Garden Expert

As a part of our research over the garden habitat, we invited a  garden expert to come talk to the students. Mrs. Flowers (yes, that is her real name) from Pat's Plants in Grand Prairie, brought various types of plants for the students to learn about. She talked about the parts of the plants, their needs, and their purposes. She then answered questions which the students then added to their research notes in class.

Caterpillar Writing

After reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, the students created their own caterpillars. We then researched caterpillars on Pebble Go. They then wrote to describe caterpillars and facts learned.

Parts of a Set Kites

To learn more about parts of a set, the students chose four colors to color a kite and its bows. They did not have to use all four colors but had to choose four total in order to do the math. After coloring the triangles of the kite and the bows, they completed a cloze activity to identify how many of each color there were in the whole set.

Parts of a Plant Technology Diagrams

The students used Pixie 2 to create computer based plant diagrams. They filled the background with a sky background using the fill feature. They then used the paint feature to paint soil, grass, the stem, and the roots. They then used the search feature on the stickers section to add leaves and a flower. They had to resize the flower and flip the leaves to make them fit the stem. Then, using text boxes, they labeled each part and at least one function of that part.

Parts of a Plant Diagrams

The students made flowers and then labeled the parts with their name and function. Their diagrams were added to our class garden bulletin boards.

Rainbow Writing and Art

The students worked in small groups to paint rainbows while I worked with individual students on reading. After  their worked dried, they wrote sentences to describe a rainbow, what they would do if they found one, and other facts they knew about rainbows.

So, this happened...

Parts of a Plant: Vegetable Sort

Last week we began our research over the garden habitat in reading and our study of plant parts in science. As a part of these lessons, the students learned the parts of a plant and their function. For hands on experience, the students worked in groups to sort the part of vegetables that we eat by their parts. They were surprised to learn that some of the vegetables they eat are actually roots.

Assembly Line Art

In Social Studies we have been learning about needs and wants, goods and services, and the importance of doing a job well. In one lesson we talked about assembly lines. We discussed that if one person does not do their job, and do it well, then it affects the other people doing jobs. To make this concept real to the students, we created art in an assembly line. One group of students were responsible for laying out the mini canvases in rows. Another group of students was responsible for adding strips of painters tape all over the canvases. Another group was responsible for connecting the strips of tape with other pieces of tape. Then the students were divided into groups. The groups were each given a color. They were responsible for their color and had to go to each canvas and fill in a blank space. After all of the canvases were painted, we waited for them to dry. While we waited for them to dry, we discussed the roles of producers and consumers. In this part of the lesson, they were the producers. Once the paint dried, we pulled off the tape. At this point, the students then became the consumers. They were able to "shop" and decide which of the paintings they wanted to keep. I loved this lesson because it incorporated so many concepts but was also cross-curricular and fun. Their final products turned out fantastic!

Fraction Action

To introduce parts of a set, or fractions, the students used various food samples. They used cheese and folded it in halves and then in fourths. They also used graham crackers and candy bars.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar's 45th Anniversary

To celebrate the 45th anniversary of The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle and the first day of spring, all of first grade headed out to our school garden. We started our lesson by reading the book in English and Spanish. The students then worked in small groups to paint concrete stepping stones to look like The Very Hungry Caterpillar. After they dried, we added them to our garden as a pathway.

St. Patrick's Day Writing and Art

On St. Patrick's Day, the students wrote what they would do if they found a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. They then followed multi-step directions to draw a leprechaun. They added a rainbow background to their drawing.

Marshmallow and Pretzel Shapes

The students used marshmallows and pretzels to model 2D and 3D shapes. As they built the various shapes, we talked about the similarities and differences between them. We talked about how many edges and vertices each had. We discussed what shapes rolled, stacked, and could slide.

3D Shape Sort

The students created Tree Maps on the computer using Pixie 2 for 3D shapes. After adding the 3D shapes under each branch, they then searched through the stickers to find real life examples of the shapes.

Ocean Animal Facts

The students chose one fact about the ocean animal that they researched and made a computer slide about it using Pixie 2. The students had to add an ocean background, use the search feature to find clipart of their animal, add a speech bubble, and type in the fact in first person. They then had to resize the animal clipart and speech bubble to match. We played the slides as a movie during Open House and hung each slide as a print out on a bulletin board.

 

Beluga Whale Research

We used various book and internet sources to research facts about the Beluga Whale. The facts were added to a Thinking Map. The students then used the Thinking Map to write a class research paper about their findings. They used Interactive Writing so that every student had a chance to contribute. They helped each other with the wording, spelling, and punctuation of the research paper.