Lower School Class Pages

Mrs. Dara Tucker

Phone Extension 242

Biography

Dara Tucker, Head of the Lower and Middle School, received a B.S. in Psychology from Virginia Tech and holds a M.Ed. in Educational Leadership from Longwood. She is also a National Board Certified Teacher in early and middle childhood literacy.

Tucker resides in Keysville with her husband, Zach, and son, Dalton, who is in the 9th grade at Fuqua School.

Summer 2020

Many students fall victim to the summer slide during the summer months. The consequences of this academic slide can last with students and hinder their academic success. However, with Fuqua School's Lower and Middle School's Summer Reading and Math program, students are able to consistently review and retain important reading and math skills to best prepare for the upcoming school year, improve his/her confidence their reading and math abilities, fill in the gaps of concepts not mastered during the school year and strengthen existing skills.

Please click here to access the lower school's summer reading challenge and click here to access the required summer math for students in rising grades 1-5.

Please click here to access information on our summer programs.

Specials Resources

Art

Music

Song of the Week (3/30-4/3) : Does Your Chewing Gum Lose its Flavor

link to lyrics

link to video

Activity of the week (3/30-4/3): Make a homemade instrument out of things lying around the house. You can make an egg shaker out of a plastic Easter egg and rice; make a guitar out of a tissue box and rubber bands; make a tambourine out of paper plates and jingle bells; the possibilities are endless! Be creative, then use your instrument to play along with our Song of the Week!

link to awesome instrument ideas

Song of the Week- We're Going on a Bear Hunt

link to lyrics

link to melody (the closest to the lyrics I know that I could find)

Activity of the week: Go on a bear hunt! A lot of communities are putting bears out for kids to find. If you've already been on a bear hunt, then go for a dogwood tree hunt, or a shape hunt, or come up with your own! I'd love to hear how many bears you found in your area!

Song of the Week: Edelweiss

link to lyrics

link to song

Activity of the Week: With body percussion (stamp, pat, clap, snap), make up a 6 beat repeated pattern (ostinato) to play while singing the song. [As a child, I learned to play/sing this in a circle. With both hands out, right palm down (only hand that moves), left palm up (stays put!), you can repeat this pattern: (right hand) clap left hand of person next to you (1 beat), pat each of your legs (2 beats), come up beneath left hand with right hand (1 beat), then clap right hand on left hand (2 beats.) It is beautiful when done in a large group!] See what your family can create!

Since this song is from a musical by Rogers and Hammerstein, If you have the time, sit down and watch the movie together. It is a beautiful story that, among many other things, shows how music can bring a family together. The whole movie is on Disney+ if you have a subscription, but also available for rent through Amazon Prime and YouTube Movies.

Song of the Week: Pink Pajamas (In honor of our new, unofficial school uniform!! 😄)

Link to lyrics

Link to song

Activity of the week: Pick a genre or two of music you have never heard before and listen for about an hour's worth of time (not necessarily all at once). There are so many different types of music! Have you heard K-Pop? Bluegrass? Tibetan monks chanting? Romantic era ballet? Big band jazz? African drumming? Do a Google search and pick one at random. As a poster in my classroom says, "Your favorite music might be something you haven't heard yet."

Song of the Week: I Wish I Was a Little Bar of Soap

Link to lyrics

Link to song

Activity of the Week: Write your own verse to Bar of Soap. What kind of silliness can you me up with? Try to use rhyming words and fit in the correct number of syllables. Have fun with it! I'd love to hear your verses!

Song of the Week: This Land is Your Land

Link to lyrics

Link to song

Activity of the Week: In honor of Family and Friends Day which would have been this Friday, I have chosen This Land as our song of the week. We were supposed to use that song as our sing-a-long during the concert. Since we cannot have a large Family and Friends Day concert, this week's activity is to have a small one! Skype, Face Time, Zoom, or call your grandparents and special friends and sing to them! I encourage singing This Land, but any song you have learned in music this year would be great. Sing any of the silly Songs of the Week that I have posted so far. I know they will appreciate any performance that you want to give! You can make a big production out of it (which I know some of you would LOVE to do) or just call and share a song or two. I bet they might even know a few of the Songs of the Week and will sing along if you ask them. I love and miss you all!!!

