Sterling's Snippets: Pumpkin Science

As we wrapped up our study of living and non-living things in science, we transitioned into a supplemental unit on pumpkins. Through rich literacy and hands on experiences, students explored all aspects of the pumpkin. This year in particular, we were able to link language arts to science as students have recently learned about describing words, or adjectives, and so we were busy using these words to describe the inside and outside of our pumpkin.

For some reason (the busyness of teaching 21, 1st graders or old age) I keep forgetting to take photos. I only snapped a couple during pumpkin science but am hoping your 1st grader was able to share more details with you in your dinnertime conversations about school. I hope your little one shares more about his or her day than my own!

Here students worked to count the seeds inside of our pumpkin. Counting them by 10's proved to be the best method.

We had 777 seeds in our pumpkin!

I want to send a HUGE thank you out to everyone that has helped fund our class parties. We will have our first, today! Classroom parties are memorable experiences for our students, especially in 1st grade. Thank you to Mrs. Dickinson for helping to organize the funds and purchase the materials. What a great idea!

Conference notices will come home this week. A conference questionnaire will accompany your notice. Please complete both and return them to school as soon as possible. Please note, if your conference time does not work, I would be happy to reschedule before school or on an alternate day. Please do not hesitate to ask!

Meet Anthony

Anthony leads calendar. He took this job very seriously!

Have you had the chance to meet Anthony yet? Though I may call him Eric (his big brother) on occasion, he is definitely someone to not forget! Anthony loves sports, drawing and friends. He can draw some amazing, detailed vehicles! Anthony can often be seen outside playing wall-ball with friends, never leaving anyone out of the game! He is so kind and caring towards his peers and always encourages others. I'm so glad you are part of our classroom this year!

A Peek at our Week

Reading: Our students just wrapped up the first unit in reading. The great thing about our curriculum is that it will now begin spiraling through many of those concepts and skills to allow for reteaching and more application. This week we are reading a fable, similar to The Boy Who Cried Wolf and learning to identify the author's focus. Many students have already made connections to the story from prior experiences. In vocabulary the students have been busy discovering new "Fancy" words in our literature. Some of our new words include famished, plenty, figure, and scan. Students will be learning about r-blends and final double consonants and ck in phonics this week.

Math: In math our learning is all about addition and subtraction. Students learned the new words sum and difference and can relate them to numeral stories. This week students will participate in the "Egg Test" to learn about iPad safety and care. Students will care for an egg for an entire day and in the end, gain privileges to use the iPads for math practice. Ask your child about the Egg test on Tuesday!

Writing: In writing we are still working on our personal narrative stories. Students have been introduced to the "Revising and Editing Table" as a place where they work with a peer to improve their story. Our focus this week will be all about details. Students will learn to add details to show their characters actions and words through the use of speech bubbles. I can't wait to show you the writing progress at our upcoming conferences.