Grade 1 Science

By Natalie Smith
September 24, 2009

Why does the weather change? Why do things melt? Why do some animals have claws? Kids discover the answers.

In first-grade science, teachers focus on helping students learn to observe the world around them. Textbooks typically divide the year into three units — life science, earth science, and physical science. During their earth science study, kids learn about sand, rocks, soil, and air — what they are and what they’re made of. Students learn about why the weather changes and how to use measurement tools like thermometers. In life science, children explore the differences between living and nonliving things, the parts of a plant, and the characteristics of various animals. Children learn that organisms, including people, have basic needs (such as air and food), live in many types of environments, and have different body parts to help them meet their needs, such as claws, tails, and trunks. As part of their introduction to physical science, first-graders discover that materials can come in different forms, such as solids, liquids, and gases. Teachers may demonstrate how materials can change properties through mixing, heating, or cutting. Children also begin to learn about the properties of heat, light, and magnets. Above all, first-graders learn that careful investigating means asking good questions and recording what they learn.

Green Kids. Elementary schools have taught children the importance of caring for the environment for decades. But in today’s first-grade classrooms, students are learning that being environmentally responsible means more than just picking up their trash. Expect your grandchildren to learn how to sort recyclables and conserve energy and water, and don’t be surprised when they bring those lessons home and question why you’re not doing all you can for the planet.

• Learning to make observations using all five senses is a key entry point into the study of life science. This article offers suggestions for activities that will help parents and grandparents aid children in their sensory development.

• As first-graders learn to use measuring tools, they’ll also learn about units of measurement. But they may not realize that before people developed the metric system, they based many units of measurement on parts of the body. David Adler and Nancy Tobin’s entertaining How Tall, How Short, How Faraway? (Holiday House, 1999) introduces grandchildren to the surprising history of measurement.

• It’s important for first-graders to observe objects and organisms in different environments. And though there may not be a coral reef near your town, Marianne Berkes and Jeanette Canyon’s colorful Over in the Ocean: In a Coral Reef (Dawn Publications, 2004) could be the next-best thing. Encourage kids to interact and respond to the images they see inside.

• The first-grade physical-science curriculum will have kids experimenting with forces like magnetism and electricity. Help your grandchild explore these concepts and more with interactive science clips from the BBC.

• Understanding basic weather terminology is an essential part of first-grade physical science. In Lucy Cousins’s Maisy’s Wonderful Weather Book (Candlewick, 2006), the beloved mouse can help you review these words with your grandchild.

Watch Mommy and Daddy Grow Up. Children love seeing pictures of their parents as youngsters, so why not use those photos to help kids learn about life science? As you show grandchildren pictures of their mom or dad growing up, point out how he or she changed over the years, and ask the kids to identify similarities and differences in the photos as they progress over time. Ask your grandchildren to pull out their own family pictures and consider how they, too, have changed since they were infants.

A Bird Observatory. Here’s a simple activity to help grandchildren engage with nature: spread peanut butter on a pine cone, roll it in birdseed, then use string to hang it outside. Observe with your grandchildren how birds come to eat the seed. As you watch, note that food is just one reason that animals need plants. Ask the kids if they can think of others.

From Liquid to Solid Snack. In the right grandparent’s hands, even snack time can become a science lesson. Show grandchildren how to turn a liquid into a solid by making juice pops. Pour their favorite juice into an ice tray, put a toothpick into each cube, freeze, and enjoy. Extend the lesson by asking kids if they can think of how the liquid could change into a gas instead.

Editor’s Note: Natalie Smith is an assistant editor at Scholastic News Edition 4 and a freelance writer based in New York City.

We would like to know what you think? dan@youngchronicle.com

Source: Grandparants

Our Children Sing Songs of Obama’s Glory

By Allahpundit
Sept. 24, 2009

No word on where or when this was shot but it was posted to YouTube just two days before The One’s speech to students, which makes me wonder if it was part of some school’s festivities for the screening.

