February Fun

I just love the last half of the school year! We do so much fun learning! The kids really "get" it. They have procedures down (most of the time) and we can really just dive in to the content and explore what we are learning about. I also love, love, love our themed learning!

February is Dental Health Month. Soooo many science experiments can be done with this theme! Science experiments are awesome! I was talking to a little boy from my class who is in 3rd grade now just the other day. He told me that the thing he loved the most and what he remembered the best was all of our science experiments! Hurray!

We hypothesized what would happen to our teeth in different liquids. We used Kool-Aid, Coca-Cola, and water.

Yuck! The Kool-Aid left a sticky, sugary residue and stained the "tooth" red! 

The Coke stained the "tooth" brown.

 Well, look at that. The water didn't change our teeth at all. It left it nice, white, and clean! We talked about how we can sometimes have sugary drinks, but if that was all we drank or if we didn't brush afterwards, then our teeth might get discolored with residue, just like the eggs did. Moderation, kiddos!

 The next experiment was a new one that I hadn't done before. I put a non-hard boiled egg in vinegar to see what acids do to our teeth. It took a little longer than expected, so give yourself a day for this experiment to work. I put the egg in when we got to school in the morning, but by the afternoon, it was just a little soft, but nothing had really changed. By the next afternoon, the shell had disintegrated. That's what I wanted to have happen, but the pictures below show even more coolness than I imagined! The yolk stayed in it's egg sac. It was so neat to see. This would make a great lesson on reproduction for older grades. We stuck with the tooth decay. ;)

 Of course, we had to do writing about teeth. We read What If You Had Animal Teeth by Sandra Markle. Awesome book!

The kids love it. It has interesting facts and is so engaging. After reading, they chose what kind of animal teeth they would want. We are working on opinion writing, so this went along perfectly. They had to give me their reasons why they wanted those teeth and they weren't allowed to say"because they are cool! " Haha! I'm mean and make them think and give details. Then they got to decorate themselves with the animal teeth they had chosen. Fun, fun!

We are also learning about living and non-living things this month. What better way to do this, than by having real, live things to explore. Here they had to tell me if an Earthworm or Gummy Worm was living and why. It also gets them out of their comfort zone and really exploring and explaining how they know.

Of course, it is also Valentine's Day. We play lots of Minute to Win It games, while throwing in some learning, of course.

 We are also fancy at or parties. We eat "adult" food and have chocolate fondue. Yum, yum.

Ahhhh, nothing is more fun than 1st grade. I am definitely in the right spot. :)

Be fun and fabulous!

~Mrs. Sweeney

Ice, Ice, Baby!

I love, love, love 1st grade after Christmas! I love it before, too, but after Christmas, magic happens. If you teach 1st grade, you know what I mean. The kiddos really start "getting it" and it is so fun to watch their excitement in learning new things. They explode with learning and wanting to learn. We can do so much more and stretch their brains in so many new ways.

We hit the ground running our first few days back, but they had no idea because it was so fun! We did a hibernating/arctic unit. WE did experiments just about every day and they LOVE experiments!

We did some activities that I have done in the past, but we also did something new that I really loved.

We started off the week learning about hibernation. We read my hibernating comprehension sheet from my January Printables packet.

They love these comprehension passages because they are learning all kinds of new things. I love it because they are reading, learning new vocabulary, pulling out key points, tearing apart text, answering questions and so much more.

We read many books on the subject, including Bear Snores On and Bear Wants More to compare winter and spring bears. http://www.amazon.com/Bear-Snores-On-Karma-Wilson/dp/0689831870

Then we did an experiment to see what happens to bears if they don't hibernate.

 I put a pat of butter in water inside the baby food jar. The hibernating bear sits there sleeping away like he is supposed to. The awake bear decided not to go to sleep for the winter and he gallivants around exploring and playing during the winter.

 We pass the awake bear around telling what he is doing and shaking the jar.

 By the end, the kids are tired, just like the bear. The butter has broken up. I relate it to the fat of the bear. If he is up and moving around then he loses his stored fat much more quickly. He gets tired and hungry and might not make it through the winter. The hibernating bear stays warm and cozy because his stored fat breaks down slowly and lasts all winter. The kids LOVE this and really understand.

We also did our melting ice experiment. When we talk about polar bears, we also talk about how the ice is melting in the arctic. This is due in large part to pollution so we talk about the importance of picking up our trash and never throwing trash out the window, etc.

I freeze two big blocks of ice. I put on block in a container of plain water. In teh other one, I pour lots of salt into the water. This year, our classroom must have been extra warm. The fresh water ice block melted in 2 and a half hours and the salt water ice block melted in 3 and half hours. That's the fastest yet!

The next experiment came from Kristin Smith at A Day in First Grade. We had been talking about the arctic region. We watched the video about how igloos are built. Then I gave each child their supplies (paper plate, small cup, spoon, marshmallows, and frosting) and told them to create their own igloo. I didn't give them any instructions. I wanted to see what they would come up with on their own.Some of them started out just like I would by covering the cup with frosting and sticking the marshmallows on. Others, tried not to use the cup and tried stacking the marshmallows. Others put the frosting directly ont he marshmallow. Some didn't know how to start and had to look to friends for help. Others got frustrated because I didn't tell them how. It was a good learning experience and helped them to think outside the box and use their own brains instead of mine. :)

And their very favorite! Our classroom snowman!

