Hello Families! Happy New Year! I hope you all had as nice of a holiday as I did. It is exciting to be back!

The children are learning now about how parts of objects have specific properties that allow them to work with other parts to carry out a particular function. Something may not work well or at all if a part of it is missing, broken, worn out, mismatched, or disconnected. To further their learning I gave them a task: to build a table out of Lego's. It had to be a flat surface, and the table had to have legs to support it. After each child made their table, I told them they must take a leg off their table. They were sad to see that now their table was slanted! Their next task was to see if they could find and use a recycled material to support the table again. They enjoyed trying different things. Many children used play dough, others used straws. Isabella A. used floam- she was so proud of it! She even included a centerpiece!

Before break, the children were investigating the different states of matter. They enjoyed carrying out experiments to see physical results, and getting to create their own experiments based on what they are interested in learning about. Extending from their investigations before break, the children are now investigating the changes in properties that occur in objects and materials and how changes of position of an object is a result from pushing and pulling. Last week, the children had the opportunity to investigate what affects an object to sink or float. Does shape affect it? Does weight affect it? The children planned and implemented an investigation to test various clay shapes (eg., a clay ball, a clay block, flattened clay with edges) to determine how shape affects the ability of a material to float or sink in water. For the last few tests, the children were able to think of a shape they were interested in knowing if it sunk or float. Michael discovered that if you form the clay ball into a boat-shape, the clay will float! The children were excited to find out that shape does affect whether or not an object will float or sink.

The next investigation was student-directed and taught, for they were able to find different materials to test if weight affects an object to float or sink. We did a feather altogether, but the children's creativity flowed as they chose different materials to test such as wood balls, corks, tissue paper, beads, packing peanuts, and so much more! On their recording sheet, they were only expected to find 3 different materials to test, yet they didn't want to stop after that! The lesson went on farther, and the learning deepens.

 This upcoming week we will be testing what various materials float and sink, such as plastic, cardboard, Styrofoam, etc... Taking everything they have learned, the children will then have to design and build their own small boat using the materials they discovered floated in water. They need to make sure the shape of their boat is correct, for they know now that shape affects if it will sink and float. We will test their boats to see if they can float for a specific amount of time, and then add pennies to their boat to see how much weight their boat can carry before it sinks. The children were so excited to start making their boats, some even decided to write down the materials they discovered would work and others made blueprints of what their boats would look like. It is going to be an exciting week!

The children have also been busy learning about measurement. They are still getting practice with measuring in non-standard units of measurement such as feet or hand spans, but now they starting to measure to the nearest inch on rulers and tape measures. They really enjoyed using tape measures to measure different parts of the body such as their friends wrist or ankle. They are also beginning to learn about the quarter hour on a clock. Any chance you can to ask your child what time it is will carry their knowledge from school to home. The children are learning the vocabulary "quarter-after, quarter-before, quarter-past, and quarter-to."

In reading and writing, the children have been having fun learning about homophones. Homophones are words that sound the same, but are spelled different and mean different things. For example, "aunt" and "ant" are homophones. They are also working on a new reading strategy: skip a word and come back to it. When children come to words they don't know, some stall on the unknown word and are unable to move on. These children must learn strategies to help them move forward. Your child is working on the accuracy strategy "Skip the word, and then come back." This strategy teaches a reader to skip over the word until the end of the sentence or passage. Then, the reader should back up and re-read the sentence again, using the first letter or letters of the skipped word and their context clues to decode the unknown word.

One last thing: On Wednesday, January 16th, it is "Appreciate a Dragon Day" at the Green Library. The children will choose a favorite dragon from literature and get creative-- read about them, write about them, draw them, paint them, make them! A dragon make-and-take craft will be available all day.  Ask your librarian for further details!




Have a great week!

P.S- Thank you to all those who donated more pencils to the classroom. We were running low!

Good Evening Families,

What's the matter with the first graders? Nothing is the matter.... but everything is matter! For the past few weeks, the children  have been investigating solids, liquids, and gases and how their properties can be changed to a new state of matter. In the very beginning of the investigation, I asked the children what they thought "state of matter" meant. One of the children raised her hand and said "OHIO!" I thought that was a funny story to share and just goes to show how much the children have been learning. The students and  have been following the scientific process carefully and have been conducting many experiments. This concept cannot be taught in no other way but experiments! We have done everything from putting mentos into diet coke to building an ice snowman and watching it melt through the day. The children also had a blast making ice cream and watching the liquid milk mixture turn into a solid. It would be a great weekend activity, even in the middle of winter! The children don't seem to mind :)

To the left: Miss Leslie knew what was coming, so she remembered to wear her poncho that day!

