Junior Ninja Challenge #3

Here's the Junior Ninja challenge for this week. It is not required, but think of it as an opportunity to work with your child one on one to see if they can explain their thinking. The challenge is designed for them to find success, but it is multiple steps. They should solve one part at a time and check off each step as they complete it. They should check their work for accuracy and for completeness. All great mathematicians do.

Shamrock Final Mile

With the help of our friends and the cheers from the crowd, we finished the Shamrock Final Mile. It was cold and it was windy, but we didn't let that stop us from being successful. I am so proud of all my 1st grade friends who got out there and said, "I can do this." and then they did it. And how awesome is it that CREEDS ES won 1st place for most participation at 61% of our students joining the race. Way to Go!

Post 100

This is post #100. It is a personal thank you to those who have supported me through the years and encouraged me to stretch my comfort zone and follow my passion. It is not a rumor...I am leaving my home of the last 15 years...room 104. But I'm not going far, just down the hall. I've been promoted to 3rd grade and I am ecstatic. I have loved my years in 1st grade and I will miss most of what it encompasses, but in my heart I know I'm ready for the change and the challenge. The stars have aligned! and pigs can fly? (well, I saw it on TV.) I heard from a third past parent today that it made her day to know we would get to work together again for the benefit of her child. Mrs. Bergren would say it "filled my bucket". Mrs. Conger would say it was a "blue card". Simply speaking, it put me on cloud nine. So I say again, "THANK YOU!"

Bulletin Board Change

We have traded in our "Word-a-Day" bulletin board. This didn't make the students happy. Now we are looking at related words. Yesterday was...optimum, optimist, and optimism. Then later in the day we added "optimize" because it fit the situation. As for the bulletin board, it is now a "SUCCESS" board for those hitting their targets in Scholastic.com/CoreClicks (reading skills), TenMarks (math skills), and Junior Ninja challenges (math multi-step problems). It is amazing what they can do when they challenge THEMSELVES. I literally saw the lightbulbs go on for 3 students today as they called me back to their desks to tell me "I get IT, now." Look I got 100%. They'll be "Showing Off" for the principal tomorrow. Watch out world...sparks lead to fires. They make me so proud.

Surprise!

We used old..decade old...seeds for a fraction activity. The students wanted to know if the seeds would grow...so we planted them in some soil from the vermicomposter. The seeds didn't grow. After 2 weeks, it was time to add them to the vermicomposter. I dumped the contents of the cup and found a baby worm in the bottom of the cup. I must have scooped up an egg in the soil when we started the experiment. A pleasant surprise indeed.

Reflecting on our Science Inquiry

So the egg shell on both the control egg and the fluoride egg were completely dissolved in the vinegar after a couple weeks. The membrane was still intact so the eggs still maintained their egg shape. First graders being first graders wanted to poke the egg to see what it was like inside after they had a chance to feel how soft and springy it was to the touch. So of course we did! We found that the egg inside looked just like a normal egg when you crack it open. The yolk was intact too. Sooo cool! The delicate membrane was more protective than the hard shell. BUT that wasn't all. Then we looked at the cup that had water and table salt in it. The water had evaporated sitting in the window. The salt remained, but...it was above the line where the water had been. How did it happen? We decided the salt must have been deposited there as the water slowly evaporated. But the best observation we made (I have never seen this myself)was that in the bottom of the cup, there were cube-shaped chunks of salt. How did it happen? There were literally cubes and we only used table salt. Did you notice that every time we get an answer, we get more questions? Scientific investigation is sooo much fun, and an amazing avenue for learning. I LOVE it and so do the students.

Worms, Worms, Worms

So Thursday we filled in a KWL chart for "worms". We KNOW a lot about worms. Everything we knew was in one of he books we read. We had some great WONDERING questions, but we could only answer a few with the books we had in class. We need to use more resources. We LEARNED some very interesting things, too. Did you know their are over 1200 kinds of worms, an average yard has about 1800 worms in it, and a worm eats 1/3 of its weight in a day? Also, worms can live to be 10 years old, but on average only live a year. Well, I decided it was time to add a new tray to our vermicomposter Friday morning with so much interest in our worms. The students decided that the worms are like our pets since we take care of them. While showing the students what the previous two trays looked like,we discovered young worms which I think is exciting. That means we are taking GOOD care of them. It made me curious about the worms life cycle, so I did some research. Now I just want to take a second look to see if I can find worm eggs to show the students. I guess I'll just have to wait till Monday.