Catching up with Pre-First

Wow, so much has happened this past week with your girls, we don't even know where to begin!  We have a new STAR, our STEmma, whose STAR week was extended due to our snow days.  The girls have enjoyed looking at STEmma's box and got a big kick out of her special letter from her mom and dad today.

We were lucky to have Amy Keisel come in last Thursday and entertain your daughters as our Mystery Reader.

Our Gingerbread unit is back on track and the girls love hearing and completing various activities with the different variations of the story of the gingerbread man.  Here they are using a Venn Diagram to compare The Gingerbread Man to The Gingerbread Girl.  We also read The Gingerbread Cowboy today and the girls used gingerbread men to measure different distances around the room.

We began our latest science unit on penguins.  The girls used a world map today to highlight where in the world you can find penguins in their natural habitat.  We also did an experiment on how penguins stay warm in extremely cold climates.  Make sure you ask your daughters what penguins have that keeps them warm and how they experienced it in class!  Sorry there are no pictures, but it was a very hands-on project for the teachers :-)

Art: Finger Knitting

We started a new unit in fiber arts with a discussion about the things we've learned that seemed really hard at first.  The girls named various activities including swinging on the monkey bars, making paper chains, making fortune tellers, and teaching a dog a new trick. All the examples helped demonstrate the essential qualities of learning a new skill: observing closely, working with a master, remembering the steps in order, repetition and reward.  Then, they were introduced to the basic steps of finger knitting. Next, class they will have a long chain to show for their efforts. 

Mystery Reader

A big thank you to Catherine Dreese for coming in to be our Mystery Reader today.  The girls loved hearing
The Day the Crayons Quit and I Like You.  These silly stories were the perfect way to end our Thursday!

Starting Subtraction

The girls began a new math unit on subtraction today.  We read the girls The Duckling Gets a Cookie!? to grab their attention, then used a cookie jar and cookies to model subtraction problems as a whole class.

The girls were given their own cookie jars and cookies to help them independently solve subtraction problems.  The girls enjoyed this lesson although they were slightly disappointed there were no actual cookies handed out.

Upper School Visitors

We had some special visitors from the Upper School today.  Our class was divided in half--some stayed in our room while others got a chance to venture down to the Elementary Center--and we learned about birds migratory patterns from their Upper School friends.  The girls were given materials to make a bird feeder at home with their parents and learned why these feeders are so important to a bird's survival.

Thanksgiving Extravaganza

We had a great day today, starting with a visit from our grandparents and special friends.  The girls put on their First Thanksgiving play, completed a Venn diagram comparing the first Thanksgiving to the one that they celebrate today, explained how they use a number line to solve addition problems, and finally put their knowledge of the french language on display.

Here are 2 links to their play.

Thanksgiving 1
http://vimeo.com/80380888
The password is Thanksgiving1

Thanksgiving 2
http://vimeo.com/80380887
The password is Thanksgiving2

A HUGE thank you to the parent committee--Roxanne, Yvonne, Brenda and Marti--who organized our Thanksgiving feast.  The girls loaded up their plates with foods from all the food groups and enjoyed their Thanksgiving fare.  Many thanks to all of the parents who contributed wonderful dishes to our feast.

Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving and we will see you all in December!

French: Les Fruits

In French class, the girls have been learning fruit vocabulary. They have enjoyed feeding our French puppet Lulu and making her fruit salads. We have played games such as "L'Ananas Chaud" (a version of hot potato) and telephone. In the picture below, they are demonstrating their oral comprehension of the vocabulary. I gave them names of fruits and they drew them on their iPads. If you look closely, you can see "une pêche" and "une banane" on some of the screens!

Taste Test

The girls are loving our unit on nutrition and are learning to identify the different food groups.  We have learned all 5 food groups and the foods that are found in each group.  Today, the girls participated in a taste test and had to determine which food groups were represented.

We also had a Mystery Reader yesterday.  Aunt Brenda brought in a fabulous Thanksgiving book and the girls all loved meeting their classmate's special aunt.  And we got to meet her grandmother as well!

Art: Masks can...

The girls finished their masks by painting big and small shapes to make patterns and adding decorative elements like beads, buttons, and feathers.  They considered how their mask could transform them and told their story using the video feature on their iPad. Next they will wear their masks and present them to their classmates.

Addition Math Facts: True or False Game

8 + 1 = 9.  True or false?  Today in math, the girls played a board game where they used mental math to solve addition problems.  They pulled a card with an addition sentence on it, then had to decide if the sentence was true or false.  They checked themselves using a number line.  If they were correct, they moved a space ahead.  If they were incorrect, they stayed put.  Without realizing it, your daughters have established a great understanding of their basic math facts.  We are so proud of them!

Our new STAR, STReed, did a wonderful job of presenting her box.  The girls were so excited to hear more about our STAR's favorite things and people!

Making Hardtack

To get a taste of what the pilgrims experienced on their 65 day trip to America, the girls made hardtack today.  They combined flour, water, and salt, rolled out the dough, and cut it into squares.  We baked the "tasty" treats at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes.  The girls swore it tasted "delicious"...feel free to try at home and serve with Friday night dinner!

A Hard Winter for the Pilgrims

Our class of 14 was reduced in size due to illness :-(. We missed all of our friends who had to stay home today.  However, we discovered that our class shared a similarity to the pilgrims' first winter--sickness! Today the girls learned about the pilgrims finally landing in the new world and their immense difficulty to survive their first winter in Plymouth.  The girls created a mural depicting the months after the landing and how the Native Americans (who were called "Indians" by the Pilgrims) taught them to live off the land.

