Tech Work at the Multicultural Fair

Hopefully you had a chance to come and see the displays the students made for the Multicultural Fair. Maybe you noticed some of the work they did in Tech classes, making labels, printing maps and flags and creating trifold brochures. We had a lot of fun doing it and hopefully these are skills that will be useful in many projects to come!

Professor Watermelon Visits

Professor Watermelon, former CHA librarian Chadwick Gillenwater, has published a new book called Herbert.  

Herbert is a fly who makes delicious honey. But flies aren’t supposed to make honey. They are supposed to forage the dump for all things spoiled and rotten. Instead of staying at the dump and disgracing his family, Herbert sets out to find the Honeycomb Palace. Will he make it without one of the ferocious and carnivorous dragonflies devouring him? And if he does make it, will Her Majesty the Queen Bee even let a fly inside her hive? Herbert’s journey is filled with triumphs and setbacks, and along the way, a cast of not-so-ordinary characters show Herbert that life isn’t so black and white beyond the dump.

 

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Professor Gillenwater graciously donated his time and shared chapters and writing hints with the Kindergarten through fourth grade classes.  Many students and families pre-ordered the book, but if you would like a copy, please let Mrs. Duffina know.

'Tis the Season!

Congratulations to our 3rd graders on a fantastic performance at Bellevue Square Mall! They sang 14 songs, and did a wonderful job of representing CHA. They are a talented group and it is great working with them!

K-4th PE

Happy Holidays here at CHA! What a wonderful time of the year. This week, all of our students participated in games and activities that emphasized kicking. Our K & 1st graders dribbled around cones and also tried to knock them over by kicking a ball. 2nd-4th grade students played a few games of "Human Foosball", which was a modified version of indoor soccer, as students had an assigned, restricted area to move around in. Here we can see some of our 2nd graders in the heat of foosball. Enjoy your weekend!

 

It is that time of year!!!

Our students had so much fun working on the Art auction projects.

We have been blessed with very creative and fun parent volunteers.

Thank you so much for your time and all the fun projects.

 

 

 

Tying in Technology with the Cultural Fair

Kindergarten and First Grade students had the opportunity to create maps of their Cultural Fair countries this week in Technology.  Using the Microsoft Paint program, Kindergarten students created a map of Turkey and First Graders created a map of Thailand which included labels of the capital and surrounding countries.   These maps were printed and will be placed in their portfolios.

New Titles in the Library

Mrs. Duffina has been busy cataloging new books to add to our CHA library collection.  These books have been donated by individual students as birthday books and donations from the book fair.  A big thank you goes to CHAPTER for donating many new titles ranging from Kindergarten reading level all the way through Middle School.  Not only were fiction books donated, but we also acquired quite a few new non-fiction titles.  Mrs. Duffina shared many of them with the students, and they were quickly checked out!

Congratulations...

 

...to our latest Type to Learn 3 Graduate. Well done Ethan!

Windows 8 in the Tech Lab!

Thank you so much to all the parents who donated copies of Windows 8 so that I could upgrade the Tech lab at CHA. The students are really excited, as you can tell from the answer this student provided in a Math test this afternoon!

Concert season is here!

It's great working with students as we prepare for concert season here at CHA! Our 3rd graders have been gearing up for their performance at Belle Square mall this Wednesday. It will be excting to see and hear them perform for parents, and also the many mall shoppers! Last year, I remember quite a crowd gathering the see student's perform. Our 3rd graders are a strong group of singers. It's great to hear them sing with such clarity and energy, and I'm amazed at how quickly they learn songs!

Other grades are hard at work for the upcoming Peace and Light Festival. Kindergarten will be studying and singing about the country of Turkey. 1st grade-Thailand, 2nd grade- Russia, 3rd grade- Spain, 4th grade Kenya, and 5th grade-Egypt. I hope everyone is enjoying the start of their holiday season!

"Dónde está la pegatina?" (Where is the sticker?) - Kinder

Kindergarteners reviewed classroom vocabulary by playing "Dónde está la pegatina?" (Where is the sticker?).  A sticker was hidden underneath one of the vocabulary cards and they needed to guess where it was by saying the name of the object in Spanish. If they found the sticker they could keep it.

