It's About Time

Hello Everyone,
It's time to learn about time!  Finally!  We've been doing some informal work on telling time throughout the year, but this week we began more formal instruction. I say formal, but I still like to make it fun and multisensory for the kids.  We began with an anchor chart (of course) brainstorming things we already knew about clocks and telling time.  Then it was time to make a giant clock together.  We used hula hoops for the face of the clock and cut out numbers and hands.  We arranged all the pieces and practiced telling time to the hour as a group.  Then we talked about the minutes in between the numbers on the clock.  We added hands to represent the 5 minutes.  We then talked about telling time to the half hour.  They could see that 30 is half way around the clock!  Then the kids had the opportunity to make a clock with their table groups. Each kiddo was responsible for certain parts of the clock.  When they got it put together, they could work together to show certain times.  During our ELA block we integrated our study of time by practicing a fun Time Chant! 

For a printable of our telling time activities click here!
Or click here! :)
Whoa!!  Gotta Run!!!  Still have house guests!!  Have a great night!!
Joyfully!
Nancy

Happy Mother's Day

Hello Everyone!
If you are one of my kiddo's mom's, please wait until tomorrow to read this post (unless your little cutie couldn't wait to give you your Mother's day gift!)
We had so much fun designing and making these sweet little Mother's Day necklaces.  I saw the idea on Pinterest (from peapodcreations.com) and knew that my little firsties could make these!! I think they turned out beautifully and I even saw one of my moms wearing hers on Friday already!!
We started with some 1 1/2 inch washers, Cut some circles from scrapbook paper, punched a hole, Modge Podged the paper to the washer, sprinkled a tiny bit of glitter on the wet Modge Podge.  When dry we personalized the back and added ribbon. Voila!  Simple beauty for our beautiful Moms!!  The kids were so proud of them. 

We hope our moms love them!  We loved making them!!

Enjoy your Mother's Day, moms!!!
Joyfully!
Nancy

Dirt Dessert

Hello Everyone!
Phew! It's Friday!! Busy Busy Week!! We took time out today to enjoy a little treat! What kind of treat do you have after studying soil all week? Well, Dirt Dessert, of course! YUM! We made the yummy dessert with chocolate pudding, crushed oreo cookies, and a gummi worm. And yes, we did turn this treat into a writing activity. We brainstormed words we would need to tell someone how to make it. Then got busy with our "How to." A final little activity was to create a picture representation of our treat. Great Job Kiddos!!

Dirt dessert printable? Click Here!

Have a yummy weekend!!
Joyfully!
Nancy

We Dig Dirt- A Closer Look

Hello Everyone,
A second look at our soil unit...We wanted to take an even closer look at soil today, so we made paper slides for the microscope using index cards, a paper punch, clear tape, soil, and sand. When placing a piece of tape over the hole in the card, and pressing the sticky side of the card down on to soil, we were able to capture a sample to put under the microscope. First graders are really good at capturing soil! We had an amazing time really "seeing" dirt close up! We recorded our observations and added the recording sheet to our science journals, which are getting very full!!!

 For your very own printable soil unit click here

or click here! :)

Here's to getting dirty again!!
Joyfully,
Nancy

My Mom Is...

Hello Everyone!
Thanks for stopping by!  PHEW! Busy day!  Today one of the favorite things was to learn about similes.  We read the best book called "My Dog is as Smelly as Dirty Socks" by Piven. We talked about how authors use similes to help readers get clear pictures about the ideas of the story.  We can use similes in our writing as well. We created an anchor chart and practiced thinking of similes that had to do with our moms. Then the kiddos had a chance to begin creating some special books for our moms for Mothers' Day.  If you are a mom reading this, don't look at the pictures too closely... They will be coming home soon!!  I think the kids got the idea of similes as well as a labrador takes to water!! :)

 For a printable Simile mini poster click here

Or click here! :)

For a printable "My Mom Is..." book click here

Or click here! :)


Have a great evening!!!I hope it's as fun as a rollercoaster ride! :)

Joyfully!
Nancy

We Dig Dirt!

Hello Everyone!
Thanks for stopping by for a peek into one dirty day!  We continued with our unit on soil today with some research about soil and learning about some of the attributes of soil, considering color, texture and structure.   We created an anchor chart to help us organize our scientific thoughts.  Then we headed out to collect some soil samples.  The kids had a blast getting down and dirty with the dirt!!
We observed each sample through hand lenses and discovered that even though we all took our samples from our playground, so many of them were very different. We recorded our observations and viewed others'.  We are discovering that the earth we walk on can be different with every step!
Tomorrow we plan on making our own microscope slides to view our samples even more closely!! Stay tuned!!

For your copy of our mini unit click here! :)

Or click here! :)

Don't Worry, Moms and Dads, we scrubbed up really well after our science explorations!!

Can't wait for tomorrow!!!

Joyfully!

Nancy