Ms. Baker began teaching the science unit on mixtures/interactions with water. First she performed experiments with the children mixing a variety of items with water. The children observed what dissolved through their science goggles! :) The children performed a Kagan activity and a picture sort to review what they learned during the experiments. One day this week the children reviewed adding doubles with a partner in a review game. We ended our unit on time with a review game. The children sat on the perimeter of the carpet and we played a card game called "I have, who has". On the cards, the children had a digital and analog clock. The "I have" was the digital and the "who has" was the analog time. The children did a wonderful job presenting their book writing process at Crestfest! Here are the rest of the Crestfest pictures. Congratulations to our Crestfest Winners! This coat has not been claimed. If this coat belongs to your child please let me know and I will send it home.
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This week Ms. Baker began teaching shared reading and writing. Since Spring started on Monday, the texts for the next couple weeks will be fiction and nonfiction stories about Spring. The children enjoyed writing about their opinions of insects. The children had so much fun on the field trip to the children's museum! One student even asked if we could go back the next day. :) Thank you to our field trip chaperones. We will be going on one more field trip in May to Lewis Ginter. We went back to the greenhouse this week so the children could observe the milkweed plants. They were amazed how many have grown! Then the children drew pictures of their observations in their science journals. Congratulations to our Student of the Year!
The children really enjoyed watching the third grade play! The children did a great job and our class liked hearing about some of the famous Americans they learned about. We had a surprise ending with Mrs. Porzio being "pied" by the top "million minutes" readers from each grade level. The school has reached 500.000 minutes! We ended our unit on motion this week with a STEM lesson. The children practiced using force pushing and pulling a stone using a variety of "tools". The APEX run was a lot of fun! I had a hard time taking pictures because they were running so fast. :) Thank you for your support with this fundraiser. All of the children in the school will enjoy the new library books! This week we focused on a variety of St. Patrick's Day related texts. The children learned about St. Patrick, Ireland, St. Patrick's Day festivities, and listened to fiction leprechaun stories. One day the children wrote about what is worth more to them than gold. On St. Patrick's day they got a surprise from the leprechaun they "kindness bombed"! During math the children reviewed graphing using Lucky Charms cereal. It was a yummy math day! Ms. Baker began teaching our science unit on sound. The children have really enjoyed her engaging lessons! During this lesson, the children learned about what makes sound and the definitions of vibration and pitch. This lesson focused on pitch. The children even played straw kazoos! A special thank you to our second March Mystery Reader!
Our school is participating in a fundraiser called the APEX Fun Run. The children have been so motivated to earn money for the school library! This was the Pep Rally we had prior to the fundraiser starting. We ended our unit on Famous Americans with this fun Jeopardy style review game. In math this week we continued our work with money and reviewed subtraction. We watched a Brainpop Jr. video for counting money, and practiced whole group as well as independently. Next week we will be counting all three coins together (penny, nickel, dime). We reviewed subtraction using this domino activity. We started our PBL project on plants this week by planting milkweed seeds to grow in our school greenhouse! The milkweed will be sold at Nature Fair as a fundraiser for the PTA and to help the Monarch butterflies. This week we focused on fairy tale stories because they are easier to retell. The students worked on written retellings using beginning, middle, end, as well as, "first, then, next, and last". The class book arrived this week! The children were so incredibly proud. On Friday, the children presented a copy of their book to the library. Soon the book will be available for all Crestwood children to check out! :) I want to introduce you to our student teacher, Ms. Baker. She has been such a wonderful addition to the class! Not only is she a natural teacher, but also a talented musician. The children really enjoyed a rainy day recess concert listening to her play the ukulele! A special thank you to our first March Mystery Reader! The children really enjoyed the story.
This week the children had a visit from a Chesterfield County firefighter. He talked with the children about smoke detectors, making a family escape plan, and what to do if there is a fire in the house. He also put on the gear so the children could see what he would look like if he arrived to help during a fire. This week was all about Dr. Seuss in honor of Read Across America. We read a different Dr. Seuss book each day and did a variety of writing activities. On Friday, we read There's a Wocket in my Pocket and the children created something to go in their "pocket" and then wrote about it. We had a few twins on one of the dress days! In math this week we started our unit on money. During the week we focused on each coin, discussing how to recognize them, their worth, and how to count a group of the same coins. In this activity, the children practiced exchanging coins in a "race to 20 cents" game. I have exciting news! Our books have shipped!!! They should be here some time next week. The children are so excited to see the final product. :)
100th Day, Black History Month, Dental Health, Estimation, George Washington Carver, Class Book2/24/2017 The 100th day was so much fun! The children started the day hearing me read a story called 100th Day Worries and the children completed a sheet having to do with 100. Later in the day, the children received a visit from Zero the Hero and had an opportunity to count their bags of 100 things. They loved the crowns Zero the Hero brought them! This week for Shared reading we focused on stories in honor of Black History Month. The children learned about Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, and Ruby Bridges. The children had a visit from our school nurse for Dental Health Month. She taught the children about proper brushing and flossing. They loved receiving a dental kit! In Math, the children worked on estimation. We did a variety of activities to practice basic estimation and they always enjoy using the Promethean board. The children learned about George Washington Carver this week in Social Studies. So far the children have learned about Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Eleanor Roosevelt, and next week we will study Ben Franklin. The class book has arrived at the publisher! They sent a video for the children to watch to better understand the process of actually making the class book.
