Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
The National Gallery of Art
Hello again families! Today, the class took a tour of the National Gallery of Art. Here, we discovered many historical paintings from many different times in the world. It was fun to try and interpret the art and figure out which time periods they were from. Everyone had their own ideas of what the art meant and what it was trying to portray!The artist we spent the most time looking at was Tony Smith. He is known for his three dimensional sculptures and interesting designs. After learning more about him and his history, it was plain to see how he discovered his calling as an artist (ask your students for more info, or visit this site). With this, we took a closer look at his artwork and discovered the vast amount of geometrical figures that he bases his art off of. From here, we did a lesson on geometry and polygons, because many of his artworks contain hidden polygons in them! The students had a fun time learning about this on the NGA's website which contained many activities that had to do with Tony Smith and his art. They then got to make their own geometric work of art and shared them with the class! Ask your child about all of the new vocabulary and shapes they learned about!
The White House
Hey Everyone!!!!Today we went to the White House. It was amazing!!!! We got to see where the President lives and everything that he does on a daily basis too! We saw all of the different rooms that the White House has in it and we learned about what happens in each room.
During our history lesson, we focused on the history of the White House. The children were able to understand the different parts of the White House, what wars it has lasted through, how it was built and the logistics of it as well.
Citizenship was also a main focus when visiting the White House. It is such a big part of the President's job and I wanted to make sure that the students understood that! They were able to decide and think of their own definition of citizenship and how they can better contribute to their communities as well.
The students seemed to enjoy this very much. I think they were most excited about seeing where the President of the United States lives!!!
We will have more updates soon!!!!!!
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
The US Capitol Building
The kids have been having a great time at all the museums and sites we’ve been visiting, but we sure are keeping them busy! Today, we visited the United States Capitol building. The students found it really cool that it sits on top of Capitol Hill and that they had seen it before in pictures. The Capitol building is where Congress meets, and it very important to the legislative branch of our federal government. 
At the museum, students (and teachers!) got to learn a lot more about the different branches of government, what they do, and why they are so important. It was interesting to learn the history of this building and that before this building exisited, the Congress used to have to meet in such places as New York and Philadelphia, which are all near us…how cool! For two decades, the Senate and House of Representatives have met at this architecturally beautiful building.
Many exhibits at the museum discussed the history of the building itself and all of the very important people that stepped foot in it, including the all-important presidential inaugurations that have taken place there. We also got a real life look at the Constitution and discussed what it meant to us. We even got to take a test about our Congressional knowledge on cool touch-screen computers and watch movies about it in a giant theater!
Our lesson from this consisted of learning about “what makes the U.S. Capitol so important? With our new knowledge of archival documents and Congress that we obtained, students were able to answer that question for themselves. Working in small groups, the students worked to uncover and share the Capitol's story. Together, we tied together the pieces and focused on the idea of presidential inaugurations which occurred at the building. It was a great time and I hope our students will be able to share some of their new knowledge with you when we get home!
At the museum, students (and teachers!) got to learn a lot more about the different branches of government, what they do, and why they are so important. It was interesting to learn the history of this building and that before this building exisited, the Congress used to have to meet in such places as New York and Philadelphia, which are all near us…how cool! For two decades, the Senate and House of Representatives have met at this architecturally beautiful building.
Many exhibits at the museum discussed the history of the building itself and all of the very important people that stepped foot in it, including the all-important presidential inaugurations that have taken place there. We also got a real life look at the Constitution and discussed what it meant to us. We even got to take a test about our Congressional knowledge on cool touch-screen computers and watch movies about it in a giant theater!
Our lesson from this consisted of learning about “what makes the U.S. Capitol so important? With our new knowledge of archival documents and Congress that we obtained, students were able to answer that question for themselves. Working in small groups, the students worked to uncover and share the Capitol's story. Together, we tied together the pieces and focused on the idea of presidential inaugurations which occurred at the building. It was a great time and I hope our students will be able to share some of their new knowledge with you when we get home!
Monday, April 13, 2009
The National Air and Space Museum
Hello Parents!!!!
Today we visited the National Air and Space museum. We saw rockets, and spacecrafts, astronaut suits; it was awesome!! We had the opportunity to participate in two fantastic activites that are held at the museum. We did a "Learning Lab" called "Mission to Mars" where, the children were able to discover all the challenges that exist when exploring the planets. We also learned about all the different discoveries that have been made throughout the years by telescopes, and sattelites. Also we became part of teams and designed our own spacecrafts and missions for
them. Our hope was that we could travel to Mars
Today we visited the National Air and Space museum. We saw rockets, and spacecrafts, astronaut suits; it was awesome!! We had the opportunity to participate in two fantastic activites that are held at the museum. We did a "Learning Lab" called "Mission to Mars" where, the children were able to discover all the challenges that exist when exploring the planets. We also learned about all the different discoveries that have been made throughout the years by telescopes, and sattelites. Also we became part of teams and designed our own spacecrafts and missions for
them. Our hope was that we could travel to Mars on our spacecrafts!!!!
We also partipated in "Exploring Space". Here we were able to review the information that we had learned back at school about our solar system. This guided tour also allowed us discover a new way to look at the universe. We were able to explore the telescopes and how they helped our country so much with space exploration!
Tomorrow, we are planning on visiting the Capitol Building!!! I'm sure your cannot wait to be updated!!!!
