Leaves are Falling!

The leaves are falling and the chilly weather is upon us! BRRR!

This week in the Whales classroom we asked the question; Why do leaves change color, and why do they fall off their tree? The Whales learned that leaves have chlorophyll in them which is the green pigment that absorbs light into food for trees. When it starts getting colder outside and with less sunny days trees don’t need to make as much chlorophyll because there is not as much sunlight to turn into food. With the leaves having less chlorophyll, the other color pigments start to show in leaves; turning the leaves orange, red, and yellow. Because the leaves aren’t doing much during the winter, the trees drop their leaves. If the deciduous trees kept their leaves it would be risky in the winter. If it snowed it could get too heavy for the branches to hold and they could snap. Once the first frost happens, trees can no longer lose their leaves. Go on a tree walk with your Whale and notice the trees that are being brave by keeping their leaves on still. Notice the trees that are cautious by dropping all their leaves. The Whales collected different types of deciduous leaves around our school campus. They collected Chestnut, Ginko, Maple, and Oak leaves. We put them into big bins and carried them back to our classroom. The following day we got into groups and sorted the leaves based on different attributes. One group sorted by size, another by color, and the last group sorted by leaf type. They then had to work together to count the leaves in each group. To do this, the Whales found it easier and quicker to put the leaves in groups of ten and then count by tens to find the total number. When all of the groups finished, we traveled around the classroom, where each group presented their findings. They all worked so hard and did not give up!

The Whales are READERS! We started reading groups this week. There are 4 different reading groups. The Piggies, Knuffle Bunnies, Pigeons, and the Elephants. Each day of the week the Whales will meet in their group and will do a different reading center. Once a week their group will meet with Ms. Abby to have group reading time, where they will read a new book together, work on targeted reading skills, and will get new books for their book bag. If they are not with Ms. Abby they are completing a reading activity, and then reading from their book bags. This week the Whales were so excited to find out what group they are in. They all had smiles on their faces and I heard students saying, “I love books!”. This is a classroom where we value books and we are so excited to see the growth the Whales will have this year in reading!!!

On Friday, We had a lovely math morning with some new but familiar math games. The choices were checkers, shut the box, Uno, Connect 4, and less or more addition war. These are all great games to build problem solving, manipulation with numbers, counting, recognizing numbers, positive sportsmanship, and MUCH MUCH MORE! This weekend spend some time playing a card or dice board game with your Whale!

We continue to see this group of Whales be positive cheerleaders to each other. On days where we have published books, we read the newly published books at the end of our day. All of the Whales give a Whale round-of-applause. And so many Whales will turn to that friend and say “you did such a great job!”. What a bright light these students are. Their happiness, pride, and kindness fill our classroom each day.