Abel’s Boats

In first grade we have been reading a wonderful book called Abel’s Island, which follows the adventures of a mouse called Abel as he attempts to make his way home after being marooned on an island. The first graders used materials available in the classroom to build a boat that might help Abel escape the island.  Enjoy a video showing the kids as they create, complete and test out their boats.

1st-2nd Grade Parent Meeting

I am thrilled that so many parents were able to make the First-Second Parent Meeting.  I know that this is an incredibly busy time of year, so appreciate that so many were able to make it.  If you were unable to attend you can find the presentation below.  Please email me if you have any questions or concerns.  I love meeting the parents, so stop in to say hello any time you are at the school.

Anthropomorphism…What?

When I put the work ANTHROPOMORPHISM up on the board the first graders looked at the word in awe.  “It is so big,” one said.  “I can’t read that,” another exclaimed.  As soon as I started writing the word they were intrigued.  By the time I was finished they were amazed to think they were going to learn the meaning of such an enormous word.  When I explained that they actually already knew the meaning of the word and saw examples of it throughout the books, movies, and television shows they watched they were certain I was wrong.  It was great fun to see.

After reading the word to them, I pulled them over to read chapter 1 of our novel, Abel’s Island by William Steig.  I told them to pay close attention to the strange things they hear in relationship to Abel and his wife Amanda.  Those clues were going to help us understand the meaning of anthropomorphism.  As we read chapter 1, the kids kept track of the strange things they heard about our characters on their post it notes.  We then shared.  The kids learned that Abel and Amanda are both mice.  They are mice that are married, wear clothes, play croquet, enjoy picnics, give each other gifts, read books, etc.  The observations the kids made allowed them to construct their own idea of what the word anthropomorphism meant before I gave a more structured definition.  The kids said things like, “They are acting like people.” or “Only humans get married.”  The children were delighted to realize that they had come very close to the definition all on their own.  Anthropomorphism: giving human qualities to a non human being or object.

Watch and see how many examples you see of anthropomorphism being used in the books, movies, commercials, etc.  I think you will be surprised.

Last Week the kids started writing poems called When I Was Little…  They are about the discoveries the kids have made about themselves in their short lives and a discovery they hope to make.  Enjoy….

When I Was Little… on PhotoPeach

Magnificent Monday…

Monday was a great day with my enthusiastic first and second graders.  Below is a quick look into my time with each group.

First Grade:

In first grade we are going to focus on Discoveries.  On Monday we started by brainstorming anything that comes to mind when we think about the word Discoveries.  The kids started brainstorming independently as a pre-assessment.  This allowed me to see each student’s starting point.  We then shared our thinking and I added their ideas to a large chart.  I was quite impressed with their thinking.  I think the kids were surprised with all of the different ideas that were shared.  After we discussed their understanding of Discoveries.  We talked about how we can discover new things about ourselves all the time.  The kids drew a picture of themselves and shared different discoveries they have made over their last six or seven years.  Enjoy their work below.

Discoveries on PhotoPeach

**Coming Next Week: The kids started writing Discovery Poems.  We will finish them and share Monday.

Second Grade:

In second grade we have been building our understanding of the word STRUCTURE.  This week the kids began to research their first structure: Tunnels.  They were broken into groups and each group was to research one section on tunnels, using a wonderful website called Building Big.  The kids will share their learning next week and we will dive a little deeper into the world of tunnels.  This will lead to our study on Biomimicry as we think about where humans looked to learn about tunnel building: nature.   Below are some pictures of the kids doing their research and creating their posters.

First Day…First Grade!

What a fabulous first day with my fun-tastic first graders!  They were so excited to come to class and get their brains working.  Usually I will pull the kids every Monday morning from 8:00-10:20. Today we only met for an hour because I needed to finish up testing for a first grader.  I was pleased that she qualified and was able to participate in our first class.  We are now at 16 students.  Yea!

Today the kids participated in an activity called Find the X.  X is our mystery number.  Each kid used a dry erase marker and wrote the digits 0-9 on their table…yes, I did say table.  The kids thought that was tons of fun.  I then revealed one clue at a time and we discussed the Language of the Discipline in that clue: between, less than, greater than, value, NOT.  After reading and discussing the clues the kids would eliminate numbers until only one number was left as our mystery number.

After Find the X Tile I had the kids brainstorm words, thoughts, ideas that came to mind when thinking about GT.  They brainstormed their words onto their tables.  They then took a walk around the room to look at their classmates’ tables.  Once they had the chance to explore other kids thinking they came back to their table and added new ideas.

Alert: We did not get to share our homework.  There were a few children that forgot to bring their assignment.  Please be sure that your child has their homework November 26.