Song of the Week: On the Loose

Link to Lyrics

Link to song

Activity of the week: Learn to play the spoons! With your parent's permission, grab 2 matching spoons out of the silverware drawer (or 2 matched plastic spoons), then follow along with this instructional video.

Library

PE

You tube - Little Sports

Cosmickids.com - kids yoga

Sworkit you can customize your own workout. (select sworkit kids workouts which are always free)

Practice jumping rope, throwing and catching with someone or balloon volleyball!!

Everyone should go outside and enjoy the beautiful weather. Run/jump rope/throw/catch/kick and have fun running and walking.

25 ways to get moving!

I would like to challenge everyone to make their own obstacle course and share it with me on Facebook with your parent's permission. My girls and I made an obstacle course in the driveway with chalk. It was so much fun designing it and then running through it. You can create an obstacle course in your house, driveway or backyard. Have fun and enjoy making it with your family!! Make sure you include some of the activities we learned in PE. (crab walk/bear crawl/hopping/jumping/leaping/walking/running/skipping/galloping/kicking/throwing/jumping jacks/jumping rope and make sure you have FUN!!!

Get outside and have fun getting exercise by running/jumping/skipping/catching/throwing and moving!!

Also try these fun youtube exercise sites:

Youtube - moovlee
Youtube - The Body coach TV

Get outside and have fun getting exercise by running/jumping/skipping/catching/throwing and moving!!

Go outside and make an obstacle in your yard using any items around your house. Be creative and have fun!

Spanish

https://rockalingua.com/games so many games, videos and worksheets for all levels!

https://www.abcya.com search Spanish and play the Bingo game and Vocabulary game!

I have attached a list of Spanish Greetings words that the students could make flashcards and play a memory game. The students in 2/3 and 4/5 would make flashcards in Spanish class and then play matching with each other to help learn their words.

The Pre-K and K/1 students could start learning a new farm animal each week. We just finished working on the ocean animals. The students could learn the farm animal of the week and draw a picture of the animal. This weeks animal is pig. The Spanish word for pig is cerdo. They can google the pronunciation

Spanish Greetings

Pre-K - K/1

Word of the week vaca - cow pronounced: ba·ka

Find a fun coloring sheet online and color or draw your own vaca.

2/3 and 4/5

Practice going on duolingo.

Pre-K - K/1

Word of the week Perro is Spanish for dog. Have fun finding a coloring sheet or drawing a picture of a perro. Remember to practice all your Spanish colors.

2/3 and 4/5

Continue working on the Spanish greetings flashcards. Make flashcards for all the Spanish colors to review all you colors. Enjoy going on the Abcya website and practicing all the words you have learned in Spanish. Play the bingo game and the Spanish vocabulary game. They are so much fun. It's fun to see how many words you know in Spanish.

Pre-K - K/1

Word of the week Gato is Spanish for cat. Have fun finding a coloring sheet or drawing a picture of a gato. Remember to practice all your Spanish colors.

2/3 and 4/5

Pre-K - K/1

Word of the week caballo is Spanish for horse. Have fun finding a coloring sheet or drawing a picture of a caballo. Remember to practice all your Spanish colors and numbers.

2/3 and 4/5

Review the family Spanish words that we learned this year. Go to https://rockalingua.com to review all the Spanish items we have covered this year. Make flashcards for all the Spanish colors and numbers to review. Enjoy going on the Abcya website and practicing all the words you have learned in Spanish. Play the bingo game and the Spanish vocabulary game. They are so much fun. It's fun to see how many words you know in Spanish.

STEAM

Technology

Guidance

Lesson PK-3

Lesson 3+

Perseverance Lesson

Here is a short, fun video teaching kids about cooperation

Afterwards, search around your house for empty toilet paper rolls, stickers, yarn, tape, construction paper, etc. You can use anything you can find! Ask your child to help you build something. Engage your child in a conversation about what you will build, who will do what, and which materials to use. As you build, discuss the ways you are cooperating as a team!

