Friday, November 28, 2014

Science and Soil Project

Monday:

This afternoon we are going to read, The Story of Sand. (READ) On Friday, you drew and labeled what you saw in the water and sand vial. When I call your group you will walk over to the counter, take one vial, bring it to your desk and observe.



Let’s discuss our observations. What do you see in the vials? How many layers do you see? Where’s the sand? What do you see on top of the sand? The layer of material on top of the sand is called silt. Everyone say that. Silt is a particle of rock much smaller than sand. Shake your vial. What do you notice? The silt goes back into the water.



Hands on your head. When I say go please take out the sheet we were working on on Friday. Do not start, we will work through it together. Go.



Take your pencil; we are going to label the drawings to identify the layers we see in the vial. What is the space between the top of the water and the vial cap called? Put your drawings in your science notebook and put your science notebook in your desk.



Put your hands under your desk and your eyes on me. I have SOAR tickets for students name. Listen carefully (DEMONSTRATE), each group of partners is going to get a container. You will carefully pour off the water in the vial. The sand and silt should remain in the vial. You may carefully touch the top later of silt. 

Tuesday:

Today I have a new earth material for you to observe. You will make observations using your senses. Each of you is going to get a cube of material and your job as a scientist is to find out all you can about it. Good scientists ask questions. What does it feel like? What does it look like? What can I do with it? What happens to my hands as I work with this material? What is this material called? When I call your table stand up, walk to the counter, take a cup, bring it back to your desk and explore the new earth material for 5 minutes.



Let’s take a few minutes to discuss our observations. What is this material called? Yes, the new earth material is clay. What is special about this material? What happened to your hands as you worked with the material? Clay is made of pieces of rock even smaller than silt. Clay is made of pieces of rock that are really, really small. The dust on your hands is actually dry clay particles. ----CLAY SHEET----



You will pinch off a small piece of clay from your cube of clay. The small piece should be about the size of a pea. Roll into a ball. Now pinch off a larger piece of clay from your cube of clay and roll into a ball. Punch your hands under your desk. DO NOT touch the clay balls.



What do you think would happen if we were to put a small ball of clay in a vial with water? Great predictions! Eyes and ears on me as I give these next directions. You are not doing this right now, you are watching. Put the small ball of clay in a vial. Pour water into the vial almost to the top. Watch what happens to the clay in the water for a minute or two. Remember scientists make observations. Observe the clay in the vial. Observe what’s happening to the clay. Observe what’s happening to the water. ---VIAL SHEET---



I am going to pass out a cap for your vial. Please put it on tightly. Once your cap is on and you have made your observations I want to challenge you to shake the vial until the clay balls disappear. Scientists make observations as they are shaking. It is your job to determine if the clay ball is getting smaller. It is a scientist’s job to describe changes in the water.



While you’re at gym I’m going to get a vial and I’m not going to shake mine. Tomorrow, you’ll compare your vial with mine. We are going to let the vials sit overnight. When I call your table you go put your vial on the counter and get ready to go home. 

Wednesday:

Today I have a new Earth material for you to explore. HOLD UP BAG To explore this new material you are going to work in pairs at your desk. Each pair is going to get a bag. You are scientists and your job as a scientist is to first look at the material through the bag and then open the bag a bit to smell and touch the contents. We are not pouring out the contents in your bag. You are looking at the material through the bag and then opening your bag a bit to smell and touch the contents. Questions? PASS OUT BAGS



CALL STUDENTS TO THE FLOOR Scientists make observations so let’s take a minute to talk about what you observed. What does the material in the bag look like? What does the material in the bag smell like? What does the material in the bag feel like? The material in the bag is called, humus. Everyone say that- humus. Humus is mostly plant material so parts of plants like leaves and roots that have decayed or rotted. Decayed and rotted are two big words and I want to take a minute to explain what they mean. Visualize a pumpkin. When it rots it gets soft and mushy. When it decays it breaks down even more and because pumpkins are 90% water they dry out and shrivel (wrinkle) up. So maybe in our humus you’ll see a shriveled up leaf or parts of a root.



