Candy Corn Science

We are working on developing our scientific skills of observation and inquiry.   Today we wrote a hypothesis about candy corn.  The question posed was which ingredient do you think will make candy corn dissolve faster; water, vinegar or soda.   The results were very interesting.  After about twenty minutes a white coating seemed to separate from the candy corn.  This was more evident in the water and vinegar solution.   The soda solution created a pink forth at the top and this made us inquire more about how that could happen since the candy corn is orange???

Pinata Time

Thanks to Kaiden's mom for the pinatas and to all parents for contributing the candy to put inside.  I would say that the pinata part of the day was very successful!!  What I really liked was the way everyone was sharing the candy to make sure it was fair for everyone. 

Mystery Reader Part II

Mystery Reader

Our special guest on NO Teacher Day was a mystery reader!  The Superheroes were very surprised to Ms. Patin at the door.  She choose a very interactive book!

Litter Patrol

Another way our students are taking action is the Litter Patrol.  Rush brought the idea to the classroom and together with some friends they devised a plan to help clean up our school grounds.

   This of course tied right into our unit of inquiry which stated that actions affect the community.   Once the students had a plan in place they went to talk to Ms. Patin about implementing it.    It just so happens that a fifth grade class is working on the same idea so the two classes are now working together to make a difference.  

Pumpkin Challenge

I was not allowed to give work on No Teacher Day, but they didn't say anything about challenges!  (Which of course turned into a lesson on measurement).  The students had to create a pumpkin using only 6 pieces of orange  paper.   The 6 pieces of paper had to be 6 inches long and 1 inch wide.  The results are quite interesting and are posted on our bulletin board. 

No Teacher Day!

I am not sure how this idea came about, but I love how my students were taking action!   They developed this idea and then presented it to Ms. Patin for approval.   Once approved we determined as a class community what should happen before we have teacher day.  The students decided on earning compliments based on our Learner Profile.   They worked hard to follow the essential agreements and to help others in their community be successful.  

Musters' Magical Magicians

It's official!  We have a field day name:  Musters' Magical Magicians!!   

Math Collections in Action

This is what math collections should look like and sound like...  

students working together and encouraging each other! 

Collections

As part of our math instructional time, we work on something called collections.  The students work with various materials counting by 1's, 2's, 5's or 10's.  The students work with a partner to determine how to organize the manipulatives and count the total. 

Morning Tubs

Morning Tubs are a great interactive way to start the day!  The students work at their tables with whatever materials they are given. This play-based learning activity will happen all year long.  It will be interesting to see what develops along the way!

Litter Club

 So proud of Rush for bringing the issue of trash on our campus to the attention of the class.   He came to school one day with gloves to pick up trash and I asked him for a plan of action.   Several students wanted to join in this action to help take care of our community and helped with the plan.  Next step was to go to Ms. Patin for approval.  Well,  it turns out that some fifth graders are working on the same plan!  We have now joined forces with Ms. Watts fifth grade class to take action and help the fifth graders with their exhibition project.  How cool is that!!

Math Stations

Come and take a look at what Math stations looks like and sounds like in our classroom. 

Learner Profile

As we begin to wrap up our first unit of inquiry, students explore what part of the Learner Profile they would like to work on or one aspect that they think they are really good at.  We created pennants to exhibit the word they chose with an illustration.  Three (the magic number)cheers for the Superheroes!  They make a great team!

Lemon of A Lesson

The scientists in Room 104 are trying to find the missing lemon.  King Lemonhead is looking for the prince...  you must use your powers of observation to find him!  Students used science tools and their senses to explore, discuss and record. 

Dramatizing the word: Responsible

Learner Profile

This week we took a closer look at the Learner Profile.  The goal was to determine what does it mean? To be principled?  To be caring? or To be reflective?  

The students worked in small groups to read and respond to the word by creating a skit to perform in front of the class.  This led to a great discussion and hopefully a deeper meaning of what it means to exemplify the Learner Profile.  

