The 5 Day's Before Christmas Break: Day 1

There is NO homework starting today!

NO required reading!

NO math fact practice!

NO spelling test!

HIP HIP HOORAY, Our Shirts Came Today!

Thank you North Star Graphics for once again making beautiful shirts! 

Below is some information from North Star Graphics

Your new shirt was printed using the latest digital, direct to garment technology.  This exciting new printer allows us to print more color and offer no minimums!  Par of this process involves pretreating the shirt.  You may notice a slight tackiness in the print area.  This is normal. The pretreat will wash away leaving only the super soft print!  We recommend you wash, inside-out, in cold water prior to wearing.  We hope you enjoy your new shirt!

www.northstargfx.com

Whale of the Month

This happy guy was named our Whale of the Month for November!

Each month a student is selected to be our Whale of the Month!  To become the Whale of the Month, students have to exemplify what it means to be a whale. Check out the "Are You a Whale" tab to read more about what it takes to be a whale!

Subtraction Math Game

Click on the link below to play a fun subtraction game! 

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/mathgames/fruitshoot/fruitshoot_subtraction.htm

We had some impromptu fun today with this game. We went to the computer lab to work on Zearn during math time. However, the Zearn website was acting up and most of us could not do our tasks.  So, we found a fun game to help us practice our subtraction facts. 

Building the Tree

On Wednesday, Mrs. Wanke put all the parts of the tree on the floor and we had to work together as a team to correctly build the tree. 

It took us a bit to figure it out.  At times our tree looked a little funny! However, this activity taught us so much more.  We learned how to work together as a team.  

We discovered the following things will help us in any group activity.

1. Develop a plan

2. Listen to everyone

3. Communicate

4. We shouldn't all do our own thing.

Essential 55

Pumpkin Jack Day 40

 

We were so excited to see Pumpkin Jack!  He sure has changed!

Pumpkin Jack sprouted 5 shoots. His face isn't recognizable.    We are hoping that he will begin to vine out of the jar!

What is a Force?

Ready, aim, FIRE!

We learned that a force is a push or pull that may make something move.

So we did a little experiment.

We took turns pulling back the rubber band and shooting the marble across the room. Of course this was VERY exciting.  We pulled the rubber band back farther each time.  

Here is what we learned...

1.  The farther we pulled the rubber band back the faster and farther the marble went. 

2.  The greater the force the farther the object will go.

Owl Days

On a Thursday we headed off to Torstenson Education Center to spend our day learning about Owls.  Severson Dells came down to talk to us about this amazing bird of prey.  

Then, Mr. Faller came down to share some of his favorite owl stories and to take us on a hike. 

We found some acorns on our hike!

After our hike we returned to the Education Center to our friends from Hoo Haven!

We were so excited to listen to them.  We got to see a snake up close and a barn owl!

The next day, Friday, we got to dissect owl pellets!  We found all different kinds of bones and fur.

Bat Day

As we entered school today, the halls were dark, bats were handing from the ceiling, and Mrs. Lucas's room and been transformed into a bat cave!

We are so ready to go into the cave!

For Bat Day, we rotated to every first grade classroom to do different activities with bats and to extend our knowledge of these awesome mammals.  In Mrs. Wanke's room, we learned about what Microbats, Megabats, and Vampire bats eat.  We discussed how scientists can learn about what animals eat by examining droppings or by dissecting owl pellets.  

So, Mrs. Wanke had us look thought this would work with bat guano!  We had to see what was in their guano to determine what bat left the mess.  If we found bones in the guano, we knew it was a Microbat, because Microbats each insects, other bats, reptiles, rodents, and fish. 

If there was seeds in the guano, we knew it was a Megabat, because Megabats eat fruit or nectar from flowers.

If there were clumps of blood, we knew that it was a Vampire bat because Vampire bats lick up blood from small cuts they make in the animal.  They DO NOT suck the blood of animals or people.

We each got our own cup of bat guano to investigate.

Okay...we will let you in on a little secret....it wasn't really bat guano.  It was actually pudding.  

Ask your child what they learned in the other classrooms and their favorite part of the day.