This week the students practiced making our "tens buddies" by using counting loops---a loop of ribbon strung with 10 beads. The students would separate the beads, placing some beads on the left and some on the right of the loop. Then we would name our "tens buddy"--two digits that make a ten such as: 1+9, 9+1, 2+8, 8+2, 3+7, 7+3, 4+6, 6+4, and 5+5. The children brought their counting loops home this week. It will make a handy tool for math fact practice!
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| Counting loop showing that 4 + 6 = 10 |
Literacy
We completed several writing activities this week including a sequencing activity. The students were given four different pictures that showed the steps a girl used to build a sand castle. The children had to put the pictures in order and write sentences to describe each step using the words first, then, next, and last. It is amazing to see how far they have come as writers this year! We also introduced the final two sight words for the year--me and where. Please continue to practice all of our sight words with your child.
The children also listened to a beautiful story this week called Make Way for Ducklings, which was a story about a pair of ducks looking to find the perfect place to raise their family. After listening to and discussing the story, the children drew illustrations and wrote sentences to tell about what happened at the beginning, the middle, and the end of the story.
After listening to Eric Carle's A House for Hermit Crab about a hermit crab looking to make his shell more beautiful, the children created their own hermit crab with a decorated shell.
Dirt, Sand, and Water
The children did a great job predicting and investigating what happens when water is added to a variety of materials. Through our observations, we learned that some materials dissolve in water, some materials sink to the bottom, some float to the top, and some materials don't mix at all.
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| We mixed water with the following materials: dirt, sand, flour, rice, salt, red paint, oil, and dish soap. |
The children also learned about the concept of displacement this week. We filled a glass with water and then added a large rock to the glass. The children could see the level of the water in the glass rise. When I asked the class why this happened, I got a great response--"The rock pushed the water out of the way and the water had no where to go but up." What a great description of displacement!
The children also learned a little about erosion this week. We place a pile of dirt in one tub and a large piece of sod in a second tub. We poured water in each tub and observed how much water and mud collected at the bottom of each tub. The children could clearly see that the water quickly ran across the dirt forming a big, muddy puddle at the bottom of the tub while very little water and dirt drained to the bottom of the tub with the sod. It was a great demonstration of how the grass and the roots in the soil help absorb the water and help prevent water from eroding the land. Take a peek at our before and after photos below!
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| Before |
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| After |
Gymnastics Assembly
The children also had a chance to watch a gymnastics show performed by some of the gymnasts from Elk Grove Gymnastics Club. They even got to see a performance by a gymnast from the Special Olympics and a handstand from me!! It was a great show!
Thanks for reading!
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