Little Researchers

I've already written several posts about how we conduct research in our class but I wanted to share some pictures of my little researchers in action. It is so nice to see them excited about research and to see how independent they are in finding their own answers to questions!

Research: Garden Expert

As a part of our research over the garden habitat, one of the grandparents from our school who just happens to be a garden expert, visited with all of first grade to share infomation about plants and bring in examples. Mrs. Flowers (yes, that is really her name!) owns Pat's Plants in Grand Prairie. She explained the various functions of plants and their various needs. The students were able to ask questions they had come up with during their research. In class, they added information that she shared to their research plan handout. Mrs. Flowers was amazing! She even brought seeds, soil, and cups for each student to be able to plant their own flowers! We are saving our seeds to plant on Earth Day!

Brain Awareness Week

Dr. Perotti, a professor at The University of Texas at Arlington, taught a lesson to all of the first graders about the brain as a part of Brain Awareness Week. The students learned the parts of the brain and its various functions. They even made models of brains with Playdough. It is so nice to have Mosely parents who are willing to share their expertise!

Apples!

As a part of our writing program, the students wrote to describe an apple. They first thought of questions they had about apples such as: "What do they look like? What do they taste like? What parts do they have? How can they be used?" They then wrote Tree Maps to answer those questions. They used the Tree Map to help them write sentences. After writing their first draft, the students met with me to edit and revise their writing. While I worked with students one-on-one, the other students created construction paper apples to add to our class apple tree along with their final drafts.

Earthworms

As we studied the interdependce of animals and thier habitats, we took a close look at earthworms. The students created a Circle Map to share what they already knew about earthworms and then we read and added information from Diary of an Earthworm by Doreen Cronin. We then watched various short videos from Discovery Education about earthworms to learn about how earthworms use soil and how they help the soil. The students then drew their own earthworms and wrote at least two "Did you know?" facts about their earthworms. Their earthworms and writing were added to our class garden display.

Plant Diagrams

During our study of plants, the students created plant diagrams. They labeled the parts and their functions. The diagrams were added to our class garden display in the hallway.

Giveaway: Samson's Classroom Online Reading Program

I recently received a free one year trial of Samson's Classroom online reading program to give away! I will be choosing a winner on Friday, April 27, with a random drawing. To enter the giveaway, be a current or new follower of my blog and leave me a comment with your email address. Once a winner is drawn, I will email the company and you so that you can receive your login information. The free one year trial can be used for your current class throughout the remainder of the school year and the summer and then easily switched over to your new class for the next school year. You can learn more about their program by watching the Samson's Classroom Demo Video.

Egg Hunt

First Grade had their annual Egg Hunt today behind the school library. The students raced around finding eggs and then enjoyed a treat of popcorn and juice. It was a great way to end a crazy week (crazy weather-wise here in Texas).

The Little Red Hen Sequencing and Planting a Garden

On Tuesdays and Thursdays our class is fortunate to have an intern, Mrs. Sanford, from Dallas Baptist University assist in our class for a few hours as a part of her coursework. Today she taught a fantastic integrated Language Arts and Science lesson to the students. Mrs. Sanford started her lesson by greeting the students at the door and having them choose an animal card. The animal cards correlated to the book she was going to read during her lesson. She red The Little Red Hen by Byron Barton and as she read, the students sequenced the events in the story using picture cards and the Follow the Yellow Brick Road Retelling cards from The First Grade Parade.

Mrs. Sanford then had the students transition to the Promethean Board where they reviewed, wrote, and repeated the defition of sequencing. At the board, they reviewed various transition words that can be used to make writing more interesting. They then decided which transition words to use on the class Flow Map. After deciding this, students built their own garden in a large container. Mrs. Sanford explained how to plant seeds and the needs of plants. As she explained the steps, the students followed the multi-step directions. With each step, the students used interactive writing to record the steps they took on a Flow Map on the Promethan Board.

After planting the miniature garden and sequencing the events on a Flow Map, the students wrote the events using complete sentences on a flower template. On the petals of the flower, the students wrote transition words. The students were engaged the entire lesson. Mrs. Sanford and the students did an excellent job!

