A Tasting Party

Dill Pickles (sour)

Sour Lemons

 

Salty Pretzels (He said, "I'm an old man.")

 

Sweet Cotton Candy

A bitter cup of coffee (no sugar added)

 

Salty Potato Chips

 

Our tongues

 

 

More Magical Moments!

A friend of mine brought my class tadpoles last Wednesday.

 

 

This morning we found baby frogs. Ummm! need to take more pictures...

A Juicy Surprise!

                

Before school started in August, I discovered a vine growing by my classroom window. At first I thought it was a pumpkin vine because I had placed an old pumpkin there last fall. However, after a closer look I realized it was a watermelon vine. At the end of last school year, my students enjoyed watermelon after a splash day event. They spit the seeds here and "Woolah!" a magical watermelon vine.

 

 

 

Pictured above is the watermelon in August. The vine goes around the corner and spans the length of my classroom. All that vine, lots of flowers, but just ONE watermelon. Hmmm! sounds like a scientific mystery to me. I'm pretty sure there is some Devine influence too.The ONE watermelon grew right outside my science window where the students could observe it everyday without leaving the classroom. 

 

 

                                               

Here's the watermelon on the 5th of September.

 

 

Today we picked the watermelon. When the children were trying to pick it up it slipped, fell, and busted open. It was rainy out so our camera fogged up.

Here they are enjoying this juicy pink treat! I must say it was one of the sweetest watermelons I have ever eaten. Tomorrow we will be drawing and writing about what we LOVE about watermelon. Interestingly enough last Friday I received an email advertising a watermelon poster contest, entries are due September 30th.  I can't wait to see how creative my students get, especially since they've had this recent SWEET experience. These are the best lessons, I just love teachable moments!

Oh, and I have to mention, children are fascinated by seeds. Most of the children wanted to save their seeds. One of my students even stuffed his pockets full of seeds. So moms, if you are wondering why there are seeds in your washer....wonder no more.

 

YUM!


Tuesday, September 24th

The class worked on their watermelon contest posters. We talked about staying on topic; using few words to communicate the message ; making large drawings that pop; and framing our work. Hard concepts to teach in a short amount of time. Like anything, some students got it, some need more time. I think we will have a critique tomorrow and let the students decide what works and what does not. We will begin with a self-assessment, my homework tonight, to design a rubric that is fitting for the project.

 

 

See Contest Rules at www.watermelon.org

 

 
Some students used mixed media, like oil pastels and marker.

Some used acrylic paint and oil pastels.

 

 

Senses Were Tantalized

Little noses were put to the test as students played a game called, "Mothers and Babies." I learned about this game years ago at a Sea World Mother's Day overnight sleepover event. The game is based on the fact that animal mothers use their sense of smell to identify their babies. In science we have been learning about our five senses. During Read Aloud time, I've been reading, "Helen Keller." We finished the book Tuesday and watched Disney's "Miracle Worker" movie on YouTube on Wednesday. In the movie Helen Keller knows her mother enters the room by her scent. Helen rushes to her and begins to sniff her mother's hand. I set my students to task finding partners by scent. Prior to class I made up 17 containers of cottonballs soaked in 8 different scents. Each student was given a container and took a moment to familiarize himself with his scent. Then on my signal the children mingled and started, "sniffing out" their partners. When they believed they had found matching scents they reported to me so I could check their match. Incredibly all students were successful. I heard lots of giggles and a couple "Eeeew's," as one scent was garlic.

 

 

Once students found their partners they went right to work on another activity.  I provided each student with a copy of the hand alphabet. We practiced signing the alphabet the day before. On Pinterest I found an activity, by Rebecca Reid, where students sign the first words Helen signed with a partner. Each partner takes a turn signing to the other who then has to determine what word was spelled.

 

The students seemed to really enjoy this lesson. Once they completed this activity, the students signed this weeks spelling words.

Twin Towers Snack

On the anniversary of the Twin Towers, our school took a moment to stand in silence and remember those who were lost. Our class read the book, "The Little Chapel that Stood." and watched the Reading Rainbow video called, "The Tin City." For cooking this week we made a Twin Towers Snack. Students worked in groups of four. Together the group made vanilla pudding. Each child had a job. Two children measured and poured milk, one child opened and poured the mix in a Ziploc plastic container and one child shook the container.

 

 

Next the children took turns spooning pudding into a clear cup. After which they sprinkled crunched vanilla cookies on top.

 

Then they poked two vanilla wafers into the pudding for the Towers.

 

 

Some students even knocked their towers down.

 

 

Last, they gobbled it up. YUMMY!

 

Find your Twin Towers recipe card HERE

Our Family

 

I introduced the students to the art of origami. We made origami houses for a story extension in reading. The theme of our story was family. Students were asked to decorate their houses like their own, however, I think in some cases creativity took over. We had pink houses and even rainbow colored houses.

 

Inside each student's house was a drawing of his/her family. He/she labeled his/her family members. This tickled me, the student below included each family member's age, although this was not a requirment. 

...The Feeders were Filled and Hung on Hooks with Care...

Although, it is still a little warm to be attracting birds to feeders, I had two of my students fill them anyway. My first grade students have been feeding wild birds since 2005 at Cracker Trail Elementary. My classroom was in a portable at the time and I had written a grant I titled,' Window to the World of Science." I placed a lamp style feeder and birdbath in view of the classroom window, as shown below.

There is not a lot of space in a portable, as any one who has taught in a portable knows. I did manage to find a small table to place in front of the window, where I placed binoculars and bird identification books, along with other science materials.

I included Backyard Journals on the science table as well. Here students could record the date and time of when they observed birds at the feeders. Additionally, students illustrated the birds and wrote about bird behaviors.

Feeding and observing birds has been so popular with my students, I've continued the project all of these years. In 2009, I wrote another grant called, "Wild About Birds." My students and I created the birdwatch garden as seen below.

 

My students learn how to identify, count and record collected data about the birds.

In the Spring of 2012, I won a classroom makeover grant from Honeywell Hometown Solutions and brought the bird theme inside the classroom with a mural painted by my daughter Molly. The mural depicts birds seen in the birdwatch garden.

I won an ING Unsung Hero grant in the Fall of 2012. This grant was used to purchase a live webcam that is installed within the perimeter of the bird sanctuary. Now, anyone on the Highlands County School Board network can tune in and observe bird activity in the bird garden. 

I'm looking forward to another exciting year of bird watching with my students.

Here are our first visitors, a family of Sandhill Cranes.