Another Year of Learning Fun

I am looking forward to another fun year with your students in SMAC.
This year has started with the Life Cycle of a Plant. We began by identifying some parts of a plant, the seed, stem, leaf, and root. We also learned that plants need 3 things to live, which are good soil, water, and sunlight.

This week all students will plant their own plant. The seeds they will choose from will be different sizes. Corn is the largest, squash is medium sized, and the smallest are the radish seeds. I will keep their plants in my room throughout September so that we can track the growth. There will be 3 main experiments included in this unit. The first is that we will record and graph the growth. The second is we will observe one plant that will get sunlight, and one that will not. We will discuss what is different and why it is different. The 3rd experiment will be viewing a plant leaf under the microscope. They will be able to see the cells that make up a plant. The older children will be told about the plant's food making chemical chlorophyll, along with the importance of sunlight.
Whew! There is a lot to cover. At the end of the unit the children may bring their plants home to show you what they have learned.

Seeds found inside squash

Squash plant after 1 week growth

Carol is demonstrating the proper way to milk a cow

Down on the Farm

March has been a happening place in Smac. We have been talking about the farm and animals who live there. We talked about horses and saw kids like us learning to ride at special stables. The next week we learned about cows. We made homemade butter out of cream, and took turns "milking" the cow. This week we are talking about chickens. We cracked an egg open to look inside and we watched video showing how a new chick hatches. We will finish the farm unit with a creative writing project. All in all, learning about the farm was a lot of fun!

The Way I Feel
February is all about feelings. The book The Way I Feel has fun pictures that depict emotions that all of us experience.

 We read the book together. Then we took a look at some video of Kauri Sue friends who may be feelings some of those same feelings.

I don't like this feeling

I like this feeling

Part of the lesson was discussing good choices that we can make when we feel undesirable feelings. 

From Ocean to Desert

Utah desert

We are talking about the Desert this week. The students have learned that Utah is the state in which they live, and Utah is a desert!

In order to survive in the desert, plants need to be able to store water. The kids were able to feel the leaves of an Aloe Vera plant. The outside was tough and had prickly spines. The we cut open the leaf and the kids could feel it was wet and soft inside.

Desert Animals

We have talked about some cute desert animals, and some that are not so cute. The kids have found even the most repulsive animals interesting. (Though some kids did not want to touch the toy snake!)

Diamond Back Rattlesnake

Scorpion

Coyote

Jack Rabbit

Desert Spiney Lizard

Next week we are headed to the forest!

Have To Have a Habitat!

January is about habitats. The first week we had an overview of what a habitat was. It is after all a weird word. We will be talking about 4 habitats: The ocean, the desert, the forest, and people habitats. The purpose of this unit is to teach the students that animals live in different places and environments. Those that live in the ocean could not live in the desert. At the end of the unit I will have them sort animals into their habitats. I'll let you know how it goes.

For the next 2 weeks we are targeting the ocean habitat. Several of the classrooms are following the theme with a trip to the Aquarium. I am learning along with the kids! Check out this video created by BBC and see if you are familiar with facts of the Blue Whale.

Star Fall in Math

Thanks to our wonderful Vice Principal, Courtney Titus, we are able to access more StarFall. In math I have been using StarFall to begin the class with a counting song. The animations and music are fun. Then I use the number portion of StarFall to introduce and practice a number a week. StarFall.com is free in it's limited form. Try it out, it's fun!!

The Water Cycle

We have been talking about water this month. We are learning that water can change. It can be liquid, a gas when it evaporates, and a solid if frozen. 
The kids got to feel and see water as a liquid. They found they could not pick up a liquid! They also got feel and see water as a solid. Many did not like the cold feel of the ice. And, with the help of our mist maker they could see water in a gas form.

Pretty cool!

Germs and Handwashing

 Science is always so exciting isn't it? For germ month I targeted 7 areas in the school and swabbed them for germs, let them grow for a week in a Petri dish, and examined them under a microscope. The findings were kind of gross. 

handrail

desk top

drinking fountain

bathroom floor

classroom toilet