We celebrated Remembrance Day (Canadian holiday similar to Veteran's Day) at our school this past Monday. Each class was required to create an offering.
We drew a dove in pencil (later to be erased) and had each student mix a colour and fingerprint the dove as well as their own picture down below.
(Students are holding a white board where they wrote their name - we did this the first week of school and often use these pictures for many things throughout the year.)
Fairy tales
We introduced our students to a variety of fairy tales this week, including The Ugly Duckling, Little Red Riding Hood, and Three Billy Goats Gruff. As an extension, we set out this provocation inviting students to retell the fairy tale or even create their own! They loved it!
Roll and stack math game
We have been working on subitizing (identifying the number instantaneously) using dot dice. We had students set the timer (1 minute), roll the die and build a tower using that many Unifix cubes. They kept on rolling and building until the time was up!
We also started our measurement unit this week (all about non-standard units) and had students compare towers - whose was taller, shorter, by how many, etc.
Pasta and Pipe Cleaners
Last weekend I dyed pasta - which is actually very easy! I had a lot of messages asking me how.
You need:
- pasta
- food colouring
- rubbing alcohol
- small Ziploc bags (one for each colour)
- parchment paper and cookie sheet
Place the desired amount of pasta in a Ziploc bag. Add food colouring and a splash of rubbing alcohol (I learned that trick years ago from a former colleague - it helps the colour stay vibrant).
Shake, shake, shake and lay on parchment paper to dry overnight.
Easy!
Here, students could string the pasta onto a pipe cleaner and make patterns (or just work on fine motor skills!). They enjoyed this so much that many of them made a bracelet or necklace to take home to their families (and we still have SO much pasta left over for another time!)
Human Body - Light Table X-Rays
Our Human Body Inquiry has been taking over our classroom as students are really enjoying researching and learning. We decided to set out x-rays on our light table, along with coloured jewels, for students to explore. We made these x-rays by printing pictures online (free!), having students label the x-ray (i.e. hand), and then photocopying them onto transparencies.
Fingerprints
Also part of our Human Body Inquiry, we discussed fingerprints with the class, learning that we all have unique fingerprints, then stamping and comparing them.
Playdough: Body Parts
Students were invited to use the coloured dough to add body parts to the mat. We already learned a lot about the brain, heart, and lungs thanks to our research groups.
The Littlest Matryoshka - Russian nesting dolls
In math this week, we are focusing on measurement using non-standard units (i.e. Unifix cubes, links, etc.). Students are learning to use the words short/shorter, long/longer, tall/taller, etc. We also wanted to introduce them to sequencing - so we read the book The Littlest Matryoshka and used these Russian nesting dolls.
Measuring our hands
In our small groups, Mrs. Petrone worked with our students who are just starting to learn the concept of measuring - she helped them trace their hand, learn where to start and stop measuring, and how to use Unifix cubes to measure the length of our hand.
Frog Jumping
Mrs. Petrone found this fun activity on Pinterest and thought it would be a fun way to practice measuring using non-standard units (frogs). We played this game a few times this week. Students stood behind the edge of the carpet and jumped like a frog as far as they could. We recorded their distance with a piece of tape and then we had them measure using frogs. They were excited to compare who jumped the farthest!
You can download these frogs and try this activity in your class by clicking below.
I have had many requests to explain how our small groups run and I promise to write a blog post about that soon (there's so much to say so stay tuned!).
Last week I created these Alphabet Playdough and Sensory Mats for my students because I wanted to focus on properly printing the letters. I also love it for fine motor skills practice!
You can click on the picture below if you are interested in seeing more:
You can download the Week-at-a-Glance PDF version{here}.
If you would like the editable version to modify this for your own class click {here}.
You will need Power Point to edit.
I used the following fonts if you wish to keep it the same (free to download):
I can't wait to share our Human Body Inquiry with you soon! There are still research groups working hard but with parent-teacher interviews next week we will definitely have our work up on display in the hallway!
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