Clouds in a Cup

As an introduction to the water cycle, we learned that the water cycle never stops and when the clouds get heavy, it precipitates.

In a bowl/cup, I poured water in it and sprayed some clouds (shaving cream) on top of the water. In another small cup, I added water with food dye. The point of the experiment is for the students to drop “rain” on top of the clouds to make it heavy in which it would start “raining."

 

 

After experimenting, we recorded our observations in our science journals.

Silly Quote of the Week:

Me: “If the cent sign is the C with a line, what is it called when you have a S with two lines?”

N: “It’s called you’re rich!”

Multicultural Day

On Tuesday, we had Multicultural Day at our school. Since first grade is learning Spanish, each teacher prepared a lesson relating to Mexico and we had the students rotate around to 3 classes.

In Mrs. Noyola’s class, they played Lotería (a game similar to bingo)

In Mrs. Skalaban’s class, they played a hot chili relay game and watched an educational video

In my class, I introduced the “Mexican Hat Dance" and we made mascaras

 

Seasons & Weather

Learn the weather in Vietnamese!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCP302udt1o

 

 

 

 

I taught the kids these vocabulary with sign language. Whenever a student had trouble reading the word, they would ask me what it said and all I had to do was the sign language for the word.

 

 

 

 

Learn the seasons in Vietnamese!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiMZs_yKpKA

 

 Silly Quote of the Week:

 

Me: *yawning*

K: "Are you tired?"

Me: "Yeah, I am really tired."

K: "Then why don't you go get a pillow and lay down?"

 

 

Subtraction Word Problems

 

Just like addition problems, the students are expected to circle the important information, draw a picture to represent the word problem, and write a number sentence with a label.

 

Since my homeroom class got to name our first class pet (a dove named Dynamite)...I decided to give my afternoon class the chance to name our second class pet. With a majority rule, we came up with the name "Super Star!"

Weather, Seasons, Robotics, Goodbye Card, and More Word Problems

We received a new buddy that will be staying with us for one week. We have yet to name the little guy but he’s very shy and doesn’t come out much so the children haven’t really gotten the chance to see him. I think it’s a nocturnal albino hedgehog.

For every unit, the middle shelf is full of books related to the topic we are learning. Students are welcome to go read any of these books when they get finished early.

We started our unit on weather.

 

This was my example. The students came up with some pretty cool pictures.

For the past 8 weeks, I had an ACC intern come in to observe/help in my afternoon class. Today was her last day and the kids were very sad. :(

We wrote cards for her in Vietnamese and the kiddos presented them to her today. They included sentences like:

Con sẽ nhớ Cô Phượng.

(I will miss you)

Con thích Cô Phượng.

(I like you)

Con thương Cô Phương.

(I love you)

Con thích tóc của Cô Phượng.

(I like your hair)

Cám ơn để giúp con.

(Thank you for helping me)

 

When finished early during Vietnamese Language Arts, the kids do the “7 boxes” search. They go around the room and find Vietnamese words and write/draw it in the boxes. The 5 first boxes are used for the weekly sight words while one box is used for any word they want and the very last box is to write their name. I need to find a better name than to call it the “7 boxes” activity.

 

This week in robotics, students had to work with their partner to create a sturdy wall. We learned that “sturdy” means something that won’t knock down easily. The kids could think of the story of the 3 little pigs and how sturdy a house made out of straw, sticks, or bricks were. I would knock on their wall after they were finished and if it broke, they had to try again and come up with a different creation that would be sturdier.

 

In math, we are working on solving word problems. In order to prepare them for the upper grades, students must circle the numbers they will be using and the key word that will determine if they will be adding or subtracting. Students can solve a problem by using pictorial objects to help.

Some key words for addition: in all, altogether, join, more…

We also learned what the word SUM means.

Next week we will be working on subtraction.

I introduced a new activity the students had to do when they finished their work on Wednesday called “The Scavenger Hunt.” The point of the hunt is for a student to solve a math problem and hunt around the room for the answer. Once they find that answer on a purple post-it note, they then solve their next problem attached to the orange sheet hung up on the wall. The first time doing this was a disaster but as I modeled for the second time, they started to get the hang of the game. I try to turn a lot of things into games so it's more engaging for the kids.

 

HAVING FUN WITH THE MATH CENTER

 

 

Silly Quote of the Week:

W: “Why is it so weird?” – Meaning, “Why is the hedgehog so anti-social?”

 

 



Robotics, Dowser Dan, and the Fire Department

In robotics this week, we learned new vocabulary words like:

-bushing

-axle

-tire

-hub

Students were able to explore the pieces and build a car with their bilingual buddy after completing a matching activity. They were really creative.

 

Today, Dowser Dan paid us a morning visit and taught us many exciting things. He taught us ways we could conserve water every day, our body is made up of 70% water, we have 2 kinds of water—fresh water and salt water, the water cycle, and many more! Encourage your child to tell you about what they learned from Dowser Dan!

 

 

 

 

After Dowser Dan, the Fire Department came to teach us about fire safety. The children had the opportunity to go in a fire truck to see what it’s like. It was a bit chilly sitting outside but the children did great and were such good listeners.

 

Silly Quote of the Week:

N: “Cô Tracy, you kinda look like Lady Gaga…”

 

 

Our Crazy Halloween Week!

 

What a crazy week we have had. From computer lab, to science buddies, to our Halloween party, to our last guidance lesson from Mrs. Cummings (our counselor), to enjoying a Halloween story being told by a special, professional story teller from England!

 

 

 

I am so glad today is Friday! I am exhausted and I'm sure the kids are too from our fun-filled week!
We are wrapping up our shapes unit this week. Next week, we will be moving on to word problems.

We practiced reading our "Con Dơi" poem but didn't get to spend as much time reading it like I had hoped.

Thank you Mrs. Fleming, our fabulous 5^th grade Science teacher, for hosting such a fun candy experimenting time for our children.  A big thanks to our 5^th grade scientists too! The first graders really enjoyed the engaging and hands-on candy experiments. Even with 3 different classes and 60 students in one classroom, it was a controlled chaos!

 

 

 

 

This week in Science, we are continuing our unit on FORCE and MOTION. We focused on how does an object move? Does it spin, slide, or roll?

 

 

The kids have been asking me questions about the Halloween party EVERY single day since Monday. I think by saying they were excited for it is an understatement.  The class got to share their Halloween stories, watch a Magic School Bus episode, and then it was party time! Thank you to my special helpers that came and helped me run centers during the party J

 

              

 

My homeroom mom, Mary, made this for us. This center was a class favorite.

 

 

The spider art center was very engaging for the students. They got to make their own creepy spider and take it home.

Silly Quotes of the Week:

K: “Cô Tracy, are you married yet?”

Me: “No…not yet…”

K: “Oh, that’s right. You’re not big enough”

 

M: “I wanna stay in first grade FOREVER!”



A couple of reminders:

 

Nov. 3^rd- Fall Back, don’t forget to change your clocks back one hour!

 

Nov. 11^th- Veterans Day, student holiday