We not only researched facts about relationships and communication of African elephants- we wrote notecards too!
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Helium and Fluorine and Oxygen… Oh, my!
First graders… Periodic table! Yes, they are working with other grades in the school to make charts on the elements. When they came back from science today, each eagerly told me the element they are working on.
Kian is doing fluorine. “It’s in the water we drink.”
Ben is working on silver. “It looks like jewelry and fillings in teeth.”
Anna- “Oxygen helps you breathe.”
Adella- “If you mix copper with tin, it will turn to bronze.”
Arthon- “Calcium makes your bones strong.”
Jenya- “Aluminum is in the foil for food.”
Jace- “Iron is magnetic.”
Darsire- “Car parts have nickel in them.”
Julie- “I already saw a TV show, How It’s Made on how neon signs are made.”
Scarlett- “Stars give off helium.”
MORE LATER!
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Research Scholars
During one period this week, we explored the parts of nonfiction books. Searching through a dozen different books, we found the title page, index, glossary, table of contents, and captions. We also thought about what information we could get from each section.
This morning our researchers worked in partner groups. Their goal: find answers to certain questions from a nonfiction book. They were researching from a number of different books – some people had a book on oceans, some had one about fish, another group had a book that was all about tarantulas, and another pored over one on ancient Egypt.
Some questions they answered-
How does the flounder protect itself? What creatures have tube-feet? Researchers on fish picked one creature to illustrate; we have great drawings of an octopus, a periwinkle, a hagfish, and a coelacanth!
On a sphinx, the head is the head of a _____. The head represents _______.
In the tarantula book, researchers found out what a scientist that studies spiders is called. What spider has the best eye sight of all spiders?
Researchers of the ocean found four ways that humans damage the oceans.
After the lessons each partner group met with me. They shared some about what they had learned, but I also asked them for their evaluation of how their partner group worked. They shared ways that partners can help each other, they gave specifics of how they were helped and helped someone else, and they commented on their focus and how they felt about the project.
They are looking forward to researching an animal group after break. They don’t know what the animal is yet; they only have one clue – it is a mammal.
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Hoo, caw, coo, and chirp!
For the month of March, we are using pictures of different bird species on the calendar. In addition, each day we have been using my bird call gadget (the IDENTIFLIER!) to listen to the sound of the day’s bird. This morning I played four bird calls and each time our “birders” identified the call. Are you hearing the black capped chickadee or the crow or the robin or the “mourning” dove? (Of course we had to also talk about the homonyms “morning” and “mourning”!)
Update on March 20th… now we have added the Scarlet Tanager and the Red-Winged Blackbird to our listening memory!
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Do you know what you can find in the dictionary?
We have been working on alphabetizing. You know why that’s cool? Because now we can look things up in the dictionary and the encyclopedia. Some students used encyclopedias today to look up Sitting Bull, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln; then they made signs about when they lived. Those signs went onto our class timeline. These well-known people from history are the subjects of some of the biographies first graders are reading.
Later we explored dictionaries. There is so much students discovered as they perused these information-packed volumes! Arthon found found an illustration of a rainbow going through a triangular prism.
Jenya saw the entry on mosaics.
Anna found a page on idioms in the front of her dictionary. One example had her name. “Anna, what are you doing? ” ” I am letting off a little steam,” said Anna.
Adella found a picture of Jabba the Hutt. It was under the word “grotesque.”
At the end of the dictionary, there was a page on shapes that Jace found.
Julie found the page on the snapping turtle.
Scarlett found a page on the earth’s crust. It had a diagram of a volcano. She told us, “We learned this in science.”
Darsire found a picture of a dormouse which is about 5″ long.
Ben showed us a picture of a kid who looked like she had a huge head. It was under the word “distort” because the girl was looking in a trick mirror!
Kian was fascinated by the roadrunner; it is about 24 inches or 61 centimeters long.
Then we practiced looking up a few words- the first step was to decide what section of the book we should open to. Will this word be in the beginning, the middle, or the end of the dictionary? We check guide words… do we need to go forward or back to find our word? We will be experts by the end of the year.
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Lucky, the lonely Leprechaun, Lurks at TCPS!
BIG NEWSFLASH…Today after lunch, we were all very excited. Imagine our surprise when students found beautiful green gems on the playground near the PE shed! Then some other students found a note on the our Fairy Hill. Here is what it said:
Dear Rascals!
My name is Lucky and I am a leprechaun and I am very lonely. Will you be my friend? I live in a secret place. It is big and white and you see it every day. Please write me a letter.
Thank U. Love you. Lucky
In first grade we noticed that Lucky makes quite a few mistakes in his letter formation. Some thought he made letters backwards on purpose. Some thought he didn’t know how to write very well. One student commented that leprechauns usually have gold, but Lucky is particularly clever so he has his treasure in jewels instead. “Watch out for your shiny pretty things,” a first grader warned. Leprechauns have been known to steal this kind of item; they even will steal pretty, sparkly things out of crows’ nests. (You know, of course, that crows are attracted to sparkly things.) The room was full of electric excitement; many other theories and ideas were shared, but then first graders were due in science class which is followed Fridays by P.E.
Those who would like will spend some time later today writing to Lucky. The gems squirreled away in pockets will be a memory of the day!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!
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Detail Oriented…A Look at Life in Another Time
How much the children enjoyed learning about the daily life of the Wampanoags and the Pilgrims? So much- the detailed replication of the inside of a house and a wetu was a project that went on and on. “I have an idea- Let’s add a cradle with a baby in it.” “We could make some marbles that the kids played with!” (They are teeny tiny.) They realized that when we took photos, “It’s going to look in the picture as if they are our size!”
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A Million Dollar Day!
Yesterday we celebrated the 100th day of school, and it turned out to be a million dollar day! 100th day is always a momentous event. Each day we record how many days of school we have had; the numbers (which we record in coins) have crept up and up from 1 and the 100th day was eagerly anticipated. On the hundredth day we put a dollar bill up to represent 100 days and students excitedly applied themselves to various activities designed to celebrate the number 100.
You will hear more about these activities, but here is a glimpse of just ONE of them!
The 100 Cup Construction Challenge
Students worked in groups of 5 (that is 20 cups each we figured!) to build . See how proud they were of the results!
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