Finding seeds in our lunches

After reading a book about seeds, we discovered that many of the things around us come from seeds! Our clothes, food, and various drinks are just a few! Here are some students noticing various things in their lunch that have come from a seed! 

Reading our On-topic books to the class!

When we find books in our classroom library that are related to topics in class, we get the opportunity to read them to the class for a mini lesson!  When we find these books, we practice reading them during 'read to self' until we become fluent. Once we feel ready to read proficiently, we sign up for a mini lesson read aloud. We have learned so much from our friends' read alouds! 

Planting Seeds!!

Today we took part in a gardening experiment to (hopefully) observe plants growing first-hand! We have read, watched, and talked about the parts of a plant, where plants grow, and what they need. Therefore, we know to give our little terrariums plenty of sunlight, water, and air. Every few days we will jot down our observations to (once again, hopefully) observe our plants grow and change. 

Leaf Scavenger Hunt

To launch our new unit on plants, we went on a nature walk. With the objective of finding a leaf to 'study,' we actually found and observed many other wonderful things that nature has to offer. Although right now it doesn't feel very much like we are heading into spring, we saw tiny signs along the way that it is peaking through (i.e. Sprouts from plants, moss on rocks, birds and insects emerging). 

Author Study: Eric Carle

In writing, we have started researching through mentor texts from a well-known author, Eric Carle! We started this study with a merry-go-round picture read.  After looking at roughly 8 books in 16 minutes, we gathered on the carpet to jot down our 'noticings.' Since Mr. Carle is an author and an illustrator we have been noticing many things throughout his multitude of books. 

Taking Inventory

Counting, counting, and more counting! Not only are we grouping and counting the materials in our classroom, but we have made signs for each material so that we know how many of each are there. Furthermore, we recorded our inventory on a chart and noticed a pattern when we looked at the total number, how many bundles of 10 there were, and the number of leftover ones as well. Can you notice the pattern??

Collecting and Organizing

This week we kicked off our new math unit on place value. After reading a story about a boy who organizes his messy and crowded house by bundling things into groups of 10's, we jumped in to taking inventory and organizing what we have in our classroom! Your kids were paired up and given a group of things in our classroom to count (so Miss Heifner can be prepared for next year). We noticed that when we group things into bundles of 10's and leftover, loose ones, we are able to keep track of our counting and become more efficient counters!