March in like a lion out like a ???

  

Does March really come in like a lion and go out like a lamb??  Unfortunately, this year it looks like it's coming in like a lion and going out like a lion.  

We have been tracking the weather and have placed a lion picture on the calendar for lion days (cold, snowy, freezing rain, etc) and a lamb picture on the calendar for lamb days (milder days, sunny, etc.).  We have only had 3 lamb days in March... and that's a stretch!!  We can't wait for spring weather to arrive!!  One of my favorite books to read around this time is And Then It's Spring.

Author Julie Fogliano and Caldecott Medal winning illustrator Erin E. Stead do a fabulous job, in my opinion, depicting the transformation of winter to spring here in the northeast.

I love how Julie Fogliano says, "it is still brown, but a hopeful, very possible sort of brown."  Can you relate to this?  I know I can!  This weekend for homework the kids have to look for signs of spring.  Even though there is still snow on the ground and the little that we can see of the grass and trees looks brown, there are small glimmers of hope!!  And hopefully soon, just like in the end of the book, everything will magically and abruptly be GREEN!!

In order to make it through these yucky March days, we have done lots of fun things in the classroom.  We are just wrapping up our solar system unit.  The kids have learned a lot about the sun, the moon, the stars, and the planets (including earth).  They will continue to research a planet of their choice during computer class on Tuesday.  Take a look at these fun projects that the kids made.  They created the moon by painting with a mixture of white paint and shaving cream.  That made it look bumpy, like the surface of the moon.  They made the "craters" by twisting a water bottle cap on the wet paint.  Then they wrote about what the know about the earth and moon. Some of the kids got really creative with their rocket ships. (Thanks for the idea http://rowdyinroom300.blogspot.com/)

Another learning experience was when we had our visit from The Traveling Museum.  The students learned about "Mirror Magic."  They learned how mirrors work, how light affects the mirrors, looked at many different kaleidoscopes, and then got to make their own:

Finally, to practice working with verbs, we had our "Angry Verbs" day.  Although I've never played Angry Birds, I know that it's a favorite amongst many of my first graders.  The students chose their favorite angry bird and then wrote sentences about it.  They highlighted the verbs in their sentences.  They are always a favorite hallway hanging.  The kids in other classes love looking at all of the "Angry Verbs!"

Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to see all of the fun that we have had throughout the month of March.  Be on the lookout for signs of spring!  

Think Green!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We had a great time on St. Patrick's Day!  That tricky leprechaun came to our classroom and made a huge mess!  He wrote us some notes (and scribbled all over mine!)...

*Be sure to click on the pictures to see them bigger!

                                      

He messed up our chairs, left us gold coins, and even left his hat behind!

He also left little footprints everywhere, moved all our clips to RED (he even made a clip for me and moved it to RED... how rude!!).  We assume that he used the bathroom.  There were foot prints in there and the toilet water was GREEN!  Yuck!!

We had lots of fun celebrating St. Patrick's Day as we ate our green snacks and wore our hats that made us look like Irish men and women.  Take a look at the hats... they even have our "Irish last names on them (adding "Mc" or "O" at the beginning of any last name can make it sound Irish!).  

And finally... I'd like to leave you with some words of wisdom brought to you by my first graders.  We "rewrote" Irish sayings.  Afterwards, we talked about the meaning of the real sayings.  Here are a few of them (I listed them all below the pictures.  The real saying is in parenthesis underneath)... 

"A penny saved is not a lot of money" -Natasha

(A penny saved is a penny earned)

"If you don't know the way ask someone" - Ella

(If you don't know the way walk slowly)

"A heavy purse makes someone fall down" -Aidan

(A heavy purse makes a light heart)

"Better late than not going" -Riley

(Better late than never)

"Better to be safe than in danger" - Arabella

(Better to be safe than sorry)

"Never ask a fox to talk" -Liam

(Never ask a fox to mind the hens)

"A loud voice can make an echo" -Briggs

(A loud voice can make even the truth sound foolish)

"Half a loaf is better than ice cream sundaes" -Mia (She LOVES bread!)

(Half a loaf is better than no bread)

"What's good for the goose is water" -David

(What's good for the goose is good for the gander)

"You never miss the water till the sun dries it up" -Wesley

(You never miss the water till the well has run dry)

"No news is more Disney" -Ceres (referring to the news/ Disney channel on TV)

(No news is good news)

"You can't teach an old dog awesome tricks" -Natasha

(You can't teach an old dog new tricks)

"Don't count your chickens before you take them out of the cage" -Amora

(Don't count your chickens before they are hatched)

"The pen is mightier than the pencil" -Anthony

(The pen is mightier than the sword)

"A story without an author is just silly" -Caitlin

(A story without an author is not worth listening to)

"All happy endings are cute" -Jolie

(All happy endings are beginnings as well)

Preparation for St. Patrick's Day

I have heard that a sneaky little leprechaun likes to visit Pashley Elementary school on St. Patrick's Day.  Our class wants to be prepared should we get a visit!  We would love to catch that little guy and get his gold!  Today we got into groups and made Leprechaun Traps.

