Preschool and Kindergarten both performed in the morning program.
You can follow along with the lyrics to their songs:
Preschool
“Family of Feelings” by Lucy MacGregor, Preschool Teacher
I feel something inside me. I feel something in there. It tickles my tummy. It tingles my hair. Oh, hello. Oh, I know. Upset or happy, mad, sad or scared, they are all in there. Feelings… family of feelings… I know how to care for you, deep breath.
Kindergarten
“Mariposa Family Song” by Kindergarten students & Sue Ford, Music Teacher CHORUS.
I like to do things with my family, all kinds of things with my family. Snuggling or cuddling with my mama or papa, I feel safe and love in family. I like to go places and have some fun on airplanes or cars, adventure has begun Go see Grandma or friends or travel someplace new with my family where our love is true. CHORUS I love the outdoors when the weather is nice we pack up and go camping or go on hikes We pretend we are animals, wild and free or play with sticks or swim in the sea CHORUS When winter winds blow we have fun in the snow or play games inside or watch movies playing school with my sister, building Lego sets. I love celebrating family.
First Grade
“Mother Earth” by 1st Grade students, Josie Hoban, 1st grade Associate Teacher, & Sue Ford Chorus
We give thanks that the Earth is our Mother. She loves all of us like no other. Every living, breathing being, plants and animals are family. Ooo Mother Earth…. we are your children
Possum babies sleep in Mama’s deep pouch White tailed deer graze, toads hop and crouch Screech owls fly across the sky Wild turkeys with their babies hear the hawk cry
Bears and wolves, snakes slither together Through brackish ferns, moss, rocks and heather Mother rivers flow, flocks of geese in flight Fox vixens love their kits all through the night.
Third Grade
“Cats and Dogs” by 3rd grade students, Sue Ford & Justin Pilla
Filidae, Canidae, Cat and Dog Families. Warm furry mammals with large teeth and claws They have fuzzy ears and fuzzy tails and cute fuzzy paws. Some say that one –is better than the other In our family they are sisters and brothers.
A Pride of lions work together to hunt Snow leopards are rarest and hard to confront Clever coyotes sing with howls and yelps They hunt in packs with each other’s help Lightening quick cheetahs sprint in the Savannah Leaping, long leopards creep in the jungle Frolicking foxes play with friends in the forest. Wondrous wild wolves howl at the moon in chorus Jumping Jaguars like to swim and fish Stealthy Bobcats wait for prey in the bush Joking jackals will have just one partner Like the wolf, they will babysit their kindergartener Digging Dingos in the dirt wild and free, Powerful panthers prowl land to the sea.
Second Grade
“Family Team” Lyrics by 2nd Grade students & Eddy Webb, 2nd Grade Teacher. Carolyn Zeigler, Rainbow Tutor, on flute. Tune based on Donnybrook Fair, an Irish Jig
Wake me up, I make the bed Cat, gerbils, and dog are fed Wash the dishes, do my chores If you ask, I’ll do some more
Clean my room and rub your feet In the yard I rake the leaves. All the things I do for you, It’s so clear, I love you
Family, we are like a team All for one, a family team! You know I always got your back, Count on me, that’s a fact!
Some are big and some are small That’s okay, we love them all Laugh and cry and try together Family love goes on forever!
Care for me, shelter, food Always kind, and never rude Drive to soccer, cheer me on Call me in when dinner’s done
Hand-me-downs or buy me clothes Make me wear a coat—it’s cold! All the things you do for me, It’s so clear, you love me!
Family, we are like a team All for one, a family team! You know I always got your back, Count on me, that’s a fact!
Some are big and some are small That’s okay, we love them all Laugh and cry and try together Family love goes on forever!
Fourth Grade
“Moments With My Family” by 4th Grade students & teachers – Kurt Campbell & Sarah Callahan
CHORUS: Special moments with my family They are part of my history Looking back on my memories In my mind they’re a treasury
Traveling to Scandanavia Staying up til 4am Hanging out with my sisters Laughing about where we’ve been. Spending Christmas in Ohio Hanging out with my cousins. Traveling to England 8 hour plane ride
CHORUS
Going camping with my family The dog ate my marshmallow Hanging out with siblings Laughing and having fun Watching TV with my parents All day long Picking out Midnight in late winter Fluffy baby bunnies everywhere
CHORUS
Going on a boat with mom and dad We saw whales and it started to rain. Traveling on a plane to Norway Flying through the sky Going on a trip to Carowinds Rollercoasters flying through the sky Going on a trip saying are we there yet Not yet! 5 minutes later ask again
CHORUS
Flying to California with my mom and brother Meeting friends and eating Mexican food Watching a movie in a pool While swimming with my dad. Bringing home a new dog I was so happy that I cried Jumping off a rock Landing in the water
CHORUS
Having fun with my dad in Hawaii Snorkeling in the coral reef Picking out our puppy Phoenix A new member of our family. Playing with my dogs Taking them to the lake. Driving from California to Asheville With my mom and 3 cats Flying and driving to Michigan To get my new dog Ray. Going on a cross country road trip Going almost everywhere.
Fifth Grade
“Rivers and Roads” by the Head and the Heart, words adapted by Emmaly Rogalski, 5th grade teacher, instrumental parts by Sue Ford, Dance choreographed by Julie Chapman, 5th grade parent.
A year from now we’ll all be gone. All our friends will move away. And they’re going to better places. But our friends will be gone away.