I have a recipe for an earth material that includes humus. I have 4 cups- 2 containing sand, 1 containing gravel, 1 containing small pebbles and we’ll also add your bags of humus. Scientists make predictions so let’s take 5 predictions. What do you think we are going to make with these ingredients? DUMP INTO THE BASIN/ NAME INGREDIENTS AS I DO SO



Now it is your turn to add your humus to the mixing basin. ONE TABLE AT A TIME All the humus has been added so I am going to stir the mixture. The name for the mixture we just made is called soil. Everyone say that. Soil. Soil covers almost all of the Earth’s land surface. Soil is a combination of earth materials like sand, gravel, pebbles, and humus, which is rotting or decaying plant material.



Our I can statement is, “I can name the 4 earth materials in soil.” Repeat after me. I CAN STATEMENT To review; the 4 earth materials in soil are sand, gravel, pebbles, and humus. What are they?



We are going to create a project today. The very 1st thing you are going to do is list the 4 earth materials in soil. What are they? Great! That’s what you will write here. As you are writing what is in soil. I will come around with a large white sheet of paper, a half sheet of brown, and 3 rectangle pieces of paper. The dark brown is your humus. The light brown is sand. The light gray is your pebbles. This is my example. You are to do all the cutting and gluing on your own. Remember, a little glue goes a long way. Most of the time one or two dots of glue is going to be plenty. Questions?














Thursday:

Yesterday, we explored with humus. We also learned the 4 earth materials in soil. What are they? Today we are going to separate soil so our I can statement is, “I can separate soil.” Your job as scientists is to find out how to take soil apart. You’ll start by placing a sample of the soil on a paper plate. As scientists you’ll examine the soil, try to separate it by hand, and shake the plate back and forth (DEMONSTRATE) just like you did with the sand. Your plate needs to stay on your desk as you shake.



What happened when you shook the soil? The sand, gravel, and pebbles separated into groups but the humus did not. What earth materials did we put in the soil? Humus, sand, gravel, and small pebbles. Remember, you are trying to separate those 4 earth materials. What are some tools you think we could use to separate the soil?



Remember these screens? (REVIEW AND DEMONSTRATE) Each pair of students will get 3 screens and 4 containers. You will combine your soil and work together. First you’ll put a paper plate under a container. Next you’ll put the large screen on top of the container. You’ll shake the soil on the screen and save what doesn’t go through. Then, you’ll move on to the medium screen and then do the small screen. Questions?



We are going to discuss what happened with the screening. Our I can statement for today’s lesson is, “I can separate soil.” Repeat after me. Were you able to separate the soil with the screens? What parts of the soil could you separate out with the screens? Where did the humus end up? In each container. Why? What do the large pieces of humus look like? The small pieces? 

Friday:

Over the past few days we have explored a lot with soil. What are the 4 earth materials in soil? Humus, gravel, pebbles, and sand. What is humus? Rotting or decayed plant material. On Friday, we separated the soil using screens. We also put some soil in a vial with water and left it over the weekend. Today, we will observe what happened in your soil and water vials. We will draw and label a picture of the vial as well.



When I say go you will form one line towards the back counter. You will get a vial but do not shake it. You are scientists and your job as a scientist is to make observations.



CALL BACK What did you observe in your soil and water vial? Humus, clay, silt, sand, gravel, and pebbles. You may have noticed some of the humus is floating on the top and some is mixed with the other materials. POWERPOINT



When I say go you are going to walk back to your desk, take out your soil drawing sheet and crayons. Do not shake your vial. Scientists draw an accurate representation of what they see and if you shake your vial then your soil and water sample is ruined.




Finding Unknown Partners (Story Problems)

Monday:
 
