The Question of the Day was: Do you always remember your dreams? Morning work was a math worksheet about writing number sentences. Later, during our official math time, the boys and girls found the sums of three 2 digit numbers.
We also reviewed the Personal Quilt assignment from last week's homework packet. We read through the components of the quilt in the project description. After this, the first graders used a rubric to assess their own projects. You will see these self assessments in their home folders tomorrow. Almost all students were able to look critically at their own work. This is an important skill!
Parents, you can help your children become better students by monitoring the way homework is completed and by going over work when it is sent home. The first graders are capable of greater independence with work now, but they still need guidance as to what producing quality work looks like and means. Here are some items to consider.
Following morning recess and Inner Explorer, we took part in a fabulous live stream event from the Butterfly Pavilion in Colorado. Fluffy the Tarantula was especially excited about this virtual invertebrate encounter. During the experience, we met Rosie, a Chilean rose tarantula just like Fluffy! The boys and girls learned about tarantula anatomy, behavior, growth, reproduction, and habitats. We also now know that Fluffy is venomous, but not poisonous. She has two different kinds of hairs on her body, each with a different function. After the session ended, I showed the boys and girls Fluffy's exoskeleton from the last time she molted. Ask your child for details!
The specials class of the day was P.E. Please remember that students should wear gym shoes on P.E. Days (B and A days on the BLAZE calendar). Also, not all students have mastered tying their shoes. Please practice this at home.
Our reading/social studies reading Crow Boy, a Caldecott Honor Book with a message about accepting differences, understanding others, and the power of kindness. The students also compared themselves to the main character in the story and wrote kanji characters for words from the story. We will continue reading A Grain of Rice tomorrow!
During science, we moved from the exploration of invertebrates in the morning to the study of vertebrates in the afternoon. We spent time looking at a poster of The Bone Zone activity sheet from last week's homework packet. We discussed similarities and differences in the skeletons and the reasons why we thought the skeletons belonged to certain animals. After this, the students examined actual animal specimens from the Chicago area. Ask your child to name the body parts and the animals from which they came! We will connect this to learning about dinosaurs tomorrow!
We also reviewed the Personal Quilt assignment from last week's homework packet. We read through the components of the quilt in the project description. After this, the first graders used a rubric to assess their own projects. You will see these self assessments in their home folders tomorrow. Almost all students were able to look critically at their own work. This is an important skill!
Parents, you can help your children become better students by monitoring the way homework is completed and by going over work when it is sent home. The first graders are capable of greater independence with work now, but they still need guidance as to what producing quality work looks like and means. Here are some items to consider.
- Did your child read the directions?
- If an assignment has more than one part, did he/she actually complete all parts?
- Is the work completed neatly? Does it show thought and effort?
- Do sentences begin with capital letters and end with the appropriate end marks?
Following morning recess and Inner Explorer, we took part in a fabulous live stream event from the Butterfly Pavilion in Colorado. Fluffy the Tarantula was especially excited about this virtual invertebrate encounter. During the experience, we met Rosie, a Chilean rose tarantula just like Fluffy! The boys and girls learned about tarantula anatomy, behavior, growth, reproduction, and habitats. We also now know that Fluffy is venomous, but not poisonous. She has two different kinds of hairs on her body, each with a different function. After the session ended, I showed the boys and girls Fluffy's exoskeleton from the last time she molted. Ask your child for details!
The specials class of the day was P.E. Please remember that students should wear gym shoes on P.E. Days (B and A days on the BLAZE calendar). Also, not all students have mastered tying their shoes. Please practice this at home.
Our reading/social studies reading Crow Boy, a Caldecott Honor Book with a message about accepting differences, understanding others, and the power of kindness. The students also compared themselves to the main character in the story and wrote kanji characters for words from the story. We will continue reading A Grain of Rice tomorrow!
During science, we moved from the exploration of invertebrates in the morning to the study of vertebrates in the afternoon. We spent time looking at a poster of The Bone Zone activity sheet from last week's homework packet. We discussed similarities and differences in the skeletons and the reasons why we thought the skeletons belonged to certain animals. After this, the students examined actual animal specimens from the Chicago area. Ask your child to name the body parts and the animals from which they came! We will connect this to learning about dinosaurs tomorrow!