Nothing is as it has been as we cross the ocean’s swell And I guess it’s just as well as we cross the ocean’s swell
Been talking ‘bout the way things change. And my family lives in a different state And if you don’t know what to make of this, then we will not relate So if you don’t know what to make of this, then we will not relate
Rivers and roads, Oceans and roads, rivers till I reach you Rivers and roads, Oceans and roads, rivers till I reach you.
Marimba Omega Elective
“New Hope” by Sue Ford & Walt Hampton ”Carol of the Bells” based on a traditional folksong from Ukraine called “Schedryk” “Mojo” by Walt Hampton
Just before our winter break, the third grade class completed a unit on how things work. They investigated what might make a machine do what it does.
At the end of their unit, they invited the whole school to watch as different groups of students made their wonderful contraptions come to life.
Citizen Scientists
Take a look at the video to see what the students made – in action!
This activity was inspired by Rube Goldberg machines. To take it a step further, the third graders used this as inspiration for several centering lessons on chain reactions in their emotional and social lives.
When the kids were working collaboratively, they had to use these things to receive full credit:
At least three simple machines
At least five exchanges of force
Examples of friction
Examples of gravity
And, of course, teamwork.
This presentation of their machines was the culmination of the entire unit. Students did several experiments based on the scientific method that helped them build upon their prior knowledge for this activity.
It’s pretty amazing how just a little rolling ball can have such a powerful impact on integrated systems.
Of course, this unit blends in so well with our theme of systems thinking this year.
The third grade class just completed a unit on the Legend of Chocolate in Spanish. Their Spanish teacher, Cynthia, worked with West, their third grade teacher, to create a unit that would complement what the students were learning in their main classroom.
Students studied about how things work – machines, phones, etc. – in their main classroom lessons and in Spanish class, students learned about where chocolate came from.
At the end of the unit, third graders got a chance to see how chocolate is made, and how the machines work to make all that chocolate.
In their Spanish unit, students learned many new vocabulary words such as food (comida), drink (bebida), the Toltecs (los Toltecas), as well as many more vocabulary words.
They learned abut Quetzalcoatl, the god of Light and Tezcatlipoca, the god of darkness. Quetzalcoatl was the god to bring the food of the gods – chocolate – to the people, especially when they were so hungry. He taught them to farm, and how to turn cacao into a chocolate drink fit for the gods!
Third graders at the French Broad Chocolate Tasting Room
From there, they learned the mythical story about where chocolate originated. They learned the story in Spanish and even learned to recite it.
At the end of the unit, they took a field trip to the French Broad Chocolate Factory and had a tour of the Tasting Room. They listened to Evan, a Chocolatier, talk about cacao, where it comes from, how the Chocolatiers turn the cacao beans into chocolate and how they try to be as sustainable as possible in the process.
The crew at the French Broad Chocolate Factory led everyone into their “back rooms” where students could see all the machines at work. From rinsing, to sifting the cacao beans, to grinding them down into chocolate, they were able to see the entire process from start to finish.
Students sampled chocolate – the dark, unsweet kind directly derived from cacao – from different regions and it has a different taste from different regions!
Learning about chocolate and cacao
At the end of the presentation, the third graders performed the skit of the Legend of Chocolate in Spanish for the French Broad Chocolate Lounge Staff.
Did you know that the French Broad Chocolate Factory uses solar power to heat all its water? And that they make every attempt to source all their ingredients locally?
They also deal only with farms that use fair trade in their practices. In fact, the owners and employees make trips to cacao farms in Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Peru and help harvest the cacao by hand.
They have developed mutually beneficial relationships with farmers in those countries.
Watching the grinding machine take off the outer shell of cacao.
Rainbow would like to extend a special thank you to the Chocolatiers – especially Evan – for a wonderful lesson on chocolate, sustainability, how things work, and the idea of being as responsible to the planet and to each other as possible!
The Third Grade Huskies held a Thanksgiving Food Drive for Children First, a local organization that is dedicated with empowering and advocating for children and adults who face poverty.
RCS has teamed up with Children First on projects throughout the year and the third grade has done the food drive for the past couple of years.
Students collected food in food boxes from November 4-18, 2014.
They dropped off all the food collection at Children First yesterday.
Photo courtesy of Jodi Ford of Children First
RCS was able to help so many families. The third grade really had lots of boxes of generously donated food and goods. There were carloads!
Jodi at Children First sent us a warm email. She said,
Thank you AGAIN for the AMAZING Thanksgiving Food Drive—the shelves of our food pantry are stocked with all of your wonderful goodies! I personally think that the donated food tastes so much better, because there is caring and compassion involved!
Your class, and all of your staff, students and parents really outdid themselves this year—it truly is amazing how full the pantry is now! Please share our gratitude to everyone.
Third grade at the pantry. Photo courtesy of Jodi Ford at Children First.
The third grade really worked hard in reminding folks in the RCS community to contribute to the food drive, collecting food and delivering it to Children First.
Each year, our Third Grade Huskies coordinate a food drive for Thanksgiving in conjunction with Children First (CF) of Buncombe County. The food drive starts today and ends Monday, November 17.
Buncombe County has one of the highest rates in the nation for food insecurity and as a community, we all have a part in helping out those in need.
Our third graders take that calling seriously. Last year, they helped deliver quite a few boxes of food to CF. They helped out numerous families and were quite successful in their endeavor to collect food and other items.
They are again collecting food and asking all Rainbow Community folks to contribute as they can. Their goal is to be able to deliver more food than last year.
Each classroom at Rainbow has food collection boxes to store the non-perishable items until they pick up all the food on November 17th. Below is a list of what Children First has requested. Feel free to print the list and distribute as you need.
Thanks to everyone for their generosity. In the spirit of gratitude, let’s come together and lend a hand!
