This is a reminder that students will be presenting a demonstration of their science experiment at the Science Fair event on Friday, May 31st. If your child chose an experiment with an instant result (volcano), he/she can show the result during the presentation. If your child chose an experiment with a result that takes time to observe (crystals, coins), he/she can bring their final results from home to show at the end of their demonstration.
Recess
Reading
Science readers build up a base of knowledge on a topic by reading deeply about the topic.
*Book Clubs
This week our class was introduced to book clubs. A book club is a group of students who want to read and learn about the same topic. Students thought about topics they are interested in learning more about (animals, space, plants, etc.), then chose books to share with their reading partner. While reading with their partner, students practiced showing respect to each other by listening (whole body listening - eyes, ears, body) while their partner read and talked about the information from the book.
As a class, we looked at all the nonfiction books in our classroom library and began organizing our nonfiction books by topic. After organizing the books, students decided which topics they wanted to study. We created four book clubs: butterflies, frogs, bears, dolphins. The first time students met with their book club they asked, "What things do we want to know about the animal?" Together they wrote their questions, then began their research by reading books and searching for information that could help answer their questions.
Math
Addition and Subtraction to 40
*Adding 3 numbers
*Solving story problems
During Math, students practiced adding three 1-digit numbers with the help of number bonds and the 'making 10' strategy. We also began solving real-world story problems using the addition and subtraction strategies students have learned.
Science
Plants
This week our class read nonfiction books about plants to review parts of a plant (roots, leaves, stem) and what plants need to survive (water, sunlight, air, nutrients, space).
Roots - Roots can help anchor a plant down into the ground so it can stay in one location. Roots also gather water and nutrients for the plant.
Leaves - Leaves use sunlight, air, and water to make food. Leaves can be many different shapes, sizes, and colors.
Stem - The stem carries food and water to the plant. It is strong and helps hold the plant up.
We also observed the growth of our wheat plants. Each student used construction paper to measure the length of their wheat plant's leaves and roots. We created a bar graph with strips of construction paper, then discussed what we learned about plant growth from the bar graph we made.
We also took time to look at our 'little lawns' and observe how our grass and alfalfa plants have grown during the last few weeks. We compared grass leaves and alfalfa leaves and discussed how they are different. Our class asked the question, "What happens to the grass and alfalfa plants after we mow them?" After drawing a picture of their lawn in their Science notebook, students mowed their lawn using scissors. We talked about what we might see happen to our plants. During the next 2-3 weeks students will continue to make observations, then they will be able to take their lawns home.
Science Vocabulary
wheat grain sow harvest | observe leaves mowing blades | structure functions stem |
Have a great weekend!
- Ms. Allison