Haiku Poems - January 31, 2008

Haiku Poems
Our wonderful writers started learning about Haiku poems.  We discussed how a Haiku is a type of poetry from the Japanese culture.  Haiku poets often write about things that occur in everyday life, such as objects, nature, feelings, or experiences.  Our class is using the common form for Haiku, which is three short lines, with the first line containing five syllables, the second line containing seven syllables, and the third line containing five syllables.  Of course, the children love clapping out the syllables in words.  As they were writing their own Haiku at their seats, the room was abuzz with quiet claps and taps as the children figured out words to fit the syllable pattern.  The writing prompt yesterday was "What am I?"  Each student wrote a Haiku about a certain animal, but didn't mention the animal's name.  Using the descriptive words in the Haiku as clues, we guessed what each student wrote about.  Here are three of the Haiku poems:

Yellow black and white                                             
I have lots of legs on me                                        
yummy leaves feed me                                             

The answer? A caterpillar! By TC

flying through the sky
right beside the waterfall
soaring everywhere  

Who am I? A bird.  By SY

rough and scaly skin   
breathes fire through its mouth        
dangerous scary

What am I?  A dragon.  By AW

First Grade Math: Measurement
The first graders are busy measuring anything and everything in our classroom.  The investigations in Unit 5 focus on understanding length, using linear units, measuring with standard units, and solving problems about comparing lengths.  This week, the students have been developing accurate measurement techniques, measuring lengths using different-sized units, and comparing lengths to determine which is longer.  We've been having a blast measuring the length of different paths inside our classroom in "kid steps" units.  For example, how many kid steps is it from the blue carpet to the door?  Ask your child to demonstrate measuring using a "kid step."  Yesterday, the students measured lengths in the classroom using the footprints of a baby, the footprints of a basketball player, and marker pens as units.  We had a great discussion about why we needed so many of one kind of unit (baby steps) and so few of the other kind of unit (basketball player steps) to measure the same length.  After we finish our measurement unit, we will move on to Unit 6, which emphasizes combinations of ten, combinations of numbers, and addition and subtraction.

Thank You
Thank you to the Handa family for bringing in delicious Jamba Juice and doughnut holes to celebrate MH's birthday.  Our class loves the birthday books donated by MH: Millions to Measure, Junie B. Jones is a Graduation Girl, Junie B. First Grader Toothless Wonder, and Smitten.  Thank you to JH for the yummy animal crackers.  The children enjoy a tasty treat during our "star dance parties" on Fridays.  Thank you to KL, ER, and TC for constantly keeping Jackson happy and full.  Their generous donations of crickets are greatly appreciated by him!

Posted at 7:43 AM| Permalink

Spring Inquiry Underway - January 17, 2008

Kawailele - Spring Inquiry Underway ("Spring" as in the body of water, not the season)
As our class was walking back from lunch recess on Monday, one of the children exclaimed, "Ms. Field, look at the mountains; they're beautiful!"  Another student chimed in, "Yeah, you should take a picture so we can remember what the mountains look like on the days when we can't see them because of the clouds."  It was one of those magnificent Manoa moments when the bright blue sky illuminates the lush green mountains.  What a perfect day for a learning adventure!

At our morning meeting on Monday I told the class that we would be visiting a special place on campus.  After lunch (and our magnificent Manoa mountain moment), we trekked down to the area by the football field to visit the spring on our campus.  With their learning log in one hand and a pencil in another, the students were ready to explore.  Our class went to the spring with Ms. Revard's class and during our visit, the students wrote down observations about the spring and used descriptive words to capture their impressions about what they could see, hear, feel, and smell.  During our group discussion, the students came up with the following web for "What we think we know about Wailele and Manoa Valley."

• There are rocks, a wall, and a wall with a crack.
• Being there makes us feel like a nature person, a hiker, and peaceful.
• There are plants in and around the pond: vines in the water, tall grasses, trees, paper bark trees with peeling bark and ant nests, and mosses.
• There are animals in and around the pond: tadploes, crayfish, a turtle, Kolea, koi, guppies, a catfish, bugs, birds (cardinal), and frogs.
• The water looks polluted.  There are mosses and dark color.
• There is a broken pipe in the ground.
• The water changes levels.
• The sun is warm there in the daytime.
• The wind is cool from the mountains.  Sometimes it blows softly.  Sometimes it blows stronger and makes ripples on the water.

During our visit on Monday and subsequent visit on Tuesday, the students came up with lots of questions about the spring.  In particular, our discussion centered on three major questions: Why is there a fence?  Where does the pond water come from?  Is the water polluted?  Amazingly, these three questions have been the focus of our "teacher" discussions in meetings as we plan the Inquiry unit on Kawailele.  Guess what?  The children are wondering the same things as the first and second grade teachers!  With the three essential questions, the students brainstormed "What we want to know about Wailele" and came up with various hypotheses.
1. Why is there a fence?
    Hypotheses:

• Someone might fall in or jump in.
• Someone might steal fish.
• Blind people might fall in.
• Rubbish might blow in.
• To protect the animals.
• People might think it's a swimming pond.
• Teenagers might dare their friends to try jumping across.

2. Where does the pond water come from?
    Hypotheses:

• The water comes from Manoa Falls, and it goes underground and makes an underground river to Wailele.
• The rain water flows into low areas.
• The water comes from rain water that makes streams that put water in the pond when it rains.
• When MPI began 100 years ago, they dug the pond and filled it with water.
• It comes from a crack in the wall.
• Pipes underground bring water to the pond.
• There is a drain that brings water.

