Presenting... 1st Grade Robotic Coaches!

We had the opportunity to partner with Mrs. Thurman's 3rd Grade Class for a STEM project where her students taught our students how to use iMovie for an animal and habitat project for Science. While some 1st graders were working on their iMovie, the other 1st graders were busy teaching their 3rd grade partners how to use some of our robotics. Today, we taught them how to use Cubelets and Dash.

In the afternoon, we partnered with Mrs. Jorjorian's 4th Grade Class to demonstrate how we use robotics in the classroom. We showed them how to use the different robots and how we have to use problem-solving strategies to figure out how to get the robot to perform how we want it to perform.

Today, we showed our 4th Grade Buddies how to use Ozobots, Dash, and Cubelets. 

Time for a robot race!

Habitat Research, Math Rotations, and Ozobots

For an upcoming STEM project, students used Pebble Go to research animal habitats.

We will be using our facts in an iMovie!

During our Math Rotations, we are working on using a wide-range of strategies to solve our math problems. In this game, we are solving subtraction problems and aiming to get four of our colored pieces in a row!

In this activity, we used a new manipulative I just purchased called Cuisenaire Rods to help us add three numbers together. We are putting our equation pictures on a PicCollage and posting our work on Seesaw. Make sure to check it out!

Our new skill of the week is determining whether or not an equation is true or false.

When we are solving the problem, we use words like...

5 + 2 = 8 + 0

5 + 2 = 7   8 + 0 = 8

7 is not the same as 8

False

AND

5 + 2 = 4 + 3

5 + 2 = 7    4 + 3 = 7

7 is the same as 7

True

We explored Ozobots!

We learned how we can use color to help program Ozobots to perform a wide-range of functions.

We noticed that the Ozobots can change color as they move over different colors on paper. We will learn more about specific codes we can create by following specific color order and combinations.

We will also learn how to program Ozobots on our iPads in the upcoming weeks!

This Week in Room 8 (11/28 to 12/2)

ELA:
This week in ELA we continue to read from Lulu and the Brontosaurus. As we listen to the story, we are making observations about how the characters change from the beginning, middle, to end.

This week we will work on the following skills:

• /l/ sound spelled (le and el) and syllable patterns for words that end with +le
• /ur/ sound spelled (er, ir, or ur)
• differentiating between /nk/ and /ng/ sounds
• verb usage for past and present
• animal research and writing informative text with facts about the animal

Word Wall Words:

• don't 
• right
• their
• call
• sleep

Math:
This week we will review addition and subtraction strategies and introduce the following skill:

• Understanding the meaning of the = sign and determine if the equation is true or false

Examples:  6 = 5 + 1 True,     5 + 3 = 9 - 1  True,     5 + 2 = 6 + 3  False

Rooted Mind:

We will review weeks 6-10 and the following roots:

• rupt-   (break, tear, burst)
• pli-    (fold)
• -vent     (come)
• -pathy   (feelings, suffering, disease)
• -ject     (cast, throw)

Did I Really Forget to Post Our Halloween Pictures? YES!

I ran out of storage on my phone so I had to use our class iPad for Halloween.

15 days later...

Thank you, Mrs. Holtz, for reminding me to post the pictures from the big day!

Decomposing and Non-Fiction Text Features

Our leader of the week presented her information to the class.

We are working on making sure we are speaking loud enough for others in the class to hear.

The audience is working on tracking the speaker and showing good whole body listening.

This morning we jump started our brains by decomposing the number 20.

We learned that we can can create many different equations that equal 20.

We synergized with our classmates as we brainstormed ideas, checked our answers, and gave feedback on our work.

We are busy reading non-fiction text on different animal habitats. 

As we read, we are pointing out the different non-fiction text features we see in the text.

We are also thinking about how these non-fiction text features help the readers to get the most out of the text.

Today we took turns reading with a partner. We practiced reading our words with expression and with good phrasing (putting many words together instead of sounding choppy). 

When we were done reading, we completed a 3-2-1.

3 Things You Learned

2 Facts You Read

1 Question

This Week in Room 8 (11-14 to 11-18)

ELA: 
This week we will continue our learning and discussions on animals and pets. We will address the following skills:

• final sounds /sh/ and /th/
• add -s and -es to verbs
• non-fiction text features (table of contents, glossary, index, heading, caption, labels, etc.).
• capitalizing dates
• using commas in dates and to separate single words in a series

Word Wall Words:

• would   
• very   
• your    
• its 
• around

Rooted Mind: We will be reviewing our roots this week!

Math:

• We will continue to practice 1.OA.8 (Determine the unknown whole number in an addition or subtraction equation relating three whole numbers. For example, determine the unknown number that makes the equation true in each of the equations 8 + ? = 11, 5 = _ – 3, 6 + 6 = _).
• We will also learn more strategies for solving addition problems (doubles, doubles +1)

Science:

How do plants and animals take in water, food, air, and light?

Leader in Me:

We continue to work on our goal setting for conferences.

Philanthropy Project, Habit 2 Assembly, Book Club, and Pet Business!

Our class brainstormed ways that we could donate the money raised from

those that visited Menchies in October.

Our class will be donating to The Kindness Connection so the money can be used to create cheer bags for those in need. 

Please check out our donation ideas here:

4th Grade led the "Begin with the End in Mind" assembly. 

We learned more about the importance of having a plan to reach our goals.

Our Leader of the Week read a Star Wars book to the class.

We learned how to use sticky notes to write down our thinking as we read.

We learned that good readers think about what they are reading.

We learned about our new Leader of the Week.

We read books about different habitats with our Book Club Groups.

When we were done, we posted a picture from the book we read and recorded ourselves 

reading out loud. As we read, we are working on reading with expression, pausing at punctuation, and making sure that the audience can hear us.

After reading Arthur's Pet Business, we reviewed characteristics of a good caregiver for animals from examples in the book. We then put our creativity to work by creating our own Pet Business signs on Pic Collage. We discussed that it is important to include our experience, what kind of animals we will care for, and how much we charge. Make sure to check your child's project out on Seesaw!