December at GAP School!

Yellow Mushrooms with Emily and Virginia

The month of December has been exciting for the Yellow Mushrooms flock! The Yellow Mushrooms decided to spread positivity to GAP School families and learners by putting on their very own "Mushroom Ball", similar to the "Monster Ball" featured in our book study! Through reflection of our book study on Zoey and Sassafras: Monsters and Mold, we continued to review characters, setting, and the roles of author and illustrator. As we got ready for our "Mushroom Ball", we practiced our writing, letter formation, and copy work by creating signage for the dance. We reviewed adjectives as Learners made mushroom caps to wear to the dance. Painting positivity shells for families to take home was a creative and fun way to write and share some happiness to all. 

More recently, the Mushrooms have discovered what the theme of a story is and have practiced identifying themes as we read short stories together. Nature journals continue to be a building block in our Learners' curiosity and writing, as they learn to observe the space around them and look deeper into objects presented to them. As they write, we continue to practice letter formation along with phonetically spelling as well! Applying their knowledge acquired through phonemic awareness and letter identification helps our Learners become independent spellers.

We continue to play fun games to support our Learners growth in reading, like Hedbanz (to support with blends and digraphs), Letter Sound to Picture Association, Roll and Reads, and Sight Word Bingo. Along with games, the Learners have begun reading independently and tracking their progress through pop-its. Here, they are being presented with different levels of books and are asked to track the amount of pages they read by popping their pop-it. Learners are encouraged to ask questions while encountering unfamiliar words and celebrate their successes with their Educators. 

In ELA, the Yellow Mushrooms have been working hard at sounding out words, writing, and spelling! We have gotten really good at the "Magic E" rule (the e jumps over the consonant to make the vowel say its name, like in the word kite), and have been reviewing our digraphs (2 letters that make one sound, like sh and ch). Ask your Learner to share the digraphs they know! As we finished our book study, we have begun the third book in our series, Mermaids and Bubbles. We also have started reading Wild Robot during snack time, and we always wish we could read just one more chapter before cleaning up. Of course, we always love playing reading games, especially Blah Blah Blah. Ways you can continue to support your Learners’ reading at home is to point out letters on signs/out and about, read daily to them from books that they enjoy, and perhaps visit the local library to check out more books to read throughout the season. 

In Math, December has been the month of measurement! First we explored length by measuring different objects around school, including parts of our bodies, like noses, hair and even feet! We also measured different types of jumps and concluded that the longest jump is when you get a running start! We also explored weight and how heavy things are, by making our own scales out of clothes hangers and cups, and comparing the weights of different objects around the playscape. For volume, we made boats and tried to determine how much weight the boats could hold before sinking. We also tried different “recipes” using water in the mud kitchen to see how much water is best for each recipe. 

We are extremely grateful that we are able to know your Learners, and to be a part of their educational career. We wish you and your loved ones a happy and healthy holiday season, and we will see you next year!

Red Hamsters with Lauren

This month, the Red Hamsters have been so proud of themselves as they’ve seen the culmination of their hard work! They have worked to build a shadow theatre, lanterns, puppets, migration maps, and so much more. They have become confident birders and are ready to join in on additional citizen science projects - especially with the aid of the Merlin app! 

In language, the Red Hamsters have worked to edit their stories and have practiced their performance skills! They have learned what it means to enunciate and project their voices and how intonation adds layers of interest for the listener. The Learners also have a greater appreciation for the challenge that is added when you actually have a live audience witnessing your performance versus it just being a script that they were rehearsing as a flock! 

In math, the Red Hamsters have continued to make correct change for the attendees of our theatre performance’s ticket sales. The students practiced how they would make the change on paper first, then learned to count the change on the spot. They continue to strengthen their skills in identifying the correct coins and values. It is such a fun way to practice! 

We have grown so much as a flock this semester and we are so grateful for each member of our community and all we have built together. 

Silver Serpents with Furn and Elijah

Welcome December! How have the Silver Serpents been handling the chill? Or, as some days have had it, handling sudden spells of warmth? As the Swedish say, “There is no bad weather, there are only bad clothes,” and the Silvers are embracing this sentiment with perseverance and flexibility. 

           Even though December is a short month at GAP School, the Silver Serpents have been reviewing topics we’ve learned throughout the year, and expanding our knowledge with a few new ideas, too! In ELA, the Serpents got especially excited about storytelling. We came up with our own stories by using brainstorming and mind mapping techniques to visualize our ideas. Then, after choosing the setting, characters, and main plot developments, the Silver Serpents wrote impressively. Over several days with 30-minute writing sessions, the Copperheads and Cottonmouths locked-in to discuss ideas with their peers, and then write, write, and write some more! We are excited at how our writing stamina has not only grown as a group, but also at how we are able to make our ideas clearer, shareable, and our own. Do you remember the first story you wrote? For some of the Silvers, these stories may be the first extended narratives they have written. It feels truly special to be part of a community where we get to dive into stories like never before!

