Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring!

April is National Poetry Month, and first graders have been busy reading and writing poetry AND it's finally starting to feel more like spring!  I think it's safe to say we can finally put away our winter gear and enjoy all that spring has to offer.  The flowers are in bloom, the birds are singing, and the days are feeling warmer.  So what better to write poetry about than springtime?!? Please enjoy 1-Thomson's reading of Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring written and illustrated by 1-Thomson first graders.

-Mrs. Thomson
Common Core State Standards:
W.1.6: With guidance and support from adults, use a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers.
RL.1.10: With prompting and support, read prose and poetry of appropriate complexity for grade 1.

Friday, April 8, 2016

How-To Books

Our Expository/How-To writing unit is currently underway during Writers’ Workshop.  First graders are learning to write How-To pieces that teach the reader something.  1-Thomson first graders are experts at many things and even better teachers! Using the app, Book Creator, the students wrote How-To books to share with their classmates and with you!  Click each book title below to read our How-To books! Enjoy!
How to Feed Your Own Dog by Adrianna
How to Ride a Roller Coaster at Disney by Arianna
How to Make an Easter Egg by Ava
How to Take Care of a Dog by Kaylie
How to Take Care of Two Boy Dogs by Lindsey
How to Pack to Move by Luke
How to Play with a Chick by Maggie
How to Play with Your Family by Maura
How to Play Indiana Jones on Wii by Marcus
How to Make a Nice Home for a Dog by Sophia
How to Play Football by Nick
How to Survive in the Wild by Ryan
-Mrs. Thomson and Miss Pavlik

Common Core Standards:
W.1.2: Write informative/explanatory texts in which they name a topic, supply some facts about the topic, and provide some sense of closure.
W.1.6: With guidance and support from adults, use a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers.

Monday, April 4, 2016

Scientific Explorations

As spring brings changes in weather (even some snow!), first graders have been busy studying and observing various types of weather. To begin, we talked a lot about how scientists observe, or monitor things closely to track changes and record their findings. To put our own observation skills into practice, we created water cycle cups, each with its own unique variable to affect change. Some cups were covered with material, and some were not. We each made a hypothesis about the changes we would see over time. We have been busy recording these observations in our water cycle journals, and paying careful attention to the evaporation and condensation happening!
Also, to test our knowledge about temperature and how it affects weather and precipitation, students put their hypothesizing skills to work once again with an in class experiment! Using the scientific method to guide our exploration, we started with a question: Will an ice cube melt faster in a person's bare hand or in a hand wearing a glove?  First grade scientists pondered this question, while thinking about temperature and how it affects changes in water. Here we are testing our hypotheses!
Ask your child about this fun experiment and his or her findings!

-Mrs. Thomson and Miss Pavlik