Grade 1-2 Archives - Page 13 of 43 - Berkshire Country Day School

5th Grade Visits Mass MoCA

Last week, 5th Grade students had an opportunity to get up close and personal with artworks by world-renown artists at Mass MoCA. In conjunction with our study of installation art, a guided tour focused on site-specific works by Francesco Clemente, Jim Shaw, and Clifford Ross. From Indian tents to failing superheros, to a 100 foot photograph, students participated in an active viewing experience that called for critical thinking, aesthetic interpretation, and personal reflection. Following the tour, the class had an art-making session in the museum’s Kidspace studio where visual prompts from the Jim Shaw exhibition allowed students to create their own narrative comic strips. Special thanks to Dr. Lederman and Debbie Jaferian for joining us on the adventure!

Back at BCD, the class is working on a collaborative installation of their own. Students wrapped over 200 paper cups in plaster strips that, when dried, yielded cup-like forms which were then dipped in purple, green, and blue paint. This week, the 5th Grade will work together to install the pieces in a space in the school. Stay tuned to see the final installation!

By BCD Blog|2016-10-25T15:02:28-04:00November 1st, 2015|

Grade 1-2 week of October 19

Dear Families,

Today was our 30th day of school! It is hard to believe that so many days have slipped by already. We had a wonderful lunch bunch on Tuesday thanks to Dawson and Wasserman families. Our adventure to the Mahaiwe Theatre in Great Barrington was a real treat. We hope your children shared with you the puppet interpretations of Margaret Wise Brown’s The Runaway Bunny and Goodnight Moon. In the classroom the children have begun working on personal narratives, capturing a moment in their lives and creating stories. We launched this study with a reading of Vera B. Williams’ A Chair for My Mother. Our tree unit is wrapping up, you will have a chance to see your child’s science notebook from our tree study during your parent conferences. An email will be sent to all of you providing an online link for conference sign-ups. The grand finale to our tree unit will be watching the animated version of Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax.

Next week will be a busy one for us. We head to Kimball Farms in Lenox on Thursday to meet our new community friends. This will be the first of many visits and interactions we will have with the residents there throughout the year. Friday is our day to celebrate Halloween! The children will bring their costumes to school. Weapons are not allowed, nor are masks. If your child wants to bring his/her mask that is okay, but we do not allow the wearing of masks as it can frighten some of the younger children when we venture forth for the parade. 1:30 is when we will traverse the campus in costume finishing up in the music room for some Halloween stories, chants, and songs. Our day will wrap up with a small party in the classroom. You are more than welcome to join us for the parade, but parents do not typically stay for the party.

Below is a slide show that includes Grandparents Day activities, our adventures at Kennedy Park on Mountain Day, revisiting our BCD trees, making self-portraits, counting out the estimation jar items, sorting and classifying objects in math, and working on our personal time lines.

All our best,

Katharine and Kay

If viewing on an iPad or tablet, use this link:

https://www.flickr.com//photos/bcdtech/sets/72157659936584681/show/

By BCD Blog|2016-10-25T15:02:29-04:00October 22nd, 2015|

Save the Date for OPEN STUDIOS!

Join us on Thursday, October 29th from 4:30-6:30 PM upstairs in Furey Hall for our fall OPEN STUDIOS event! See finished artwork and works-in-progress by Kindergarten through Ninth Grade students. Faculty and students will be present to guide parents, friends, and families through the studio spaces where live demonstrations and activities will be happening. A seasonal refreshment will be served.
SAVE THE DATE!

By BCD Blog|2016-10-25T15:02:30-04:00October 14th, 2015|

Trees at Berkshire Botanical Gardens for Grades 1-2

Happy October to all,

Our Science unit on trees has brought us outside on campus as well as on a trip to the Berkshire Botanical Gardens. Thank you to all the parent drivers who helped make that trip possible.

The class has been working hard selecting and memorizing poetry for Grandparents/Friends day tomorrow. We look forward to welcoming all of our guests to our classroom.

In Social Studies class we have been working on making timelines of the most important events in our lives- learning how to put those events in chronological order and that each of our lives is our own history. We plan on having those completed before we visit Kimball Farms at the end of the month where we will learn the important events in the lives of the residents we meet there and create time lines with them. It is a very enriching project and the class has done some of their best work so far!

Thank you to all who placed book orders online and with us, we expect the books in next week and will send them home as soon as they come in.

We will need parent drivers again for our trip to Kimball Farms on October 23rd, leaving BCD at 1:00 and returning at 2:30. If you are able to help out, please let Natacha or Sarah know.

We are also planning a trip with the rest of the Lower School to the Mahaiwe Theatre in Great Barrington on the 21st. More info coming soon,

Finally, next week is Mountain Day (Thursday, October 15th) when the Lower School will hike in Kennedy Park in Lenox and share lunch and activities at the end of our trail. Again, a sheet with full information will be going home next week.

Enjoy the beautiful long weekend with grandparents, friends and family.

Best,

Katharine and Kay

By BCD Blog|2016-10-25T15:02:31-04:00October 8th, 2015|