Sterling's Snippets: STEAM Fun!

May is upon us and it will be busier than ever! Did the May calendar make it home with your firstie on Friday? If not, let me know and I'll send an extra home. It is jam packed with school and classroom events, field trips, and birthdays! I'll send reminders as events get closer if they need your attention. Are you hoping to to avoid the "Summer Slump?" If so, we will be offering a Summer Bridge packet for interested families to keep your student's mind sharp over the summer! If you are interested in a packet, please send me an email by Thursday, May 4 and I'll order one through our print center.

Our materials for the STEAM Bins have been arriving. With new materials comes the challenge of figuring out how and where to store everything! I went in this weekend with my trusty assistants (Carson and Cameron) to figure out the best method for storage. After some careful arranging, I think I have a plan! I'm working on the STEAM Bin labels and am hoping to have things up and running in a week or so. More photos to come....for now, check out some photos of the students exploring the materials.

Meet Pyper

In our final installment of "Star Student" we have Pyper! Pyper is such a special gal as she is hard working, generous and kind to everyone. Speaking of hard working, I was amazed to hear that Pyper is in charge of keeping her entry way clean and vacuuming her house. Wow Pyper, you never cease to amaze me!

We also celebrated another Character Champion in our class! It is no surprise, Trevor was this month's champion. He was noted for being hard working and leading by example in the classroom. Keep up the great work, Trevor!

Finally, we celebrated a birthday this past week! Happy Birthday, Sam! Those ice cream bars were a huge hit!

A Peek at Our Week

Reading: We are wrapping up our final unit in Reading. In the coming weeks, we will explore two supplemental extension units that accompany our reading curriculum. Each of these provide the students with their own copy of the mentor text, allowing students to really engross themselves into the content. I have never taught these extension pieces, so I am excited to try them with this group of students!

Math: This week students will complete their final year end math assessments. These will help measure their learning and growth from point A (August) to point B (the end of the year). I am looking forward to seeing their growth! When we complete these assessments we will send the last couple of weeks with Unit 11: Addition and Subtraction Strategies in math.

Writing: We are working very hard on our nonfiction writing. Students have already learned to group their content, utilized important words, and incorporate exciting adjectives. This week students will learn to add illustrations, labels, headings and a table of contents to their pieces.

Science: I'm sure you have heard the buzz already, but our first graders are becoming master programmers! That's right, Mrs. Cain, our school librarian, and I are team teaching several coding lessons through Kodable. Students are led through the "I do," "We do," and "You do" process of coding. Following each lesson, students put their minds to the test while they practice their own coding exercises on the computer. This is a new, pilot program we are trying out and are excited to see the amazing communication, collaboration and creativity among our students.