Johnny Appleseed Engineering Challenge

This week, we started a new STEM unit based on various tall tales.  The first tall tale we focused on was Johnny Appleseed.  We read several books aloud to the girls to give them some background knowledge on the history of Johnny Appleseed and what makes a story a tall tale.  Today, the girls became engineers.  We gave them a problem: construct a raft using sticks and duck tape that can hold the weight of an apple without sinking.  The girls worked in pairs to solve this problem.  Their first step was to plan and design a raft on paper.

After that, they gathered their materials and started constructing their rafts.  We emphasized that problems often do not become resolved in the first attempt and it may take many improvements and tries before one finds a solution.  

The girls thoroughly enjoyed their first day as engineers and we encouraged them to try and solve this problem at home over the weekend.

Vowels, Swimmy, and Game Time

In language arts, we reviewed vowels and learned that every word must contain at least one vowel. To help them distinguish the different vowel sounds, we taught the girls actions that they can make.  Afterwards, they cut out and sorted various pictures according to the vowel sound.  Make sure you ask your daughter what the actions are for a, e i, o, and u.

The girls added another petal to their daisy people today--resilient.  We read Swimmy by Leo Lionni and had a great discussion about when they've had to be resilient in their lives. The girls then drew their favorite scene in crayon from the book where Swimmy had to show resiliency. After that, they painted over their scene in blue paint, creating a wonderful underwater picture.

This year, we instituted "game time," a period where the girls can play a variety of different board games.  All of these games work on different skills--sight words, problem solving, and cooperation.  Be sure to ask your daughter which game she played today!

We had our first Mystery Reader today.  The girls were incredibly excited to meet our first mystery guest!

Author's Chair

We introduced Writer's Workshop today and the girls' first step was learning how to illustrate a beginning, middle, and end of an event that personally happened to them.  We also had our first Author's Chair today.  The girls will get a chance to share and celebrate their work with their peers after every Writer's Workshop.

Ending Sounds

In language arts, we focused on ending sounds.  The girls pulled a secret object out of a bag and had to say the name out loud.  The girls sitting in the audience had to write the letter of the ending sound on their iPads using Doodle Buddy.

We then completed a chart sort using pictures that had the ending sounds t, l, and n.

In math, we have been working with the girls on sequencing numbers as well as sorting objects by what they have in common.  First, the girls worked in pairs to sequence number cards in ascending order.

Then, they moved onto a sorting activity with their partner. This was both a math review lesson as well as a "secret" lesson to prepare them for their word sorts, which will start next week.  

Afterwards, the girls worked on writing their numbers while they completed a worksheet where they had to fill in various missing numbers, from 1-50.

Donald Crews and Ten Black Dots

The girls were introduced to their first author of the month--Donald Crews.  We gave the girls some background on Mr. Crews and showed them many of his books, including Night at the Fair, Parade and Harbor.  Their favorite fact was that he called his beloved grandmother "Bigmama"!  

After the girls explored some of his books, we read 10 Black Dots. Donald Crews incorporates black dots in funny and creative ways throughout his book.  After we read the story, the girls had to create their own picture using mini Oreos as their black dots.  The girls had a great time creating their own unique pictures.

More and less, and Sneaky Weasel

In math, the girls went on a Lego Hunt! After they found all of the Legos, the girls put the numbers in order from least to greatest and wrote down the number that was one more and one less.

We continued talking about one of Bryn Mawr's core values--respect--and what it means to be a good friend.  We read Sneaky Weasel to the girls and they used a Venn Diagram to compare the story to our class.  We also added a new word to our Vocabulary wall--boast.  

Parent Night 2016

Here is the link to the video from last night.  Thanks so much for coming; Erin and I loved seeing you all again.