But first... some guidelines that made us REALLY have to think!

Then, the kids got into their cooperative groups and brainstormed ideas... 

Then... the creativity and building began!  Here are some of the groups working on their traps...

And here are the finished products!!

The groups enjoyed presenting their traps to the class.  I've provided a little synopsis on each below.

This group made a "pot of gold" and put it inside a shoebox.  Then, they cut a hole in the top of the shoebox so that the paper towel roll would fit inside.  After reading the message, "Here's some good, good gold," the Leprechaun will be able to look inside the box and will want to jump in!  Once inside he will not be able to get out!!

This group chose the BIG box.  They, too, made a "pot of gold" inside the box.  After reading their sign, that says, "There is treasure inside!" the leprechaun will be tempted to climb up through the "ladder" (paper towel roll) and jump inside to get the gold!  Since the box is SO big and the leprechaun is SO small, he will not be able to get out!

And last, but not least... the "Minute Maid" trap. :) This group decided to put their "pot of gold" on the outside.  However, when the leprechaun tries to pull on the string to get the bowl down, the bowl will fall on him and trap him.  This group also came up with a plan B (in case the leprechaun is too smart for the outside of the box trick).  They thought the Leprechaun might try to jump inside the box.  However, if he does they put paper and cardboard at the bottom for cushion.  They need to catch that guy alive and well so they can get the gold from him!  This group purposely decided NOT to write a message on the outside because they thought the leprechaun would know that it was a trick!

We know that leprechaun's are very clever, so I think the groups did a great job trying to outsmart him!  Tomorrow we will be working on Irish Sayings and making our own leprechauns.  Check back soon to see them and to see how well our traps work!!

More March News...

Here you can find our March calendar/ newsletter that was sent home last week.

March Calendar

After morning work today, some of my friends played with the Frogs on Logs on the carpet.  They were on a "secret" mission and working very hard.  When they were all finished they asked me to come and read the message they had made for me.  This is what I found...

That is why I love my job. :)

March Madness!!

                     

     

We kicked off the month of March by celebrating Dr. Seuss's birthday.  We have read many Dr. Suess books, have studied his style of writing, and have done
lots of fun, Seusstastic activities!  Check out Jena and Natasha doing Seuss spelling.  The week's spelling words were hidden around the room, along with Dr. Seuss "nonsense" words.  The kids had to find their real spelling words and record them on the hat!
*Be sure to click on all the pictures to see them up close!
        

In conjunction with our literacy unit on "author's" purpose, we have had some in depth conversations on what Dr. Seuss's purpose was in his many books.  We know for sure that he wrote us to entertain us... his books make us laugh!  However, today we made a very interesting discovery as we were reading The Cat in the Hat: Dr. Seuss wrote to persuade us as well.  We realized that he was telling us to use our IMAGINATION!  As Sally and her brother sat in front of the window, we learned how bored the two were, "So we sat in the house All that cold, cold, wet day.  I sat there with Sally, we sat there we two. And I said, “How I wish we had something to do!” Too wet to go out and too cold to play ball. So we sat in the house. We did nothing at all. So all we could do was to Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! And we did not like it. Not one little bit."  But then... something happened... "And then something went BUMP! How that bump made us jump! We looked! Then we saw him step in on the mat! We looked! And we saw him! The Cat in the Hat! And he said to us, “Why do you sit there like that?” “I know it is wet And the sun is not sunny. But we can have lots of good fun that is funny!”  Those kids wreaked some havoc with the Cat in the Hat!  However, we realized that the character, the Cat in the Hat, was actually the kids' imaginations!  What a great discovery and a great message. :)

Dr. Seuss also has many other great messages.  I put some of my favorites on our class bulletin board.  Along with these quotes, I also posted our Cat in the Hat pictures, first grade style.  We all shared what our favorite book is (I took part in the fun too!).  Take a look at one of the quotes and the pictures below!

Thing 1 and Thing 2 are two of the "characters" that help to wreak all that havoc in the Cat in the Hat.  We made our very own Thing 1's and 2's and wrote about what we would do if they came to our house.  They came out great!  Check out our bulletin and some individual work here!

Can you tell it was close to lunch time?  Some of us had food on our mind as we were writing!

We will continue to study Dr. Seuss next week.  After that we will delve into space, moon, and stars.  We will do some fun St. Patrick's Day activities, as well as spring activities.  Lots to learn in March!  That's why we call it March Madness!!