Happy Monday! I encountered this lovely surprise as I entered my classroom this morning. The "snailed it" theme with the letters from the first graders is perfect. I look forward to checking out all the details on the banner in the days ahead. Thank you very much for creating this for me!
The first graders began the day by choosing a picture of a coral reef animal to color. Some chose the blue-ringed octopus and some chose the sea stars. One of our fun facts for the day was that there are over 2,000 varieties of cheese to savor around the world. We also took care of our other morning business, including writing the number of the day in Roman numerals. 143 = CXLIII. Ask your child to explain this!
This week's spelling words are contractions. Most are made with the words have or will. There is one oddball in the basic list: won't. The spelling practice worksheet your child has at home is from a previous version of Unit 29, which had different contractions. It would still be a good page to complete, but it is not a must-do. To introduce each spelling word, we wrote the two words that are used to form the contraction on one side of a card and the contraction on the other side of the card.
This week's spelling words are contractions. Most are made with the words have or will. There is one oddball in the basic list: won't. The spelling practice worksheet your child has at home is from a previous version of Unit 29, which had different contractions. It would still be a good page to complete, but it is not a must-do. To introduce each spelling word, we wrote the two words that are used to form the contraction on one side of a card and the contraction on the other side of the card.
We concluded our study of Oceania by reading and responding to an article about clownfish. The students learned about the symbiotic relationship it has with sea anemones. We read the article together. Then the students looked back at it on their own in order to find evidence in the text that could be used to answer certain questions. After this, they responded in writing to questions about the clownfish and/or filled in a chart about important words from the article. Click here for a book about clownfish on Epic that your child can read during Quiet Time or DEAR Time tomorrow.
After music with Ms. Prescott, lunch, recess, and Quiet Time, we watched Ms. Miller's announcements. Room 104 is in charge of the Pledge of Allegiance this week. We were excited to see Bridger lead the school in saying the Pledge today.
Quarters were added to the coin mix in today's math lesson. The first graders found the total values of collections of quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies. They practiced drawing coins and labeling them as shown below. Counting by 25s and then adding ten or five caused a few hiccups, but I think we worked them out.
At last, it was time for Stella Dino to take over the class! She had prepared a variety of activities about her stegosaurus ancestors for us. This was quite helpful to me and a great way to end our exploration of fossils and dinosaurs. It was nice to see other dinosaur friends in attendance, as well! First, we looked at diagrams of a stegosaurus from the outside and the outside. We watched a brief video about what scientists know about the stegosaurus. Ask your child to tell you about the plates. Stella Dino loves being colorful, so after the science portion of the class, we used water to "paint" pictures of dinosaurs. The in-person learners also measured out 21 feet in the classroom to show everyone how long a stegosaurus would have been. Before breaking for DEAR Time and Recess, Stella led us in a performance of one of her famous tail dances!
Stella Dino picked a great book to read aloud to the class: Can I Have a Stegosaurus, Mom? Can I? Please!? Ask your child to tell you about it! We then moved on to the stegosaurus activity packet Stella put together for us. Many of the in-person learners chose to start with the stegosaurus maze or the stegosaurus coloring page. Stella Dino posed quite well for the latter so students could use her as a model when selecting colors to use.
During closing circle, the first graders shared some of their dinosaur art. They also watched a music video that featured a stegosaurus singer and some sensational dinosaur dance moves. Click here for the video without the dance lesson. Click here for the video with the dance lesson on Epic.
Parents, please check the May 4 learning plan to prepare your child for class on Tuesday. Thank you!