I think parents’ fears about their kids being politically indoctrinated are usually overblown, but I’m open to persuasion by compelling evidence — like, for example, this, or the vid you’re about to see. Getting little kids to croon about how awesome the president is troubles me less than the pop quiz the boss posted, mainly because they’re too young to understand and/or assimilate the agenda they’re singing about (and way too young to vote, natch). But Guy Benson got my atheist ire up when he noted that one of the lines about The One here, heard near the beginning from the kid who’s singing solo, is an adaptation from a hymn about how much Jesus loves the little children.

Which makes this an extreme example of what the boss was so worried about vis-a-vis Obama’s speech: Not that he’d say something nutty or overtly political to kids but that some of his more devout cultists in the teaching ranks would take the speech as a license to push the political envelope in the classroom. And here we are.

Source: Hot Air      Fox Nation

Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think? And did you know this was going on in your child’s school? dan@youngchronicle.com

School Kids Taught to Praise Obama

Medal of Honor Recipient – Cpl. Jason L. Dunham USMC

By Dan Samaria
Publisher/YC
Sept. 23, 2009

Each week we at the Chronicle will be honoring one of these true heroes. We will call it Medal of Honor Recipient of the Week. We hope you will join with us to honor these true heroes. Who have given us the greatest sacrifice that one could give their life, to save their fellow soldiers?

We would like to know what you think. dan@youngchronicle.com

This Week’s Hero: Cpl. Jason L. Dunham USMC

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as Rifle Squad Leader, 4th Platoon, Company K, Third Battalion, Seventh Marines (Reinforced), Regimental Combat Team 7, First Marine Division (Reinforced), on 14 April 2004.

Corporal Dunham’s squad was conducting a reconnaissance mission in the town of Karabilah, Iraq, when they heard rocket-propelled grenade and small arms fire erupt approximately two kilometers to the west.

Corporal Dunham led his Combined Anti-Armor Team towards the engagement to provide fire support to their Battalion Commander’s convoy, which had been ambushed as it was traveling to Camp Husaybah. As Corporal Dunham and his Marines advanced, they quickly began to receive enemy fire. Corporal Dunham ordered his squad to dismount their vehicles and led one of his fire teams on foot several blocks south of the ambushed convoy.

Discovering seven Iraqi vehicles in a column attempting to depart, Corporal Dunham and his team stopped the vehicles to search them for weapons. As they approached the vehicles, an insurgent leaped out and attacked Corporal Dunham. Corporal Dunham wrestled the insurgent to the ground and in the ensuing struggle saw the insurgent release a grenade.

Corporal Dunham immediately alerted his fellow Marines to the threat. Aware of the imminent danger and without hesitation, Corporal Dunham covered the grenade with his helmet and body, bearing the brunt of the explosion and shielding his Marines from the blast. In an ultimate and selfless act of bravery in which he was mortally wounded, he saved the lives of at least two fellow Marines.

By his undaunted courage, intrepid fighting spirit, and unwavering devotion to duty, Corporal Dunham gallantly gave his life for his country, thereby reflecting great credit upon him and upholding the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service.

Source: US Military

Welcome to Lenny’s Club House

By Lenny
September 23, 2009

Welcome to Lenny’s Clubhouse! He loves to read everything you send in, and he likes to share them too. So, share your stories, jokes, recipes, ideas, tips, art… you name it, this is the place to share it! Email us your submissions today!

Here is this week’s Story:

“My favorite thing about having a food allergy is that I get to bake lots of safe goodies in the kitchen with my mom and brother.”

~ Madison, age 4, allergic to tree nuts

Source: Food Allergy

Editor’s Note: We would like to here your stories and what you think? dan@youngchronicle.com

Toddlers and Biting What do We Do?

By Wiki How
September 23, 2009

Toddlers bite when they’re frustrated and don’t know how else to express it, when they’re interested in finding out more about someone, and when teething. These are some pieces of advice to convince toddlers to stop biting people.

Steps

Give your toddler another way to express frustration. If they’re not talking too much yet, they may be able to use sign language to communicate instead – even if they have no hearing problems at all. Other ways to express frustration include things like hitting a pillow, or teaching them one new special word to say when they’re angry.
A teething toddler may bite to relieve the pain and communicate irritation at the same time. Provide your toddler with something safe to chew on. Cold drinks and topical anaesthetics help with teething pain, too.

