Feliz Verano

Dear AFS Families,

I wanted to close the end of the year with a video that shows some of the activities we did during Spanish class. Have a great summer!

Abrazos.

¡El Mundial!

The Soccer World Cup went from South Africa to five-time champion Brazil. The opening ceremony is this coming Thursday, June 12th, and the first match is Brazil against Croatia. If you are a soccer fan like me, you are probably as excited as I am!

What does this has to do with Spanish?

Fútbol (soccer) is very popular in Spain and Latin America. If you and your children can easily contract la fiebre del fútbol (soccer fever), I would like to encourage you to watch the matches in Spanish. Depending on your channel lineup, you will find a few networks always showing World Cup soccer games in Spanish.

Some of the are: Univisión, Telemundo, ESPN Deportes, and Fox Latino.

P.S: El Mundial short in Spanish for "The World Cup."

The Last Classes of Español

During our last classes, we studied Los Días de la Semana (days of the week). We also reviewed parts of the curriculum through songs and games they students love. Finally, we closed up with a quick lesson on how to dance salsa and merengue... and you should have seen them dancing!

Students also had a chance to visit the Spanish area in Second Grade during the last few weeks of the semester. In two occassions, they had the opportunity to explore bilingual books. The purpose was to encourage curiosity about cultural subjects such as Day of the Dead or the biography of Roberto Clemente.

They certain were not reading! They were just looking at pictures... and also a map of the Caribbean Sea!

Looking at picture of Roberto Clemente

Watching an episode of El Perro y El Gato

Looking at pictures from a book
about Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead)

Lower School Arts Day Is This Friday!!!

THE RHYTHM WITHIN

An AFS Early Childhood and Lower School Spring Arts Day

~ Friday, June 6, 2014 ~

12:15 p.m.

Muller Auditorium ~ Doors Open

12:30 p.m.

Spring Program Begins
Abington Friends School Muller Auditorium

1:30 p.m.

Lower School Arts Gallery Walk

2:15 p.m.

Home and School Cupcake Celebration

~ Spring Program Concert Attire ~
All lower school students should dress in black shirts and long, black pants.  Students are welcome to bring their concert attire clothing to school on Thursday, June 6, 2013.  All students will be given the opportunity to change at school on Friday morning prior to the performance. 

Please note that many students will be involved in movement performance on stage and should wear pants and comfortable shoes (no heels, sandals or flip flops please).  Please make sure that students have on dark socks as we occasionally do movement performances without shoes.

We look forward to celebrating our accomplishments with you on Friday, June 6th in the 

AFS Muller Auditorium beginning at 12:30 p.m.  The auditorium doors will open at 12:15 p.m. 

Please allow additional time for parking.

NO EXTENDED DAY ON FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014

Extended Day will not be providing care on Friday, June 6, 2014.

Please make note of this for planning purposes. 

Trip to Pennypack Farm

Last week we went to Pennypack Farm and CSA to learn about farming.  The students learned how to plant crops in rows, how the water gets delivered to the plants and got to sample snow peas.  They saw a bee hive, learned about keeping chickens and got to feed the chickens as well.  The best part was an opportunity to do some planting themselves.  They dug, planted, watered and composted in the garden classroom at the farm.  Here are a few photos that highlight our experience.

Join us for the Nature Playdate on May 17th!

"Let's Make a Fort!"

It is a cold and rainy day.   Some of the children asked to rake out their rest mats to get cozy, and one was overheard saying, "Let's make a fort!"  And so it began...  Soon signs were made saying, "Kindergarten Tent".  Here are some quotes that were overheard during tent play and construction...

"This is a miracle!"

"This room is so full of love!"

"We all live here and we are one giant family!

It is truly a pleasure witnessing such seamless cooperation and collective imagination from the children!

Happy Earth Day!!!

We have enjoyed a spectacular Earth Day together.  In Music class the children acted out the growth of a tree.  Some were branches and some were roots, and they coordinated their movements to the beat of the drum.

We also had our annual Earth Day Parade through the school.

At the end of our parade we gathered outside in a circle with a found natural object and co-created a sculpture.  As each child got up to place their piece on the sculpture, they spoke about what they love about the Earth.  We then listened to the Earth sing to us as we sat in silent gratitude.  Then we sang to the Earth!!

Ensemble 7/4 Concert

This news comes in a little late but it seems worth trying. An group called Ensemble 7/4 will debut in Philadelphia with a medley of traditional music from the Americas: tango, bossa nova, chachachá, among others. For more information click here.

Measurement Math and the Morris Arboretum

Last week we continued our study of measurement.  We explored measuring our bodies and how far we could jump using non-standard forms of measurement.  Then we learned about rulers and measured various objects around our classroom.  The children were careful to line up the end of the ruler with the object they measured.  Then they all became excited to measure bigger things!  The tape measure will be introduced tomorrow!

We have also been noticing interesting words as we read Charlie and the Chocolate factory and other books in kindergarten.  When we came across the word "dozen" in one of the books, the children were excited to notice that there are a "dozen" inches on our rulers!  

Last Thursday we went to the Morris Arboretum to celebrate spring!  The children participated in lessons about trees and a lesson that reinforced the concept that all of nature is interconnected.  Here are some lovely pictures...