Springfest

Yesterday was Springfest and the Art Show here at the Lower School. The 4th years acted in a play based on the book Giraffes Can't Dance and all of the Lower School classes helped out by singing and playing music in the show. Sky Class sang Three Little Birds while playing various percussion instruments.

You can view Sky Class singing here.

The Art Show for 1st- 3rd years is in the hallways on the lower school and the library. Each student selected a WOW (wonderful original work) piece for the show and have an artist statement to accompany the piece. We encourage you to spend some time strolling through the hallways to see the beautiful artworks. Additionally, if you haven't already picked up your child's portfolio from the art student, we invite you to do so.

Middle School Book Reading

Last week Sky Class was delighted to host several middle school students from Jamie and Mary Deb's writing course. The MS students authored books for a lower school audience and came to share their stories with an eager audience of Sky Class kids.

We heard stories about rowdy dogs, mythological creatures, the planets and more. Our students were mesmerized and excited about the possibilities that await them as they age. A huge thank you to the two classes that came to visit! I can't wait until our current Sky kids return the favor in a few years.

Visiting the CFS Bees!

Over the past three weeks Jenni Scoggin, a teacher in Forest Class, mother of Gabe and bee extraordinaire, has been visiting our language groups to teach us about bees. Thanks to a grant Jenni and Tommy, a MS teacher won, CFS has two beehives on campus. The Lower School hive was named The Humble House of Honey by students. Sky Class has been preparing for Jenni's visits by reading non-fiction texts about bees and writing down questions we have in our classroom Bee Box.

Jenni did a wonderful job teaching us about the roles bees play in the hive. We even learned more about all of the different jobs the worker bees have. I was amazed to find that each worker bee has a specific job such as caring for the baby bees, building the honeycombs, collecting pollen, clearing out the dead bees and more. We also discussed safety in the classroom and discussed what our visit to the hive would be like. Finally it was time to suit up for our walk over to the hives. The full bee suits and veils weren't necessary for our visit, but were a great precaution and were fun to put on.

At the hive students observed the bees entering and leaving the hive, doing the 'wiggle dance' and more. Jenni was also able to take a frame out of the hive, so we could see what was being built inside the hive. It was incredible! We are so grateful for Jenni's support and assistance and are eager to learn more about bees and visit again soon!

You can learn more about the CFS Bee Project here.

 

Skyfest 2019

Wednesday, May 1st, will live on forever in the minds of Sky students. We had an absolute blast during Skyfest 2019! The festivities began after lunch when kids broke out their sleeping bags, stuffies, blankets and pillows and settled on the carpet to watch Wall-E. River class was watching the movie at the same time, so students had the opportunity to watch in River and we had a few guests from River in Sky Class. During the movie students munched on popcorn.

After the movie we had snack outdoors and then played on the playground. It was such a treat to have the playground to ourselves. As a teacher, it was wonderful to see new friendships form since the dynamics were different than at recess. It's remarkable how bonds continue to grow and blossom right up until the end of the school year. It was also beautiful to behold close friends cherishing the end of their time together as classmates since our 2nd years will be moving up to Forest and Mountain soon.

After playing the class was treated to pizza for dinner and students once again enjoyed the warm weather while eating outside. One of the highlights of Skyfest every year is the campfire. Students were led in silence down to the rock circle where a fire was already going and took seats around the flames. Natasha then shared her reflections on the year before passing the talking stick to a Sky Class student. All students and teachers received the talking stick and could share a reflection aloud, in their own mind, or pass the stick on. Beautiful thoughts and emotions were shared including excitement and apprehension for next year, gratitude for deep friendships, joy about being at CFS and more. Several students mentioned how nervous they were on the first day of school and how happy they now are with all of the friends they've made.

Once all community members had a chance to speak it was time for s'mores! The s'mores were just what many classmates needed to power them through the Talent Show. The Sky Class Talent Show was held in Forest and we were all amazed by the incredible acts. We heard classmates play musical instruments, sing, dance and do gymnastics. It was fantastic to see students share their gifts with our community.

Skyfest was a beautiful celebration of our class and a true reflection of the brilliance and joy the 2018-2019 Sky Class students share with our broader community!

Money Centers

On Wednesday afternoons we've been using our math centers time to explore money. During this time students have practiced identifying coins by name and value, counting coins, using coins to make a given amount, making amounts in multiple ways and making change. We've practiced these skills using Jungle Coins on the iPads, playing coin memory, doing money sorts and more. The culminating activity was creating a shop and then going shopping at other student's shops. Each child had the chance to be a shopper and a shopkeeper.

The kids have really enjoyed the hands-on learning opportunities and have grown a lot in their knowledge of money. We encourage you to keep on practicing at home by having your children count money, make change and more. All students will complete a post-assessment after spring break because we will be starting a new unit on data and graphing during our math centers time. Our math centers units are different than our regular math group time. After spring break we will be studying time in our math groups.

 

Harlem Renaissance Projects

At the end of our Harlem Renaissance unit students were asked to demonstrate what they learned by interviewing a friend, creating an artwork, writing a poem or book or making a brain map. Students worked independently or in a small group. All of the projects were incredibly thoughtful and well done. Some projects included a sculpture of Zora Neale Hurston, a sculpture of a figure in an artwork by Aaron Douglas, a poem entitled Hard Times and a brain map showing the important people and places of the Harlem Renaissance.

 

North Carolina Children's Book Award

Over the past few weeks Sky Class students have been reading all of the nominees for the 2019 North Carolina Children's Book Award. The class has loved reading the fiction and non-fiction picture books that included The Bad Seed, Plants Can't Sit Still and Trombone Shorty.















Today when we visited the library every Sky student had the chance to vote for his or her favorite book. River students will also vote and a CFS Winner will be announced after Spring Break. We are also eager to hear the official winner for the entire state! You can learn more about the books we read and the award here.