Celery Experiment

In science, we created a Brace Map to identify the parts of a plant and their functions. We discussed how a plant is a system and that the parts are dependent upon one another. As a grade level, we conducted a celery experiment so the students could visualize the function of a stem. First the students had to identify that the celery stalk was the stem and that there were leaves at the top of the stalk. They made predictions about what they thought would happen if we placed the celery in cups of water. Most students predicted that the celery would suck up the water because plant stems carry water to the flower and leaves. We discussed the function of roots and asked the students if they thought the stem could suck up the water, like a straw, even though there were no roots. We also asked them to make predictions about the level of water in the cup: would the level stay the same, increase, or decrease? In one cup we used plain water and in the other cup we added blue food coloring. We asked the students what they thought would happen in the cup with food coloring and some predicted that the stalk, or stem, would change colors. When we asked about the leaves, it took a little thought but then most predicted that they would change colors also because the stem carries water to the leaves. It is so nice having teammates that like to teach lessons together!

Research: Broad to Narrow Topic

This week we began a new research project. The students are learning more about how to use a variety of sources to find factual answers to questions. To begin, the students brainstormed a variety of research topics which we added to a Circle Map on our Promethean Board. We then talked about how some of the research topics could go in the same categories. The students then worked in small groups to write down at least 12 of the topics on notecards which they then sorted into conceptual categories. They then went on a gallery walk to see how each group sorted their cards. Back on the class Circle Map, we highlighted the topics that we thought went together. To go along with our science unit over plants and since it is Spring, we decided to research the garden habitat. Using the topics that we grouped together under the conceptual category of gardens, we discussed how you could have a broad topic about the garden or choose one specific part of the garden habitat to research.

The next day, we reviewed the various question words. In small groups, the students brainstormed questions they had about the garden habitat. We added them to a flipchart on our Promethean Board. If more than one group had the same or a similar question, we placed a check mark next to the question. This let us know which questions our class found the most important. After finding the questions our class found the most important, the students then voted on which was their favorite question that they would like to ask our garden expert. We will be having a garden expert visit our school next week and we will be emailing questions to another local plant expert.

On the third day, the students chose six questions that they felt were related and wrote them on a their research plan handout. Noticing that most of the questions they had brainstormed were about either the plants in a garden or the insects in a garden, they were then able to narrow down their broad topic of garden habitat to one of two more narrow topics: Plants in the Garden and Insects in the Garden. Of course this could be narrowed down more but for first grade, this is sufficient. Next week the students will be using a variety of sources to find answers to their research questions and then they will create a visual display based on their findings.

A First Look At Plants

To introduce our study of plants and the garden habitat, we created a KWL Chart on our Promethean Board. The students first shared what they know about plants and gardens. They then brainstormed things they wondered or wanted to know. We then watched the video AFirst Look: Plants on Discovery Education. They then shared what they learned about plants and gardens and we added it to our KWL chart.

M&M Parts of a Set

To teach about parts of a set, the students again used M&Ms. I would instruct the students to pull out a certain number of M&Ms of two different colors. They would identify the parts of a set for each color. I would use questions such as "What part of the set is blue?" and "What part of the set is not red?" Although we only have to identify fractions and parts of a set up to four parts in first grade, it was good practice for the terminology.

M&M Probability

To introduce the students to the concept of certain and impossible, I gave each student a bag of M&M candy. I told the students that they could eat the candy but they could only eat the pink ones. Of course they immediately yelled out "There aren't any pink ones!" I said, "Oh. Well, you can only eat the white ones." Of course they yelled out "There aren't any white ones!" So I asked them, "Is it possible to eat pink or white M&Ms from your bag?" and they said "No!" This led into a discussion that it was impossible because there weren't any of that color to begin with. I then had them eat all of the yellow M&Ms except for two. I think asked them if they thought would pull out a yellow piece of candy from the bag if they closed their eyes. They said no because there were only a few of that color left. We discussed that it was possible, but not probable. I asked them if they closed their eyes if they would pull out a piece of candy from the bag and they said "yes" because there was only candy in the bag. So, we discussed that since there was only candy in the bag, it was certain they would pull out a piece of candy and it was impossible to pull out anything else. We continued with this lesson through various different scenarios.

SeaLife Aquarium Field Trip

At the conclusion of our ocean study, we were fortunate to be able to visit the SeaLife Aquarium in Grapevine. Thank you to our PTA for funding this fun trip for the students and to all of the parents who went on the trip with us. The students were able to see the live animals that we had researched.

Ocean Research Movie

During a computer lesson, the students used their ocean research notes to create a computer slide in Pixie 2 about their ocean animal. They first added an ocean background, then they imported clipart of their ocean animal. Next they added a text box of their choosing and wrote at least one fact about their animal. They wrote their facts in first person and then recorded themselves reading their facts. All of the slides were then put together as a movie using the Pixie 2 software. The video was uploaded to our class podcasting site hosted by PodBean. You can view the video there or below:

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