Colorful Carnations--The Final Result!

Today was our final recorded observation of our dyed carnations.  The girls observed their flowers and recorded what they looked like after sitting in the dyed water for 4 days.  Many were surprised that their flowers were extremely bright and colorful, while others were stumped over the fact that their flower barely had any color at all!  But they all answered the question posed to them in the beginning of the experiment--where does water go in a flower?  Be sure to ask your daughter for her conclusion!

Comparing Weights

We have been doing a lot with measurement lately and today we worked on measuring weight, rather than length.  We talked a lot about heavy verses light and gave a bunch of examples of things that fit into each category.  The girls were introduced to a balance scale and had to estimate which groups of manipulatives would be heavier (example 3 dice vs. 4 unifix cubes).  After we estimated, the girls were broken into groups of 3 where they actually measured the manipulatives using their balance scales.  There was even a challenge where they had to find a perfect balance between bears and cubes.

Colorful Carnations

Where does water go in a plant?  That was the question posed to our Pre-First scientists today.   The girls were given white carnations and got to choose from red, yellow, green or blue colored water to put in their vase.  They predicted what their carnation would look like in one day and sketched it out.  We will observe our carnations tomorrow and record what we see....what do you predict they will look like?

Sticker Capitalization

We continued to reinforce the capitalization rules today by having the girls play "teacher".  As a class, we read a fun story about the orioles.  Then the girls paired up and were given fun colored stickers and felt tip pens.  They edited the story, looking for all of the capital mistakes, correcting them by covering the lowercase letters with the sticker and writing the uppercase letter with the pen.  Did you notice our capitalization mistake...are you smarter than a Pre-Firster?

Animal research

The girls used their iPads to research information on their assigned rain forest animal.  We supported the girls in using Google to find suitable sites where they could find age-appropriate information.  They found wonderful videos on National Geographic and easy-to-understand information on the San Diego Zoo site.  Make sure you ask your daughter about a fun fact she learned today about her animal!

Earth Day

Happy Earth Day!  The girls celebrated their appreciation for the earth by writing their own promises about ways they can be mindful of the environment.  They brainstormed thoughtful ideas about recycling, planting gardens, and reducing waste.  They finger painted their own globes and adorned them with green glitter.  Fitting for Earth Day, they also transplanted their sunflowers which, in recent days, have really sprouted and are starting to outgrow their tiny pots.  The girls carefully unearthed the roots and transferred them to bigger pots that they had painted.  The sunflowers are enjoying their new homes and some welcome sunshine- although some springier temperatures would be nice too!

Capitalization

Today we focused on which words need to be capitalized.  We taught the girls the acronym MINTS--make sure you ask them what it stands for--to help them remember the capital rules.  The girls broke up into groups of 4 where they had to create a sentence that contained at least 1 capital.  After they created their sentence, they wrote it on a sentence strip and had to make the capital letter with their bodies. 

 

Spring Birthdays

Today we celebrated our spring birthday girls: Catelyn, Kohena and Avery!  Many thanks to Blair's mom, Karen, for the delicious cupcakes and Avery's dad, Paul, for the yummy brownies!

 

 

The girls were also thrilled to see that their sunflowers have finally begun to sprout!  They are keeping a journal of their plant's growth over the next month.  Be sure to ask your daughter if she saw her sprout today.  

This is....Jeopardy!

Today, the girls reviewed 2D and 3D shapes in a fun way...by playing Jeopardy! The girls played as a team against the computer and had to earn $3000 in order to get a treat at the end of the day.  Category titles were: 2D Shapes, 2D Real-Life Examples, 3D Shapes, 3D Real-Life Examples, and Miscellaneous.  They worked together and pulled out a big "W"!  They are prepared for tomorrow's big culmination activity!

 

The girls also began making the first animal for their rain forest tree--the morpho butterfly.  They learned where the butterfly lives in the rain forest and watched an amazing video of its colorful wings.  They painted coffee filters brilliant colors and tomorrow, when they are dry, will glue them onto their trees!

 

Cone heads

No, this is not a Saturday Night Live skit.  We have been studying 3D shapes in math and today our focus was on the cone.  The girls are able to give characteristics of cones as well as real-life examples.  The girls made cone hats today and decorated them with examples of cones that they could find while taking a walk. 

How-To books

Ever wonder how to go to swim practice?  Well, we bet your daughters can tell you!  This week, we are continuing our work with transition words and step-by-step instructions by having the girls plan and write their own How-To books.  After we made our class How-To Make Jello book last week, we gave the girls free reign to create their own books.

First we brainstormed several different ideas that the girls could use.

 

Then they expanded their ideas on their iPads using the Popplet Lite app.

 

 

 

After they planned at least 4 steps, we gave them the go-ahead to put their steps into action using super sentences.