3. Is the water polluted?  If it is polluted, how does it get polluted?
    Hypotheses:

• Dirt gets in water as it travels.
• Rain comes from the sea and makes it brackish and dirty.
• The 40 days of rain made it dirty.

Since the children's questions guide the inquiry research, the path of our inquiry unit is beginning to unfold.  Each student drew a picture of Wailele and Manoa Valley and wrote about where they think the water comes from and how it gets to the pond.  The students also drew a representation of the water cycle and what they know about the water cycle.  Using these initial ideas as a baseline of student understanding, we will research how the water really does get to Wailele and learn about the water cycle in Hawaii. 

Next week, every student will write their own "legend" of how Wailele was created.  We can't wait to hear the eighteen different versions of Wailele from the students in our class!  After our creative writing project, the students will be introduced to the Hawaiian legend of Kawailele.  Check back next week for an update on what the super students are exploring and learning!

Posted at 10:32 AM| Permalink

Happy New Year! - January 10, 2008

Welcome Back to School
It was wonderful to see all the children's smiling faces on Tuesday morning!  Each and every one of the students seemed enthusiastic, energetic, and excited to be back at school.  We jumped right into the swing of our routine, and it was hard to believe we had been away for a couple of weeks. The students were hard at work without missing a beat. 

Bake Sale Success
Mahalo nui loa to everyone who supported our Bake Sale for the Heifer Foundation!  We raised $339, which will buy honeybees, ducks, chickens, geese, rabbits, and a share of a heifer cow, a goat, a llama, a pig, and a sheep for families around the world.

First Grade Math
The first graders are in the midst of creating surveys and collecting and analyzing data.  In Unit 4, we have been focusing on data analysis and the students are working on sorting and classifying data, representing data, describing data, and designing and carrying out a data investigation.  As seems to be the case with learning, our unit on data analysis began right as we were discussing what we should bake and sell at our Bake Sale in December...a perfect integration of math and inquiry.  The students created a "survey" to find out what items other students at MPI would like to purchase at our bake sale.  The first graders asked the question "What are your two favorite foods to buy at a bake sale?" and gave the following choices: cookies, brownies, popcorn, Rice Krispie treats, mochi, energy bars, muffins, and cupcakes.  The students collected responses and represented the data by using tally marks on a chart.  The winning treat?  Well, popcorn was the leader, followed closely by cookies.  However, at our bake sale, all the homemade snacks seemed to be "favorites."

This week, the students worked with a partner to create a survey question to ask their classmates.  The groups asked these questions and collected the following results:

• "Would you rather play soccer outside or read a book inside?" - AK and LW
  soccer = 7, read book = 10
• "Would you rather play with your toys or Wii?" - KM and NM
• toys = 1, Wii = 18
• "Would you rather have mint chocolate chip ice cream or Neapolitan ice cream?" - AS and EM
  
• mint = 4, Neapolitan = 14
• "Which do you like better: playing a Wii or reading a book?" - JM and KI
• Wii = 16, book = 3
• "Would you rather eat a hot dog or pizza?" - CH and JH
• hot dog = 4, pizza = 15
• "What do you like better: watching TV or baking with your Mommy?" - SY, SS and MO
• baking with your mom = 17, watching TV = 4
• "Would you rather watch TV or color?" - MH and BS
• watch TV = 13, color = 3
• "Which do you prefer: watching TV or reading a book?" - KJ and EY
• watching TV = 14, reading = 5
• "Would you rather be an iguana or a catfish?" - CM and JC
• iguana = 16, catfish = 4

After the groups collected the data for their question, each group shared their survey with the class and told us the question they asked, how they represented the data, what they found out from the survey, and anything that was surprising or interesting about the results. An equation that represents the data was collected.  The students are having such a great time with this unit on data analysis!

Thank You
We need to back up a few weeks to before Christmas vacation and thank all the families who sent in a book for our "Secret Santa" book exchange.  There's nothing better than giving the gift of reading to the children.  Thank you to all the parents who helped at our Christmas party: Sandy You, Wendy Handa, Danelle and Cliff Cheng,  Butch Loo and Taylor Loo (sister or KL), Tracy McConnell, Laura Adams, and Donna Wong.

  Thank you to LW for bringing in cupcakes to celebrate his birthday.  We love the birthday book he donated to our classroom, The McGraw-Hill Children's Dictionary.  It's a great resource for the students!  Thank you to KL for the delicious cupcakes to celebrate her birthday.  Okay, fast forward to the New Year; "thank-yous" are in store for KM for the yummy popcorn and energy bars to celebrate his birthday.  Our class is also enjoying reading the birthday books he donated to our classroom: Knight: A Noble Guide for Young Squires, 101 Amazing Animal Fact Cards, and Our World. 

Thank you to all the families who are saving and sending in Box Tops.  Please keep the Box Tops coming!!!

Odds and Ends

• Homework will be sent home Friday, January 11, and be due the following Thursday.  We will be using new writing folders for the spelling words, so don't be surprised when your child brings home a different homework folder.
• Send back Student Portfolios so that we can begin reflecting on and adding work for the new semester.
• We will begin our new Inquiry Unit next Monday.  Our focus is a sense of time and place in Manoa Valley.  Since MPI is celebrating 100 years in Manoa this year, we will be investigating Kawailele, the freshwater spring on our campus.  The students will explore the cultural history, cultural responsibility, natural history, and environmental stewardship and conservation related to Kawailele.

Posted at 7:50 AM| Permalink