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.

The Copycat Fish

We read The Copycat Fish by Marcus Pfister and then the students retold the story in order as a class using a Flow Map. The students then individually retold the story on a foldable focusing on the beginning, middle, and end. They also colored a Rainbow Fish to go along with their work.

 

 

Ocean Animal Research

In small groups, the students visited to the library to research a specific ocean animal with our Instructional Media Specialist, Mrs. Christy. The took notes over their research and then used their notes in class to help them write a research paper. They put their final drafts inside a piece of blue paper folded in a stage fold. They also made a scuba diver face to look like themselves to go with scuba diver bodies that our PTA volunteers made for us. The scuba divers held the students' writing.