January
Making bird feeders! We are currently working on procedural writing. The Grade Two's followed instructions to make bird feeders. The next day, the Grade Two's taught the Grade One's how to make the feeders by reading out the steps that they had written. When both sets of feeders were ready, we found places around the school to hang them up. Hopefully the birds will enjoy them!
Grade 2 experiment: "Fireworks"
The students observed what happens when food colouring is added to oil. Then added the combination to water to see what would happen.
Grade One: Testing Materials
They tested various materials to see if they were flexible or rigid. We also tested to see if they would break! (I warned them not to try this experiment at home, as we did successfully break some of the rigid items!)
Grade Two Boats
After test different materials that float or sink and having several talks about materials that absorb or repel water, the students created boats from recyclable material. We tested each boat to see if it floats, if it was water proof and then we added to weights to test the strength and stability of their boat.
After they tested the boats, they wrote a reflection about what they would do to improve their design.
Reader's workshop!
Math Centres!
Which type of paper will float the longest?
Each Grade One selected a type of paper they thought would float the longest. They choose from tissue, paper towel, construction paper, card stalk and wax paper. No one selected tissue or paper towel. They told me they would absorb the water quickly! We tested them and they sank within seconds! Ask your child which paper was the best and why.
The Grade Ones have been learning about how to take care of their teeth. We did some experiments with eggs to show how to brush to make sure we clean our teeth well and to show how tooth paste helps to keep our teeth strong and healthy. The Grade Ones did some procedural writing where they listed all the steps needed to brush teeth.
Inquiry Buddies!
We met with our buddies to continue researching individual inquiries. Some of the students that have completed an inquiry presentation had a chance to share their findings with the rest of the buddies. Ask your child what their inquiry topic is!
Grade 1
Building and creating with 3D shapes. Collaboration at it's best!
How much liquid is in a solid?
We filled a jar with snow and the Grade 2's made predictions about how much liquid would be in the jar once the snow melted. The Grade 1's made a guess too! They were surprised to find out that the solid state took up more space than the liquid state. The jar was filled with snow but the water was less than half the jar!
Grade 2
Disappearing Solids!
They tested different solids to see which ones dissolve in water and which ones stay the same.
Grade 2 Science
Testing to see which solids float and which ones sink. They made predictions before testing each object.
Together, we wrote out the steps for "How to draw a 3D Cartoon face" after watching an online demonstration by Burlington author Chis Francis. The class followed the instructions to create their own cartoon face. We also listened to his procedural story "How to Sneak your Monster into School".
Grade 1
The Grade 1's have been testing materials to see which ones absorb or repel water.
Grade 2 Liquid race!
They tested to find out which liquid was the fastest.
The Grade 2's created 3D shapes with Plasticine and toothpicks.
Making Words
The students worked with their literacy groups to see how many words they could make from the letters in "Happy New Year". After each group is finished, we look at all the words, check the spelling and count all the words.
Playing soccer in gym class!
After looking at and discussing the wordless story "The Snowman", the students each wrote about a different part of the story. They looked at the pictures and wrote about what they thought was happening in their part of the story. When we were finished, we had our own version of the story. The students each read their part and we listened to our class story from the beginning to the end.
Guessing 3D shapes!
Each student uses their sense of touch to determine which 3D shape is in the guessing jar. They have to explain their guesses by telling how they know it is that shape (they have to support their answer by describing the shape of the faces/number of edges/number of vertices). The hardest part is keeping their answers inside their heads while everyone gets a chance to touch the 3D shape!
As we finished learning about 2D shapes, we spent time looking for shapes in real world pictures. Students were amazed how many shapes we could find in a picture. The next picture we looked at was a hockey rink- we found over 30 rectangles!