Week 22

Here are some highlights from the week...

Our geologists did a final experiment that was quite tasty! They took 3 starburst and pressed them together to represent how sedimentary rocks are formed. After they had their sedimentary starburst, they applied heat (breath) and pressure (pushing) to turn it into a metamorphic rock!

On Tuesday, we created a classroom kindness web. As we continue to build friendships and problem solving skills, we took some time out of our day to compliment each other and spread kindness. We discussed that when you choose kindness, it spreads. We also talked about how "you get what you give" and when you give respect, you get respect!

Here's an online resource to check out different ways to support kindness at home:
https://www.parents.com/parenting/better-parenting/advice/14-little-ways-to-encourage-kindness/

We had our second Art Literacy lesson! A HUGE shout out to the parents who were able to help out and support the first grade artists! The students learned about Narrative Art and then got to use their expertise to create their own art that was connected to other Narrative Art pieces. From looking at a specific piece of art they created another piece of the sequence using their imagination and understanding of narrative story telling.


To improve our reading fluency we want to increase the words that we can read in a snap - without having to solve! Here is an activity to help build your first graders snap word bank...

Sight Word Post-It Bingo:

Materials: 

• pad of Post-It squares (3x3 or smaller)
• pencils
• set of 9 or 16 sight words to practice, written on index cards (See the list below for ideas)
• one piece of paper per player (Note: Instead of paper, you could simply use a flat surface, such as a cookie sheet or the kitchen table.)
• a set of bingo markers, about 10 per player (plastic chips, bottle caps, paper clips, coins, macaroni, M&Ms... be creative and have fun!

What You Do:

• Prepare the game. Each player writes the sight words on Post-It notes, one word per note; players check each other's notes for accurate spelling.  Once the prep is done, players arrange their notes in a square on the construction paper or flat surface. If you're playing with 9 words, you should arrange them in three rows of three. For 16 words, four rows of four.   Finally, put the stack of index cards in the center of the playing area, face down.

• Play!   The first player turns over the top index card and reads the word aloud. Players mark their matching Post-It note with a bingo marker. Once everyone’s done marking, the player shows the card to all gamers, so they can check their work to be sure they’ve got a visual match. Player puts card in the discard pile.  Play continues in this manner until a player has marked an entire row on their Bingo “board”. The winner yells "Post-It Bingo!", then the oldest player checks the discard pile to be sure all the marked words have been called.

Reminders:
2/14 -- Valentine Exchange @ 9:00am
* Please remember nut free, gluten free and dairy free treats!
2/15 -- Connect to Kindergarten @ 6:30pm

Here are some photos from the week...