Raft Game, Welcome to February, and Washing Fabric!

Yesterday we played the "raft game" which practices the concept of making an exchange. Each turn you rolled the dice and took the corresponding number of beans. With five beans you could make an exchange for one plank. It took seven planks to purchase a raft. The person in our class the with most rafts and planks at the end of the game, won! This was a well loved game we will play again!

Today we opened the January weather predictions we wrote back in December. Many of us were correct and predicted that we would have the most sunny and cloudy days in January.

We also created our February calendars today!

This afternoon we brainstormed how we could best get the stains out of our white fabric which was covered in mustard, BBQ sauce, strawberry jelly, and Ketchup! First we scrubbed them with brushes and water. Next, we added laundry soap to the water. We found that mustard was the most difficult stain and didn't completely come out of our fabric.

Have a great weekend!
Love,
Ms. Conlee

Water and Stains on Fabric!

Yesterday we experimented to see what happens when fabric gets wet. Each of us had an eyedropper and a watchful eye to notice any changes as the fabric became more and more wet. We noticed that some fabrics absorbed the water quickly, some changed colors when they were wet, and others became very heavy. We worked with ten different kinds of fabric and predicted which would make the best raincoat. Our experiment taught us that nylon would make the best raincoat because water rolls off it and does not absorb into the fabric which would keep us dry for a longer amount of time. 

Today we added stains to white fabric using different things we may find in our refrigerator. They are hanging on a clothesline in our classroom to dry with great anticipation to see if we can remove all of the stains from our fabric. I wonder if we will need to use anything special to help turn our fabric back to white?

See you tomorrow!
Love,
Ms. Conlee

Our Class Store!

This week we began using "finger lights" during our reading groups! They are helping keep us on track to read the words as they are written. 

This week we have practiced counting by 5's in various ways. Today we counted combinations of nickels and tallied a "heads" or "tails" coin toss using nickels. We also opened a class store, where friends had to count combinations of nickels by 5's in order to make a purchase. Our class store was selling juice boxes, fruit snacks, toys, and Rice Krispie Treats!

Have a great weekend!
Love,
Ms. Conlee

What Am I?

This week we  have read a lot of informational text (non-fiction) about different animals. Yesterday we chose an animal to research and read our informational text with a partner. 

Today we wrote "guess who" books using the facts we've learned about our research topic. See if you can guess what they are from the detailed clues!

 I have a horn. I have wings. I am rainbow colored. What am I?
 

 A unicorn!

 I live in the sea. I have a fin. I eat fish. What am I?

A shark!

Stay warm and see you on Friday!

Love,

Ms. Conlee

Measurement and Weaving

Today we read the story, How Big Is A Foot? and discussed several different tools we use for measuring. In the story, the king orders an apprentice to build a bed for the queen that is 3 feet wide and 6 feet long. The bed turns out to be far too small for the queen because the apprentice's feet are much smaller than that of the king. 

We created the two beds from the story using our feet and a king's sized foot.

First we had to trace our own foot on a piece of paper and cut it. Then we but out a king's sized foot. 

 A 3 x 6 foot bed using our own feet for measuring was too small. There was not enough room for our crown!

 Then we created a 3 x 6 foot bed using the king's sized foot. It was a just the right size for each of our friends!

We also compared measurements of objects around the classroom using both feet as our measuring tool.

Last week we learned how fabric is created by weaving strings together in an over-under pattern. Today we began weaving using yarn. It will take us another day to finish, but we all agreed it would take a REALLY long time to weave enough fabric to create a shirt!

Thanks for a great day!
Love,
Ms. Conlee