Earth Day Family Recycling Projects

This morning our classroom filled with recycled projects that students had worked hard on all weekend! I am so impressed with our creativity!! I enjoyed hearing each student present their project and explain how they made it and tell who helped them at home. 

Students had to consider several Habits to help them complete a project on time.  (They synergized with their families to help them create something great out of recycled materials.  They had to Begin with the End in Mind in order to complete their project on time.  Finally, we were proactive by recycling trash in order to be good citizens of our planet Earth.

 Our projects will be on display in the school's Research Center for the remainder of the week!  We are so thrilled to share our projects with the school. 

Angel made a rocket using plastic bottles and chip containers found at home. He decorated it using black paper and a chip logo. Angel's mom helped him complete his project.

Chad created a dog using soup cans, bottle caps, socks, springs, chain, and plastic wheels. He also made a telephone using soup can, string and buttons. He even made a greenhouse for a plant using a plastic water bottle. Chad really enjoyed his opportunity to recycle to build new things with his family!

Monty made a palm tree using materials she had at home: aluminum cans, paper towel rod, and a broken Frisbee. Her mother helped her create her recycled project.

Betsy created a bunny rabbit using a milk jug, spaghetti and recycled paper from her house.  Betsy's mom helped her make her bunny. 

Maddi created a waterfall using straws and a water bottle. She painted the water bottle blue.  Her mom helped her create this project.

Makenzie created a flower vase using a recycled box, old crayons, ribbon and artifical flowers from her house.  She said that her mom helped her with her project.

Adam created his own replica of a "Warnado" a Skylanders character that's a turtle.  He used cardboard, tabs from soda cans, plastic and a hamburger box to build his creature.  He had help from his mom.

Sandy created a play house out of recycled cardboard, plants from the yard, and bottle caps.  Her mom helped her make the house and paint it.  The rain gutters on her house were made from used straws.  Sandy enjoyed making her project with her family.

Jasmine, with help from her mom and sister, created a couple planters out of recycled accessories from the house.  She plans to give her mom the larger planter for Mother's Day. 

Kota created a ladybug using some cloth she found at home and a small piece of cardboard.  She enjoys crafting at home and was excited to share this project she made with her mom. 

Jesus created two recycled projects using items he had at his house.  His dad helped him replicate a kitchen table complete with chairs and food on the table!  He created the kitchen set using cardboard and a ravolli lid. Jesus' sister helped him make a polar bear scene using carboard and styrofoam balls.  Jesus was proud to show his work.

Valery created a bird house for her family recycling project.  She used cardboard to build the house and then she decorated it with pictures, stickers, leaves and twigs.  She was proud to have created something for the animals in the forest.  Her parents helped her create the house.

Lupita made a worm using an egg carton, recycled paper, buttons, and left over streamers from a pinata.  She got some help from her mom on this project.

Devon created a hot air ballon parachute using a recycled Dr. Pepper bottle, thread and a Target shopping bag.  He got help from his grandmother.

I am so proud of our students for thinking about our Earth and creating something fun with their familys in celebration of Earth Day.  What a great turnout on our recycling projects!!

Nature Trail Exploration

We are fortunate enough to have a school nature trail to use during the school day. We are continuing our learning and research about recycling and rainforest protection, and we were eager to explore our own "forest" here at school. Yesterday, we had a little extra time in our schedule and were able to take a morning stroll through the nature trail. We observed birds, plants and trees on our walk. Students recorded the major plants and trees we saw in their notebooks. We later used their note taking to decipher the plants in our pictures we took along the way.

April's Family RECYCLING Project

It's that time again when we are asking families to work together to create something great!  This month, in honor of Earth Day, and our extensive research on the rain forest and the animals it houses I thought it would be a wonderful learning experience if we created something out of recycled/reused materials.  This doesn't need to cost families anything.  Start collecting your garbage and use it to create something new again. 

I have linked a website I found that offers a beautiful photo gallery of craft projects created using recycled materials around the house.  Feel free to replicate something you see here, or create something original. 

There are no guidelines for this project aside from the materials used need to be recycled.  No new purchases! 

Some things I have seen students create in the past include: bird houses out of moss and a discarded water bottle, pencil holders decorated with ribbon, parachutes from grocery bags, etc.

I can't wait to see what you come up with! We will share our projects on Monday, April 22. 

Researching Rain Forest Animals

In preparation for the end of the year students are refining their research skills. We have been researching the animals that live in the rainforest to better understand the importance of protecting it. Students are working in pairs to research a rainforest animal of their choice. They recorded their new learning in their research notebooks so they could later create a PowerPoint presentation. Students were then instructed to present their new learning through a PowerPoint for the class. They really enjoyed this project, and it's preparing us for our last writing sample of the year that we will type for our portfolio.

Spring Break

I hope you all have a wonderful Spring Break, and come back relaxed and ready to conquer the remaining 9 weeks. 

Be sure to continue practicing your math addition facts and reading each day!

I can't wait to hear about your Spring Break adventures!

Indoor Recess

Sometimes it's just too cold to go outside. We have become competitive and encouraging of others while playing board games.

Pawsitive Behavior Day

The first grade teachers are pretty excited about our Dr. Seuss themed Pawsitive Behavior Day!  We really enjoyed the opportunity to dress up and represent some of our favorite stories from the Dr. Seuss collection.  Can you identify the following characters: Cat in the Hat, Thing 1, Thing 2, Grinch, Lorax, bar-ba-loot, and Fox in Socks?

Our classroom had The Lorax theme because it is my favorite book in the collection.  I have a lot of fun sharing this story with students.  They especially like when I read quickly (I think they are hoping my tongue will get twisted!).

Here are the classroom decorations we enjoyed creating and sharing.

The Lorax had to be present on his truffla tree stump.

We also had plenty of truffla trees.

Posters were created to illustrate characters and memorable quotes from the book.

Students enjoyed a little photo booth fun.  Ms. Pace had made them Lorax mustaches (you know how we like mustaches in our class) for us to wear. 

Teachers jumped in on the fun too! Did you know bar-ba-loots admire the Lorax's mustache?

As we listened to the story being read aloud by a brown bar-ba-loot we enjoyed Truffla Trail Mix.  Each item in the trail mix represented something different from the story.  We had to listen carefully to the story and identify the representations before we could enjoy the tasty treats.  Many students were quickly able to identify pretzel sticks as representations for truffla trunks, a chocolate chip as a truffla seed, a marshmallow as a truffla fruit, teddy grahams as bar-ba-loots, and goldfish crackers as humming fish.

Our classroom was overflowing with Loraxes!  Aren't we cute in our mustaches?

Students agreed to one more picture with a bar-ba-loot.  We're all friends here.

We really did enjoy dressing up for our first graders today!!

Students were able to choose a movie ticket.  We were showing Horton Hears a Who and The Lorax this afternoon.  Of course, Hop on Pop popcorn was involved.  No one goes to the movies and doesn't get popcorn, right?