This past week we had the pleasure of having Jamila W. come to our room to do a poetry lesson. Jamila reminded us of the importance of believing in ourselves when we are about to read a poem for an audience. As I listened to Jamila read some of her poetry, I could see how well she modeled that for us. The confidence with which she presented her lesson was like a glimpse into the future of our own students presently at Ridge.
Ayanna W. had a day off when we were in school, and what do you think she did with her time? Yes, she generously offered to come to our room and teach a math lesson on permutations and factorials! Our students were able to figure out how many ways a set of 4 different numbers could be arranged because of Ayanna's clear and concise presentation. How blessed we are that our former students enjoy coming back to Ridge to share their knowledge. Thanks you soooooooooooooooo much, Ayanna and Jamila!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
In social studies we were reading about life in Europe around 1500 A.D. Did you know that most of the people were married in June because May was when they took their yearly bath? They still smelled okay by June, but the bride carried a bouquet of flowers just in case she was beginning to have some body odor. That is how the custom of carrying a bouquet began! For more facts just ask one of our 5th or 6th graders. We have quite a few more interesting stories.
A special thank you goes to Jim Callihan for hanging pictures in our school. If you haven't had a chance to see how much nicer our school looks because of his work, please take some time to see our beautifully framed pictures.
Last Friday Jeanine B. presented a lesson on honesty to the entire school. It was fascinating! Jeanine helped us realize that honesty isn't always as clear cut as we might think it is. Jeanine read a few examples and had the students go to the left if they agreed with the statement, go to the right if they disagreed, or go to the middle if they weren't sure. There never was a time when all students agreed. Their explanations really showed how much they are used to considering many possible solutions. In the coming weeks we'll be discussing various examples of honesty. Try to ask
your child about some of the things we have discussed. I'm sure you'll be amazed by the depth of their answers. Thanks, Jeanine, for providing such a wonderful lesson for all of us!