Today you will find unknown partners. You will also create and solve story problems with unknown partners. Repeat after me, I can find unknown partners. I can create and solve... story problems with unknown partners. Let's do some quick practice!
I have 9  marbles. 7 of them are green. The rest are red. How many marbles are red? This story problem can be solved a couple different ways. One way we could solve it is with a circle drawing. What is another way? A math mountain. We could also solve the problem by writing an equation.
Let's solve the equation using a math mountain. Which number is the total? 9 Which numbers are the partners? 7 and 2. We drew our math mountain. Now I want to challenge you. We need to write an equation that represents our story. An equation is a mathematical sentence that uses an equals sign to show that two expressions are equal. Take a few seconds to write an equation on your board. Student, can you write your equation on the board?
We are going to write and solve our own story problems as a class. Student, what should our problem be about? Marbles, lollipops or books? How many do we have, student? Pick another number, student. Name a color, student. Name another color, student. How many are _____? Solve this story problem on your board. Draw a math mountain and write an equation.
It is time to play a game! The game we are going to play in math today is called Number Grabber. One student is going to be the Number Grabber. Their job is to come to the board and cover up one of the partner numbers on any mountain while the rest of the class closes their eyes. When the Number Grabber says, "Open your eyes for a big surprise," everyone will open their eyes, look at the mountain with an unknown partner and solve for it. You will write your answer on your white board. Questions?

Tuesday:

Today you will count on to solve subtraction problems. You will solve subtraction story problems. Repeat after me, "I can count on to solve subtraction problems. I can solve subtraction story problems." Let's do some quick practice!
Today I am going to add two signals to our lesson. When I clap that means pick up your whiteboards and markers. When I snap that means put your white boards and markers down.

Watch as I guide you through this subtraction story problem. I had 8 peanuts. Then I ate 5 of them. How many peanuts are left? Let's count on from 5. 5: 6,7,8 How many peanuts are left? 3 peanuts. Why is 3 the answer? 3 is the number of fingers raised. Very good!

Boys and girls you are doing a fantastic job paying attention and waiting to use your white board and marker. Listen to the problem again. Is this problem a plus story or a minus story? How do you know? If we were to create a math mountain. We would have our king  on top. Our King is the biggest number in the problem so which number is bigger 8 or 5. So 8 is the king of our kingdom. Our partners are on the bottom. This is our prince and princess. If 8 is our king what number is the prince? 5. 8 minus 5. The King has 8 peanuts and he wants to give some to the prince and the princess. This one gets five. How many does this one get? Let's write the equation. 8-5=___
*Clap* Now it is your turn to do a subtraction story problem. The King has 9 peanuts and he wants to give some to the prince and the princess. This one gets 4. How many does this one get? Let's write the equation. 9-4=___

The King has 10 peanuts and he wants to give some to the prince and the princess. This one gets 6. How many does this one get? Let's write the equation. 10-6=___

The King has 5 peanuts and he wants to give some to the prince and the princess. This one gets 3. How many does this one get? Let's write the equation. 5-3=___

The King has 4 peanuts and he wants to give some to the prince and the princess. This one gets 1. How many does this one get? Let's write the equation. 4-1=___

The King has 6 peanuts and he wants to give some to the prince and the princess. This one gets 3. How many does this one get? Let's write the equation. 6-3=___

*Snap* We are going to solve addition equations. Some of these equations are vertical so up and down and others are horizontal or left to right. We are going to count on to solve these equations. Remember the answer is the number of fingers raised, not the last number spoken.

1st graders you are showing great self control! Please leave your markers and whiteboards on the floor as we talk through the next two problems together. If we were to create a math mountain. We would have our king on top. Our King is the biggest number in the problem so which number is bigger 6 or 4. So 6 is the king of our kingdom. Our partners or the prince and princess are on the bottom. If 6 is our king what number is the prince? 4. 6 minus 4. Let's count on to find our answer. Does the answer 2 children make sense? Why? Why wouldn't the answer 10 children make sense? In the beginning, only 6 children were swimming. Some went home, so the number of children left must be less than 6. 10 children is more than 6 children.
When I say go you will stand up, walk back to your desk and take out your math workbook. You will turn to page 97. We will work through these together so please do not start. Questions? Go. There is a small picture in the column to help you understand the story problems. The people who made our workbooks are a little tricky though. Sometimes the picture will be our label of our answer and sometimes it won't be so we need to pay special attention to what the story problem is about. 

Wednesday:

Today you will solve subtraction story problems using numeric methods. You will solve subtraction story problems involving nickels and pennies. Repeat after me, “I can solve subtraction story problems. I can solve subtraction story problems using nickels and pennies.” Lets do some quick practice!

