Happy Earth Day!

Welcome back and happy Earth Day!  The children have taken part in many different fun activities during the month of April.  We have celebrated spring, poetry month, and earth day.  In order to kick off the month of April, the children created Spring cinquains.  After brainstorming many different spring topics, the students created their one-of-kind cinquains.  At the art center they created their beautiful umbrellas (with cofee filters, markers, and water) and flowers (with cupcake holders and pipe cleaners).  Take a look at some of them here
(*Be sure to click on the pictures to see them bigger)... 

      

      

For Earth Day we have been talking about different ways that we can take care of our Earth.  The kids created their own marble painted Earth.  They have learned why it is so important to care for the Earth and that the future is in their hands.  We took it quite literally with this fun project!!

Another way that we celebrated Earth Day was during our Lorax party.  We filled our marble jar so it was time to celebrate!! However, we couldn't have a party without a little writing first.  Okay, maybe a lot of writing!  I tied in our persuasive writing unit into the marble party.  The children had to convince me to choose their type of party.  We read persuasive writing mentor texts, learned about fact and opinion and parts of persuasive writing, brainstormed party ideas, drafted, edited, conferenced, and revised.  It was a 3 week process... but well worth it!  All of the papers came out beautifully and I was SO proud of the kids' hard work.  In the end, I decided on a Lorax party.  Two of my friends chose this topic and did a phenomenal job.  I also thought that it tied into our Earth Day and Dr. Seuss units very well.  Take a look at the winning papers below... 

 

We had lots of fun at our Lorax party.  We read the book, watched the movie, ate Lorax snacks, wore Lorax mustaches, and did Lorax activities.  There were even trufulla trees next to the door!  Take a look at some of our work... 

   

      

Here are some Lorax snacks we got to eat (humming fish, Barbaloot fruit juice, truffula fruit, Barbaloot snacks, and truffula seeds)...

 

How festive are these mustache straws?!

The kids were so excited to see the truffula trees as they were walking into the classroom.  It really set the tone for the day!

Here is a cute pictures of some of the kiddos enjoying the movie.  They were nice and comfy on the carpet with their blankets and stuffed animals...

We can't wait for the next party! I have lots of new party ideas!

Thanks for stopping by... :o) 

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)