The students in Mrs. Giza and Mrs. Ware’s second grade class have been studying the water cycle. They made rain gauge to record the amount of rain for the next month. They made one for the outdoor classroom and one to take home. Over 6 inches of rain were recorded last month! Click here for some pics.
Writing About Pumpkins at the Cunningham School
On November 6, the students in Mrs. Andresino and Mr. E’s class got together to write a non-fiction book about pumpkins. The students have been studying pumpkins for several weeks. They created their pictures using collage art and wrote a book about all they had learned about pumpkins. After creating the pictures, they wrote the book “Our Pumpkin Patch”. You can get a glimpse of the book by going to www.blurb.com/bookstore/ and typing "Our Pumpkin Patch" in the search window. The class completed the book in both French and English. Click here to see some pics of the project.
Studying Local Wildlife
As the third grade begins their study of food chains, they studied about local wildlife in Milton. Each student was given a picture of a local wildlife. They then had to go around and find the other members of their class who had a similar picture. They had to ask questions or give clues to find the other members of their group. After they found their group, they had to do some research on the animal and make a poster showing the animal’s habitat and food chain. Click here to see some pics.
November 13th
7:30 PM
Milton High School Library
As we start our 6th year, we're building momentum for the outdoor classroom projects at all the schools. At the meeting, we'll be setting goals for each site to accomplish this year and will be brainstorming how to work together to make them happen.
Please spread the word about this opportunity to get involved and enhance our childrens' education in such a meaningful way!
Teachers from the Collicot and Cunningham schools met with parent organizers in October to discuss the future of an outdoor classroom and ways to improve the school's campus by adding more natural habitat. After a brief introduction from Learning by the Yard (www.learningbytheyard.com), teachers were asked to tour the school grounds looking for pathways, drainage systems, and already existing natural habitats. After reconvening in the building and discussing their findings, teachers were asked to share their ideas of what would be useful for an outdoor space. Finally, the presenters shared a slide show of outdoor classrooms and school grounds that have been enhanced by planting. Faculty will use these spaces to help teach life science.
Ms. Kelble, Ms. McDermott, Mrs. McIntyre, Mrs. LaMonica, Mr. Doyle, Mrs. Fidrocki, Mme Bourass-Elzein, Mr. McCormick, Ms. Power, Ms. Rooney, Ms. Calnan, Mrs. Chen, Mrs. Andresino and Ms. Lefort attended and will be the school's leaders with this project.
Mr. Doyle's and Ms. Lefort's classes were given the same presentation and did the same outdoor activity as the teachers. They were also given a chance to mark the locations of their findings on a blueprint of the campus. Finally, students could share ideas of what they would like to see for outside improvements and why.
Margaret Eberhardt and Janet MacNeil will present an MOC update (and a call for volunteers) to the School Committee, 7:00 pm, October21st. . Click here to download the powerpoint presentation (~5MB)
The kids from Glover created a beautiful mural of the Glover Outdoor Classroom. Below is a picture and you can check out the real thing in the Glover Lobby.
A Pumpkin Patch Grows
The outdoor classrooms at Cunningham and Collicot schools celebrated the start of the school year with pumpkins. Last June, the students planted pumpkin seeds. They watered and waited all summer and returned to a harvest of pumpkins this September.
Look at the photos to see the pumpkins as seedlings, as flower and fruit and finally as pumpkins!!!
Nature Neighborhoods
The third grade classes at Glover have been learning about their nature neighborhoods. Children have explored the nature around Glover, drawing what they observe. Grasshoppers, sunflowers, bees and cardinals are just a few of the things they have observed. They have pressed flowers and leaves, learned about producers and consumers and are in the process of writing a book about their discoveries. Go to the Activities page and download the lesson plan put together by Margaret Eberhardt.