Buckaroo News for March 7th to March 11th

I can't believe we are only a week away from Spring Break!  Didn't we just come back from Winter Break??  Time is going way too fast for me and the thought of letting my firsties go in a few short months makes my heart want to break.  However, I know that they are going to be ready for their second-grade adventures and that makes me happy!

After reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to the children, I decided to continue on the Roald Dahl path as he is such a fabulous children's author.  We began James and the Giant Peach and they quickly caught on to the disadvantaged main character again.  In fact, opinions were flying about the two aunts in this story from the very beginning!  You should hear the moans and groans when I have to stop reading.  It looks as if we will finish this story next week and I'd like to show the movie to compare and contrast the book compared with the movie.  It is a PG movie so if you'd rather I have an alternative activity for your child, please let me know.  My plan is to show this  next Friday, March 18th.  I would like to serve popcorn with the movie but if you'd rather your child have another snack in place of popcorn you can send a goodie in with your child. 

Related Arts next week:

Monday - D Day (wear tennis shoes because Music and P.E. will be together)
Tuesday - C Day - Art
Wednesday - A Day - Library (remember book-in-a-bag)
Thursday - B Day - P.E.  (wear tennis shoes) 
Friday - C Day - Art

We made butter by shaking heavy cream in a jar.  When Mrs. McNeal shook the jar so hard the butter turned into a solid.  It started out as a liquid.  

This is a turtle that one of the other teachers let us "turtle sit."  His name is Sheldon.  The teacher could've picked any other teacher to "turtle sit" but he picked us!  We all got to touch his shell.  Sheldon looks like he is reading in this picture because he is near the bookshelf.  Since our room looked like outside, he liked our place and the teacher that takes care of Sheldon knew that we were responsible and careful so that we could take care of Sheldon.  We thought that the class that we got Sheldon from taught Sheldon to read because he was near the books.  Sheldon wanted out of his container and we let him wander all over our room.  Sheldon was scared of some people at first.

We were doing an experiment with baking soda, vinegar and a balloon.  We put the vinegar inside the bottle and put the baking soda inside the balloon.  We thought it was about to pop but it did not.  The baking soda and vinegar made carbon dioxide (CO2) and that made the balloon blow up.  At the end, the teacher popped it and it went everywhere (including on the teacher:).  We were running and saying "It's gonna blow!"  Before the balloon popped, the CO2 tried to escape.   

I highly suggest this book for your own reading!  It spoke to me in a huge way and after reading it to the children, I asked them what they thought the life lessons were.  Here is what they had to say.  "Sometimes you have to make tough choices to grow."  "It's okay to be afraid."  "It's okay to be different."  "Sometimes you just have to let go."  WOW!!!  From the mouths of babes!

We are pretending to be atoms and right now we are a solid molecules.

These are liquid molecules and they have a little more room to move around than solids.

They are gas molecules.  They have the most room to move around than solids or liquids.  

She made a diorama about the presidents.  This girl learned about the presidents and she made a poster and a diorama to go together.  The first president was named the Father of our Country.  The fourth president's father was a farmer.  There are 44 presidents but almost 45.

The girl's diorama was about sharks.  She put a basking shark in her diorama so far.  Even though sharks are considered "man-eaters", did you know that a person has a bigger chance of being killed by lightning than by a shark?  Did you know that sharks have more than 3,000 teeth?  Did you know the Mako shark can jump the highest?  One person thinks the Bull shark is the deadliest shark.  Some sharks can be eight to 20 feet long. 

Buckaroo News for February 29th to March 4th

Happy Belated Friday!  I apologize for not sending a new blogpost last Friday but I had to get my peepers checked.  Turns out my age is creeping up on me and I need new glasses:).  Because we are halfway through a new week, I will make this blogpost short and sweet.  Enjoy the pictures from Read Across America and THANK YOU so much for your support of the food drive!  

Get ready for some laughs at some of these outfits!

This was our Ivory soap experiment.  We have learned that when we think scientifically we begin with something we are wondering about.  We then make a hypothesis and then test it.  Finally, we write about our conclusion and illustrate what we observed.  

