This week we completed our Underhill map. Students worked hard turning a block of wood into a special place in Underhill. We then created a large map as accurately as we could and placed our special places on the map. Students were very proud to have this placed in the hallway of UCS!
Students wrapped up their informational unit in writing this week. Many students chose to add a dedication page to one of their books.
In ECO we began talking about Pollinators and the special roles they play in helping many plants grow and allowing us to have fruits and veggies in our diets. Ask your child to name some pollinators besides the famous bee! We are getting excited about hosting the All School Morning Meeting during the week we return from break. Our theme will be pollinators and taking care of the earth! We began making crowns for this on Friday.
What an amazing week of weather! The songbirds are in full song, peepers are being heard in some places, and daffodils are blooming.
This week in Social Studies we explored a map of our school and tried to identify all of the rooms and doors that are located in the building. Then on Friday, we began looking at the town of Underhill and what special buildings and places are in it. We began creating our 3-d map of Underhill by painting pieces of wood to represent these areas in the town. Of course, students wanted to paint their houses to include in our map as well. Next week we will draw some details on our models and then place it all together!
We practiced some of our heart words. Heart words are a way to teach high-frequency words if I haven't mentioned this before. We teach them to sound out the words that are phonetic…and the parts that aren’t, we teach them to know by heart. Here is an example: Many times we place a green line under the letter that makes the predictable sound. In the word said, the s and the d would have a green line under them.
In math we had a guest come in and do a lesson on decomposing numbers. We practiced all the ways/combinations we could come up with. If our total was 7. It could look like 3+4, 2+5, 6+1, etc.
During ECO we explored songbirds. We began walking around different areas on the school grounds to listen to birds. At one moment it was very quiet so I took out the Merlin Bird app and played a chickadee sound and then we began to hear chickadees call back. We did the same with a crow sound and then heard a crow caw back. Kindergartners thought this was a hoot! We used a map of the grounds to mark where we heard certain birds. Students then listened to a puppet show that shared why birds sing. Then it was time for free exploration, some chose to journal next to their tree, some built fairy houses, and some played ACDC songs on a rotting log! 😃
There are some trees down along the trail if anyone has any time to clear them that would be helpful!
Saturday, April 1, 2023
I hope you are starting your weekend relaxing without too many tricks - Happy April Fool's Day! May we all find ways to embrace the rainy days this month and look forward to the green grass and flowers that will be popping up soon! ☔
This week students worked hard with their writing! They are taking their time teaching others how to do something step by step. Students are using nice transition words like first, then, next, and lastly.
Math we played a fun game called Bump. Students roll a die, think about the number that comes before the number they rolled, then find that number on their sheet. When they find the number they place a cube on that spot. Next, their partner rolls the die and follows the same step. This game is fun because you can bump your partner off of their spot unless they have two cubes on a particular spot which means they are locked into that space. As you can imagine students thought this tricky game was amusing and everyone remained flexible about being a good sport!
During our SS/ECO time, we explored what a compass rose is and the 4 cardinal directions. Students had a blast playing the game 4 Corners outside where they would choose a direction to run in and hopefully that direction would not be the direction that the "caller" called out. Learning through games is the best type of learning, it raises engagement and allows for concepts to have more meaning!
Reminders:
Book Fair this week!! -Wednesday/Friday our class will have opportunities to shop. (Or after school with a parent.)
