Sh digraph and Phil

Punxsutawney Phil has been a much talked about animal for the past two days.  As we start our hibernation unit, Groundhog Day could not have come at a better time!  The girls made their predictions for tomorrow and hopefully we will be able to live stream his decision.

Today, we began our day with a language arts lesson that focused on the "sh" digraph.  The girls watched a funny Electric Company video that highlighted the digraph "sh."

After the video, we brainstormed more "sh" words.  Then the girls returned to their tables and made a large "sh" out of seashells.  They wrote some of the words we brainstormed onto shells and glued them around the "sh".

100 chart and Penguin Enemies

The girls were introduced to the hundred chart last week during math.  They watched a short video that taught them the basic ways to use a hundred chart.  The girls then received their own charts and had to find and shade certain numbers that the teachers called out.  We also looked for patterns on the chart.  The girls ended their lesson by using the "Mystery Numbers" app on their iPads, which is a terrific app that utilizes the 100 chart.  If you have an iPad and are looking for a great math app for your daughter--this is an excellent one!

Killer whales, skuas and leopard seals...oh my!  The girls learned that these 3 animals (and one other scary being) 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. Then after we learned about each enemy, the girls then made torn paper scenes, depicting the penguin in a perilous situation with a feared predator of their choice.

The final products!

French: On va au marché !

This week, we pretended that the French room was a marketplace. The girls took turns selling and buying goods (en français, bien sûr). We had a vegetable stand, a fruit stand, a dessert stand, and a pet shop.

Martin Luther King Jr., Writers Workshop, Penguins AND Mrs. McMahon!

Last week our word of the week was courageous, which was perfect as I introduced your daughters to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr and all that he did for our country and the world. We had a few special middle school guests come and read books to us and then had a wonderful discussion about his achievements and how he made the world a better place. The girls also watched a few short videos on Dr. King that really brought his words and mission to life.

In Writer's Workshop your daughters have been working extremely hard on their personal narratives and have accepted the challenge of adding three make noise words to their stories. Once everyone has finished their story, we will have another publishing party. We continue to make time at the end of each writer's workshop period for an Author's Chair.

We have also continued our science unit on penguins. The girls learned about penguin babies and how their penguin parents care for them 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 chicks' 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.

Finally, we were so happy to welcome Mrs. McMahon back to school on Tuesday! It seems like it was just her last day before Miss Finnley came into the world but we were thrilled to have her and made sure she knew it!

Art_Problem Solving & Solutions

The girls have been working independently in collaboratively to achieve movement in their sculptures. After making spinning pieces, they built marble runs. This activity is a great exploration in highs and lows, gravity, and piecing parts together to make a functioning whole. The problems were fun and the solutions surprising! Here are some of the girls painting their works. 

The Colors Of Us and Penguins

Peanut butter, honey and pizza crust. What do these three foods have in common? They are all unique ways of describing a person's skin color. We have started our new unit in social studies called Celebrating Differences. We read the book The Colors Of Us, which is a wonderful story of a little girl whose mother teaches her that everyone is different and special in their own way. We also talked about how our differences on the outside make us special but that it is also important to celebrate what's on the inside of a person as well. As a class the girls decided that the world would be incredibly boring if everyone were the same. Since the book we read was about celebrating the different colors of people, the girls came up with their own way to describe their skin color-- crackers, a muffin and pizza cheese just to name a few. Then they learned how to mix paints to create these colors. Below are some pictures of your daughters mixing paints to create these special colors. Our next step will be to create self portraits of ourselves and celebrate the wonderful differences in our Pre First class!

We started a new science unit last Friday on Penguins! The girls are having a blast this week as they are learning where penguins live in the world and how they use blubber to 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 Alaska or the North Pole!

To make the concept of blubber more appealing to the girls, I 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 (with a time limit of 30 seconds, I'm 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 plastic glove, shortening as a "blubber" substitute, and plastic wrap the girls each got a chance to dip their hands back into the ice cold water. They were all 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. 

Happy New Year!

It's hard to believe that 2017 is here already. Nevertheless, I 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, and I had a few to share with them too :) 

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 were first introduced to make noise words in Author's Study where we read Night Noises written by our Author of the Month, Mem Fox. After the story, together we brainstormed all of the different "make noise" words she used in her book. Then once 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.

Yesterday,  to enhance our discussion of make noise words, the girls listened to different sounds and had to choose which picture was making that sound. Then we made a list as a class of how we would turn the sounds we heard into make noise words. 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.

Today we had our first Mystery Reader of 2017! Pre First sends a big thank you to Mr. Puckett for coming in and sharing some of our favorite books with us!