March Madness

This week has had some “March Madness” of its own.  The shorten week made our class concentrate on many different things in a shorter amount of time.  The same will happen with this coming week too.

In reading, we are reading with a specific purpose in mind.  On Wednesday we learned about words that end with ed (past tense) or ing (present tense).  The class was amazed to see how many of these words they had been reading but never made the connection to their root word and ending.  It is so cool to see the light bulbs go on in class when they realize it.   We also have been using more terminology like: nouns and verbs when talking about sentence structure too.

In writing, we are getting more detailed in our All About books.  A completed book, along with other drafts, will be sent home before break.  This will mark the ending of our informational texts and non-fiction section of our curriculum.  We may revisit it later in the school year with our book clubs.

In math we are finishing up or geometry unit.  On Monday we will learn about symmetry.  I have a special project planned for that lesson.  We once again visited the computer lab on Friday and also each child also spent at least two other times on the computer working on improving our addition facts with our xtramath.org program.  Congrats to Hadassah who earned her certificate for completing the addition facts table.  She can answer the math facts the computer within 3 seconds.  Way to go!!!  Keep working on it at home. It ONLY takes about 5-7 minutes of daily practice.  I get a weekly print out of your child’s progress too.  Kudos for those of you who work on it over the weekend.

Also in math, each child picked 3 teams to cheer for in March Madness.  We worked on time of the start of the game and how that looks in digital and analog time, we talked about where the games are played (Geography); we are working on the scores and points difference (adding and subtracting).  We will continue to follow these teams and see what child picked the winning school.

In science we are anxiously awaiting our seeds to sprout.  So far, only a few have poked through the dirt.  I am hoping that the seeds will sprout enough for the children to take home before the break.

Next week:   Storyteller on Monday; Practice for 1^st grade musical; Math Egg Hunt and …It’s a Peep Thing!

P.S.   DON’T FORGET TO SEND IN YOUR FILLED EGGS FOR THE EGG HUNT.

Pi Day

This week had us learning about Pi.  Pi Day was celebrated on 3.14, of course.  During the day we learned the meaning behind Pi, we made a necklace that represented the first 18 digits of the number, we saw Youtube videos of the Pi, read books about Pi, and made art work inspired by artist Kadinsky and pi.

Here is our art work.  I must admit, it looks pretty awesome in the hallway.  Thanks to Sara’s mom for our special Pi pops.

In math our unit has turned into geometry which fit in perfectly with our Pi Day Celebration.

In writing, we are writing all about books.  This week we learned how to make a table of contents.  Next week, we will focus on extending our writing and adding more details. 

In reading, we are reading non-fiction and fiction books and comparing the information gather from them.  In the next few weeks we will be introducing poetry too. 

Look for “just right books” to be going home with your child daily after Spring Break.  Each day your child will bring home a special classroom book from their seat sack to practice their reading at home.  More information will be coming later about the procedure.

The pillbugs (rolly polly bugs) and millipedes have arrived and were placed carefully into our woodland terrariums.  On Friday we also planted some seeds and will observe them over the next few weeks to see their development.

Don’t forget….. filled Easter Eggs are due next week.   If you have them already, you can send them in early.

Enjoy your long weekend.  Happy Saint Patrick’s Day.  Thank you to Kiley’s family for the special St. Patrick’s cookies.

Dr. Seuss and Mr. Brown

This past week your child learned a song for our Read Across America finale. It was based off of our specific book, Mr. Brown can moo can you?  It was lots of fun. I have it on video. If you would like to see it, let me know. It is a short clip. Mr. T videoed it from the audience. I can try to email you the file, if it is not too large. Email me if you are interested.

We are also learning about a specific animal of choice for our all about books.  Your child is being the basic steps of researching.  The class can not get enough of it.  From a teacher's standpoint, it is an awesome sight to see and hear the children talk to me and their classmates about all the facts they have learned.

I know this weekend's weather was beautiful but did you have a chance to log your child into our new math computer fun?  I found this site from a teacher blog and thought I would give it a try.  So far so good.  On Friday we all went to the computer lab and tried it out.  It look less than 20 minutes in total and that includes logging us on the site and correcting all of our miscues because our excitement of being in the computer lab.

This week..... Look out for Pi Day........