The 79th Street Gate: A Lower Division Newsletter

Dear Lower Division Families:

“I like your tie, Mr. Vogel!” This is often a greeting I get from students throughout the day. I do have nice ties; today’s is Mickey Mouse. In fact, about 100 ties are on 5 tie hangers in my closet. Some I have purchased myself, but many are gifts. Some I wear on holidays, others for specific school days. Some belonged to my father and are from the 50s and 60s. I packed some away in my basement as they are rather wide and quite bright. I still recall some bow ties I wore during my first year of teaching.

Each day I find myself happily complimenting children and parents as they arrive at school.

I like your sense of color
Thank you for being so patient
I appreciate that you held the door
Mom really enjoyed that extra hug
Someone has a wonderful smile today
Getting so independent
What skill on your bike or scooter!

What this all amounts to is modeling kind words and ease of communication for our children. I like… I appreciate…I hear you!

Read through this newsletter. If it were Facebook, I am certain it would receive many “likes.” We can all appreciate what happens at Garden School each day. Remember kind words, and please and thank you!

Enjoy your weekend. See you at the gate on Monday.

Bill Vogel

Early Childhood Cluster

Mathematics is an important component of our nursery program woven into so much of what we do. It is in our calendar work, our daily schedule, the dice we roll, the songs we sing in music, our favorite stories, the steps up to the slide in our outdoor activities, and Mandarin lessons.
Each day begins with a look at the calendar, saying the days of the week, counting the days to today’s number. Looking forward and backward is a math readiness skill: what days/events have already taken place, let us count ahead to see when a holiday will occur or to someone’s birthday; how many more activities until rest time? All build to talk of “yesterday” and “tomorrow.” As with the varied activities in the nursery classroom, all are teachable moments and build mathematics concepts.

Number recognition is learning to identify and name numbers, and this is what the Pre-Kindergarten students have been doing in their math unit of study this month. It is a complicated concept because it involves much more than being able to say a number name. Teaching number recognition includes teaching number names, writing and recognizing digits, counting, and matching numbers to quantity.

One-to-one correspondence is an early learning math skill that involves the act of counting each object in a set once, and only once with one touch per object.

Children love to count. They count everything from the steps that they climb, to how many friends are in school each day. Counting helps them make sense of the world and to find out how many things there are. With time and practice, children develop an understanding of counting. One-to-one correspondence needs to exhibit accurate counting. This is when children begin to assign one number, and only one number, to each object as they count. We see this achievement when a child touches each object as they say the counting words. And this is no small achievement as it requires coordinating motor movement and speech with exact synchrony.

One way the Pre-K children have been learning to identify numbers and count with accuracy is using play dough mats. Rolling out the playdough to form the numbers helps develop the fine-motor skills required for writing, in addition to teaching number formation. New activities to reinforce this unit of study will be added each week. Chicka Chicka 1, 2, 3 by Bill Martin, Ten Apples Up on Top by Dr. Seuss, Ten Black Dots by Donald Crews, and Count on the Subway by Paul DuBois are some of the books we read to support this unit of study.

In Kindergarten we wrapped up our math unit on the four coins: penny, nickel, dime, and quarter! The students were introduced to the names and values of these coins and learned to recognize both the heads and tails sides of each. Students used play coins throughout each lesson everyday which helped create a more tangible learning experience and support their understanding of money in general. Students were able to recreate real-life experiences using the coins and engaged in different role-playing activities such as making 'fair trades' with one another and purchasing items they desired. Would it be fair to trade 5 cents for 12 cents? What coins could I use to buy something that is 30 cents? Through these scenarios, the students were able to learn multiple ways to make the same number of cents using different groups of coins. That is right, we're problem solvers here in Kindergarten!!

Grades 1-2-3 Cluster

We have entered a new unit in math and the first graders are discovering the world of geometry. As students are identifying and counting sides and vertices, they are also making observations about the world of shapes in our everyday lives. Students are building their knowledge of spatial thinking and geometric reasoning which are essential in the development of problem-solving skills. This week the students identified real world objects and used playdough to model solid figures. The class is also enjoying taking inventory of what we see in our routine travels around the building and drawing pictures using plane figures. Next week we look forward to identifying and classifying solid figures according to their properties.

