October 2

Expedition News

Title: I Love the Mountains!

Guiding Questions:

How do challenges make us stronger?
What is special about our Sierra Nevada Mountains?

Case Study #1: Trailblazing!

Learning Targets:

I can use the SIERRA norms to overcome challenges.
I can design a realistic goal for myself.

Case Study #2: My Sierra Nevada

Learning Targets:

I can describe the characteristics of local landforms.
I can identify local mountain peaks.

Case Study #3: Weather or Not I’m Prepared

Learning Targets:

I can determine how the weather will affect my outing in the mountains.
I can explain how the mountains affect local weather.

The first graders are off to an exciting start with their study of the mountains! Thanks to mountaineering experts, Elizabeth Scott (14 years old!), Andy Scott and Mike Davis, the first graders have learned how to prepare for an outing in the mountains (gear, weather, itinerary, food/water, route) as well as how to set and attain personal goals. Andy Scott taught the children how to break a large goal into smaller, more manageable parts. He highlighted this strategy as one used by mountaineers who attempt to summit enormous mountains such as Mount Everest. Armed with this knowledge, the first graders were able to tackle the daunting task of summiting Donner Peak. They identified three, short-range goals along the route, and everyone made it to the tip-top of the rock “crown”.

Next week, we will be applying our new goal setting skills to the realm of the classroom. Our crew will be identifying academic strengths and pinpointing areas in which to improve. This will serve as useful preparation for our upcoming goal setting conferences. In addition, our crew will “take our show on the road” to kindergarten next week. The first graders will make a presentation to their younger schoolmates on goals and goal setting. This presentation will, in turn, prepare the kindergartners for their first experience with goal setting conferences.

Writing time has been very closely linked with our mountains expedition this fall. The first graders have been busy exploring the form of narrative writing. Our focus has been on sequence and expanding upon a topic. Following writing guru, Lucy Caulkins, we have written “small moment” stories about our hikes. The children learned to take an interesting moment in time and make it come alive. There were several stories about licking “lolliTops”–complete with wrappers, sticky lips and yummy details! Ask your first grader if you don’t yet know what a “lolliTop” is. 🙂

Your youngsters have also been busy reading up a storm! I am amazed by how well they have adapted to our Daily 3 literacy time. They practice reading and word work with great seriousness of purpose and independence. Parent volunteers have been a wonderful addition to literacy time. Volunteers act as a living “listening center” by reading aloud to small groups of children. Research tells us that children benefit from many models of fluent, expressive reading. Thank you, volunteers, for reading to our crew each week! If you are interested in signing up for a day, please contact me. We would love to have you! Also, book bags and sight word lists will be coming home shortly. An email will follow next week with more information.

Last, but not least, we have been delving deeply into the world of numbers during math time! Our new Bridges curriculum is rich with opportunities to explore the concepts of “big” numbers, skip counting, addition and subtraction. Ask your youngsters to describe the number racks they made with beads and pipe cleaners. (It is somewhat akin to an abacus–in style.) They have been busy being “number detectives” and trying to determine missing addends in various equations. They are beginning to “see” combinations for the numbers 1-10. This is a necessary precursor to one of our first grade goals, mastering +/- math facts to 10.

All in all, we have had a fabulous start to the year in the Bell Crew. Your youngsters are truly starting to develop a sense of “crew” together. They depend on each other, they support each other and they even cheer one another up the mountains!

Hooray for the B Crew!

Crew Dates