Candy Kingdom

Welcome to Candy Kingdom. The students have worked diligently to build this wonderful place. Students first decided which structures are a part of a town. After creating a huge list, they decided which groups would make which buildings. Each group created blueprints, a materials list, a name and jingle for their business. They first created their structures from cardboard, then added graham crackers and candy to decorate. This two day project was a great way to investigate teamwork and construction of a joint project. Come in and check it out.

The Skyscraper

The Hospital

The Arcade

The Car Repair Shop

The Pet Shop

The Airport

The Park

The Horse Stables

The Ice Cream Parlor

The Library

The Vet's Office

The Power Plant

Longest Cube Tower in the World

The older students created a cube tower over 700 cubes long. They worked together to build it and see if it could stretch from the cubbies to the meeting area.

Paint, Paint, EVERYWHERE!

For the past two weeks the younger students have been learning about how art can be used to inspire ideas for writing. We have been exploring this way of expression through discussing artwork, studying artists, and creating our own artwork to tell a story.

The Henri Matisse group

The Miro group

The Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec group learned that the artist was less than five feet tall. They made a nearly life-size mural to prove it.

Chase describes the "magic" in his artwork.

Hazel decides to add different materials to her piece.

Maggie explains her artwork:

"Well at first I was just painting a window thing and I didn't really know what I was making. Then, suddenly I had an expression in my head and I got the idea to make a half mother nature, half human collage!"

Eric adds color to his fireworks.

Rachel Eaton and Lilly collaborated to create this life-like peacock.

Lindy's garden

We have an actress in our midst!

Isabel, one of our 5th graders, will be performing in this month's Stephens College production of Meet Me in St. Louis at Macklanburg Playhouse! If you would like to see her live on stage, check out the Stephens College events calendar for showtimes. Break a leg, Isabel!

Happy Hanukkah!

Yesterday the students learned all about the celebration of Hanukkah! Ms. Parks told the story of Hanukkah and read Herschel and the Hanukkah Goblins by Eric Kimmel, a great Caldecott Honor book about the spirit of Hanukkah. Rachel Gardner's mom, Christina, and Ms. Parks made latkes for all the kids to try. Latkes are potato pancakes cooked in oil that are a traditional Hanukkah treat. The students also made their own menorah paintings with handprints that they will take home. Best of all, though, Rachel's grandma, Ellen Gardner, provided each student with their very own dreidel to take home! A recipe for latkes and the rules for playing dreidel will be included in your child's Friday folder. Enjoy!
For more information on Hanukkah, check out the following web sites...

http://www.akhlah.com/holidays/hanukkah/hanukkah.php

http://www.chabad.org/holidays/chanukah/default_cdo/jewish/Hanukkah.htm

http://www.history.com/topics/hanukkah

SCCS Flashback

Did you know....
That Stephens College Children's School has been educating children since 1925? Or that our school used to be a little white house where Hillcrest Hall is now? Or that our very own director, Leslie Willey, used to be an elementary classroom teacher here n the 80's? The older students are discovering all of this and more about the history of SCCS. From now until our big February birthday celebration (more details to come about that later...), the students will be uncovering all of the information they can about our school, dating all the way back to 1925. They will be interviewing former students, teachers, and college students, digging through archives, and researching old newspaper articles featuring our school. Ask your child what they've learned about SCCS's past! Also, if you have any information to share about the history of our school, please let the teachers know!

Math

In math, all groups are continuing their study of number sense, place value, and operations. Check out this fun site! Your child can play games like Pac Man with addition, subtraction, multiplication or division. http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/math.htm