I scream! You Scream! We all scream for ice cream. At the end of the week our theme was ice cream. To begin this theme the students activated their schema and shared what they already know about ice cream. Next, they asked questions about what they wanted to learn. Together we read the nonfiction story Ice Cream: The Real Scoop by Gail Gibbons. After reading the students wrote down two facts that they learned from the text. This nonfiction text was paired with the book Curious George Goes to the Ice Cream Shop. After reading this story the class identified the characters, setting, problem, solution, beginning, middle and end. In writing the students wrote a descriptive writing piece describing their favorite type of ice cream. Their writing included their favorite flavor(s), the perfect number of scoops, whether they prefer a cup or cone, what kind of cone, and the perfect toppings. After writing they created an art project that represented their perfect ice cream. In math we worked on solving ice cream theme story problems. On Friday the students wrote a procedural writing piece giving step by step directions explaining how to make the perfect ice cream sundae. I brought in vanilla and chocolate ice cream, whip cream, marshmallows, m&ms, crushed oreos and chocolate, strawberry and carmel syrup. Using these ingredients the students had to explain how to make their perfect ice cream sundae. At the end of the day they made their sundae to eat and enjoy! We decided to review how to use our 4 major comprehension strategies we have been working with all year (make predictions, ask questions, summarize, and clarify) with a shark theme. We made a list of the things we THINK we know about sharks. That prompted us to make a list of questions we have about sharks. We then discussed what types of books would help us answer our questions (fiction or nonfiction) and discussed the author's purpose for each (entertain and inform). We reviewed our nonfiction text features before starting our reading.
Students chose to either work alone or with a partner. During their reading, they summarized important facts on their graphic organizers. They also wrote down words they needed to clarify. We had so much fun that we are going to continue with sharks for our last week! This week and next week, we are doing an integrated language arts and science unit on the sun. In first grade, students need to understand how the sun is the principle source of energy. We started by activating our prior knowledge and making a list of all the things we think we know about the sun. I use the phrase "think we know" intentionally because often students will state incorrect information. This happened with our chart this week. Some students were adamant that the sun moves throughout the day while others insistent that the sun did not move. Through our discussion about what we think we know already, we generated questions that we want to find the answers to. We then discussed our purpose for reading, the types of books that would be appropriate to read (non-fiction), the author's purpose for nonfiction, and the nonfiction text features we would use to help us find the answer to our questions. The students were very motivated to prove whether the sun moves or not. We talked about how that as we read and learn knew information and facts about the sun, that it will (hopefully) spark new questions that they want to answer. The students worked in pairs to choose a nonfiction book about the sun. They worked together to complete a graphic organizer with a minimum of three facts. We came back together as a class to answer some of our questions we had and generate new questions. On the next day, students added their new facts on their graphic organizer using a new nonfiction book. Next week, we will do an experiment to measure the temperate of water left in the sun for varying amount of time. Students will also write an informative paragraph about the sun. Let's hope all of this talk about the sun makes for some more warm, sunny days!
The past few weeks we have been studying Fairy Tales. We read Jack and the Beanstalk and Cinderella. Everyone knows these traditional stories; but most have never heard the other side of the story. In order to teach the students about point of view I read the story Trust Me Jack's Beanstalk Stinks which shares the Giant's side of the story. I also read Seriously, Cinderella is so Annoying to share the step mother's point of view. This week I read the traditional version of The Three Little Pigs as well as The True Story of the Three Little Pigs from Alexander T Wolf's point of view. This linked perfectly to what we were learning about in science. The class has been learning that the sun is the principal source of the Earth's energy. We had a discussion about why the wolf would want to eat the three little pigs. The food chain represents how living things rely on each other to survive. The students made a representation of the food chain. It began with a large sun - grass - deer - wolf. We continued the Three Little Pigs theme when we discussed the scientific process. The class began with a question, wrote their hypothesis, conducted their experiment, recorded the result and conclusion. The question was "What materials can we use to build a strong house?" The students were provided a variety of materials: pipe cleaners, toothpicks, pretzel rods, popsicle sticks, marshmallows, straws, and cotton balls. They were able to choose the materials they thought would work best to create a house that would withstand the big, bad wolf. Many students learned that their hypothesis didn't work and that other materials worked better. It was funny to hear students say "I am trying plan B...plan C... :)" In the end we had a few houses for the three little pigs. When writing the results and conclusions the students had to think about why their house worked or did not work and what they would change about this experiment. The big, bad wolf (my hair dryer) was ready to put the houses to the test. I tried to blow each of the houses down, but none of them fell. Hopefully the student's learned a lot about science and had fun with Fairy Tales. We have been working on the last unit in our Go Math Series-unit 12. This unit focused on two-dimensional geometry. How do you sort and describe two-dimensional shapes? Students have been engaged in activities, discussions, and writing involving this essential question. So far students have learned to use defining attributes to sort shapes, describe attributes of two-dimensional shapes, use objects to compose new two-dimensional shapes, and compose a new shape using two-dimensional shapes. During our IE block (intervention-enrichment) we also have been exposing students to math concepts that go beyond the first grade standards. On the district MAPS math assessment, many students will have the opportunity to solve problems that go beyond the first grade standards. We differentiate our instruction all year through our small group math instruction, but we intensify the enrichment opportunities during the weeks leading up to this assessment. After being introduced to multiplication and division, many students use moments of free time to solve problems on their dry-erase boards. It is very exciting to see them so motivated, but also accurately solving these more challenging problems!
The students had a great time on our field trip the Natural History Museum. Thank you to our parent chaperones for guiding the children through the museum. So many of the students said they can't wait to go back to the museum one day. |
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