Chemistry

Happy Monday! Our new student joined our class today.  We are just thrilled to have her. I think she'll fit in quite well.  We also started a new science unit on chemistry today. The lesson was about mixtures. We mixed together several things:

Container A has bird seed and rice. B has water and baby oil. C has water and vinegar, and D has sugar and sand.  We measured out all the ingredients, put them in their containers, and then predicted what would happen when we shook them up.  Then we discussed homogeneous mixtures. Now that's a big kid word!

While I was gone at the conference, I had the students make these cute eagles on school spirit day. They were waiting for me on the table this morning, and I think they turned out really great...

Also, tomorrow is the 100th day of school! We'll be doing all sorts of 100 themed activities, and I will definitely be posting pictures!

NAEYC Update

We have been having so much fun at the NAEYC Conference the past two days! I have learned about everything from art to literacy to parent involvement to breathing exercises. Being in a place with thousands of other people who share your same passion can be quite empowering. 

Today I had the pleasure of meeting Lois Ehlert. She's an author and an illustrator, and you'll probably recognize many of her books. I have admired her for a long time.  Here's a picture of Lois and I:

These are some of the excellent books Lois has written:

 She has also illustrated several books, including:

Then, I got to meet the author and illustrator of this book:

This book has only been out for about 8 months, but it's become very popular.  Here are Sherri Duskey Rinker (author) and Tom Lichtenheld (illustrator) signing my copy:

In other great news, we have a new student joining our class on Monday!  Her name is Yilin, and her family has just moved here from Grand Rapids, MI.  Her brother will be enrolled in the Preschool 4's program, as well.  I'm not sure if my substitute or anyone else at school has informed our class of our new addition yet, as I just found out myself.  So, you can let your child know they should expect a new face on Monday! 

I'm looking forward to one more day of learning at the conference tomorrow.  Have a great weekend!

                                         

NAEYC Conference

This Thursday and Friday, Mrs. Rogers, Mrs. Schulz, and I will be attending the Opening Minds Conference in downtown Chicago.

We are so excited! This is a huge teacher conference with workshops pertaining to all aspects of learning. I'll be back on Monday with lots of tricks up my sleeve...

Silent Auction

Thank you to those who have donated to our silent auction basket! This is shaping up to be one hot item to auction off.  We could definitely use more items to make our basket complete, though! Please consider donating anything related to pets.

Thank you!!

Winter Birds

We've been learning about winter birds lately.  Our last step was to learn 14 parts of a bird (specifically a cardinal).  The kids can pull these labels off and rearrange them.  They've had a lot of fun and they definitely know their bird parts!

First Post

Welcome to my brand new blog! This will be a place for parents to get information about the goings-on in our first grade classroom.  I am so excited to have joined the 21st century!