Our class is off to an amazing start. In our Earth Science Unit, we are focusing on Water. After brainstorming all we know about Water, and reading about water, we began to explore. We started out with a trip to Nickerson State Park to look at pond water. We observed and collected samples to bring back to class. In the classroom the students looked at their water samples with magnifying glasses and excitedly recorded their observations. We were surprised and happy to find a mayfly nymph and some insect larvae.
Hi Everyone -
I hope you all weathered the storm well and didn't loose your power. I was so happy to keep our power - we almost always loose it. Now we just need to get shoveled out so we can get back to school. I've been doing a lot of reading, knitting, napping, and then today some "spring cleaning". I hope you and the children are having some fun in the snow, but also doing some nice snuggling in with a good book. Homework is listed in the homework section. Unfortunately I forgot to hand out the Reading Logs. I am sure they are greatly disappointed. They can do some fun pictures and sentences about what they are reading. Enjoy this time and stay warm. Ms. Karin After a wonderful vacation, we have jumped back into school full force! The students came back with energy and right on target. In Language Arts we are starting a creative writing project on our Magical Snowman Friend. The first step was to create their own snowman and those are in the hallway now waiting for their stories. The students are working on developing a story with at least 5 complete paragraphs, each beginning with a topic sentence and then using details to describe the topic. They are working on incorporating details and descriptive language.
In Math, we are zooming along with multiplication, division, adding and subtracting double digit numbers, counting mixed coins, telling time to the five minutes, and solving word problems. The 3rd and 4th are combining for Science. Each Friday we have a one hour class together. We just started the Physics of Sound! Today we discussed what we thought sound is, saw a Magic School Bus video on Sound, and went for a Sound Walk outside. After our walk, the students recorded the sounds they heard and their properties. Next Wednesday we will be enjoying a special program from the Museum of Science (for James's birthday) The Sound of Science. In Social Studies we are doing a unit on maps and Geography. Right now they are making a map of an invented country. They will have a map key to show different land and water forms. They will be creating states or territories within their country which they will name. It will be exciting to see where this project goes. Science Fair – we are beginning to think about it. I have posted the calendar for the Due Dates in the Science Fair section of the blog. I will also be emailing information about the Science Fair to parents. Week of 12/8
This week we are immersed in Africa. In Language Arts the children are turning their research into brochures about different places they have learned about. In Social Studies the students have been reading about different land forms and now are looking at Kenya and Ghana and seeing the variety of land forms which are in those countries. The students are working on different projects in art and in the classroom. We have enjoyed exciting visitors bringing Africa to us. Tara Murphy and her African Drummers and Dancers were amazing - I have no pictures because I was having way to much fun dancing!! We also had a visit from a woman teaching us about jump roping programs around the world. The children had the opportunity to Skype with a teacher in Trinidad/Tobago and hear him talk about his school, the islands and what it is like there. We also had a wonderful presentation by MIchael and his mom about St. Nicholas and the celebration of his birthday that is enjoyed by the people of Curacao and Netherlands. Week of 10/27/14 Last week was a busy week! As you know, the children went to Plimoth Planation on Monday and enjoyed visiting the Wampanoag and English villages. After learning about the Wampanoags, it was great for them to see a summer site and see how Wampanoag village would have looked in the 1600's. On Wednesday, Seth Rolbein, made Government come alive teaching the children about the voting process. He will be returning later in the year with Dan Wolf to teach more about how the government works. As part of our Science unit on Animal life, Thursday we took a trip to Chatham to the Upweller Shellfish Project. The children saw quahogs, scallops and oysters and were challenged with figuring out how many baby quahogs were in the bucket without counting every single one. This week we are doing a unit on shellfish, learning about different types of shellfish and their structures. We are also going to do a mini unit on Vampire Bats in honor of Halloween! In the classroom, the students have been working hard on their Halloween stories. The goal is to create a great story which uses descriptive writing to bring the reader into the story. It is a challenge when the story gets exciting to stop and describe instead of getting caught up in the action. Our Math program is moving along. We have finished reviewing addition facts and are beginning multiplication. They are measuring in inches and centimeters, practicing telling time to the hour and half hour, and counting mixed coins. They have been playing math games to practice place value and rounding numbers up or down. They also have a weekly Math Journal entry. They have a word problem to solve and then need to put into words how they solved the problem. Tomorrow we are going to try a special project with the 4th grade. It's an open-ended math project where they will be planning a Halloween Party in a haunted house. They will have a budget of $100 per team and will need to decide on what decorations and food they will buy for the party. It will be a fun challenge! Friday will be a fun day. Halloween parade in the morning and party in the afternoon with our Charter Buddies! Fun Fun!! |
My name is Karin Pearce-Small. I am the 1st/2nd grade teacher at the Laurel School. I can't wait for the new school year.Archives
March 2020
Categories |