PS/IS 686 | Brooklyn, NY

Family Traditions…We Need Your Help!

Social Studies: Family Traditions

We need your help!  In social studies are studying family traditions and celebrations.  We would like to invite parents to come in and share with the class a tradition in your family or how your family celebrates a winter holiday.  We invite you to come and share your tradition in a 5 to 10 minute presentation. You can bring in items to show the class and/or email photographs ahead of time that we can project on our smart boards.  You may also choose to have the students participate in a related activity after the presentation. Here are some examples of what families have done in the past:

  • A dad told the class about their Hanukkah tradition of playing Dreidel.  After teaching the class the rules students played the game with a partner.  
  • A family shared how they have the traditions of decorating ornaments every year for their Christmas tree.  The parent brought in supplies for students to make their own ornament.
  • One mom shared her tradition of decorating acorns.
  • One mom performed a traditional dance from her culture and then taught the class some of the dance moves.
  • A grandma told the class about a special food the family eats.  She brought in the food for everyone to try.

 

If you have a special traditions that you would like to share with our classes please contact your child’s teacher.  (Please note: For other spring holidays, we would love to have your come and share closer to the actual holiday.)

Math

In math we have begun a math investigation using attribute blocks.  These blocks come in three defining attributes: size, shape and color.  Students will use these blocks to play games, solve puzzles, communicate and defend their reasoning to others and build logic and classification skills.  Here is a link to a game similar to one we will be playing in school but with Uno Cards. If you have Uno Cards give it a try. Scroll to the end of the game to see some more challenging variations where students can also practice their addition skills.

https://childhood101.com/math-games-learning-about-attributes/

 

Field Trip

We will be going on a field trip on December 4th. If you have not done so please return the trip slip and $12.00 by Monday November 26th.  Many of you have volunteered to chaperone. Unfortunately we can only pick three. If you are chosen you will be emailed privately.

Hope you all have a happy Thanksgiving!