Today, we began with a review of the U.S. coins. The visual differences of the coins were described, the presidents on the coins were named, and their values were stated. Then, we used realistic-sized plastic coins to work on fundamental money concepts, including counting, sorting, and addition. The number of each coin needed to make one dollar was discussed, and the amounts were counted and sorted into groups. Once the correct amount was reached, it was traded in for a one-dollar bill.
Today, we completed the Statue of Liberty penny experiment. The observations of the pennies during each stage of the experiment were described and colored to match on the recording sheet. Then, we worked on a U.S. coin booklet. The details of each coin were described, the presidents were named, and the coin values were written in two ways. These activities were stapled into the Social Studies journal, and we finished with a money melody.
To correlate with our American symbols lesson, we conducted a penny experiment to show why the Statue of Liberty is green. Pennies were placed in paper cups along with white vinegar and salt, and stirred to clean. Then, the pennies were removed, put in a shallow plate on a paper towel, and sprinkled with salt and vinegar to allow the copper to oxidize and turn green, mimicking the Statue of Liberty's patina. We will monitor how the pennies change over the next few days and write our observations. This activity teaches about oxidation and the chemical process behind the Statue of Liberty's color through hands-on observation of the penny's transformation over time.
Today, our lesson focused on American symbols. We used picture cards to help recognize American symbols and identify their importance. While looking through the picture cards, we discussed their locations, important facts about each symbol, and matched the cards with their labels. Finally, the pictures were stacked to create small books. We finished with a corresponding video to reinforce the lesson.
Today's lesson focused on citizens. We discussed the characteristics that make an upstanding citizen within our school, community, and country. Then, we reviewed the vocabulary words associated with the lesson and completed a vocabulary flip page, which was glued into the social studies journal.
Today, Remington and I completed a number sense and place value science activity on whales. We learned about different kinds of whales and where they are primarily found. Remington circled different locations on a map of North America and answered questions related to their numbers seen on a whale study. While working, Remington and I listened to the songs that are sung by each whale.
This morning, we focused on the concept of working together. We discussed how we can work together with our family, people at school, individuals in our community, and people unknown that live far away. Examples of how to help were given before Remington thought of his own ways to be helpful by working together.
This morning, Remington and I discussed how maps can help show us locations within a classroom, community, state, country, or the world. We focused on a community map and how to find the locations of different buildings by looking for street names. Then, we drew our own map with Pokemon named streets and buildings.
Today's lesson focused on cardinal directions: north, south, east, and west and symbols. Remington used a compass rose to help him identify where items were located on a classroom map and how they were represented by symbols.
