Lights, Camera, Action

Our story acting has developed over the last few months!  Students are using dialogue and action to act out the stories.  The process is becoming more exciting as other Mark Twain teachers are coming to watch to see our The Amazing Superheroes do it!  

Math Stations

 We have a dedicated time for math stations when students get to explore manipulative and create challenges for themselves.  I love seeing the faces of pride when a task is accomplished.  

So proud of all my Superheroes! 

Heart Mapping

Here are some examples of our completed heart maps.  It is very interesting to see what choices The Superheroes made.  They are currently displayed on the hallway bulletin board.  Come by and see them in person because my pictures do not show the hard work and details the students used. 

Gloop!

How can you change matter?  Will it be a physical change or chemical change?  Gloop was an experiment that used chemical change to alter matter.  We added water and glue to try and create a mixture but the two substances did not mix.  Next, we added a teaspoon of Borax that had been dissolved in warm water.  The results were amazing!  The glue instantly congealed making what appeared to be a solid.  You could pick it up and change its shape, but it wasn't a solid.  The Gloop took the shape of the container it was in and would spread out if you left in on the table. 

Writer's Workshop

We continually work on expressing ourselves through writing.  Sometimes a writer gets stuck and needs an idea.  In preparation for that, The Superheroes are working on heart mapping.  In the heart, we place all the things, events,  and people who are important to us.  Then all we have to do when we need an idea (seed) for writing is to look into our hearts! 

Balloon Experiment

We continue to explore properties of matter and the impact of changes through experiments.  This week we blew up balloons, but not using air.   First we followed the steps of the experiment. 1. Pour some vinegar in the bottom of a bottle.  2.  Pour baking soda into a balloon.  3.  Attach balloon to bottle.  4.  Hold balloon up so baking soda falls into vinegar.  5.  Step back and watch the action as the two substances create a gas that blows up the balloon!  Of course, like every good scientist we had to try different types of bottles and balloons to see what would happen!

Happy President's Day

The Superheroes spent some time today exploring facts about Washington and Lincoln.  The two men had a lot in common!  Did you know that Abe Lincoln used to hide notes in his hat!  

George Washington wore a wig!  The colonists asked him to be the new king,

 but George said no one should be ruled by one person. 

Next, we used a Venn diagram to compare what was the same and what was different about the two famous presidents.

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day + dress like a literary character day = crazy fun!  I was surprised by all the costumes this morning!  WOW...  You can see from the pictures that The Superheroes had a wonderful time sharing and talking about Valentine Boxes and candy!  

Valentine Boxes

 Here is just a small sampling of the amazing Valentine boxes that come to school on Friday. 

 We had such a great time looking at all the designs!

Field Trip (in school?)

Today the first graders were visited by Houston Grand Opera To Go.  Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the storytelling through songs and words.  I think we especially like the props on the stage.  It was a great show and The Superheroes are now inspired to use songs in their story acting!

Dancing Raisins

The Superheroes are very excited about our new planner:  How The World Works.  We get to explore matter and what changes matter.  This week our experiment involved dancing raisins!  It was quite exciting to see what would happen when you put raisins in Sprite.  And because we are scientists, we began to hypothesize what would happen if we used other types of food.   We tried the experiment again, this time with pasta, rice, candy and chocolate chips.  We were quite surprised to find out that the chocolate chips danced and they danced for a long time!! 

 Now, we are wondering WHY because the raisins are rough  and the chocolate chips are smooth. 

 So, why do the bubbles adhere to the chocolate chips??

100th Day Part II

Here we are working on 100 challenges.  Of course, they were all in groups of 10!  We had a great time celebrating all that we accomplished and learned some new things along the way.

 Happy 100th Day, Superheroes!

100th Day of First Grade!

The Superheroes were very excited about the 100th day of First Grade.  It began with each student receiving a hundred dollar bill!  I was thrilled when the first thing they told me they wanted to buy was story dictation for a 100 stories!!  It shows me how valuable dictation is to my students.  We spent the day working together and creating things the 100 way.
In these photos we are working on creating a book of 100 animals!

Writer's Workshop

I really love this photo because it exemplifies what Writer's Workshop is all about.  Conferencing and making your writing better.  The students are completely engaged with the task at hand and enjoying it.  Everyone is working hard to publish so we can have a publishing and invite you, 

the parents to hear our amazing writing!  More details to follow. 

Summative Map Project

For our final project for the planner:  Where We Are in Time and Place, the students worked on creating a map of their choice.  There were certain criteria that had to be met such as: map title, compass rose, and symbols to communicate.  It was interesting to see all the creative ideas that evolved.  I love how the Superheroes were on task and focused!

Face Mapping

Today we used our map skills in a new and interesting way - we mapped our faces!  

The Superheroes first drew and labeled their faces.  The map included a title and a compass rose. 

 Next, they used the compass rose to write sentences describing where things were.

 Example:  My mouth is south of my hair.  My left ear is east of my nose.