high school. During the music sessions with Mrs. Barrette, the children are learning the importance of practice, how to work together towards a common goal, and how much fun it can be to be a part of the band!
In Physical Education today, second graders traveled to four stations. In one they worked on throwing and blocking to get ready for Quiddach next year. At the second station, the students were building stamina and running as fast as they could down and around the cone. At the bowling station the students worked on rolling with accuracy. The fourth station found students working on kicking and blocking with accuracy. The kids were wiped out at the end!!
The third graders at LaPerche worked on decomposing numbers today. Each student had their own manipulatives as they decomposed (broke apart) their large array into smaller arrays.
Breaking apart the first factor into a known fact and doubling that product helps the students find an unknown fact. All of this helps the students understand what they mean when they say 4 x 4 equals 16.
In second grade today, Miss Day was working with individual students to check their reading growth. While she worked one on one, students independently checked their writing using The Editing Rainbow. Students use it as a guide to improve their writing and indicate to their teacher those edits. Check out the second graders detailed work. At the end of lunch, some students shared their work with the class who gave them feedback. Writing skills are developing in second grade!!
First graders at LaPerche were reading the book Going to School and learning about all the different ways kids go to school around the world. In Canada, some kids go to school on snowmobiles. In some parts of Australia, students walk to school barefoot! Partners discussed why students use different types of transportation to get to school and determined the weather played a big part. The students used the table of contents to search and find the information they needed. First graders are hard workers!
Did you happen to notice the man snow blowing the recess playground this morning? That was Captain Smith of the Smithfield police and dad of three LaPerche Rockstars!! Captain Smith started his day at LaPerche clearing the way for us to easily get to the recess pods!! We are so thankful for our wonderful families!!
Add some snow to the school day and you can’t tell the difference between our oldest and youngest students at LaPerche. We had a ball in the snow today and made some great memories together. Kids built towers, castles, igloos, the Hoover dam, snow creatures including a bunny and more. It was cold but it felt amazing to play in the snow with friends. More pictures can be found on our Facebook page.
LaPerche teachers, staff, students and families rocked the first full distance learning day today!! Kids were learning, families were supporting and teachers and staff were instructing. What an amazing day!! We will be back in the building tomorrow.
Kindergarten friends at LaPerche learned about the parts of the trees in science and then used fine motor skills to rip and twist tissue paper to make their own tree. The class brainstormed adjectives that would describe the tree. Each student received a strip of words they cut out and formed into a sentence. They were able to choose their own adjectives to describe their tree. Snowy, brown, big, and green were some of the words the kindergarten friends chose.
Kindergarten families, don’t let your kids trick you into thinking they need help will their snow gear. At LaPerche, they are working hard to be independent with each piece. Many students just need help with the coat being zippered or the second glove. So proud of our kindergarten friends and their growth in all areas!
The LaPerche December student council hosted a special spirit day on Friday. It was called Heart to Heart from 6 feet apart. Mr. Feinstein challenged schools across Rhode Island to do good deeds so the December student council challenged LaPerche students to do chores around the house to earn a dollar to bring in and donate so we could purchase small items for residents of a nursing home. The residents are lonely since they are not able to have visits from family and friends right now. The kids at LaPerche also decorated many cards that we will include with the small gifts. The students and families of LaPerche donated $375 towards this amazing cause. Thank you to all for your generosity!!
The Smithfield High School National Honor Society is excited to announce that we will be celebrating the joy of the holidays with our little friends of Smithfield!
Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 6:00pm, we will be reading stories with a variety of reading levels to elementary school students along with special guests! Our story times will start December 2nd and run until December 30th with the exception of Christmas! These sessions will last for about 30 minutes and each will be an awesome opportunity for kids to practice their reading skills! The kids will be able to join easily with their student account! We hope that you will share the links to the Google Meet with families and all are welcome to join!
Let’s come together as a community to capture the thrill of the holidays! We hope to see everyone soon!
Happy Holidays!
Smithfield High National Honor Society
Link to Schedule: NHS: December Reading Schedule
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mRMbckO4mIkLdIGR5sBze6KeI-F_npQbt05IvQIhO5I/edit?usp=sharing
Classroom Code: 6t3b36u
Link to the Live Google Meet
https://meet.google.com/etz-kjpp-aia?authuser=0&hs=122
Link to a Live Stream
https://stream.meet.google.com/stream/3be1c4ba-381a-4a6a-98b7-0241ba632d81?authuser=0
Today the first graders at LaPerche celebrated the fiftieth day of school!! The students took the 50 Day 50
Second challenge to see how many bunny hops, hand jives, jumping jacks and hulas they could do in 50 seconds. They dressed up in 50’s outfits and had it made in the shade!!
Thankful Kindergarten Friends!
Kindergarten Friends went on a virtual scavenger hunt around their house. They had to find items that they were thankful for, items that kept them warm, items that they love, and more. Below is a picture of kindergarten friends finding someone that they are thankful for in their homes. So much love from our kindergarten friends!
Kindergarten friends shared 3 things that they are thankful for. Friends expressed thanks for family, friends, pets, sports, and so much more. Mrs. Friel is thankful for 22 special students. Check out some thing amazing about each one in the picture below. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Mr. Feinstein started a new program this year called the Golden Ticket Raffle. Each Junior Scholar at in Rhode Island including LaPerche (every student) was given a Golden Ticket. Tickets are individually numbered and each was assigned to an individual student. Each week, Mr. Feinstein pulls five winning tickets. If your ticket number is called and you claim it in a week, the school wins $5000 and the student wins $500 to donate to a charity of their choice or back to the school. Today LaPerche had our first Golden Ticket Winner!!! A second grader in Miss Day’s class was the winner and she came running to the office with the winning ticket!! After celebrating with us and calling her mom, she decided to donate the $500 back to LaPerche!! What an amazing gift. Thank you Mr. Feinstein for your endless generosity and congratulations to our second grader!!!
At LaPerche, third grade and kindergarten in person and virtual students joined together and read “In November” and then discussed what usually happens in November in nature and in our homes. We then talked about how this year may look a little different, but we can still show thankfulness and love to those we can’t be with.
We then did a directed turkey card for seniors at Smithfield Woods who may not get to be with their families for Thanksgiving. LaPerche students sending love to others!
