Smith and Johnson Jammin'

We have THE BEST Special Ed. staff on the planet! Mrs. Smith and our new EC teacher, Ms. Johnson work with teachers to find the learning formula that works for every student here at American Renaissance Elementary! Together they bring us nearly 50 years of experience and expertise! Their compassion for their work is rare.  Their guidance and determination in educating teachers as well as parents provide our students with opportunities for success at every turn. We LOVE this team!

Dynamic Duo at ARELEM

Mr. Fowler's first field trip for Fourth and Fifth graders was a huge success. The Allison Woods reinactment had so many amazing learning opportunities in spite of the drizzle and mud!

Ms. Duncan is gung-ho about science for our Second and Third Graders! She is also helping with K.A.R.E., heading up a running club in cooperation with middle school staff members, and working on National Board Certification. She is busy, busy, busy!

K.A.R.E. Cares!

On a recent Saturday, our Kids Alliance for Renewing the Environment had a great time making compost bins.

We have lots of budding carpenters at American Renaissance Elementary!

Our worms are very happy campers!

Classroom Glimpses

As I have visited classrooms over the past couple of weeks, I've seen lots of fascinating activities. Here are a few examples of how American Renaissance Elementary students spend their time at school:

Fifth Graders learn African drumming techniques. Quinton is really a master already!

Third Graders are reading Freckle Juice by Judy Blume. Would YOU drink this crazy concoction: grape juice, vinegar, mustard, mayonnaise, juice from one lemon, pepper and salt, ketchup, olive oil, and a speck of onion...The faster you drink it, the faster you get FRECKLES (just like MsDr. Frey!)

Mr. DeLamatre's enrichment math cinquains are fabulous! Here are a few:

Math
Cool, difficult, fun
Demanding, interesting, confusing
We all need math
Learn
by Kaden and Elijah

Pi
Unlimited, decimal
Challenging, dividing, multiplying
It's part of math
Geometry
by Addison, Dawson, Claudia, RJ

Square
Rigid, uniform
Interesting, equaling, conforming
A square is a quadrilateral
Rectangle
by Jelani

Mrs. Munguia's SmartBoard integrates Hispanic cultural history video and audio as well as practice with vocabulary and conversation.

Mrs. Shaginaw teaches letter sounds using touch, sight, hearing and signing. This way, EVERYONE learns!

Flat Stanley is off on all kinds of adventures once again as Ms. Overcash's students send their friends to neighbors all over the world! (Including my Navy recruit stationed in Great Lakes, Illinois!)

Mrs. Duncan's second graders are learning about making hypotheses. Will this object float or sink? What is density? Why do some objects float and not others? You can try this experiment at home in the bathtub or kitchen sink!

Mr. Fowler's enrichment students are practicing writing and following directions with step-by-step Monster Art. I wonder if the second Monster will resemble the first?

Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Spicer are teaching a unit on disabilities by reading The Summer of Swans by Betsy Byers. Students are inviting friends with various disabilities and handicaps to come and speak to the classes about their special challenges and celebrations.

AR Elementary 2009-10 Begins!

A new school year always brings me such joy! I love greeting parents, grandparents and children and renewing the bonds that bring us back to each other each August. American Renaissance Elementary is a special place and I am very proud to call her my professional home.

Open House night finally arrived and our new school year was a GO! It was so much fun to see our families once again – lots of happy faces and students who were obviously eager to come back to school.                                                                                    The first three half days of school were filled with exciting activities. Second graders practiced walking to the house, 2-3 and 4-5 students enjoyed team building games at Statesville’s brand new Fitness Center, K-1 students learned to “follow the yellow arrows” to find their way to the dismissal area, and so much more. This year we spent the first full week of school focusing on building classroom communities with special activities in each grade level. Our 2-3 teachers introduced “Morning Meetings” which will be integrated with AR time each morning. Children will share special celebrations, express concerns, and practice social skills during this ten minute community time. Our 4-5 graders will participate in “Class Meetings” once a week with the same emphasis. Our school focus this year is, obviously, building positive relationships. With a strong foundation of skills that enhance collaboration and cooperation, as well as raise awareness and practice of empathy, integrity, and support, increased excellence in academics will naturally follow.  We want all our students at American Renaissance Elementary to be thoughtful and compassionate classmates and, at the same time, reach their highest academic potential.

Quote of the Week

A Kindergartner strolled into my office the other day and announced – "Hey! Did you know I’m five now??  I said, "No, I thought you were 10!"  He replied, "No! I got rid of four and now I’m on five!"

Inside the Classroom

During the first days of school I observed some fabulous activities.  Your children were learning all about how to be a good team member, found out their individual learning style, got to know their classmates interests and strengths by completing the activity, What’s Your Talent Quotient – based of Gardner’s 7 Intelligences, etc., and practiced collaboration skills.  I observed:  The Cooperation Evaluation - after a team building exercise, students evaluated themselves on how well they cooperated with team mates, students collaborating on designing a Class Quilt, and students completing a survey called the Common Characteristics Scavenger Hunt.  For this activity students were asked to find classmates who shared characteristics such as: Do you have freckles?  Do you wear glasses?  Have you ever traveled outside the US?  Do you have sisters/brothers?, etc.  I saw students working in pairs to get through the Blind and Sighted Obstacle Course - one child had his eyes closed and the other was the guide.


During an enrichment class I observed a brainstorming session on "What do you want to learn about?"  Students offered suggestions like - How is sand made?, How do you teach someone to ride a bike?, How do you make bread?  In another, the students were writing poetry using math terms!  In a kindergarten class students were learning about self-discipline and taking responsibility for our actions by watching parts of The Wizard of Oz!

MsDr. Frey's Summer Highlights

The best parts of my summer were:  eating Blue Crab on our cabin deck in the WNC mountains, watching hummingbirds feast on the nectar I provided them every day I was there, floating in the warm lake as often as possible, fishing for bass and blue gill – my husband and I always have a contest – who catches the first, the last, the biggest and the most – he was the big winner this time (they just didn’t like my worms for some reason!), and picking a total of 3 gallons of blackberries in early July and freezing them for winter Blackberry Cobbler.  I also loved practicing my photograhing skills, playing with my grandson (he caught his first fish in June!) and reading two great books - Outliers and The Birth Order Book.