Preschool
The 4’s had a special OE day learning more about animals in winter. The students had a rare chance to visit the OE room for a much anticipated puppet show put on by Mr. Musch, Mrs. Boerma, and Mr. Sportel.
Kindergarten
We started the month looking at two types of ducks (divers and dabblers) and learned how God created them to be able to get different kinds of food. After learning about their differences, we went outside to act like the two types of ducks. We finished with some drawings of ducks in the room. Kindergarten also took some time to study materials by building small shelters with snow, leaves and sticks. We finished the month by reviewing the letters D and C by playing with sleds, focusing on words like: dig, drag, dump, down, dance, carry, cloud, and crystal.
First Grade
We spent a lot of our month focusing on winter. We spent a couple weeks exploring winter first by using a scavenger hunt, then by creating a list to make a scavenger hunt. We searched for evidence of animals in the snow by searching for their tracks, reading the book Over and Under the Snow to learn about where animals hide in the winter. Then we acted out some of the animals that we learned about.
Second Grade
The main topic in second was the three states of matter. We reviewed the three states by melting and boiling snow over a small fire and acting out the molecules. We then used melted wax to make firestarters in egg cartons. We tested one of the firestarters and as it burnt discussed the differences between change of state (reversible change) and burning (irreversible change) To finish we took our knowledge of the three states to make suncatchers by freezing pieces of nature into ice.
Third Grade
In third grade we had a couple of main focuses. First, we learned about Native Americans and worked on dugout canoes as well as played some Native American games. We even used fire to help burn out the canoes. We also spent some time on snow and snowflakes. Students made crystals using pipe cleaners and a concentrated borax solution. They also used pocket microscopes to take a look at snowflake patterns and crystals. We also took a day to study animals tracks, and scat. The third grade flowers are starting to bloom in the greenhouse.
Fourth Grade
The focus in fourth grade has been on natural resources to tie into social studies. We spent a day looking at various mineral resources in MI, both current and historic and considered some of the dangers of mining. We then looked more closely at the lumber industry that helped grow our state. We played a simulation game to pretend we were lumber barons, making decisions on how much to invest and rolling the dice to see what fortunes came our way. We are also gearing up for spring with Ms. Leah by seeding vegetables in the greenhouse.
Fifth Grade
We focused on pre-colonial Native Americans when with Mr. Sportel. To help consider the tools and foods more we spent time, learning how to make a fire with a bow drill, making a wooden mortar pestle for grinding, using the mortar and pestle and as well as rocks to hand grind corn. With Ms. Leah students have focused their efforts on the goats and learning how to care for them and are working on creating an informational booklet on goat care and chores at ACS.
Sixth Grade
We have been learning more about how to use the compass and orient with it. We practiced setting a bearing and walking a pace to walk through a basic orienteering course. We also learned how to use the compass in conjunction with a map to set a bearing to head to a specific site. With Ms. Leah, 6th grade has spent some time on reviewing and working on some of the chicken chores involved with running Got Yolk.
Seventh Grade
In seventh grade we’ve been focusing on fire and combustion, so we finished that up in January. We built small alcohol burning stoves with pop cans and tested them out by cooking Ramen. We then compared it with an improvised cooker made from a soup can and a burner made from wax and cardboard in a tuna can.
Eighth Grade
We took time to work through our legacy project ideas this month. Students have been working in small groups to research their project ideas and present to their class.Then the classes voted for their top choices, which Mr. Sportel shared with the teachers during professional development to receive feedback and narrow down the list. We hope to use one of these two ideas for the project in the spring!
In seventh grade we’ve been focusing on fire and combustion, so we finished that up in January. We built small alcohol burning stoves with pop cans and tested them out by cooking Ramen. We then compared it with an improvised cooker made from a soup can and a burner made from wax and cardboard in a tuna can.