Symmetry and Seeds

Our math lesson today focused on determining if different shapes and objects have a line of symmetry.  The girls were given several different cut out shapes to fold and see if they were symmetric or not.  They then went back to their seats to complete a packet as a class.  As the girls completed their math packets, they worked together to create a "Symmetry City" where everything had to be symmetric.  They enjoyed cooperating and creating this unique city which we will hang in our room.

Your girls are all about to grow green thumbs.  The girls were introduced to their newest science unit today which will focus on seeds and plants.  We read From Seed to Plant by Gail Gibbons and each student was given a plain flower pot to paint and make completely "theirs."  Later on this week we will be digging in the dirt and planting seeds.  Over the next few weeks we will be observing our plants as we feed them water and let them grow in the sun.

Welcome Spring!

We have had a successful first week back!  The girls were so excited to see each other again and we loved hearing all of their stories from Spring Break.  Although spring weather has eluded us for this past week of March, we are doing everything in our power to encourage it to show it's beautiful face.  We read It's Spring by Susan Swan and brainstormed as many Spring words as we could.  Then the girls used our words to create a poem called, "Hello Spring, Goodbye Winter".

Our spring brainstorm word list

Creating the poem

Making tissue paper flowers to decorate our bulletin board

Our spring bulletin board

The girls were also introduced to their latest Author of the Month--Robert Munsch.  We read "Stephanie's Ponytail" on Tuesday and today we read "The Paper Bag Princess".   The girls have really enjoyed the silly writing of our newest author.

After we read the story, the girls were paired up to sequence the events.

The girls worked together to glue the events in order on paper bags which are hanging in our classroom.

Art: Hibernating Animals

The girls made their hibernating animals in art using Model Magic, watercolors and Sharpies. They started by sketching the form using various size ovals.  Then they constructed the form with Model Magic.  Finally, they added the fur, skin, scales, and feathers layering colors and marks.  Their animals felt right at home in their dioramas... And are probably still sleeping... because spring is not here yet! 

Women in History Tea

What an incredible way to end our unit on famous women in history!  Many thanks to Roxanne Tedford, Jennifer Schwartz and Yvonne Whitelaw for organizing our tea party.  The girls were able to sample small sandwiches, scones, fruit kabobs, special desserts and--of course--tea.  Your daughters were even given their very own teacup and saucer as a party favor and a neat way to commemorate our special unit.  As the girls we eating their lunches, we got the chance to discuss all of the famous women we learned about and how they paved the way for our young girls today.

The Set Up

Place Tags

The girls enjoying the tea party.

Oh-Oh-Oprah!

Who else can send an audience into a screaming frenzy?  None other then Opprraaahhh Wiinnffrreeyyy!   Our favorite queen of television came out of retirement and stopped by our classroom today.  Many thanks to Yvonne Whitelaw for introducing the girls to all of the wonderful philanthropic endeavors that Oprah Winfrey has taken on throughout her career.

Field Trip

We had the best time on our field trip today!  The girls did a wonderful job of representing Bryn Mawr and they thoroughly enjoyed the performance.  Many thanks to Hilary King for coming with us and helping to keep the calm.

We also had another guest visitor come in from a time and place very, VERY far away.  Cleopatra stopped by this morning to give the girls some information about her life

Let It Go.....

How many times have you heard this song in your house?  If it is anything like our classroom, the song is probably permanently embedded into your brain.  The girls were so excited to show off all of their hard work and even made their teachers wait as well; no peeking for us!  Many thanks to Mimi Walters for encouraging each girl to find her inner entertainer.

Here is the link to the girls' PE dance:
Frozen Dance

Password:  Frozen

Believe it or not, not all of last week was dedicated to their dance.  The girls have been working with shapes in math and on Friday they worked around the room in 3 centers.

Center 1: Tangrams

Center 2:  Pattern Blocks

Center 3: Shapes Shooter Computer Game

The parade of famous women continues in our classroom.  Many thanks to all parents who have participated--the girls have been so lucky to learn about all these fabulous females!

Billie Jean King

Juliette Gordon Low

Billie Holiday

Coffee House and More Shapes

A cup of coffee you can sip and not gulp, a quiet space, and reading while still wide awake--3 things that elude many of us in our busy lives.  This morning, however, we were lucky to enjoy all 3 together as a class. We want to thank all the parents and special friends who participated in our first Coffee House this morning. The girls loved having you all here to celebrate their milestone of independent reading.

We also continued learning the different attributes of shapes.  The girls had to identify each shape by its characteristics and make each shape with model magic.

Beginning Geometry

We began our geometry unit today by reading Perfect Square  by Michael Hall and the girls brainstormed the attributes of a square.  They also learned some new vocabulary words that we will be using quite a bit during our unit. (Make sure to ask them what a vertex is?)  They then returned to their seats and had to create squares out of yarn.   This was a difficult task for some, as the girls had to be creative in order to make a square with equal sides. As they completed this task, the girls used the Educreations iPad app to take a picture of an object in our classroom that was shaped like a square and then had to label the sides and vertices.

We also continued our Women in History unit by learning about Wilma Rudolph.  She "ran" into our classroom this afternoon and taught the girls all about how she grew from a sickly child to an Olympic athlete.  We read Wilma Unlimited  and the girls made gold medals with facts about Wilma on the back.