This week

The first graders had a lot of fun experimenting with vinegar and pennies.  After watching the changes in the pennies, the first graders brainstormed some new "I wonder" questions.  Their little minds were coming up with some great questions.  The first graders recorded their I wonder statements in their science notebooks.  We are going to pick a few to try out in the classroom.
Examples:
I wonder if a penny would turn shiny if put in orange juice.
I wonder if you put a penny in pop if it would get clean.
Hmmm... we will just have to try it out and see what happens!

In math we are starting "layered" lessons.  I gave a pretest on counting mixed sets of coins and then created different activities based on students' academic needs.  The layered lessons will resemble centers.  I will take a group and the rest of the class will be working at different centers.  At the end of next week I will give a post test.  I enjoy doing layered lessons because each child is working at his or her level.  The activity requires the first graders to be able to work independently and follow multistep directions.  We are working hard on becoming resourceful and independent thinkers.  I expect the first graders to be responsible for their own work.