Memory Morning

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Posted by kbonfigli | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on June 16, 2017

Children’s art can be so telling. Today many students chose to highlight the year by making a banner with some friends. Others took a more personal approach and completed a memory book. We hung up the banners and stepped back to see what the year was like. What an insightful activity. These are the four banners that were made.

Final Genius Hour

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Posted by kbonfigli | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on June 9, 2017

Today was our last Friday to create during genius hour. Students had a choice of what they wanted to create. As you will see there were a variety of choices.

 

Special Activities

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Posted by kbonfigli | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on May 30, 2017

Over the past few weeks we have been participating in some challenges involving building and creating. One challenge involved building a boat out of 1 square foot of aluminum foil. As soon as students tested their boat, they went back to improving their design and trying something else. It was enjoyable to watch and listen to the conversations they had with their team as well as when comparing their designs with another team.

 

The following week students were challenged to build the tallest tower with newspaper and tape that could hold a cap eraser on the top. As time went on, they were improving on their design and eventually students build towers that were over 3 feet tall. One design aspect they learned was the importance of the base.

We have had another All School Assembly and Oscar was rocking it! He flew in to encourage us to keep on being safe, respectful and responsible and led us in a fun dance. Oscar sure has moves.

 

It is so hard to believe that we only have 13 days left together. We will be walking to a town department and sharing what we learned with the classmates that chose another location. We will be going to Bayside on June 13th for the day, as well as inviting you in to see our writing on the day of the barbecue. The last day of school is the famous 5th grade talent show. As you may know, we no longer expect homework to be completed, so enjoy the evenings. I know there is a lot going on with sports and with the weather getting nice, it’s fun to get outside and play.

Thoughtful Students

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Posted by kbonfigli | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on May 3, 2017

I have seen thoughtful students in several ways this week. First of all, you should see these students think and work hard on their SBAC tests. Take a look at how hard they are working.

Second of all, students showed up with lots of blue clothing on yesterday (my favorite color) right down to their shoes. And today I was showered with flowers. Thank you so much for sharing your love and appreciation.



And finally, thank you parents for sending in mints, gum and snacks to help with focusing and relaxation. The students have been able to take breaks and stay calm during this challenging time. You are great!

Flynn Field Trip

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Posted by kbonfigli | Posted in Special Event | Posted on April 19, 2017

It all started last Friday when the Flynn Center came to our classroom to prepare us for Ty DeFoe. We spent time moving with hoops and to the rhythm of different songs. The hardest part was trying to interact with a hula hoop.

The show on Monday was very educational and entertaining. Ty talked a lot about his Native culture focusing on their dance, music and regalia. We were treated to an amazing hoop dance for the finale. I think this was everyone’s favorite part. And we are all excited for the movie, Born in China on Friday.

 

 

Coding in the Classroom

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Posted by kbonfigli | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on April 9, 2017

This week’s coding challenge was for students to create a story using Scratch. Most chose to work on a team to complete this challenge and the engagement,  collaboration and creative juices were flowing. Take a look at these faces in the photos. After sharing the stories with the class, I showed a video that I had just watched at our In-service on Thursday. This video talks about the importance of schools teaching coding. If interested in learning more about this, click on the video link or check out Code.org.

Here are some of the stories created. You may have to read the instructions to know how to forward the story line. Or ask your child how to work the program.


Drones Can Save Elephants and Rhinos

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Posted by kbonfigli | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on April 5, 2017

This past week we have been reading about the ways in which people are saving animals in Africa. One of the ways involves drones. Since Patience is from Africa, and her father flies drones, we had a special visitor today (Patience’s dad) to discuss the importance of taking care of the “spaceship” we are on and how drones can be useful. We also got to see Mr. Semahar fly the drone in the classroom. He is a skilled drone pilot! Thank you Mr, Semahar for coming in to share your knowledge and passion for your beautiful country of Africa

 

February Highlights

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Posted by kbonfigli | Posted in Within the Classroom | Posted on February 26, 2017

The month of February flew by and I can’t believe it is time for our Winter Break. The students worked hard and we had some fun too! The next time I see you, it will be March. I look forward to sharing your child’s progress at our parent conference either on March 6th and 7th. If you haven’t signed up yet, you can find the link here. You can also call the front office and Jeanne can help you schedule a conference.

Reading: We read several books that had the theme of “kindness”. Students were looking for evidence of characters that were kind in their independent reading books as well. During the last two weeks of the month we documented characters and classmates acts of kindness on a heart and hung on the tree in the hallway.

 

Writing: Students published their informational writing on an animal of their choice. They researched with a partner, chose two main ideas to focus on, planned their writing on a graphic organizer then wrote in a Google document. While working in docs they also added photos with captions to support the text.  The final doc was printed in color as well as posted to their blog.

Math: Students have been introduced to fractions, and we will revisit again this coming trimester. During one of our last days we had fun making “fraction pictures.” Subtraction with trading is a focus right now as well as continuing to develop multiplication strategies for 6’s, 7’s, 8’s, and 9’s.

Science: We had a blast with our inquiry unit on magnets and electricity. Students learned about magnets repelling and attracting and were able to test the strength of a magnet. They also learned what it takes to make a complete circuit and how a switch works as well as what items make good insulators and conductors. Our final inquiry was to create an electromagnet and discover what increases its strength.

Other events:

Coding: Students are getting more and more creative with Scratch. I challenged them to come up with a way to show kindness with the coding they have learned so far. I was amazed with their creativity. They will learn to put some of their creations on their blog. In the meantime, ask them to show you what they are working on!

Kids on the Block puppet show presented on what it’s like to be visually impaired.  Gigi got to try it out by walking with a stick while blindfolded.

Lunch in the classroom. And the school gave us free cookies!

Wacky Winter Walk. We made masks for this event. Check out the kids ready to be wacky!

Music Concert: It was great to see you at the concert. Thank you for bringing your child to participate. It’s a good experience for them to perform for an audience. The energy was so high when you dropped them off in the classroom. They were excited to show you what they had learned during music class.

We shared Valentines on February 14th and enjoyed yummy sugar cookies!

That about wraps up the month. It was jammed packed with events. Enjoy the week off.

 

Fun Friday

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Posted by kbonfigli | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on January 30, 2017

On Friday we had several activities planned that allowed active engagement in math, science and technology. Students learned how to play Fraction Memory. It’s a great what to start recognizing equivalent fractions. Students also became scientists as they explored the strength of magnets. In the afternoon the Tech Kids came to help learn coding. Students now have a Scratch account that will help explore coding. Our Genius Hour on Friday will be dedicated to this for the next few weeks.

 

Native American Presentations

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Posted by kbonfigli | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on January 27, 2017

Groups of students from each classroom in the Greenhouse broke off to present their knowledge of the Native American region they became experts on. The Bonfigli Bunch split up into four groups and represented the Plains Indians. Here are the four groups that presented. I am proud of the presentation the whole class made in Google Slides and for the courage they had to stand up before their peers to share their knowledge. If you haven’t had a chance to see the presentation, click here.  Enjoy the show!

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