Whole Body Listening

Today we talked about using our bodies to be a Whole Body Listener.  This is something you could easily incorporate at home with your child/children.  :)                  

Here's to better listeners!
Mrs. Eshman

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Summer Experiment... with Popsicles!

I don't know about you, but I'm wondering where June went. :)  So last week the girls and I were enjoying some popsicles on a hot day and it popped into Sici's head to do and experiment.  She wanted to know if a darker popsicle would melt BEFORE a lighter colored popsicle. 

Now, this experiment was easy and cost us nothing because we already had the popsicles.  :)  LOVE this part. 

 

First, we made a few predictions.  Our oldest, Sici, predicted the darker popsicle would melt first because she read it in a book.  Our middle daughter, Amelia, went with the lighter color popsicle.  And of course the spitting image of our oldest , Bridgette, chose the darker one as well.  I tell you, those two are like two peas in a pod.  We also discussed the conditions and where we would put the popsicles.  We went with HOT and we put them on the driveway, in the sun.  Then, we played and worked a little, occasionally checking on them. 

 

 

 

The outcome... the darker popsicle melted just a pinch faster than the lighter popsicle.  The best part of this experiment is that we were able to refreeze the popsicles and enjoy them later in the day! :)

Have you done any experiments this summer?  Let us know about them!

 

Be curious today!

 

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Summer Break

Summer break is a lot less stressful in many ways in our house.  However, it also adds a different kind of stress.  Some days, I want nap time to come at 8:00 a.m. and other days it's ok that nap time never comes. :)  Here's a few things we've been doing.



 

 

 Hanging around at the playground.

 

Playing the xylophone and puppet shows.

 Math time on the computer and tablet as well as forts in the front room.  Reading goes on in there too, but it gets a little too crowded with three girls under those blankets. :) 

 

What have you been up to this summer? 

Mrs. Eshman 

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WELCOME FUTURE FIRSTIE PARENTS!

I hope you and your future firstie are super excited about the summer!  Summer.....  I completely LOVE summer because I get to be with my girls (we have 3), hang out at the pool, I'd love to say sleep late, but our girls are early risers, and just have a more relaxed schedule.  I do LOVE the school year though.  My brain has been turning and turning already thinking about things we can do for next year.  Mrs. Hutchison and I do a LOT of texting and talking about the future school year starting in like... April or May. :)  We know, we know. 
So, tonight the youngest and I are watching for like the billionth time!  I do love how we can talk about the message for love of family, and more importantly sisterly love, when watching this movie.  We also have discussions about how to treat others because of how Hans treats Anna.  Have you had those discussions with your firsties yet? 
Do you have any other movies you watch with your children that have an important message?  We'd love to hear from you!

Here's to movies in the summertime and treating our friends and family nicely.
Mrs. Eshman

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Welcome April!

We have had a busy March in First Grade!  We spent a lot of time this month working on our animal research projects.  And did our firsties work hard on them!!! Here are a few pictures.

Our next reading and writing unit will be Fancy Nancy and Henry and Mudge!  We are looking forward to using "fancy" words and vocabulary.  Here are some of the books we will be reading.

If you can read any Fancy Nancy or Henry and Mudge books at home, that would be great!

Happy April!

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Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

This upcoming week is a celebration of reading and Dr. Seuss.  Right to Read Week always occurs the week of Dr. Seuss' birthday.  Sharpsburg Primary thought we would dress up for the occasion. 

The only problem with this is that it says "February 29," which does not exist this year.  My apologies.  Friday is March 1st. 

Each room is going to be decorated for the Dr. Seuss week.  The theme will be based around one book.  First grade classes will be decorated as "The Lorax," "The Sleep Book," and "Please Try to Remember the First of Octember."

We are very excited and look forward to sharing lots of pictures with you!

Mrs. Hutchison

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Our last week in January

Our firsties enjoyed 4 different Pigeon books this week.  Here they are:

We worked with the students on looking at all different text features that help the author/illustrator tell the story more effectively.  Here are some of the examples that we looked at:

underlined text for emphasis

 

 

the use of all capital letters for emphasis

We also discussed other ways that authors give us information through diagrams, descriptive illustrations, maps, and many other ways.  Here are some examples that we showed:

The use of many panels on a page.  The expressions of the pigeon.

We learned how to read a life cycle diagram.

Check out some other activities we did with the Pigeon this week.

We will be continuing our study of the author/illustrator Mo Willems in the upcoming week.

Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Hutchison

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