We also had a Mystery Reader.  Many thanks to Robin for coming in and surprising our girls!

Addition strategies

The girls were given the opportunity today to solve addition problems using any strategy they learned in class.  Some options were: number lines, using manipulatives, drawing a picture on the white board, or showing work on their iPad with Doodle Buddy. The girls were really excited that they got to choose how they solved their addition problems.

Art: Making Masks

The pre-first girls are layering shapes to create a mask.  They chose a big shape for the base.  Then, they traced smaller shapes to make the features.  Looking at a collection of masks from around the world, they noticed several ways artists emphasized the features.  One way was popping it out! So, the girls are using toilet paper tubes to "pop out" one or more of their features.  

What makes a sentence?

We focused on how to make good sentences today during language arts.  The girls were introduced to the acronym CUPS to help them form and determine the characteristics of a sentence.

As a whole group, the girls made complete sentences from words that had been cut up and scattered.  They had to make sure that each sentence started with a capital letter, they understood it, it had punctuation at the end, and the words were spaced evenly.

The girls then returned to their seats to sort phrases and sentences into two categories:   "sentence" and "not a sentence".

For the final sentence activity, the girls were given a word bank and had to create their own sentences applying what they had learned today through our CUPS lesson.

We also had our special STAR today!  The girls were so excited to see ST-elia's extraordinary box.

In math, we continue to develop our adding skills by using number lines.  The girls worked around the room in centers today, engaging in different activities to reinforce this strategy.

Center 1:  Dice Addition--the girls rolled dice, wrote down the addition sentence, and solved their problem using number lines.

Center 2:  The girls were given addition sentences and had to show their work, as well as check their answer, by using our "frogman" lines.

Center 3:  Learning Palettes--the girls really enjoy this center as they get to choose their own challenge board.  The boards have many different focuses from sequencing numbers to geometry and measurement.

The Mysterious Pinkins

The girls were lucky to have two mystery readers this week, and both just happen to be from the same family!  Many thanks to Caroline and Drew Pinkin for coming in to read to the girls.

Number Lines

The girls have been working with number lines for the past two days and are becoming much more comfortable using them as another tool to help them solve addition problems.  Today the girls rotated around the room in centers, each center using a number line in a different way.

Center 1:  The girls worked on the Mystery Number app on their iPad.

Center 2:  The girls had to create their own number line by cutting and sequencing numbers.

Center 3:  The girls pulled addition problems from a bucket, wrote the addition sentence on their paper and solved the problem using number lines.

Nutrition

Today we began our new science unit on nutrition.  We read the book Me and My Amazing Body and discussed how different foods impact our bodies and minds.  The girls brainstormed a list of foods that were both good and bad for their bodies and collaborated together to determine how to sort each food.  We ended our discussion by talking about how the food that we put in the "bad" column can certainly be enjoyed occasionally and is often called "sometimes" food. 

Technology: App List

Here is a list of the current apps on the Pre-First iPads.  We will continue to update and add apps throughout the year.

Alphabet Board
Antarctica by Kids Discover
Art Rage
Art Set
Book Bot
BrainPopJr.
Britannica Kids: Rainforests
Collections
Collins Big Cat Dark Night
Domino Math
Doodle Buddy
Draw Free
Edmodo
Educreations
Faces iMake
Gingerbread Storybook
Google Drive
Google Earth
Hickory Dickory Dock
Hungry Fish
iDiary
iFunFace
iMotion HD
Jungle Speak
Line Em Up
Little Patterns Game
Magnabet
Montessori Numbers
Montesorri Words
My Storybook Maker
Mystery Number                                                                                                          
Number Sense HD
Paper 53
Pic Collage
PicPlayPost
Popplet Lite
QR Reader
Rover
Scribble Press
Sculptor
Sentence Builder
Storia
Story Patch
Story Wheel
Teach Me First Grade
This is not an app

Pre first and the barred instruments

The girls have begun to play the barred instruments in class; they have used the soprano, alto and bass xylophones although the bass xylophones are the most popular. They have been learning about how to play the instruments to get the best sound and how to keep the beat when playing the instruments.

Happy Halloween!

We had so much fun with your girls today!  Their costumes did not disappoint and their excitement could not be contained!  Many thanks to all the moms and dads who helped out to make our Halloween party a true success.

We finished up our pumpkin math today by brainstorming words that best describe the inside of the pumpkin.  Some favorites were: gooey, mushy and messy.

The girls rolled up their sleeves and got a bit messy.  It was finally time to estimate how many seeds were inside our pumpkin.  Make sure you ask your daughter what was the final count!

The girls ended their day with a mystery reader.  Many thanks to Andrew Whitelaw for the awesome Halloween stories!

Halloween stories and more bones

Continuing with our Halloween theme, we read the book The Ghost's Dinner during Language Arts.  The girls really enjoyed this story as the main characters had a lot of trouble with the food served at their dinner party.

After the story, the class determined what happened in the beginning, middle and end.

Using a black bat, the girls then had to sequence and write a beginning, middle and end for their own Halloween stories.

We also took a closer look at our spine today and discussed why we are able to bend and twist instead of being stuck straight up and down.  The girls each took a straw and put a pipe cleaner through it.  They tried to bend the pipe cleaner and discovered that it took some effort to make it bend.  We then cut the straw into several pieces and again tried to bend it.  Make sure you ask your daughter what happened!