3rd grade - review game

Third graders finished up their bedroom projects this week and were able to play a new review game with a group of students. One student chose a card from the pile and if they could say what it was in English (or from English to Spanish), then they kept the card. If they didn't know what the answer was or said the incorrect word, then they placed the card back in the pile. The student with the most cards at the end won the game. Third graders had a great time playing this review game!

Fourth grade - "Qué te gusta hacer?" (What do you like to do?)

Last week fourth grade students asked four different people "Qué te gusta hacer?" (What do you like to do?) and "Qué no te gusta hacer?" (What don't you like to do?). They then used the data they collected to make a class tally chart, marking the likes and dislikes. We then discussed which activities were most and least popular.

 

 

 

 

This week Señorita Mary came and visited the Spanish classroom and joined in a classroom chat about things the students liked to do and didn't like to do. Fourth graders enjoyed having her visit the classroom! Gracias Señorita!

1st Grade Music- A quick trip to Thailand

1st grade students have started learning about Thailand, through pictures, videos, and songs. Students are learning about the festival of water, called "Loy Kratong" that has English translation to the lyrics, and the "Elephant Song" which is sung in Thai! We had a real treat, as one of our parents came to class and shared with students about Thai culture and customs, and the importance of the Elephant. It's always great to hear our first graders sing, and it will be exciting to see and hear them perform in December!

K-4th PE

Season's greetings!  Hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving break in style last week.  For this week in PE we focused our attention on the skill of jumping.  Our older students played a couple games of "Team Jump Rope" where in teams of 3-4, they would take turns jumping rope and try to complete as many jumps as they could within an allotted amount of time.  Our K-2nd graders participated in a jumping circuit, where they performed hurdling motions, ski jumps, and a standing long jump.  Here we can see one of our 4th grade classes in the heat of "Team Jump Rope."  Until next time!

Folktales in LIbrary

In preparation for the Cultural Fair, the students have been hearing and discussing folktales from the countries they are studying in their homerooms.  Kindergarten students heard the short story, "Will You Marry Me, Mouse?" and tales from Goha the Wise Fool both based from Turkey.  First grade students enjoyed hearing The Girl Who Wore Too Much and the beginning of The Tale of Two Rice Birds, traditional folktales from Thailand.  The second grade students heard one version of Baba Yaga and Bearhead which are folktales from Russia.  In preparation for their study of Spain, third grade students heard Medio Pollito and The Beautiful Butterfly.  Fourth grade students completed some research on the Internet as a group and heard The Frog King from Kenya.  After looking up information on various atlases about Egypt, the students heard and discussed two myths.
Students will continue to hear folktales and complete work from an atlas for the next week or two.

4th Grade Tech

This week the students finalized and published the movies they have been making about Islandwood. Using Windows Live Moviemaker they combined photos, text and music to create videos reflecting their experience at the environmental camp. You can view the videos here. If you need information on how to access our CHA Flickr Album please email support@chestnuthhillacademy.com

 For the past two weeks, middle school students used radial symmetry to create these name designs. Radial symmetry occurs when lines or shapes spread out from a center point.
Students began the lesson by folding a square piece of paper into 8 sections. Then they create a triangle with their name in bubble or block letters. Next, They traced their name onto each section, flipping their name over every other time to acieve a mirro image. By using markers, they added color to their design. See if you can identify the artist who's name is hidden within their artwork!

First Grade in Spanish

First graders were excited to review the numbers in Spanish by playing 10 corners. (To the left)

First grade students enjoy being leaders in Spanish class and this week one student was chosen to ask the rest of the class whether they like the fruit/vegetable or not. The leader for that class period asked "¿Te gusta el tomate?" and their classmates responded with either "Sí, me gusta el tomate." or "No, no me gusta el tomate."

Restaurant Skit Preparation

 Second graders have been working on the foods and will soon begin to create a restaurant skit with one or two of their classmates. This week we completed a conversation circle and students  practiced asking each other "Que te gusta comer?" (What do you want to eat?) in Spanish, with their partner answering in a sentence of what they wanted to eat. Some of the classes also began to work with "Que quieres beber?" (What do you want to drink?

Second grade students received their restaurant skit partners and began working on their menus for their skits.  They are super excited to present their skits!

3rd Grade Tech

The Third Grade students have been using Word to create a comparison table showing information about schools in Spain and the US. It is a real breakthrough when I see the students using both hands to type without me having to remind them, which is why this photo made me happy!

