A Little of This a Little of That!

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??

Snow Day!!

Happy Snow Day!  The kiddos must have worn their pajamas inside out last night... How else would we have had this snow day?!

January was such a COLD month!  With the below 0 temperatures, it has felt as though we have been stuck inside a snow globe!  We decided to take this idea and run with it.  The students wrote about what they would do if lived in a snow globe.  Many of them thought it would be lots of fun, but some of them said that they would NEVER want to live in a snow globe.  I have to say, that I agree with the latter! Be sure to click on the images so you can see their great photos and read their writing!

Thanks to http://toristeachertips.blogspot.co.uk/ for the great idea. :)

We also kicked off the month of January talking about our "Rockin'" New Year's Resolutions.  We shared our resolutions on our Rockin' guitars.  Not only was it fun sharing our resolutions, but I just LOVE how the bulletin board turned out!

I got these templates from dots and spots... https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Rockin-New-Years-Resolutions-469651.  

In science we had so much fun with two major units: Polar Animals and Properties.  Everyday the students would ask, "What are we doing in Science today?" I just love their enthusiasm!  Science is so much fun.  The first thing that we did in order to learn about Polar animals was talk about the Polar regions.  We looked at maps and the globe and found the Arctic and the Antarctic.  We read about and watched video clips of the characteristics of both regions.  Then, it was time to start our Arctic Animals lap book.  Take a look at the cover that we made...

We glued 2 maps, one showing the North Pole and one showing the South Pole.  Then we began our animal research.  Each day the students learned about a different animal.  We read some information about the animal on an animal card.  Then we created a special book with information about that animal.  Some of the information included in the cards and books was what the animal eats, what it looks like, where it lives, and other characteristics about that animal.  When we were finished with book, we had learned about 8 different animals!  If you click on the picture with the kids holding the lapbook, you'll see that we did a little more with polar bears (there are 2 books).  But I'm sure you understand... we are Pashley Polar Bears!!

When we were finished learning about the polar animals, the students each got to choose their favorite one.  They did a little more research on this animal and then wrote about it during computer class.  The writing came out great!  We are still working on the finishing touches, so I will take some pictures, and share them on the next post!

Properties was our other science unit.  We have learned about the properties of solids, and have just started introducing liquids.  We will be working more with liquids within the classroom, and soon we will be introducing gases as well.  We have done, and will be doing, some REALLY cool experiments!  It's a good thing that our class is well versed in science experiments.  Since they were all "Santa Scientists" during the month of January, they knew just how to properly take part in a science experiment.  Some of the activities and experiments that we have done so far include, doing a scavenger hunt to find objects that have certain properties, grouping solid objects by property, and predicting whether or not solid objects will float or sink in water.  It was a lot of fun testing those predictions.  We learned a great lesson: Our predictions are not always right, but that's ok!  Science is all about predicting, experimenting, and learning new things! 

Towards the end of January, the Pashley Student Council hosted Twin Day.  We had so much fun on this day.  We had some twins in our classroom.  Mia and Graison planned their outfits, but Evie just happened to be dressed the same way!  So in our classroom we had triplets! 

The Pashley teachers also took part in twin day. All of the teachers wore a white t-shirt, jeans, and a scarf.  However, the second grade teachers took it to a different level.  They all put a pillow in their shirt to match me.  It was nice to feel like I was just a regular part of the crowd for a day.  We made our rounds to show our "twin outfits" to other teachers and classes.  One teacher asked their class what was the same with all of the teachers standing in front of them.  One little boy said, "They all have scarfs!"  Another little girl said, "They all have white shirts on!"  Then another student said, "They are all wearing jeans!"  And finally one said, "They all have zippers!"  Don't you just love the innocence?  Either they really didn't notice all the bellies, or they were just a VERY polite class!  

Here's to a warmer February!  One can wish...

Happy Holidays from all of us in B4!