 He also melted very quickly, in about 4 hours. They thought he was awesome, and wanted me to bring him back every day. This one is easy peasy. Just freeze water in balloons, making sure you have a small, medium, and large. When you are ready to build him, just pull off the balloon and you have 3 snowballs. Use a little salt to help stick the balls together. I used construction paper for his pieces. That worked just fine. Then set him in a container and watch what happens.

We loved the last 2 weeks. I can't wait for the rest of the year!

Be fun and fabulous!

~Mrs. Sweeney

Terrible Blogger!

So yeah, I am a terrible blogger, it seems! I fill my life with a ton of stuff to stay busy, but maybe a little too busy!

Let's catch up.

I love my class this year, but have a few little, I mean huge, challenges. We are making it through though. I love them all and want them all to succeed and do well, even though they are hard. I do want to take a nap everyday though, if that tells you anything. :)

Right now I have 2 full time assistants. Thankfully, I don't mind people in my room. I just do what I do . They can laugh at all my dumbness. Haha. I do!

I am starting my last semester of Grad School! Did you hear that?! I am starting my last semester of Grad School! I graduate in May! It really hasn't been bad at all, but it will be good to get done. It'll be one less thing on my plate. Yeah, right! Who am I kidding, I live to be busy and full. I'll just add something else to replace it. My whole family thinks I'll go back and get my Doctorate before too long. I say no. We'll see. I do like learning.

My oldest kiddo just got a car. What!? Yes. How did that happen?! He still has his Learner's Permit, but this car fell into our lap and is perfect for him, so why not give him lots of practice now. He loves it and is driving us everywhere. It is newer than mine though and much nicer, so I am jealous.

My youngest started Middle School. He hates dislikes it. Probably cuz he doesn't get to be with his mommy anymore. I know that is devastating. ;) Really though, he would rather be in the gym. He already spends more time there than he does at home. Gymnasts rock.

I get to teach summer school this summer. Yes, I am excited for it. I am weird. I just can't wait to give those kiddos a head start. Plus, again, I like to be busy. Might as well be helping children while I am it, right?

Ok, I think we've caught up enough. Maybe next time I'll do a real teaching type blog post. I love, love, love this time of year because they are just exploding with their knowledge and learning. Plus, there are so many fun themes to teach.

In fact, I am excited because I have my February Printables pack done and I got to look at all the things we will be learning. Cuteness and fun are coming up! Anyway, since I am done with the packet so early, I am giving it to you for $1 off through the month of January. It'll go back to full price in February. If you have my other packs, you will love this one, too. I added a few more pages and already have some new things in mind for March. Check it out and get it while it's cheaper!

Be fun and Fabulous!

~Mrs.Sweeney

Fun and Fabulous!

Write the Room August to June is done!! Over 200 pages of awesome ELA and Math Write the Room Sets. I love, love, love it!

Kiddos love to “write the room”! This product is perfect at center time for both Literacy and Math. Just print, cut, and “hide” words around the room for a fun way to get kids writing, learning vocabulary, and practicing skills.

This product includes:
August: Back to School, Friends, Short Vowels, Colors, and Shapes
September: Apples, Rhyming, Punctuation, Number Words, Addition Dice, Ten Frames
October: Fall, Pumpkins, Halloween, Nouns, Ten Frame Addition, Odd & Even
November: Thanksgiving, Nouns & Verbs, Syllables, Sentences, Tally Marks, Counting On
December: Christmas, Nouns, Verbs, & Adjectives, Long & Short Vowels, Sentences & Punctuation, Numbers Before & After, Making Ten
January: Winter, Contractions, Black History, Polar Habitat, 3-D Shapes
Fractions
February: Groundhog Day, Dental, Valentine’s Day, Presidents Day, Commas,
Fact Families, Word Problems
March: St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Dr. Seuss, Compound Words, Tens & Ones,
Adding 3 Numbers
April: Spring, Insects, Earth Day, Weather, Subtraction, Measurement
May: Families, Space, Field Day, ABC Order, 2 Digit Addition, Unknown Numbers
June: Summer, Beach, Farm, Mixed Up Sentences, Time, Ten More, Ten Less,
One More, One Less

Here are some of the cute newest pages for you to see.

Kiddos love to “write the room”! This product is perfect at center time for both Literacy and Math. Just print, cut, and “hide” words around the room for a fun way to get kids writing, learning vocabulary, and practicing skills.

This product includes:
August: Back to School, Friends, Short Vowels, Colors, and Shapes
September: Apples, Rhyming, Punctuation, Number Words, Addition Dice, Ten Frames
October: Fall, Pumpkins, Halloween, Nouns, Ten Frame Addition, Odd & Even
November: Thanksgiving, Nouns & Verbs, Syllables, Sentences, Tally Marks, Counting On
December: Christmas, Nouns, Verbs, & Adjectives, Long & Short Vowels, Sentences & Punctuation, Numbers Before & After, Making Ten
January: Winter, Contractions, Black History, Polar Habitat, 3-D Shapes
Fractions
February: Groundhog Day, Dental, Valentine’s Day, Presidents Day, Commas,
Fact Families, Word Problems
March: St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Dr. Seuss, Compound Words, Tens & Ones,
Adding 3 Numbers
April: Spring, Insects, Earth Day, Weather, Subtraction, Measurement
May: Families, Space, Field Day, ABC Order, 2 Digit Addition, Unknown Numbers
June: Summer, Beach, Farm, Mixed Up Sentences, Time, Ten More, Ten Less,
One More, One Less

Set 1: August to December is available for purchase.
Set 2: January to June is also available for purchase.