STEAM Bee Bots and the Life Cycle of a Pumpkin

Our most recent science learning has led us to the life cycle of the pumpkin.

To help us practice the stages, we used our coding skills to program our Sunnyside robots, 

the Bee Bots, to travel, in order, to each stage on the mat.

Such a fun introduction to coding and a great way to reinforce our science learning!

Ask your child about it today!

Ta-Da! Metamorphosis!

And we have butterflies! (Five painted ladies and one monarch so far...)

What a Great First Week of First Grade!

Whew! This week sure flew right by!

We spent time getting to know one another and exploring Big Sunnyside!

We had an exciting surprise today, as a few creepy-crawly critters joined our class!

Our caterpillars have arrived! We had a chance to take our first observation... 

and boy are they tiny! Next week we will learn more about their life cycle and their journeys to becoming beautiful butterflies!

Enjoy the weekend!

Welcome to First Grade!

It's hard to believe, but the new school year is almost here and I can't wait to get started!

Over the past few weeks I have been busy decorating, organizing, planning,

and getting the classroom ready for all of my incoming first graders!

I can't wait to meet you all at the Meet Your Teacher event on  

Wednesday, August 29th from 5:00-6:30pm. 

If you already have them, please feel free to bring your school supplies that night, 

along with the important paperwork that was mailed to your home. Students will be able to organize their materials in their desks and find their coat hook in the hallway. I also encourage families to walk around the building that night, helping your first grader familiarize him/herself with the location of important places (restrooms, the cafeteria, the front office, the nurse, our classroom - room 121!)

I also look forward to meeting families at the Getting to Know You meetings on 

Thursday, August 30th. 
These meetings are a great opportunity for me to learn all the special, wonderful things about your child and 

for us to discuss hopes and goals for the school year.

If you haven't signed up for a time slot yet, 

please click here to choose a time that works for your family. 

I am excited to get to know more about all of my new first grade friends!

See you soon!

STEAM - Paper Airplanes!

This afternoon we had a STEAM lesson on paper airplanes.

Students needed to design planes for distance, height, and strength (we taped on a penny for added weight). We tested them out in the classroom and then headed outside to see what factor the wind might play. Our findings were that the skinnier the wings, the farther the plane would fly. 

However, the wider winged planes flew further with the added weight. We also learned that the addition of a paper clip to hold the nose of the plane together helped the planes to fly better as well.

Such a fun learning experience!

3M Science Wizard Visit

We had a visit from Science Wizard Joe this afternoon! He taught us all about cryogenics by using liquid nitrogen. We talked about the different states of matter and what happens to matter when you cool it down and/or heat it up. Our experiments included making a "banana hammer", shattering a racquetball on the floor, and eating "crunchy" marshmallows! What a fun day of learning!

Spring Communication Meetings

Hello Everyone, the time has come to set up communication meetings. I love these opportunities to tell you, in person, how wonderful your children are and how much they are growing in first grade! Please click on the link below to choose a date and time that fit into your busy schedules! I look forward to seeing all of you again!

www.SignUpGenius.com/go/10C0C44AEAD28A3F58-spring

This week at Sunnyside...

This week we will celebrate math and science at Sunnyside by having our Math & Science Family night on Thursday, February 1 from 5:30-7:00. Please come on down to have some dinner, explore the cool math and science stations around the school, and check out the science fair exhibits too! Also, the Scholastic Book Fair will be open that night, 

so you may want to grab a book or two as well!

The APEX Fun Run also kicks off this week! Please look for the lanyard with your child's log-in information to come home today (Tuesday). Please contact me with any questions.

Have a great week!