Then and Now - Grandparent Interviews

We have all had a chance to interview our grandparents and share with the crew what we learned. Below are some of our thoughts from before we interviewed our grandparents and things we learned during our interviews.

Before Interviewing Our Grandparents, We Thought….

They showed cattle.

They learned in school.

Grandma got lost and found a treasure chest with jewelry.

My grandpa didn’t have any video games. The first one he had was PacMan.

My grandma used to be a teacher.

My grandparents are so old that when they were in first grade there wasn’t a first grade.

There was no TV.

They wrote stories.

My grandparents learned how turtles come alive in kindergarten.

My grandpa’s favorite movie was Lego Jurassic Park. His iPad still has it on it.

When my grandparent was born the water wasn’t running.

When my grandpa’s favorite movie was Ghostbusters.

My grandma learned to tell time in first grade.

When my grandparents were little no girls could go to school.

My grandpa had an electric train set and he passed it on to my dad and he is going to pass it on to me.

My grandma learned to cook in first grade.

My grandpa gave my dad a giant Star Wars ship when he was in first grade.

I think they did math.

I think they read a lot.

After Interviewing Our Grandparents, We Learned…

There were no car seats or seat belts.

There were no fast food restaurants.

They had hot lunch at school.

They played kickball.

They had soup and cheese every Friday.

They wore uniforms to school.

My grandpa liked to eat Mexican food.

Grandma only had 1 friend in first grade.

They weren’t allowed to talk during lunch at school.

They didn’t go to school. They had a private tutor.

They didn’t have toys.

They could only wear dresses to school.

Grandpa worked on 2 farms.

They played tetherball.

My grandpa and his sister cooked dinner. His favorite was meatloaf.

Grandma has 4 friends.

They played kick the can and jump rope.

There were no cell phones, internet or cable.

My grandpa’s favorite animal was a goat.

They could go to school barefoot.

My grandma once punched a boy in the stomach.

My grandma dared her friend to change the time on the clock in order to get more recess.

My grandpa learned to drive a school bus when he was 16.

There was no TV. They had to listen to the radio.

There were no heaters or radios in cars.

There were no backpacks.

They had to bring lunch from home to school every day.

My grandma had two friends named Cora and Carla.

They opened one present on Christmas eve and it was pajamas for Christmas morning.

Holidays were sad because there were no gifts.

My grandpa grew up in Mexico.

My grandma rode a motorcycle when she was a little girl.

The whole school had lunch together.

They loved to go to Dairy Queen.

Doors on stores were manual not electric.

There were no school buses so they walked to school.

They loved the monkey bars.

There was no air conditioning.

They sometimes went to Dairy Queen on Sundays.

They played tag.

My grandma used to be a teacher.

Girls wore dresses and boys wore fancy clothes to school.

Spaghetti and meatballs was my grandma’s favorite dinner.

Fieldwork

We went on a hike today and helped clean up a local trail. We had a great morning as you can see in the photos and album linked below. You will also notice that it wasn't that much of a hike but rather a day to play in nature. Thank you to Mr. G and Ms. Deborah for driving us on the small white buses. The other man you might notice in the photos is Mr. Karl, my husband, a recently retired high school teacher (who was reminded today why he chose to teach high school.)  :)

A couple of funny comments from the day:

• If you see a tiger on the hike, blow your whistle.
• After passing out one glove to each child to use to clean up trash, someone said: It's nice to have one hand without a glove so you can fix you hair and make it perfect.

Nature Day Photo Album

Differentiation

We are hitting that time of year when students become more aware of what other students around them are doing and not doing. Up to this point, they haven't really noticed when some students are doing different things than they are. There are two reasons for this:

1. The differentiation techniques that I have been using have not been very easy for a first grader to spot but they are becoming a bit more obvious.
2. They are becoming more aware of themselves and those around them and how they are the same and different.

