Today's morning work was to reread A House is a House for Me. The Question of the Day was Have you ever planted anything outside? As part of our morning meeting, the boys and girls learned another strategy to become better learners: repeating things in order to follow directions better. We also read the silly book Don't Forget the Bacon by Pat Hutchins. Ask your child about what went wrong in the story!
The lowercase letters c and e were the focus of this week's D'Nealian handwriting lesson. Both are small letters made with similar strokes. During reading, we read City Mouse and Country Mouse again. The students discussed their wonderings from last week and then wrote about a particular point in the story. Ask your child why he/she thinks the city mouse wanted to go back to the kitchen after the cook left.
We had our monthly fire drill in the morning. After this, it was time for a combination service project and science lesson. The first graders learned that not all plants start as seeds. Some plants begin as bulbs. We then went outside to plant tulip and daffodil bulbs in the butterfly garden. The boys and girls placed bulbs in trenches that I had prepped for the activity the night before. They then covered the bulbs with soil. We now must wait until spring to see the colorful results of our efforts! Gardeners must be patient.
The first graders took the Beginning of the Year REACH performance task in math after they returned to class from P.E. We then read and discussed the book How a House is Built by Gail Gibbons. It was then time to build sturdy structures! The boys and girls used what they had learned about shapes in math to help them with this project. First, each student sketched a plan for his/her structure. They plans showed how the building materials (toothpicks and gumdrops) were to be connected and used. Next, the students began building a base or foundation for their structures. Then, they built upward. Different ideas were tried. Some worked. Some didn't. Giving suggestions and compliments to fellow builders was encouraged. Everyone did his/her best to not be frustrated when things did not go as expected or desired. Knowing what does not work can be just as useful as knowing what does work! Sturdy, somewhat sturdy, and not-quite-sturdy-yet structures were sent home for further experimentation (and eating).
The A House is a House for Me projects are now on display in the hallway. Stop by for a look! Parents, please check home folders for a note about the Halloween assembly as well as a chaperone sign up sheet for several upcoming field trips.
We will read another Scholastic News magazine tomorrow.
The lowercase letters c and e were the focus of this week's D'Nealian handwriting lesson. Both are small letters made with similar strokes. During reading, we read City Mouse and Country Mouse again. The students discussed their wonderings from last week and then wrote about a particular point in the story. Ask your child why he/she thinks the city mouse wanted to go back to the kitchen after the cook left.
We had our monthly fire drill in the morning. After this, it was time for a combination service project and science lesson. The first graders learned that not all plants start as seeds. Some plants begin as bulbs. We then went outside to plant tulip and daffodil bulbs in the butterfly garden. The boys and girls placed bulbs in trenches that I had prepped for the activity the night before. They then covered the bulbs with soil. We now must wait until spring to see the colorful results of our efforts! Gardeners must be patient.
The first graders took the Beginning of the Year REACH performance task in math after they returned to class from P.E. We then read and discussed the book How a House is Built by Gail Gibbons. It was then time to build sturdy structures! The boys and girls used what they had learned about shapes in math to help them with this project. First, each student sketched a plan for his/her structure. They plans showed how the building materials (toothpicks and gumdrops) were to be connected and used. Next, the students began building a base or foundation for their structures. Then, they built upward. Different ideas were tried. Some worked. Some didn't. Giving suggestions and compliments to fellow builders was encouraged. Everyone did his/her best to not be frustrated when things did not go as expected or desired. Knowing what does not work can be just as useful as knowing what does work! Sturdy, somewhat sturdy, and not-quite-sturdy-yet structures were sent home for further experimentation (and eating).
The A House is a House for Me projects are now on display in the hallway. Stop by for a look! Parents, please check home folders for a note about the Halloween assembly as well as a chaperone sign up sheet for several upcoming field trips.
We will read another Scholastic News magazine tomorrow.