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Étude Elementary Blog

December 3, 2012
by: Leah Morgan

Commotion in the Ocean, Exhibition of Learning

Ms. Marzouki’s classroom

Ms. Marzouki worked with ESAA specialist teachers in Art, Drama, Movement, and Music, on their most resent classroom project, Commotion in the Ocean. Jennie Andreasen, a Nationally Board Certified Teacher in Early/Middle Childhood Music, volunteered to work on this project with our teachers. Mrs. Andreasen recently published an article on integrating the arts in the latest edition of the Orff Echo, a national magazine for music teachers.

Using the music of “Aquarium” from the work, “Carnival of the Animals”, students explored concepts of form, pathways, tempo, and levels. Students and Mrs. Andreasen  choreographed a movement piece, with students playing the roles of many ocean creatures and plants in a classroom that was transformed into an aquarium with many art pieces created by the students. The students also designed costumes based on a sea creature they researched. After the dance presentation students, in costume, spoke about their personal learning while family and community members mingled in the “aquarium” listening to individual presentation about each creature.

Throughout the project core academic standards were taught and reinforced in Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies, Design, and Habit of Learning.
A few of the core academic goals for the project included:

Language Arts - non-fiction text structure; note taking; complete sentences including punctuation, capitals, and spaces  

Math - measurement; perspective; symmetry; recording and analyzing data

Science - balance within systems; ocean layers

Social Studies - ask questions and gather data to inform and report findings; continents and oceans locations on the globe

Design Process - discover; imagine; plan; create; revise; present

Habits of Learning - collaboration; revising for excellence; creativity; critical thinking; thinking routines


November 25, 2012
by: Leah Morgan, Photos by Emily Pugh

Cuddle Up and Read Event

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Photos from ESAA's Cuddle Up and Read event.

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November 13, 2012
by: Leah Morgan

ESAA Food Drive Raises Over 750 Items

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ESAA students raised over 750 items to donate in the first and second grade Food Drive Project.

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November 5, 2012

ESAA Food Drive

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ESAA will be collecting canned goods and dry goods to donate to the local food pantry.

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October 31, 2012

Witchy Literacy

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Witch, Donna Mae Ringle, visits Ms. Marzouki's Classroom.

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October 28, 2012
by: Dollie Cromwell, Freelance Journalist

Anna Brueggeman, Creative Movement/Dance

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ESAA’s new creative movement/dance specialist Anna Brueggeman has an extensive background in dance, including ballet, pointe, modern, jazz, improvisation and choreography.

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October 28, 2012
by: Dollie Cromwell, Freelance Journalist

Jamie Lohuis, Interventionist

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Whenever Jamie Lohuis sees a cotton ball, she can’t help but smile and remember why she chose to work with children.

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October 6, 2012
by: Pamela Koehn Oestreicher

Cookware Campaign

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In order to increase their learning-fun and minimize the impact on school staff, we are in need of some gently used cookware for student use in...

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April 13, 2012
by: Dollie Cromwell, Journalist

Flame Project

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Fifth-graders at ESAA will leave their mark on the world of science when they cast their vote on a burning question: What is a flame?

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February 14, 2012
by: Dollie Cromwell, Journalist

ESAA Government

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In their latest project-based learning unit, third- through fifth-graders at ESAA are getting a firsthand experience in democracy. The students are examining how to develop a student government for ESAA that provides freedom, democracy and justice.

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February 14, 2012
by: Dollie Cromwell, Journalist

Mrs. Marzouki, Lower-Primary Teacher

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What Elizabeth Marzouki enjoys most about teaching second-graders at ESAA is their enthusiasm for learning.

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February 8, 2012
by: Dollie Cromwell, Journalist

February Community Meeting

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This month, Mr. Johnson’s third- and fourth-graders and Mrs. Timm’s fourth- and fifth-graders will host the meeting and will share what they learned about slavery.

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February 8, 2012
by: Dollie Cromwell, Journalist

Restaurant Project

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Parents and select community members will have a very special dining opportunity next month. ESAA first- and second-graders are designing a restaurant for their current health...

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