Blog Archives

THE STUDY OF OWLS!

1/14/2016

We are starting our study of owls! We are already experts, thanks to our outdoor education program with ACES. Now it's time for us to do a little research of our own. We can't wait to share what we find. In the meantime, we kicked off this unit with some owl artwork!

SPELLING BIG WORDS

1/13/2016

We are spellers. But now that we are writing big nonfiction books, the territory comes with some pretty challenging words. Today we practiced stretching out big word. If we stretch a word out slowly and put a letter for every sound we hear, we can get pretty close to the actual spelling. We practiced big words from our writing topics like Australian, shepherd, race suit, and Star Wars!

MAKING MEANING UPDATE

1/12/2016

Everyday we practice Making Meaning out of books. Lately we're working on wondering. Wondering helps us think about the questions we have. Wondering helps up think about the characters and the plot. Wondering helps us think about the author's purpose.

This week our book was all about George Washington. Did you know George Washington LOVED animals? He especially loved dogs. He took his dog, Sweetlips, to war with him during the Revolutionary War. This particular story was about how he returned the enemy, William Howe's, dog during battle. He chose to do the right and kind thing when it would have been easier to keep the dog. We talk a lot about doing the right thing in first grade even when no one is watching. Turns out we could all learn a lot from our first president.

MAKE IT EQUAL

1/11/2016

Today we played a balancing game with subtraction. Given four numbers, we had to make a number sentence with two equal subtraction sentences on either side. For example, if you have 10, 9, 1, and 2. You could say that: 10-2=9-1.

We played with lots of different numbers and quickly got the hang of it. In other math news we are wrapping up our current subtraction unit and moving onto measurement for a while! We'll probably be able to tell you how tall we are in paper clips, blocks, and chairs very soon!

SCIENTIST AND SECRET READER...IT'S ALL IN THE FAMILY

1/8/2016

Today we heard from the scientist. And she had some very interesting things to share! Hayleigh wanted to know what would happen when you mix baking soda and vinegar. A previous scientist of ours, Tessa, shared a similar experiment on Halloween so we were convinced we knew the results. Turns out we shouldn't jump to conclusions.

Here's our scientific method...
Question: What happens when you mix baking soda and vinegar in a bottle with a balloon on top?
Materials: baking soda, vinegar, funnel, balloon
Procedure: Pour vinegar into a bottle. Use a funnel to pour baking soda into a balloon. Place the balloon over the opening of the bottle. Shake in the baking soda. Prepare to be amazed.

These were our hypotheses:
(a) The mixture will bubble up. (5)
(b) The mixture will create Carbon Dioxide. (4)
(c) There will be a small explosion. (9)

Here's the results:
The baking soda and vinegar mix and create gas through a chemical reaction. The gas expands and needs somewhere to go, so they fill up the balloon. It didn't explode, but you could use a lot of baking soda and vinegar if you want to hear a pop.

Thanks Hayleigh! We may have to try this one at home!

And...SURPRISE. Hayleigh's mom was the secret reader today too. Perfect timing! We loved the book Crafty Chloe.
It's not easy being different, but Chloe makes some pretty amazing creations with her crafty mind. She's also a pretty great kid because she chooses to do the right thing even when it's sometimes easier to be mean. This is a definite recommended read.

TRYING ON A NEW AUTHOR HAT

1/7/2016

Yesterday we read two very different but also very good books.

Turns out they are written by the same author, Jane Yolen. These books are both fiction, but one is realistic and the other one is not. One is really funny and one is more serious. One is about something we are going to do later this year and one is about dinosaurs, which don't even exist!

We just started our nonfiction writing unit and we are so excited to be trying on a different kind of author hat. We've become narrative writing pros and now we are going to become nonfiction writing pros. Here's a sneak peak into what you will learn when you read our books!

David is a Star Wars expert. He knows that lightsabers come in all different colors.

Taj is a karate expert. He knows the belt colors are levels and black is highest.

Charlie is a Golden eagle expert. He knows that they eat foxes, mice, and birds.

Tessa is an art expert. She knows that a blank art canvas can be made of anything.

Otis is a Star Wars Lego expert. He knows that Kylo Ren has a gigantic lightsaber.

Remi is a dog expert. She knows there are many dog breeds, like labs and pugs.

Malcolm is a snake expert. He knows that poisonous snakes have venom in their teeth.

Siena is a Lego expert. She knows that girl Legos come in all shapes and sizes.

Lily is a biking expert. She knows that you can glide downhill really fast.

Will is a shark expert. He knows that sharks have hundreds of teeth.

Gavin is a USA expert. He knows that Alaska is the biggest of the 50 states.

Lee is a hockey expert. He knows that the more you practice the better you get.

Kieron is a hockey expert. He knows that there are many kinds of hockey (field/ice).

Rocco is a BB gun expert. He knows that you should never point a BB gun at someone.

Mary is a ski racing expert. She knows that racing skis are long and flat.

Lilah is a Lego Friends expert. She knows Lego Friends have many different girls.

Hayleigh is an art expert. She knows that you can use a variety of materials to create.

Miss Kylie is a dog expert. She knows that dogs need lots of different kinds of exercise.

OWL MOON

1/6/2016

We will be reading Owl Moon during Owling Night at ACES on Tuesday, February 23rd at 5pm. Click on the link below to find your page so you can practice!

We will be practicing lots at school as well and can't wait to share our reading and what we've learned about owls with you then, so mark your calendars.

More information coming home in Friday Folders.
Don't forget, you have the whole book at home too :)

1. Lee
2. Malcolm
3. Hayleigh
4. David
5. Tessa
6. Charlie
7. Lily
8. Remi
9. Siena

10. Otis
11. Rocco
12. Will
13. Lilah
14. Gavin
15. Mary
16. Rachel
17. Taj
18. Kieron

HANDWRITING!

1/5/2016

Writing is probably the biggest part of first grade. We write stories and nonfiction books. We write about the books we are reading. We write about math problems we are solving. We write all day long! So, today we broke out the handwriting books and started practicing those tricky lowercase letters.

For many of us, a big first grade goal is using capital and lowercase letter appropriately in our writing. The beginning of a sentence, names, and proper nouns get capitals and everything else in between is a lowercase. It's tricky stuff because we're still trying to remember where the periods go in the first place!

WELCOME BACK!

1/4/2016

We're back at it like no time has passed at all! Everyone seems excited to be back and in the classroom. We had a usual busy day today filled with reading, writing, math, and even some computer lab too!

We spent some time today writing about our holiday breaks. Christmas, presents, skiing, vacations to warm places, and time with family were very popular topics!