To the right: The carbon dioxide in the soda is so attracted to the mentos. which creates so much pressure the soda goes flying! This was an example of what happens when a solid means a gas (and liquid!)

Below: The children's reactions were the best! 

With these experiments, the children have the opportunity to choose an experiment and expand on their learning. What do they wonder about it? What questions do they have and what do they want to explore? The children have seen all the experiments once, but this is their chance to conduct the same experiment by themselves with a different essential question. For example, the class predicted why the gingerbread man was afraid of water. To test our predictions, we put a gingerbread man into a glass of water and made observations after 5 and 15 minutes. Did the gingerbread man float? sink? dissolve? After making the conclusion that the gingerbread man does indeed dissolve, Michael and Andrew wanted to test if the gingerbread man would dissolve in liquids other than just water. Claire and Marlo wanted to test how fast they could get the ice snowman to melt if they put salt on it, for they used their background knowledge and knew that salt was put on roads to melt ice and snow. All the children have been working hard at following the scientific process and conducting their own experiments, and their results will be displayed for the SCOPE Express on Thursday, December 20th!

Left: Sophia continues with the scientific process and moves her name down to "Observations."

Right: Jordan, Marlo, Alexis and Claire can't wait to find out if their liquids froze in the balloons!

For this math unit, the children will work with linear measures and review and extend their use of thermometers and clocks. They measure in nonstandard units, such as their feet or hand span, as well as in the U.S customary units of inches and feet. They use rulers and tape measures to practice measuring classroom objects and themselves. Children also begin the important work of achieving "aromaticity" (automatic recall) of basic addition facts. The children will also be starting math journaling, so please remember to send in a composition notebook for them on Monday!

In this math unit, the children will work with linear measures and review and extend their use of thermometers and clocks. They measure in nonstandard units, such as their feet and hand spans, as well as in customary units of inches and feet. They use rulers and tape measures to practice measuring classroom objects and themselves. Children also begin the important work of achieving "aromaticity" (automatic recall) of basic addition facts. On Monday, the students will also begin math journaling so please send in a composition notebook with your child. Thank you!

Above: Andrew carefully traces J'Lyn's feet so she can begin measuring in "feet."

Reminder: Please join us in your child's classroom at 3:15 on Thursday, December 20th to take a ride on SCOPE Express. The train will make several stops at depots where children's museum exhibits will be on display. Children are encourages to wear pajama's on Thursday (Bring slippers.)

To end, I would like to take a minute to say how overwhelmed and heart broken I am over the Connecticut shooting, as I am sure you are as well. The school shooting today defies explanation, words, reason, or understanding. I am looking forward to Monday, for I am going to give each of your children an even bigger hug that I normally do and will never take their smiles, laughs, hugs, and conversations for granted.

Have a restful and an appreciative weekend!

Hello Families!

I sit here today thinking how it could possibly be December 2nd already? I feel like the first day of school was only yesterday! I guess time does really fly when you are having fun.

The first graders have been really interested in learning about pollution and the harmful effects it has on our environment. They thought it was pretty cool that they could do things to reduce pollution simply by not littering and remembering to recycle. For the school-wide Thanksgiving feast, the children decided they wanted to show the other students what we have been learning so they decided to make "trash can mashed potatoes." They used recyclable pudding and fruit cup containers to serve as the trashcans, and the mashed potatoes represented the litter. They wanted to show everyone that trash belongs in the trash can, not on the ground. It was a joyful time making the mashed potatoes and homemade butter. Some children really enjoyed smashing the potatoes, where as some children enjoyed peeling the potatoes. The children helped each other with each of the jobs, working as a team. Thank you to Mrs. Neel who came to help with the process!

Above: (Left) Kaydence, Marlo, Aaliyah and Isabella peel and cut the potatoes.
(Right) Melania and Andrew wash the potatoes

Above: (Left) Claire, Andrew, and Sophia shake the butter! We used whipping cream, a marble, and a jar!
(Right): The children finally get to enjoy the feast!

