Magnetic or Non-Magnetic?

We went to the science lab so the students could explore with magnets. They were given various types of magnets to see what would happen when they put them together. They learned that magnets can push and pull. They were also given various objects to test to see if they were magnetic or non-magnetic. They recorded their findings on a t-chart.

Book Drive for Uganda

As a part of our commitment to Rachel’s Challenge by showing kindness to others, Moseley Elementary partnered with The Kikulu Foundation of Dallas to provide books for children in Uganda. Kikulu is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to supporting education for women and children in communities affected by poverty and oppression. The Kikulu Foundation staff is traveling to Uganda in December and is taking educational resources. Their goal is to take 280 children's books and spiral notebooks. Moseley students and staff have surpassed that goal by collecting over 430 books and 60 spiral notebooks. As a part of the book drive, the upper grade students wrote persuasive essays on why you should give books to the cause and the lower grade students discussed why we should be thankful for what we have. You can learn more about the foundation by visiting their website at http://www.kikulu.org/ or watching their short video at http://vimeo.com/77660697.

Scarecrow Descriptive Writing

The students created and wrote about scarecrows for one of our weekly writing lessons. I'm very proud of how they are adding descriptive language and comparisons to their writing now.

Digraph Show and Tell

During our study of digraphs, the students were asked to bring in an object that started with /ch/, /sh/, /th/, or /wh/. The students brought in whistles, chalk, thimbles, chess pieces, sheets, white paintings, chocolate, and more.

Veterans' Day

One of our first grade teachers, Mrs. Guzman, spoke to all of the first graders on Veterans' Day about here experience in the Navy. She told them some of the details of her career. She also showed them her uniform and awards. We are thankful that she served and shared her knowledge with our students.

Making Connections

We read several books so the students could practice making connections. We read Hallo-wiener, Pumpkin Jack, and It's Pumpkin Time. After reading, the students shared their connections with the class and we charted them on a Circle Map. The students then wrote at least one sentence about what the story reminded them of.

Book Character Parade

On Halloween the students were invited to dress as their favorite book character. For students who did not have a costume, we invited them to wear all black. We read Bats on Parade and Stellaluna in class and created masks to wear. The students who dressed up paraded around the school while others cheered them on.

Noun Neighborhood

As a part of our grammar study of common and proper nouns, the students created a "Noun Neighborhood" during Daily 5. Each day they drew a picture of their favorite store, restaurant, vehicle, and then themselves. After they were completed, they created roads and grass and put them together on blue bulletin board paper. They then added their pictures. I typed labels of all the things they drew. They sorted the labels into common and proper nouns and then added them to the collage.

Family Traditions Quilt

In Social Studies we talked about various family traditions. Each student then created a quilt square to illustrate and describe one of their family traditions. We then put them together on bulletin board paper to create a Family Tradition Quilt.

Pumpkin Patch Place Value

Each student was given a bag of candy pumpkins to count during a Place Value lesson. They used a ten rod sheet to help sort the candy in rows of tens. We discussed that it is quicker to count by tens than by ones because ten is a larger number. After making their pumpkin patch with the candy, they recreated it on the ten rod sheet by thumb printing pumpkins. They then completed a recording sheet to identify how many tens and ones were in their pumpkin patch as well as the expanded notation. Their work was bound into a class book to use during Math Tubbing. The templates can be downloaded from my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

Spider Descriptive Writing and Art

The students wrote to describe spiders with the help of Thinking Maps. After writing, we had an art lesson on how to draw a spider web. The students colored in each part of the spider web a different color. They then created a spider out of construction paper. I love how they are all similar yet so different.

Bat Descriptive Writing

The students worked on using their Thinking Maps to come up with more details to describe objects. This time they described a bat. Instead of just adding details like "black" to describe its color, they had to add more details like "black like coal" for more complex sentences. After writing, we had a short art lesson on how to draw a bat hanging upside down. I think they did a great job!