It's funny how on my day off, I find myself finally having a few moments to write on the blog! I always have things going through my mind that I want to put on here, but I seem to run out of minutes in my day! So, I thought I'd take a few brief minutes at my kitchen table to update you on a few things from this week!
First, a huge thank you to all of you for making time in your busy schedules to come to conferences. It's a week that I always feel I have to gear up for, knowing that it will be super busy; however, I am so thankful for the time (even though it is so limited!) to visit with you! I so appreciate you being helpful in keeping me on schedule. I hope that I was able to update you on where we are so far this year. Do feel free to drop me an email if you have any more questions or ideas!
As a fun end to our busy week, we had Mrs. Karen Adams from Farm Bureau's "Ag in the Classroom" come talk to us Thursday afternoon. She gave a presentation on soybeans. She brought in a soybean plant from the field. The kids had a chance to hold a soybean and investigate it. We learned what the hilum of the seed is...it's where the soybean connects to the pod. Mrs. Adams called the hilum the bellybutton of the soybean!! If you get a chance, you should quiz your first grader on what the hilum is!
Mrs. Adams then read a book to us about a soybean. We learned the many products that soybeans are used in. Some of the items that she brought in included soybean flour, chocolate, newspaper ink, a t-shirt, and lotion. The students even had the opportunity to try some lotions on their hands if they wished! It was a great learning experience! We look forward to having Mrs. Adams come back next month to talk to us more about farmers!
And on a fun final note...yesterday in math we learned about subtracting to compare. This is always a little bit of a tricky concept to get across to the kids, so this year I decided to put a fun spin on it. I told the kids about the many, MANY pairs of shoes I have on our shoe rack at home, and how FEW Caleb has. I drew pictures of my ten, and then of Caleb's three. We learned to buddy up the pairs of shoes, his and mine, until we ran out of his. Then we counted how many of mine were left without buddies...that was how many MORE I had than Caleb! (Mrs. Stam has MANY MORE than Caleb...there's a whole closet full upstairs, too!!!). :) So, take some time to ask your student about that, and then maybe try that at home. Compare how many shoes Mom and Dad have; or, compare how many spoons and fork are in the drawer. Have the kids buddy them up and see how many are left!
On that note...I think I'm going to keep going here at home! I am enjoying my day off so far...I've been busy in my kitchen since 5:45! I may just snag a nap today if I can! Enjoy your long weekend, and see the first graders Monday morning!!
Blessings,
Mrs. Stam