Watch as I guide you through this subtraction story problem. I had 9 buttons on my coat. 4 of the buttons fell off. How many buttons are left? Let’s count on from 4. 4: 5, 6,7, 8, 9 How many buttons are left? 5 buttons. Why is 5 the answer? 5 is the number of fingers raised. Very good! How else could we solve this story problem? If we were to create a math mountain we would have our king on top. Our king is the biggest number in the problem so which number is bigger 9 or 4. 9 is the king of our kingdom. Our partners are on the bottom. This is our prince and princess. If 9 is our king what number is the prince? 4. 9 minus 4. The king has 9 buttons and he wants to give some to the prince and the princess. This one gets 4. How many does this one get? Let’s write the equation. 9-4=__

1st graders you are showing great self control with your white boards. I have SOAR tickets for students name. Now it is your turn to do a subtraction story problem so please pick up your white board and marker. There were 7 robins on a fence. Then 5 of them flew away. How many are still on the fence? Go ahead and solve the story problem by drawing a math mountain. Now, write an equation.      ---------REPEAT----------

Please put your white board and marker on the floor in front of you. The next two problems are subtraction stories using coins. These are kind of like a problem within a problem so listen carefully as I read. Lisa has 1 nickel and 4 pennies. She buys a marble for 3 cents. How many cents does she have now? To solve the problem we must first add the nickel and penny to get the total value. 1 nickel how many cents is that? 5 cents. She also has 4 pennies so 5+4= 9. Lisa has 9 cents but she buys a marble for 3 cents. Are we adding or subtracting? Subtracting so 9-3=__. How many cents does she have now? Let’s count on to see. We start at 3 and count up to 9. Our answer will be the amount of fingers we are holding up.

When I say go you will stand up, walk back to your desk and take out your math workbook. You will turn to page 99. We will work through these together so please do not start. Questions? Go.

Thursday:

Today you will use the Pancake Breakfast scenario to practice subtraction. You will solve subtraction equations in The Number Quilt Game. Repeat after me, “I can solve subtraction equations.” Let’s do some quick practice!

Please leave your white boards and markers on the ground as we do the first scenario together. Student’s name you are showing great self-control, I have SOAR tickets for you. Alright, hands in your lap and eyes and ears on me. I made 10 pancakes. Now we have 10 pancakes on the table. I’m going to eat some pancakes. I am eating 1 pancake, 2 pancakes, 3 pancakes, 4 pancakes. I ate 4 pancakes. We knew the total number of pancakes when we started. What was it? 10. Then I ate 4 of them. Let’s write the subtraction equation. How can you count on to find out how many pancakes are left in the stack? Count on from 4. Raise one finger for each number until you reach 7. How can you check to see if the answer is correct? You can count the pancakes that are left on the table. ------REPEAT------

We are going to go back to our desk for a few minutes. I want you to leave your whiteboard and markers here because we will come back to the carpet. We are going to work through this together so once you get a piece of paper please walk to your desk and write your name.

Watch as I guide you through this subtraction story problem. We saw 10 kangaroos. Then 4 of them jumped away. How many kangaroos are left?  We are going to draw a math mountain to represent the kangaroo story. Which number in the problem is the total? 10. Which are the partners? 4 and 6. Let’s write an equation that shows the story. 10-4=6 Where is the total now? At the beginning. Where are the partners? After the subtraction sign and after the equals sign.

We learned how to solve subtraction stories using a nickel and pennies yesterday but let’s do a few problems to refresh our memory. Carla had 1 nickel and 3 pennies. Then she lost 1 of the pennies. How many cents does she have now? This is what we call a problem within a problem. ---SOLVE AND REPEAT---

We are going to play the Number Quilt Game. I heard you have played this before but let me refresh your memory. The goal is to place each card in its correct space on the number quilt. This is a partner game and to play you will read the equation, find the total and place the card on the quilt to match the total. You will need to make sure the corners match because one side is the equation and the other has the answer. You do not want to see the answer because that will not help you become a better mathematician. 

Friday:

Today you will solve for unknown partners or totals in story problems. You will write equations and draw math mountains. Repeat after me, “I can solve for unknown partners or totals in story problems.” Let’s do some quick practice!

These next story problems may be addition or the may be subtraction. We need to read the problems carefully to see if we need to find a partner or a total. There are 7 swimmers in the pool. More swimmers come to the pool. Now there are 10 swimmers. How many more swimmers came? 3 more swimmers. ---REPEAT---

Where is the total in your drawings (Math Mountain, equation)?
Where is the partner?