I knew that December would go by quickly, and as I'm sitting here writing on the last day of December, that thought has really been confirmed!  Wow!  Time flies when you're having fun!  It seems like just yesterday we were doing our snowman glyph, which was an activity that helped us kick off the month of December.  (Yes, there was some snow on the ground when we did this activity.  Doesn't it seem a little backwards that with all the snow that we got at Thanksgiving time, it was quickly washed away just in time for Christmas?). Anyway, take a look at these cute snowmen that the kids created.  Since it was a glyph, each one is a little different.  When you hear glyph you probably think about hieroglyphics, which is an ancient form of writing that uses pictures.  That is where the word glyph comes from in the crafting world.  When you look at project that is a glyph, you will get information about the artist from the pictures or parts in each individual piece.  In our snowmen glyphs the kids had to answer several "Get To Snow Me" questions before they were able to assemble their snowman.  They had to tell if they liked or disliked snow- this determined the number of snowballs in the snowman (of course, in my experience, all first and second graders LOVE snow, so this was one part of the glyph that was the same for everyone!), the carrot pointed to the right if they like to make snowballs, but pointed to the left if they like to sled, the scarf was pink if they were girls and blue if they are boys, if they have ever built a snowman the hat went on straight, but if they did not it went on sideways (I think this was another one that was the same for everyone... I'm sure you can guess which way the hat went!), and finally, if the student had 5 or fewer letters in his or her name, they added 3 buttons, but got to add 4 buttons if their name had 6 or more letters in it.  After the students wrote about themselves, they were able to create their snowmen!  I love how each one came out a little different! 

Throughout the month of December I always run a program in my classroom called

"Unwrap the Gift of Reading."  I wrap lots of holiday related books (this year Mrs. Clark wrapped them all for us... thank you Mrs. Clark!  We heart you! ).  Then we invite many different adults into the classroom to be mystery readers.  When they come they get to to unwrap a book to read to our class.  Every year we get more and more volunteers.  This year we had so many that we were able to have 1 reader a day (sometimes even 2!).  The kids loved guessing who our readers were and they got pretty good at it too!  Unwrapping the book made reading that much more exciting.  I didn't get to take a picture of each and every mystery reader, but I did get a couple action shots!

A big thank you goes out to all of our readers... Mrs. Mazzotti, Mrs. Civiok, Mrs. Bonacio, Mrs. Walker, Mrs. Pangburn, Mr. McGrath, Mrs. Sunkes, Mrs. Neddo, Mrs. Clark, Mrs. Light, Mrs. Ferry, Mrs. Hyland, and all of our scheduled parents as well! 

One of my favorite activities in December was Santa Science.  First, the kids learned about the 5 steps in the Scientific Method.  This was our guide for completing our daily science experiment. Each day the kiddos took part in a hands on science experiment that was somehow related to winter, snow, ice, Christmas, etc.  After explaining the materials and process involved, I asked the students a question and they had to make a hypothesis.  I must say, due to their experiences, these hypotheses became more and more scientific and educated as they weeks went on.  After the hypothesis, they listed the steps involved and then it was time for the fun!  Each time, they got to draw what happened and write a conclusion.  Some of the experiments included a snow storm in a cup, food coloring and shaving cream mixture candy cane paintings,  Starlite candies dropped in water, hot cocoa (with baking soda) and vinegar explosions, snow and ice melting predictions, creating candy cane ooblek with cornstarch, water, and bits of candy cane, Santa's milk with food coloring and dish soap, etc.  Oh, and of course, what would be a SANTA science experiment, without our very own SANTA Scientist hats?!?  How cute are they?!?

There were many other fun December activities that the kids took part in as well.  They created their  very own reindeer drawings, as they listened to a parent give step by step directions during centers one day, they created light bulbs with phrases that told how they could "light the world with kindness" (unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of the kids examples, but I did get a picture of our poster and Mrs. Olsen's, Mrs. Clark's, and my example!), they took part in fun parent created centers... thank you to Mrs. Vilics for the awesome ornament craft, and Mrs. Sargent for the yummy gingerbread cookie decorating activity!, and last but not least, they turned themselves into elves!  This is always a favorite activity of mine.  Before they create their elf, they have to complete an elf application and cover letter telling Santa why they would make a great elf.  Their letters were typed and glued onto the body of their elf.  If the kiddos want me to, I send their letters and applications to the North Pole.  It is a tough job, but someone has to do it!  I wonder if anyone was picked this year! 

 

Believe it or not, throughout all of the hustle and bustle, the kids managed to fill the marble jar.  I really try not to brag too much about how great these kids really are!!!  In order to celebrate this great accomplishment, we had a Frozen Pajama party.  We all wore our p.j.'s, watched the movie Frozen, had Frozen themed snacks, and took part in Frozen related activities.  Our favorite activity was pin the nose on Olaf!  I learned something new during the party too... Mrs. Olsen knows all the words to EVERY.SINGLE.FROZEN.SONG!!  I taped some of my favorite Frozen quotes to the door.  

We had a blast! 

It's hard to believe that we are just about half way through the school year!  With the holiday season just about over, we are getting ready for a New Year in room B4.  We are looking forward to a great 2015 filled with fun and engaging learning experiences.  I leave you with a couple great pictures of the kids with Ms. Maria in Chinese class, celebrating the Chinese New Year with their dragon dance.