Here's another student having a Family Fun night!
There was a national celebration day of poetry on Poem in your Pocket Day. We stuffed our necklace pouches with poems written by our students and others. They had a big time, stuffing their pouches, then sharing with friends. Even our librarian, Mrs. Sanchez, joined in the fun with sharing her favorite poem with us. We completed our rainforest research projects this week. After gathering our information, each student did a beautiful watercolor painting of their animal. My large Beanie Baby collection was enjoyed all week. I have about 30 rainforest animals, and even though they did not fund my children's college education as suggested back in the day, they brought many smiles this week! Make sure to watch the video below for some fun facts about these animals!
Here's another student having a Family Fun night!
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We spent the week reading about the rainforest, choosing an animal, doing research, then writing a paper. The students even did watercolor paintings of their animals and put together their projects. They did an outstanding job! Take a look at these researchers, and listen to their fun facts! This week, it was all about the Earth. We planted lima bean seeds, observed worms, and made delicious vegetable soup with good things from the Earth. First, we soaked some beans overnight. The next day, we observed their seed coats and embryos. We then explored seed packets and a variety of seeds in our "Seed Lab." We had a beautiful batch of compost to add to our bags for the worms. They arrived and the squeals began! We finished our week with cooking vegetable soup. The students were brave to try things they'd never tasted before. It was adventurous and fun! We made thoughtful comments about how we hurt the Earth and how we can help the Earth. More smiles from Family Fun Night! Scottie showed up for Spirit Night at Spring Creek BBQ!
We ended our week with a few fun activities. We used our measurement and observations skills to create SLIME! As you can see by the faces, everyone thought it was awesome! Here they are, waiting for me to get busy and make the slime!! EGG HUNT After our study of the animal groups, we had a fun way to test our classification skills. The animal names were inside the eggs! It was a little tough to get a photo that wasn't blurry due to their speed! :) More Family Fun Night photos! We've enjoyed checking on the 3 small eaglets in this bald eagle nest in Decorah, Iowa. The mom and dad have been together for years (eagles mate for life). There are hidden cameras in the nest that allow us to see them up close and personal. They even have infrared cameras for night viewing. Here is the link if you want to take a look: http://www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles
The many flags in our cafeteria reminded us of the great diversity in our school. Each grade level focused on a different country. We spent the week learning about China. After so much great literature, we created scrolls with our birth year animal, tear art pandas, fancy dragons, and colorful fish kites (with stories under the kites). We also made lion masks and Chinese lanterns. The students had such a great time with their creations! We enjoyed making letters, shapes, and animals with tangrams. They are traditional Chinese geometric puzzles with 7 pieces. One student continued building with tangrams for Family Fun night! Next, it was time to try our skill with calligraphy. Painting Chinese characters was pretty tough! As we prepared for the Food Tasting event, we thought a little practice with chopsticks was in order.Time to eat! One of the highlights of every year is the annual Multicultural Parade of Nations, and sing-along! The Festival on Saturday was fantastic! Thank you to our PTO, the Highlands faculty, and the many parents that volunteered. The weather was beautiful, and I enjoyed seeing some of you that attended! I was being watched by a mime on stilts! What a fun and crazy week!
We continued our unit on measurement in Math. We worked in teams to measure units (with cubes), and to measure the weight of objects with balance scales. In Science, we have been learning about animal groups and their attributes. We created some flip books with facts and then added animals to our anchor chart. Sharing our flip books was great fun! We read all sorts of books requiring us to use our imaginations this week. We enjoyed a guessing game with just part of a picture. After reading The Trek, we wrote stories about a trek of our own. Look at their interest in hearing a friend's story! Family Fun nights! Several of you have commented favorably about the new homework schedule. Here are a few pictures of our students enjoying a Family Fun night! We now begin Festival Week! We will be learning about China, but also learning about the cultures we enjoy in our homes. We are a diverse classroom! |
AuthorI am a retired First Grade teacher in Texas. I have two children, two daughters-in-law, a grandson and granddaughter. Our beloved pup, Rocco, went to heaven this year. He was 15 years old. I've been married 37 years. I would love to hear from any former students! Archives
January 2021
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