These are a few of our favorite things...

It's Wednesday, which means it's CHOICE DAY!  One of our favorite choices is iPods for sure - and parents often ask me about the Apps the kids are using.  Here is a short list of games being played today at after-school:

-Stack the States

-LOBSTER DIVER - a K-2 all time favorite!!

-Checkers and Chess

-Shape Builder

-Geared

freerice.com

This week we are introducing the kids (and parents!) to the website freerice.com - an online game and learning tool operated by the United Nations World Food Programme.  For each answer we get correct, 10 grains of rice are donated to help end hunger around the world. 

Username: MLESedep

Password: edep

Children have the opportunity to choose from a variety of subjects (English Vocabulary, Basic Math, Spanish, or World Capitals to name a few) and then answer a multiple choice question.  If they answer correctly, 10 grains of rice are added to our MLES EDEP score.  If they answer incorrectly, that question gets repeated a few turns later, giving the students a chance to try again.

We will be playing in the afternoons at afterschool, but I want to encourage the kids (and adults!) to feel free to play at home.  By logging on using our MLES EDEP username and password, the website will keep a total number of grains donated (no worries if you don't log in, you still earn rice, it just doesn't add to our EDEP total).

Thanks, and have fun!

November at EDEP

During the month of November, EDEP will be learning about art and artists!  We began the month by rotating through 4 different "art stations".  Children were able to

-Put together a variety of different art puzzles

-Draw with a long bamboo pole like Henri Matisse

-Have their photo taken while recreating Grant Wood's "American Gothic"

-Try drawing at an interesting angle, just like Michelanglo had to do while painting the Sistine Chapel

Overall, we had a great time and are looking forward to learning more about art and artists as the month continues!



  Ian doing his best Michelangelo impression!



Ellie using a bamboo pole to sketch

                                            

Lights on Afterschool - October 18th

Lights on Afterschool is celebrated every October in communitities nationwide to call attention to he importance of afterschool programs for America's children, families, and communities.  Lights on Afterschool was launched in October 2000 with celebrations in more than 1,200 communities nationwide.  This October, 1 million Americans will celebrate Lights on Afterschool!  Lights on Afterschool is a project of the Afterschool Alliance, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring that all children have access to quality, affordable afterschool programs.  More information is available at http://www.afterschoolalliance.org/loa.cfm.

This year, MLES EDEP will be participating in Lights on Afterschool by having our students and parents decorate light bulbs with their favorite things about EDEP.  The completed bulbs will then be displayed as a string of afterschool lights in the cafeteria.  We will also be playing "Freeze Dance", one of our favorite games!