Students need to bring their written tasks, poster, and experiment materials to school on Monday, May 27th.
Your child will have his/her written tasks and poster on display during the presentation. The presentation should show your child's best published work, so all tasks should include:
- complete sentences
- correct capitalization
- correct spelling
- correct end marks
Reading
Science readers build up a base of knowledge on a topic by reading deeply about the topic.
This week students learned that nonfiction readers capture their thoughts by writing them down. Students practiced this by using post-it notes while reading nonfiction books about their animal topic (book clubs). If they thought a detail in the book was interesting or important, they wrote the fact/information on a post-it note to help them remember it. They completed this activity with two different books.
Book #1 - green post-it notes
Book #2 - blue post-it notes
After this activity, students reviewed what a Venn Diagram is and began sorting their post-it notes to compare and contrast the two books they read. They thought about how the information in the two books is similar and different.
We also reviewed that good readers ask questions while they are reading to think more deeply about their topic. Our class learned that sometimes readers come to parts that aren't clear, so it is important to remember the questions we have while we are reading and find answers to them in the book(s). Students practiced writing down their questions on post-it notes.
Writing
Report Writing
Students are working on writing their reports about the animal they have been researching with their book clubs. This week each student learned how to take their ideas from their Gathering Grid (pre-writing page) and write their ideas in complete sentences for their first draft. Some students started revising and editing their writing as well. Next week students will work on publishing their reports.
Math
Mental Math - Subtraction
Our class continued learning about Mental Math this week and focused on subtraction strategies.
- subtract ones mentally by recalling numbers bonds
- subtract ones mentally using subtract the ones strategy
- subtract tens mentally using subtract the tens strategy
Science
Plants and Animals
Last Friday we created a terrarium for our classroom asking the question, “What do plants need to live and grow in a terrarium?” The students helped plan the terrarium and made a terrarium map to show where different types of seeds would be planted: alfalfa seeds, grass seeds, and wheat seeds. Afterwards, we worked together to pour soil into a container, plant the seeds, and water the seeds. We discussed what we thought might happen over the next few days and weeks. During Science on Friday students worked on a drawing of the terrarium and labeled their drawing with words and arrows.
Science Vocabulary
habitat
map
map key
terrarium
Students have continued observing the plants growing in our classroom. They are using pictures and words to record their observations in their Science Notebook. One new thing we noticed this week was that the pothos cuttings are finally beginning to grow roots at the nodes! We are hoping to see some changes in our potato plants next week.
Plants Growing in G1A Classroom:
- Little Lawns (grass, alfalfa)
- Potato
- Wheat
- Pothos Cuttings
- Terrarium plants (alfalfa, grass, wheat)
Thursday, May 23rd
We had a wonderful field trip to the farm on Thursday! During the field trip students spent time collecting animals in nets and insect cages: ladybugs, beetles, grasshoppers, butterflies, etc. When we returned to school we put some of the animals in our class terrarium, then added dead leaves, twigs, and rocks. Students also picked beans and cut mustard leaf and arugula to take home. At the end of the field trip, we ate delicious sweet potatoes that were cooked for us by the owners of the farm!
Have a wonderful weekend!
- Ms. Allison