Playdough Opens World of Exploration

To help students get to know one another on the first day of school, Ms. Nickless’ first-grade class at Kennerly Elementary School explored playdough together. Everyone received a fist-sized ball of sand-colored homemade dough in a plastic bag. Then, they each had to knead and squeeze their playdough through the bag to find out what color it would become. After the food coloring was all worked in, students were able to take the playdough out of the bag and use it to make different things.

Fourth-graders Introduce, Interview

Students in Kennerly fourth-grade classrooms enjoyed building classroom community through team building and getting-to-know-you activities. Students had fun interviewing one another, finding similarities and differences, playing team building games, and just becoming more comfortable in their new grade and classroom. It was a great way to start fourth grade!

Second Grade Scientists

In Mrs. Kempen’s second grade class at Kennerly, students drew pictures of what they think a scientist is, then learned about the skills scientists use in their experiments, including:

• Observation – Students observed a penny, then hid it and tried to remember the details
• Prediction – Then, they predicted which solution would best clean a penny: vinegar, Sunny D or Coca Cola
• Students also predicted what would happen to a gummy bear that is soaked in water for a day

Students Focus on Thinking in Reading Activity

Ms. Keutzer’s third-graders at Concord recently discussed why “Reading is Thinking” during their Guided Reading unit. They learned that reading is thinking because sometimes we wonder, make predictions, might be confused about something we read, make connections about what we read, realize that a character in a story reminds us of someone we know, or think of a question while reading. Students read for 15 minutes and wrote their thoughts on sticky notes, then shared their “thinking” with each other.