November 19, 2014

We are so busy this week in Turquesa!

For the next two days, teams of students are going to be busy baking treats to sell on Friday night and K/El Family Night! We have a wide array of desserts planned - all the way from gluten-free lemon bars to dairy-free chocolate cake-lets and back again. Students will staffing the bake sale in shifts during the event.   It is really essential that you reply to the Evite for two reasons: first, we need to know who to sign up for what bake sale shifts, and second, we will be setting up on Friday afternoon and need to know how many places to set. If you do not have time to reply to the Evite, please send me a quick email with the number of attendees. If, for some reason, your child will not be attending the event, please let us know as soon as humanly possible!

The students were proud to present their completed history projects last Thursday. Each child set up a museum exhibit of their trio of projects. We hosted the students and teachers from El Salon Morado to join us for the afternoon. They spent a full hour visiting exhibits, playing history games, examining models and feeling immersed in the European Early Middle Ages. On Friday morning, each Turquesa student spent around 30 minutes answering reflection questions about their work and their learning. This process of self-evaluation is an essential component in project-based learning. In addition to helping children understand their own cognition, this process aids meta-cognition, creates self-awareness and prompts personal growth.

This week, in our post-project history lessons, we have been focusing on the legends of King Arthur. This approach is enabling the students to connect deeply with the medieval imagination and the world of knights. They are really excited to be learning to read Sir Thomas Malory's Middle English version of Le Morte D'Arthur, and are enjoying the exploration into this new (old) version of English.

Students are presenting this month's Choice Book Projects on Friday morning this week. Please let us know if you have any questions about this project or if you need a digital copy of the guidelines.

Next week, we have two days of school and we'll be using all of our time in hot pursuit of science lessons and Nanowrimo. We will also be creating posters for the annual Adopt-a-Family service learning project and cooking a huge pot of "stone soup." Your child is invited to bring a vegetable to add to the soup on Monday. We will eat it on Tuesday, in a feast of Thanksgiving with our compatriots from Morado.

We can't wait to see you on Friday evening!

Nicole and Khavitha