French: À la soupe, soupe, soupe!

Last week, the girls and I had a blast making soupe aux légumes! Merci beaucoup for sending such tasty vegetables to school. We sang soup songs, identified and described the vegetables as we put them in the pot, and stirred the soup (or an imaginary soup) before letting it simmer. When it was finally time to eat, I heard almost all positive reviews...I'm impressed by how many healthy eaters we have in the Pre-First class! It was a warm and cozy snack, perfect for the chilly, snowy weather.

 

Writer's Workshop and Penguins

Today during Writer's Workshop, the girls started working on a new personal narrative and this time we focused on adding in "make noise" words which we have been discussing during language arts recently. Be sure to ask your daughters which words she's adding!

In math, we continued our work with the hundred chart and today the girls discovered different patterns on the chart.  After sharing their patterns with the class, the girls used the hundred chart and a special "window" to help them fill in missing numbers. 

Killer whales, skuas and leopard seals...oh my!  Today in science, the girls learned that these three animals are the penguin's biggest--and scariest--predators.  We looked at some pictures online and also got a lot of information from some stories in our classroom library.  The girls are working on torn paper scenes, depicting the penguin in a perilous situation with a feared predator!

Code!

In December, we began by learning about Ada Lovelace, a famous computer programmer.  The girls learned what computer programming is and how it is used in our every day lives.  We are now using the Kodable app in order to learn about basic coding.  By the end of pre-first, students will understand what a sequence is and be able write code using commands in order to move fuzz character through a variety of mazes.  Students will also be able to identify and create conditional statements in order to use them within their code. 

Blubber

To make the concept of blubber more appealing to the girls, we brought out the big guns--an ice cold bucket of water.  The girls were challenged to keep their hands in the ice cold water for as long as they could (we set the limit at 15 seconds, we are not THAT mean).  We discussed how their hands felt and if they wanted to go swimming in a pool that temperature--of course we had some bold girls who said they would "definitely" take a dip :-)

Using a glove, shortening as a "blubber" substitute, and plastic wrap the girls dipped their hands back into the ice cold water.  They were amazed to find that their hands were not nearly as cold as before.  The girls realized that by having blubber, the penguins are able to survive in the harsh climate of Antarctica. 

Mystery Reader

The girls have been ardently working on proper handwriting form.  This week the girls learned the correct way to form the letters f, b, and l.  

We continued our science unit on penguins by diagramming the different parts of the penguin.  The girls used the Educreations app to pull up a penguin picture from the web. Then they labeled the main body parts. 

Many thanks to our special Mystery Reader who stopped by today.  Not only did the girls enjoy the books he brought, they were also treated to an impromptu lesson on how a caucus works (how the first book was chosen).

Welcome, 2016!

We hope that everyone had a restful and happy winter break.  The girls were thrilled to see their friends again and have enjoyed sharing their winter break adventures.  This week we learned that make noise words (Bang! Boom! Buzz!) are important to authors when they write, as they provide more detail to their writing piece.  The girls listened to different sounds and had to choose which picture was making that sound. 

Yesterday, we read Night Noises by our Author of the Month, Mem Fox.  We brainstormed all of the different "make noise" words she used in her book.  After we brainstormed the words she used, we also came up with a few of our own.  The girls put 4 of those words into a step book and illustrated different ways to make the sound.

Next week we will start a new book during our Writer's Workshop period where the girls will have to use their new found knowledge of "make noise" words in their writing pieces.

We are working diligently towards earning a Coffee House.  Through our D.E.A.R. time, the girls are applying the strategies they are learning during Reader's Workshop to their independent reading.

In math, the girls received their own hundred charts and had to find and shade certain numbers that the teachers called out.  We also looked for patterns on the chart.  The hundred chart will continue to be a very important part of math in first and second grade.  

The girls are having a blast in science this week as they are learning where penguins live in the world and how they stay warm in less than ideal temperatures.  We used highlighters to identify the places on their own personal maps.  They were shocked to hear that penguins do not live in the North Pole!

Today, the girls learned about how penguin parents care for their young in the unforgiving climate of Antarctica.  We read a book and watched 2 short movies about what penguin parents have to go through to ensure their chick's safety.  Afterwards, we pretended to be penguins and had to learn how to waddle with an egg on our feet and transfer the egg to our partner.