Family Science Night
Our final inquiry of the year is all about physical science. Concepts include matter, gravity, magnetism, sound, and light. In all cases we begin with what the children know and then move into discovery through investigation. The children have learned that scientists must be good observers and that they must use all their senses to gather information. The children will learn to record the properties of various objects during the Object of the Week activity and will perform various other exercises to heighten their observation skills and awareness of their five senses. We have also been learning to think and write like scientists -- asking questions, making predictions, performing investigations to answer the question, observing, sketching, and recording what we have discovered. The children express their ideas in a variety of ways: journals, drawing, or graphing. They listen, speak, and write about science with their peers and teacher and hopefully at home with you. They are all communicating their level of understanding of concepts that they have developed to date. Ultimately, each experience the students have with science investigations in the classroom does more than teach science content; it also helps to shape student perceptions of what science is and what scientists do. The goal is to shape students’ ideas about science and about how they can work as scientists.
To celebrate our super scientists in first and second grade, we are hosting a Family Science Night on Thursday, May 1, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. The Bishop Museum offers a special program called a Festival of Science, and our elementary dining room will be transformed into a “festival” of hands-on science activities. During this “open house”-style festival, students and their parent(s) inquire and experiment together, making fascinating discoveries in Hawaii ecology, biology, health, and anthropology.
Some logistics for the event:
Each 1/2 class will have a potluck from 5:30 to 6:00 p.m. in their respective classroom. Stay tuned for details from your room parent.
The event is JUST for first- and second-grade MPI students and their parent(s). We love siblings, but there is not enough room to accommodate all the parents, students and siblings.
If your child is going to attend, he/she must be accompanied by at least one adult.
Parking will be down by the gym or possibly on the football field.
This is not a mandatory school event.
Please fill out the form sent home today and return it to me by Monday, April 21.
Posted at 1:01 PM| Permalink
Happy Spring!
What fun to come back after a nice long vacation to meet again with friends and classmates! As a teacher, I know that the next eight weeks will fly by. Our first day back included a field trip to see the play Ferdinand the Bull put on by Hawaii Theatre for Youth. It was a fantastic interactive production! Many of our students ended up on stage as part of the cast! After the play, the cast came out to talk with the children about bullying, which was a major theme of the play. Our children were thoughtful and articulate in expressing their thoughts and ideas about conflict resolution. We were all so proud of them.
In addition, the class has already begun some new topics of study - biographies, physical science, and ratios - and next week the second graders will begin a new unit on fractions. Our Wailele inquiry will continue through the rest of the semester as well. Just before Spring Break, we tracked the spring water from its pond on campus down to a canal that borders MPI and the University of Hawaii. Then we came back to the classroom and used Google Earth on the Smartboard to track the stream all the way to the Ala Wai and the ocean. The children then drew maps to represent what they had learned. Yesterday, a guest speaker from the Board of Water Supply spoke to the children about the water cycle on our island and ways to conserve water. Oh, and don’t forget, we’re working on an opera, too!
Posted at 1:42 PM| Permalink
Biography Study
In class, the children have heard biographies read aloud throughout the year. Now, the first graders are writing their autobiographies, and the second graders are writing biographies of their classmates.
In addition, the second graders have started a reading and writing project as part of their homework this month. After reading and taking notes on a biography of their choice, the children are required to complete a multigenre research project. According to Camille Allen, author of Multigenre Research Paper, multigenre refers to “composed of many kinds of writing...The best way I can describe a multigenre paper is to say that each piece in the paper utilizes a different genre, reveals one facet of the topic, and makes its own point. The paper is a collage of writing and artistic expression with an overarching theme that engulfs and informs the reader.” As part of the assignment, the children are required to write at least three different forms of writing to convey their understanding of the person studied. Among the choices are a diary entry, an obituary, a postcard, an award certificate, a newspaper article, an "I am" poem or an acrostic poem, or dressing up as the person and conveying their thoughts and feelings. They will present their projects to the class using all they know about presentation skills and creating artistic, effective visual aids.
Posted at 12:53 PM| Permalink