We are famous!

What an exciting day in our classroom...we are famous!

You can see us on 13 news WREX tonight.  We wore our silly hats, listened to a story from Mrs. Wanke, and we even did our whale cheer.  We were all very surprised by the visit!

Pecatonica teacher, students have a whale-of-a-time in first gra - WREX.com – Rockford’s News Leader

The Candy Corn Bandit!

 

 

 

 

The Candy Corn Bandit stole Mrs. Wanke's candy!  Mrs. Wanke was very excited to share her jar of Candy Corns with us.  However, when we came back from lunch it was gone!  It it's places...

 

 

  was a letter on our SMART board from the Candy Corn Bandit...

 

 

a Candy Corn Bandit booklets for each of us, a prediction poster, and a clue!

 

 

Before we read the clue, we read the Prediction poster.  We learned that a prediction is a guess you make about the way something might be in the future.

 

Then, we looked at the Candy Corn booklets. On the inside we had to draw what we predicted the Candy Corn Bandit to look like. 

Then, we had to predict three places we thought the candy corns might be.

 

 

Finally it was time to read the first clue!

 

 

 

We made a prediction based upon what we read in clue one.  we predicted the candy would be in the lunch room!

 

When we got to the lunch room...all we found was another clue.  After reading that clue, we predicted that we would find the candy in the gym.

 

When we got to the gym, all we found was another clue.  After reading that clue, we predicted we would find the candy on the play ground.

 

When we got outside, all we found was ANOTHER clue!  After reading that clue, we predicted we would find the candy in the library.

    

 

But, when we got the the library, all we found was ANOTHER clue! Boy oh boy this Candy Corn bandit was causing some trouble!

 

After reading the clue, we predicted we would find the candy in the classroom.

 

When we got to the classroom...what do YOU predict we found?

 

You got it...the CANDY and another clue!

 

 

 

This activity was great for making predictions.  Not only did we predict where the candy would be, we also made predictions about how the bandit was able to pull off this crime, did the bandit have an accomplice, how big was the bandit, and what was the bandits motive. 

 

When we got back to the class, Mrs. Wanke had a light bulb moment.  She said that we could use predictions when we read!  WOW...she is right.  Tomorrow, Mrs. Wanke is going to show us how we can make predictions when we read and how this will help us comprehend what we are reading!

 

Pumpkin Day

Pumpkin Day was a day filled with learning, exploration, application of knowledge, and of course FUN!

 

We started off the day by rotating through four different centers. 

 

 

Pumpkin Dissection and Diagramming

 

 

 

We looked at a cross section of a pumpkin with Mrs. Wanke. She showed us the different parts of the pumpkin. Mrs. Wanke even had us try a pumpkin seed.

 

 

 We used our knowledge of the pumpkin parts to create and label a diagram of a pumpkin.  Look at how hard she is working to complete her pumpkin diagram.

 

 

Pumpkin Pancakes and Recipe Comprehension 

  

Mrs. Buss read us the recipe.  We had to answer questions about the recipe.  Mrs. Buss mixed the batter and cooked us the best tasting pumpkin pancakes!

 

 

 

Here we are hard at work answering questions about the recipe and eagerly anticipating the first delicious bite of pumpkin pancakes!

 

 

 

Pumpkin Craft 

 

 

We used a paper plate and our hands to make a cute pumpkin craft.

 

 

Mrs. Bardell did a great job explaining how to make our pumpkin craft!

 

 

Pumpkin Investigations 

 

We used lots of tools to measure and weigh our pumpkins. We made lots of predictions.  We also tasted Pumpkin Spice M&M's.

 

 

Pumpkin Graphing

 

After we were done rotating through our stations Miss Reed and Mrs. Wanke asked us to make some predictions and graph our responses. 

 

We had to predict...

1. Would a pumpkin sink or float?

Yes a pumpkin will float.  We tested a 5 pound pumpkin, 10 pound pumpkin, and a 25 pound pumpkin!  They ALL float!

2. What would happen to the water level when different sized pumpkins were placed inside the water bucket?

The water level goes up when you put an object into the water. The heavier the object, the higher the water rises.

3. Are the seeds in a white pumpkin orange?

A white pumpkin has white seeds just like an orange pumpkin!

4.  What will happen if we put dirt inside a pumpkin? 

 This one we have to wait a few weeks to see if our predictions are correct.

  

  

The Writing Fairy

We have been working very hard on putting spaces between our words and sentences when we write.  Today, while we were at gym the Writing Fairy came and put Skittles where ever we put a space between a word or a sentence.

Run Whales, Run!

On your mark, get set, JOG!

We have some future marathon runners running in the jog-a-thon!  What a fun and healthy way to help raise money for our school.

Please make sure that all jog-a-thon donations are in by Friday! (10-18-13)

A Visit from Pec Fire Department

Thank you Pecatonica Fire Department!  We LOVED learning about fire safety from you and shooting the water hose!

M&M graphing

We had so much fun graphing these delicious candies! 

Each of us got our own package of M&M's. We had to first place them on the graph. Then, we removed the candies a colored it in. Last, came the hardest part...we ate the candies. 

We ended our math class with a "Round Table" discussion...well, we actually just sat in a circle on the carpet. We went around the circle and each of us had to make different statements about the data in our graphs.  We had to make statements like...

1) I had the most _______.

2) I had the least _______.

3) I had more ______ than ______.

4) I had fewer ______ than ______.

5) I had ___ more _____ than _____.

6) I had ___ fewer _____ than _____.