Sterling's Snippets: Field Trip Fun by Everyone!

Who doesn't love field trips? The first graders had a blast on their first field trip of the year. As part of the Metro Learning Bank Experience, students experienced fine art by attending MSUM's own Fuego Tropical performance. Students not only sang and danced along to the wonderful steel drum performance, but they also learned proper concert etiquette. They wowed me with their excellent behavior as I knew they would!

What does it mean to imagine, design, create, engineer and experiment? This week students learned all about the STEM Design Loop and made their way through their first investigation in our study of gravity and motion. After reading Jack and the Beanstalk, students were challenged with designing their own beanstalk or tall building with a team of "engineers" (aka 1st grade students). Students imagined their beanstalks and then made a plan. Students were challenged with working together to discuss the plans and select the best for the group. We even introduced our friend "Mr. Talking Stick" to help facilitate a one person talking at a time rule. In the end, our engineering may need a little more practice, however, we are well on our way to learning how to improve the engineering process. Check out the process along with the final products that the teams made.

All About Josephine

Have you met sweet, Josephine? Josephine loves the fact that her name has 9 letters and so do I! Josephine loves the color pink, horses, and math. The class was amazed to find out that there is even a Lake Josephine. We did a bit of research only to find that there is not only a Lake Josephine in North Dakota but also one in Minnesota. We thought it was so neat I had to include the picture from her poster for you to see!

A Peek at Our Week

Reading: In reading students just completed Unit 1 and took their first reading assessment of the year. It was long, but the students kept positive attitudes and did their best to remember and apply all of their new knowledge. This week we will practice summarizing the main event in a story. We will also practice reading and writing words with double final consonants and ck.

Writing: Students are working are on their personal narrative stories in writer's workshop. We like to call these, Small Moment stories, as they are about one moment in their life that they tell bit by bit including lots of details. This week students will take the stories they have been working on and visit the "Revising and Editing Table" in our classroom with a partner to make their writing even stronger. I can't wait to share their published pieces with you at conferences.

Math: The focus of our math instruction this week will be to introduce the final two pieces of MATH workshop! Students will be introduced to 12 hands on games that can be played individually or with a partner during our math workshop. We will also be getting five, new classroom iPads that students will learn how to utilize during math. I was able to take time over the long break to get things set up and ready for students on Monday!

Science: We are continuing our work in our gravity and motion unit. This week students will learn about motion in terms of pushing and pulling. Students will explore friction through hands on practice outside (let's hope the weather cooperates). All of this will lead into the final STEM activity where students will design and engineer a six-foot marble run using ramps. We can still use your toilet paper tubes if you have any! Any extra will be kept for another project that takes place in May.