Oops... grabbed the wrong ingredient!

As we are learning about the properties of matter and procedural writing, we thought it'd be fun to try out a "how-to" experiment that we learned from a video we watched in science class last week. In the video, it showed that we can actually create carbon dioxide without breathing out through our mouth or nose. That is, by mixing two different matter: baking soda (solid) with vinegar (a liquid). Together, these two types of matter create a chemical reaction that creates carbon dioxide. We tried the experiment by putting a small spoon of baking soda into a balloon, and a little bit of vinegar into a plastic bottle. We then wrap the opening of the bottle with opening of the balloon, and dumped out the baking soda, released it so that it mixed with the vinegar, creating the chemical reaction. We expected the balloon to be blown up by the carbon dioxide gas that was suppose to release inside the plastic bottle. But it didn't!! What happened? Ooops... Ms. Kwok grabbed the wrong ingredient. It was baking powder, not baking soda! Though a little disappointed, we learned that not all powder form of solids create gas when mixed with vinegar. We will try that again next week!!

Slideshow of the Week

Solids, Liquids, Gases

Last week, our students made orange-flavored popsicles as part of our nonfiction procedural writing unit. We learned that as writers of procedural books, it is important to write out the steps and instructions as clearly as possible so that our readers can really understand what we are trying to teach them. Through this popsicle-making activity, many of the kids reflected and noticed that this is a change in states of matter phenomenon. Liquid freezes into solid when it is below 0 degrees Celsius. And in some cases, when some solids, like our popsicles, are exposed to heat, they   melt and turn back into a liquid.

Our scientists will continue to study the properties of matter in the next week, and understanding how solids, liquids, and gases behave and change in different situations.

This Week in Math

This week we have continued to explore different types of measurement. As a whole class, we compared the capacity of different containers by scooping dry pasta. We first made an estimation, and then we measured the capacity by filling each container up with dry pasta and keeping count of how many cups it took. We then compared the containers' capacity by ordering them from least to most. The next day, we practiced measuring capacity again with water. Our mathematician found out that in order to give a fair comparison when measuring various containers or any object, it is crucial to stick with the same measuring tool/unit.

Then we compared the weights of different objects by using balances. Students took turns in their table groups. They confirmed their measurement by comparing their answers with others, and measure again for a accuracy. Next week we will continue to look at weight and then we will learn about temperature and time.

Slideshow of the Week

After School Activities (ASAs)

Starting Saturday, April 21st, the final session of ASAs will begin! A letter was sent home yesterday to confirm your child's ASA(s). If your child is doing Recreational Swim with Ms. Grace and Ms. Irish, please make sure you child comes to school with his/her swim gear every Monday. All the children are looking forward to the fun activities they will get to do next week!

Star of the Week- Shereef!

Thank you Shereef for sharing your star of the week poster. It was full with pictures taken all over the world! We were excited to see the pictures of your home country, Egypt. We were also fascinated by the different sports that you do - tennis, biking, swimming, boxing and karate. We especially liked the two pictures "Driving to Work" - that was really cute and smart!

This week in Reading and Writing Workshop

Last week we have launched our new unit on nonfiction reading and writing. We read aloud a variety of nonfiction books: How to Lose All Your Friends, Milk to Ice Cream, The Bubbly Drop, The Watcher, and Butterflies. Through careful noticing and thinking about the ideas and topics behind these books, we understood that there are four main types of nonfiction: all-about books (information books), how-to books (procedural books), narrative nonfiction, and biography. We have had many hot discussions this week when we were reading The Bubbly Drop (a narrative nonfiction story told by a made-up character/narrator, Bubble, about his water cycle adventure as a water droplet). After reading the story, some kids said that it is a realistic fiction, while some kids said it's a little bit of both, and some kids said it is a nonfiction text. Many of them had great reasons to back up their argument.

"It's realistic fiction because the water cycle is real, but in real life, water droplets don't talk -Bubble is a made-up character." - Mia

"It's a little bit of both fiction and nonfiction because there are facts about the water cycle and rainbow colors, but water droplets don't ever talk." - Adessa

"I think this is nonfiction because this is all about the water cycle. It's teaching you about evaporation, condensation, precipitation." - Yaseen

After a long debate, we came to a conclusion that this is a narrative nonfiction story, where a character/narrator tells a story of a topic that is fact-based. When asked why authors write narrative nonfiction, other than just all-about (information) books, a student said,

"The narrator and characters in the books make learning more fun!" - Danielle

In writing, we have begun drafting our "how-to" procedural books. Our writers have been envisioning and acting out the steps to help recount and write out the steps of their "how-tos". They have also been using transition words like, first, then, next, and then... finally to link the steps in order.

Today we did a class how-to book together. We learned how to make orange popsicles! We first gathered all of our materials/ingredients, and we followed the procedure in order. We had a fun time making and enjoying our popsicles. Ask your child this weekend how to make popsicles and see if he/she is able to recall the materials needed and retell the steps in order. Have fun trying it out at home!

Slideshow of the Week

Publishing Party!

Today all of the first grade classes came together to celebrate our published class poetry books. Over the last month, all of our writers have worked hard on writing and refining these poems. During this poetry unit, our writers learned that poets get inspirations from other poets. We read aloud many poems together and studied the tools and cool things poets use to make their poems interesting and fun to read. To name but a few, we studied poems by Shel Silverstein, Zoe Ryder White, Valerie Worth, Eloise Greenfield. Our poets then tried out some of these poetic tools such as similes, comparison, personification, onomatopoeia, line breaks and rhyme in their own poems. Lastly, our poets carefully selected two poems they liked best and have them published in our class poetry book. Today, we all came together to celebrate this great success! Aside from sharing their poems, they also led a great discussion about how and where they got their writing inspirations. It was a fantastic experience for all three classes to come together and celebrate each others' work and know each other better as readers and writers.

Tonight your child will bring home their own personal copy of the class poetry book. I hope you enjoy the poems as much as I do.

Congratulations, First Grade Poets!

Welcome Back!

Welcome back everyone! It was so nice seeing the children yesterday back at school, looking well-rested, refreshed and energetic for the final trimester of the year. Many of them had wonderful Spring Break stories to share. I have always enjoyed listening to their traveling stories and learning more about the world from their perspective.

Yesterday, your child should have brought home an After School Activity (ASA) form. Please kindly return the slip with desired choices of activities as soon as possible as spots fill up quickly! The first day of ASAs is April 16. Your child should get a confirmation of the enrolled ASA(s) by next week.

Lastly, as the temperatures are rising higher and higher, please make sure that your child comes to school each day with a hat and a water bottle.  This is ESSENTIAL so that your child can continue to play outside. Thanks for your cooperation.