Castle Coin Party

On Friday we had our third castle coin celebration. This time we decided to have a "lights out" and "shoes off" day. I borrowed some small lamps and we turned off the overhead lights like we do for Read Aloud. It created a nice relaxing atmosphere for learning. We also got even more relaxed by taking our shoes off.

Oobleck

We made oobleck in class after we read the book by Dr. Seuss: Bartholomew and the Oobleck. It was about a king who wanted a different type of weather to come down from the sky. Oobleck came down and got stuck on everything. When the students first saw the oobleck in class, they thought it would be a liquid, but then they were surprised when they touched it and it seemed like a solid. We debated about which form of matter it really was. It is actually neither a solid or liquid but has properties from both stages of matter. Formally it is known as a non-Newtonian subtance. This means that when a small amount of force is used, it acts like a liquid, but when more force is applied, it acts like a solid.

Oobleck Recipe

2 cups of corn starch, 3 drops of green food coloring, enough water to make a thick mixture (about the texture of pancake batter) I usually measure equal amounts of water and corn starch, but mix water in slowly.

A Trip to the Bank

On Thursday our class, along with Mrs. Reeves' class, went to Fifth Third bank as part of our money project. Students had fun learning about what happens there, and took a tour behind the scenes. They got to see the safety deposit boxes and the vault. It was a lot smaller than I expected. Students were able to get some of their questions answered that we had generated in phase one. They made observations and counted various items. They also completed rubbings and made observational drawing and diagrams.

Announcements

Dear Parents,
Report cards are coming home today. Please remember that we are doing more challenging work now and have moved on to second grade standards in many areas. I am pleased with the students' performances this term. If you have any questions please let me know. You will need to sign and return the envelope although you may keep the actual report card.

Thank you to everyone who attended last night at the music recital. I thought the children did a lovely job. We will be beginning our study of insects in another month or so when the weather changes. Next week we will be taking a field trip to a bank as part of our money project.

We are running low on tissues and baby/disinfectant wipes. If you can send any in we would appreciate it. Thank you!

Parent volunteers: I have not sent home a new calendar, but it appears as though my regular readers are still coming in every week. Please continue to follow the schedule you typically come in on each month. I will be needing a couple extra volunteers next Friday afternoon from 2:15-3:15 if you are available. We will be doing a messy science activity that is always a lot of fun.

Next week: Tuesday is a PBA day with early dismissal, Wednesday I am out all day for a meeting, Thursday is our field trip, and Friday is the messy science activity. It should be a very full week!

The Wizard of Oz

We are finishing up reading the story of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz and watched the movie this week in class. The children noticed many differences and similarities. Did you know that Dorothy's shoes in the book are actually silver and not red? The movie also left out a lot of the book too, like the complete story of the flying monkeys, the china dolls, and the hammerheads.

today the students wrote about their noticings in Writing Workshop. I was pleased with their comparisons between the book and the movie.