We've been having so much fun in first and second grade that there has been no time to post to the blog! But before I tell you about all the fun that we have been having in February and March... I need to fulfill my last promise to all of you. In January I shared our Polar Animals unit that we worked on. During computer class the students got to choose their favorite Polar Animal that they learned about, research it a little more, and then write about it. The finished products came out great! Take a look!
Now enough about POLAR things... let's think warmer thoughts!! Ok, well not so warm, but one can think wishfully right?!?
Due to the snowdays in February, our 100th day celebration and Valentine's party ended up being on the same day! We had so much fun celebrating these 2 fabulous holidays. In order to prepare for the 100th day, the first graders collected 100 items and glued them inside a 100 on a big poster. These posters were displayed in class. They all turned out great! The second graders brought in 100 small food items to contribute to our 100th day trail mix. We got many different snacks, like 100 cheerios, 100 gummies, 100 pieces of popcorn, etc. Everyone enjoyed the trail mix! (including the adults!)
During centers, the students made 100 pictures. They got the numbers 1, 0, 0 and could turn it into anything they wanted! We really encouraged the students to be as creative and thoughtful as can be. The kiddos definitely rose to the challenge! We got a girl with glasses, a tractor, a funny looking face, animals, and much more! Here are just some of them... Be sure to check out the cute hats in all of the pictures. The first graders made 100 days in school certificate hats and the 2nd graders made cool 100 design hats. They looked so cute!
At another center the students put 10 different colored dots of paint in 10 squares using a Q tip. When they were all finished they had a very colorful picture of 100 dots!
At the other 2 centers, the students worked on Valentine's activities. Mrs. Gilgallon let us borrow her heart contractions puzzles. The kids had to find both sides of the heart contraction that fit together. Once they put the puzzle together, they wrote the word. What a great way to mix ELA and Valentine's Day!
Thanks for sharing Mrs. Gilgallon!
At another Valentine's center the students had to graph conversation hearts. They sorted them, told how many of each color and then analyzed the data based on what they had. When they were finished they could eat the hearts or save them to use as a topping for our ice cream sundae's. Yum!
After eating the Sundae's (which were so DELICIOUS!), the kids got to hand out their Valentine's cards. They made super cute Valentine's keepers with white paper bags that looked like owls. When it was all said and done, the bags were overflowing with LOTS of LOVE!!
Even us teachers got Valentine's. Check out the adorable homemade card that Laura gave me. How cute! I also included a letter that a student wrote me. This was a homework assignment and I love that Evie chose to write her Valentine's note to me. I just love getting notes like these!
Miss Maria taught the class a lot about the Chinese New Year during Chinese class. This year it fell on February 19th and it is the year of the goat. The kiddos made awesome Chinese lanterns. People use these during Chinese New Year celebrations. Of course, they turned out so great that we had to take a pic to document it!
... And then it was March!
In order to kick off the month of March, we read the story In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb by Marion Dane Bauer. There are two main characters in the book... the Lion and the Lamb (go figure!). In the book we learn about the characteristics of both of these animals, and how they relate to weather.
Afterwards, the students all decided that March has definitely come in like a lion, but most of them are hopeful that it will, indeed, go out like a Lamb. I did break the news that, unfortunately, it is never a guarantee! The students wrote about their predictions and we posted them on one of our March bulletin boards.
We also are keeping track of our Lion and Lamb days on the calendar. As you can see we had lots of Lion days early in March. However, since then, we have had some Lamb days. I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
How about you? Do you think March will exit like a Lamb or Lion??
