Week 22

THINGS TO TALK ABOUT OR ASK YOUR CHILD ABOUT THEIR LEARNING AT SCHOOL THIS WEEK…..

·       The IB word of the week is INTEGRITY:  How often does your child do the right thing and is honest. Talk about examples. Praise your child during the times he/she shows integrity.

·       Land-forms – In class we are learning about land-forms.  Land-forms are natural physical features on earth such as rivers, valleys, oceans, hills, plains, volcanoes, ponds, plateaus, bays, lakes, rivers, mountains etc.  The students are very excited about learning about land-forms and to many this is a new term. For a little extra – do some research at home about land-forms.  See what facts you can find. Have your child draw a picture and label their land-forms.

·       Weather – What weather patterns and characteristics are particular to each season?

·       -ch - We have been searching for words inside their I-PICK books. Has your child been reading his/her words to you at home? The students LOVE searching for words. Have your child do this activity at home. Make a list of –ch words (beginning and ending).  I call them word detectives. They love it.

·       Skip counting – The students are learning to skip count by 2s, 5s and 10s. Make sure you are practicing at home.

·       Copper the puppy – What did your child tell you about Cooper? 

·       Groundhog Day - We made predictions about Punxsutawney Phil and seeing his shadow.  Watch the news Monday morning before school and let us know your findings!

Thermometer Experiment!

We've been learning about weather and weather tools in class this week!  We've learned that scientists (meteorologists) use tools to help them in their weather investigations.  One such tool is a thermometer.  We performed an experiment in class using thermometers and cups of ice water.  Students were asked to put their thumb on the bulb of a thermometer and to watch what happened to the mercury.  Next, they placed the thermometer into ice water and observed what happened. 

They were able to experiment several times. Ask your child to tell you about their findings!

Some questions to ask about their learning:

·       What do we use a thermometer for?  (to measure temperature)

·       What is temperature?  (It is the measurement of how cold or how hot something feels)

·       What happened when you put your thumb on the bulb? (the mercury went up)

·       What happened when you put the thermometer into ice water? (the mercury went down)

·       List three things that are hot.

·       List three things that are cold.

·       Why did our thumb (body heat) make the temperature rise?  (we are warm-blooded, and our body heat is warmer than the ice-water)

·       Can you think of something to put the thermometer in that would make the temperature go up or down more quickly?

Many students want their own thermometer at home to show you this experiment! Go forth and purchase.

Egg Experiment

Using their five senses students were invited to examine two eggs; one brown and one white. As a class, we discuss our observations. Some students were be surprised to note that, while the eggs look different on the outside, they look the same on the inside. This same lesson translates into other aspects of life - including people!  Ask your child about this lesson at home or try it at home with your family!

Week 19

THINGS TO TALK ABOUT OR ASK YOUR CHILD ABOUT THEIR LEARNING AT SCHOOL THIS WEEK…..

• The IB word of the week is ENTHUSIASM:  Is your child excited about his/her learning? What are ways they show it?  
• Weather – We brainstormed different types of weather.  What types of weather can your child tell you about? We talked in great lengths about tsunamis. Ask your child about this type of weather.  If your child is interested, research tsunamis at home.
• CH, SH, TH - We have be studying diagraphs and where we see these letters together. Beginning of a word, middle and end. Students have been searching for words inside their I-PICK books that contain these letters. Has your child been reading his/her words to you at home? The students LOVE searching for words. Have your child do this activity at home. Make a list of CH, SH, TH words.  I call them word detectives. They love it.
• Martin Luther King Jr. – We read the book, “Martin’s Big Words” by Doreen Rappaport. We talked about tolerance and being open minded. Talk to your child about being tolerant. What are ways your child shows tolerance? There is a parade this weekend. For more information go to: http://www.mlkgrandeparade.org/
•  Good luck Tiffany Alagarsamy running the Chevron Half Marathon Sunday!!