When toddlers want to interact physically with people (such as during wrestling games), they may bite. Give them other safe options for physical play. Avoid play that encourages biting from a child until you have the behavior more under control, especially if it involves biting other children with whom they wrestle.

Remind your child that teeth are not for biting people, and moreover, that teeth are for other things – chewing food, smiling, etc. A long-winded explanation is not necessary either, and will not help to stop the behavior. Instead, use a short, firm (not “angry”) statement such as, “No biting.” This not only teaches the child what you mean, but gets their attention (and teeth) off whomever they are biting.

Be persistent. Toddlers can not change any behavior after one reminder or one day. Consistent, repeated reminders about appropriate behavior will eventually become a change in that behavior.

Check with a pediatrician to make sure there isn’t a medical problem. Many times, hearing loss goes undiagnosed until a child is a toddler, and the frustration of being expected to be able to hear is huge.

Maintain as regular a schedule as possible. Children appreciate having set routines for breakfast, bedtime, nap time, and playtime. If your child knows what to expect from most of the day, they’ll be more able to deal with new circumstances.

Tips

Think of what it’s like to be so much smaller than everyone else, to be told what to do all the time when you’re excited about discovering the world, and not understanding a lot of what older kids and grown-ups are doing. Now think of how that feels when you don’t have any words to use to tell people how you feel, and if you do have the words, they may not understand you anyway. Now add being tired all the time on top of that. You might start biting people, too!

Though you may not understand what your toddler is saying to you when they talk, or when they bite, they understand a lot more of what you’re saying than you think. Talk to them all the time, and give them lots of love and hugs.

Warnings

• Do not, under any circumstances, bite your toddler back. That only reinforces the behavior and shows that you’re willing to cause them pain.

Source: WikiHow

Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think? dan@youngchronicle.com

Kids Want Boundaries

By Jim Burns, Ph.D
Sept 21, 2009

Do your teenagers really want boundaries? While I’m sure they will never seriously say to you, “Can you please add some more restrictions to my life?” they really do want to know what’s expected of them and what the consequences of violating boundaries will be. In homes where parents set clear boundaries for their kids’ behavior, kids are actually less likely to rebel – especially when parents take the time to discuss their expectations with them. Why would your kids want you to set boundaries for them in the first place? Let me give you five reasons.

Boundaries provide a sense of comfort. When kids clearly know what is expected from them, the result is a sense of comfort. They don’t have to be concerned regarding what you may or may not require of them behaviorally – or fear that you will constantly change the rules.

Boundaries provide a sense of security. Kids really do what to know what is right and what is wrong. They want some guidance in navigating life. Teenagers will still test the limits from time to time, but clear boundaries provide the stability and security that will allow them to thrive.

Boundaries mark out the “playing field” for freedom. Imagine two teams playing football – but without the playing field being marked in any way. Imagine the players having no way to tell what was “in bounds” or what was “out of bounds”. In the game of football, a marked playing field is foundational to playing the game. On a marked playing field, players know where their boundaries are. Similarly, kids want their parents to set clear boundaries for them so they can know their “playing field” – where they can roam freely “in bounds”. Boundaries, in this way, actually create freedom – and teenagers want to be able to experience and learn to handle freedom within the boundaries that have been created.

Most teenagers don’t really want to be totally free and responsible for themselves at this point in their lives. Kids who have no boundaries and are completely on their own regarding behavioral decisions tend to feel isolated and are at risk for giving into peer pressure. Kids whose parents have set clear boundaries for them, experience freedom within the boundaries and can use these boundaries as reasons to say no to inappropriate behaviors. Generally, kids who have clear boundaries simply fare better behaviorally than those kids who don’t have clear boundaries.

Kids want to gain their parents’ trust – the trust that results from living within clear boundaries. Trust is a vitally important issue for teenagers. They aren’t dumb. They know that having your trust is the pathway to greater freedom and ultimately to adult independence. Kids who don’t have clear boundaries experience greater difficulties earning their parents’ trust because they are left to themselves to make behavioral decisions that may or may not turn out to be acceptable. On the other hand, kids who have clear boundaries and live within those boundaries understand that they are regularly making deposits into your “trust” account. This, of course, doesn’t mean that kids with boundaries don’t ever violate those boundaries or ever struggle with earning or regaining trust with their parents. Most do from time to time. Still, with boundaries in place, your kids will have a greater understanding of how to build trust with you.