Math & Science Center, Valentine's Day, Migration of Kindness, Raining Hearts, and Crestfest2/17/2017 The Math and Science Innovation Center came and did a lesson with the children on Monday. The lesson focused on fingerprints, the patterns they make, and graphing class data. The children really enjoyed being a scientist! The children had a lot of fun opening their valentines and eating the cookie treat! It was so sweet listening to the children thanking each other after opening each valentine. Thank you to the parents/guardians who organized and contributed items for the treat! The Migration of Kindness was a success! It is because of the children's commitment to kindness that it was able to spread past the walls of our school. I love how they embrace and work towards kindness! One day during shared reading, I read The Day it Rained Hearts. In the story, a little girl collects the raining hearts and uses them to make valentines. The children made a cute retelling sheet of each of the character's valentines. As always, the children enjoyed our monthly Crestfest! Congratulations to our class winners! Our class even won a Crestfest trophy for earning the most "Living the Crest" tickets for first grade!
Every year a group of Veterans come to our school to teach the children about the history of flags and how to care for the American flag. The best part of the visit for the children is taking their own flag home! In social studies, the children are learning about different famous Americans. Last week we studied Abraham Lincoln and this week we focused on George Washington. I read a book to the children and then we read the poem together and did a little craft. We did a variety of activities this week to work on counting by 2, 5, and 10. As part of this unit the children must also know how to circle groups and count. In this activity, the children worked with a partner to make groups of 10 using beans and then they practiced counting by tens. The children used the Promethean board to practice circling groups and counting. The children also worked in small groups to sort number cards by 2, 5, and 10. The safety officer came this week and did a lesson with the children about safety at home. This includes not letting strangers in the house, answering the phone if they are ever alone, and being safe around stoves, kitchen utensils, etc. In preparation for the Migration of Kindness, the children made their cards for the county police. They are so excited to participate in the school wide kindness mission. Also, the book is almost complete! We will spend one more day next week finishing the final drafts and illustrations and then it will be mailed to the publisher. This week was all about groundhogs! We read many different books as well as a nonfiction Scholastic News about them. The children wrote about whether or not they wanted the groundhog to see his shadow with majority wanting an early Spring. We also watched the video of Punxsutawney Phil's prediction from Gobblers Knob. This week was a "buffer" week in math. Since we have been right on schedule with our pacing, we had the opportunity to spend a week on what the children need the most practice with which is addition and subtraction. The children did a lot of partner work playing games and completing paper/pencil sheets that focused on various math strategies. The children are learning a lot about the writing process through our work on the class book. This week the children generated their ideas for the book title What Is Kindness? I wrote down everything they said and later typed up their portions. On Friday the class worked on their rough drafts. It was very challenging for the children to write on every other line and copy the text accurately. I was impressed with how hard they worked! This book is very important to them and I appreciate your support with this project. Please keep in mind the book will not be published until March but I have to collect any payments ahead of time for publishing purposes. We will be working on the final copy next week!
This week in math we continued working with doubles. We watched a Youtube doubles song and then the children played a partner game. The idea is that the doubles facts will become automatic and then they are able to apply that knowledge to more complex equations such as 9+8 (8+8=16 +1=17). Science this week has focused on the seasonal changes of plants, animals, and people. We did a variety of activities focusing on temperature, hibernation/migration/adaptation, evergreens, and seasonal attire. Crestfest was a lot of fun and so many children were recognized for their accomplishments! I love the participation and student creations. Congratulations to our class winners! We had a very special guest reader for this month...the children were so happy to see Mrs. Mckinney again! The Richmond Symphony came to our school on Friday! The children had so much fun dressing up as a series character! Can you tell who we are?
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Mrs. StearnsWelcome! This is my fourth year at Crestwood and my 15th year of teaching. I love the families at Crestwood! I received my undergraduate degree from Longwood University and later received my Master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in ESL. I am married and have a five-year-old daughter. I also have two dogs and one cat. When I am not teaching you will find me camping, reading, or going fun places with the family. Archives
June 2017
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