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.

Gingerbread Fun!

We have been incredibly busy in the Pre-First classroom.  The girls have enjoyed reading all of the different versions of the gingerbread man books and completing various activities. Here are some of the goings-on in Pre-First:

The girls made our Word Wall words with Model Magic.

We read The Gingerbread Boy  and the girls had to create a different character that the boy had to run by.  After, we compiled all of the girl's papers to make a class book.

The girls were busy in math as they kept working on their subtraction strategies by working with teeth.

We had a special Mystery Reader who came in on his birthday!

We ended our gingerbread unit this week, and what better way to celebrate then with lots and lots of sugar and icing!  Many thanks to all of the parents who came in to help with our sugary creations!

Here is a "before" picture.

During.

After.

The girls also put their finishing touches on their gingerbread decorations today.  They will be ready to go home tomorrow--make sure you find a great place to hang your daughter's gingerbread creation!

Gingerbread & Mem Fox

This morning we read The Gingerbread Girl.  The girls were then paired up and had to use a Venn diagram to compare this story to our big book version of the Gingerbread Man.

Later on, we read Snowmen at Christmas and the girls created their own winter snowman (using marshmallows) after we read the story.  

During our author's study time, we read Harriet, You'll Drive Me Wild and the girls discussed character development.  Make sure you ask your daughter what Harriet was like in the book.

Catching Up with Pre-First

Temperatures are dropping, there's a chill in the air and everyone is starting to get holiday fever.  We are getting in the winter spirit in our classroom and last week we read The Snowman by Raymond Briggs.  After the story, the girls had to conference with a friend about a creative way their snowman would melt.  The girls headed back to their seats to make their own melted snowman.

Many thanks to the Pritchard's for being our Mystery Readers last week!

December has arrived and winter is right around the corner.  To get into the spirit, we read a fun winter story and decorated our bulletin board with one of our favorite winter things...mugs of hot chocolate!  The girls adorned their mugs with snowy images then described why they like winter.  Their own little cup of hot chocolate helped inspire their creative juices.

We started our gingerbread unit and today the girls listened to The Gingerbread Man big book for the second time.  Then they were then put into pairs and had to sequence the story with their partner.

Subtraction and New Author

The girls began a new math unit on subtraction today.  We read The Duckling Gets a Cookie!? to grab their attention, then used a cookie jar and cookies to model subtraction problems as a whole class.

The girls were given their own cookie jars and cookies to help them independently solve subtraction problems.  The girls enjoyed this lesson although they were slightly disappointed there were no actual cookies handed out.

We have a new Author of the Month in Pre-First.  She is from the land down under, she was raised in Africa, and is one of the best known authors in Australia.....she is Mem Fox!  The girls were so excited to learn about our new author.  We read Good Night. Sleep Tight and went to Mem Fox's website to learn all about her.  In the next few weeks, we will be reading more books that Mem Fox has written and complete a variety of activities.