Science and Social Studies Week!

The title of this blog is Science and Social Studies week because it sure feels like that was our focus :) From finishing up our maps unit, using our knowledge of maps to make a classroom map and going on a field trip to OMSI it was an awesome and fun week!

Making Our Own Maps

This week our map unit concluded by students using their knowledge of maps to create their own personal map of our classroom! Students included labels, a compass to give directions and we used them to discuss where items in our classroom were located! It was a fun experience for them to look at the perception of our classroom from a birds eye view and it was a challenge for them to make a map that was accurate to the locations in our room! Here are a few of the products:

A student labels the library on her map.

A student finishes adding chairs to her map.

A student colors in our rug and the desks for our classroom.

OMSI Fun!

Our field trip to OMSI this week was amazing! I was so impressed with the students' behavior and their engagement in all of the activities OMSI has to offer! Students got the chance to fly paper airplanes in a venting system, they got to make boats and dams in the water exhibit, we looked at how to make mountains, valleys and oceans using sand and also how to reduce, reuse and recycle! It was a science filled day of fun! The students really enjoyed themselves and I enjoyed seeing them so engaged and being exposed to so many different science topics! Here are a few photos from our day!

A student using sand to explore the different elevations needed to make valleys and mountains.

Students building a retaining wall to protect houses from a tsunami!

A student builds a boat and explores how much weight is needed to keep the boat from tipping over.

Students work together to roll a marble through a maze.

It was a fun filled week and next week being Read Across America promises to be just as fun!

Smiles,

Miss Adams

All You Need is... Valentine's Day!

What a love filled week we had. From making a class book about what love means to each student, reading Valentine's books and even doing some Valentine's candy math we had a wonderful week celebrating the love in our classroom.

Love Is Class Book

This week we discussed what love actually was and the kids came up with some great ideas. Whether it was "taking care of someone else, or being kind to someone" the kids really thought long and hard about the things in their lives that they loved. We then wrote and drew pictures about what we loved to put together to make a love class book for students to read in our class library. Here are a few pages from the book: 

My family is love because they take care of me.

I love my teacher. I love the world. I love my pets. I love my friends.

I love food. I love recess. I love my pet.

Candy Math

Perhaps the most exciting part of our week was when I handed each student a box of candy hearts and had them graph their box based on color! Students graphed their own papers, which you will see examples of below, and then as a class we compared to see which color students got the most of! I was shocked there were about 6 kids who didn't have an entire color and others that had over half of their box be one color. It was a really fun way to compare data and see the differences within each box.

A student colors in her squares to match the number of hearts she had in her box.

We are full speed ahead to spring break. From our field trip to OMSI this week, Read Across America week the next and then our 100th day of school after that we are going to be jam packed with fun activities! I can't wait to document all the fun that your children, and I, are having :)

Smiles,

Miss Adams

Fly Guy, Maps and More!

Hello all! What a fun week we had last week starting off with our field trip to see Fly Guy the Musical, learning about Maps, compasses and legends and of course gearing up for Valentines Day we had quite the packed week!

Fly Guy the Musical

On Tuesday we ventured into Downtown Portland to have our minds blown by Fly Guy the Musical put on by Oregon Children's Theater. The kids were awestruck to say they least. They couldn't believe that the fly guy stories we had read in class were brought to life in the play. I heard many kids exclaim "how is this real?" When we got back to school we brainstormed our favorite parts of the show and students got to write about it! Their writing turned out so great so I wanted to share a few!

I like when Liz's mom met Fly Girl. It was funny!

Fly Guy and Fly Girl were chased by the robot.

I like when the Robot chases Fly Girl and Fly Guy.

I like when the crossing guard was making the kids dance.

Maps

This week we started looking at Maps! Students got exposed to a compass and using a compass to give me directions! We have also been using our compass to predict which direction our pattern will go in Calendar. I have been pleasantly surprised with how well the kids have picked up the vocabulary. I even heard a kid at recess say "Well the wind is blowing East today!" Then we started looking at legends and keys to figure out details about maps. This week students will get to make their own maps, with their own compass to show the direction of items and a legend to show which colored paper represents different landmarks. They are very excited to dive right in!

Our class compass.

Our compass at the top of our calendar.

LOVE Art Project

Over the past week students were able to make a very fun art project. Students got to look at texture of paper and how we can paint crumpled paper lightly to give a picture the appearance of texture. Then students put black letters on top of their painted papers to add contrast and finally put all the pieces together. They turned out so well and are hanging in the main entry for the whole school to see!

All you need is...

Gluing letters can be hard when you have to put the glue on the wrong side :)

What a busy week we had and I can't wait to continue our Map exploration, have a wonderful Valentine's day and continue our study of our community and kindness.

Smiles,

Miss Adams