Earth Day Lesson: Earthworm Towers

Today we had an early Earth Day lesson with our literacy strategist, Mrs. Reed. Mrs. Reed teaches our first graders all about gardening throughout the year. Today's lesson was focused on the world's best recyclers - earthworms. We first learned about vermiposting from Vermi the Worm through videos and interactive games on the Promethean Board in the science lab. Your students can visit Vermi the Worm at his website to learn more about composting. The students then observed a compost bin filled with soil, shredded newspaper, and potato peels. Mrs. Reed then helped the students build a worm tower. The students added soil, shredded newspaper, water, and lettuce leaves to the top half of a 2-liter coke bottle. They then added earthworms to the mixture. The top half was then placed with the spout down onto the bottom half of the 2-liter coke bottle. Then they filled the bottom of another bottle with soil and planted lettuce seeds in it to grow on top of the worm tower. The students will continue to take care of the earthworm tower by feeding the earthworms and making sure they have plenty of moisture which they need to breathe. They will also observe to see if the lettuce grows and what drainage comes from the compost. Eventually the worms will be added to our grade-level garden. Our potatoes and onions that we planted a while back are almost ready!

Area of a Foot

Today the students traced their shoe on one inch graphing paper. They then counted how much area in squares their shoes covered. Because their shoes did not always cover complete squares at the edges we had a mini-lesson on fractions by talking about putting two or three parts of a smaller square together to make a whole. After counting, the students wrote the area of their shoe on a t-chart on the whiteboard. As a group the students then ordered the areas from greatest to least on the board. To check their work, the students then ordered the shoe tracings on the floor in the order that they had written them on the board to see if it was truly from greatest to least. (Sorry there are not more pictures - we needed all hands today to count the squares!)

Additive Pattern Art

Last week as we learned about additive patterns, we talked about how there are patterns everywhere in life. We talked about how patterns can add beauty to objects and can look like art. So, the students used three and four step cards to build various additive patterns. They first built the patterns with color tiles and then recreated the pattern, step-by-step, using paper color tiles which they glued on to black construction paper. They then shared at least one thing they learned about additive patterns.

Earthworms!

Last week and this week we have been learning about the garden habitat and life cycles. As a part of our study, we have had an earthworm habitat in our classroom. We have been having fun observing them and learning interesting facts about them. To reflect on the learning, the students each created their own earthworm which we then added to our garden bulletin board. They then shared one thing that they learned about earthworms and shared it with their friends.

Plant Brace Maps

Using the Brace Map we created in class, the students created their own Brace Maps about the parts of a plant and their functions on the computer using the program Kidspiration. We then worked on learning to export the pictures and then insert them into Microsoft Word. We also are working on cropping and resizing pictures. The kids think it is "magic!"

Habitats: Where Animals Live

Last week we read "Habitats: Where Animals Live" to talk about the different needs of living creatures. After reading, the students worked in teams to list the animals from each habitat region on a Tree Map. After listing the animals, each student illustrated one animal for each habitat region on a six-part chart.

Fraction Caterpillars

To review parts of a set, the students made fraction caterpillars. Thank you to Mrs. Carroll from The First Grade Parade  for inspriing this wonderful idea! The students used three different colors of dot paint to create a caterpillar. They then told what part of the set each color was on their caterpillar. The students then added them to their hallway garden display.

Money

This week we have been reviewing money. One of the ways we have been reviewing money is by making small brace maps for the value of each coin on a large poster. The students sorted and added coin cards to make the larger coin's amount. For example, they said that 25 pennies is the same as 1 quarter. You can help your child with this at home by having them show you the different ways to make $0.05, $0.10, $0.25, and $0.50 with real coins.

A Cub Grows Up

Last week the students did a shared reading of the short story "A Cub Grows Up." The story is from our state textbook series. After reading, they discussed with a partner the different stages of a bear's life and what they can do in each stage. They then wrote Flow Maps individually to retell the story in their own words. After they were finished, they created their own bear cub.

Parts of a Plant

This week we have been learning about the parts of a plant and their functions. We used this great website to aid us in our learning. To assess what the students learned, they placed defintions of each plant part on a brace map. They then used the brace map definitions to create their own diagrams. The diagrams were placed on our class garden display. We will be adding more to our class garden display as we study life cycles of earthworms and frogs.

Line Measurement

Last week in computer lab we reviewed measurement using Kidspiration software. The students drew three lines of varying length and then measured them using color tiles. They then labeled the measurements and discussed with partners which was the longest and shortest. After measuring, the students blogged about their what they learned from this lesson. They also began learning how to insert pictures into their blog entries by saving and then inserting their Kidspiration measurement picture. You can read their thoughts about measurement and see their Kidspiration measurement pictures at their KidBlog.

The National Zoo

This week we have been reading and writing about various animals. Yesterday we read "Zoo Baby Boom" about ways The National Zoo helps protect animals from endangerment. After reading, the students wrote and illustrated ways zookeepers and conservationalists help the animals. As a way to elevate the interest in the lesson, the students viewed the live webcams from The National Zoo. This is a great opportunity for students to see all types of species, including those that are endangered.

Parts of a Set

To practice parts of a set, each student filled a cup with a random number of two-color counters. They then shook the cup and let the counters land on a random color. This is similar to the game "Shake Those Beans." After spilling the counters, the students counted how many total counters they had. They then counted what part was red and what part was yellow. They then created a four-part foldable to illustrate their findings. After illustrating, they labeled the pictures with statements such as "4 out of 7 are red." and "3 out of 7 are yellow." We talked about the total number staying the same and the first two numbers, the parts, adding up to equal the total amount.

Ocean Research Video

I'm a little late in posting this but I hope you enjoy! After doing research over an ocean animal in the library, the students created their own movie using Pixie 2. They typed at least one fact they learned about their animal and then recorded themselves reading it. Enjoy!

Beluga Whales: Shared Writing

As a part of our Social Studies lessons, the students researched the Beluga Whale. Each first grade class researched a different type of whale. By doing this, each class becomes an "expert" on one type of whale and can share with the other classes what they learned. We began our Beluga Whale research by reading several non-fiction books about them. As I read the paragraphs to the students, we would stop to think about the main idea of the paragraph. We then wrote the main idea of each paragraph on a Circle Map. The students then used the information we collected on the Circle Map to do a shared writing research paper. In shared writing, sometimes called Interactive Writing, the students work together to come up with the sentences and then take turns writing them down on the chart paper. Each student has the opportunity to write and receives assistance from their classmates on what words come next and how to spell the words correctly. The students modeled their shared writing after their individual research papers by writing what the Beluga looks like, eats, and where it lives. They also wrote in other facts that they found interesting.

Parts of a Plant: Kelp Forest

As a part of our ocean unit, the students studied ocean plants. The main plant that we focused on was the Kelp Plant. The students created Tree Maps to determine the parts of the plant, how animals and people use Kelp, and what can be made from the plant. They then created a diagram of the parts of the plant and discussed each specific part's job.

Pattern Fish

To review repeating and additive patterns, we read Pattern Fish by Trudy Harris. The students then created their own pattern fish. We focused on extending and labeling the patterns.