Happy Thursday! Today's morning work was a maze activity about amphibians. One of our Fun Facts of the Day was: It is impossible to sneeze with your eyes open. Pinky the Axolotl made an appearance during the morning meeting. He seemed quite pleased that he would be the center of attention today! The Question of the Day was: What do you think is the strangest amphibian? Ask your child what he/she said and why.
During one of the morning literacy sessions, the first graders were divided into small groups either in person or in breakout rooms online. They were then assigned roles and participated in Reader's Theatre play based on the story The Frog Prince. Later in the day during Closing Circle, I read another version of the story to the class.
During one of the morning literacy sessions, the first graders were divided into small groups either in person or in breakout rooms online. They were then assigned roles and participated in Reader's Theatre play based on the story The Frog Prince. Later in the day during Closing Circle, I read another version of the story to the class.
After a break, it was time for Student of the Week sharing. We learned that Ronin takes great photos, pot stickers are his favorite food, and he would like to be a baseball player when he is grown up. Ronin told us that one of his dreams is to have a pet dinosaur. He also showed us his pretty gem collection and read A Perfectly Messed Up Story to us.
During the class period just prior to Music, the students were given time to work on their autobiography projects. The in-person students worked on a variety of chapters including My Family, My Favorite Vacation, and My Family Tree. I can tell the autobiographies will be high-interest reads!
In the afternoon, we watched Ms. Miller's announcements and saw Jordyn lead the Pledge of Allegiance for the school. Then it was time for reading/math/science. Continuing the amphibian theme of the week, I read Mark Twain's The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County to the first graders. We then watched a short video showing the modern day frog jumping contests in Calaveras County. After this, the students became frog jockeys! They made the little plastic frogs they had received jump as far as possible and marked the distances. The frog jockeys were pleasantly surprised by how far their little frogs could jump.
In the afternoon, we watched Ms. Miller's announcements and saw Jordyn lead the Pledge of Allegiance for the school. Then it was time for reading/math/science. Continuing the amphibian theme of the week, I read Mark Twain's The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County to the first graders. We then watched a short video showing the modern day frog jumping contests in Calaveras County. After this, the students became frog jockeys! They made the little plastic frogs they had received jump as far as possible and marked the distances. The frog jockeys were pleasantly surprised by how far their little frogs could jump.
Two of our afternoon class sessions were devoted to learning about Pinky and the members of his axolotl family. Axolotls are salamanders that remain in the larval stage of development. They do not develop lungs as they mature. They are considered to be a critically endangered species. Axolotls have the impressive ability to regenerate damaged limbs. I shared information about axolotls from the following books: Unusual Creatures, Enchanting Creatures, and Cute as an Axoltol. The students were tasked with identifying at least one fact and one opinion from the axolotl section in Cute as an Axolotl. Pinky loved seeing himself on the cover of these books. He also demonstrated his eating prowess and his ability to hold a Pinky Yoga pose for an extended period of time.
A big part of learning about Antarctica is learning about penguins. During social studies, the first graders cut and assembled to create a poster showing the seventeen kinds of penguins that live in the southern hemisphere. The boys and girls began coloring the penguins. This project will be continued next week.
Parents, please check the May 7 learning plan to prepare your child for class on Friday. Thank you!