 

Turtle Haikus

In first grade we read a Japanese folktale called Urashima the Fisherman.  It is a story of a fisherman that catches a sea turtle, but no ordinary sea turtle.  This turtle was a goddess that lives in the sky.  She wanted to marry Urashima and he agreed to join her in the sky.  He became homesick and his wife allowed him to return home.  When he arrived he learned that it was 300 years in the future and his family and home were gone.  He was also unable to return to the sky to live with his wife.  We had a discussion on WHAT IS HAPPINESS and HOME?  It was wonderful to hear the kids think deeply and philosophically at such a young age.  They then followed directions and created an origami turtle and wrote a Haiku about their turtle.  Enjoy their work.

What A Monday!

I had quite the Monday with my first and second graders.  I started my morning by traveling to Africa with my first graders, but by 11:00 was in Australia with my second graders.  You can imagine my exhaustion after traversing two such amazing continents.

As I said, I started my morning with a trip to Africa with first grade.  We read a terrific folktale called The King of the Frogs.  It was the story of how peace came to the frogs.  You may not realize, but frogs were quite the rambunxious group before gaining a new king, Mamba the Crocodile.   The unruly frogs had asked their God Mmumi for a King, but I am not sure this is what they had in mind.  The kids and I had a wonderful discussion on being careful what you ask for and having the ability to govern ourselves. It was neat to hear their perspectives.  Following our discussion the kids created their own origami jumping frogs using an index card.  They had a wonderful time allowing their frogs to jump about “doing as they please” just like the frogs did in the story…before grumpy King Mamba entered the picture. 

After our frogs settled down long enough to sit in their habitat, the first graders created poems about their frog.  Enjoy the example above.

Once we arrived back to Bulverde Creek it was time to head off to Australia.  The second graders spent time learning about the Aborignies (natives to Australia).  We studied their cave drawings, their technique, languages, music, etc.  It was great fun.  After studying the beautiful art attributed to the Aboriginal people the kids were influenced to create their own pieces.  They attempted to use many of the techniques we saw in the paintings we studied.  The kids wrote poems to go with their wonderful art work.  Below is a book with a preview of some of the art and poetry.  To see the completed book, please click on the link below the book.

Click HERE to see the completed book. When you See CLICK HERE TO READ, please click on it so that you can see the book in Full Screen. 

 

Arctic Animals

In first grade we are traveling the world and discovering some wonderful Folktales from each of our visits.  Our first destination was Northern Canada, specifically the Nunavut area.  Our first story was Tuk the Hunter, a story about a boy who rescued his family from a Polar Bear. Following our reading of this action-packed adventure, the kids created an origami Polar Bear.  We then learned how to research an animal using a terrific webside, National Geographic Kids.  We did the research whole class so that the kids could learn to read, think about what they read, and then record it in their own words.  We discussed copyright laws and the importance of not ‘stealing’ other people’s words.  Following our research on Polar Bears the children paired up and chose another Arctic animal to research and learn about.  Below is a slide show of the kids hard at work.
Research…Arctic Animals on PhotoPeach

Following their research the kids are using Blabberize to create a talking version of their animal.  They will use their animal to share the facts they collected through their research.  Here is one to view, more to follow!

 

Testing Update

Kindergarten:

Testing is currently taking place for the Kindergartners. We are in full swing and I hope to be finished by the end of the week, barring any absences.  Qualification letters will come home sometime next week…probably closer to the end of the week.  Please email with any questions or concerns.

Middle School Testing:

I am currently taking nominations for Middle School testing.  Students can test for English, Math, or Both.  If a student is currently in GT, then I already nominated them.  Testing will begin in February and last through March.  Results will not come home until May.  If you have questions and/or concerns please email me.  BE ON THE LOOK OUT FOR THE PERMISSION TO TEST FORMS.  I will send them home in the next week.

New Students:

If a student is new to our district, and was in a GT program in a previous school, then I will also be testing those students.  Please be patient.  Between classes, kinder and middle school testing my schedule is quite swamped.  I am working to be as quick and efficient at possible

Oh, The Places You’ll Go…

In first grade we are going to take a “trip” around the world to learn about cultural differences and similarities between the United States and many other countries.  We will visit and explore these amazing places through folk tales originating from that particular area.  To help better understand my students knowledge of the world I had them share all of the states, countries, cities that they could think of.  Many of the children added little tidbits of information about some of the places they listed.  Below is a word cloud of all of their answers…supposedly in the shape of an airplane.  🙂  The bigger the word, the more it was used by the kids.  You will see that Texas was listed the most, with Florida a close second. I think we can all guess why Florida is so prominent in these kids minds.  Disney is a beast!  🙂 

 

What has been your favorite country or state to visit?  What do you remember about your visit?  What made that place unique or different from others?  We look forward to reading your comments.  You will be helping all of us learn and grow.