"I want to be a scientist"

Apple Day was very exciting. Here we are all set up.
The math portion of the day including graphing apples by stems/no stems and color, and comparing the sets using vocabulary terms like "more" and "fewer". We also measured apple height and weight.
We predicted if they would sink or float. Many were surprised by the result. If we guessed wrong, it means that we learned something!
We recorded our information, because that's what scientists do! When we were discussing our favorite parts of apple day, one student said "I want to be a scientist when I grow up!"
It's a little hard to make out, but below is what happened to the seeds we dug out. They, along with some apple shampoo, were turned into a squish bag so we could practice writing S.
As we went through the seasons of an apple tree, we made a really neat art project.
Our last apple day event was eating the fruit of our labor. We observed it with our senses of sight, smell, and finally - taste. MMMMMMM. The warm applesauce was delicious... at least to some.

Children's Museum Pictures (at last)

Finally, I am posting more pictures of our field trip. If you have more, please email them to me, especially if your child is under-represented. I am thinking of making a hotprints book of them so we can read a book about us in the classroom :)
Whoosh!

Kitchen
Noodle forest
Some of the Moms. I don't know why they didn't want to climb. It was fun!

In the kitchen sculptures made out of utensils.
Grocery store
Fort building
In the climber again.

Tricycles
I think most of the group is in here. It looks like they are caged.
Bathtub in the climber with pretty CD wall in background.
Recycled materials in ball room.
Art room: painting the castle.

Alphabet Party

We had an alphabet party:
We marched around the room (not pictured) singing
I threw letter cards in the air so the children could put them in alphabetical order (not pictured...I was busy throwing things which the class thought was hilarious)
We did an alphabet dot-to-dot
We read alphabet books
We sang "Who let the A out? a a a a a..."
We did alphabet puzzles
We wrote the alphabet
We played alphabet games
We signed the alphabet
We ate alphabet cookies (after putting them in alphabet order)
We listened to some great alphabet music
So pretty much we did literacy activities most of the day.

Apple prints with Buddies

If you are wondering why your child came home with yellow paint in their hair, red paint on their shoe, or green paint on their shirt, this might give you an answer!

THANK YOU!!!!!!

Thank you for ordering Scholastic books. Because the class orders for firefly and seesaw were over $20 each, I got a set of 10 free books from each. I also purchased some with bonus points. Plus there are those lovely coupons on the back of the table for free books from the next catalog because you ordered online. Your children and I thank you! Look at all the free books you earned for our classroom!

Recycle Day!

Monday was recycle day.

It was serious work, and serious fun!
We made a big mess, but it was cheap entertainment and the children had so much fun creating and imagining.

I was actually quite impressed with the range of products this year; there was a lot of variety, including: vacuum, wand, tambourine, tank, drum, jewelry box, sunflower, smoke stack, puppet, shaker, boat with a propeller with a lid so it doesn't get dirty, baseball bat, rocket, jet, battleship, person, and a pretty thing. There were a few things lovingly made for family members too: a scroll for a sister, and a grape machine for a mom (did you use it? I saw your child had grapes for snack today :)

The children had so much fun they wanted to do it the next day, and the next, and the next... don't worry - no center time for creating tomorrow and my recycle bin is getting quite depleted, so you will have a break from all the treasures soon.

Quote

"My Dad is 20."

Pictures, please, parents! (And other feedback)

Parents, what did you think of our field trip yesterday? Was it a good amount of time? Was it worth $7? Please let me know by commenting here or you can email me. Thanks!

I would also love it if you could email me any pictures you took there.

Also, I just opened an envelope from the museum, assuming it to be an evaluation, but it was a "Thank you for coming" letter which includes a coupon for free admission for each of the students who came. Those will be coming home Monday :)

recycling

We had lots of fun tearing and shredding paper, adding water, stirring it up, and then making paper.

A few pictures from last Friday's games with Buddies

The over under game. It's fun to watch the 4th Graders take charge and encourage their Kindergarten buddies.

The Get-Rid-Of-Your-Balls-One-At-A-Time-By-Dropping-Them-In-Another-Team's-Bucket Game, which probably has a

ABC

No, this post is not about the alphabet. It's about math. Patterning to be precise. We spent more time translating patterns. We started with links. Then we made the same pattern a different way: with stuff (seed pods, cereal, pom-poms, beads, foam stickers, straws...). Then we made the same pattern a different way: by drawing it with symbols (letters, dots, swirls, stars, lines...). It was a lot of fun. Some children made an AB pattern, others ABB or ABC. They got to choose.

Can you tell that we had fun and were proud of our accomplishments?
Here are some close-ups: AAB
AB. Hey! Why is this sideways? It was not that way in the file. Oh well. Not going to fix it. Just turn your head sideways :)
ABC
You'll have to ask your child if their pattern is here. Sorry I didn't post every single picture. I don't want the blog to take too long to load. I chose the pictures mostly based on how good of a shot I took... which eliminates the mid-blink ones. If you really want your child's picture, I can email it to you.