PAL 2 - Elefante Letrado

For two weeks now, PAL 2nd grade students have been accessing the reading platform

Elefante Letrado to read and listen to books in Portuguese.

Do you know how to access the reading platform?

  The 2nd graders do!!!!

  Let's learn from them and use the platform wherever we want.  

#1 - Digite o endereço www.elefanteletrado.com.br	#2 -  Clique em entrar
#3 -  Digite o login  -> Nati_Grad	#4 -  Encontre o seu nome
#5 - Digite a sua senha	#6 - Divirta-se com a leitura

2nd Grade Music Program

The second grade music program focuses predominantly on rhythm. The course includes a thorough treatment of time signatures, measure subdivision, and all aspects of rhythmic figures (names, values, parts, how to draw them, and their respective rests). At the end of the course, students should be able to recognize figures up to the 64th note, and complete rhythmic dictations with half-notes, whole-notes, quarter-notes, eighth-notes and their respective rests. Rhythm is also taught using body percussion exercises and the playing of classroom percussion instruments. 

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 

Lower School Update - October 7, 2019

Intellectual Curiosity

As you know, we are focusing on intellectual curiosity this month.  We read a book, “Going Places,” during Eagle’s Nest last week about two children who were in a go-cart competition.  They let curiosity guide their design and when the reach the finish line, they are curious about another way to design a go-cart. Ask your child what the characters saw at the end of the book!

Children are naturally curious about the world around them and we need to help nurture this curiosity.  This article lists ways to encourage curiosity and “How Stuff Works” is a great website for students to engage their wonderings.  

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. Bruna’s class was awarded the Golden G for their exemplary hallway behavior and Mrs. Fitch’s class was awarded the Golden G for great behavior in the cafeteria and cleaning up after themselves.  

Student Council

Also during our Eagle’s Nest this week, Ms. Colette announced the Lower School Student Council.  Students in Grades 3-5 listened to a brief overview of the purpose - to promote fun and community.  They also learned about the process for electing representatives from each class. If your child would like to apply, applications are due on Friday, October 18th.  

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

Upcoming Important Dates

October 8	5th Grade Field Trip - Jardim Botanico (Kitto & Gehrels)
October 10	5th Grade Field Trip - Jardim Botancio (Wilganowski, Wolfe & Gaines)
October 11	Professional Learning Day for Teachers  (No school for students)
October 14	4:00 pm Report Cards 0nline
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

Around the Lower School 

G2 Curriculum Update - October 4th

Here is what is coming up in Grade Two.

Reading: Students have been practicing reading with fluency, solving tricky words independently, and and finding the lesson in a book.  To celebrate this work, students will be making book recommendations and reflecting on how this unit has made them grow as readers.

Writing: Our grade two authors have been writing many stories from their own lives.  To end the unit, the students are looking to their favorite authors to find inspiration and new craft moves, and publishing their writing.

Social Studies: Students have been comparing and contrasting urban and rural communities. They are starting to work not only on what they see that is different, but what things people do that are different, such as jobs and activities. We are also beginning to explore some of the infrastructure in a city and how that is different to the infrastructure in the countryside. Furthermore, students are seeing some of the similarities between the two communities, such as food. Next week students will synthesize the information we learned about cities and take a deeper dive into the city of Sao Paulo to explore how the parts of the city impact us. 

Math: We just started Module 3: Place Value, Counting, and Comparison of Numbers to 1,000!

Students expand their skill with and understanding of unit by bundling ones, tens, and hundreds (up to a thousand) with straws or sticks. They solve simple problems that require an understanding of place value as a system based on repeated groupings by 10.
How you can help at home:

·        Count in a pattern while doing a rhythmic or repeated task - stirring pancake batter, brushing hair, putting away groceries, walking.

·        Roll two dice to make a two digit number. Subtract it from 99 or 100.

·        Represent two digit numbers with popsicle sticks - make bundles of ten for the tens and use single sticks for the ones.

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