Constellations

As a part of our study of day and night, the students learned about constellations. They then created their own constellation on black paper out of silver star stickers. They then had to count how many stars were in their constellation. They then had to write at least two sentences to explain the shape of their constellation and how many stars formed the shape.

Math and Science Family Night

Last Thursday we had a great turnout for our annual Math and Science Night. Congratulations to Carmen for being a winner in the Math and Science Night poster contest! In first grade, the students could make constellations in the science room or play addition and place value games in the math room. In science, the students placed a printout of a constellation on top of a piece of black paper. They then used a push pin to punch a hole where the stars were located. When they held up the black paper to a light, they could see the light through the holes and the constellation shape. In math, they could play "Go Fish to Ten." In this game, it is played like the traditional "Go Fish" game but instead of playing for a matching card, they ask for the card that would add up to ten with their card. Whoever had the most cards at the end won the game. In the other math game, each player would take two cards from the stack and make the biggest number possible. For example, if they drew a six and an eight, the greatest number they could build was eighty-six. Whichever partner had the greatest number overall got to keep the cards. Whoever had the most cards at the end won the game. These are games that can be easily played at home with a simple deck of cards.

How the Milky Way Came to Be

In reading, we read the Cherokee tale of "How the Milky Way Came to Be." In this tale, a family was collecting cornmeal to store for the winter when they noticed it was going missing. The mom and dad told the children that it had to be "Great Dog" who was from another world. Knowing that he would continue to steal, the parents and villagers knew they had to scare away "Great Dog" with drums. When they did, he retreated to the sky in fear leaving a trail of cornmeal behind which turned into stars. After reading, we made connections back to the constellations that the students had made and then the students retold the story on a foldable.

Constellations

In science we have been learning about the difference between night and day. This went perfectly with our two week unit over space. As a part of our study, we read Stargazers by Gail Gibbons to learn about constellations. The students then created their own constellations on black paper using white crayons and silver star stickers. The students then discussed with table groups what their constellation was and how it came to be in the sky. My teammate, Mrs. Timms, had her students create "constellation profiles" as a writing extension. This was a great idea that I will have to incorporate next year.

Constellations

As a part of our study of night and day, the students studied stars and the moon. After learning and brainstorming about stars, the students viewed real life examples of constellations via the internet and then created their own with star stickers.