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Friday, February 17, 2012

Extended Day V-Day!

During our Valentine's Day afternoon, we decided to embrace the love that permeated through the air, and we united with our older friends from downstairs to enjoy a special love day afternoon!

We joined together to participate in a Valentine's Day scavanger hunt which was put together by some of the great teachers downstairs. Each clue was written on a heart and placed strategically throughout Lower School. What a world we live in when people even so young are searching for love...sigh...


Friends enjoyed working together to search for the clues and traveling around the Lower School while engaging with people that they have often seen but may not have had the chance to connect with yet.
It was wonderful to watch the teamwork involved in the activity, as well as the sharing of the roles, such as leading the group or reading the clues.
(Extended Day friends also helped me edit these pictures! "Make this one look like old time!")

After the scavanger hunt was over and the prize was discovered (soft pretzels, anyone?) we shared some more time as an integrated Extended Day group by playing on the "big kid" playground. Many friends enjoyed climbing together on the jungle gym, basketball, and a joint game of helicopter-jumping over a low-swinging jumprope while standing in a circle:
Activities like these help to strengthen the unique ties that are created throughout the grades during our time together and build a stronger Extended Day community.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Surprise visitor


Today the fifth grade was lucky enough to have two surprise visitors during writing. Judy Schatz brought Jane in to help edit fifth grade picture books (shh, remember, they're a surprise). As soon as the fifth graders saw Jane, they started running towards the door. A friendly, "Stop!" from Anne reminded the fifth graders that they needed to give Jane space and let her roll in slowly. As soon as Jane sat down, all of the fifth graders surrounded her and were so excited to see her. Jane looked great and was thrilled to see everyone and help out. What a great surprise!

Sunday, February 5, 2012

AFS Build-a-House Contest - Science Room News


Each year, 5th grade students are invited to build their "dream" house to present at Science Night.  This contest used to be sponsored by Habitat for Humanity, but they stopped doing the competition two years ago.  The students had enjoyed the project so much that we decided to hold our own contest!   The rules for the contest are below.  If you have any questions about this at all, please contact Rosanne, Anne, Jane or Karoyle.
You may build your house out of anything at all!  Use your imagination: use pebbles, marshmallows, Model Magic, fabric, etc…  In the past we’ve seen houses built inside of open umbrellas, houses with streams running through them, lives plants in gardens, plexiglass houses, tree houses, beach houses, etc…  You will need to submit a 250-word essay describing your house and why it is a “dream” house. Your house must be completed and brought to school by Tuesday April 10th.   Judging will happen during Science Night and the awards will be announced at a Lower School Assembly. 

Egg Drop Challenge! - Science Room News










Students have been very busy designing and building a container that will protect a raw egg from a 36 ft. fall from the auditorium catwalk.  Having the egg survive does not necessarily ensure the top score, however!  Students will be judged by several faculty members and administrators on 5 factors: egg survival, creative and purposeful design, weight of the container, whether it falls in the intended spot and removal of the egg after the fall.  This year, the designs are truly unique.  Students are using parachutes, rubber bands, natural materials, stuffed animals, foam, cotton, balloons and much more to create their containers.  Watch for the results of this exciting project at Science Night in April!

Music Department Field Trip

The Music Department is very excited to announce our February Field Trip to Peter and the Wolf. Please read the detailed information below. Click on the link to be guided to the Symphony in C website for more detailed information. If you have any questions regarding the trip, please contact Lori Saidi, Chris Buzby, Stephen Spinelli or Jason Novak.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Peter and the Wolf
Symphony in C

Performance begins at 10:00 a.m.

Departure from AFS and Snack
All students will need to
bring a snack for the bus ride.
We will depart AFS at 8:30 a.m. to arrive in Camden at 9:45 a.m.

Arrival back to AFS and Lunch
We will be departing Camden at approximately 11:00 a.m. Students on a cafeteria meal plan can coordinate a boxed lunch with the classroom teachers. All other students will need to pack a lunch. We will eat in the classrooms upon arriving back to AFS.

Friday, February 3, 2012

Welcome Extended Day!

The Extended Day community is very excited to share some of the things that we have been up to since the beginning of the school year. Take a look at some of our projects so far this year:

We started a hat knitting craze…




Played a lot of organized sports…





Decorated the playground…





Made an Andy Goldsworthy inspired creation (an artist who works with all nature to make all natural art) …



We look forward to new activities and explorations that will be finding their way up on this blog!