Character Traits and Venn Diagrams!

Last week we finished up learning about bats and spiders. Students wrote characteristics of Stellaluna (read previous post to learn about this character). Her traits on the "inside" consist of words and feelings such as: brave, worried, lonely, happy, and friendly. The "outside" descriptive words tell things about Stellaluna that we can see with our eyes: triangle ears, soft fur, two wings, and fuzzy.

Students also did a great job learning how to compare and contrast two different animals. We read books about bats, birds, and spiders and compared them to one another. The students below are pictured with their Venn Diagrams. Finally on Friday students were tested on their ability to compare two different animals and then they were able to enjoy my little birthday treat after working hard! :) Stay tuned for upcoming posts this week about our adventures with pumpkins and Halloween!

No sweet treats this year...at least the kids enjoyed the pumpkin faces! :)

Stellaluna Fun!

We launched our bat unit this week, focusing on the book Stellaluna by Janell Cannon. We learned about story elements including: characters, setting, and order of events. Next week we will dive deeper into informational texts with a direct focus on comparing and contrasting bats to spiders and birds. We are busy, busy, busy in first grade!

Are bats cute or creepy?! Students voted and then graphed the results!

Cute won..12-6!

So proud of their wonderful work on the setting of Stellaluna!

Learning about story elements and writing about Stellaluna was a hit!

"My favorite part was when all the bats gathered all around and the mom found the baby!"- Sheila

Picture by Brylee

"My favorite part was when the mom bird gave the bat a grasshopper but the bat eats fruit." - Tiffany

Picture by Kimberly

Meet Sparky...Our Class Pet!

I announced early in the week that a surprise package would be arriving on Friday afternoon. I told the first graders that what would be arriving goes along with our monthly character trait: responsibility. When it finally "arrived" Friday around 2:00 I had 20 VERY excited students. The excitement did not die down once they opened up the package to find our very own (stuffed) class pet inside with a note that we could adopt the little puppy and give it a name. The firsties voted and Sparky was the winner! We discussed how it will take a lot of responsibility to take care of Sparky and even more to get to bring him home on the weekends. On Monday, the responsible first grader should return Sparky to school with a journal page completed explaining what they did with Sparky all weekend. During the week students will get the opportunity to read with and take care of Sparky in our classroom! This is the first time I have done a "class pet" and I am so excited to see the fun the kids will have with Sparky!

Opening the package! Such anticipation! :)

Meet Sparky!

Johnny Appleseed and Adjectives

Happy Friday! Today concluded our unit on apples and Johnny Appleseed. This week students read two books about Johnny Appleseed and then created their own factual books about John Chapman. This afternoon students used their math and science skills to be apple investigators. They made many predictions about the height and weight of their apple including how many cubes it would take to balance their apple on a scale. They had SO much fun doing these experiments...and even got to enjoy a healthy snack after completing their hard work as investigators!

Each student created a big Johnny Appleseed to publish their books on!

Students also wrote a fact they learned about Johnny Appleseed on a pot since he "wore a pot on his head". :)

Will it sink or float?! 

Measuring the circumference of our apples!

Measuring how many cubes it takes to balance the apple on the scale,

His apple is 3 cubes tall!

During our language arts time students have been learning about adjectives. Today we wrote sentences using describing words about our class teddy bear. The first graders came up with some great descriptive words!

Next week we will start a mini-unit on bats! Students will compare bats to birds and spiders! Eek!! :) Have a great weekend! My baby girl turned 6 months today so I will spend my weekend enjoying her giggles and silliness! Oh,..and GO HAWKS!

Apples...Apples...Apples!

In my last post, I talked about launching our first theme on apples with a trip to the orchard. Following the field trip, we have been extremely busy learning key details and facts from non-fiction stories on apples. Students have been very engaged in all of the activities and were super excited to write a "How To" paper on making and tasting applesauce! If anyone reading this is interested, many of the activities I found on Pinterest and/or several different teacher blogs, such as The First Grade Parade.

We used our five senses to describe apples!

Students voted on their favorite kind...red was the winner!

Each student got an apple to write a fact they learned and place on the tree.

Students can write these apple vocabulary words during center time.

Each student made and labeled their own apple diagram.

Graphing our favorite apples.

What a great job she did on her graph!

Students wrote describing words about apples.

Our "How To Make Applesauce" writing.

Yummy applesauce cooking!

Stay tuned for more on apples this week before we switch over to spiders! :)

Wilson's Apple Orchard

Our first grade team this year is so excited to launch themes each month to support our little learners in their journey to master the Common Core Reading Standards. We started our first unit at the end of September with a trip to Wilson's Apple Orchard in Iowa City. The kids had a great time getting to taste three different types of apples as well as take a tractor ride around the orchard on "Bessie the Tractor". Below are some highlights from the field trip!

Pebbles, Sand, and Silt

Our first science unit is all things rocks! The first graders are learning about how rocks are an Earth material that can come in many forms...pebbles, sand, and even silt! Students have been busy sorting and experimenting with three main types of rocks: scoria, basalt, and tuff.

Classroom Reveal

Once August rolls around the teacher in me gets super excited to decorate my classroom and write the names of my newest firsties on supplies! While this year came with mixed emotions as I was faced with leaving my new baby at daycare to return to work, I realized how lucky I am to have a job I love going to each day...and a family I love coming home to each evening! I have created this blog with the intention of sharing our first grade adventures all year long and for parents and friends to see how much learning takes place in this very important grade! Ready...set...first grade timeeeee!

Here are a few pictures of my first grade primary-themed classroom this year!