Source: Home Word

Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think? dan@youngchronicle.com

Firefighter of the week – Battalion Chief Battalion 8 Thomas P DeAngelis

By Dan Samaria
Publisher/GCC
Sept. 23, 2009

In the Thick of Things

Five years ago, when Thomas P. DeAngelis was promoted to battalion chief in the New York City Fire Department, his wife, Patty, told him: “You’ve been running into burning buildings for 22 years. But you’re a battalion chief now, so you won’t have to do that anymore.”

In her heart, she knew better. Tommy DeAngelis would never send a firefighter into a building he had not personally entered and checked out. Around the East 51st Street firehouse in Manhattan, he was known as “Chuckles” because of his sunny good humor and his lust for life: sports, cooking, sailing, carpentry, writing. But when the alarm sounded, he would suddenly become all business.

Sometimes he would kick around the idea of retiring in a year or two — he was 51 — maybe to take up writing children’s books. But, again, Mrs. DeAngelis knew better. “He loved being a firefighter way too much to ever quit early,” she said.

On Monday, Sept. 10, she had lunch with him at their home in Westbury, on Long Island, before he headed into Manhattan to pull a 24-hour shift. “See you Tuesday night,” she said as he left, giving him a kiss. “Be careful.”

Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on December 16, 2001.

Source Legacy

Who Were Our Presidents? Part 8

By Dan Samaria
Publisher/GCC
Sept. 22, 2009

 

Editor’s Note: How many of us along with our children? Know who our Presidents were and what they have done in Office.

Each week we will pick a President and tell you about them and their accomplishes.

We hope that you will enjoy this series. And let us know what you think? dan@youngchronicle.com

8. MARTIN VAN BUREN 1837-1841

 

Only about 5 feet, 6 inches tall, but trim and erect, Martin Van Buren dressed fastidiously. His impeccable appearance belied his amiability–and his humble background. Of Dutch descent, he was born in 1782, the son of a tavernkeeper and farmer, in Kinderhook, New York.

As a young lawyer he became involved in New York politics. As leader of the “Albany Regency,” an effective New York political organization, he shrewdly dispensed public offices and bounty in a fashion calculated to bring votes. Yet he faithfully fulfilled official duties, and in 1821 was elected to the United States Senate.

By 1827 he had emerged as the principal northern leader for Andrew Jackson. President Jackson rewarded Van Buren by appointing him Secretary of State. As the Cabinet Members appointed at John C. Calhoun’s recommendation began to demonstrate only secondary loyalty to Jackson, Van Buren emerged as the President’s most trusted adviser. Jackson referred to him as, “a true man with no guile.”

The rift in the Cabinet became serious because of Jackson’s differences with Calhoun, a Presidential aspirant. Van Buren suggested a way out of an eventual impasse: he and Secretary of War Eaton resigned, so that Calhoun men would also resign. Jackson appointed a new Cabinet, and sought again to reward Van Buren by appointing him Minister to Great Britain. Vice President Calhoun, as President of the Senate, cast the deciding vote against the appointment–and made a martyr of Van Buren.

The “Little Magician” was elected Vice President on the Jacksonian ticket in 1832, and won the Presidency in 1836.

Van Buren devoted his Inaugural Address to a discourse upon the American experiment as an example to the rest of the world. The country was prosperous, but less than three months later the panic of 1837 punctured the prosperity.

Basically the trouble was the 19th-century cyclical economy of “boom and bust,” which was following its regular pattern, but Jackson’s financial measures contributed to the crash. His destruction of the Second Bank of the United States had removed restrictions upon the inflationary practices of some state banks; wild speculation in lands, based on easy bank credit, had swept the West. To end this speculation, Jackson in 1836 had issued a Specie Circular requiring that lands be purchased with hard money–gold or silver.

In 1837 the panic began. Hundreds of banks and businesses failed. Thousands lost their lands. For about five years the United States was wracked by the worst depression thus far in its history.