We didn't let our experiment go to waste.  Each person pinched off some of the soap blob and washed with it before lunch:).

We made raisins dance!  Ask your child to share why this happened.

Buckaroo News for February 22nd to 25th

Hopefully this is the last blast of winter we will get until Spring truly arrives!  I can't believe how much we've covered this week even though it has only been a four-day week.  No school tomorrow for students but feel free to email me as I will be here all by my lonesome without my precious firsties! 

Read Across America begins on Monday!  Your child will be bringing home all of the information and we hope to win the pancake challenge to earn some extra gym time!!:))  

Ask your child about the following highlights to our week.
Questions to ask:
What science project did Mrs. McNeal do in 5th grade?
Can you name three things that are solids?  Liquids?  As a bonus, can you name a gas?
What was your strategy in trying to make the longest chain?
What project are you working on on Flexible Fridays?
What was your favorite read aloud from this week?  Why?  (Hints: Chester, Scaredy Squirrel, Augustine, Willy Wonka, Measuring Penny, Bug in a Vacuum)

Specials Schedule for Next Week:
Monday - Library (remember book-in-bag! -- especially this week because of the pancake contest!!!)
Tuesday - P.E.  (remember tennis shoes)
Wednesday - Art
Thursday - Music
Friday - Library again:)

Keep those boxes, toilet paper/papertowel rolls, etc. coming!  Many of the students are working on dioramas to showcase their learning on Flexible Fridays!  Thank you for the donations thus far!

Message about Family Game Night!
Family Game Night is next Friday, March 4 from 6:30 – 9:00pm with FREE Bingo starting at 7:15pm.  Families have the opportunity to pre-order pizza, subs and salad from LaRosa’s to enjoy before Bingo (access order form here: Food Order Form).  Deadline for food order and payment has been extended to Tuesday, March 1.  Yes, we need you!!  There's a variety of short shifts still available, and you'll still have plenty of together-time to eat and play Bingo with your family.  To help at the event (click here)

We were making a chain and trying to make the longest one.  One was 392 cubes long.  

Their strategy was to make it skinny so that they would have more paper so they could make their chain long and skinny.

We were measuring how long our chains were.  These boys are using popsicle sticks to measure the chain.

These two boys were measuring their chain.  Their chain was 262 cubes long!

They worked their hardest to make the longest chain possible and one of the teams was really close. We were comparing the chains. 

He built a shield and a pick-ax to play with indoor recess.  

If you would like to donate food you can donate some food for people who are hungry:)

This is a paper of what to wear next week!  

Buckaroo News for February 8th to February 18th

Hang onto your hats!  It's going to be a windy one today!  I apologize for no post last week so that means this post will be extra heavy with great pics and information about our learning.  

Here are some highlights to our week:
1.  Your child has a new list of ten words to be studying at home.  The test is planned for Monday.
2.  We are all working on phrasing our reading so our reading sounds like how we talk to each other.
3.  We are working on connecting to the texts we read to ourselves and ones that are read aloud.  We call these "text-to-self", "text-to-text" and "text-to-media" connections.  As you read aloud to your child, allow them to share what they are thinking.  Ask them what kind of connection they are making.
4.  We are beginning a unit on matter with the focus on solids and liquids.  
5.  The children have had a blast measuring things in the room, including me:), using nonstandard units of measurement such as cubes and paperclips.

Our schedule for next week:
Monday - Library (remember book-in-a-bag)
Tuesday - P.E. (remember tennis shoes and I-can attitudes:)
Wednesday - Art
Thursday - Music
Friday - NO SCHOOL for kiddos but I will be here if you want to visit me:)

We are in need of shoeboxes, toilet paper/papertowel rolls, and paper plates.  On our Flexible Fridays, some of the children want to make dioramas to show their learning and we could use some of these things.

We were measuring how tall we were compared to an Emperor penguin.  An Emperor penguin is four feet tall.