When I say go you will put your math boards away. I will pass out a pink sheet of paper. Once you get it, write your name. Do not start because we will work through it together. 

Monday:

We have been working with subtraction story problems but today you will solve addition stories with unknown totals. You will solve addition story problems involving nickels and pennies. Repeat after me, “I can solve addition equations.” Let’s do some quick practice!

Please leave your white boards and markers on the ground as I guide you through this addition story problem. I took 4 rides on the roller coaster. My sister took 5. How many roller coaster rides did we take in all? In addition story problems we know the partners and we need to find the total. Our partners are 4 and 5 so they go on the bottom of our math mountain. Our total goes on top. We need to add 4 and 5 together. Let’s count on to find our total. 9. Let’s write an addition equation to go with our math mountain.

Please put your white board and marker on the floor in front of you. The next problem is an addition story using coins. It’s kind of like a problem within a problem so listen carefully as I read. Eric had 1 nickel and 1 penny. His mother gave him 4 more pennies. How many cents does he have now? ---MATH MOUNTAIN AND EQUATION---

Please leave your white board makers on the ground as we do the first scenario together. I am making 1, 2, 3, 4 pancakes. Student, how many are you making? Student is making 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 pancakes. Let’s write an addition equation. Count the stacks with me. 4+6= 10 Let’s count on to find the total. Remember we start with the bigger number and count on.

It’s time to play a game! The game we are going to play is called, Number Grabber. We played this once before but listen because the directions are a little bit different. You will close your eyes while the Number Grabber covers up one of the totals. When the Number Grabber says, “Open your eyes for a big surprise” you will write the total on your white board. You will keep this secret until I ask you to show me. 

 


Pinecone Turkey

My 1st graders made these ADORABLE Pinecone Turkey's for Thanksgiving!

Materials:

- Giant pine cones from the south
- Pipe cleaners
- Glue
- Pom- poms
- Felt
- Googly eyes






Sunday, November 9, 2014

Seperation Anxiety at the Y

I follow many education pages on Facebook. One of my favorites is called Toddler Approved. Occasinally, they post reader questions. The question posted last night was:

My one year old is beginning to have bad separation anxiety. He is not in daycare and spends most time with just family (me, daddy, g-am, g-pa...) but we started taking him to 2 hour drop in daycare at our ymca and he doesn't make it more than 20 minutes before they have to come get us because he is so upset and won't calm down. 'They' say kids usually get used to it and are eventually ok, but it's been a few weeks, it doesn't seem to be getting better and we aren't sure what to do... Suggestions!?

Years ago I worked at KidStuff so I decided to comment. I said:

I used to work at the YMCA in KidStuff and it always got better. Sometimes it took kids months other times it only took days and for some it took weeks. Try to be consistent with your drop off time so he gets familiar with the staff in the room. My advice would be to try and build up to the full two hours. Start by dropping him off for 20 minutes and then over the course of a couple weeks or even a month or two build up to leaving him for the full two hours. I would also say maybe play with him in the room once you come back. We had a toddler who really disliked KidStuff but between short workouts and playtime with mom and the staff within a couple of months he was good to go and enjoyed coming to the Y. I would also suggest if possible to go in the morning or go when there are no classes going on that way your child has more one on one time. Good luck! It will get better! 

I have commented on reader questions multiple times and more than once my suggestions have gotten the most likes on the page. I think that's pretty cool considering I do not have any kids of my own just years of experience. :-) 






Saturday, November 1, 2014

Happy Halloween!












This dog doesn't stay still for more than five seconds at a time but Happy Halloween from our family to yours!

Happy Birthday, Maci!

Our puppy, Maci turned one in September. We went to a dog bakery and bought her a special cupcake. Maci could not wait to get her paws on it but once she did she took her cupcake and ran with it under the deck. About five minutes later she came out licking her chops. Must've been good! 





Unamused by Maci's running off.

National Cat Day

In honor of National Cat Day you'll find three of my favorite pictures of my cat, Mister Biebs. He has an Instagram (@Mister_Biebs)  and I think you should follow him too!