We also partipated in "Exploring Space". Here we were able to review the information that we had learned back at school about our solar system. This guided tour also allowed us discover a new way to look at the universe. We were able to explore the telescopes and how they helped our country so much with space exploration!
Tomorrow, we are planning on visiting the Capitol Building!!! I'm sure your cannot wait to be updated!!!!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Holocaust Memorial Museum
Hi families! Today, our students visited The National Holocaust Museum. This museum is full of information and touching, real knowledge from this time in history. This huge museum contains three floors of information, presenting a narrative history using more than 900 
artifacts, 70 video monitors, and four theaters that include historic film footage and eyewitness testimonies. The exhibition itself was divided into three parts: “Nazi Assault,” “Final Solution,” and “Last Chapter.” Also included are important stories of victims and survivors, even those of children as young or younger than our students. The following topics were also some of those acknowledged at the museum: antisemitism, Jewish life in Europe before the Holocaust, the aftermath of World War I, and the Nazi rise to power. This will definitely be an important experience that we hope our students will learn 
from and never forget.
artifacts, 70 video monitors, and four theaters that include historic film footage and eyewitness testimonies. The exhibition itself was divided into three parts: “Nazi Assault,” “Final Solution,” and “Last Chapter.” Also included are important stories of victims and survivors, even those of children as young or younger than our students. The following topics were also some of those acknowledged at the museum: antisemitism, Jewish life in Europe before the Holocaust, the aftermath of World War I, and the Nazi rise to power. This will definitely be an important experience that we hope our students will learn 
from and never forget. Our goal from this museum is to teach students a better understanding of what the Holocaust is and what went on during it. The lesson that we will be doing with your students will provide them with an opportunity to review, sort, and organize the major events that occurred during the Holocaust. Students will be provided with pictures from the museum in a PowerPoint presentation and have to organize them in the order that they occurred. We will also be talking about information on the internet concerning people who think that they Holocaust never existed. The overall goal is to simplify and teach students about the important but complex aspects of the Holocaust and the order in which they occurred through visual means of learning.
With this website, you and your student can explore more about the Holocaust and discuss the sensitive but important information it contains. Hope all is well!
Monday, April 6, 2009
The National Zoological Park
Hello Parents!!!
We will be visiting the National Zoological Park today!!! Before getting there though, we will review the habitats via the website from the Park. We have previously learned about all different habitats and some of the different animals that live in those habitats. The tour that we will go on shows each country and where the animals came from that are now living in the National Zoological Park. This "Take a Tour of the World" program on the website also includes questions about the animals and where they came from as well as the different species of the animals.
We are planning to walk around the entire zoo and see all the different species! It is going to be so exciting. If you want to learn more about this zoo and if your child is very interested in this subject, then please visit http://nationalzoo.si.edu/!!!
Your children will also be recieving animal fact sheets that they will complete to reiterate the information that the learned throughout the day. We are planning on taking a guided tour as well about North American Animals. This tour will explain and show the students real life examples of the different habitats we have discussed.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
National Museum of Natural History
After the Lincoln Memorial, we had a lunch break and ate at a really cool pizza place! The students loved it. From there, we traveled to the National Museum of Natural History. The kids had a chance to explore many parts of this museum, but our lessons for the day occured at the Sant Ocean Hall exhibit. This exhibit was all about how the ocean is a vital system essential to all life and the connections we have with it. We also discussed the many different scientists that explore the ocean and provide us with knowledge and information. Examples of these scientists are marine bio
logy, paleontology, ecology, anthropology.
This exhibit had many great parts to see. One contained three open ocean zones--surface, midwater, deep—and students got to see the organisms and environments in each. Other parts highlighted current cutting-edge research that is updated annually. Also, students got to participate in interactive computer sessions which went over critical ocean-related issues that focused on environmental decision-making and the challenges associated with managing marine fisheries and confronting climate change. This part of the museum also includes the world’s largest and most diverse collection of marine specimens, so the students had a great time exploring that! We also got a history lesson in which fossils were displayed from diverse groups and diverse time periods to show how fossil evidence is used to understand the past.
During our journey, students to accepted the role of an ocean scientist and embarked on their
own expedition of the Ocean Hall in search of information, examples, and evidence related to questions that interest them.
In the process, they increased their ocean literacy and their understanding of how science is done! It was a great experience that we hope they will never forget!
logy, paleontology, ecology, anthropology.This exhibit had many great parts to see. One contained three open ocean zones--surface, midwater, deep—and students got to see the organisms and environments in each. Other parts highlighted current cutting-edge research that is updated annually. Also, students got to participate in interactive computer sessions which went over critical ocean-related issues that focused on environmental decision-making and the challenges associated with managing marine fisheries and confronting climate change. This part of the museum also includes the world’s largest and most diverse collection of marine specimens, so the students had a great time exploring that! We also got a history lesson in which fossils were displayed from diverse groups and diverse time periods to show how fossil evidence is used to understand the past.
During our journey, students to accepted the role of an ocean scientist and embarked on their
own expedition of the Ocean Hall in search of information, examples, and evidence related to questions that interest them.
In the process, they increased their ocean literacy and their understanding of how science is done! It was a great experience that we hope they will never forget! If you'd like to see more about this museum, check it out at this website!
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