MathWe have had a brilliant first two weeks back this year. In Mathematics, we have been focusing on measuring using standard and non-standard units. We have also been looking closely at place value, and base 10. Our little learners are learning how to make two digit numbers with tens and ones. They are also learning how to trade 10 ones for a ten. Language ArtsIn Language Arts, we have been reading about weather, and researching different types of weather. Over the past two weeks, we explored voiced and unvoiced sounds. We did this in order to identify how to pronounce -ed endings. ED appears at the end of regular verbs in the past tense (e.g. wanted, helped, lived) sometimes in adjectives ending in ED (e.g. tired, embarrassed, relaxed) as well as in some Past Participles. However the pronunciation of ED sometimes causes problems for non-native speakers because it can be pronounced in three different ways: as / id /, as / t / or as / d / Before learning the difference ways to pronounce ED, we first had to know what voiced and voiceless consonants are. A voiced consonant (or sound) means that it uses the vocal cords and they produce a vibration or humming sound in the throat when they are said. A voiceless sound (sometimes called an unvoiced sound) is when there is no vibration in your throat and the sound comes from the mouth area. Connecting to our unit of inquiry on weather, we studied the book 'Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.' When we finished reading the book, students created their own type of wild 'food weather,' and wrote a weather report for it. Next week, students will be working on creating a list of adjectives for different food that it could 'rain.' Unit of InquiryReturning to our UOI on weather, students studied the 'movement' of the sun, by tracing each other's shadows throughout the day to see how they moved and changed. This led into an investigation about how the earth revolves, and rotates around the sun. This sparked some wonderful discussions and inquiries about seasons. Students engaged in a number of activities around the changing seasons. Our central idea for this UOI is that weather affects people's daily lives. One of the ways in which it does this, is through the clothes we wear and the accessories we need. We had a 'seasons fashion show' to further understand this concept. Photos below. After discussing the clothes that we need to wear, we got talking about wearing sunscreen, and the energy that is produced from the sun. This reminded us about how plants use the suns energy, a topic we learned about in our last UOI. To experiment with this new understanding. Students put sunscreen on black paper, and put their papers outside for the day. When we returned at the end of the day, we noticed that the suns energy had made the paper lighter in all areas, except where students had placed their sun screen. This was an important lesson on how our skin can be damaged in the sun, and how to protect ourselves. Talking about the sun and the sky led us into an inquiry on clouds. Students learned about 4 types of clouds, where they are placed in the sky, and their attributes. We then sang about them, looked at them, modelled them, and even constructed them. With the help of the amazing Mr. Joe, we used balloons, paper maché, paint and cotton to build the different types of clouds. When they are finished, we will hang them at 'different altitudes' in our classroom. 'How are clouds made?' was another student inquiry. Our provocation to get us started on this was to trace around puddles outside in the parking lot. We then continued to check on them, and noticed that the water was going... but where? We began to learn about evaporation. We will continue to look at the water cycle soon. We did learn that clouds are made of tiny drops of water that have joined together in the sky. At the beginning of the unit, we learned that weather is made of air, heat, and water. We made windsocks to look at wind speed and direction. Students learned that wind is created by hot air rising, and cold air taking it's place. Student Agency/Workshops/Planning Our DayWe are continuing to work on student agency in our first grade class. Last week, we planned our days, and Nina, Imara, and Sohan set the stage for leading workshops. Nina taught us how to make pancakes, Imara demonstrated a science experiment on how to make Oobleck, and Sohan did an amazing presentation on home aquariums. I am so proud of the amazing job that all three of them did. It was amazing to see how they were able to speak to their passions.
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March 2018
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