4th Grade Tech

Fourth Graders have nearly finished their Islandwood movies. This week the students added musicand when we come back after Thanksgiving they will be learning how to publish them. I will be uploading the movies to Flickr so that you can share them at home, so watch out for an email with the details!

Brass...Salsa...Theory.

Middle School students have started some singing rehearsals in addition to playing band instruments. The percussion section has been working on a short piece called "Salsa" that features some basic Cuban rhythm patterns. Pictured here is the trombone section, who continues to improve and it's great working with them! 2nd-3rd grade students have been working hard in their 5 Minute Theory Books, which is a small book/program that helps prepare them with music symbols and basic music notation. The exercises are very short and specified, making it beneficial for students  who haven't had musical training yet as well as those who have, allowing them to work ahead at their own pace. We've also spent 2 weeks working on "Grand Old Flag" for Veteran's Day. Students were fantastic at the assembly! Bravo!!

Cityscape Collage Art

Come and take a look at Cityscape Collage Art by our Kindergarteners and 1st graders located on the 2nd floor gallery!!The students learned about different types of shapes. They also learned  some basic paper layering technique and how to create a picture using the collage method of gluing paper together to form the image. Their creation turned out great!!

Number Fun!

 

Kindergarten started learning some number songs in Spanish.  We practiced the numbers by following number dots in a circle to music. When the music stopped we said what number we were on in Spanish!

Fruits & Vegetables Placemat

 

 
This week first graders continued working on the fruits and vegetables placemat.  They finished up their "frutas" side and began working on their "verduras" side.

Hundertwasser-inspired Collage World

For the past few weeks, 4th and Middle school students have been working on their collage art inspired by Hundertwasser.                                   We talked about Hundertwasser’s love for lines and color, especially dark brights. Then, on two pieces of white paper, we painted strips of warms colors (red, pink, orange and yellow) on one sheet and cool colors (purple, blues, greens) on the other. After the paintings are dried, we cut out lollipop trees and different shapes, and glue them on either warm color or cool color construction paper.

The students added photos to make it look like they belonged in the collage. They had so much fun working on the project and their collage turned out great!!!

 

 

4th grade music- Rock.

4th grade students are rockin' and rollin' with their recorders and guitars. It's great to hear student's play! Guitar class started with basic such as the parts of the guitar, frets and finger numbers, a little bit of tuning, then straight into one string melodies. It's fun to hear the students playing familar melodies from the rock genre. Many students are ready for 2 string melodies and chords which we will start. Recorder class has been doing call and response while learning new notes, and they're starting an African folk game played on the instrument, called "Olari Lobe." Great job 4th Grade!

Library Skills

For the past few weeks, Kindergarten, First, and Second Grade students have been practicing their alphabetizing skills to help them better understand how the library is organized.  In Kindergarten, we've played games and read stories about nocturnal animals.  Third and Fourth Grade students have been working on alphabetizing skills focusing on dictionaries.  The Fourth Grade students have also been learning about the various literary genres.   

K-4th PE

Season's greetings!  This week in K-4th grade PE we introduced the sport of volleyball and worked on some of its basic skills.  Our students practiced our "bump, set, and spike" techniques of hitting the volleyball.  Here you can see some of our second graders fine-tuning their setting skills.  Have a great weekend!

Kudos to our Newest Keyboarding Graduate

Ryan becomes one of a select number of Chestnut Hill Academy students to complete Type to Learn 3 and Type to Learn 4 - an awesome achievement. Well done Ryan!

Dia de los Muertos!

 

¡Feliz Día de los Muertos!

This week students celebrated and talked about Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) which is celebrated in Mexico on November 1^st and 2^nd. This holiday is a time to remember people who have died. It is not a scary holiday, but a joyous time, because the belief is that the spirits of loved ones come back to visit on these days. Families create altars and on the altars they place pictures of loved ones or objects representing those who have passed to help welcome them back.

A school altar was set up near the front desk for students to place pictures of the loved ones in their lives who have passed on.

 

Each grade level completed a Día de los Muertos project in either Art of Spanish class.  Their projects turned out great!  Fourth graders and Middle School students finished up their sugar skulls and were able to take them home at the end of the week.

Students had a wonderful time celebrating Día de los Muertos.