Popsicle Mini-Inquiry

In math we have been doing a mini-inquiry with twin popsicles.

Twin pops can help our brains grow!  We made a chart to study counting by 2s.

We noticed counting by 2s patterns on a 100 grid.

We also graphed the most popular popsicle flavors.

We solved the challenging math problem:  If we each ate a twin pop and put our sticks in a bucket, how many sticks would we have altogether?  We added an entry in our Think Books to help us solve the problem.

Some of us used the mailboxes to help us solve our problem.

Some of us worked together to solve the problem:  COLLABORATION!

Some of us drew pictures to help us solve the problem.

Some of us counted by 2s on each mailbox to solve the problem.

Of course, we had to eat popsicles to find the answer!!!

Yum! What is your favorite popsicle flavor?

We love Reading Partnerships!

One of our favorite times of the day is when we get to enjoy books with reading partners.

When we read in partnerships we notice that we are thinking deeply as we read.  Braylee and Jozlyn made a text-to-text connection when they were reading Jennifer Jones Won't Leave Me Alone and Each Kindness.  They noticed that both books had empty desk seats and they inferred that both of the students in the books had moved.

We have been setting reading goals and keeping track of all the books we ready by making tallies.  We each get to tally a book we read together when we read in partnerships!

We are building our reading stamina, just like Preston the Mouse from Marathon Mouse!

Room 408 loves to read!

Albert Einstein

We have been studying Albert Einstein (and have of course noticed his hair):

We read a few books about Einstein and his life growing up.  

We learned that he studied light, sound, and space...just like we will this year!  He is a reader, a writer, a mathematician, a scientist, and a researcher, but most of all--a thinker.  

When we read On a Beam of Light we learned that he was very unique.  He didn't speak until he was almost four, and started wondering about our world when his father gave him a compass.  He asked LOTS and LOTS of questions--so many that his teachers thought he was trouble.  ;)

He is a perfect person to study for LEADS because he is so full of questions.

Here is a short video so you can see him in action:

We designated one of our notebooks as our "Think Book" and put his picture on the front.  

Today we started to record our important thoughts, ideas, and questions in this notebook.

What are you curious about?

Representing Our Hopes & Dreams

In order to prepare for our upcoming Hopes & Dreams conferences, Room 408 used materials from the classroom to represent our Hopes & Dreams.

We are excited about our learning in 1st Grade!

Committees Are Underway

In our classroom, children work in committees to get classroom jobs done.  Two children collaborate on each job to make sure their job gets completed.

 We're proud of our Committee Work!

Bucket Fillers

We read the book How Full is Your Bucket? to continue to discuss our "taking care of each other" rule.

We learned that everyone has an invisible bucket that they carry with them.  When our bucket is full we feel good.

Often when our bucket is empty or almost empty, we feel bad, sad, or angry.  

The cool thing is, when someone is kind, it adds drops to both people's buckets and both people feel good!

Growing Our Brains

Today we read the book A Little At a Time by David Adler.

It's about a grandpa and his grandson and all the questions his grandson asked like, "How did the street get so dirty?" and "How did this construction site hole get so deep?"  His grandpa always answered with, "A little at a time."  When the grandson asked how the trees grew so tall, his grandfather answered, "It started out as a seed, but then it grew...a little at a time."  Charlie connected this with the thinking we have been doing about our brains.  When we learn, our brains grow a little at a time.

We also read the book The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes by Pett & Rubinstein.  We talked about how mistakes help us learn and grow.  

Fo the past few years I have been learning how to knit .  First, I started out with something small, like a potholder.  Then I moved onto something a little bigger, like a shawl.   Next, I practiced my knit and purl skills by making a big afghan (not without mistakes!).  Finally, I learned some new strategies like turning a heel in a sock, so I decided to knit a Christmas stocking.  I wanted to show the kids that when we learn something new, we learn it a little at a time.  

We connected all of this with our reading in the classroom.  Today we unveiled about a thousand new books in our library...books that have words we can read!  We talked about how everyone started reading at different times and first grade is the time when our brains will grow the most in reading.  We can help our brains grow our reading skills by reading lots of words in lots of books.  Our brains will grow a little at a time.

We talked about how reading lots of words that we know helps us grow as readers.  Today our goal was to try and find what kinds of books felt good to us as readers.  We had read Paul Galdone's retelling of Goldilocks and the Three Bears and used the "Goldilocks" method to find books that we could read.

We looked for books in the rainbow baskets that weren't too hard, weren't too easy, but were juuuuust right.  We will do more work with knowing how a book is just right, but it was a great start!  Today everyone found a book to bring home that they could "show off" reading to their families.

What book did you read to your family?

Fair Doesn't Necessarily Mean Equal

We were able to have an interesting discussion after someone said, "That's not fair!"

I showed Room 408 the following picture.  Take a good look.

The picture on the left is equal.  The picture on the right is fair.

We talked about the fact that we are all different and we have different needs.  My job as a teacher is to help support each child to make sure each gets what s/he needs to be successful.

Some of the kids even predicted that the tallest child helped to make it fair because they thought he probably gave his stool to the shortest child.  We can help each other be successful, too!