Elementary

K/1st: Week of 11/11

Abundance: when you have so many things to share… This week in Our Big Backyard… TREES! TREES! TREES! We were all about the trees this week! Our Big Backyard at school has some great pecan trees planted in the early 1900s and across the street, we have examples of a native tree called a live oak. These are very different trees, but they still have the same parts. We went outside and sketched side-by-side portraits of each. We noticed these trees were shaped differently, in sizes, and colors. Everything in nature has a purpose – so we pondered, and inferred […]

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Kindergarten students work outside at part time school.

2nd/3rd: Week of 11/11

Math – Ms. Andrea’s math group wrapped up Unit 3 by reviewing subtraction strategies and solving story problems with an unknown number at the beginning. Unit 4, More Addition and Subtraction, starts Monday! We will be doing LOTS of vertical math with regrouping! Ms. Kelly’s math group jumped into our new unit- Multiplication and Division! We began with a discussion about what multiplication actually is. It’s repeated addition! When we see the equation 3×5 we can read it as “3 groups of 5” or 5+5+5. This week the kids modeled how to read a multiplication equation and write it as

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Second grade student reads and writes at GT school in Austin.

4th/5th: Week of 11/11

General News ELA Update This week was filled with more reading and more book talks! We used some fun discussion cards to bring some new flavor to our conversations with questions like: what actors would play the characters from your book in a movie, what are the themes of the novel, if you were to run into the main character from the novel on the street what outfit would they be wearing, sharing about a character in the novel you admire and why, and so much more! Gammas also spent time in book clubs reflecting on the problem and solution

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Fourth and fifth grade students work on science project at progressive school.

K/1st: Week of 11/4

“This leaf looks like a beetle’s wing-shields!” This week in Our Big Backyard… Alphas learned that Austin is in a very special place in Texas. We knew that Hyde Park was built on Blackland Prairie, but we learned that when we go west of here, once we get to Shoal Creek, we hit rocky hills that are the edge of the Edwards Plateau. This is an important land feature that helps explain how we have so much water here—water drains downhill, and we live downhill! Water attracts all kinds of living things and Austin used to have all kinds of

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Kindergarten children play outdoor game at micro school.

2nd/3rd: Week of 11/4

Math – This week was chock-full of practicing math facts and playing math games, with a sprinkling of logic puzzles. The first year Betas learned to use a number line to help them subtract and reviewed subtraction strategies. The second year Betas did a great job of working together and supporting one another. Reading – Our book clubs are making progress, and not just in terms of page numbers! Groups are learning what it means to read together (much patience is built here), and to respectfully disagree with each other when discussing content. Book club really is a foundational piece

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Second grade student focuses on math cards at private school in Austin.