One more fun website

We have been using this National Geographic website during Literacy Centers.

Children can choose from a variety of National Geographic for Kids Magazines. This website offers full virtual magazine issues. On each page, children can click on the sound symbol to have the words read aloud.

I've also added this link to the resources page on our blog.

Halloween Fun with our Reading Buddies!

We used team work to make Sparkly Spider Webs and Spiders!

Our Pumpkin Floats!

We explored one of our pumpkin predictions on Friday. First we discussed that its ok if a prediction is correct, and its ok if the prediction doesn't happen as we predicted. It is a smart guess and we learn from what happens. Many students predicted the pumpkin would sink. We tested it out and found that our pumpkin actually floats!

We had rich pre and post experiment conversation. Students shared why they thought it may or may not float. After we observed the floating pumpkin, we shared ideas of what the pumpkin may have floated.

Luckily, we were able to document our conversations. Please read the great ideas shared by your children.

Predictions

Why do you think  the pumpkin will float?

Why do you think the pumpkin will not float?

Itamar- No because the pumpkin is very heavy

Rohan- No because the pumpkin is not that buoyant, so it can’t float good

Lihi- When there’s no water inside something it will float and when there is it will sink

Sasha- It will go down because there’s seeds and stuff inside

Therese- It’s hard and bumpy

Ella- No because the pumpkin is round and heavy

Minti- Rocks don’t float because I tried it before and I think the pumpkin wont either

Itamar- Pumpkins are almost the same as rocks so they don’t float because they are hard and bumpy

Ben- One side of the pumpkin is heavier than the other so the whole pumpkin will sink

Naomi- There are so many seeds inside so it will probably make it kind of heavy

Therese- A lot of things can float because they have air inside (because air is light) and a pumpkin doesn’t have air so it will sink

Anya- I know because I pushed the pumpkin in a stroller all the way to school so I know how heavy it is

Farah- Once my dad was filling up a bucket of water and I had a pumpkin and we tested it and it went down to the bottom

Steph- I think it will float because there’s a lot of seeds on one side and less seeds on the other side and that would make it lighter.

Rachel- I carried the pumpkin and it was heavy so I don’t think it will float.

Hailey- I thought the pumpkin would sink because it was heavy.

Katie- I thought it would sink because it was heavy

Ronan- I got to hold it and it was so heavy, so I thought it would sink

Roy- it will sink because its heavy

Results

It floats!!  Why do you think the pumpkin floats?

Anya- Ben was right, one side is heavier

Audrey- One side is heavier because that side is going down in the water more

Sasha- I think one side is bigger than the other side

Elias- I think the stem is a little heavy

Ella- Maybe if you push it, it will sink to the bottom

Itamar- It has air around the outside

Rohan- If you carved a face it would sink because all of the water would go in

Lihi- Maybe there might be no water in the pumpkin so it floats

Gavin- The bumps might help it float

Farah- I think there’s more seeds on the side that’s sinking and less seeds on the other side

Itamar- One thing I think is there’s not a lot of seeds in this one and I think water can carry it because water can carry us (make us float)

Luke- Only deep water can make things go down

Weekly News

IMPORTANT DATES

·      Tuesday, November 6^th: No School, Professional Day for teachers

·      Thursday, November 8^th: Early Release Day, School ends at 12:30, lunch is served.

·      Monday, November 12^th: No School, Veteran’s Day

·      Wednesday, November 14^th: Early Release Day, School ends at 12:30, lunch is served.

·      Wednesday, November 21^st Early Dismissal, School ends at 12:00, Lunch will not be served.

·      Thursday and Friday, November 22& 23^rd: No School, Thanksgiving Holiday

WORD WALL WORDS:        get       best            went      of             you

This week, we continued our exploration of short vowel sounds, learning about words with short e. We also studied the Word Families of ed, et, and est. For example, if we can read “get,” we can change the beginning letter and read more words, like pet, net, and set. We will use Word Families a lot this year to go along with our Word Wall Words and Literacy Centers.

A NOTE ON THE BLOG…

Some families are having trouble accessing the blog. It might be related to using the original email link to open the site. This link works for your initial login, but for following visits, try going directly to the site: http://devo1mc.blogspot.com/

It may ask for your email or password that you created on your initial visit. Please let me know if you are having any problems logging in or visiting the blog.