Programs applied decades later to alleviate economic crisis eluded both Van Buren and his opponents. Van Buren’s remedy–continuing Jackson’s deflationary policies–only deepened and prolonged the depression.

Declaring that the panic was due to recklessness in business and overexpansion of credit, Van Buren devoted himself to maintaining the solvency of the national Government. He opposed not only the creation of a new Bank of the United States but also the placing of Government funds in state banks. He fought for the establishment of an independent treasury system to handle Government transactions. As for Federal aid to internal improvements, he cut off expenditures so completely that the Government even sold the tools it had used on public works.

Inclined more and more to oppose the expansion of slavery, Van Buren blocked the annexation of Texas because it assuredly would add to slave territory–and it might bring war with Mexico.

Defeated by the Whigs in 1840 for reelection, he was an unsuccessful candidate for President on the Free Soil ticket in 1848. He died in 1862.

Source: White House

Editor’s Note: There is a special prize if you can tell us the accomplishemts of  Martin Van Buren as the 8^th President of the United States. dan@youngchronicle.com

Major League Baseball: Gift From the Heart

By Zach Jones
Sept 22, 2009

 

Each year from September 15 to October 15, Hispanic Heritage Month celebrates the contributions of Americans of Spanish and Latin heritage. On Friday, Pittsburgh baseball fans paid special tribute to the city’s most popular Hispanic hero, Roberto Clemente.

A native of Puerto Rico, the baseball legend played for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1954 until his death in 1972. Off the field, Clemente was known for his commitment to helping others. The Roberto Clemente Day of Giving, hosted by the Pittsburgh Pirates on September 18, celebrated Roberto’s gifts to the world.

 

A Celebration of Giving Back

When Roberto died in a plane crash in 1972, he was on his way to deliver supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. His commitment to charity and volunteer work continues to inspire others today. That’s why his team started the “Day of Giving” in his honor.

The Pirates used the day to introduce people in their community to local charities. Clothing and food were collected for people in need, and raffle tickets were sold to support the team’s own charity fund.

Team players who had served the community received awards. In Clemente’s memory, the Pirates and players on Pittsburgh’s Minor League teams now complete at least 10 hours of volunteer work as part of the Pirates Community Commitment Program. With more than 250 baseball players volunteering their skills this year, that’s a winning hit for community service!

Home Run for Hispanic Heritage

As a child, Roberto was a gifted player and a big fan of baseball. His years of practice paid off. He was recruited for Puerto Rico’s amateur league while still in high school.

In 1954, he was drafted into the Major League and joined the Pittsburgh Pirates. He moved to Pennsylvania and stayed with the same team for almost 20 years.

Early in his career, Clemente was among many Hispanic athletes who had to cope with racism. At games, fans sometimes yelled racist insults at him—and so did some of his teammates. But he brushed it off. “I don’t believe in color,” Clemente once told reporters.

In time, Clemente became one of the sport’s most celebrated stars. He was the first Hispanic American to earn a World Series ring as a starting player in 1960, to win the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award in 1966, and the World Series MVP award, in 1971. Outside the game, Clemente spent his time helping at Pittsburgh’s charities. After growing up with a large family and not a lot of money, he felt lucky to be able to give back when he could.

After his death in 1972, Clemente was honored as the first Hispanic American to be voted into Major League Baseball’s Hall of Fame. Although his career and life were cut short, Clemente helped change American attitudes about Hispanics in professional sports—on and off the field.

 

A Family Tradition

Before he died, Clemente planned to build a sports center for kids near his boyhood home in Puerto Rico. He wanted to create a place where kids could learn how to play sports and how to become good citizens.

Years later, his wife, Vera, made his dream come true. Now more than 100,000 kids visit the Roberto Clemente Sports City each year.

The couple’s eldest son, Roberto Clemente Jr., runs the Roberto Clemente Foundation. The organization’s mission is to help make athletic and education programs available to many people.

Reporters often asked Roberto Sr. about his successes, and he once responded, “Why does everyone talk about the past? All that counts is tomorrow’s game.” He always focused on the next win. Today, his family and teammates are still winning by giving back in his honor.

Source: Scholastic News Online

 

Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think? dan@youngchronicle.com

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