Our Wonders

Most of us have finished up our first wonder projects and have presented our new information with the class. We have learned a lot through our Wonder Wednesdays!

Some things we've learned so far:

• Using non-fiction books to find information
• Using PebbleGo to read and understand new facts
• Creating sticky notes to write down new facts
• Taking our information and creating a presentation
• Choosing the best way to present our information (So far we've created posters, booklets and slideshows using Explain Everything)

You can check out our wonders on our blog: https://kidblog.org/class/gradeonelearners/posts

Using Google Docs

Today we explored Google Drive again, but this time we used Google Docs and Read and Write to help us with our writing.

Once we had a google doc opened (from our classroom assignments) we had to insert a drawing that we got to create. After completing our picture, we needed to add the words to describe the picture.

Before we started on our own, Mrs. vanRees taught us how to use the microphone to record our thinking. For the most part, the computer was able to type exactly what we wanted to say. We needed to remember to speak clearly, but it worked really well - even with a 'not so quiet' classroom! 

Here are a few examples of our work today. We were allowed to draw what we wanted, as long as it was a picture (not just random lines or icons) and were able to talk/write about it.

How have you used Google Docs and/or Read and Write in your classroom?

Google Drive

There is a new Google Drive link button (above this post) that will directly take you to the sign in page to sign into your Google Drive account. You can do this from school or home.

Please let Mrs. vanRees know if you have any trouble logging into Google Drive at home.

100th Day of School Performance

February 12th was a very busy day in our class! We had a Valentine's Day party, a dance-a-thon AND celebrated the 100th day of school. Mrs. vanRees missed out on the fun that day because Emma was sick, but Miss B. was there for the whole day! In the afternoon we invited our families to come celebrate the 100th day of school with us and Ms. R.V.'s Grade 1/2 class. Together we performed a 100th day song entitled, "We Can Count by 10's" for our visitors. We'd love to share it with you now.

Coding with Scratch

Click HERE to go to Scratch to start coding your own program!

Need a reminder how to use Scratch? Watch the how-to videos HERE.

"We Wonder" Wednesdays

About a month ago, Mrs. vanRees was inspired by a class in the United States that were sharing their learning on twitter about #wonderwednesday. After talking to the teacher, Mrs. vanRees decided that our class needed to start Wonder Wednesdays too. Wonder Wednesdays happen on Wednesdays for 1 hour to focus on our own wonders (inquires) and then doing research to find out more about it. So far we have had 2 Wonder Wednesdays. Last week we started choosing wonders and creating questions that we want to learn more about. Today we talked about where we can get information from. We came up with a list of places we can help us learn:
- Internet
(our WRDSB online library learning commons has some great resources that are primary friendly!*)
- Twitter
- Books (non-fiction)
- People - our families, experts (we can be experts too!)
- Movies (documentaries)

We each came up with a few specific questions about out topic and then started to research. Today we used the PebbleGo app on the iPads. It's such a great website with information that is at our level AND it can be read out for us with 1 click.  Some of us couldn't find what we were looking for in PebbleGo, but found some great information using Britannica Elementary, another great website with primary friendly research.

After 20 minutes of researching and learning we came up with some new learning already! We wanted to share it with you, so we tweeted it out using our class twitter account: @Grade1Raptors and #wonderwednesday. If you're not following us on twitter yet, you can read about our learning below, but we'd love if you would follow us too! We have a lot more learning to do this year!

Wonder Wednesday Learning for January 20:

Katelyn: blind is when you are unable to see 

Leah: Golden Retriever have 3 to 7 babies 

Misha: The sun is a big star 

Yuvraj: Video games are programs with computers

Cian: The triceratops is a leaf eater and 30 feet long 

Ali Q. The blue whale is the longest mammal ever 

Hayden: video games are cool 

Khloe: Chihuahuas have 3-6 babies

Arianna: turtles lay eggs in the sand to keep them warm 

Dominic: video games can be made by humans

Manush: Triceratops eat meat **We actually did a little more research about Triceratops after we noticed that we had different facts. We all found out that triceratops is actually a herbivore and eats only leafs (plants). 

Thanks for following us on our Wonder Wednesday journey so far. There's so much more to come!

*Parents in our class: a note will be going home shortly that explains how you can log onto the WRDSB online library and use these same resources at home.

A special thanks to @MollyMeck and her class (@msMeck'sclass) for inspiring Mrs. vanRees to get started on Wonder Wednesdays!

Raz Kids

Click HERE to go to Raz Kids.

If you need help logging in or have forgotten your password, please ask Mrs. vanRees.