Digraphs and Picture Graphs

Over the past several days, the girls were introduced the digraphs, "sh, th, ch". Today we brainstormed some th and ch words as a class, then the girls went back to their seats to write several words on their own.  The girls partnered up and completed a digraph worksheet together.  We will continue to focus on all the digraphs we have learned (th, sh, ch) in our word study period.

We continued with our graphing unit in math today by teaching the girls how to analyze a picture graph.  For the past few days, the girls have been reading and working with simple bar graphs.  Today, however, the girls learned a different way to gather information--by using a picture graph.  Many thanks to all parents who sent in pictures of pets (and to those who did not have a chance, do not worry, your daughter sketched her pets).  We used these pictures to create our own class graph titled, "Animals We Own."  Our new graph is hanging in our classroom, so please feel free to come by and check out what pets are famous in Pre-First.

We also had two more hibernation presentations.

Lucky Leprechauns

With March quickly approaching, we decided to bring a little green to our classroom. This morning, the girls listened to Green Shamrocks by Eve Bunting.  Then they shared with a partner what made them feel lucky in life.  The girls returned to their seats and made our lucky leprechauns which are hanging in our room.

We also had another diorama presentation. 

From the Library

Pre-first girls have been reading some thought-provoking books in library.  In Trudy Ludwig's The Invisible Boy, we see that small that acts of kindness can help children feel included and allow them to flourish. Ask your daughter what happens to Brian as the story unfolds. Remy Charlip's Fortunately is one of my all time favorites. We agreed that these lines were especially great: "Fortunately he missed the pitchfork. Unfortunately he missed the haystack." Dr. Seuss' story The Sneetches led to a good discussion. Carter Goodrich's  Say Hello to Zorro is a light-hearted story but makes us think about what happens when there are any new additions to a family. Just yesterday we read another oldie but goodie, Ferdinand, Munro Leaf's story about the young bull who is content to just sit under the cork tree and smell the flowers. Ask your daughter about the banderilleros and the picadores and the matador who was so mad he cried.
Please continue to read with your daughters and to encourage them to share library books with pets, siblings, babysitters and YOU!

100th Day!

Many thanks to Brandon Pletsch who was our Mystery Reader last week!

Yesterday, we had three more friends present their dioramas. Great job girls!

Today we celebrated our 100th day of school!  The girls walked into our room this morning through streamers, with "Celebrate" by Kool & the Gang as their soundtrack.  Our day was filled with different activities, all centered around the number 100.  Take a look below to see how Pre-First celebrated.  First, the girls listened to 100th Day Worries.  

Then we took a picture of the girls and used the app Aging Booth to fast forward time and get an image of what the girls will look like when they are 100.  The girls--and their teachers--got a huge kick out of seeing each other as 100 year old ladies.  They then wrote about what they will look like, what they will be doing and where they will live when they turn 100.  This was, by far, their favorite activity of the day.

Here are some of the center activities the girls completed:  

• 100 Chart--the girls had to color in certain numbers on their 100 chart to create a picture.  Make sure you ask them what it was!  
• 100 Exercises--the girls did 6 different exercises, each exercise was a 100 count.  Some of the exercises were jumping jacks, twists and hops.  Needless to say, there were a lot of water breaks taken during this center.
• 100 Dots--the girls used 10 different paint colors to make groupings of 10 Q-tip dots.
• 100 Cup Structure--the girls were given 100 cups and had to build a structure out of them.  This was one of their favorite centers.  Make sure you ask your daughter what her structure looked like!

Hibernation Presentations

After spending the last few art periods perfecting their animals (thank you snow days), the girls finally started presenting their hibernation dioramas.  We are so proud of the girls for doing an outstanding job of informing their friends about their animals.

Coffee House and Place Value Centers

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 are encouraging the girls to use our Word Wall as a reading and writing aid.  Today we played Word Wall Bingo (which the girls love) and it was wonderful to watch the girls as they grow more comfortable with these words.

The past several days the girls have been learning place value by working with base 10 blocks.  They have learned that a cube represents one, a ten cube rod represents ten and a flat block represents a hundred.  The girls have been writing and modeling numbers using these blocks.  Today, they worked around the room in three centers: base 10 matching, Montessori Numbers app and a hundreds chart mystery picture.

Pre-First Happenings

The girls have been plugging away on their latest Writer's Workshop project, a personal narrative.  Together as a class, we created a rubric for the girls to use when assessing their own writing.  As the girls prepare to publish their work, they can confidently review their work with us.

Our latest "author" sharing her writing in our Author's Chair.

In math, we reviewed sorting objects by the characteristics they have in common.  We challenged the girls to think outside of the box and find unique ways to sort their math manipulatives.  

Here are the girls using a Venn Diagram to classify different shapes.

Each week, the girls are confidently sorting their word study words and completing a daily writing activity with them.

In math this week, we introduced the girls to Base 10 blocks which will help them learn place value.  By the end of a math period, the girls were able to use the Base 10 blocks to show a number.

Last week in science we did an experiment on reasons why some animals hibernate in the winter.  The girls were given fresh pieces of pineapple and were given the green light to go ahead and eat them.  We talked about how the pineapple smelled, what it tasted like and how easy it was to bite into and eat it.  Then they were given pineapple that had been frozen in an ice cube.  They had to attempt to get to the pineapple and eat it; the girls discovered that this was not an easy task.  As they were gnawing their way through the ice, we talked about how difficult it was to actually get the food out and how hard it must be for animals to find food in the winter.  The girls realized, at the end of the experiment, that one reason some animals hibernate in the winter was due to the difficulty to find and eat food; it is not easy to smell, find or eat!

Many thanks to Uncle Bug for coming in to read as our Mystery Reader this week.

The past two days in science, the girls conducted a two day experiment on how American Wood Frogs hibernate.  Make sure to ask your daughter what she did and what was the outcome of the experiment.

French: Mardi Gras, t'en va pas!

We had a very festive classe de français today to celebrate le Mardi Gras (even though we were a little late due to the snow). At our "Jeudi Gras" celebration, the girls made hats using violet, vert, and jaune decorations. We sang, we danced, and we marched in a parade. Laissez les bons temps rouler!