Cooperation is still our word of the month for April! Here is a link to a fun reading and writing activity for younger students to enjoy (most appropriate for ages K/1-4th).

During this time of quarantine, board games have been a family source of entertainment (and learning!) in our house. We have been talking a lot about cooperation over the course of the month and board games continue to be a great way to learn about cooperation with sibling, parents, and other family members. Below is a giant list of board games that especially focus on the skill of cooperation (credit to Big House Journal). I found many of these games on Amazon. I hope you are able to enjoy some with your children!

	Forbidden Island: Join a team of fearless adventurers on a do-or-die mission to capture four sacred treasures from the ruins of this perilous paradise. Race to collect the treasures and make a triumphant escape before you are swallowed into the watery abyss!
	Sloth in a Hurry: Quick! Can you act Who, What, & How? Take turns drawing a Who and What card, then spin for the How! This quick-action improv game gets kids up, active, and laughing and is a non-competitive, confidence building game.
	Outfoxed: In Outfoxed, you move around the board to gather clues, then use the special evidence scanner to rule out suspects. You have to work together quickly because the guilty fox is high-tailing it towards the exit! Will you halt the hungry hooligan before it flies the coop or will you be outfoxed?
	Ghost Fightin’ Treasure Hunters: It’s everybody vs. the ghosts. Work together to win! Can your team escape from the house with all 8 Treasure Jewels before 6 of the rooms become haunted?
	Castle Panic: The co-op element makes Castle Panic a great family game and the perfect kick-off for your weekly game night. You must work together to defend your Castle, in the center of the board, from Monsters that attack out of the forest, at the edges of the board.
	Cauldron Quest: Players work together to find hidden ingredients to create a spell-breaking potion; but work quickly - you have to find them all before the Wizard blocks off all the paths; if you succeed, everyone wins!
	Dragon Dash: Dragon Dash is a noggin playground cooperative early learning game for kids. This means that all players are teammates and have the same goal. Either everyone wins, or everyone is defeated!
	Pandemic: Players must work together playing to their characters' strengths and planning their strategy of eradication before the diseases overwhelm the world with ever-increasing outbreaks.
	Forbidden Desert: You'll need to coordinate with your teammates and use every available resource if you hope to survive the scorching heat and relentless sandstorm. Find the flying machine and escape before you all become permanent artifacts of the Forbidden Desert!
	Disney Eye Found It!: Rich with whimsical artwork and beloved Disney characters, this game is a guaranteed family favorite. A good-for-you game that encourages positive attitudes, teamwork, healthy competition, and get-up-and-go active play.
	Break the Safe: This game must be played collaboratively, or nobody wins and the longest game takes only thirty minutes. Race against the clock on the safe to collect the keys necessary to break the safe. The keys are hidden, and sometimes booby-trapped.
	Hoot Owl Hoot: Players work together to help the owls fly back to their nest before the sun comes up; if they are successful everyone wins. Children learn simple strategy and social development skills with no reading required.
	Richard Scarry’s Busytown: Race around Busytown to search for hidden objects in this fun-filled collaborative. Drive through city streets, and activity-filled farm, a busy airport, and a bustling harbor full of boats. There’s so much to discover along the way!
	Obstacles: Obstacles is a journey along a path of hazards and barriers which are overcome by the collective cleverness of the players. Armed with the unlikely tools they are dealt, imagination and some silliness, players cooperate creatively to innovate solutions that let them get home together.
	Wildcraft: Though it is a cooperative game, there is plenty of strategy and drama as players travel up the mountain to the Huckleberry Patch and back to Grandma’s before nightfall. The only way to get back safely is to help each other out. However, it’s ok if you don’t make it. Grandma will come and get you.
	The Oregon Trail Card Game: Players work together to move along the trail, fording rivers and playing Supply Cards to overcome calamities.
	Cahoots: A colorful, cooperative card game in which players play cards to one of four piles matching either color or number. Players are racing against the clock to win so they need to be in cahoots!
	Code Names: Codenames is a social word game with a simple premise and challenging gameplay. Two rival spymasters know the secret identities of 25 agents. Their teammates know the agents only by their codenames. The teams compete to see who can make contact with all of their agents first.