Plants and Writing

Plants and Seeds

Our class has really gotten into plants over the past couple of weeks. The projects have stemmed from our discussion about Tikkun Olam and ways we can make the world more beautiful. We have discussed what plants need and we did an experiment with seeds to determine why plants need sun, water, soil, and air. We have done research on our i-pads about what vegetables are ok to plant in the Autumn/Winter and how to grow plants in doors. We have started to sprout potatoes and in a few weeks we will plant our potato sprouts. We are in discussion on what to do with our potatoes after they grow. I will keep you updated in a couple of weeks with more pictures!

Below are pictures of the students observing seeds with magnifying glasses that they first sorted.

Writing

During the morning we have writer's workshop. We have been focusing on small moment stories and how we can bring our stories to life. The students have an opportunity to share their stories with the class. On Fridays the students have free write Fridays where they can write about any topic (fiction or non-fiction). Last Friday a few of the students wanted to combine their stories to make a book. I was proud of the way the students worked together to come up with a story about going to the circus. They were positive in their feedback with each other and helped each other bring their story to life.

Science

Field Trip to Aullwood

We went on an exploration of nature this week at Aullwood. We were able to explore nature using our senses. Our guide, Miss Nicole, took us through the woods, a prairie, and into the nature center.

Exploring a praying mantis.

Answering questions and exploring a spider.

Walking across a creek that they were able to touch afterwards.

Hearing the cicadas and birds in the prairie.

Exploring a salamander that was under a log.

In the nature center they touched a snake!

Finally, the students explored turtles.

Scientific Method

This week we also learned about the Scientific Method and did a science experiment using the Scientific Method. The students, along with Mrs. Hoy's class, came up with a question after exploring pennies on how to clean a penny. The students then did research on their i-pads and then came up with a hypothesis on what they thought would be the best way to clean a penny. The students then were split into five groups and did the experiments that they found on their i-pads. One group cleaned a penny by using an eraser. Another groups cleaned a penny by putting it in lemon juice and salt. The third group used baking soda and water to clean a penny. The next group cleaned their penny with soap and water. The last group cleaned their penny with ketchup and a toothbrush. After their experiments the cleanest penny actually ended up being the one that was cleaned with ketchup. The students then discussed their findings and came up with a conclusion.

Recycling, Nouns, and Addition

Recycling Project

The last two weeks have been really busy! The second week of school we collaborated with Mrs. Hoy's and Mrs. Komisarski's classes to recycle and then make the world more beautiful with what we recycled. Mrs. Hoy's class led the students on what we recycle, why we recycle, and what we can do with our recycling. We have been working on Jewish Values and we focused on Tikkun Olam which means repairing or taking care of the earth

Nouns

In Language Arts the last two weeks we have been working on identifying nouns. The students should now be able to tell you that a noun is a person, place, or thing. We went on a noun hunt, unscrambled sentences finding the nouns, played noun bingo, and as an assessment made a noun chart with nouns and sentences that the students came up with.

Addition

In Math this week we have been working on addition. We also started our addition timed tests that we will be having about 3 times a week.

First Week of School

We had a great first week of school!!! The students shared their favorite things with the class and made time capsules to open at the end of the year. We are starting to get into the routine at school. We practiced how to do stations, began writing small moment stories, and in math learned more than/less than/the same as.

 Reading about our favorite things which were put in time capsules.

We practiced Stations and how to correctly use materials and put them away.