Monday, September 17, 2012

Now that we're settling in...

...I want to give a few reminders, and give you a few updates about what we're doing in class!

Please remember that your student needs a signature in his or her planner AND their reading calendar.  Reading minutes should be recorded on the calendar in his or her green folder; not their planner.

Also, it's getting quite chilly out, so please make sure your child has a jacket before they leave.  Also, it may be a good idea to leave an extra sweatshirt in their locker in case the building gets chilly!

I know that currently we have an icky-smelling water situation.  We are getting that fixed later this week.  After the problem is fixed, I am going to ask that water bottles stay home for a while, unless your child has a cough or cold.  They are becoming too distracting, and with the cooler temperatures, they aren't as needed.

While we are still getting used to some routines here, we have been doing A LOT in first grade!  Here's a little taste of what we've been up to:



We traced each other's faces to make our own self-portraits to put in our grapes on the bulletin board!











We learned about hypotheses and we hypothesized about whether different classroom objects would sink or float...the scissors do BOTH!













We studied the properties of solids and liquids and had to decide if Oobleck was a solid or a liquid.

(If your student is asking to make Oobleck, it's corn starch with food coloring.  Then add water until you get to a solid/liquid consistency.)




We practiced counting "hops" in math.









We learned that watercolors won't stick to crayon, and painted our own "Crayon Relief Leaves" using warm colors for the leaves and cool colors for a striking background.







We learned about gases and how they move.  We observed how different tools can make different-sized bubbles!






...And of course, we've had a chance to be silly!!!










If you'd like to see more pictures, click on the link in the left column to see more fun and learning from this year!

Ms. Hermus