I wanted to share with you how I deal with this so it could help you in your discussions with your child at home. I typically begin a crew discussion by asking what day they all lost their first tooth. They will look at me with confusion and explain that they don't all lose their first tooth on the same day and that some of them hadn't lost a tooth yet. I nod and then ask them what day they all learned to ride a two-wheeled bike. By this time a few of the crew will have figured out that I am making a point but others still need to straighten me out and explain things to me. Just to be sure I ask one more question about what day they all learned to walk. Now they all laugh and decide that I am being silly. This is when I talk to them about how we all do things at different times and in different ways and that this is completely normal. I then begin to talk about how this relates to learning to read, write and do math. I explain that we are all going to learn to do those things well but probably not on the exact same day. They usually seem to understand - but understanding something and feeling okay about it are two different things. We will continue to talk about this and how we all have different strengths and weaknesses but that we all continue to learn. You can help by reiterating this at home.

Library is tomorrow!

Telling Time and Counting Coins

Telling time and counting coins are two math skills that are on their way to becoming unnecessary in our world. However, since they aren't gone yet, we are spending a little time learning these skills. In first grade we will learn to tell time to the nearest hour and half hour and count groups of coins including pennies, nickels and dimes. These are things that you can practice with your child when they come up in your everyday life. Future gift ideas might include a clock or watch or an old-fashioned piggy bank. The crew was very excited and fascinated by my teaching clock that has gears so that both hands move together just like a real clock. They were also very interested in the coins we used today. So if you need a quiet moment, give your child a handful of coins and let them sort and notice to their hearts content.

After our whole crew lesson each day we have small group time. We are so lucky to have several adults - assistants and volunteers - come in and help out in our room at the end of the day. Working along with me, we have Ms. Cate, Ms. Margie and Mr. Bob. Each adult works with a different group each day. The groups that don't have an adult with them work on an i-Ready lesson. We are all really enjoying this time.

Finally, I thought you might be interested to know that , yes, it is true that Princess Hadley was the teacher's helper today.

Lowercase Letters

When we write, we are all working on remembering to use lowercase letters except for names, beginnings of sentences and the word "I". It can be easy to slide back into old patterns and use uppercase letters but we need to firmly cement the habit of using lowercase letters correctly. Today we had a discussion about which lowercase letters are small, which are tall and which fall below the line. Then we practiced writing them.

Important Dates

9/27 Crew Hike - sack lunch with no peanut products needed

10/5 RAD ~ Renaissance Adventure Day
10/8-10/19 Fall Break
10/22 No School - Teacher Work Day
11/6 No School - Professional Development Day for Teachers
11/21-11/23 No School - Thanksgiving Break
12/24-1/7 Winter Break

How You Can Be Good at Math and Other Surprising Facts About Learning

A great TED Talk by Jo Boaler, an amazing math educator at Stanford University. This talk will give you lots to think about as you follow your child on their mathematical learning journey. Once again, if you get this post by email, you will need to click through to the crew blog to view this 12 minute video. It is well worth your time. She also has a second TED Talk and a fantastic math website called youcubed.

RAD ~ Renaissance Adventure Day!

We launched our fall fundraiser this morning and we are all so excited. This fundraiser has gone by several different names in the past - Boot Camp, Challenge Day, etc. This year it is called RAD ~ Renaissance Adventure Day. It will be filled with activities and challenges that are based on Adventure Education activities. We are really looking forward to it. RAD will be on October 5th - the day before Fall Break.

Below is the RAD website that has all of the information that you will need to help us raise money and have a great day!

RAD Website: https://sites.google.com/dcsdk12.org/radwebsite/home

Coming home today is your child's fundraiser envelope and information.  On the website on the Student Resources tab, there will be a presentation which the kids can share with you, family members and friends as they ask for donations to help explain the WHY behind this fundraiser.  Our crew and their 6th grade buddies presented this slideshow to each crew in the school so they have experience with this presentation. Please help support and encourage your child to share the importance of REMS and Adventure Ed when asking for donations.  

Cash and check donations are also welcome and should be collected in the attached envelope and returned to school no later than October 5, 2018!.  Checks made payable to REA.

We can't thank you enough for your help! Please be sure to let me know if you have any questions.

Our first math assessment of the year is also in your child's Thursday folder along with a special assignment that is homework for our Expedition. Your child will need to interview a grandparent or someone from their grandparent's generation for this homework - details are in the Thursday folder.

 Library is tomorrow!

Fun Photos