What an exciting week of learning and celebration! We have carved a Jack o lantern and will be counting and planting the seeds. The children are also learning about the parts of the bat, spider and skeleton.

We had a very special presentation given by the moms of Saathvik (Lakshmi), Jenna and Jayen (Shetal), Meera (Sheetal) and Uma (Chitra) today in celebration of Diwali, The Festival of Lights.  It is one of the most important festivals of the year in India and is celebrated in families by performing traditional activities together in their homes. Diwali involves the lighting of small clay lamps (diyas) filled with oil to signify the triumph of good over evil.  The children enjoyed special food from Bodhi's mom (Michelle) and the others, and crafts. Your child will be bringing home their colorful diya they made today.  The moms and their children wore traditional Indian clothing. This presentation was informative, colorful, tasty and fun. Thank you all very much!

Ms. Katrina and Ms. Marissa's class welcome two new friends to their classroom; Abbey, a 3 year old with 2 brothers and Hayes, who is also 3. We are very excited to have them in our class.

This week had us to the dump and back, literally!  We took a fabulous field trip to the Solid Waste Site of Pinellas County.  The children were shown an informative and humorous movie about solid waste and then we took a tour of the site on a bus, a pink bus to boot!  Did you know that every person creates about 5 pounds of waste per day?  Almost 76% of all waste could be recycled, if we took the time to do it.  The children were mesmerized when we drove the bus right up to the garbage piles and watched the claw pick it all up and transfer it over a wall to be burned and make electricity. We thank all of our wonderful parents who volunteered to drive and chaperone.

In preparation for our field trip, we read the book, Where Does the Garbage Go? by Paul Showers.  This book helped to explain the landfill and the process that needs to happen to have a sanitary landfill.  The children were shocked to learn that a long time ago, New York City used the Atlantic Ocean for its own dump!

We started aerobics this week.  Ms. Laura Curts taught us some great routines during our Physical Education time. The children had a fun time exercising and just being together as a group.  Thank you, Ms. Laura.  We look forward to seeing you every Thursday for our cardio workout.  Please note:  If your child wants to wear shorts and a Beach Park polo on Thursday that would be fine. 

Today we enjoyed a fascinating presentation about the holiday, Diwali, by Jayen's mom, Shetal,  and other moms of Indian heritage from the primary classes.  Most Diwali celebrations in India are spread over five days.  The children learned about The Festival of Lights and made their own diyas (lamps) that signify the welcome of prosperity and well-being.  Traditional food was shared and everyone enjoyed learning about this important Indian cultural celebration.

                           (Right: Aerobics with Ms. Laura)

Another busy week has gone by! We finished a clay mask project at the Art Center on Monday. On Wednesday, we traveled to the Refuse to Energy facility in Pinellas County. (See photo at left.) The children learned how garbage can be transformed into energy. We also got more insight into the benefits of recycling.

On Thursday, Laura Curts (Madeline's mom in LE) began a unit on aerobic exercise which was tons of fun. Our bowling unit continued on Friday of this week and we have one more session on the 15th.

In class, we all logged into the Khan Academy. This is a resource for Math and Science. There are many videos to watch and practice activities.

On Monday, we took the eggs out of the corn syrup and discovered they had shrunk! The corn syrup surrounding the eggs was watery. Once again the semi-permeable membrane surrounding the egg had allowed the water molecules to pass through.

Thursday and Friday, we started a redecorating project! Students are sewing their own pillow slips for the bench cushions. Ms. Ann and Ms. April brought in sewing machines and irons. Everyone learned how to iron, sew on a machine and sew by hand. 

This week was another fantastic week in Middle School. 

Music with Ms. Teresa

On Monday, we went to Hubert Park for our weekly art class and finished up our Halloween clay scenes, as well as creating plaster hands for our future art project, henna art. On Tuesday we had music class with Mrs. Teresa Parrino and we practiced our three part harmony piece, The Rhythm of Life. 

On Wednesday we did our manager jobs and had a lesson on thesis statements. On Thursday, Ms. Laura Curts taught us aerobics and we will have aerobics with her every Thursday through December. On Friday, we went bowling for our Physical Education unit. 

Again, this was another fantastic week, and we look forward to next week. We also hope everyone had a very happy Halloween.

LOWER ELEMENTARY: We read a story about a library with many unusual features; the books were screwed to the shelves, the plants were carnivorous, and the only pets were a piranha and a porcupine! In reality, it was a very friendly library, "but people said....." and that is how the rumor began. We continue practicing our rhymes, poems, rounds, songs and dances. It is a very active, inclusive way for the children to be part of their daily Spanish lessons.

 
UPPER ELEMENTARY:  We are in the process of reading in Spanish. This week we used yarn to "measure" our fluidity and fluency in the Spanish language. We either read from strips or created our own sentences. Every student wanted and had a chance to participate in this fun activity. Two short fables were read and translated. After a question/answer period, students were invited to write their own fable.

MIDDLE SCHOOL:  All about octopuses was our main topic for this week. We all contributed some interesting and curious facts about these marine animals and together we composed a well written and informative paragraph.  We also practiced our Spanish grammar and diction, we enriched our vocabulary, and learned a lot about octopuses, including the terrible "Kraken".

TRIVIA FACT: The Brazilian Otters, also known as Giant Otters are the longest and largest of the otter species. Because of their soft, velvety, and waterproof fur, they were hunted-nearly into extinction to be made into jackets, coats and handbags.

The BPS Library is a resource used by every class at the school.

Recently, our dedicated volunteer librarian, Maria Appel (Sam's mom, at right), rearranged the books to make the library more user friendly.  

As well, she led the way to resurrecting the library computer's online card catalog system that had been unusable for a few months.  Thanks to Maria's problem-solving skills and determination, the data was salvaged from the old computer.  A new computer has now been installed and the system is up and running.

Parents are welcome to stop in to browse the books and check them out for their children.   The library is self-serve and you need only put your child's name on the book card and leave the card in the holder.

You will find many books related to Thanksgiving and the Fall season now on display.

Picture books are organized by subject and the shelves are labeled so books are easy to find. More books are now displayed so their covers are visible and the shelves have more space between books, making it easier to browse for children and adults.

Maria is also the Scholastic Book coordinator for our school.  Thank you, Maria, for promoting reading in a big way at BPS!