Snow Day Update

Good Morning on this snow day!  I am so sad that school is closed, we have been actively engaged in so much learning that I hate to miss a day!  

We jumped into learning about Electricity last week! Here are the standards we are meeting through this unit!  

Students demonstrate their understanding of Electrical Energy

by…

· Building complete. circuits , drawing diagrams of these electric

circuits and explaining why electricity flows or does not

flow through the circuit.

AND

· Using experimental data to classify different materials as

conductors and insulators.

· Science Concepts:

a. A complete loop is needed through which an electric

charge can flow.

b. Batteries are a source of electrical energy.

c. Electric circuits can produce light, run motors and create

sounds.

d. Certain materials are conductors of electricity. Non conductors

of electricity are called insulators. 

We have been reading informational texts about circuits and electricity and taking notes about our discoveries.  We then discovered on our own how to create circuits! Some of us added more batteries to see what would happen to the circuit, some of us added more light bulbs, some of us used the least amount of wires to make a circuit and some of us even used a switch to control the flow of electricity.  We drew diagrams of our circuits, noting our success and failures!  We celebrated our scientific perseverance!  Last Friday was a whole day of science where we acted as teachers and guided our friends in Mrs. Crowther's class to create circuits.  We were students as Mrs. Crowther's class taught us about the Engineering Design Process.  Our knowledge will combine this week as we challenge ourselves to design, and create an Alarm Circuit for our friend Emily from Australia!  Ask your child about it!

We also jumped into a quick Poetry reading and Writing Unit!  We have a poem of the week which we read, illustrate, recite, dramatize and share personal connections with.  Last week's poem was titled "We are Trees".  This week's poems are "April Rain Song" by Langston Hughes and "Dolphin Song" by Georgia Heard.  We have been giggling ourselves silly with poems by Jack Prelutsky and Shel Silverstein!  But most impressive are the poems we are writing!  We have noticed that poems can be short, long, about anything, rhyming, with or without punctuation, in a shape, in a rhythm, in a line and more!  We shared our written poems with our Kindergarten Book Buddies!  Next week we will be publishing a Poetry Anthology!

Unit 3 in Math has begun and we are discovering visual models for fractions!  We are learning vocabulary such as numerator and denominator!  We are discovering equivalent fractions using our fraction strips and egg cartons!  At home, please cook with your child and double or halve a recipe so your child can use some flexible thinking about fractions!  You can also visit these websites to practice your fractions skills and understanding.  A solid understanding of fractions leads to success with more complex math concepts!  

We still have beautiful notecards and necklaces from the craft fair!  Stop by the classroom and get your last minute holiday gifts.  $5 an item or 2 for $8.  We were very successful at this year's craft fair, thanks to all of YOU!!! We made almost $750! $250 will be donated to the Make A Wish Foundation of Vermont and the rest will be used towards our Vermont History Fieldtrips!