Sterling's Snippets: Science is Super!

Thank you for visiting at conferences! It was great to share the growth and progress the first graders are making as well as goals for the remainder of the school year. Don't forget to turn in Summer School forms as soon as possible if you received one at conferences. As we near the end of March, I encourage you to work to balance reading/homework and time with your family. Remember, students are encouraged to read only 50 books for the Reading Medalist program. If they wish to read more, that is fine, but not necessary. With one month remaining, work to set a goal with your child. If you are in need of books, please let me know and I can put together an extra book bag for your child. Just a remainder, The Reading Medalist Program will take place on Friday, May 18 at 1:15. Mr. Underwood will also direct the students in a musical program. Students will also have a collection of art work available to share. It is definitely an exciting day to be remembered by all students.

On Friday we had a little bit of St. Patrick's Day fun! First we made rainbows using Skittles after reading What Makes a Rainbow? We also wrote about who was worth more than gold. The samples are adorable and on display in our classroom. Last, we went a fun scavenger hunt around the school, looking for our treasure.

We celebrated two birthdays over the last two weeks in March. Happy Birthday Reed and Lauren!

Meet Elizabeth

We are lucky to have Elizabeth as one of our great 1st graders. She offers a lot to our discussions and is great at helping me spell tricky words! She impressed the students by sharing that she plays piano, xylophone, recorder and ukulele Elizabeth would like to follow in her parents' footsteps and be a teacher when she grows up. She strives to be a Physical Education Teacher someday!

Meet Nora

Nora was a great helper this week as our Star Student. We welcomed a new student, and she was more than eager to help him in the classroom. Nora has goals to become an archaeologist when she grows up, however, she may want to consider a career in meteorology as well! She is GREAT at predicting our temperature during Calendar Math.

A Peek at Our Week

Reading: We have been busy in reading, learning about text features once again in nonfiction texts. This week we learned how a chart can help a reader understand new information. Students continue to work with their individual spelling sorts during the week. On day three, they practice their words using a word work menu choice. Below are some examples of student work.

Math: We are learning about doubles facts and doubles +1 facts in math. The students learned a fun Doubles Rap last week that we will continue singing to solidify these facts. I'm excited to record and share it with you soon! Students are working hard to utilize a variety of non-counting strategies to solve addition and subtraction facts to 20.

Science: In science we are studying states of matter. We made Oobleck and have been working to determine if it is a solid, liquid or gas. We eventually determined that Oobleck is a non Newtonian fluid that is pressure sensitive. In other words, it can be a solid or liquid based on the outside forces of pressure. Science is so cool!