See previous Enrichment Letters

Enrichment Newsletter 2004-05 Q2

COMPUTER SKILLS WITH MRS. FOX

Each year the students in Computer are further advanced from those students the year before. Second and third grades are already making their own animations by accessing the Internet to download pictures and information. Even the first graders can assemble a slide show presentation as they have learned to navigate around the computers. The fourth, fifth and six graders are learning the finer points of making a Power Point presentation such as adding animation, sounds and pictures. This quarter, the fifth grade will be making and presenting a Power Point presentation on a state.

Often the students will access the Internet through the Salem Lutheran Computer Lab web site and then will want to do the same at home from their computer. This site is accessible at salemlutheranglendaleschool.org. Computer Lab link is near the bottom. Take a look at the web page. There are many links to current projects that the students are using as well as some educational games.

P.E. WITH MS. SEDA

Wow, we are in mid-December and have accomplished so much! The kids really enjoyed the unit on baseball and their skills increased tremendously with all the games we played!

We are now focusing on learning basketball rules and skills. The students have learned rules such as where the free throw and three-point lines are and how long they can stay inside the key. They have picked teams and are now beginning to play games.

As I am sure you have heard from your child, each student warms up by running for three minutes per day. They record the number of laps they ran on the chart and at the end of each quarter I time them to see how much they have improved. We also do stretches for three minutes after we run. We make a circle and a different student volunteers to do each stretch. After three minutes of running and stretches, all the students get a drink of water. We have discussed the importance of drinking water and encourage each student to drink at least 6 to 8 glasses per day.

Your children are a pleasure to have in class and I thank you for sharing them with me. Have a blessed Christmas season.

ART WITH MS. FODCZUK

Merry Christmas! May this holiday season bring you peace, rest and joy.

Mrs. Banke and I have been working together so that the whole school can share and exhibit art as one. Of course the younger children cannot be as precise and advanced in their execution as the 4th, 5th and 6th grades, but their creative spirit and colorful projects are a pure delight!

All Saints Day brought to our church the Procession of Saints made by the older children while the 1st, 2nd and 3rd grades worked on shields with animals representing attributes of saints. In our focus on prominent artists, the children finished their projects on Mary Cassatt. In the month of December every student copied or based their Christmas project on Henri Matisse’s work “Nuit de Noel” -”Night of Christmas.” I hope to show this work during the Christmas program. .Matisse’s “Night of Christmas” is an unconventional expression of the peace and light of Christmas night. The whole creation leaps out of an indescribable but silent joy -- something to meditate on during the Christmas season.

MUSIC WITH MRS. SPEER

The months of November and December are extremely busy and far too short in our music department. We finished studying our music history unit, Popular Music in the Twentieth Century – featuring Rock n’ Roll, by listening to a song, written and recorded by The Black Eyed Peas with Justin Timberlake, titled Where Is the Love. As one might imagine, the children loved the rhythm, rap and music…but more importantly, they were interested in the words. You would have been impressed by the lively classroom discussions which occurred afterwards! Our children are very concerned about the world and insightful regarding the many social concerns addressed by the lyrics in this song. They wanted to problem solve and offered many creative ideas for Christians to make a difference in Glendale, the United States, and around the globe. Learning about Rock n’ Roll and listening to recordings by many musicians and their hits was so popular among our Salem Lutheran students that it was hard to move on.

November brought the weekly Chapel unit: “Names for God” and a beautiful new hymn Bring Many Names written by contemporary composer Carlton Young, and British author Brian Wren. Of course, what is November without patriotic songs, Americana music and traditional thanksgiving hymns? We listened to many recordings and sang several favorites. The definite highlight of the month was our Thanksgiving Chapel and feast complete with Pilgrims, Native-Americans, and food donations to the Salvation Army! Thank you for sharing so generously!

