April Fools! Yes, time seems to be flying, but not quite as quickly as I put in the date heading of this newsletter. And, how old will each of us be in the year 2020? Where will we be, and what will we be doing in another 10 years? We had fun thinking about this. Here are some of your children’s responses: I’ll be driving a black sports car. I’ll be working in the Coast Guard helping people who are boating to be safe. I’ll be in college studying math, and then I’ll get a job, but it probably won’t have to do with math. I’ll be working in a fancy restaurant. I’ll be in the air force. I will be a lot taller than I am now. I will be working on a farm with lambs. I’ll be working in an animal shelter. I’ll be taking care of a wider, taller turtle. I’ll be the best swimmer in my class. I’ll be building a log cabin by a river in a forest where I can ride. I’ll be staying up past midnight.
SCIENCE: We have begun another physical science unit, one exploring Force and Motion. We’ve had discussions about gravity, push, pull, and momentum. We’ve build pendulums and ramps (inclined planes) for several experiments, seeing if we could come up with predictions for outcomes, find reasons for the observations we’re making, and if we can change something in the experiment to change the end result. We are working with complex concepts, and the hands-on investigations are helping us come up with some general understandings about how things move, and how forces may or may not change how things move. We’ve had fun thinking about how gravity seems to be a pull downward, but what if it was actually a push upward. What would our hair look like? Would our arms fall down to our sides as they do now? We are also using this opportunity to develop “fair” tests, such as making sure both ramps are built to the same pitch or incline so that one is not “faster” than the other when testing different objects for speed down the ramps. These objects have been different in shape, material, size, and weight.
In mathematics we have begun new units of study. First graders are exploring patterns, using snap cubes and pattern trains. They are learning the meaning of the following terms: element, unit, pattern. In addition to patterns, first graders are also continuing to work on learning basic addition facts up to a sum of 10. It’s important at this time of year that all first graders gain an understanding that 3 and 7 always go together to create a sum of 10. The same goes for 2 and 8, 4 and 6, 1 and 9 and 5 and 5.
Second graders are beginning a unit on fractions. Fractions are equal parts of a whole. They are learning about the unit fractions of 1/6, ¼, 1/3, and ½ in addition to the wholeness of 1. They are learning that fractions are numbers, representing either an amount of a whole area or an amount of a set or group, ex: each of the three boys received 2/3 of a cookie, since there were two whole cookies to share equally; or 2/3 of a group of 9 children is 6 children. Fractions can also be represented and placed on a number line.
A parent math newsletter will travel home next week with your child explaining the math unit he or she is currently exploring.
If you’re looking for a car game to play with your child, counting backwards by ones beginning with any number and ending with any number is a great skill to practice and will help your child develop an understanding of subtraction, and, later division. For more advanced learners, you can skip count backwards by a given number, such as 3 or 4—tough stuff, but oh, so much fun, especially when your child begins to see and hear the number patterns!
Here is a great math site for you to use at home with your child if you wish. Loree Silvis shared this with teachers at our latest PLC (Professional Learning Community) session (last early release day). What I love about it is that I can get online, choose a game for a child to play that practices the skills he or she needs. These games range from practicing basic addition and subtraction skills to some very complex skills in reading numbers, both in symbolic form and words, estimation skills, etc.
DISCLAIMER: As with any internet site, it’s important that you oversee your child’s use and watch for any inappropriate “pop-up” advertisements, or other potentially harmful components of this site or it’s use at home. I strongly recommend that this site, and all sites used by children be closely monitored by an adult in the home.
Math game site from Loree:
Here’s the link to the full website for teachers... http://www.free-training-tutorial.com/math-games.html
And here’s a sample of what kids might see when they go to a page you design for them. I just put this one list of games together for you... http://www.free-training-tutorial.com/a.html?11&48&49&
Our theme for Four Winds this month was DEER. A puppet show, slide show, jumping and tag games, along with real deer parts (hoof/foot, antler, etc.), for us to handle and investigate, were all part of the lesson this week. Sharon Evans (Jack’s Mom) and Dara Torre (Matthew’s Mom) led us in several activities to help us understand how deer use their environment year round to survive and thrive. Deer travel from one habitat to another, using several different ecosystems during different seasons so they can find necessary food and shelter. One thing deer are able to eat in the winter is twigs, and their specially designed teeth (molars) are able to help them gnaw off the twigs. Did you know that deer don’t have upper front teeth? We ran and jumped as far as we could to see if we could leap as far as deer are able. We jumped far, but not nearly as far as deer can (approx. 25 feet in one leap and 8 feet high!). Other facts about white-tail deer we learned included that they raise their white tails up if they sense danger to warn the other deer, and the baby deer, called fawns, have white spots to help camouflage in fields and forest areas, protecting them from prey.
I will send photos along next week of our science work and some Four Winds snapshots.
Chaperones Wanted: I’m looking for parent chaperones for our final field trip of the school year on May 17th to ECHO—a full day trip. We will travel by bus. The cost for chaperones is $7.00 and I would need to collect that money from you prior to the trip so it could be paid for in one check. Let me know if you’re interested in joining us for this trip. Four parent chaperones would be ideal for this trip.
Thank you!
Dates to Remember:
April 5th Slim Goodbody Assembly 1:30 (Nutrition and healthy living)
April 7th: Early Release Day
April 12th: P.T.N. Meeting 7:00 pm
April 13, 14, 15: (8:15-9:30) Gates MaGinitie Reading Tests. Please make
sure your child has plenty of rest each night
and arrives at school on time and ready to learn
(either having had breakfast at home or when
he/she arrives at school if that is his/her
routine).
April 13th: Raptors Visit at 1:45-2:30 This is a wonderful presentation, and
all are welcome to join us!
April 19th: First day of school vacation
April 26th First day back to school after spring vacation J
May 17th: Primary Unit Field Trip to ECHO Museum in Burlington (all day
field trip and your child will need a snack, cold
lunch and drink in non-breakable container)
Sounds like we’re in for a gorgeous weekend! My husband and I might just take the Harley for a spin!
Be well~
Brenda