          Additionally, the Silvers reviewed nonfiction text features. We encountered these concepts at the beginning of the year to help support our research skills and engagement with the field guides and nonfiction texts that support our nature skills and project plans. Now, after some time interacting with the nonfiction texts in our lives, we practiced our familiarity and recall over "Text Feature Jeopardy"! As usual, the Silvers found creative ways to work together as the game became progressively more difficult. 

In Math, the Silvers worked hard this month with Corrie to review their skills with fractions, multiplication, division, and number forms. By spending our warm-up time reviewing the differences between expanded form, standard form, and word form, our Learners should not only be freshly comfortable with these concepts, but skilled in their use. They also reviewed key terminology about fractions, multiplication, and division. What are numerators and denominators? What do those mean for us? What is a quotient versus a product verses a sum, and how do we use those words to decode a math problem? How do we extend our learning of fractions to improper fractions, mixed numbers, and simplification? How do we recall multiplication patterns to enhance our familiarity and speed in solving problems? Before we enter our break, the Serpents continue to work hard at crystallizing their number sense!

In science this month, the Silver Serpents were all about energy. After learning about renewable and nonrenewable resources, each Silver picked their own energy source to become an expert on. Using books and articles provided by Furn, Learners identified definitions, benefits, and concerns of their energy source. Using this information, Learners created infographics about their energy source. We are working on gaining evidence from texts as well as making scientific conclusions based on evidence. Our Learners did a fabulous job with this! Our research, planning, and graphic-making took us most of the way through December, and we presented our final infographics at Community Day! The community voted on which energy source they thought was best to use, and then we were able to graph the results of the vote! We finished the month out reviewing our Energy unit and taking an exciting trip to the Richmond Science Museum. We're looking forward to our mid-year review when we return!

          This month, we also continued to work on our sense of class community by thinking about our values. What values do we share? How do we prioritize those values? In one SEL activity this month, the Serpents selected their top 10 most important values from a list, ranked them, and shared them in a group circle. This activity helped us expand our perspective and realize that we share many of the same values, even if we prioritize them differently. Just because someone else prioritizes one value higher than their friends do, that does not mean they don’t share the same values as their friends. We extended this activity into Math by reflecting on inspirational quotes and how they connect to our personal learning experiences. In this way, we wove our social emotional skills into our academic mindsets!

Emerald Elk with Corrie and Luke

As the winter chill sets in this December, the Emerald Elk have embraced the season with warmth and connection. This month, Learners have been busily preparing for our December Community Night. It was a celebration of the creativity and hard work that they put into their wreath projects and fictional stories from countries around the world. To stay cozy in the colder weather, Learners have been lighting fires during the day to enjoy the warmth while engaging in daily learning activities. Our mornings have begun with the peaceful ritual of sit spots, where learners spend a few quiet moments in nature before coming together for our morning meeting. These practices help us stay connected to the outdoors and foster a deeper sense of community and mindfulness during winter.

In math lessons this month, our Learners continued their studies of fractions and algebraic equations. Fifth-grade Elk continued working with fractions and mixed numbers on a number line, developing a strong understanding of how fractions fit together, and how to add and subtract fractions with confidence. Meanwhile, our middle school Learners continued tackling algebraic equations, focusing on the important skill of isolating the variable. Whether working with fractions or equations, all Learners have been gaining a deeper appreciation for how math connects to the world around them.

Knowledge Seekers and Projects with Ryan and Max

The days are shorter and the nights are longer while in Knowledge Seekers and Projects we continued to explore our connection to light. Learners continued to create milk carton lanterns practicing fine motor skills and creativity through cutting silhouettes and constructing our lanterns. The Lanterns represent our connection to the Winter Solstice and the shortest night of the year. We took time to continue to explore the science of light by researching and sharing our anwsers to questions such as "Why do we have shadows?" "How are rainbows made?" and "Why do we see certain colors?"

In between our light exploration Learners had the chance to explore the anatomy of a deer through observing the breaking down of a deer and discussing the muscular and skeletal systems.

In preparation for community day, we tested out our acorn flour from November and made acorn pancakes. The recipe was a success and was shared with the greater community on Community Day. Our final week of December we spent being makers giving Learners extended time to work on their projects. We are seeing great things being made like bows, chess boards, trebuchets, cardboard houses, bird houses, presents for family members, and some Learners began thinking up plans for a future field trip.

Speaking of field trips! The Silver Serpents spent a day at the Virginia Science Museum in Richmond. A great time was had by all. Top experiences include the snowboarding simulation and hampster wheel. The absolute highlight was the Disney music sing along during the bus ride!