Our December Chapel unit includes traditional and contemporary Advent music and Christmas carols as we prepare for Jesus’ birth. We are currently experiencing a frenzied music class marathon as we count down the final rehearsal days to our school’s annual Christmas Worship Service on Tuesday evening, December 21st at 7:00 PM. This year’s theme is Festival of Lights. Our worship will begin with the traditional Service of Light, called Lucernarium from Vespers/Evening Prayer, chanted by Pastor Dale Banke. The children are proud that they have learned to chant the responses and sing the evening hymn titled Joyous Light of Glory included in this ancient service. The sixth grade is busy preparing several nativity tableaus to enhance the Christmas story and all of the students are eagerly anticipating the performance of their class scripture reading and song as well…your attendance will support all of their extra rehearsing and hard work! You may assist your children by helping them memorize their choral music for this special holiday worship. And, please arrive early…our two school Handbell Choirs (students in Grades 5 & 6) are planning to delight you with their Christmas Prelude Music!

SPANISH WITH MS. URRUTIA

We have been working very hard in November and December. I am really proud of everyone. Spanish has become part of the childrens’ lives and they are doing such a great job.

In November, Junior Kindergarten and Kindergarten have been working on learning the colors in Spanish. So far they have learned red, green, yellow, orange, black, brown, white, and blue and have a follow-up activity relating to each color to reinforce their skill.

First through sixth graders learned the new vocabulary lists, some Spanish phrases and more about Hispanic culture. First graders learned some fruit names, for example, apple (mazana), peach (durazno), and banana (platano). In second grade we also learned about fruit names, as well as other words such as elado (ice cream), pan (bread), pollo (chicken), etc. Third graders focused on learning words related to Thanksgiving like peregrine (pilgrim), pavo (turkey), Indio (Indian), etc. The fourth graders learned the names of different kinds of foods you eat during breakfast, lunch or dinnertime, for example, leche (milk), papas fritas (french fries), arroz (rice), etc. In fifth grade the vocabulary list was based on table items such as cuchara (spoon), tenedor (fork), mantel (table cloth) etc. Sixth graders learned words that are used in a market setting, for example, balanza (scale), carrito (cart), precio (price).

In December Junior Kindergarten and Kindergarten students are learning new color words in Spanish, for example, white (blanco), purple (morado), and blue (azul). They have also learned about "Las Posadas" and are currently working on a Christmas booklet.

First through sixth graders learned words related to Christmas like Merry Christmas (Feliz Navidad), snow (nieve), carols (villancicos), wreath (guirnalda), etc. They are also learning about "Las Posadas." The second through sixth graders wrote touching Christmas cards in Spanish to send to the orphans in Mexico. Feliz Navidad!

ART WITH MRS. BANKE

In December, fourth and fifth graders completed their nesting paper doll family project. (I hope you were as pleased with them as I was!) The sixth graders only managed to make a beautiful Christmas ornament given their limited art schedule.

In January, we will continue our “world folk art” theme. The sixth graders will finally get to make those paper shadow puppets (based upon an Indonesian tradition used to tell stories that teach children life lessons). They will make a set of puppets (in groups of three or four) to tell a short, simple story with a moral. Ms. Grimes has agreed to work with them to develop the written scripts. They will present their stories with their puppets sometime in February (and hopefully during Chapel).

During this same period, fifth graders will make shadow puppets to tell the story of black segregation in America and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Fourth graders will tell the story of black slavery and Abraham Lincoln. At this time, this is only an art project and will not be performed, but it should prove to be an excellent learning tool for both black history and art.

In March, we will begin our Lenten project, the Stations of the Cross as silhouettes based on Polish paper cutting. Our own Ms. Joanna has agreed to consult with us on the process. As you know, she is from Poland and is both an artist and teacher!

In April (to get ready for El Cinco de Mayo), we will study Diego Rivera. Using his mural style, each of my classes will paint a paper banner that celebrates the Mexican-American community and its many contributions to the United States.