Pumpkins, Pumpkins, Everywhere!

The First Grade girls have been busy investigating pumpkins at school this week.  Each class drew diagrams of the outside and inside of their pumpkin, measured its height and girth, and counted the seeds.  Can you believe that our two pumpkins had 540 and 692 seeds each?  Then (with some teacher assistance ;) each class carved their pumpkin into jack-o-lanterns, and the girls made their very own "How To Carve a Pumpkin" book. Check out all of your daughter's amazing Halloween work in her black folder tonight!

Happy Halloween,
The First Grade Team

Computer Programming

This month the girls began an introduction to computer programming by learning about Ada Lovelace.  In 1843, Ada Lovelace became known as the first computer programmer and predicted the future of technology.  During Ada Week, October 13-17th, we watched various short video clips and read articles about her life.  The girls then created a book in My Story about Ada’s life.   Now we are learning more about computer programming using an app called Kodable.

Game Night Begins!!

As a part of our First Grade Math curriculum, the girls use Power of Ten cards in a hands on approach to help them understand math concepts better.  These visual aids allow the girls to use new strategies when interacting with numbers rather than always relying on counting with fingers and manipulatives.  The girls enjoy the games that they play with these cards and look forward to playing them at home with you. 

Below are some of the Power of Ten Games we have learned to play so far.  You can play any of these on “Game Night” Thursdays or any other time you would like!  We’ll add more games to this list throughout the year.

You can check out more information about the Power of Ten system at:

http://poweroften.ca/

War

Materials: Two decks of Power of Ten cards

Number of Players: Two

Goal: The goal of this game is to get as many cards as possible

Instructions:

1.      Each player starts with a deck of cards face down.

2.    Both players flip over a card at the same time and say the number on their own card out loud.

3.    The player that has the card showing the highest number wins both cards.

4.    Keep playing until all of the cards in the decks have been used.

5.    If players turn over two identical cards, each player takes out three more cards from their deck (flipping over the last card).  Players may say “I declare war” and flip over the last card as they say “war”. Whichever player has the highest card now wins all of the cards used in this turn.

6.    The winner of the game is the person holding the most cards once the original decks have been used.

Memory

Materials: One deck of Power of Ten cards

Number of Players: Two- Four

Goal: The goal of this game is to get as many pairs of matching cards as possible

Instructions:

1.      Shuffle the cards and spread them face down on a table or the floor.  Cards should be in 4 rows of 5 cards each.

2.    The first player flips over two cards and says the number of each card out loud.  If the two cards are the same, the player takes the match and goes again.  If the cards are not the same, the player turns the cards over and her turn ends.

3.    The rest of the players follow the same order.

4.    The game continues until all of the cards have been claimed and the winner is the person with the most pairs of cards

Friends of Ten Memory

Materials: One deck of Power of Ten cards

Number of Players: Two- Four

Goal: The goal of this game is to get as many pairs of “friendly” cards as possible.  These are cards that add up to a sum of 10 (ie. 2 and 8)

Instructions:

1.      Remove the two 10 cards from the deck

2.    Shuffle the cards and spread them face down on a table or the floor.  Cards should be in 3 rows of 6 cards each.

3.    The first player flips over two cards and says the number of each card out loud.  If the two cards add up to a sum of ten, the player takes the pair and goes again.  If the cards do not add up to ten, the player turns the cards over and her turn ends.

4.    The rest of the players follow the same order.

5.    The game continues until all of the cards have been claimed and the winner is the person with the most pairs of cards that equal ten.

Friends of Ten “Go Fish”

Materials: One or two decks of Power of Ten cards

Number of Players: Two- Four

Goal: The goal of this game is to get as many pairs of “friendly” cards as possible.  These are cards that add up to a sum of 10 (ie. 2 and 8)

Instructions:

1.      Shuffle the cards and deal 3 cards to each player.  The rest of the cards should be in a pile in the center of the players.

2.    The first player asks someone for a card that will match with one of her own cards to equal a sum of ten (ie. she has a 3 and she asks for a 7).  If the player does not have that card, she says “go fish” and the first player picks from the pile in the center.  If the player does have that card, she gives it to the first player, and the first player puts down her pair.  The first player goes again anytime she makes a pair.

3.    The rest of the players follow the same order.

4.    If players are ever out of cards, they may take one from the pile of cards in the center.

5.    The game finishes when all of the cards are gone, and the winner is the player with the most pairs of cards that equal ten.

Wolves, and Spirit, and Spiders, OH MY!

As you know, the First Graders have been hard at work on an engineering unit in Science.  Last week, the girls put all of their new construction knowledge to use in order to build strong structures that would be able to withstand the "huffing" and "puffing" of the BIG BAD WOLF.  All of the girls cheered for each team as one after another house stood strong.  Check out the girls at work and their strong structures below:

This Tuesday was a very exciting day across the entire campus as everyone dressed up to show their Bryn Mawr spirit.  The First Graders were no exception.  The girls were covered in green, white and gold from head to toe, and they loved the Spirit Parade that ended our day.  Great friends and great memories! Go BMS!

If you haven't heard yet, the First Grade classrooms are happy to welcome two new visitors: Charlotte and Octavia!  As a part of our Science unit on spiders we are hosting a tarantula and orb spider in our classrooms, and the girls are thrilled.  For the next few weeks we will be studying the body parts, habitats, predators and prey of spiders.  This unit is a great way for the girls to read more non-fiction books, understand the difference between fact and opinion, and become more comfortable with these creepy crawlers who walk among us.

Playing with the parachute

The girls in first grade are having a great time in PE.  They recently completed their parachute unit.  They loved running under the parachute, playing "cat and mouse," popping balls off the parachute and having a "campfire."  The parachute unit helps the girls with upper body strength, spatial awareness, following directions, and cooperation.

Art: The Important Thing About Me

 First grade has begun a project inspired by the book "The Important Book," by Margaret Wise Brown. After reading the book together and making predictions based on the illustrations, girls examined works of art to figure out strategies or tricks artists use to make the important thing look EVEN MORE IMPORTANT! Girls interviewed each other using video on the iPad to brainstorm important things about themselves. They shared these videos with other partners, and connected with each other over shared interests. Using crayon and watercolor, first graders were challenged to create and image using strategies to show themselves, the important thing about them, and strategies to show emphasis. While working with watercolor, first graders were responsible for themselves as they set and cleaned up materials. During work time, they shared discoveries and made predictions about material combinations. Finally, first graders reflected on their work, met with a new partner, and then introduced their partner and shared the important thing about her with the class. 

October Fun!!

The entire Bryn Mawr School is showing their support for the Orioles.  Today the First Graders were thrilled to join in and don their black and orange!

In science class we have been working on engineering challenges using a variety of materials. The girls are working in teams to solve problems and build structures.  We are doing all that we can to keep The Big Bad Wolf from blowing our houses down!  Below you will see the efforts of our hard work.