Saving Fred and Classroom Expectations

Saving Fred is one of my favorite beginning of the year activities.  I like to use it as our first "real" science activity.   It's fun, builds community, gets kids to work together, and reviews the Scientific Method.



Basically, Fred is a gummy worm who was on his boat (a cup) when it started to sink.  Fortunately, Fred had a life preserver (gummy Lifesaver) in his boat!  Unfortunately, it was still in the boat (under the cup).  The goal is to get Fred into the Lifesaver without touching him, the boat, or the life preserver with your hands.  Each person in the group gets a paper clip, though.

Thinking it through.

Working together

Teamwork

Persistence

Success!

Recording the sequence of steps we used to save Fred.

Afterwards as a group, we wrote down what we learned about our process and what was needed to complete the experiment :

-Look and listen carefully
-Think first
-Talk to each other
-Make a plan
-Work Together
-Keep Trying

We decided these were the same behaviors that we would need all year to have a  successful community and we should post them as our classroom rules!

Our Special Area Schdule
A Day -Physical Education/Mrs. Hackett
B Day-Music/Mr. Warner
C Day- Art/Mrs Jackson
D Day- Physical Education
E Day- Music



Two Weekend Assignments

1.BIOGRAPHY BAGS---Find Artifacts from YOUR LIFE!  
DUE: Monday, August 26^th 
Raid your junk drawers, your closet or you room. Look for items that bring back memories. Ticket stubs, pictures, postcards or even candy wrappers. Anything small that represents you!
Remember your biography bag will be displayed at school for several weeks, so get permission before you bring items to school. Everything must be small enough to fit inside a gallon ziploc bag. Our writing lesson will introduce the practice of using primary sources, what they are, how to use them and how to construct a context to tell more of a story. 

2.“The History of My Name” Family Interview Research
Interview a parent or other family member to learn about how you got your name
To provide a personal context for learning about history, we are beginning our first “historical research” at the closest personal level – history as it pertains to our own lives. By researching the history of their names, the students are laying the groundwork to understand historical concepts in increasingly broader contexts over time.Your child is going to interview you about the story behind his/her name. Please elaborate as much as possible, so that your child will be able to write a detailed report about his/her name.

Parent Information Night
I am looking forward to meeting with all of you on  Parent Information Night this coming Thursday,August the 29th. We will be meeting in our classroom, room 213 at 6:30.