Donald Crews, Ordinal Numbers and a Mystery Reader, Oh My!

This week we read another story by Donald Crews, our author of the month, and discussed the setting element of a story.  As they listened to Night at the Fair, the girls had to identify the setting of the story. 

We then paired the girls up and told them that they would be making setting dioramas based on Night at the Fair.  The girls were given a shoebox and a table full of supplies (sequins, mini pom-poms, construction paper, foam shapes, craft glue, etc.) and told to recreate a scene from the book. They were AMAZING--without specific directions, the girls used their creativity and own initiative to work cohesively to create their own setting. We were so impressed with their cooperation and imagination!

Be sure to ask your daughter to tell you about the setting she and her partner decided to recreate. The finished products were great!

Then in math the girls had to create daises and put the petals on in order using what they've learned about ordinal numbers.

I think they were very pleased with how they turned out!  (We were pleased too!) :)

This afternoon, instead of game time, we played Fall Bingo before our Mystery Reader came to read to the class. The girls did a great job sounding out the new words on their bingo cards and we had three winners in two games! 

Finally a BIG thank you to our Mystery reader, Kate Stratton, for ending our day (and week) on a great note!

Writer's Workshop

The girls have been working diligently on personal narratives during our Writer's Workshop period.  So far the girls have illustrated, labeled, and then turned their labels into sentences.  Today, they applied finger spacing to their stories.

After the girls spent some time finger spacing their stories, we had an "Author's Chair" and a few of our pre-first authors shared the stories that they are working on with their friends. We are so proud of the work they have done so far! 

Music: Iconic Beat Tracking

The Pre-First Girls have been making music in many ways!  The girls have been identifying and performing their talking, calling, whispering, and singing voices.  (Ask her to demonstrate!)  Using known rhymes, the girls maintained a steady pulse while tracking a beat icon.  This is the first step of rhythmic notation!  Click the image to watch them in action!

Art_Drilling and Videos

In preparation for building kinetic sculptures, the girls learned to use hand drills and made holes in pieces of wood. Here they are working together with their new tools. 

 

They also took notes while watching videos of kinetic sculptors and their works. They made a list of what is important about the sculptures. 1. They move. 2. They have repeating parts. 3. They can make sound. 

https://youtu.be/RshSaF_juGs

https://youtu.be/PIbk4AKFMTc

John Henry Engineering

Last week's Fun Friday engineering project was based on the tall tale of John Henry. During the week, the girls first watched a short video and then read this book by Julius Lester as well as this Mary Ann Hoberman book.  After learning all about John Henry and his story, the girls were challenged to make a 2 foot train that could stand on it's own, using only duct tape and toilet paper rolls or paper towel rolls.  (Many thanks to everyone who sent in supplies for this!). Once they created their trains, they had to measure them to make sure they were the correct length and we checked to make sure they were sturdy and free standing. Just like our other engineering projects, we emphasized the importance of planning, trial and error, and working together.

Here are the girls working with their partners and using the plans they designed to make their trains.

The final product--- a group of very proud train engineers!

Short i

In our language arts period, the girls reviewed the short i sound.  As a group, we matched words with corresponding pictures. The girls then drew a pig (very similar to our beloved Wilbur) and wrote 5 short i words inside of their pigs.

In the Creation Station

During Technology in the Creation Station, the girls began the year by working on learning the rules and routines and iPad basics.  Next, they started partner work to earn badges.  The "teachers" for the week met with me to learn a new skill then had to teach it to the "students".  If both partners successfully completed the task, they earned a badge to add to their baggie.  Badges included items like popsicle sticks, nails, screws, wire, and more.  The badges will be used during Art to create a kinetic sculpture.  After earning several badges, the girls learned how to use a hammer, in order to help with the sculpture.  We talked about safety and how a hammer can be used.  The apps we have learned are Faces iMake and My Story.