Students in second grade have taken their math skills with counting coins to the next level. This week we worked on calculating the cost of our names. Each letter of the alphabet equals a certain amount, and we worked to add up dollars and cents. The students then transferred their information to a sentence strip, where they wrote out their name, the cost for each letter, and the total amount for their name in dollars and cents. They decorated the colorful strips of paper, and we added them to our Math Bulletin Board. Once everyone had completed the task, we compared the values. It was exciting to find out which names were the most expensive, the least expensive, more than 60 cents, less than 50 cents, and between 50 and 60 cents. The challenge question was to work out a name that equals exactly 75 cents. It was so exciting to see the students trying out every name they could think of, and they did find a winning name!

The third graders have been learning about probability in math. Understanding probability is an essential part of one’s education. The children have conducted their own experiments to determine the likelihood of spinning a particular color or getting one number or another by rolling a die. With their spinners and dice, they recorded their outcomes by first creating a tally chart. They then graphed their results using line plots and bar graphs to interpret their data. From there, they made predictions using their own results. The third graders are learning about statistical concepts such as outcome, and whether an event is certain, possible, or impossible. The children enjoy doing their own experiments and comparing their results with each other. They have explored the randomness of these outcomes and how some experiments are easier to predict than others. The children have greatly enjoyed learning through hands-on activities such as these!

Grades 4-5-6 Cluster

Math class in fourth, fifth, and sixth grade kicked off the fourth and final marking period without missing a step!

Fourth grade focused their studies on Geometry learning the different Geometric shapes and the difference between Perimeter and Area. Next week our fourth graders can look forward to a fun, hands-on activity when they are tasked to create their own “GeoCity,” like our Geo-Robots for Spring Break, but this time they will be tasked to create a town with strict geometric guidelines. This activity will allow our students to get creative, think outside the box, and apply what they learned in Math from several units!

Our fifth graders also spent the last few weeks with their Geometry Unit; however, their studies focused on Area and Volume. Already mastering the different geometric figures, our students were introduced to a topic that will connect to Science class, Volume of Solid Figures. Taking a step away from the textbook and smartboard, they were presented with a STEAM activity that connected Math and Engineering into a fun task- creating the largest volume cube they can with one piece of paper! After a few trial-and-error attempts, our students put their minds to it and with a little tape created a cube that had 689.4 cubic centimeters! During this activity, we learned how volume plays a role in many engineering designs such as packaging, fuel tank sizes, arena layouts, etc. and how we can maximize the cubic units with bare minimum supplies.

Lastly, the sixth graders gave their 100% effort into beginning their final marking period off strong with the conclusion of their Percentage Unit. As precents are a topic in Math that repeats itself throughout all courses of life, it is important that our students understand and grasp it well. To connect with the real world, the class was given a budget, a Chromebook, and a two-day shopping spree. Finding the sales percentage and adding the taxes to their items, the small groups learned quickly that percent is costly!

As we conclude our school year, our Mathematics classes in four through six will all be given the opportunity to participate in a STEAM Challenge that will bring several subject areas together in a fun- action packed way to wrap up 2020-2021!

This week, students in art class experienced the Surrealist paintings of Belgian artist René Magritte. Magritte’s enigmatic paintings often defy reality, playfully depicting everyday objects in uncanny or unexpected ways, sometimes using an exaggerated scale or unlikely combinations. The artist achieved such a level of popularity in the mid-20th century that his artworks were the inspiration for the Beatles’ Apple Records and his ‘False Mirror’ was even the basis for the CBS logo. Lower Division students were encouraged to use their imagination to create an alternate reality or dreamlike world using markers, and crayons or colored pencils.

We were grateful for the opportunity to Co-Chair the Parents’ Association this year and to continue leveraging all of the energy and enthusiasm in our parent community. If you notice in the school’s new strategic plan, the committees want to see our Parents’ Association continue to be a vital support to the mission as we all walk down the Road to 100 together.

There is a lot of history to build upon and the Garden Parents’ Association is excited to carry on many of the traditions that the PTA has shepherded in over the last 96 years (First day of school, Halloween, Book Fair, Teacher Appreciation, Walk-A-Thon, Holiday Gift Fund, etc.) while continuing to support community outreach, parent engagement, welcoming new families, and lending their voices and volunteer hours to our annual Gala.

As we enter the spring season, it is time to think ahead to next year’s leadership and begin to carve out time for collaboration and planning. If you are interested in a leadership position (Chair, a pair of parents who want to Co-Chair, division or grade level leadership), please send an email expressing interest to GPA@gardenschool.org

Sincerely,

Evelyn Frey Zamora & Christine Marengo

21-22 Parent Co-Chairs