Writer's Workshop

The Superheroes are working on expressing themselves through writing.  During Writer's Workshop we write about our lives and who we are.  The students begin by learning how to create a draft.  Next, we take a second look at our writing and revise.  This process involves several steps such as rereading, reading out loud, and conferencing.  We will soon be on our way to publishing! 

Math Station

There are so many new and exciting things happening in first grade.  One is our Math Station time.  The students work with a partner on different math skills every morning.  We have worked together as a team to define what a math station is, what you do there, what it sounds like, and what you learn.  As we learn the procedures we continue to add to our anchor chart.  It was very impressive when Ms. Rawson came in the other day and all the students were so engaged they did not notice her!

Fun Friday!!

Every Friday students redeem their golden tickets to choose something fun for Fun Friday!  As you can see from the pictures everyone is enjoying this free time.  What are Golden Tickets?  Just my way of saying thank you for following the essential agreements.  Students can receive a golden ticket for just walking in the hallway!  Anytime you exemplify the Learner Profile I could acknowledge it with a Golden Ticket.  The students love this idea and love the choices for Fun Friday!  

Chrysanthemum

After reading Chrysanthemum today, we wondered about our own names.  Whose name is the longest? Shortest?  Do you know the story of how you got your name?  Next, we had to refer to a chart that assigned a value to each letter in the alphabet and create a unifix tower for each letter in our name. Then we counted all the cubes to determine whose name had the greatest value.

Glowing Names

Another fun cooperative group activity where we used a tool (venn diagram) to compare what is the same and what is different in our names.  It was fun to listen to the discussions when they found out they had no letters in common or when they had a lot of letters in common!

Essential Agreements

Today we worked in cooperate groups to decide what the most important rules or agreements will be in our classroom.  Together we decided that it is important to listen, be respectful and cooperate.  One student wrote that we should have fun while we are learning!  

How Many???

Our first graphing activity of the year was to figure out if we have more boys than girls.  After creating a physical graph we used the information to create a pictorial graph.  Next, we shared what we learned.   We have 15 boys and 10 girls.  One savvy first grader stated that if we had five more girls then we would have 30 kids in the classroom! 

Marshmallow Toes

Today we discuss the Learner Profile and how it impacts our community. 

 The word of the day was principled.  What does it mean?  What does it look like? 

For fun, we learned the poem Marshmallow Toes.  Then we explored the idea that marshmallows are quiet and soft and hardly make a sound.  Finally, we explored the hallways, but first we popped a marshmallow in our mouths!  No one was able to make a sound! 

Find A Friend

We had a lot of fun trying to 'scoot' around the room to find a friend.  This is one of our first assignments in learning how to work like a cooperative team.  

Students are required to listen and share information as we learn about each other.  

We found out that we are dog lovers, piano players and Megatron (sp?) fans!  

This first week of school is so important as we learn about each other

 and form this new school community.  

Rumble Part II

It is always so much fun to see who walks in the door for first grade.  I met a lot of students in kinder while they were walking the hallways or when I visited my teacher friends.  Last year at lunch I had a group of kinder girls who liked to give hugs!  How great to now see them in MY classroom! 

Rumble

It was so exciting meeting everyone during rumble on Thursday.  I know it's going to be a super year!

First Grade Advice

It has become a tradition in my class to end the year by providing advice for the incoming first graders.  I eventually turn these pictures into a book for our reading area.  The kids love reading what their siblings and friends had to say.  Here are a few pieces of sage advice from those that know!

Try your best every time you do something. 

Always stretch your brain.

Always believe in yourself.

Follow the rules. 

Keep on task. 

Be ready for anything.

Work together.

Write sentences that answer who, what , when, where and why.

Always try to learn new things. 

The Evolving Classroom

Here are a few pictures to show how the classroom evolved in the weeks prior to the first day of school.  It's like unpacking a small apartment!  Every year I have to change something to make the room special for the new group of students!  This year I was forced to leave the classroom before I was ready to prepare for Hurricane Harvey.  Of course, nothing could have prepared me for what transpired over the next few days and then over the next few weeks.  Now the empty classroom is filled with students (finally!) and it has become a busy hub of learning and fun!