Cleveland Schools Book Fund

Have you seen this beautiful video for the Cleveland Schools Book Fund?  It features many of our CIS students!

Take a look here:
Cleveland Schools Book Fund

We did it!

We did it!  Through a week of clues presented to each class, our knowledgeable Explorers were able to uncover the central idea for our new Unit of Inquiry, How We Express Ourselves.  The central idea is, "Celebrations help us recognize people's culture."  We have worked hard to unpack the word celebrations and culture and have had a lot of fun along the way!

We created Advent Wreaths and Menorahs out of clay

This week we looked closely at the celebrations: Hanukkah, Advent and St. Nicholas.  We even sorted and created a timeline for all the birthdays in our classrooms.

Playing Dreidel

Latke Math Fun

St. Nicholas Came

Organizing Our Birthdays

Nature Center Visit

We sure lucked out with the weather for our trip to the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes!  We were able to enjoy lots of fun activities inside and out as we explored living and non-living things.  We sorted, hunted, observed and definitely inquired!  Such a fun day.  Did your child come home singing a song about living things?  Acting out the part for stimuli is a certainly a favorite!

This tree has been carved on by many but it healed itself!

Loving Our Guest Readers!

Mystery Readers are always a huge treat!

3rd Grader, Tenhiya, came to read too!

Number Walks

The Number Walk projects were presented this week, and the classes were thrilled with each and every one.  The creativity was amazing.  We saw books, sorting, movies, models, Prezis, PowerPoints, news reports, posters and MORE! Thank you for making this learning activity meaningful and fun.  These  presentations are such a special part of our month, and watching your child grow in their presentation and academic skills has been a true joy.  Thank you for all you are doing!

Upcoming Events:

PYP 101 Parent Class:

Monday 2:00-3:00 

Tuesday 6:00-7:00

Winter Concert: 

Wednesday, December 11 

Kindergarten 6:00-6:45

Winter Vacation:

December 23-January6

City Fun!

We sure hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving vacation and were able to enjoy this special family time.  

Inquiring Minds Want to Know...

Did yo know the map of China looks a bit like a rooster ?

Our Unit of Inquiry wrapped up this past week with some city fun!  The Explorers decided how they wanted to showcase what they learned in our Unit of Inquiry, Where We Are in Place and Time.  What fun! Our rooms were transformed into construction zones where planning, building and creating maps and models were a buzz.  Watching our eager learners decide what a city needs and how best to represent it was a try joy for everyone.  Take a look at the creations in every class:

We will begin our next Unit of Inquiry on Monday, December 2 (can you believe it is December already?).  We will be working to uncover the Central Idea all week.  Be sure to ask your child what clues they have discovered and what their ideas are.

We love our Mystery Readers!  Thank you for joining us!

Upcoming Events:

Field Trip: 

Shaker Nature Center- Please dress for the weather as we will be outside for part of it.

Tuesday: Mrs. Snyder's and Ms. Moris' Classes

Wednesday: Mrs. Humphrey and Mrs. Taylor's Classes

*Lunch is provided but you are welcome to pack if you choose.

Winter Concert: December 11 

Where We Are in Place and Time

Understanding that how we are a part of our amazing world is a big take away currently from this exciting unit of study.  Studying maps, models, various homes and journeys has sure been informative, a lot of fun and has left us all with so many wonders.  

Our central idea, "Representations help us understand where people live and where people go", has led us into a deep study into what representations are (Form), how they work (Function) and the why behind them all (Causation).  Everything we have studied has been so different.  Looking at these differences and been a lot of fun!    Did you know that maps, models and homes could be so exciting?!

Here is a look at some of our work:

A book character, Felix, traveled around the world.  It has been fun to mark his journey and predict where he would end up next. 

We study all kinds of maps and sure enjoy making our own!

Building our own homes

We are knowledgeable and fantastic communicators!
We sure learn a lot from our friends!

Maya is sharing her latest book from Writer's Workshop

Naijal is sharing his thinking from his Problem Solving Notebook

Mrs. McDonald, Max's mom, shared how mapping is used by writer's too!  We loved her Prezi and
are anxious to make our own.  What a great way to organize our thoughts.

Mrs. Taylor and Mrs. Humphrey's classes enjoyed Pajama Day on Friday.  The excitement was felt all over the school!

*Mrs. Mori and Mrs. Snyder's classes day is on Tuesday, November 26.

Mystery Readers have been such a special part of our weeks.  Thank you for giving your time and sharing your family's favorite stories with us.

Upcoming Events:

Thanksgiving Break November 27-29

Field Trip to the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes-December (information coming soon)