Tech-Savvy First Graders

This afternoon Room 408 was introduced to the exciting world of email.  They had so much fun emailing each other back and forth, practicing our reading and writing skills in action.

When we discussed their thoughts and reflections on the possibilities of email, they were bubbling with so many ideas.

"We can send stuff to people are far away!"

"When can we get our parent's email addresses?!?"

"I like getting email."

"What is the difference between texting and email?"

"We should make sure we send emails to lots of different people so no one is left out."

"We will be stronger readers and writers if we email."

And my favorite:  "We can write a sentence to someone instead of walking across the room and talking to them!"  :P

On tomorrow's docket?  Emailing attachments such as screen shots and photos to show evidence of our learning.

What do you think is cool about email?

Discovery

On Friday we started learning about Jane Goodall.  We read this book and learned about how she was curious and patient as a little girl, and she loved to go outside to discover and explore.

We also talked about the book One Small Square: Backyard:

Armed with our Think Books, our pencils, a magnifying glass, and a black square, we headed to the woods behind Hillcrest to "be like Jane" and discover.

We explored and found lots of cool stuff.

Then we found a spot for our "small square study."

We wrote and drew about our observations and discoveries.

We even had a Philippe Petit-inspired moment:

What a beautiful afternoon!

What was your favorite part of our woods exploration?

Jill's Cuddly Sharing

Jill's dad brought in bunnies for her sharing late last week.

We got to ask lots of questions and cuddle!

If you want to buy bunnies, contact me and I'll put you in contact with Jill's family.

Popsicles!

Room 408 has been busy counting by 2s and showing numbers in different forms.  We have been doing some work with the idea of "twinpops" (the kind of popsicles that have two sticks).

We are working on sharing our thinking with fellow mathematicians.  We talked about how it is easier for others to understand our thinking if we use pictures, numbers, and words.  We also realized the importance of double-checking our work.

We worked to solve the following problem:
If each student in Room 408 ate a twin pop, and each twin pop has two sticks, how many popsicle sticks would we have altogether?

Some of us used actual popsicle sticks to solve the problem:

Some of us drew pictures:

 Some of us represented with different number forms:

And some of us used numbers and words to represent our thinking:

Good work mathematicians in Room 408!

Mission Wonder & Rescue

Friday morning was very rainy when I walked into school, and I saw worms, worms, everywhere.  What a perfect way to discuss wonders with Room 408!

We got our Think Books today.  We will record our thoughts, ideas, and wonders in these notebooks.  It has a picture of Einstein on the cover to remind us about the kind of learner we want to be.

We studied the worms with magnifying glasses and then settled down with our Think Books.  We wrote some wonders that we had about the worms and their precarious situation.

Here is a video of our Worm Wonders & Rescue Mission:

What was your favorite part of our Worm Observations?

Mindset

One of the things we believe at LEADS is
smart isn't something you are, it's something you get.
(from Comprehension & Collaboration: Inquiry Circles in Action by Harvey & Daniels)

This is based on the research by Carol Dweck about fixed mindsets and growth mindsets.
We try to instill a growth mindset in our students--we get smarter every day by working hard and practicing.

I highly recommend viewing this TED Talk video about fixed versus growth mindsets.  It gives a new perspective and inspirational way to think about your child's intelligence and capability for growth.

Parents, what are you thinking?

A Great Thinker

When students arrived this morning, their Morning Message question was to guess this man's identity:

We read the book Meet Einstein.

We learned that Albert Einstein thought up some amazing ideas.  He studied light, sound, and space, just like we will this year!  We learned he was a writer, a reader, a mathematician, a scientist, a researcher, and most of all a thinker!  When we read On a Beam of Light, we learned that Einstein was unique.  He didn't speak until he was almost four, really started wondering about our world when his father gave him a compass, and asked so many questions that his teachers thought he was trouble.  ;)
He is a perfect person for us to study in LEADS as he is a man full of questions.

I personally love his hairstyle.

Here you can see him in action.

We designated one of our notebooks as our "Think Book" and put his picture on the front.  We will write important thoughts, ideas, and questions in this notebook.

What are you curious about?