Stony Brook Class Trip

Today we visited Stony Brook Wildlife Sanctuary. We started out by thinking about how a sanctuary is different from a zoo. We learned that all of the wildlife here can come and go as they please! We learned that we had to look carefully and listen hard as we walked through the the three habitats.

Forest habitat

We stopped to check out a pine tree and learned that one way to tell how old a tree is would be to count the ring of branches. 

We searched for pill bugs, salamanders, and beetles under logs!

Pond

Next we stopped at the pond. We learned all about turtles; what they eat, where they get their water, and what they used for shelter.

We looked for fish, frogs, and painted turtles. We also learned about a "beaver deceiver" that was there to keep the beavers from building dams and causing flooding.

Meadows 

We stopped at the meadow to check out a "lunchbox" of clues that gave us hints about animals that you could find living in the field. We learned specifically about the red fox and a coyote! We even got to touch some fox fur!

What a great day! We learned so much about the habitats we can find right around our homes. Thank you to our parent volunteers, tour guides, and Stony  Brook for such a memorable experience for our first graders!

Melissa Stewart Visits, Coding Kibos, and Collection Writing!

Visiting Author

Melissa Stewart came to visit! We focused on text features found in Nonfiction stories. Children 

looked closely at the photographs in Mrs. Stuart's books and noticed clues and details that add meaning to the text. We also learned all about the process she goes through when editing the illustrations that go along with her books. Mrs. Stewart does research to make sure the pictures in her books reflect what actually happens in nature. She makes sure her pictures match the words really well!

Kibo 

We got to go back the library this week and explore some more coding with our Kibo robots. This time we worked in partnerships and even got to use some new "blocks" for coding. We even gave our Kibo ears so they could hear and respond to our clapping!

We did some experimenting with our Kibos too! There were races and synchronized robots. The class had a blast. We can't wait to do even more with our Kibo's next time! Check out the link below!

Synchronized Kibos

Writer's Workshop
We are learning all about persuasive writing during writer's workshop! We started with looking closely at our collections from home and judging our "best in show." We used an opinion writing checklist to help think about ways to convince our readers. We stated our opinions, gave reasons for our likes and dislikes, and thought about ways to gain our reader's attention. We showed off all of our hard work with a mini museum!

First we studied our own collections carefully comparing them with the same criteria to judge our "best in show."

Then we shared our opinion writing and got to read our friends opinion writing too!

I hope you found these highlights helpful and informative! Thanks for stopping by and taking a peak at some of the exciting happenings here in room 27.

Have a wonderful April vacation!!

Science Fun

We have been immersing ourselves in science learning over the last few weeks! We have researched, read about, and even created our own habitats. We have observed organisms and their homes. We have compared habitats, plants, and animals. We have even had some volunteers and visitors in to help us. It has been a very busy, very high interest topic!


Observing Plants
Children got to work with parent volunteers observing plants that belong in our woodland and freshwater habitats. They looked closely at leaves, stems, colors, and compared the different kinds of plants. We learned that freshwater plants can have light or dark green leaves and that leaves can grow in groups or separately. We learned moss grows in damp places and has been around for a very long time. We learned that tree seedlings have roots that tangle in the soil and that their leaves are actually called needles.

Observing Organisms
Children worked, once again, with parent volunteers to observe organisms that belong in our woodland and freshwater habitats. We learned that snails are mollusks and have lungs for breathing! We learned that guppies are hardy and can live in lots of climates. We watched our pill bugs curl up in a ball to protect themselves. We even felt the millipedes tickly legs as it crawled on some of our hands. 

A Visit from Stony Brook
We had a great visit from a Stony Brook staff member. Ms. Marla came to teach us all about the habitats we can look forward to exploring on our May field trip to Stony Brook. She even brought along a visitor!

Read Alouds
We are so looking forward to an author visit from Melissa Stuart! We are getting ready by reading some of her books. They tie in perfectly with our science unit. If you haven't had a chance, check our her web site and her books!

Melissa Stuart

Beneath The Sun

No Monkey's No Chocolate

Hope you enjoyed learning more about our latest science unit!!

Read Across America

We had a great week celebrating Dr. Seuss and Read Across America! Our fantastic librarian, Mrs.Groden, made sure there was something special each day to highlight the importance of reading and of course our love of Dr. Seuss! The children and teachers had so much fun.

Here are just a few highlights from our week! Enjoy :)

Tuesday: Kick off Assembly

The week began with a whole school assembly where we learned some very interesting facts about Dr. Seuss, sang our school's own Read Across America song lead by Mr. R, and of course took the "Reader's Oath."

Our class got to share a fact about the "Dr." in Dr. Seuss. Ask your child if  Dr. Seuss was really a doctor :)

Wednesday: Community Readers

Thank you to the community of Medfield! We had readers from all over town around our school reading aloud to the classes. Our reader was none other than Mr. Grenham, the principal from Dale Street School!

Mr. Grenham read one of my favorite and inspiring Dr. Seuss books, Oh The Places You'll Go.

Thursday: Crazy Sock Day

This was just pure fun! It was extra special for our class since we also earned our last link towards a class reward! Our stuffed animals got to spend the day learning right along side us.

Friday: Wear Red and White in honor of The Cat in the Hat

Our school was a sea of red and white AND we had a very special visitor greeting the children as they came to school. Thank you Cat in the Hat for making our morning! We had an extra special day since we had a mystery reader AND in keeping with the spirit of the week our reader read a Dr. Seuss inspired story (one that I had never even heard of!) called Clam I Am.

It really was a great week! Thank you for all who participated and helped your child get inspired by such an influential author and illustrator. And of course, thank you Dr. Seuss! 

And here's a peak at my own little thing 2 celebrating Read Across America at his school!