Living Things

As we have been studying living things and non-living things, we have been comparing living creatures in our classroom! We have been observing crickets and fish, along with the brine shrimp that we studied earlier. These living things have helped us compare how different living things breathe, move, and survive in their natural habitat. We have also been learning about, identifying, and comparing the body parts of the fish and crickets. We are curious and thoughtful scientists!

Royal Reader!

Last week, we were surprised with another Royal Reader! Kyle's mom came in to read us Diary of a Worm (just in time for Earth Day next week!), along with two other funny books. The students enjoyed hearing more favorite stories! Thanks for coming in to read to us!

Collecting and Examining Life

We have jumped right in to our next Science unit, Collecting and Examining Life. So far, we have compared two mystery substances (sand and brine shrimp eggs), and added salt water to experiment with which substance was living and which was non living. After a few days, we examined our jars again, and found that there were organisms that had hatched from one of the substances. We noticed these creatures (the brine shrimp) had what looked to be small tails so far, and we can't wait to see what develops in the next few days. These images we captured of both the living and non living substances were done with the Proscope.

Penguin Day!

Yesterday brought the conclusion of our penguin unit in first grade. We celebrated with Penguin Day, where we made penguin visors, dressed in black and white, and had penguin themed reading, writing, and math activities! The most exciting treat was watching "The Adventures of Scamper the Penguin". It was music to my ears as the students were watching the movie and shouting out, "Look, they're tobogganing right now!" or, "Mrs. Glaser, are they eating krill?" These penguin experts were paying close attention to those penguin behaviors!

Royal Reader!

Last week, we had another surprise Royal Reader! Rachel's mom joined us to read "The Scrambled States of America", about what could happen if the 50 states switched places, and "Grace for President", about a young girl with a dream of becoming president in her school's mock election. The students found both stories to be very entertaining! Thanks for coming in to read to us!

iPads

Recently, we've been utilizing a set of five iPads in our classroom, and the students have enjoyed exploring with these new tools! We have used them for word work during Daily 5 time, for extra math practice, to learn songs about grammar rules, and to read digital books. The students are highly engaged and are so great about working together to help one another if a problem arises. Keep working hard, first graders!

Royal Reader!

Last week, we were surprised by another Royal Reader! Owen's mom came in to share a non-fiction book about bats with us. The class loved learning facts about bats and sharing their own experiences with and knowledge about bats. Thank you for coming in to read to us!