She is smaller than an Emperor penguin.  Mrs. McNeal accidentally made the penguin too small so pretend that the feet are touching the ground.

We compared this boy with the penguin and he pretended that he was studying the penguin.  

We are comparing the objects shortest to tallest.  

We are working on Valentines in Valentine's Workshop.  We were all decorating and it was a mess afterwards!  

We were reading and getting better at reading.  We were also getting lost in our books.

We were listening to a story about a monster who couldn't find a friend to play with.  A mom of one of the kids in our class came in to volunteer to read the book to us. 

The Mom's child wanted to say THANK YOU!  The class says THANK YOU too!  

She is pointing at her worm and we were doing our worms longest to shortest.  WE were comparing them because they didn't know if they would be bigger or smaller than another.  We learned a song about an inchworm and Mrs. McNeal loves when we sing it!  Some people put jet packs on their worms.

These boys were sharing their story.  We persevered, collaborated, and shared the book with confidence.

They made a man out of paper and it was a story.  

We were measuring things around the room with cubes.  First we had to make a prediction and then we measured them with cubes.

During indoor recess, the children were watching a movie.  I noticed that they had written on small wipe boards and placed them on the shelf.  They found a purpose for their writing and did this completely on their own!  Authenticity at it's best!

Buckaroo News for February 1st to 5th

Happy Friday and 100th day of school!!!  First of all, I want to thank you for talking with your children about the choices they were making for their learning the past couple of days.  It really made a difference and I know that they are refocused and ready to continue the great learning that they've been doing all along.  

Next Friday will be our Valentine celebration.  As mentioned in last week's blog, we will be hard at work making hand-made Valentines for each other all next week.  There will be no need to purchase any at the store so buy yourself a yummy treat with that money:)  The Valentine boxes are coming in.  Your child will need a box or bag in which to hold all of the Valentine messages from his/her friends.  I've been doing this project with my first graders for several years and one of my past students reminded me of one of the messages that was written by her peer.  It went like this -- "I like you because your breath smells like meatloaf."  This still makes me chuckle but it was so heartfelt and meant in the kindest way.

I also wanted to share two quick quotes by one of the first graders this week.  We have been working on making meaningful connections to the texts that I'm reading each day.  While reading about the legend of the groundhog, one of the students spoke up and said, "A legend is where truth begins but then imagination takes over."  I stopped everything and wrote that down!  Wow!!  Later, as I was reading Willa Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and we were at the part with Veruca Salt, this same child said, "I would rather my child to grow up with good character than to have a golden ticket."  Again...WOW!!  You are all doing a fabulous job of raising wonderful children!

The children are excited to share their learning from this week.  Please take a look!

Related Arts for Next Week:

Monday - Music
Tuesday - Library (remember book-in-a-bag)
Wednesday - P.E. (remember tennis shoes)
Thursday - Art
Friday - Music

Conferences are on the 11th and 17th.  If you have forgotten your time, please let me know and I will remind you.

The whole class put ice cream cones to see which one they liked the most which was chocolate.  Vanilla had the least.  We are showing our data which is information.  In math, we are learning how to collect data and make graphs and charts.  It was lots of fun!  

This is our question chart for questions after we make the graph.  We made this chart so we could write the five questions on the back of our papers.  Questions #8 and #9 are a little trickier.  We can teach you about questions #8 and #9 at home. 

It was Groundhog's Day and we made a picture where Buckeye Chuck saw his shadow.  Punxatawny Phil didn't see his shadow but Buckeye Chuck did.   

We were learning about penguins and how they stay warm.  We were dipping one of our fingers in Vaseline and putting the other one in a blubber glove and we were seeing which one stayed warmer.  The one in the blubber glove stayed warmer.  A penguin's feathers don't get wet because of the oil on their feathers. This was like the Vaseline on our finger.  

This was our graphing poster of Favorite Animals.  It took three days to do it.  

She is graphing about favorite treats.  She is making a circle graph and a bar graph.

This is when he was sharing his science project.  This page is about cells.  Worms have one thousand cells.