Wednesday, March 7th - Konica Minolta Planetarium (Objects in the Sky Science Unit)
Student Admission: ¥450 per child (send by Friday, Feb. 23rd.)
*An email was sent to parents asking for volunteers who are interested in being a chaperone for this field trip.
Friday, March 23rd - Miraikan / Special Exhibit "Move into the wild life" (Animal Science Unit)
Student Admission/Parking Fee/Highway Fee: ¥1500 per child
*I will send an email at the beginning of March to select a chaperone for this field trip.
Last week our class learned about writing anonymous notes of kindness to be a "bucket filler" and make others smile! This week we wrote lots and lots of notes to share with everyone in our class! On Wednesday, Feb. 21st UST students will celebrate Valentine's Day and kindness notes will be delivered. We are also putting notes of kindness on display outside the classroom.
During Reading this week our class learned that we can meet a character in a book by asking ourselves, "What does the character do? What does the character like/dislike?"
The character is ___________ (verb with -ing)
I think the character likes / dislikes ________________.
Example:
The character is frowning and crossing her arms.
I think the character dislikes naps.
We also thought about what our characters do and say to understand how they are feeling. I asked the students, "How does your character feel? How do you know?" We learned how to be reading detectives, so students are practicing how to go back to the text (words) and pictures to find evidence to prove their idea.
Example:
I think the character is happy because she is smiling and saying, "Thank you for coming to my birthday party!"
Students completed drafting, revising, and editing their personal narrative writing pieces this week, so we will take time next week to publish and celebrate the paragraphs each student wrote.
This week we started a new Math chapter all about length and measurement.
Math Vocabulary
long
longer
longest
small
smaller
smallest
tall
taller
tallest
Students practiced comparing two and more than two things/people using new Math vocabulary words.
This week our class participated in a Science investigation to help students transition into our new Science unit all about Earth's resources, which will lead us to talking about animals.
Science Investigation Question: How do animals stay warm in the cold weather?
Materials: 3 thermometers, sock, yarn
We put one thermometer in a sock, wrapped another thermometer in yarn, and left the last thermometer without a cover. We recorded the temperature, then placed the thermometers in the freezer. After 20 minutes, we took them out of the freezer and recorded the temperature, observing what had happened. We related this experiment to how animal fur can help animals stay warm when the weather is cold. Students worked independently to draw conclusions and write about what they learned.
Examples of student work:
How are the yarn and the sock like animal fur?
Student Answer: They kept it warm.
Student Answer: They are both warm and fluffy like animal fur.
How does thick fur help animals in cold weather?
Student Answer: It keeps them warm.
After learning about where places are located in the world, we took time this week to talk about how people in different parts of the world stay connected.
Social Studies Vocabulary
Transportation: the way goods and people move from place to place
Communication: to communicate is to give and get information
In the next few weeks, G1 students will start a Pen Pal project with first graders who live in Ohio, United States of America. Our class will write letters to the other students, sharing what life is like in Japan.
Our next Social Studies unit focuses on traditions people share and will include vocabulary such as culture, language, family, custom, tradition, celebrate, and holiday. We will read about different children who live in different parts of the world and discuss how these children are alike and different.
- Ms. Allison