Zoo FIeld Trip

Spending the day at the National Zoo was a great way to kick off our Animal Research Project. We had great fun seeing all of the animals at our zoo, but it made it really hard to decide which one we wanted to research! It was such a treat to have so many parents from first and second grade with us! We had a busy day and the bus trip back to school was so quiet . . . .

Animal Research Projects

We worked really hard on our Animal Research Projects! After choosing one animal to research, we used books from our library, websites in the Computer Lab and help from our parents as part of our homework to record our facts and write a report. We also created dioramas to show our animal's habitat. It was exciting to be able to teach our parents and friends about our animals at our Animal Research Report Publishing Party!

Weeks of May 9 - 20, 2011

The highlight of our last two weeks together was Pajama Day! After such a great Teacher Appreciation Week, I thought it would be fun to show the First Graders how much I appreciate them. Everyone loves to go to school in their pajamas!

Pajame Day + Math = FUN!!

On Pajama Day we included our stuffed animals in the fun as much as possible. They were our constant companions and helped us hone our math skills, especially! After a midnight snack of Lucky Charms cereal where we sorted and graphed the marshmallows, we measured our animal with a tape measure, ruler and on a balance scale. Now we know how tall and big around it is and how many pop cubes, or another math manipultive, will balance it. The trickiest and most fun was the balance scale since some wouldn't exactly fit on the scale. Then, we practiced the art of improvising!

More Pajama Day Fun!

It is great fun to play outside in our pajamas! After recess, we wrote bedtime stories for our stuffed animals.

Making Lists

During Writing Workshop we have been talking about all the different reasons for writing. One idea that we practiced was making lists. Two of our classmates have a mohawk haircut. They decided to make a list of when to wear their mohawk "up" and when to wear it "down" so they could wear it the same way on school days. This is a great (and unique) example of students applying what they are learning in the classroom to their personal lives!

Birds and Nest Mobile

We love working together in First Grade, whether it is writing a story together, buddy reading, playing a math game or making art! It helps us learn how to cooperate and problem solve and share ideas. We made a mobile that includes birds, eggs and a nest. We had to decide what type of bird we wanted to use for the mobile and then find out what color its eggs are and what materials it uses to build its nest. Then we worked together to color it according to our research and make the mobile balance.