We started learning about fractions this week which was... AWESOME. Fractions are so much fun and our kiddos really get into them because they’re so practical. Oh, and I must warn you, when you begin looking for fractions you’ll start seeing them everywhere. Here was our introduction to fractions. I’d say it was pretty memorable.

{and that, my friend, is a pepperoni pizza}

{some students got so inspired they made their own pizzas}

{...yum!}

...and a veggie pizza for all you healthy pizza eaters out there... more pepperoni for the rest of us! =)

Yesterday I had the opportunity to go to swimming lessons with 1D and I’m so glad that I did! Learning to swim can be a so scary for a lot of children so I was blown away by how brave and adventurous these kiddos were - even in 12 feet of water - amazing!!! There were also a few people who were extremely anxious about getting into the water, but were brave enough to make the jump - even in the presence of intense fear. It’s so moving to see a person stepping out in faith overcoming their fears, especially when that person is still very young. What an incredible life lesson!

{“who can make the biggest splash?!”}

{all smiles - so proud of this little guy}

1D is officially ready for summer and all the swimming that comes with it! =)

I’m still having issues issues uploading our video, but I thought I’d go ahead and post some of our journal entries from the paper recycling project. These are the steps we took to recycle our own paper:

1. We tore our paper into small pieces and soaked it in water for a while

2. We pureed the paper in a blender then poured it onto an old window screen

3. We strained out the extra water using a shopvac then let our paper air dry for a few days 

After we completed our experiment students to documented how paper is recycled using words and illustrations... these were the results: 

{this 1st grader: The vacuum was easy to draw because it looks just like R2D2 in Starwars! ... love.}

{Yes, unfortunately, it did look quite a lot like bird poop...}

I hope everyone had a fantastic spring break! The Friday before break we recycled our paper and it was by far one of the most intense and fun experiments we’ve done yet... and it gets even better... Ms. Moore was kind enough to video part of our experiment for me to show you all (I’m having some technical difficulties on this one, but hopefully I’ll have the kinks worked out and the video posted by the end of the day. I also have some great journals to show you - all coming soon!

This morning we had a special visit from the gospel choir at Xavier University - traveling here all way from Cincinnati, Ohio. These college students were incredible to watch and their joy was contagious... the first grade loved every minute! Here’s a clips from our awesome morning:

If you haven’t had a chance to read this book I highly recommend it! We hear a lot of terms about trash and recycling, but this book does a great job of making a really complex system surprisingly simple. It also shows exactly what happens in landfills now vs. years ago. The illustrations in this book are also outstanding... If you are a little confused with all the hype over where our garbage goes then this is book for you and for your kids  =)

{Where Does the Garbage Go?  by Paul Showers... get it here} 

{illustrating how plastic is recycled}

{illustrating how glass is recycled}

{illustrating how paper is recycled}

{illustrating how aluminum is recycled}

HINT HINT: our kiddos don’t know it yet, but on friday we will be recycling our own paper from start to finish... and I don’t mean just taking it to a recycling facility! WE are doing the recycling ourselves - turning old paper into new, usable, recycled paper! If you’d like to come along and see how paper is recycled for yourself, we would love to have you!!! The recycling begins at 8:15 on Friday with 1B and continues throughout the day with all the first grade classes until 2:45. 

If you are interested in recycling with us this Friday, please feel free to send me an email ( wmccuistion@newhopememphis.org ), speak with your child’s lead teacher, or stop me in the hallway anytime! 

This week we’re discovering how true it is that the more you know, the more you care. After learning so much about the awesome land around us, we began discussing an extremely current side of landforms - land pollution. We started our by exploring the photograph below through a “See-Think-Wonder” activity. See-Think-Wonder is a really great activity to help children practice complex thinking while noticing details. It usually goes something like this....

1. We look at an image or object and state only what we see (for example, “I see an old toothbrush”).
PS. It’s amazing what children point out that us adults never even noticed!

2. We take turns sharing what we think about the image/object (for example, “I think this place may be stinky” or “I would not want to live there”).

3. We begin sharing what we’re wondering about (for example, "I wonder if mice live here” or “I wonder who made that mess”).

{here are our See-Think-Wonder charts from 2 classes}

After we filled in our chart, we zoomed out to this image:

{from here}

This photograph evoked some serious emotion in our first graders.... it was a mixture of sadness and anger to think that someone would do this our land. It was equally sobering to understand we do this to our land when we are not wise with our trash. Many people were shocked to know that this is where their trash ends up and were eager to do something to change this. It was absolutely amazing see how much the 1st graders at New Hope care about and feel a responsibility to take care of the earth. I feel so honored to have the opportunity to learn alongside these kiddos. It’s so encouraging to know that they will be the ones taking care of our world and figuring out creative alternatives to make this world a healthier place. 

Thankfully, we didn’t leave things on a sad note. We read this book by Paul Showers together to discover some alternative ways to get rid of trash... more on this coming soon  =)

Last week we began learning about things that change land and discovered a surprising culprit: Water. We found that the speed of the moving water is directly related to the rate of erosion on the land. Fast-moving water causes the land erode more quickly, while slow-moving water causes the land to erode more slowly. And because we are super official scientists, we tested our theories using our favorite part of the scientific method... experimenting!

{We poured water over a mountain of sand at different speeds, then investigated the results}

. . .

Here are some journal entries where people recorded the results from their experimentation:

We just began learning how to journal to show change over time... we got pretty into this comic-strip style of journaling!