Seed Planting in First Grade

Our reading curriculum focuses on trees and plants this week, so I thought that it was perfect timing to start our seedlings. Did I mention that the Lorax is also my most favorite Dr.Seuss book? Since his birthday is coming up, its another awesome week in first grade.

My wonderful mom came to help us plant the seeds, and we had a class volunteer. 

In a nutshell, here's what we you need:

-Class supply of empty water bottles ( great for teaching the Lorax and helping the environment)

-potting soil

-seeds (we used marigolds and beans)

Cut each water bottle in half, and safe the top half. ( prepare ahead of time)

-Then children came up one by one to fill the bottom half with potting soil.

-Kids poked two holes in the dirt for their seeds,and covered.

-Then, after watering, place the top back on to act like a greenhouse.

I got this idea from my co-worker, I'll post more pictures as the seeds start to grow! We have magnifying glasses and observation journals. Every few days they will draw and write what they observe about their plants.

Here are a few photos from today:

   Writing our first observations in our journals.

Our science center.
 I grouped the planters by table color so that I can just place the tubs on their desks for quick observation every few days.

Penguin Week in First Grade!

Penguin week is hands down my most favorite week in first grade (unless of course you count Spring Break :-) ) We took penguins all across the board in our curriculum including language arts, math, science and writing. Even though we didn't have "arctic" like temps in Cincinnati this year, my little penguins loved the week.

So here we go: 

We started with this prediction activity. I took a survey to see what the kids already knew about penguins, then after reading a non-fiction book about penguins, "A True Book: Penguins" by Anne O. Squire, we listed facts about penguins that we didn't know. Here's the link for the labels on Teacher's Pay Teachers (free)

Then...we made paper plate penguins, and wrote one fact on our plate. I gave them the place, circle, and scraps of paper. They cut our the beak and flippers and colored them orange on their own.

As if that wasn't enough, did you know that an emperor penguin's egg is about the size of a grapefruit? Well, after reading about emperor penguins, and how the dad penguin keeps the egg warm on top of his feet, I got the bright idea to have my students practice being "Emperor Penguin Dads," using a grapefruit.

It really was quite funny...I videotaped each child as they tried to be a good "penguin dad." I encouraged them to waddle like a penguin while trying to keep the egg safe.

Here's one shot:

Additional activities that I forgot to get a picture of, including our, "Make Your Own Tacky the Penguin," can be found here on Babbling Abby's free Five day unit which inspired my penguin unit last year, and I've built more on my own as time goes on.

Math: Penguin Slide

Writing: Compare and contrast "Tacky the Penguin" to a Real Penguin.

Science: Blubber Glove Experiment ( I didn't have a free hand to take pictures! )

Enjoy your penguin week in first grade!

Oh, I almost forgot to mention.. I ended last week as "Taylor Swift" at our awards show at school :

 

 Q Tip Snowflakes

I've been waiting all winter to do a snow activity..and finally tomorrow we have a chance for a dusting! Sad isn't it..I miss snowy winters! Today we read, Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin, and made q-tip snowflakes.

The cute q-tip snowflake and poem idea came from my favorite first grade blog, What the Teacher Wants. On Tuesdays we have an extra long morning, therefore I try to do a very hands on activity to keep them engaged..this was perfect! The poem used on the front,  goes like this:

Snowflake, snowflake
Falling down
On the trees
And on the ground.

I hope that we have lots of snowflakes on the ground tomorrow in Cincinnati!  

More on Snowflake Bently:

You Tube Video on Snowflake Bently

More great ideas!

Valentine's Day Lip and Moustache Lollipops

Looking for a fun idea for your students K-12? How about lip and moustache lollipops? Here's a picture of the template, I have it for free now in my Teacher's Pay Teachers store. Enjoy!

Download it it here: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Lip-and-Moustache-Lollipop-Valentines

Ground Hog Day

   Ground Hog Day in First Grade!

Today we made our predictions about whether or not we thought that the groundhog would see his shadow. First, we read a few ground hog ground hog day facts at National Geographic Kids, then we sang the ground hog day song on you tube to the tune of , finally, we wrote our predictions, and stated why, then decorated our writing paper with the cutest little  ground hog that was inspired by and idea from http://first-grade-fever.blogspot.com/.  

This is the ground hog song that we sang:

Tune: I'm a Little Teapot

Here's a little groundhog
Furry and brown
He's coming up
To look around
If he sees his shadow
Down he goes
Then six more weeks
Of winter snows.