MATH

This week, we began to look carefully at the number 5. We listed all of the ways to make 5, thought about what happens when we take different amounts away from 5, and described other characteristics of 5. We learned a number of games this week to practice ways to make 5. We discussed that it is important to play these games multiple times to practice these sums to 5. We want children to know these facts and understand these numbers automatically. Once children have a solid understanding of 5, we will move on to 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. Then we will focus on strategies for working with numbers beyond 10. While many students have strategies to work with these numbers (counting on fingers, counting objects, number lines, etc.), we really want to build automaticity with these numbers.  We will eventually label addition and subtraction, however, in the beginning  (and beyond) our goal is for children to develop a deep understanding of numbers and the actions, rather than focusing on the rote addition and subtraction facts.

COMMUNITY

This week, we discussed put ups and put downs. We talked about put downs in the form of words and actions that can hurt feelings or make someone sad. On the flip side, we described words and actions that make someone feel happy. We called these rainbow thoughts. We had a very thoughtful discussion about how if you’re already feeling sad and someone says something unkind, that might make you feel worse, or make you respond in an unkind way. This would also make it hard to do your best learning in school because you might be worried about friendships or problems. However, if someone said something kind, helped you, shared with you, or let you go first in a game, that might make you feel better. You might also forget about something that was bothering you, and you might be able to do more learning because you weren’t worried about your friends. (Kids made these comments and connections!) During project time, we made a giant rainbow person that will to remind us to use kind words and actions that will give our friends rainbow thoughts.

SCIENCE

This week we talked about predictions. We talked about how predictions are a “smart guess” based on what we know. WE talked about how sometimes predictions are correct and other times they are not. We made predictions about our pumpkin, predicting how many seeds will be inside, whether it will float or sink, and what it will look like inside. Next week, we will test our predictions and carve our class pumpkin.

FALL CONFERENCES

I will be posting sign-up for parent- teacher conferences next week. In order to gain more information about students, I will begin conferences on the second early release day, rather than the first. I will offer conferences on early release days and other afternoons and evenings.

HALLOWEEN

We will celebrate Halloween and fall during the week of October 29- November 2^nd. Similar to Apple Week, during Fall Festival week we will address literacy, math, science and community through these Halloween Centers. We will not be sharing candy or bringing in costumes, however, children will have the opportunity to draw their costume and talk about costumes.

*Following Trick-or-Treating, please do not send any candy with your child for lunch or snack. These treats should be saved for home to avoid any hurt feelings and to keep the focus on healthy eating at school. Thank you so much for your help with this.

WEATHER

We will go outside for recess every day, unless it is raining or very, very cold. As the weather gets colder, please be sure to send appropriate outdoor clothing. The temperature in our classroom also fluctuates, so it may also be helpful to send your child with layers for in the classroom.

ASK YOUR CHILD…

These questions can be conversation starters to discuss the week in school.

·      What are some words in the “et” word family?

·      What are some of the ways to make 5?

·      What letters did you practice in your handwriting book this week?

·      What is one thing you have said or done to someone to give them a rainbow thought?

·      What is one way someone has given you a rainbow thought?

Some pictures from this week...

Apple Week: Apple Taste Tests and apple Observations

We finished a 200 piece puzzle this week!

Playing Math Games

Weekly News

WORD WALL WORDS:        am             and            can            see       to

This week, we continued our exploration of short vowel sounds, starting with short a. We also began to study Word Families of at, an, and am. For example, if we can read “at,” we can also add and change beginning letters and read more words, like cat, hat, chat, mat, pat, etc. We will use Word Families a lot this year to go along with our Word Wall Words and Literacy Centers.

SUMMER LEARNING

I have been asked to remind families of summer reading and math packets. Many families that completed this work, have already turned it in. However, this is the final week to return any work done over the summer. This can be done in the form of the summer reading list, summer math calendar or other documentation of learning over the summer. If you are new to Devotion School, or did not complete summer work, no problem. It is encouraged but not required. The final day to turn in any work is this Friday, October 19^th.