The children are at the beginning stages of investigating the different properties of water. We started off by looking at the globe and examining how much water was on the earth compared to land. Because the earth is made up of 70 percent of water, we have come to the conclusion that it is very important to learn about water. The children have been creating a model to show the different ways water can be observed. Some made models of the ocean, some made models of lakes, and many of the children made a snow scene. Marlo even came up with the idea of the observation of water through a swamp.... Miss Leslie even learns from the children! We have also been studying the characteristics of solids and liquids. Jordan made the request of doing a science experiment he previously did at his house and that he wanted to share with the class. Responding to his request, the class made "gloop" on Friday! Gloop, or oobleck, is a mixture of cornstarch, food coloring, and water. Gloop has interesting properties of both liquids and solids. It normally behaves like a liquid, but if you squeeze it in your hand it acts as a solid./As you can imagine. the students absolutely loved it! Here is a link that will teach you how to make gloop at home:

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Oobleck

ENJOY!

Above:

 (Left) Miss Leslie. Sophia, Marlo, J'Lyn, and Michael learn about how much water is on Earth.

(Right) Alexis, Sophia, Melania, and Isabella experience the gloop experiement! Is it a liquid? Is it a solid? No one really can tell!

Mark your calendars: On Saturday, January 12th at 11:00 am, the Green Branch Library will be having "Pete the Cat and Popcorn Pizzazz!" Your child will hear Pete the Cat stories, songs, and they will be able to create their own popcorn treat! Because it's all good! Sign-ups begin January 2nd. I am telling you now because the children LOVE Pete the Cat, and what a great connection it would be for them from our Pete the Cat author study that occurred last year! \

Another reminder: The Daisy's are having a hat/glove drive for both the families at our school and the families in our community who are in need of these items.  There is a box that is set up at the office. Please, if you are able, send in with your child any hats or gloves that are not being used at your house. Look for sales at stores as well! Spread the holiday cheer here at GSCELC!

 Introducing.... Fireball! Fireball is our new class fish, and a fan favorite of fourteen 6 and 7 year olds. Her name was decided by a class vote, which connected beautifully to the presidential election that was occurring at the time. The class came up with different names and chose a name through a fair voting process. Other names included, Mark, AZ, Luke, and George. Notice a common trend? The children sure do love their families! Fortunately, a marine biologist donated the fish to each classroom, and took the time to come in and teach our students different facts about Betta fish and how to care for them. The children compared different fish, noticing the size, shape, color, if it was female or male, and the behavior of the fish. They put the fish in order by the color noticing all the different shades of blue and red. On a different day, the children had an opportunity to make formal observations using other class fish, focusing on writing 3 complete sentences that describe the fish. It has been a fun, fishy kind of week!

Above: Evelyn, and Marlo observing the Betta fish. Michael, Andrew, and Melania were in charge of giving Fireball freshwater and food!

For the past week, the authors have been very busy writing for the personal narrative class project. The students have been writing about a nature walk we experienced together. The class project focuses on sequence and true information. Each child is drafting, revising, and publishing a personal narrative on the nature walk. To build on this, the children will soon be working on their own individual personal narrative, where they review the different features of a personal narrative and choose an episode from their own life to write about and draft, edit, and publish their work. Children will have partners who will read each other's drafts and give feedback to improve narrative qualities. Here are some examples of the children's writing thus far:

• "That was a happy day. It was a happy day because I spent time with my friends." (Andrew)
• "There was a daisy garden. I love my grandpa and it reminded me of my grandpa." (Kaydence)
• " I felt chilly and I felt happy. I though that a iceberg was hitting me." (J'Lyn)
• "I was cold. It was so cold my nose was running." (Aaliyah)
• "I saw a leaf plant. It was almost as big as me," (Alexis)
• "When I stepped in the wet dirt it felt squishy." (Sophia)

Happy writers, happy readers, happy kids.

I would also like to mention that the SCOPE Daisy/Brownie Troop 90790 are currently working on a service project that will help a family in need during the holidays. If you can, please donate a canned food or boxed food item by November 15th. There are two boxes located at the front office that are just waiting to be filled! If you do send in the food items with your child, we will make sure the food gets to where it needs to go. Next time you go to the grocery store, perhaps you can bring your child along and have them pick out a food item they think the family would like best.The more involved they are, the better! Thank you very much!

Have a wonderful weekend!



Online Homework

Wow! What a storm! It's exciting when work, school, etc is cancelled....but it's important to remember those people who will suffer true devastation due to this storm. Due to the cancellation, there is online homework for the children:

1. Please read and solve the following number stories. Make sure to tell a parent the strategy you used to solve the problem (use your fingers, count with tallies, count out loud, draw a picture, draw a number model, mental math, use a number line, etc....)

