This week we finished up our folk & fairy tale comparison unit (comparing and contrasting multiple versions of the same classic stories) by reading The Three Little Tamales by Eric A. Kimmel, Little Red Henry by Linda Urban, The Three Samurai Cats: A Story from Japan by Eric A. Kimmel and The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig by Eugene Trivizas.
On Tuesday we wrapped up our year-long study about daylight and sun location patterns throughout the seasons. We compared the pages we used to track the location of the sun in our sky, what the sky looked like, and the graph of daylight hours to notice any trends and or patterns that happen over time.
We finally got to bring home our daylight journals too! Check out our hard work that we did on this science investigation this year!
On Friday we began our final science unit--learning about plants. While learning about plants, what they need, and how they help people we will also be doing experiments to test out different theories. We watched a "Scientific Method Rap" to learn about the different steps in doing an experiment. Then we setup our own class experiment with a control and two variables -- comparing the growth of a seed given light and water to a seed given no light and a seed given no water. Over the next weeks we'll watch and observe what happens to these three plants as they grow (or don't grow).
During Writer's Workshop we looked at past reports written by first and second graders to give us a sense of what we are working towards as a finished product. We began to organize our notefacts into topic groups and put them in an order that makes sense. We added transitional words between sentences to make our writing sound smooth like the water when sailing on a sunny day, not choppy like the water when sailing on a stormy day. We glued our sentences in order or rewrote them into our packets.
Second grade mathematicians wrapped up their time unit working on telling time to 5 minute (and even 1 minute!) increments and comparing clocks and times to learn about elapsed time. They were flexible with money finding 20+ ways to use coins and bills to make exactly $1.48. They also thought carefully as story problem detectives to determine whether the missing information was the start, the change, or the result. Together we began using an online story/word problem modeling tool to practice solving and picturing what the word problems are asking. It's called Thinking Blocks. So far we've done just the part whole model - 2 parts but there are more intricate story problems that we'll do too!
Our play practices have been going beautifully. This week we worked on blocking and getting closer to having lines memorized! Next week we'll be making props for the play in class. We also brainstormed what clothes we might need for a costume to dress up as our play characters. For example, if your character is a cow, black or white pants and shirt are great and we can pin paper splotches on to make it more cow like. Your child is bringing home a list of the clothes they need. Usually solid color tops and bottoms (or inside-out shirts if there is a pattern/graphic) work best. If you don't have clothes for your child in the color they need for their character it is ok--let me know because I have a bunch of dress-up clothes here we can look through. You do not have to go out and purchase any new clothes--we can always make something work! If your child wanted to make any other part of their costume (i.e. headband with ears) they can work on that at home with your support if that works for your family or we can spend time here at school to do it if that works better for your family. We'll be making our extra props on Monday and Tuesday next week! Please let me know if there is any way I can support your family in getting ready for this special event!
Friday was Cinco de Mayo. We did some coloring sheets on this topic with our buddies and watched a video of this fun read aloud to learn more about how this holiday is celebrated in Mexican-American culture. If you're interested in more information check out this short video to learn some fun facts about Cinco de Mayo.
❤ Mrs. Fox
Dates to Remember
Thursday May 11 - 4 Winds/Special Science with Karen 1:30-2:30
Friday May 19 - Our Class Plays, 2:00 seating, 2:15 showtime!!
Wednesday May 24 - Spring Concert 6:30 pm
Friday May 26 - 1st Grade only - Book Buddies @ U-32 9:15-11:15
Monday May 29 - Memorial Day - NO SCHOOL
Tuesday May 30 - All First/Second Graders Field Trip to the Montshire Museum of Science 9 am-3:30 pm
Thursday June 1 - Fine Arts Night 6:00 pm
Friday June 16 - Field Day @ Wrightsville Reservoir (rain date Mon.6/19) - Save the date! (More details to come.)
Tuesday June 20 - Step Up Day (moving up to meet their new teacher and gather with the new class for next year!)
Tuesday June 20 - Final All School Meeting, 6th grade slideshow & t-shirt presentation
Tuesday June 20 - Last Day 1/2 day, 12:30 dismissal
No comments:
Post a Comment