Due to parent donations to the PA Annual Appeal, we were given $650 to spend on classroom supplies! This money will be spent on much needed materials, a RAZ-kids online reading account for students, and the remaining items on our Amazon wish list. Thanks again for all of your support!
This week Willoughby used their 5 senses to observe and identify a mystery object!
After observing the object with their sense of TOUCH (bravely reaching into a brown paper bag!), they recorded their observations in their journals. They sketched and wrote down adjectives to describe what they felt, and then formed hypotheses about what they thought the object was.
After, students shared their observations and hypotheses with eachother on the rug.
Next, we observed the mystery object using our sense of SMELL.
Finally, our mystery object was revealed! Ginger! We observed the ginger using our sense of SIGHT.
Surprise! Sometimes our sense of touch can give us a very accurate picture of what we're feeling, even without our sense of sight!
We are getting ready to read Charlotte's Web in class, but the rest of these great books are up for grabs! Did you know that E.B. White wrote Charlotte's Web 60 years ago?! Timeless.
In writing class, students are learning to be deliberate in their word choice. We have been learning all about verbs - the action words in a sentence. Theo shared a story on Elmo yesterday that contained a record 9 verbs! And they were action-packed and helped to give readers a mental movie of the winter story he created.
The book If You Were a Verb came just in time for our lessons this week! Many thanks to all of our Willoughby families for your generous donations! 17 boxes arrived this week!
Added Value will be hosting their Seventh Annual Red Hook Harvest Festival this coming Saturday, October 20th. The Farm opens at 10am and will close at 4pm.
We hope to visit the farm in the spring during our Plant Habitats and Conservation units, but you can get a preview this weekend!
Here is a blurb from Added Value's email blast: "As is our tradition great local chefs from our restaurant partners iCi, The Good Fork, Fort Defiance, Kevin's and Home/Made will be preparing special treats for festival goers. The pumpkin patch will be the place to be as live music is played by Bomba Yo! Children and families can spend time with Llamas and other animals. Milk Not Jails and the Community Farm Workers Alliance will performing, educating and advocating for a more just and sustainable world.
Of course you can shop at our expanded farmers market for produce grown right here in our neighborhood and by our friends in the region like Wilklow Orchards, John Glebocki, Mark Phillips, Nestor Tello, Bread Alone, and Ronnybrook Dairy.
While you shop you can learn from local organizations that willl be promoting health and wellness, urban agriculture and justice as hundreds of your neighbors surround you in celebration of the power of the sun, the soil, plants and people."
Our apologies for entering the incorrect date in the blog post below. Our Community Walk will be this coming Monday, October 22nd. Chaperones, let us know if this Monday works for you!
Monday we kicked off our Science Journals! After brainstorming what a scientist does, students drew a picture of themselves as a scientist and wrote down all of the things they are excited to do as first grade scientists!
In Researcher's Workshop, students are learning who scientists are and what they do. They will become very familiar with these vocabulary words as they step into the role of scientists themselves.
We are also breaking down the stereotypes and preconceptions of who a scientist is - they don't all look like Bill Nye the Science Guy!
In Researcher's Workshop next week, students will learn that scientists observe using their five senses. On Monday, October 22nd from 9:00 - 10:00 a.m., Willoughby will tour the neighborhood and make observations using their five senses (well, actually just 4 because we won't be tasting anything!). This exploration will lead to a discovery of the people, places, and things that make up our Ft. Greene community. We will revisit the work of Romare Bearden and create a cityscape collage of our neighborhood., similar to The Block (seen above).
If you would like to chaperone, please post your response to this blog post! We need at least 5 chaperones!