Thank you to our parents that donated supplies this week for these challenges and discoveries to be made possible. The news section of our class website will continue to list items as needed.
Today, we tested our mop designs. We had several successful mops, but we had two similar designs that tied in the initial testing. They had to clean a more deluxe spill to see who was the champion. In the end, Reeece's design won with Marlee a close second. Great job, 1st grade engineers!
Thank you to our parents that donated supplies this week for these challenges and discoveries to be made possible. The news section of our class website will continue to list items as needed.
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We tested materials this week and made our decisions about best materials. Tomorrow we will test our designs. Which mop do you think will clean up the small spill the best? Ask your child what materials they chose. Can they defend their choice? Why are they using that material? What predictions can they make about tomorrow's mop test?
Shusake graduated from our ESL program tonight. I am so proud of his accomplishment. He speaks both Japanese and English. I was impressed with his courage to give a speech in front of many audience members at the ceremony as well. He is a hard worker with a positive attitude. His ability to learn a new language is inspiring! Way to go Shu!
Today's research involved diapers! We tested different sizes, styles, and brands of diapers to see which would hold the most water. We opened a clean diaper to discover cotton filling. We opened a full diaper to discover a gel substance. Most of us did not know what we would find inside a diaper. It was an exciting experiment! Ask your child about the surprising weight of a diaper. Will this information help us to choose the best materials for our mop design?
We have read Curious George at School. In our story, George makes a BIG mess and his friends help him clean it up. This week, our challenge is to design a mini-mop for cleaning small spills. We have to do some research to find out the best materials to clean spills. Today, we interviewed Mr. Jeff. Our janitor came to visit our room so we could ask him a few questions... We wanted to know "What tools do you use to clean messes? What are your tools made of? and What tools work best on spills?" Tomorrow, we will test our available materials and begin designing our mini-mop! Should we choose paper, cotton, sponge, or felt? What can you learn from someone's trash? Today we made assumptions after looking at a family's trash. We had defend our answers and look for evidence in the trash. We were like detectives looking for clues. We use defending and evidence in STEM, but we also use these skills in explaining math solutions, determining what to edit in grammar work, and giving details in writing. Ask your child about this activity. What do they remember about our assumptions. What did they learn about this family? Can they defend their belief? This week, we read The Storm. We learned more about storms and talked about how to safe during storms. Our challenge was to design a dwelling using the best materials to protect Mr. Cottonball. We sketched our design, tested materials, and redesigned based on our findings. Three of our four teams were able to successfully protect Mr. Cottonball. Ask your child what was important about those shelters. What would they change about their dwelling if they could redesign? These group challenges help encourage communication skills and problem solving. They are also forced to consider time management and available resources.
The rain can't stop us! We had a few showers today throughout the day which did keep us off the playground, but it didn't keep us from getting ACTIVE! We used Adventure to Fitness to get moving! Adventure to Fitness takes you to different places to solve different problems all while moving at different speeds and actions. Ask your child about running from lava today!
Parents- check your email! You should have received an email of your child's voice! On Fridays, we will use AudioBoo to record our 1 minute timed reads. Your child has 1 minute to read as much as they can with accuracy. At this point in the year, our goal is to read 30 words per minute with 80% accuracy. The reading passage is an on-level text with many high frequency and skill words embedded. Today's passage included a total of 38 words, and several students completed the entire passage with additional time left over. We will be tracking our progress and setting new goals. I emailed today's reading and will continue to do so occasionally. This will be a great way for you to monitor their improvements and praise their accomplishments. Don't you think it's a great keepsake too? I wish I had a recording of my boys reading in 1st grade! Technology is so cool! *I apologize for my voice in the recordings- not as cute as a 6yr old when you have a raspy sound and are trying not to lose your voice* This week, we started our Scott Foresman Journeys series. We are on lesson one entitled What is a Pal? Your student has access to this story and other texts within this series through ThinkCentral. (If you are a new SHE Smokie, we are still setting up your account) They can log in with their username and password and preview or reread texts. They can access various leveled readers, decodable readers, and the story of the week. Your child could benefit from additional practice reading our story and other items available on ThinkCentral. Go to the useful links page to access the site. |
Dee Dulin1st grade teacher infusing STEM, PBL, and 1:1 mini-ipads CategoriesArchives
December 2017
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