MATH

This week, we are wrapping up our beginning of the year unit on shapes and patterns. We will continue to work with shapes and patterns throughout the year, but our focus will begin to shift to number sense. We will look carefully at numbers, beginning with the number 5. We will look at all of the ways to make 5, what happens when we take different amounts away from 5, and other characteristics of 5. We will eventually label addition and subtraction, however, in the beginning  (and beyond) our goal is for children to develop a deep understanding of numbers and the actions, rather than focusing on the rote addition and subtraction facts.

COMMUNITY

We continue to work on ways to be a good friend. We have talked this week about how to help friends and how to make things better if someone’s feelings get hurt. We talked about going beyond “I’m sorry.” Sometimes, saying “I’m sorry” doesn’t fully fix someone’s hurt feelings. As a class, we thought of things we could say or do to make someone feel better, ways to let them know that they are our friend and that we care about them. For example, we could say “Next time, I will...,” give a compliment,  let someone go first, or include someone in a game or activity. This is similar to the “you broke it, you fix it” approach, which works great and is easier to understand for objects and messes. It’s a bit trickier of a concept for feelings and friendship. We will continue to work this year on going beyond, “I’m sorry,” to actually helping to make a problem smaller. It’s a work in progress, and we are looking forward to the opportunity to build an even stronger classroom community.

SCIENCE

Following our discussion on scientists and how to look carefully at objects we observe, we began to explore tools that scientists use to observe. This week, we used magnifying glasses to “zoom in” and take a closer look at apples. We will continue to learn about different tools that we can use to observe. We also learned about the life cycle of apples and apple trees. We read about how apple trees change in different seasons.  We looked at, labeled, and created our own cross-section diagrams of apples. We identified the parts of an apple: skin/peel, flesh, core, stem, and seeds.

APPLE WEEK

This week, we focused on apples and the yearly cycle of the apple tree. We have read many apple books, both fiction and non-fiction. We are doing a number of activities relating to apples, including observations, stamping, diagrams, poems, stories, apple farm maps, taste tests and cooking apple sauce. It has been a wonderful way to do some cross-curricular, cooperative, hands-on learning.

HALLOWEEN

We will celebrate Halloween and fall during the week of October 29- November 2^nd. Similar to Apple Week, during Fall Festival week we will address literacy, math, science and community through these Halloween Centers. We will not be sharing candy or bringing in costumes, however, children will have the opportunity to draw their costume and talk about costumes.

*Following Trick-or-Treating, please do not send any candy with your child for lunch or snack. These treats should be saved for home to avoid any hurt feelings and to keep the focus on healthy eating at school. Thank you so much for your help with this.

SNACK

Please check in with your child regarding snack and lunch times. Some children are growing or using more energy at school and end up quite hungry during the day. We really try to encourage children to eat all of their food at lunch and snack, but some children are still hungry. Feel free to send a sandwich or something else substantial for snack, as it is a very long time to go from 8 am to 12:40 when we eat lunch.

Also, we are running low on our class supply of plastic-ware, specifically plastic spoons. If you pack yogurt or fruit cups for your child, please send them with spoons and forks. There is a supply in the cafeteria for lunchtime, but we do not have the same supply in the classroom.  

FIRST GRADE WISH LIST

We welcome donations of the following items for our classroom:

·      Legos, old ones that your family is no longer using.

·      Plastic Spoons

ASK YOUR CHILD…

These questions can be conversation starters to discuss the week in school.

·      What are some words in the “at” word family?

·      What kind of apple did you like the best in our Apple Taste Test?

·      Can you make a circle out of squares? What shapes can you make with squares?

·      What did you like about the Art Barn play that we watched on Friday?

·      What was your favorite Apple Week activity?

Dana Farber comes to 1MC

Teamwork in 1MC

A few quick updates...

Happy Sunday.

I've made a few updates to the family contact list. I'm sorry about the type-o's. If any other information remains incorrect, please let me know, I will fix it right away.

This week, we will have Apple Week in 1MC. Many of our projects and Literacy Centers will involve apples... observing them, reading about them, tasting them, creating art with them, baking with them, and much more.

If you could share an apple or two with our class, we would really appreciate it. We welcome donations of any type of apple any day this week. Thank you in advance for your generosity. Stay tuned for apple updates.

I've added some pictures that we've taken so far this year. This is a private site and it is only shared with families and the important people related to 1MC. If you would prefer that I not post pictures of your child, please let me know.

We love reading with our 3rd grade Reading Buddies on Fridays!