Great River Lower Elementary West

Hello LEW Families!

What we're doing

First years are classifying and reading about vertebrates and invertebrates. They're also charting growth of pinto beans and corn seeds. We learned about germination through reading From Seed to Plant by Gail Gibbons and the students are measuring the growth of their seeds from day to day. They're also practicing dynamic addition and multiplication problems, using the stamp game and the golden mat for larger multiplication problem.

Second years are reviewing types of polygons and combining geometry with arithmetic. They are practicing multiplication by creating rectangles - for instance 5x6 would by a 5x6 rectangle. Second years have also just learned about the parts of a mollusk. We got to feel and learn about why mollusks are important to the evolution of animals! They've just finished up dissecting and writing about the parts of flowers as well. Ask them about the purpose of the corolla or the stamen.

Third years just finished up MCA testing and they were troopers and patient with finicky technology. They are also currently working on the study of a nation, using the U.S. as an example. We talked about what a nation is--it's not just a random place on a map. A nation is a place filled with different languages, foods, mountains, rivers, symbolic flags, national birds and flowers. It's a place people feel proud enough to defend and maintain. By the end of this work, students will have a collection of U.S. maps, each depicting a different aspect of the nation. Third years are also collecting data through line plots. Some plotted the number of pets each student has or the number of electronics in each household. Ask your child what they plotted.

GRS Garden Time

Courtney Tchida, one of our first year parents, has a graciously agreed to work with the students in the garden. They are going to help each other make the elementary plot into a salad garden. Big thanks to Courtney for sharing her agricultural expertise with us!