Canada and Student-Led Conferences

We're learning about Canada! Today started painting our giant map of Canada - choosing to paint each province a different colour. As the weeks go on, we'll be adding geographical features to our map. You'll be able to see our work in progress when you come to our Student-Led conferences on January 31.

Please remember that these conferences are student-led; therefore, there will be no sit down meeting with the teachers. If you have questions/concerns regarding the report card that went home this week, please contact us to set up an alternative time to meet.

Gymnastics

We have started exploring gynmastics!  Focusing on  balances, 

we have practiced creating high, medium and low body positions.

We balanced on different body parts such as feet, hands,

bottoms and toes.  We are also using our math vocabulary, symmetrical and asymmetrical to describe our balances.

Here are just a few of our creative balances!

How many water drops will fit on a penny?

Today we discovered some interesting characteristics of water through an experiment to see how many drops of water would fit on a penny. 

We used a number line to record some of our predictions and results and worked in partners to use the droppers and to record the drops with tally marks. 

We recorded our observations and discovered that most groups fit between 10-30 drops on their penny, but that close to 20 drops was the most prevalent result.

We talked about why it was helpful to do this experiment many times. 

We discussed what could cause the variation in number of drops (a wobbly table, different sized drops, how soft or hard the drops were added)

We also explored how the water behaved on the coin.  We noticed that the water made round drops or beads, that connected together when they touched.  We also noticed that when we looked at the side view of our penny, the water overhung the edges. This gave us an opportunity to talk about the surface tension of water and how the droplets like to "stick together". 

Tomorrow we will compare water to some different liquids.

We also completed our exploration of patterns by reading a Mathology book about First Nations Beading.    

We found it interesting that BEAD can mean a thing (plastic bead), it can be an action word (to bead) like in the title of our book, and it can be a term in science for how water behaves!!!

We had a very nice collection of beads, but discussed how you may need to problem solve if there are fewer numbers of some beads.  Since there were only some big beads, we discussed and brainstormed ways to create our bracelets so everyone would be able to get enough big beads to complete their pattern.  Children chose to sit in a circle, to select the big beads first and plan out their bracelets on the carpet so that everyone was able to have enough.  Good problem solving! 

Liquids!!!

We have started into our science exploration of liquids. We kicked off our first day with an exploration of water - the most important liquid in our world.  To start our thinking, we moved around the room looking at photographs of where we find water in our world.  

We looked at pictures of water in:

-bodies of water (lakes, swamps, oceans, rivers, hot springs)

-buildings (baths, taps, toilets, heating systems)

-our bodies (tears, blood, saliva)

-food (tea, milk, fruit)

-plants 

-community (water parks, slides, pools, fire hydrants, water fountains, factories)

Kids had interesting discussions and connections: 

-Water helps to transport.  Kids made connections about shipping food from hot climates to Canada using boats like we discussed in our seasons unit

-Water is important for habitat for animals

-Water can be changed to steam or ice

-Water is important for cleaning things

-Without water we can't survive

The children were encouraged to look at home and see how water was used.

Next we got our hands wet and explored the nature of water in small groups using a variety of tools such as funnels, sponges, strainers, cups and straws to explore the nature and characteristics of water.  

Children stirred, poured, measured, transferred and made amazing observations. 

After we made an awesome list of water verbs  like: splash, drip, run, spill, splosh....

Today we used blow art to create some crazy hair using liquid paint and straws.  This helped us start a conversation about how different liquids have different qualities.  We decided that "thin" paint would flow better than thick paint, starting a beginning understanding that liquids have differing viscosities. 

Work Period

Students have been working really hard the past 3 days to get back into the routine of Montessori work period. Many have learned new lessons and are working hard to master their skills.

Pictured above (left to right):
Ordering colours by shade (darkest to lightest); making words with the moveable alphabet; writing research reports about Canadian animals; placing the provinces correctly on a map of Canada

Ask your child about the new lessons they've learned - often talking about lessons and explaining to another person helps solidify their understanding of the skills taught.

Mental Math Strategy - Making Ten

   

One of the mental math strategies we practice in grade 1 and 2 is knowing our friendly facts to 10 - Making 10. It's helpful for students to be able to quickly recall these facts and relate them to addition and subtraction equations with larger sums. After reviewing these facts, we played some power of ten games to help us with our efficiency and accuracy of recalling these facts. Quizzing your child on these simple facts is something you can do when your brushing teeth, taking a car ride, or sitting in a waiting room.

Getting back into routine!

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Welcome back! Today, we got right back into our phys. ed. routines. Students practiced some balancing and agility movements as part of our warm up. They're working on one-foot and two-foot jumping, balancing, and improving their cardio through jumping jacks, burpees, and running.


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We did some writing today. First students edited my writing, by checking for capitals, periods, and correct spelling of word wall words. Then they shared about their own winter break and wrote a few sentences, describing one thing they did over the break. We worked on elaborating on details by focusing on one subject.