Last week we started our unit on Animals by describing the 5 basic classes of animals: Mammals, Birds, Fish, Reptiles, and Amphibians. Then we did activities to label pictures of different animal body parts, like horns, wings, scales, gills, antlers, claws, fur, and fins, and discussed their functions. Then we named animals that...
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Last week we wrapped up our unit on The Body. We put the rest of Tom’s “insides” together, including bubble wrap for lungs, an apple for a heart, a cauliflower brain, and yarn for intestines. On Friday we played Buzzword to review what students have learned about the body. Questions included...
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Last week we finished our review of the long vowel sounds and are moving on to some common letter blends (ch, sh, th, st, etc.) Last Friday, in reading literacy centers, we had a spelling test on various long vowel sounds and the students did great. Our unit on the Body continued...
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Our focus last week was on the five senses of the body, (taste, touch, smell, sight, and sound). We had fun exploring each of these senses. We went on a blindfolded sound walk, tasted sweet, sour, salty and bitter foods and had “show and smell”. In art we taped our thumbs to our...
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Last week we began our unit on The Body. We started off the week discussing what we want to learn about the body. We focused most of the lessons on our skeleton and the different parts of our body that our bones protect. The students learned that there are 206 bones...
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Last week we continued to learn mapping skills while finding out more about different parts of the United States. On Friday, we had our “treasure hunt”. Students each reviewed a map of the classroom and pointed out the color-coded features on the key. Then they followed the four basic directions as...
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Last week our class worked on reading maps and understanding the directions on a map using a compass rose. We were studying the United States last week and used the giant US map on the school playground to locate specific states such as California, Oregon, Florida and Texas. Last week, we finished...
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Last week studied the country of India. We had a wonderful time exploring the amazing colors and wild festivals of India. On Monday the students learned a traditional Indian dance. On Wednesday we made elephant faces in art and learned about the elephant-faced Hindu God Genesh. On Friday we wrapped...
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Last week our classroom explored the country of Brazil. We learned many facts about the Amazon Rain Forest and some amazing creatures that live there. The students continued to explore using maps and practicing with the directions of north, south, east and west. We created a giant classroom map of...
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Last week we started our World Cultures unit in Italy. We did virtual tours of Italy on Google maps, and colored maps to learn about the locations of major cities, including Rome, Venice, and Palermo. Mr. Lee showed us how to cook “pizzelle”, which are crispy waffle-cookies. We made Italian flags...
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On Monday, we welcomed everyone back and shared what we did over the Spring Break. We are starting a unit on World Cultures, beginning with Italy, then moving on to Brazil, India, and the United States. Mr. Lee led an Italian cookie-making activity, little crispy waffles called “pizzelle”. We will do a...
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Last week we wrapped up our Folk and Fairy Tales unit with several stories about princesses including Princess and the Pea, and Princess and the Frog. We also read some silly, mixed up tales from “The Stinky Cheese Man”. The letter of the week was “X”, so we brainstormed words that begin...
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Last week we finished our Three Pigs prints and hung them in the hallway outside of our room. Some students are using CoWriter to write parts of the story that will also be displayed with the prints. We read a few versions of Little Red Riding Hood, including one called “Little Red”,...
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We celebrated the 100th day of school with many special activities. Students counted to 100 by 1’s, 2’s, 5’s, and 10’s. Students counted a dollar’s worth of coins. We used sidewalk chalk and marked how far students could walk in 100 steps. We also did a “Cold, Hard Cash Grab”, where...
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Last week we read different versions of The Three Little Pigs and worked on sequencing– answering “What happened?” and in “What order?” Students drew pictures of the straw house, the stick house, and the brick house. This week we will do a printmaking project based on these three houses. On Monday, Lee...
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We started our unit on Folk Tales and Fairy Tales last week by reading Goldilocks and the Three Bears. After each reading of the story, students helped answer the questions Who? Where? When? and What? To answer what happened in the story, we outlined eight main events. Students also participated in...
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Last week we concluded our unit on the Five Senses with the walking trip to Cooley Gallery, feeling for items in the Box of Mystery, and Mr. Lee’s See It, Feel It, Smell It, Taste It game with a variety pack of breakfast cereals. We also reviewed examples of things we can experience...
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Last week for our Five Senses unit, we focussed on sight and our eyes. We read books about the eyes, and looked through I Spy and optical illusion books. On Monday we went to the Cooley Gallery to see the Terry Winters exhibit. After looking at his prints and discussing them, Gregory...
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Last week for our Five Senses unit we focussed on the sense of smell. Students brainstormed things they can smell including flowers, warm pie, pizza, cookies, smoke, garbage, wet paint, grass, coffee, the bathroom, and dogs. We played a game called Name That Smell, using items such as cinnamon, nutmeg, garlic, coffee,...
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Last week for our Five Senses unit, we focussed on the sense of taste. We read Yum! Mmmm! Que Rico! which describes many foods that originated in the Americas including blueberries, chiles, chocolate, vanilla, potatoes, and tomatoes. We did a juice tasting, using grape juice, with students trying to figure out how...
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Last week for our unit on the Five Senses, students named the parts of the body for each sense: we smell with our noses; we see with our eyes; we taste with our tongues; we hear with our ears; we feel with our skin. We focussed on the sense of hearing, and...
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After sharing what we did for the break, it sounds like all the students and their families had a festive time. Just before the break we had a good week doing holiday activities. Students used Comic Life to make greeting cards. We used green and red paint to paint Christmas trees....
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