Tree Climbing Adventures
/This week Mr. Mark came in to introduce us to the beautiful Western red cedar in our outdoor classroom. We learned that the Kalapuyan people have their own name for this beautiful species. Then we eagerly watched Mr. Mark demonstrate how to safely climb the tree without damaging the bark. Students were delighted to have a chance to try climbing the tree throughout the week. On Tuesday we had the opportunity to dance, sing, and learn some new musical terminology with Ms. McKenzie. In math first graders have been working on solving challenging story problems while second graders are learning to do three digit addition and subtraction with regrouping. Our mathematicians have also been playing a collaborative version of the game Match Madness, which provides students with an opportunity to practice problem-solving and visual spatial skills. Ms. Sam brought in a dragonfly for us to examine under the microscope. We also got to take our rocks out of the rock tumbler after they had been tumbling for several weeks. We inspected the rocks and compared them to photos we took of the rocks before tumbling them. Students reread their predictions of what would happen to the rocks during the tumbling process and wrote a reflection piece comparing their predictions to what actually happened with the rocks. Mr. Sam launched his mini-unit about the moon. We learned that both the earth and the moon rotate on their axis’, and that the moon revolves around the earth. We learned about how gravity is different on the moon compared to on earth and learned about how craters are formed. We loved our time reading with Seal buddies on Thursday afternoon too.
