hi how are you? we learned about science. in science we learned about bouncy balls. bouncy balls are spheres. marbles are also spheres. a sphere is a circle, 3D, object. Goodbye reader.
Jingle Dancing
We have been talking about different kinds of dances and have read many different books each morning during our morning meeting before we begin Daily 5. We read the book Fiddle Dancer written by Wildred Burton and Anne Patton, illustrated by Sherry Farrell Racette, and Translated by Norman Fleury. We also read the book Jingle Dancer written by Cynthia Leitich Smith and Illustrated by Ying-Hwa Hu and Cornelius Van Wright.
Today we were very lucky to have Grandma Angie come to our classroom and to have her teach us about the different kinds of dances that people dance while they attend a pow wow. Grandma brought in some beautiful pieces from some of the outfits that her granddaughter has worn at pow wows and some pieces that Grandma Angie has worn at pow wows before as well. All of the students sat very quietly listening to Grandma’s stories and asked some very thoughtful questions. We are so lucky that Grandma comes to our school on Tuesdays and Thursdays to work with all of our students in our school. Everyone always enjoys working with Grandma Angie and having her in our classroom throughout the day. Today Grandma also showed us some different videos of people dancing the variety of dances at a pow wow. It was a fabulous day!
Making Homemade Ice Cream!!!
To finish our Liquids and Solids unit we decided to make homemade ice cream with our learning buddies. The Secret Agents had fun learning about how liquids can turn into solids and exploring matter. Students also got to learn about following the step to a recipe. Here is the recipe they students followed to make their ice cream:
What You’ll Need-
Ice Cubes
1 Cup half and half or milk
1/2 cup Kosher salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pint-size Ziploc bag
1 gallon-size Ziploc bag
Small towel
Any of your favourite ice cream treats
Step One- Measure all of the ingredients. After combine the half and half, sugar, and vanilla extract in the pint-size bag. Seal the bag tightly, so that none of the liquid will leak out. Keep the bags in the refrigerator until you are ready to continue onto the next step.
Step Two- Add four cups of ice cubes to one of the large, gallon-size bag. Then add the one half cup of salt to the bag.
Step Three- Put one of the small bags that was prepared earlier into the large bag with the ice cubes. Be sure that both bags are sealed tightly.
Step Four- Wrap the bag in a small towel and then shake the bag until the liquid turns into a solid (ice cream). Once it has turned into ice cream add in any topping into your bag of your choosing.
Step Five- Eat and enjoy your ice cream! Then clean up any mess and put away the remaining ingredients.
**You could do an experiment and shake the liquid mixture in a bag of ice with salt and without salt. Then students could compare the difference and discuss what the ice did to the ice cubes. Students could explore how the bags feel and if one bag is colder than the other bag.
Liquids and Solids
We have been busy learning in 2K about Liquids and Solids! I am so proud of my Secret Agents! They have been working very hard exploring liquids and solids and asking amazing questions to further their understanding!
Today we performed two experiments:
Balloon Bottle
Pour about an inch and a half of vinegar and then add in water into the bottle. Next mix the two liquids together. Use a funnel to fill a balloon half full of baked soda. Stretch the balloon over the top of the bottle and secure tightly. Place one hand over the top of the bottle where the balloon is attached and pour the baking soda into the bottle. This should make the mixture fizz and blow up the balloon.
Throughout the experiment we had wonderful conversations about liquids mixing together and making a hypothesis of what they think was going to happen when we added in the baking soda. The Secret Agents were very excited to see the balloon fill up!
Liquid Rainbow
Prepare for this experiment by putting the following in four separate clear cups: 1/4 cup of corn syrup with red food colouring, 1/4 cup oil with no food colouring, 1/4 cup of water with blue food colouring, and 1/4 cup of rubbing alcohol with green food colouring. Before we poured the liquids into the glass container we had a conversation about what they think was going to happen when all of the liquids were mixed together.
*Note when pouring the liquids into the glass container pour the liquids from heaviest to lightest in the container. Helpful hint-pour the oil and water over the back of a spoon for best results.
Keeping Your Identity Private
I am very proud of my students! They have been working very hard over these last few months of school. I am very impressed with the progress that everyone has made in their blogging skills and understanding different digital citizenship concepts. This week we talked about staying safe online and the importance of protecting our identity by keeping it private. Students reflected on the question-What kinds of information should I keep to myself when I use the Internet?
As a class we discussed different reasons why it is important not to share our personal information with people we do not know in person and online. We also talked about what to do when you play a game online and when the game asks you to create a username. We reflected on previous lessons that explored safety and remember that they need to talk to an adult when a game or website asks for personal information or if you are having a problem online. Students decided that personal information is your: name, age, phone number, and address. Together we explored the difference between a good username and a username that gives out too much personal information. After brainstorming students were able to create usernames that they could use to protect their identity and stay safe online! Check out their ideas below!
Also make sure you have a look at each student’s individual blogs. Lots of students had time to blog about how to stay safe and about keeping your identity private!
What have you learned this week?
Photo Credit: Patrick Duddy via Compfight cc
“I learned about growing patterns in math” (Agent #8). “I did reading in Daily 5. We read about sharks and a chicken book. The chicken book is a play” (Agent #16). “I learned that baby elephants weigh maybe 160 when they are born. I learned that chipmunks babies moms stay with them for three weeks and then they leave” (Agent #12). “I learned that African lions have a black mane. When they get mad you can hear them for miles” (Agent #3). “I learned that increasing patterns are growing patterns” (Agent #7). “In Daily 5 I wrote stories” (Agent #4). “I learned that increasing patterns are not always the same” (Agent #6). “I learned that lions are part of the cat family. In Daily 5 reading I learned that ice cream is frozen milk” (Agent #2). “I learned about cakes in Daily 5. I learned there can be fish cakes and lobster cakes” (Agent #5). “I learned that in math about increasing patterns” (Agent #11).
What have you learned about this week? Please write back to us and let us know! We would love to hear from you!