Learning to read and record the temperature

Dear Families,
First grade mathematicians just started our new unit on Penguins (see blog sidebar for unit newsletter and information). In this unit, we will, among other things, learn more about reading and recording the temperatures outside. On Tuesdays, in our Number Corner, the students have the opportunity to practice these important skills as we check the outside temperature together. We will compare these temperatures to those inside and to those in the Antarctic! The students will also learn that the thermometer has numbers listed in fahrenheit and Celsius, which count in two different ways. On the Fahrenheit side (which is the side we will use), numbers count by 2s. 10s are also marked differently. Ask your child to explain.
As we record the temperatures together, the students will also learn skills to see the relative difference between numbers. For example, is 20 closer to 32 or 18?

Penguins, Penguins

Our unit on penguins have just started in our first grade math classroom! We are currently busy creating our suitcases, passports and learning about penguins as we will "travel" on a "plane" next week to Antarctica! In this unit, the students will learn to measure temperatures, heights, weights, compare numbers and read graphs/charts by exploring penguins in Antarctica. I have created a separate wiki-page for inter-disciplinary connections. We started exploring some of the sites and videos today, and hope you and your child will spend time learning about penguins at hhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifome as well. Click here to access this site directly. Thank you and have fun learning about penguins!