This is a brief re-cap of what we have done in our classroom in the month of September. From October forward, this section will be written by the students -- so please check back and find out what we have been up to!
Math:
In math in September, we worked in the new "Investigations" unit that was a quick overview of math topics for the year. The students discussed the difference between prime and composite numbers, and the difference between factors and multiples. We also looked at "benchmark" numbers such as a thousand, a hundred thousand, a million, and zero! For some of the concepts we studied, such as place value, we also used our more traditional textbooks. In October, we will dig into an Investigations unit called "Name That Portion," which deals with fractions, decimals, and percentages.
Language:
We began the year in language arts by working on a personal newsletter. It was fun to find out so much about one another, and the project was also useful because we worked together to edit our writing. Mrs. Frasca has been showing us some great resources to help keep organized, and we put together a "strategies notebook" that we will be able to use throughout the year. (Mrs. Frasca also does the occasional "desk check" to make sure we know where everything is -- thank goodness Mrs. Ott's desk isn't part of those inspections!) Later we learned about the different parts of speech, as well as different kinds of sentences. We studied subjects and predicates, and how they work in a sentence.
At the end of the month, we began working on a small "How-To" book that would explain how to do a certain task. To get ourselves started, we interviewed kindergarteners from Mrs. Schoemehl's and Mrs. Thomas' classes about how to make Thanksgiving dinner. Our kids were cracking up at some of the "recipes" that resulted from those interviews! We plan to type up the kindergarten interviews during computer class and give them to the kindergarten teachers as a collection. The kindergarten teachers will put them together and give them to the children's parents.
Reading:
So far this year in reading, we have been working on basic skills with the help of our basal reading text. We have studied the different themes of kids having challenges at school, and challenges at home. Our basal includes selections from actual children's literature books, and stories that we have "sampled" include "The Kid in the Red Jacket," "The Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson," "Whose Side are You On?," "Pride of Puerto Rico," and "Sarah, Plain and Tall." In October, we will begin reading actual literature sets, starting with "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler."
Science:
Our first unit in science this year was "Changing Earth." In this unit, we learned about the theory of plate tectonics and continental drift. (We had a particularly good time "demonstrating" plate tectonics using graham crackers and chocolate frosting!) Later, we learned about three different kinds of volcanoes, including differences in their sizes, how they erupt, and what their lava is composed of. Finally, we touched briefly on the effects of weathering and glaciers.
A particularly cool project in which we're involved is the Aria-3 Project, in which 11 American elementary schools are partnered with schools in Australia to work on an experiment which will go up on the space shuttle Endeavor (mission STS-108, scheduled launch 11/29/01.) The experiment -- ours involves a form of Spanish moss -- will be overseen by the astronauts on the International Space Station. Our partner school is Dakabin High School in Queensland, Australia. To look at an absolutely wonderful Flash presentation created by students at Dakabin, please click here. For photos of the Aria-3 project, check the "Gallery" page.
Social Studies:
In Social Studies, Mrs. Buehler has been working with the class as they learn more about early explorers and the founding of the original thirteen colonies. The students did a storyboard to show what they had learned about important people and events of the early period of exploration and colonization. Recently, they have begun a "colony project," where the students work in pairs to do research an make a presentation about a particular colony.
Questions or comments? Please contact Mrs. Ott at Dott@pkwy.k12.mo.us
Site created 2000 by Diana M. Ott
Last updated:
Sunday, November 02, 2003