• Melania has 10 shirts. She gives 4 shirts to her younger sister. How many shirts does she have now?
• You have a nickel. You buy 3 pieces of gum for 1 cent each. How much money do you have left?
• You have 8 cents. How much more money do you need in order to buy a crayon for 9 cents?
• An eraser costs 8 cents. Scissors costs 10 cents. How much less does the eraser cost than the scissors?
• Evelyn and Aaliyah were trying to save up for a new ball. They have 2 nickels. The ball costs 15 cents. How many more cents do Evelyn and Aaliyah need to buy the ball?

2. Please write at least 3-4 complete sentences about your feelings about the storm and the effects it had on your neighborhood. What do you observe? Are there more leaves on the ground, fallen sticks from trees, did you lose your power, etc... You can start your piece of writing by saying "The storm made me feel _________ because ________________. I see ______________ outside.  Remember your punctuation and finger spaces!

If you did lose power at some point: Please discuss with a parent what people did when they did not have power. How did they live?

Also, practice your spelling words and the different patterns you notice about each word.

Stay safe, warm, and dry! I will thinking of you!

Hello Friends!

This week, the children completed the first step to winter gardening. They dug out all the dead plants and weeds and took all their stepping stones inside. They pushed the leftovers to decompose in the woods, some using wheelbarrows, and some preferring to carry piles in their arms. Some of the children's job was to rake the leaves that surrounded the garden . They were great at this job, so hopefully this weekend will be as nice as today so you can have them out with you raking your leaves!

Quick note: On Monday, it was one of the best "Read to Self" moments I have ever seen with these children, even in Kindergarten. There strangely was not a peep in the room and all eyes were glued to the books. I just stood there and looked around in awe of the students. I took it all in, and thought how lucky I was to be their teacher.

Report cards are to be mailed on Friday, November 2nd. Please keep an eye out for them. I would be happy to answer any questions that anyone may have about the report cards or your child's progress.

Have a spooctacular weekend!

Good day everyone!

Thank you all for your participation with the Parent-Teacher Conferences. It was so great to sit down with each of you and talk about your child's progress and their attitudes towards school. It is very important to me that your child feels safe and welcomed at school, and that they have a positive outlook on learning. To reiterate, please know I am always available if you ever have any questions, comments, or concerns. I love hearing from parents!

In math, the children's minds are exploding with knowledge about coins. Boy, do they sure love money. They even love it more when they can count it! The children have specifically been focusing on exchanging pennies for nickels. I have found that when I expose the children to higher thinking throughout the day, they understand the concept so much easier when it is formally taught. In this instance, I have been incorporating dimes and quarters into our day in hopes that when I do introduce them to the exchange of the coins with higher value, they will understand better. There are some children who are already being challenged to exchange nickels for dimes. Here is a fun idea you can do at home: Have your child take off the seat cushions from your couch. Have them search for as many coins as they can can! No, stale Cheetos do not count! When they have found all the coins, help them count the nickels and pennies. Are there any exchanges they can do? If your child found dimes and quarters, don't be afraid to expand on the worth of the coins. During Daily 5 math, a favorite activity of the children was making designs out of coins. After their design is finished, they transfer their creation onto a piece of paper. They then have to count the value of their design. Here are a few pictures of the children in action: Jordan, Alexis, and Melania

Taking a look at the weeks ahead, the children will be learning about addition, subtraction, patterns, and higher level counting on the number line.

Regarding the children's reading, they have been working hard at using their schema (prior knowledge) to connect with the book they are reading. Good readers bring information from what they already know or what they have read before about a topic and connect it with what they are reading to increase their understanding of the text and to remember what they have read. I like to tell the children that it is like having a kind conversation with the book. They seem to really like that. The children have also been learning to identify the first and last part of a 1-2 syllable word, which helps them to both read and write the word. I like to cover up the last part of the word and have the children predict what the first part of the word is. The last part of a word is everything after the vowel. For instance, in the word "cat," the last part is -at. It keeps reading exciting, and almost a mystery!

The children have personal journals they write in everyday. Sometimes what they write is based from a specific prompt, and some journal entries are thought of entirely by them. They have been doing so well with the journals, I have to share what the authors have been up too:

The work above was written by Melania, Isabella M., and Kaydence

If you want to get more books based on your child's DRA level, go to:

1. scholastic.com

2. Click on the tab "Books and Authors"

3. Click on "Reading Level"

4. Choose the DRA option, choose 1st grade, and your child's DRA level

5. You now have a large list of well-known books connected to your child's DRA score. Pretty cool, I would say!

It looks like there is going to be spectacular fall weather this weekend--- go outside and wonder with your child!

Sincerely,

Miss Leslie