Celebrating Earth Week with Great Books!
We Are Wood Scientists!The week before break, we started our Wood Science unit! It may not sound exciting, but to the avid learners in Room 203 it has been pretty captivating! The main concepts of this unit are: - There are different types of wood and paper with properties that are similar and different from each other - Different woods and papers have properties that cause them to interact with water and other materials in different ways - Wood and paper can by physically changes, and when it is changed, it may have different properties. - Some wood products are manufactured from smaller wood materials - Wood and paper can be transformed into useful and artistic products. We started or investigation by looking at 5 different kinds of wood, and using our senses to notice how they are the same and how they are different. They we did some experiments to investigate how wood interacts with water. We explored which kinds of wood absorb and which kinds repel the water, and then moved on to investigate how wood floats and sinks. Next, we used sandpaper to change the shape of our wood, and explored the similarities and differences between wood shavings and sawdust. This week, we will use sawdust to make our own particleboard. We will also make plywood by gluing smaller sheets of wood together to make it strong! QAE at Sounders FC! Make sure to buy your tickets for the 7th Annual QAE Sounders Day and fundraiser for the 5th grade Fall 2017 trip to IslandWood! Saturday, May 20th, 2017 at 2 p.m. See QAE PTSA website for online ticket sales info! | Measuring!We spent the week exploring the concept of standard measurement! We measured using cubes, our bodies and rulers to measure lots of different things in the classroom. Class MeetingsOne of the things I love the most about Queen Anne Elementary is our commitment to using Classroom Meetings. This classroom structure is so important in really helping kids feel connected and significant ~ to develop a sense of belonging in their classroom community. At the beginning of Kindergarten, our classroom meetings focus on teaching the kids how to take turns talking, listening and let everyone in (physically sitting in a circle that includes everyone and giving messages with our bodies that we are engaged and committed to the community). We practice this as we teach our students to give and receive specific and meaningful compliments to each other. After compliments, we use the class meeting time to teach our Social and Emotional Learning lessons. As your student grows up at QAE, they will continue to use this class meeting structure to discuss and solve problems that come up. Recently, we have started problem solving at our class meetings, which is what the big kids do a lot of at their class meetings. We have talked about how to solve "fighting" problems at recess, and how to keep our bodies in the green zone in PE and Art and when we have a guest teacher. I am posting a few products from our recent discussions below in hopes that they will help you better understand our process. |
Coming Up This Week!
Sorry for not posting earlier. If your student does not bring something to share on his/her day, please do not worry. We will have them share when they bring it. | Monday ~ Storyteller AssemblyOur whole school will be listening to a guest storyteller in the cafeteria at 8:00 am. Thursday ~ Earth Day/Poetry AssemblyWe will have a K-2 assembly at 8:40 am on Thursday to celebrate Earth Day & Poetry Month. Family members are welcome to attend. Thursday ~ Field Trip!We will be taking the bus to the Gates Foundation for an 11:30 am - 12:30 program. Please send a sack lunch with your student as we will be eating in our classroom before catching the bus down Taylor. Also, please send 6 year old students with $1.50 for bus fare. The exhibit is free. All chaperones are welcome Please let me know you are interested if you have not already, and be in our classroom at 11:00 am with bus fare for yourself. We plan tol return to QAE no later than 1:00 pm. |